Internet Law
Does Kentucky Have Power to Regulate Internet Gambling?
Posted Oct 8, 2008, 05:20 pm CST
By Martha Neil
A court order that requires domain names for 141 websites that offer online gambling to be turned over to government officials should be reversed, counsel for the defendants and trade associations argued yesterday in an unusual Kentucky case.
The domain names have been treated by the court as though they're physical property within the state of Kentucky, reports the Washington Post.
However, the regulations under which the ruling was made was written long before the Internet became a household word and don't mention virtual casinos, says attorney Bret Fausett of Adorno Yoss Alvarado & Smith in Los Angeles. He apparently has no involvement in the case.
"This is a little bit like if the Home Shopping TV network was accused of fraud," he tells the newspaper, "and Kentucky decided to seize the show's cameras and set even though HSN's real location is nowhere near the state."
The state apparently is seeking to create and market its own bricks-and-mortar gambling casinos, and wants to shut down illegal competitors, according to the article.