Antigua gets OK to become copyright haven

(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.