Kentucky Gambling Domains Case

A Franklin County Circuit Court Judge has granted a one week continuance in the Kentucky internet gambling domains case to enable lawyers on both sides to file written arguments with the court. The case will now be heard on Tuesday 7th October. More than twenty lawyers representing the domain owners were present at the hearing on Friday, however Judge Thomas Wingate said that in order to grant them standing before the court, they must first identify the owners of the domains which they represent. Robert Foote - an attorney representing the state, told Wingate, no one has standing to appear before the court until a person or corporation is named. *A domain name has no right to have a lawyer, only a corporation or person can have a lawyer, and no one here is going to tell you they represent anyone,* he added. The Interactive Gaming Council and iMEGA, who were both present at the hearing, are expected to be granted standing before the court because they represent members affected by the case. *I have a good feeling about our motion,* said Edward Leyden, president of iMEGA, after Fridays hearing. *Judge Wingate is a very straight forward, common sense judge and a thoughtful guy so we are in good hands.* John Pappas of the Poker Players Alliance said: *The PPA is pleased that the court decided to allow for a full review of this case, including arguments from both sides. Until this point, the state and its hired gun class-action attorneys have acted in an ex parte fashion only representing one side of the argument to the court.* “Our objective is not to shut these sites down worldwide,” said Jennifer Brislin, spokeswoman for the Kentucky Justice Cabinet. *Our goal is to have these Internet gambling sites blocked in Kentucky.* Brislin said the state wanted to see access to these sites cut off for its citizens, and for financial damages to be paid by the online gaming operators to compensate the state for lost revenue. The state’s argument centres on a 1974 Kentucky law which empowers it to seize illegal gambling devices. The state has argued that online gambling domain names represent such an illegal gambling device.