Kentucky's Domian Seizure Starting to Have Effects in Gaming World

The Commonwealth of Kentucky has issued a order to seize 141 domain names from their current registrants. The seizure was placed because the “domains were being used in connection with illegal gambling activity.”

A number of popular gambling sites listed for seizure including PokerStars.com, FullTiltPoker.com, bodog.com, GoldenPalace.com, Bet21.com, and DoylesRoom.com. The domain names were to be immediately transferred to an account of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, although the websites will continue to run as usual until a court hearing later this month.

It seems likely this move will with stand legal challenge in court, but  it opens the door to all kinds of strange possibilities. If a state can claim domains that don’t abide by local laws, it seems inevitable that these types of websites will simply be moved to a foreign registrar while remaining as profitable as ever. Another interesting point is that some of the domains are simply parked websites with no recent history of taking any bets.

Anyway, it seems to have some effects on the industry.  Even though most big companies in the industry are waiting to see the results of the ruling or have not made their actions public yet, some are acting already.  For instance:

Star Partner - Due to the Kentucky Court ruling on the seizure of online gaming domains we have had to make urgent changes to our websites domains.

Fortune Affiliates - You have no doubt by now heard of the most recent developments to curtail online gaming in the USA. The Kentucky circuit court’s ruling to seize the .com domains of a host of iGaming operators and providers has yet to come into force. We would like to take this opportunity to assure you that all steps are being taken to minimize the impact of this ruling should it come into effect. We have made all the changes that will enable us to seamlessly direct your traffic to alternates to the .com sites should we be affected in the future. For the most part, the changes that we make will not affect any partner that uses our adservers.

BestCasinoPartner - We would like to inform you that there has been a domain name change due to unforeseen circumstances.

ReferBack.com - Changed all their links.

So as you can see the Kentucky order may not stand and most think it will not, but it having effects acrossed the industry.

US Still Free to Gamble Online & Bill Side Effects

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 does not make it a crime for US residents to gamble online; American players are still free to gamble anywhere on the Internet, stated Rick Smith and Keith Furlong, who respectively are the Executive and Deputy Directors of the Interactive Gaming Council (IGC), in a press release this week.

The IGC is a leading trade association for the international interactive gambling industry with its membership operating or supplying services to most of the reputable interactive sites on the Internet.

Their press release continued, saying the bill focuses on the prosecution of financial institutions handling transmission of money from U.S. players to operators of online gambling sites. So some sites may no longer accept wagers, as many of the publicly traded online gambling companies announced they would stop taking American bets following recent passage of the bill by Congress.  Read Full Story

But they stressed that the bill will cause unintended negative consequences, in direct opposition to the bill's intent. 

"In the guise of protecting vulnerable Americans- minors who want to gamble and adults who can't control their gambling - Congress has actually heightened the risk to these groups," said IGC Deputy Director Furlong.

"It has driven away the operators who followed the most socially responsible practices. It has also increased the possibility of online gambling being used for money laundering, because it has outlawed the most easily tracked methods of payment."  Read More