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The Caribbean island of Antigua has been a honeymoon and holiday
hotspot for many years, so you won’t be surpised to hear that the
largest percentage of its gross domestic product (GDP) comes from
tourism. But would it surprise you to learn that the second largest
employer, after tourism, used to emanate from online gambling and
kasyno internetowe?
When the world of the
brick and mortar casino spread its wings and flew into cyberspace,
in the early 1990s, the Caribbean was ready and waiting. Antigua,
for example, used its high quality fibre-optic cables to provide
online gambling services over the Internet. It was a revolution,
with the tiny island seeing revenues peak at $90 million in 1999.
It was during this time that the United States
started to show an interest in the small countries that hosted the
online gambling sites. In 1998, the U.S. charged 21-U.S citizens
connected to offshore Internet gambling and violations of the Wire
Act. One of these citizens was Jay Cohen, a former stock trader who
had been operating the Antigua-based World Sports Exchange. Cohen
contested the case, lost, and was fined $5,000 and sentenced to
21-months in prison. Cohen was the first person to be convicted in
the U.S for operating an offshore Internet gambling website. Shortly
after the U.S moved to prohibit cross-border supply of online
gambling services. With approx. 60% of the online gambling revenue
that Antigua earned, coming from U.S customers, this was a hurtful
blow to the economy.
In retaliation, Antigua and Barbuda, have threatened
to strip copyright protections from American media unless they
rethink their decision. The move has left Hollywood furious, but
Antiguan officials feel the need to fight back. Even if the move is
in itself a gamble. |
