Kentucky Domain Name Case Update

January 28, 2011 | News Category: Gaming Law

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The judge for the Kentucky online gambling domain name case has not yet reached a conclusion. The Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) recently reported that lawyers for both sides have filed briefs in the Franklin County Circuit Court in Kentucky.

The case had already progressed to higher courts, however, it was returned to the court of the original circuit court judge because of the issues of legal standing. Judge Thomas Wingate is now expected to make the decision as to whether iMEGA and some other trade associations have the legal standing necessary to represent many of the online gambling domain name owners or not. Another of the trade associations that is representing some of the domain name owners is the Interactive Gaming Council (IGC), which is based in Vancouver, Canada.

Counsel for iMEGA, Jon Fleischaker, explained that the original accusation that was leveled at all the online gambling domain names when they were accused of being 'gambling devices' was not correct according to the legal definition.

Fleishchaker said: "The idea that the Commonwealth may proceed civilly against Internet domain names on the theory that they meet the criminal statutory definition of 'gambling devices' is simply not supported by the law." He continued: "This action (by the Commonwealth) is novel for the very reason that it is wrong. There's no authority for it."

Joe Brennan Jr., iMEGA's chairman noted that it seems that the strategy that has been used by the Commonwealth of Kentucky's attorneys is simply one that will spend the court's time "devoting page after page to ad hominem attacks." He goes on to explain that they simply do not seem to have a reasoned argument, so "calling us 'bad people' is going to be their strategy."

One does wonder, if the lawyers for the State of Kentucky were not working for a contingency fee, whether they would still be pursuing this case. They simply seem to have adopted a strategy that does not seem to have much to do with legality, but with simply attacking the other parties.

Brennan continued: "The irony is they've accused our members of trying to avoid the law, yet it was the Commonwealth that used a secret, ex parte hearing to have the rights to the domain names seized, while providing no notice to the rights holders, and no opportunity for them to be represented by counsel."

It is difficult to guess the outcome of the judge's decision, since Judge Thomas Wingate is the same judge who originally issued the seizure order on behalf of the State of Kentucky.