Pirates coming back to the Caribbean

Not talking about the recent announcement of a fifth “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie here. Nor am I referring to the likes of Henry Morgan or Blackbeard.

This pirate tale is the latest in the ongoing trade dispute between Antigua and the United States.

Back in 2007 the World Trade Organization sided with Antigua & Barbuda in their claim that US online gambling policy was in violation of international trade agreements. They (the WTO) further ruled that Antigua could impose trade sanctions on the US to the value of $21 million annually.

One of the problems with this ruling from Antigua’s point of view (other than $21 million being substantially less than the $3 billion they were seeking), is that trade sanctions in the form of tariffs, embargoes, quotas or the like imposed by a country importing two-fifths-of -bugger-all from the US aren’t going to amount to much. Certainly not the kind of dollars Antigua and Barbuda believe they are entitled to for lost online gambling revenues.

So, since 2007 Antigua’s government have been seeking a settlement from the US and threatening some form of retaliatory action if a suitable settlement could not be reached.

No settlement has been reached. Now Antigua Barbuda have revealed their plan of action and this is where we get to Caribbean piracy.

The plan is to set up a government sanctioned ‘warez’ site. Users will be able to download all kinds of intellectual property of US origin  – music, movies, software etc, without the usual copyright fees being paid to the IP owners.

According to BitTorrent site TorrentFreak, the soon to be launched website will be open to customers worldwide, not just residents of the small Caribbean nation.

The big losers here will of course be Hollywood film studios, music studios and software companies whose products will plundered like Spanish Galleons filled with gold.

I guess Antigua are hoping these guys in turn will exert some lobby pressure on Washington to bring an end to the piracy by way of a settlement or a gambling policy change. Probably a bit hopeful here. Nkenge Harmon, a spokeswoman for the US Trade Representative’s office has warned that any government authorized theft of intellectual property would undermine chances for a settlement…which Antigua would argue wasn’t going to happen anyway.

Arrrgh!