PPA Files Brief, Kentucky Domain Forfeiture Hearing Delayed till Oct. 7

Last Friday's hearing regarding the forfeiture of 141 online poker, online gambling domain names to the Commonwealth of Kentucky was delayed until October 7 to give legal representatives opposing the seizure order time to submit briefs. Meantime the PokerPlayers Alliance (PPA) submitted a brief to the court pointing out how poker is a game of skill and therefore should be legal under Kentucky law, so poker domains should not be a part of the state's domain seizure case.

Legal teams representing online gambling operators and interested parties with standing such as the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), Interactive Gaming Council (IGC), GoDaddy domain registrar and the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) had sought a delay of the hearing, in order to brief Judge Thomas Wingate on matters of law which they say will demonstrate that the court has no jurisdiction and therefore should dismiss the action.

Judge Wingate agreed, and gave the groups until October 7 to submit detailed legal briefs on their positions and qualifications for legal standing. He acknowledged that the case was a complex matter in law where decisions reached could set precedents and have far reaching effects, so arguments from both sides should be submitted for debate and examination.

WHOSE DOMAINS ARE THESE?

During the Friday discussion, the state's representative, Chicago lawyer Robert Foote, demanded that those opposing the domain forfeitures should establish legal standing by identifying the owners of the domains.

"A domain name has no right to have a lawyer, only a corporation or person can have a lawyer," Foote said. "And no one here is going to tell you they represent anyone."

This was argued by lawyers for online gambling companies, with William Johnson revealing that he was there representing seven clients and Alice Grimes claiming she represents Goldencasino.com. But the two attorneys and others in attendance representing the domain names declined to say who owned those names.

The judge informed the lawyers representing the domain names: "You are going to have to eventually pony up and say who these people are."

Goldencasino.com ALERADY BLOCKING KENTUCKY RESIDENTS

According to a press release issued before the Friday hearing time, Justice Cabinet spokeswoman Jennifer Brislin relayed that lawyers for Kentucky and online casino operator Goldencasino.com had met, which lead the online casino site to begin blocking Kentucky users. Goldencasino.com notified Kentucky account holders on Tuesday that the site will "no longer accept play from residents of Kentucky," and that users' accounts were being closed.

KENTUCKY SEEKS LOST REVENUES & BLOCKAGE

In court, Kentucky's representative, lawyer Robert Foote told Judge Wingate that the state is seeking two things:

He said the state would not shut down domain names of any person or corporation willing to appear and claim ownership of the names while the two sides "work out a deal."

PPA FILES COURT BRIEF

The Poker Players Alliance, IGC and iMEGA each filed friend of the court briefs as industry bodies, in opposition of the state's action.

Prior to the 3:30 hearing time, the PPA filed what is known as an "Amicus Brief", which detailed how poker domains should not be part of the seizure case, since poker is a permitted game of skill under Kentucky law. They issued the following statement along with the brief in a document posted on the PPA website (click here to read it in its entirety).

"The PPA contends that poker, including online poker, is indeed legal under Kentucky state law and is a game of skill, not chance. As such, the basis for the state's seizure of poker-only website domain names is unfounded.

"The actions by the state of Kentucky are not only extreme, but groundless in that it can be clearly proven that poker is indeed a game of skill and not chance and thereby poker Web sites should not be part of the state's action," said John Pappas, executive director of the PPA. "The amicus brief filed on behalf of the PPA today proves this."

Key points of the Amicus Brief include:

The amicus brief concludes that given the state's lack of evidence that poker as played on any of the websites in question is not a permitted game of skill under Kentucky law, that there is "no reasonable chance of success on the underlying claim of illegality that would support its…basis for forfeiture of the domain names."

PPA ON DELAY OF HEARING

After Judge Wingate announced the hearing's delay, the PPA on Friday issued a statement on the continuance:

"The Poker Players Alliance is pleased that the court decided to allow for a full review of this case, including arguments from both sides. Until this point, the state and its hired gun class-action attorneys have acted in an ex parte fashion- only presenting one side of the argument to the court. The continuance granted today will ensure all the cards are on the table and allow the current owners of the domain names of the 141 websites to retain ownership in the interim.

"The PPA believes that a thorough review of the facts of the case will result in a favorable outcome for the thousands of Kentucky residents who play online poker."

In the meantime the judge's temporary seizure of the domains would remain in place.

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