Ruling in Kentucky domains case expected next week8 October 2008
By Vin Narayanan
Defense attorneys had their day in court Tuesday as they tried to convince Judge Thomas Wingate to dismiss Kentucky's attempt to seize 141 online gambling domains.
Wingate spent over three hours hearing oral arguments about Kentucky's bid to shut down online gambling in Kentucky by seizing the domains of gambling sites. And at the end of the hearing, Wingate indicated that he would issue his ruling on Oct. 15.
"The lawyers representing the 141 domains did an excellent job of pointing out issues of law that show the Commonwealth didn't have the authority to do this," said John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance.
Last week, the PPA filed an amicus brief arguing that poker sites should not be included in the state's action because poker is a skill game.
"I also believe that there was a sense from the judge that he was fully understanding the impact of his order," Pappas said.
"It was an educational process and good listening session for the judge," said Jennifer Brislin, communications director for the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the government.
"We have a very strong case and nothing that happened yesterday did anything to diminish that," Brislin added.
Tuesday's hearing focused on standing, whether Kentucky has jurisdiction over domain names and arguments that domain names were not illegal gambling devices.
Next week's ruling is expected to be about those issues, Brislin told Casino City. The judge might also "lay out the plan for going forward" with the forfeiture hearing, Brislin said.
By Vin Narayanan
Defense attorneys had their day in court Tuesday as they tried to convince Judge Thomas Wingate to dismiss Kentucky's attempt to seize 141 online gambling domains.
Wingate spent over three hours hearing oral arguments about Kentucky's bid to shut down online gambling in Kentucky by seizing the domains of gambling sites. And at the end of the hearing, Wingate indicated that he would issue his ruling on Oct. 15.
"The lawyers representing the 141 domains did an excellent job of pointing out issues of law that show the Commonwealth didn't have the authority to do this," said John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance.
Last week, the PPA filed an amicus brief arguing that poker sites should not be included in the state's action because poker is a skill game.
"I also believe that there was a sense from the judge that he was fully understanding the impact of his order," Pappas said.
"It was an educational process and good listening session for the judge," said Jennifer Brislin, communications director for the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, which filed the lawsuit on behalf of the government.
"We have a very strong case and nothing that happened yesterday did anything to diminish that," Brislin added.
Tuesday's hearing focused on standing, whether Kentucky has jurisdiction over domain names and arguments that domain names were not illegal gambling devices.
Next week's ruling is expected to be about those issues, Brislin told Casino City. The judge might also "lay out the plan for going forward" with the forfeiture hearing, Brislin said.