Kentucky Appeals Court Says No to Domain Seizure

Governor Steve Beshear of Kentucky may not seize the domain names of 141 gambling sites, according to the latest ruling by a Kentucky Appeals Court.

In a 2:1 majority, the court overturned the ruling of a lower court and said that domain names do not constitute ‘gambling devices.’

“It stretches credulity to conclude that a series of numbers, or Internet addresses, can be said to constitute a 'machine or any mechanical or other device…designed and manufactured primarily for use in connection with gambling,” wrote Judge Michelle Keller.

“We are thus convinced that the trial court clearly erred in concluding that the domain names can be construed to be gambling devices subject to forfeiture.” The news was welcomed by gambling and non gambling groups alike.

We've written about the Kentucky domain case in a few of our gambling news reports and discussed the disregard to sense that Steve Beshear seemed to employ when taking the case to court.  Should this have gone ahead, and the domains were confiscated, then the whole internet system, as it is now, would have been up for grabs by whomever decided it was their turn.

Would the US have tried to take all of Russia or Chinas political sites away from them because it's a democratic country and hence dictatorship is illegal.  The result would have been far-reaching and it's nice to see, for once, the Kentucky and US courts using common sense when making a ruling.

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