Kentucky Case Moves One Step Ahead 

Gambling News - June 21, 2009 - Written by Renee

The state of Kentucky had gone in appeal to the state Supreme Court against the decision of the Court of Appeals, which had gone in favor of iMEGA and the domain name holders. Late last month iMEGA had filed its brief. On June 18 the attorneys for Kentucky filed their response.

The response of the state centers on two issues. It asks the court to consider the intent of the legislation and not get caught in the literal interpretation of the wording of the law. It also cites the Washington state verdict against Lee Rousso and online poker, in which the court ruled that need to protect the citizens of the state took precedence over inter state commerce.  

The response was due on June 17, but was filed one day late. When asked for the reasons for the delay the state’s attorneys said that they had calculated the due date as June 18. In any event with 141 domain name holders involved the work needed was voluminous.  

The court will now go through the briefs filed by both parties and ascertain whether there is a fit case for further judicial review. If the court decides that no further review is needed then it will dismiss the state of Kentucky’s appeal and the order of the Court of Appeals will stand. That would mean that the domain names cannot be seized. If the court decides that further review is called for and that it needs to hear out the two parties then it will set a date for the hearing.