Kentucky SC sides with state in seizure case

[The Buzz]

In what constitutes breaking news, the Kentucky Supreme Court has ruled against the owners of 141 seized Internet gambling domain names, charging that the principal parties involved do not have standing.

The case has been in the system for over a year, with many twists and turns. Poker News Daily has a good write-up of the situation:

http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/kentuc...ing-case-9152/

Casino City has a press release from the PPA distributed shortly after the ruling:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- The Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the leading poker grassroots advocacy group with more than one million members nationwide and more than 16,000 members in Kentucky, today released the following statement by PPA Executive Director John Pappas on the Kentucky Supreme Court ruling on the Commonwealth's appeal regarding its seizure of 141 internet gaming sites, including several of the leading sites where enthusiasts test their poker skills.

"The PPA understands the technical nature of the decision issued today by the Kentucky Supreme Court and remains confident that, once that issue is cured, the Supreme Court will address the compelling merits of the arguments in support of the Court of Appeals decision prohibiting the Commonwealth's seizure of 141 internet gaming sites.

"There are fundamental freedoms at stake in this case, not only the freedom of poker players in Kentucky and globally, but Internet freedom across the globe. The Commonwealth's effort at such a bold, broad and, we believe, unlawful seizure sets a dangerous precedent for anyone who uses the Internet.

"The PPA and its members continue to encourage Kentucky officials to work with us to implement common-sense licensing and regulation of online poker that will protect consumers and create a much needed revenue stream for the Commonwealth."

[nitro]

The PPA and its members continue to encourage Kentucky officials to work with us to implement common-sense licensing and regulation of online poker that will protect consumers and create a much needed revenue stream for the Commonwealth.

Paying taxes should be considered an illegal activity and not common sense!

[CityGuard]

To expand on the PPA release, the Court did not rule on the issue of whether domain names could be considered gambling devices. Rather, the court rules on whether the attorneys who were arguing the case were really representing people or companies that would be directly harmed by the forfeiture.

Below I've tried to give my understanding after reading the decision, but I should note that I don't have any legal training. A PDF of the decision is available on the APCW website at:
www.apcw.org/legal-documents/Kentucky_Supreme_Court_3_18_10.pdf.


The outcome basically hinged on two things:
First, the domain names can not defend themselves. The defense needs to be raised by a person or company, not by property.
Second, in order for an association to act on behalf of the domain owners or registrants, the association must identify at least one of the owners in order to establish concrete evidence that they're representing a person or company that would suffer actual harm.

The court also specifically said that if this procedural issue was resolved that either the court below it (the appellate court) or the Kentucky Supreme Court itself would be able to hear the arguments and decide on the main issues at hand rather than the procedural issues.

Check out the last two pages of the PDF -- it lists a number of groups that were concerned about the possible precedent and filed supporting arguments. There are some heavy hitters in there coming from outside the gambling sector -- eBay, Network Solutions, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Center for Democracy and Technology, ACLU of Kentucky, among others.

[nitro]

To expand on the court's decision - it's about tax money.