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Well, it is a good new – bad news day at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The penalties for the WTO sanctions concerning Antigua-Barbuda claim have come out.
A-B wanted 3.4 Billion. The US offered 500K. The award was for 21 Million. But, the finding is one that will cause a lot of interest and commentary. To say it was unusual is a gross understatement.
The method used was a legal tool called “counterfactual case.” What it boils down to in layman’s terms is that the board assumed the two would meet and reach an agreement. So, they got out their crystal ball and Ouijia board and used their imagination to carry out the charade. They decided that both parties would agree that only the horse racing portion applied and decide on their ‘fair amount’ penalty. My idiot’s guide to the WTO now parses the term counterfactual. Counter Factual seems to me that is is counter to the fact. Yeah, I can see that.
The decision was not unanimous. This is the very first penalty action in WTO history that isn’t. That makes the outcome even more bizarre.
There is a sop thrown the way of A-B. They do get exclusion from international copyright agreements and trademarks. This allows them to peddle books, movies, software, whatever. And, it is obvious they can’t compete at full retail and get their 21-mil per year. So, you can figure that if they are PO’d – not unlikely – they have little desire to sell for a great profit. They’ll get pressure by making things really cheap so they move a lot of product without reaching that 21-million goal.
If they can do that, they’ll have the RIAA and MPAA — those lovable guys who love to sue widows and orphans — foaming at the mouth and screaming at congress. As soon as a movie hits the theaters, they can have a $2 DVD on the market. Want the Top-10 new CD’s? No, problem — 10 for $9.95. You can figure they can turn that stuff out for about half the selling price mentioned which should allow them to actually peddle 42-mil worth of goodies.
Is there any chance of appeal of this silliness? No! The award arbitration process is not subject to review. The WTO is about as fair as a backwater racetrack. There are no delusions to their grandeur. Three guys rule the outcome. To do so they came up with a 52 page document – another record.
As poker players we are rewarded for using common sense. If you play without it you pay the price. If you can’t cut that, you might apply for a job as an arbitrator for the WTO.
ADDENDUM:
There are security bugs residing in Flash applets that we love for movies and graphics that animate sites across the web. Known as SWF files, they are vulnerable to attacks in which malicious strings are injected into the legitimate code through a technique known as cross-site scripting, or XSS. Currently there are no patches for the vulnerabilities, which are found in sites operated by financial institutions, government agencies and other organizations.
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