Online Casino Domains Spared
The Kentucky domain name situation has reached a new plateau this week with a
Kentucky Appellate Court’s decision to rule that online casino domain names are
not within the jurisdiction of the state of Kentucky. Online casinos all over
the world warily watched the situation develop as Kentucky State Governor Steve
Beshear pushed for the seizure of 141 internet gambling domain names under the
assertion that domain names could be considered “gambling devices.” The US and
international gambling industries were outraged with the initial court ruling
that sided with Governor Beshear and forced the internet casinos to rapidly
withdraw from the Kentucky market or risk losing the entire domain name for
their site.
The online casino gambling industry, however, isn’t one to let an issue lie
without a fight. Pressure to take the issue to appellate court has proven
effective and the internet industry as a whole has scored a needed win in this
situation. As previous reports have noted, the issue encompassed far more than
just the online casinos and instead spoke to an issue of internet ownership
laws. The appellate court found that “regardless of…the advisability of
regulating or criminalizing Internet gambling sites, the General Assembly has
not seen fit to amend (Kentucky State law) so as to bring domain names within
the definition of gambling devices."
This decision is a huge step forward for the online casino and internet poker
gambling industry in the US market – it means that US states do not have the
right to seize a domain name as a measure of blocking the internet gambling
companies. There has been no official reaction from the Governor nor his aids
and there is no indication at this point as to whether the state intends to take
the issue to the Kentucky Supreme Court. |