13,000 Kentuckians Freed After Online Gambling Domain Name Ruling

In the end, the state of Kentucky and their governor, Steve Beshear, may have taken on an opponent that was just too overpowering for them. No, it was not lawyers from 141 online gambling sites, but the Constitution of the state they live in.

The Kentucky Court of appeals ruled in favor of the online gambling sites 2-1. What they said in their ruling, however, was more important than the ruling itself.

"Regardless of our views as to the advisability of regulating or criminalizing Internet gambling sites, the general assembly has not seen fit to amend (state law) so as to bring domain names within the definition of gambling devices," said the court.

The ruling allows everybody with an Internet business of any kind to take a deep breath. In addition, the 13,000 people in Kentucky that gamble online can go back to enjoying their leisure time without risk of government intervention.

The one judge who ruled in favor of Beshear and the state was Judge Micheal Caperton. He believed that the Internet domain names were part of a larger mechanism for gambling. That larger mechanism included Internet domain names and computers, so the domain names should be considered gambling devices.

The other two justices did not see things from that perspective. "We are thus convinced that the trial court clearly erred in concluding that the domain names can be construed to be gambling devices," wrote Judge Michelle M. Keller.

Judge Jeff Taylor went farther, claiming that the state could not seek a civil forfeiture, in this case the domain names, when there had been no criminal proceedings.

Another major blow for the state was an additional ruling by the Appeals Court that no further hearings on the issue can be heard by a Franklin Circuit Court Judge.

The state now has two options, they can appeal to the state Supreme Court, or they can rewrite their definition of a gambling device. They have not yet decided what their next move will be.

"We want to take some time to review it (Appeals decision). No decision has yet been made on whether to appeal to the state Supreme Court," said Jay Blanton, Spokesman for Governor Beshear.

January 21, 2009
Posted By Larry Rutherford
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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