The World Trade Organization ruled in April in a case brought by the tiny island nation of Antigua that the United States cannot block other countries from offering Internet gambling to U.S. residents, even if potential players live in Utah and Hawaii, where all gambling is outlawed.

Antigua went to the WTO claiming America is in violation of a trade agreement where the United States had in 1993 signed off on cross-border supply of gambling and betting services. Utah's prohibition against gambling was a central part of Antiqua's argument.

With the WTO ruling, Utah could find itself legally defenseless to stop Internet gambling within its borders.

"Antigua has no business trying to write Utah's gambling laws," Shurtleff said when the attorneys general letter was released. "The trade representative needs to know that we have too much at stake to remain silent."

The attorneys general are urging Portman to withdraw gambling from the trade agreement because it could throw into chaos all gambling regulations pertaining to casinos, slot machines, state lotteries and Indian gaming rights.

Shurtleff wrote, "We believe that under our constitutional system of federalism, states should continue to have the flexibility and sovereign authority to determine whether and under what conditions gambling occurs within their borders, without such decisions being second-guessed by WTO tribunals."

If there is a silver lining to the WTO ruling, it is that a clerical error by attorneys for Antigua failed to spell out Utah's law in the legal paperwork. So the WTO refused to rule directly on the Utah law, even though it left open the possibility that Utah's prohibition could be wrapped into the larger WTO ruling.

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has assured states they can continue to regulate gambling through a "morals exception" in the WTO agreement. But that interpretation could also be subject to WTO challenge.

Changing values?

While opposition to gambling in Utah appears strong, pollster Jones, who conducts surveys for the Deseret Morning News and other organizations, suggests that such opposition may have weakened over time.

"Utahns have always opposed gambling, but a strong element would like to legalize it — especially if it creates funds that go to education," he said.

While the new poll shows 30 percent of Utahns now favor legalization of gambling, Jones said he could find no poll that asked that same question in the past for comparison. However, from his years of polling, "I feel there is a strong move toward legalization. I wish I had exact percentages (to show the change), but I don't."

Also, the new poll suggests that a majority of Utahns actually believe gambling can be an acceptable activity — at least for others, if not themselves.

The poll shows that a minority of Utahns — 43 percent — believe "gambling is an unacceptable activity because of its potential harms."

Among the majority that said it could be acceptable, 38 percent said "gambling is an acceptable form of entertainment that could present danger if not closely controlled personally," 11 percent said "it is acceptable for others but not for me," and 4 percent said gambling is a harmless form of entertainment."

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Contributing: Jerry D. Spangler

E-mail: lee@desnews.com