Kentucky gambling domains

14-05-2009

The Kentucky Court of Appeals has struck down a Franklin Circuit Court Judge’s order seizing 141 Internet gambling domain names. The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) spearheaded a widespread protest against the order, which was seen as highly inimical to Internet freedom as a whole. The impugned ruling by Judge Wingate of Kentucky had come last Fall, and reinforced the attempt by State Governor Beshear and Secretary Brown to seize the domain names in a bid to prevent the citizens of the State from playing poker online.

A great gambling victory, says PPA Executive Director

Hailing the recent ruling by the Court of Appeals, PPA Executive Director John Pappas said it was a tremendous victory for the Association and the poker loving people of Kentucky. He added that the verdict vindicated PPA’s stand on the matter.

Work on gambling regulation, taxes, suggests Muny

PPA’s Director for Kentucky, Rich Muny, hoped that the verdict from the Court of Appeals would deter the State from pursuing its earlier course of action, and instead, encourage authorities to focus their efforts on working out taxes on poker players and regularising play. This would result in mutual benefit for the State and the players, he said. He further pointed out that rather than spending money on litigation, online poker could be turned into a revenue source for the exchequer.

Many voices raised against order

Apart from the PPA, ACLU of Kentucky and the Electronic Frontier Foundation were among the several independent bodies which submitted detailed arguments to the Court of Appeals against the ruling by the Franklin Circuit Court.

What will Governor Behsear do next?

Though the Appellate Court’s ruling is certainly a significant victory for the online gaming business, it remains to be seen whether Governor Beshear will accept the verdict or decide to appeal against it. If he remains unconvinced by the reversal of the Circuit Court’s ruling, he might even choose to try some other means to the same end.