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Interesting development with the state of Kentucky banning online gambling. In case you have not heard of this new state strategy, the state of Kentucky courts have ruled that online wagering poker room and casinos must block access to residents of their state by November 17th or the state will confiscate their url. Many of the biggest online gambling URLs in the world were targeted by the state for forfeiture. These URLs included fulltiltpoker.com, pokerstars.com, ultimatebet.com and doylesroom.com.
Here is what the judge ordered in regards to the 141 Domain Names on the states list for confiscation:
The defendants will have 30 days (from October 16th, 2008) to install geographic blocks that prevent access by residents of Kentucky. They will then have to prove to the Court that the blocks are "operational"and working properly by blocking access. Once the Court has been satisfied that residents of Kentucky can no longer access the site, the URL will be "relieved" from the effects of the Seizure Order. Kentucky will then serve written notice to the domain name registrar of the URL that has gained compliance that the Seizure Order has been withdrawn. The final hearing for the forfeiture is set for November 17th, 2008.
Most of the websites that own domains listed in the Seizure Order have indicated that they are going to ignore the court ruling. Pokerstars.com, for instance, have their domain with a foreign registrar and their registrar publicly stated that they are going to ignore the ruling. Other online wagering websites have their domains with registrars such as Godaddy.comwho has indicated that they will comply with the Court's ruling. Sites such as Ultimatebet.com and Doylesroom.com will be seized on November 17th unless those two companies can show that they have indeed been able to successfully blocked the residents of the state of Kentucky.
It is unknown what actions website hosts such as Network Solutions will take at this point. This all sounds simple, all these sites have to do is to demonstrate to the court that they have blocked access to residents of Kentucky and go on their way with regular business. The problem arises with the owners of the domains who will have to establish to the court somehow that they have blocked all access to residents of the state of Kentucky. Most of these website owners do not step foot within the United States for fear of being arrested, so this will be a problem. Furthermore, many other states will probably do the same now that the ruling was upheld. The news of this ruling will spread throughout the mainstream media because it is an issue that will possibly end up influencing many different online and land based industries. Some of the companies involved (Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker) will simply ignore the Kentucky court's ruling. Some of the companies will be forced to set up alternative domain names (with foreign registrars) and redirect traffic to the new domains. By redirecting a URL, the original domain is hidden within a new URL. How will these company executives or lawyers be able to show up in court to prove that they have blocked the residents of Kentucky from accessing their domain without facing immediate arrest in the first place? This is a major disappointing ruling for the online poker community, but I am sure that the legal documents are already being written up to appeal this decision. The problem is that the appeal process takes a lot of time. So, in the meantime, the residents of Kentucky can no longer play at most online poker rooms or online casinos.
Once again the judge stated that this measure is necessary to protect the residents of their state. They further state that online poker is strictly a game of luck, and that the hand you have is the only determining factor in whether you win or lose. Now any serious poker player knows that this simply is not true. It amazes me that the state feels the need to protect its citizens from these websites, yet an exemption allows for state run horse racing and lotteries to continue online. It seems that as long as the state has an economic interest in the wagering, it is fine for their citizens to wager online.
I can see this spreading quickly through the states now. I will keep you posted to any developments.
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