Kentucky Judge orders seizure of gambling sites DNS

From "The Register.com" Legal pages... Full article: Kentucky judge OKs 141-site online casino land grab • The Register

A Kentucky judge has upheld that state's seizure of some of the world's most popular online casino domain names, ruling they constitute a "gambling device" that is subject to Kentucky's anti-gambling laws.

Last week's ruling by Franklin County Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate applies to absolutepoker.com, ultimatebet.com, and 139 other domain names accused of illegally offering gambling opportunities to Kentucky residents. Wingate said he had legal standing to seize ownership of the domain names even though few if any of the owners are located in the state, an element the opponents argued was necessary for the seizure to be upheld.

I was beginning to wonder when something like this was going to start happening.......ubets been back with americans almost only six months after americans were outlawed.........

This whole thing is an absolute joke. In case anyone wants the short story it basically amounts to this :

Kentucky is a big gambling state which generates a lot of revenue through horse track betting. Their contention is that online gambling in some way interferes with people gambling at the track, therefore they want to abolish it. The governor or a congressman or some other moron has actually flat out said this is why they are doing it.

There's no need to worry though, as there's no way this kind of crap will fly.

This is something that will open a can of worms that they will wish they never did. If they seize these names what is to stop any country from seizing the domain names such as us.gov or FBI.gov on the grounds that they are a terroristic entity? A country could seize microsoft.com on the grounds that it unfairly inhibits that country's growing internet business. You can see where this will go if left to go the path they are thinking of going. Hopefully someone will see beyond their own state and realize what can happen.

>>>>>>More Problems for us US players

That is what i found and at best they can only block KY from going on there...
And your right bubbasbestbaba this justed opened a can of worms that KY started...

Oh yeah what about the copyrights they have on the names, so all in all they can sue KY under the copyright laws.

Pffft to Kentucky, aside from the derby, the only other good thing that came from there was fried chicken.


I know, makes absolutely no sense...............mmmmmmmmm, chicken

i think i'm going to buy a small island and establish my own country, ban search engines from being used, get a court order to seize google, and swim in my giant vat of money.

sounds like a bona fide plan if retarded kentuckian (or w/e) law is anything to go by imo.

let me know when you get that country of yours, ill move out of the usa imediately,,, your lucky you dont live here chris, we have no rights anymore, its a shame were old enough to vote or go to war but cant play poker,, im really sick of the USA telling adults what to do, its sad, really sad, buck

What is to stop them? The fact that the U.S. controls domain-name registry, for one. Though this will accelerate the movement for alternative intertubes that the U.S. does not control.