News
Antigua gets OK to become copyright haven
Posted: Jan 28, 2013 10:30 AM by Lauren Molenburg
LONDON (AP) - The Americans call it piracy. The Antiguans call it justice.
The islands of Antigua and Barbuda are threatening to strip intellectual property protections from American goods in retaliation for a U.S. embargo on the tiny Caribbean nation's online gambling industry.
U.S. officials say that the proposed copyright haven - whose broad outlines were approved Monday at the World Trade Organization in Geneva - amounts to "government-authorized piracy."
But Antiguans, who've won a series of legal victories against the U.S. at the international trade body, say they're within their rights so long as Washington maintains its online gambling block.
What such a haven might look like is unclear. There's little in the way of precedent for Antigua's move, and the islands still hope for a negotiated settlement to the dispute.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
As Seen On News 5
