EU Goes To DC, Presses Lawmakers

[oldbookguy]

This I believe, will be a help to the hearing next week, we need to get busy writuing our reps asking them to have someone there or watching the live feed.

EU presses U.S. to change Internet gambling

By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - The United States needs to change a law that discriminates against European companies that want to offer online gambling services in the U.S. market, the European Union's top trade official said on Thursday.
"What we need to see is a change in U.S. legislation that removes that discrimination against EU operators," EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson told reporters before heading to Capitol Hill to discuss the issue with U.S. lawmakers.

Full story at:

http://www.majorwager.com/forums/mes...bling-law.html

obg

[TheEngineer]

Nice. I just received the original Reuters article: www.reuters.com/article/technology-media-telco-SP-A/idUSN0823911220071109?sp=true

[Lucky]

Wow, this is great. Favorite parts are:

1. Reuters article, not just gambling 911 or whatever
2. Unequivocal language of demands from EU
3. "European Union's top trade official" is doing talking
4. The number "100 billion" being used in legitimate article; tougher for u.s. officials to shrug off as they've done in past.

[Legislurker]

"We're not telling the United States how to regulate this industry. That's not for us to do. All we're saying is, however you choose to regulate, don't discriminate against non-American operators."

Enough Orwellian doublespeak in that to totally confuse me. I wish I knew enough about Brussels to know what EU horse is getting the backing in this. Obviously, the gaming industry more support there than Berlin or Paris. If they can totally have Mandelson's support in this, were back in, [censored]
frank and wexler. You can be sure the FoF delegation to the USTR will offer up some sort of multibillion dollar cow as a counter offer. They have tons more information about the negotiations than we do, at present. Oh to be a fly on the wall when the EU and US trade reps sit and know who is sacrificing what totally unaccountable to voters.

[DeadMoneyDad]

[ QUOTE ]
"We're not telling the United States how to regulate this industry. That's not for us to do. All we're saying is, however you choose to regulate, don't discriminate against non-American operators."

Enough Orwellian doublespeak in that to totally confuse me. I wish I knew enough about Brussels to know what EU horse is getting the backing in this. Obviously, the gaming industry more support there than Berlin or Paris. If they can totally have Mandelson's support in this, were back in, [censored]
frank and wexler. You can be sure the FoF delegation to the USTR will offer up some sort of multibillion dollar cow as a counter offer. They have tons more information about the negotiations than we do, at present. Oh to be a fly on the wall when the EU and US trade reps sit and know who is sacrificing what totally unaccountable to voters.

[/ QUOTE ]

Last I heard the "service industry" was the saficral "lamb."

Port wharehousing, insurance, and the legal profession of all things.........


D$D

[JPFisher55]

Problem is that insurance and legal professions are regulated by the states. This is not going to change. I really doubt that any $50-100 billion trade concessions to EU exist that Congress would or could pass.
The whole withdrawal of commitment thing is a stall tactic. I suspect that it also is to give the DOJ a counter to the argument that WTO decision should cause the courts to interpret the Wire Act to not include online gambling (also called the Charming Betsy argument). This has been used in both the iMEGA case and the BetOnSport/Kaplan case.
IMO EU is trying to get Congress to pass legislation compliant with WTO to save the WTO process from the calamity it now faces. I hope the Dems listen because Bush will not.

[oldbookguy]

The Washington Times weighed in with a good story today as well.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/artic...NESS/111100024

If you don't mind listening to an ad, the Click-2-Listen feature at the end has a bit more than the story does.

obg