Now this is interesting. I haven't had a chance to digest it fully, but I thought it worth noting for everyone now. I may come back to it once I've had a chance to think about it more.
A few months ago, the FBI arrested BETonSPORTS.com founder Gary Kaplan on charges of racketeering, conspiracy and fraud, in relation to the company's web site gambling operations. Kaplan now argues that the WTO panel/AB rulings in the Gambling case should get him off:
Defendant Gary Stephen Kaplan moves, pursuant to Rule 12(b) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure,1 to dismiss the charges against him based upon treaty obligations and related principles of domestic and international law. The treaty obligations are those the United States has assumed under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (“GATS”) and the Dispute Settlement Understanding (“DSU”) which applies to the GATS. These obligations, recognized by both the authoritative dispute resolution bodies of the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) and by U.S. law, foreclose this prosecution, requiring dismissal not only of the Wire Act charges, but of every count that seeks to penalize Kaplan for activities related to the provision of cross-border remote gambling services, that is to say, all of the charges in the Superceding Indictment.
There is talk about Chaming Betsy, international comity, and the self-executing nature of WTO rulings, among other things.
