Following months of legal wrangling, American Internet trade association is ‘happy’ following its Appeals Court triumph.
Tuesday 27th January 2009
In America, the Interactive Media Entertainment And Gaming Association (iMEGA) has announced that is pleased that the Kentucky Appeals Court in Louisville ruled in its favour last week.
The three-Judge panel ruled in its favour by a two-to-one margin on Tuesday, overturning an earlier ruling by Judge Thomas Wingate of the lower Kentucky Circuit Court. The decision ended months of legal action initiated by Governor Steve Beshear last year over whether the southern state had the authority to seize up to 141 domain names associated with online gambling while at the same time permitting Kentuckians to continue placing Internet bets on horse races.
In her majority decision, Judge Michelle Keller found that the domain names in question, which included AbsolutePoker.com, BodogLife.com, CakePoker.com, DoylesRoom.com, FullTiltPoker.com and PokerStars.com, had never been classified as illegal gambling devices under Kentucky law, as was claimed, meaning that the state could not rightfully proceed with the seizures.
“This decision confirms why we went the way we did with the suit,” said Jon Fleischaker, an attorney for iMEGA.
“We knew when we brought this to the Court Of Appeals that we would get justice for iMEGA and the domain names in Kentucky.”
The Court had heard oral arguments in mid-December where Fleischaker had argued that the Internet domain names were no more than ‘billboards’ for the websites and not mechanisms for gambling. He had also contended that the state’s attorneys could not fashion a civil law remedy through a criminal statue to justify the seizure of the domain names.
“We are very happy with the Court’s ruling today,” said Joe Brennan, Chairman for iMEGA.
“The judges clearly agreed with our interpretation of the law and, thankfully, this reverses what would have been a terrible precedent for our country and the Internet.”
In America, the Interactive Media Entertainment And Gaming Association (iMEGA) has announced that is pleased that the Kentucky Appeals Court in Louisville ruled in its favour last week.
The three-Judge panel ruled in its favour by a two-to-one margin on Tuesday, overturning an earlier ruling by Judge Thomas Wingate of the lower Kentucky Circuit Court. The decision ended months of legal action initiated by Governor Steve Beshear last year over whether the southern state had the authority to seize up to 141 domain names associated with online gambling while at the same time permitting Kentuckians to continue placing Internet bets on horse races.
In her majority decision, Judge Michelle Keller found that the domain names in question, which included AbsolutePoker.com, BodogLife.com, CakePoker.com, DoylesRoom.com, FullTiltPoker.com and PokerStars.com, had never been classified as illegal gambling devices under Kentucky law, as was claimed, meaning that the state could not rightfully proceed with the seizures.
“This decision confirms why we went the way we did with the suit,” said Jon Fleischaker, an attorney for iMEGA.
“We knew when we brought this to the Court Of Appeals that we would get justice for iMEGA and the domain names in Kentucky.”
The Court had heard oral arguments in mid-December where Fleischaker had argued that the Internet domain names were no more than ‘billboards’ for the websites and not mechanisms for gambling. He had also contended that the state’s attorneys could not fashion a civil law remedy through a criminal statue to justify the seizure of the domain names.
“We are very happy with the Court’s ruling today,” said Joe Brennan, Chairman for iMEGA.
“The judges clearly agreed with our interpretation of the law and, thankfully, this reverses what would have been a terrible precedent for our country and the Internet.”