Governor Steve Beshear Fucked Up
Governor Steve Beshear may legally seize the domain names of online gambling sites as illegal businesses. Among the 141 websites listed are most of the major poker rooms, including PokerStars.com, FullTiltPoker.com, DoylesRoom.com, and CakePoker.com. Steve Beshear has campaigned as a pro-gambling candidate, but defending the profitability of his state’s horse racing industry is apparently more important than philosophical consistency. Because Internet poker sites don’t grace Kentucky with revenue, Beshear wants to shut them down -Â a radically protectionist policy which may cause harm for the U.S. as it defends itself against charges by European nations of having violated free trade agreements. John Pappas of the Poker Players Alliance released a statement decrying Beshear’s action as an offense not only to poker players but to those who reject forcible attempts to censor the Internet. Pappas rejects Beshear’s assertions that online poker is illegal in Kentucky and that the state suffers from lack of taxable revenue. 
John Pappas explained that Internet poker is legal by Kentucky law, and that the state has made the decision not to regulate and tax the industry, although there is regulation in the jurisdiction of origination. Pappas also suggested if the issues Beshear railed against were truly his concern, he would be better served to support Barney Frank’s legislation to federally regulate and tax online gambling.