Non-profit group is asking the state’s Court of Appeals to overturn Judge Thomas Wingate’s decision.
Thursday 30th October 2008
In America, the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) has petitioned the Kentucky Court of Appeals for a writ of mandamus in order to block last week’s ruling by Judge Thomas Wingate of Franklin Circuit Court.
On October 16, Judge Wingate ruled that the state had the right to pursue a civil case against 141 online gambling sites including AbsolutePoker.com, BodogLife.com, CakePoker.com, DoylesRoom.com, FullTiltPoker.com and PokerStars.com. If successful at a subsequent trial that is due to begin on November 17, the southern American state could seize the domain names and effectively close the sites.
IMEGA is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Washington, DC, and has asked the Court of Appeals to intercede due to the lower court’s lack of jurisdiction over the domain names because Kentucky residents own or manage none of the names. It also alleges serious constitutional violations by the lower court and has asked the higher body to investigate.
“Since the lower court elected to ignore Kentucky law and instead reached back to a law the current one supplanted to find a rationale justifying these seizures, we have no choice but to go to the Court of Appeals,” said Joe Brennan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for iMEGA.
“This errant ruling affects far more than Kentucky and the domain names currently at risk. If this is allowed to stand, you’ll see other actions like this targeting other segments of Internet media at the state and local level both here and abroad.”
In America, the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) has petitioned the Kentucky Court of Appeals for a writ of mandamus in order to block last week’s ruling by Judge Thomas Wingate of Franklin Circuit Court.
On October 16, Judge Wingate ruled that the state had the right to pursue a civil case against 141 online gambling sites including AbsolutePoker.com, BodogLife.com, CakePoker.com, DoylesRoom.com, FullTiltPoker.com and PokerStars.com. If successful at a subsequent trial that is due to begin on November 17, the southern American state could seize the domain names and effectively close the sites.
IMEGA is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Washington, DC, and has asked the Court of Appeals to intercede due to the lower court’s lack of jurisdiction over the domain names because Kentucky residents own or manage none of the names. It also alleges serious constitutional violations by the lower court and has asked the higher body to investigate.
“Since the lower court elected to ignore Kentucky law and instead reached back to a law the current one supplanted to find a rationale justifying these seizures, we have no choice but to go to the Court of Appeals,” said Joe Brennan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for iMEGA.
“This errant ruling affects far more than Kentucky and the domain names currently at risk. If this is allowed to stand, you’ll see other actions like this targeting other segments of Internet media at the state and local level both here and abroad.”