The country of some 90,000 people has long fought a battle in the World Trade Organization against Washington’s attempts to prevent American residents from playing on overseas poker sites. It says the policy is protectionist, because the U.S. does not ban betting entirely and even allows online wagers on some horse racing. Antigua and Barbuda’s implication is that Washington is therefore favouring domestic land-based casino operators over foreign, online rivals, in defiance of international free-trade pacts. The World Trade Organization has supported the island nation in the past, ruling that other U.S. prosecutions of offshore Internet gambling operators violated international trade agreements. The U.S. had argued that protection of public morality justified them. We cover the latest prosecutions of online operators in detail on p18 this month.