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September 23, 2008
In a brazen move that has sent shock-waves of disbelief blasting throughout the online gambling industry, a court in Kentucky, USA, has ordered the seizure of 141 international gambling domain names, including many major players in the industry. All sectors of the industry have been affected by the seizure, casino, poker, sportsbetting and online bingo sites. Even the websites of software providers such as microgaming.com are included in the injunction. Secretary of the Justice Michael Brown instigated the civil action that was brought before the court, with the aim of seizing domain names that are used to promote or provide online gambling. In a hearing last week, the court found sufficient evidence and probably cause to rule for the seizure, believing that the 141 domain names in question were being used for illegal gambling within the state of Kentucky. The court has now issued an order for registrars to transfer the domain names to the account of the plaintiff. Kentucky governor Steve Beshear is the force behind the state's new anti-online gambling stategy, yet the state of Kentucky is known internationally for its famouse horse racing event, the Kentucky Derby, conveniently protected by US federal laws. Beshear rehashed the arguments for the UIGEA almost word for word, speaking of dangers to the underaged and the use of online gambling for money laundering. "Unlicensed, unregulated, illegal internet gambling poses a tremendous threat to the citizens of the Commonwealth because of its ease, availability and anonymity," he said. The move by the Kentucky Court is surprising, not least as Barney Frank's bill will be appearing before the full House for a vote later this week. If passed, Frank's bill would basically overturn the prohibitive UIGEA bill, and reassess the legalities of online gambling in the USA. With the USA moving ever closer to re-thinking the UIGEA, the state of Kentucky obviously has its priorities right. With nine exceedingly dangerous online bingo sites from the 141 strong list on the loose, the Kentucky anti-gambling front is determined to make the world (at least in Kentucky homes) a safer place for our fellow American online bingo players. Written by Charlene Grey for BingoStreet.com – the UK’s top authority and resource for online bingo and the best online bingo promotions.
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