Costa Rica and Antigua & Barbuda, small countries in the Central American Caribbean region, are putting their foot down against the nefarious anti gambling online legislation passed by USA Congress last month.
The online sector in these countries is a source of income and jobs, and operators are confident in the protection afforded them by the governments, against veiled threats from Uncle Sam.
In the last moments of the past Congress session, the House of Representatives passed a legislative attachment to declare monetary transfers through banks and credit card companies to online companies illegal. This law, however, will not affect Costa Rica, A&B, Gibraltar, Panama, Malta, United Kingdom, and other jurisdictions, because the online sector is legal within these countries.
In a report for the international press, Eduardo Agami, president of the Association of Online Betting Companies of Costa Rica said that there are about 200 online operators in the country of every size, which employ more than 10,000 people, and the latest spate of legal measures in USA do not affect properly run companies based in the Central American country.
Bodog president Calvin Ayre said: “As market leader in our field, we plan to change absolutely nothing in our operations or the way we do business. We are an entertainment form that is enjoyed and accepted by millions of people around the world”.
It is a fact that the sector is not regulated Costa Rica, and Agami added: “We must seek the way to regulate this activity in the country. The persecution of the industry only moves businesses from a legal framework into a clandestine environment”. The sector carries on working normally in Costa Rica, and for the past 12 years BetUs, which is in an expansion process, has been operating in the country where it employs 500 people.
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International Casino Exhibition 2009 - UK
