Kentucky Appeals Court
Prevents Seizure of Domains
 January
21 - The online gambling world received a 'shot in the arm'
yesterday when the Kentucky Court of Appeals overturned a
draconian ruling made last year by a Franklin County Circuit
Judge, that would have allowed the state of Kentucky to seize
141 online gambling-related domains, most of them based
offshore.
The ruling will come as a huge relief to some of the world's
largest online gambling operations, including Slotocash
and Bodog, who came close to having their domains
confiscated based on the initial ruling made under the premise that
'online gambling domains constituted illegal gambling devices
prohibited by Kentucky law'.
Said John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players
Alliance, following the appeals decision, 'We are very pleased
that the appeals court reversed Judge Wingate's 2008 ruling and
supported many of the arguments that were raised in opposition
to the seizure of the 141 online gambling domains in question.
'This decision today also marks a great victory for the rights
of Kentucky's citizens who enjoy playing poker online as well as
their rights to exercise their freedom of choice when using the
Internet,' he said.
Judge Michelle Keller was one of the
Kentucky Court of Appeals judges who ruled for the majority in
the 2-1 decision.
In a written summation, Judge Keller intimated that it was
beyond incredible to suggest that Internet addresses or domain
names constituted 'illegal gambling devices', and that the trial
court had made an error by concluding that the domain names could
be seen as gambling devices and thus subject to seizure.
This ruling bodes well for the future of online gambling in the
United States, and will hopefully be the first of many moves to
legalize and regulate online gambling in the country.
As George Dubbya returns to Texas to find solace under the slimy rock from
whence he crawled, we welcome in President Barack Obama.
At last, an actual democratically elected president who IS
smarter than a fifth grader, and one who seems to actually care
about the rights, freedoms and lives of Americans, as opposed to
war mongering and oil pillaging.
Perhaps now the world will
start to like America again and forget the last eight years of
hell.
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