US Says China Violates WTO Rules as China Continues Censorship

July 04, 2009 | News Category: Gaming Law

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China has been taking a hard line against certain online industries and has chosen to implement their forced censorship by passing a law that all computers sold in China will have Green Dam, website blocking software, pre-installed. Their main battle is supposedly against pornography, however, online gambling is high on the list, as are many other sites that are not considered to be on the "correct" side of the Chinese political spectrum.

In a surprising move by Ron Kirk, the US Trade Representative, and Gary Locke, the Commerce Secretary, have sent a letter to China which is in protest of the most recent censorship that the Chinese government is imposing. The Wall Street Journal explained that officials in the United States have noted that the censorship in China compromises Internet security and is a barrier to free speech. They also note that this move is in violation of the regulations laid out by the World Trade Organization.

It is very surprising that US officials saw their way clear to making statements regarding China's violation of WTO regulations, since the US has been guilty of exactly the same violations, as least regarding Internet gambling. Both Antigua and the European Union have called on the US to follow the WTO regulations and guidelines regarding online casino legislation, and to abolish the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act), since it has censored online casinos and other Internet gambling, which in turn affects the personal liberties of US citizens.

A US government spokesperson said that the letter that Locke and Kirk had written expresses the concerns about the forced software requirement imposed by the Chinese government is concerning in a number of ways, including the "wide-ranging concerns about the scope of the measure, the censorship implications, trade impact and security flaws which create serious problems for the IT [information technology] industry and Chinese consumers."

Chinese officials do not seem concerned with the outrage expressed by the US and others, and have continued to try and close any possible loopholes that might exist in their online gambling censorship. Their latest move has been to decree that players may no longer exchange virtual money for real money. Most of China's online gaming sites and lotteries use virtual money, or currencies, which could, in the past, be exchanged for real money by their players.

China had already imposed higher taxes on all virtual trading last year, however, they felt that online gambling operators were still exploiting the system. Although new PCs in China will come with blocking software, China is still working hard to enforce the same kind of restrictions for those who still own older computers.

Some feel that those that want to gamble online will find a way to do so, and it may well be that the virtual currency block will mostly be ineffective. The Chinese government, however, seem set on blocking online gambling and other online sites, and will keep adding new restrictive measures until they find one that works.