Business
Antigua & Barbuda could hit U.S. with copyright-free downloads in trade sanctions
The United States should be worried about other WTO members following Antigua & Barbuda and using the same tactic to get their way in trade disputes, Mendel said.
“If they aren’t worried enough about Antigua & Barbuda they should be worried about someone else coming along. If we do something inventive that could pose a lot of problems for intellectual property holders, if we create that precedent, the consequences could be enormous,” he said.
“With Antigua, it’s US$21 million. Maybe with China it’s going to be US$21 billion,” said Mendel.
“One of the messages we want to get across is that the WTO was sold to smaller countries as a level playing field and a way for them to expand the reach of commerce, subject to a set of rules that apply to everybody. I think more than anything else this case is about fairness. The WTO is supposed to be fair.”
