Antigua gets OK to become copyright haven

[January 29, 2013]  LONDON (AP) -- The Americans call it piracy. The Antiguans call it justice.

The islands of Antigua and Barbuda are threatening to strip intellectual property protections from American goods in retaliation for a U.S. embargo on the tiny Caribbean nation's online gambling industry.

U.S. officials say that the proposed copyright haven -- whose broad outlines were approved Monday at the World Trade Organization in Geneva -- amounts to "government-authorized piracy."

But Antiguans, who've won a series of legal victories against the U.S. at the international trade body, say they're within their rights so long as Washington maintains its online gambling block.

What such a haven might look like is unclear. There's little in the way of precedent for Antigua's move, and the islands still hope for a negotiated settlement to the dispute.

[Associated Press]

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