[ Home ]

[ Slots News ]

KY Lawyers Fight For Lengthy Appeal

Governor Steve Beshear and his team of lawyers are hoppin’ mad about being overturned on the matter of seizing the domain names of several online slots and casino gambling sites that had been doing business with Kentucky residents in violation of federal law. Beshear had sought to seize the domains as “illegal gambling devices.” Immediate outcry from the worldwide industry expressed outrage at this obviously protectionist (online slot machines and other forms of casino gambling were leeching bet money away from Kentucky’s stories horse racing industry) legislation, and a judge agreed.

Now, Beshear’s lawyers have filed for an official exemption from the fifty-page limit on appeal presentations, because they apparently have a GREAT deal to say about the matters of illegal gambling and illicit domain names. The Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) website reported that the Kentucky state appeal document was actually eighty pages – a full sixty percent longer than the length allowed by law. Speculation is that the legal team has had a great deal to say about jurisdiction, given that the judge’s overturning of the seizure hinged on the premise that the Governor had no domain over the registration of web sites outside the United States.

Should the Supreme Court reject the page limit extension, the Kentucky motion asks for an extra ten days to amend their appeal. We won’t say that they are playing for time, but smart folks should be able to draw their own conclusions. The iMEGA report dismissively predicted that the appeal wouldn’t bring anything new to the proceedings, and would reiterate the same points that had already “failed in the Court of Appeals.”

Back to February 2009 Archive.