18 Oct 08

Kentucky Seizes Domains

A more than dubious sentence took place a few days ago in Kentucky. According to it, the US state is allowed to seize over 140 .com domains from online casinos which offer their services in Kentucky.

The respective sites now have time until November 17th to discontinue their online offer in Kentucky, otherwise the domains will be seized. It is clear that the judge did not only take flak from the online casinos.

For instance, the Internet Commerce Association (ICA) announced on its homepage how "extremely disappointed [they are] in the decision issued by the Court this afternoon. This is a dangerous decision not just for domain name investors and developers but for all who value commerce and free speech on the Internet."

Furthermore, the ICA argued that the Court wrongfully classifies a domain as an item which could be seized. However, all the criticism was wasted on the judge who mainly argued that poker is an illegal gambling game according to the law, which has to be stopped.

The sentence is probably unique so far, and it isn't sure yet if it will hold before the next higher Court. After all, the US state Kentucky thus interferes in the international domain register.

How it continues in the case Kentucky versus 141 domains the future will show. In any case, the online casinos will not accept the decision and already announced an appeal.