Kentucky Case in the News Again

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The lawyers for the Commonwealth of Kentucky have asked the Franklin County Circuit Court to add names of United States citizens and companies in what has come to be known as the Kentucky domain name seizure case. In September 2008 this court had issued orders that the Internet domain names of 141online gaming operators be seized under Kentucky law. The domain name owners had filed a law suit in the Franklin County Circuit Court and had lost. They then filed an appeal in the Kentucky Court of Appeals and won. The Commonwealth of Kentucky then appealed in the Kentucky Supreme Court, where the decision is awaited.

The motion for leave to join additional parties and to amend complaint says that during the course of the legal proceedings and during the continuing investigations by the Commonwealth of Kentucky the identities of certain individuals and entities from the United States have been revealed who have been engaging in Internet gambling operations. Therefore the motion prays for permission to add these names to the list of defendants. However the names of these new individuals and entities were not disclosed, even after iMEGA's attorneys made a request. iMEGA has been representing the domain name owners in this case right from the start.

Joe Brennan Jr., the chairman of iMEGA, reacted very strongly against this motion filed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He said that when a decision from the Kentucky Supreme Court was expected any day now the motion was uncalled for. He called the whole thing a "Hail Mary pass", a term from American football that refers to a desperate long shot that has little chance of success. Brennan added that to the best of his knowledge there have not been any investigations by the Kentucky attorney general or any other law enforcement agency. There have been no indictments or convictions and hence the question of adding names does not arise. He pointed out that this was one more instance of the Commonwealth of Kentucky not following the due processes of law. It may be recalled that one of the charges levied by iMEGA was that the domain name owners had not been given due hearing before the seizure order was passed. To further prove his point, Brennan said, "The attorney general himself asked to be dismissed from this suit last year."

The motion was served on behalf of J. Michael Brown, Secretary of the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The hearing is ironically set for January 20, 2010, in Franklin Circuit Court, before Judge Thomas Wingate. Justice Wingate had issued the initial domain name seizure orders.

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