Kentucky Internet Gambling Case Stayed - Poker News Daily

[I Heart Gambling Online]

Poker News Daily has confirmed that the Kentucky Court of Appeals has granted the request of the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) to stay a ruling handed down by Judge Thomas Wingate last month. Oral arguments will now be heard in a Louisville courtroom on Friday, December 12th at 10:00am ET in front of the Appeals Court. The motion to stay was granted by Judges Caperton, Keller, and Taylor.

On October 16th, Judge Wingate of the Franklin Circuit Court, which makes its home in the state’s capital of Frankfort, upheld the actions by Governor Steve Beshear to seize and potentially forfeit 141 internet gambling domain names, including those belonging to online poker rooms Ultimate Bet, PokerStars, Absolute Poker, Full Tilt Poker, Cake Poker, Doyle’s Room, and Microgaming. The latter has, as of this week, ordered its licensees to cease taking new customers from the United States. Several Microgaming sites have blocked U.S. players entirely and the website Microgaming.com is inaccessible by users in the United States.

Judge Wingate ordered the owners of the 141 domain names to use blocking technology in order to prohibit Kentucky residents from accessing the site. He noted, “Upon a showing of proof that geographic blocks and/or other similar software or devices have been installed and are operational… the Commonwealth is hereby directed to serve prompt written notice… that the Seizure Order, as to the said relevant internet domain name, has been withdrawn or rescinded.” If domain names were actually forfeited, they would be inaccessible by users from around the world, not just those in Kentucky.

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