Antigua Files for Remedies- $3.4 billion per year in intellectual prop

[Richas]

[ QUOTE ]
The Libertarian Party IS a joke, because of all the whackos who ruin the conventions and run to abolish drug laws and taxes while strumming mandolins. The Cato Institute is one of the most prestigious and respected think-tanks in D.C. across the spectrum for the quality of their work. Sort of the way the Green Party is a joke, but NRDC is a highly respected think-tank.

[/ QUOTE ]

FWIW the Cato Institute has some credibility and profile in the UK, the Libertarian Party none.

[Gregatron]

The Libertarians' main problem is very simply a plurality electoral system. Our electoral system is constituted such that only two parties will be competitive. Even if the Libertarians got their act together it's hard to see them being as competitive as the Liberal-Democrats in the UK, who consistently get about 20% (or more) of the overall vote but less then 10% (or less) of the seats. Plurality electoral systems create disproportionalities that reward two parties (Democrat/Republican or Tory/Labour).

Google "Duverger's law" if you like.

EDIT: Sorry for the off topic post on this good topic.

[Legislurker]

Thanks very much for your comments regarding my recent post on the
US-Gambling dispute.

I, too, have been amazed at the relative lack of coverage of this issue
(the trade angle, I mean) in the press. My friend Radley Balko has done
a lot of stuff on it, both while he was at Cato and on his own blog,
www.theagitator.com, but there is little or no studies on it in the
think-tank domain. In fact, the little two page paper I did on it seems
to get a lot of comments like yours, i.e. "I'm glad someone is looking
at this issue".

It is difficult to gauge the feelings in DC about this. I have not
attended any forums on it, and most trade wonks I speak to have heard of
the case only peripherally and most comment along the lines of
"dangerous precedent" but nothing formal seems to be proposed. Barney
Frank has, of course, been very vocal about his opposition to the ban on
civil liberties grounds, but I don't know that the trade implications of
the ban have sunk in.

To that end, I decided to take the initiative and hold a forum here on
July 25th to discuss the case. Mark Mendel, Antigua's lawyer, has agreed
to speak. I will say a few remarks, and John Jackson, a prominent
international trade lawyer, is also going to speak. Our forums are
streamed live over the internet, so stay tuned to our website,
www.freetrade.org, for details as they become available. Hope you can
watch, and that you find the discussion useful.

Thanks again for your email and your interest,

Sallie James
Trade Policy Analyst
Center for Trade Policy Studies
Cato Institute
1000 Massachusetts Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20001

[TheEngineer]

Nice article on the dispute at http://www.caribbean360.com/.....4548.html

BUSHWHACKED! Antigua to impose US$3.4 billion sanctions on USA

WASHINGTON DC, June 25, 2007 - The smiles were either a formality or disbelief as Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda met with President George W Bush and served him the news first hand that he is preparing US$3.4 billion in sanctions against Washington for failure to adhere to a trade ruling.......

[Nate tha\\\' Great]

[ QUOTE ]
Microsoft complains to Congress. Congress tells the WTO that if they don't immediately reverse this decision, the US will withdraw from the WTO, and impose trade sanctions on any country(ies) that allows intellectual property of Americans to be counterfeited/copied. I submit this is much more likely to happen if such sanctions ever took place.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol @ the US withdrawing from the WTO. That's a gamble that could easily cost us in the trillions, much less the billions.

[briton]

[ QUOTE ]
Nice article on the dispute at http://www.caribbean360.com/.....4548.html

BUSHWHACKED! Antigua to impose US$3.4 billion sanctions on USA

WASHINGTON DC, June 25, 2007 - The smiles were either a formality or disbelief as Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda met with President George W Bush and served him the news first hand that he is preparing US$3.4 billion in sanctions against Washington for failure to adhere to a trade ruling.......

[/ QUOTE ]

Too bad Bush is so stubbern! It would be like him to make a mistake for our country just cause he thinks making a stance against "gambling" is the right thing to do

[Cactus Jack]

Well, he could invade.

[questions]

[ QUOTE ]
Well, he could invade.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm sure Antigua is one among many countries worried about that possibility.

[d3gener4te]

Holaaaaaaa

[1p0kerboy]

There is significant evidence that Antigua is developing WMDs. Holla.