Hearing Sets Back Kentucky’s Legal Assault on Domain Names

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Last Thursday Kentucky governor Steve Beshear arranged a court-ordered seizure of 141 domain names with connections to online gambling. A hearing that was held in Frankfort, Kentucky halted the forfeiture of the domain names, pending the result of another hearing scheduled for early October, possibly the 6th or 7th. One owner representing two of the sites agreed to discontinue operations within Kentucky, but the remaining owners are digging in for the legal fight.

Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate granted the continuance to allow the defendants’ attorneys enough time to prepare their legal briefs, saying the case was “very complex.” To this point the defense attorneys have been refusing to identify the names of the site owners, but Judge Wingate told them that they will eventually have to reveal the names.

The case has not gone unnoticed by either the Poker Players Alliance or the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association, as both have filed friend of the court briefs to make sure the judge is informed in his decisions.

In the PPA statement that was issued after the hearing PPA Executive Director John Pappas communicated the PPA’s pleasure that all sides of the case will be heard, not just the side presented by “the state and its hired gun class-action attorneys.”

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