Court Date Set in Kentucky Gambling Domain Seizure Case

The Kentucky State Supreme Court announced a date to hear oral arguments in a case that pits Gov. Steven Beshear against a variety of internet gambling and civil rights groups. Commonwealth of Kentucky v. IMEGA, et al will open with oral arguments at 11 a.m. on Thursday October 22, 2009.

This is Beshear’s final appeal after losing in the Kentucky Court of Appeals.

Backstory: In September 2008, Kentucky asked the courts to give it control of over 140 gambling-related domains in an attempt to block Kentucky residents from accessing the sites. A number of poker-related domains were named in the request. The first judge in the matter agreed, saying the sites named had to block access to their properties by Kentucky residents within 30 days or forfeit ownership of the domains. A quick and successful appeal stayed the order, leading to the current hearing in from of the State Supreme Court.

Joining IMEGA in the suit is a varied bunch, including: the Interactive Gaming Council, the Poker Players Alliance, the ACLU, the Center for Democracy & Technology, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Internet Commerce Association, eBay and Network Solutions.

“We’ve been waiting for this for a long time, and we’re going to win again,” said Joe Brennan Jr., iMEGA’s chairman. “From the beginning, Kentucky law has clearly supported our position, and a win in the State Supreme Court will put the final emphasis on that.”

More on the case, including court documents, etc from iMGEA here.