- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
Already defunct websites and a dead operator seem to have escaped the attention of lawyers working on a contingency basis
September 26, 2008 (InfoPowa News) — With more information coming in on the incredible spectacle of the Democrat governor of the U.S. state of Kentucky trying to confiscate domain names from international operators, the Kentucky seizures are increasingly taking on the appearance of a farce.
U.S. media are reporting that the lawyers who put together the domain list and legal argument for Governor Steve Beshear were engaged on outsourced contingency agreements — no win, no pay.
And those same lawyers seem to know little if anything of the online gambling industry, with some reports claiming that as much as 30 percent of the seized domains are out of action and have been for some time. In two cases — High Rollers Lounge.com and Lucky Pyramid Casino.com — the seized domains have been offline for months following the death of the owner-operator, Warren Cloud, who’s group has since been taken over and re-branded by the Virtual Casino group.
Kentucky’s Justice Cabinet Secretary J. Michael Brown showed his lack of knowledge when he said the state did not shut down the sites. “At this point in time, I don’t know why they are shut down, but it’s not pursuant to our actions,” he said. The most inexperienced online player-detective could have sussed the position out with a little elementary digging.
Today’s hearing, in which Judge Wingate will decide whether the seizures are to be made permanent, is likely to be a crowded affair, as a number of interested parties are sending high-powered legal teams to object to the Kentucky action.
The freedom of the Internet pressure group iMEGA has already announced that it is sending a top legal team to object, as has Go Daddy, a domain registrar impacted by the Kentucky moves. GoDaddy.com has been contacted by companies that registered some of the domain names in question, and they plan to file an objection to the court order, said Christine Jones, GoDaddy.com’s general counsel, in a statement.
The non-profit Internet Commerce Association, which represents domain-name investors and developers, has called the move a “dangerous precedent” in a statement on its website. “It appears that there may be no statutory basis for this unprecedented action, that Kentucky may lack sufficient jurisdictional grounds, and that it also may violate the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution,” association President Jeremiah Johnston said in a statement.
Justice Cabinet Secretary J. Michael Brown expects some heavy opposition, and revealed overnight that the hearing, which was originally set for Thursday but postponed a further 24 hours, was rescheduled to allow defendants more time to find local attorneys.
If Judge Wingate orders the domain names to be forfeited to the state on Friday afternoon, Kentucky will notify registrars of the order and take control of the at present only temporarily seized domain names, “subject to anybody filing some sort of objection.”
Brown said the state of Kentucky’s strategy in seizing the domains is to force online gambling operators into settlement talks, compelling them to block Kentucky users from their websites and pay damages in exchange for the state returning control of the sites to them. If they refuse, Kentucky could block access to the sites by users across the world, Brown claimed.
But that strategy could backfire and lead to extensive litigation. Andrew Allemann, a domain-name industry expert from Texas, said that opposition could come from freedom of speech and Internet protagonists and not just the online gambling industry.
“I’d say (the governor) has underestimated the expense of this battle, and he’s also underestimated the backlash,” he said. Allemann expressed serious doubts that Governor Beshear will ultimately be successful in his lawsuit, although he acknowledged that serious damage to business could be inflicted if websites are shut down even temporarily or have to be re-branded and re-marketed.
In another surprising revelation, Governor Beshear’s spokesman Jay Blanton said private attorneys were engaged to work the case for the state on a contingency basis of no win, no pay.
Pure blackmail. Modern day Piracy.
Its a scary thought when a state :
“If they refuse, Kentucky could block access to the sites by users across the world, Brown claimed.”I hope it doesn’t get to a stage where ICANN is forced to bend to any governments will.
If it looks like a farce, smells like a farce, probably is a farce.
Hello All:
I feel that Governor Steven Beshear of Kentucky is nothing but a two faced hypocrite. It is all right to allow land based casinos that create more problems than online casinos to be in business but that is okay. It seems to me there are more problems with addictive gambling at land based casinos especially when most land based casinos serve alcohol to their patrons. I wonder if the Governor is smart enough to realize this or is he another hillbilly hick giving the great state of Kentucky a bad name. As well it is okay for the state of Kentucky to make money in taxes from land based casinos as well as from horse racing, but then that makes Governor Steven Beshear nothing but a two face hypocrite in my opinion.
Maybe Governor Beshear will be flushed down the toilet:flush: in the next state election.
Best regards,
bado463
If it looks like a farce, smells like a farce, probably is a farce.
I believe it’s a Golden Palace trick
Sorry, bado463 … but it seems that the people of Kentucky approve of Gov. Beshear’s actions so far. A poll today says that he’s enjoying a 60% approval rating, which is pretty high for an American politician: http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080930/NEWS01/809300325. The poll was taken last week, though, so it could easily change if this thing drags out over the course of a few months, which it very well may do.
Unofficially, I believe that Gov. Beshear’s actions are gestures to Kentucky’s huge horse racing interests. I don’t think it’s going to be successful, and I think that maybe they know it won’t be successful, but it’s the sort of “moral” crusade that a lot of U.S. voters gobble up.
It’s too bad, too. Kentucky really is a beautiful state with some really friendly people, but all this is just going to increase its reputation as some kind of unsophisticated backwater.
sure its for the horses.
and that’s also why the high rating of approval. That whole state pushes the horses and anything that’s good for them is going to be good for the state’s opinion of that politician.
pretty simple really and no big surprise he has a big approval rating. I’d be surprised otherwise.
@Dominique 177828 wrote:
Pure blackmail. Modern day Piracy.
Bang on. Just a mechanism to extort money and I’d be amazed if it’s allowed to happen. If it dies, ICANN have a lot to answer for and every industry is then open to this fraud.
Quick question. Is the governor a Democrate or a screwed Republican?
This is old but I have to check the news today so got nothing better else to do. Just because he has a high approval rating that doesn’t have anything to do with this case or the people of Kentucky supporting this case. I believe his popularity will drop once more media starts to cover this and backlash occurs. An example would be angry poker players in KY, they would go out of their way to make sure he doesn’t get in and it’s a group that would make a lot of noise.
NathanCAP;178355 wrote:Sorry, bado463 … but it seems that the people of Kentucky approve of Gov. Beshear’s actions so far. A poll today says that he’s enjoying a 60% approval rating, which is pretty high for an American politician: http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080930/NEWS01/809300325. The poll was taken last week, though, so it could easily change if this thing drags out over the course of a few months, which it very well may do.BeShear is a Democrat, believe it or not. This is real, and should not be taken lightly. I remember all those that doubted that UIGEA would ever get signed into law….don’t forget the past. Anyway, blow-by-blow can be read at:
Thanks or pointing that out. I new Reid was in the pocket for the Vegas casinos and Nancy was in the pocket for the Indian casinos, but I did not know aout the Kentucy governor. I thought that it was just the right wing Republicans that were trying to be me out of business!
