Don't bet on Antigua bossing the U.S. around, though

It's the kind of case that international organization experts and international law experts dream about: The island nation of Antigua (pop. 70,000) takes on the United States in a WTO lawsuit - and wins.

Unfortunately, Antigua only wins the right to "impose" sanctions on the U.S., which would hurt the former more than the latter. But the tiny country says it might permit its citizens to ignore U.S. copyright laws as a retaliatory measure instead. That would heat things up a bit.

Skeptics (realists, if you will) might be inclined to point out that since the U.S. can afford to simply ignore the WTO ruling, it just shows that international organizations are meaningless. Fans of international organizations would suggest that the U.S. disregard for international law sets a bad example when the U.S. wants others (rogue states, anyone?) to follow international law.

I first heard about this case on NPR.