Kentucky Court hearing arguments in gambling domain case
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The story so far: Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear files a suit seeking to have control of 141 gambling-related domains seized by the state. Beshear outlined his logic in the statement that announced the suit:
“Unlicensed, unregulated, illegal Internet gambling poses a tremendous threat to the citizens of the Commonwealth because of its ease, availability and anonymity,” said Beshear.
“The owners and operators of these illegal sites prey on Kentucky citizens, including our youth, and deprive the Commonwealth of millions of dollars in revenue. It’s an underworld wrought with scams and schemes.”
A collection of groups voice opposition to Beshear’s actions on a variety of grounds, running the gamut from free speech issues to the obvious interests of the online gambling lobby. Today, a motion to dismiss the suit is being heard in a Kentucky court. Gambling911 is reportedly live blogging from the hearing, and you can read that coverage here. Expect jurisdiction to be a key issue.
Some reports are speculating that a handful of the domain names cited in the suit have already been seized, although all sites on the list are running normally as of this writing. The rumor mill has pegged DoylesRoom.com, UltimateBet.com and CakePoker.com, among others, as the domains already handed over to the court by GoDaddy, the registrant for all three domains.
GoDaddy is based in the United States.
The Poker Player’s Alliance has a complete collection of media on the issue that you can find here. You can expect forthcoming statements from iMEGA, a lobbying group behind the motion to dismiss, at their webpage here.
A ruling is expected within seven days.
We’ll update as events warrant.
