Quick Response in Kentucky Case

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In last week's surprise ruling in the Kentucky domain name seizure case, the Kentucky Supreme Court had ruled that since the domain name owners had not identified themselves the representative organizations like iMEGA had no legal standing. Therefore the Kentucky Supreme Court had upheld the appeal of the Kentucky Commonwealth and said that they could go ahead with the domain name seizures. However the Supreme Court had provided for a 20 day period for the domain name owners to step forward. The court had agreed that should revised and corrected documents be filed, the representative organizations could ask for the case to be sent back to the Kentucky Supreme Court and the court would then decide on the merits of the case.

There were valid practical reasons for the domain name operators not identifying themselves, though these reasons would not withstand legal scrutiny. The legality of online gambling in the United States is very uncertain and should the UIGEA rules be implemented in June 2010 the online gambling industry fears widespread prosecution. Therefore the domain name owners felt that it was not prudent to risk putting their identities in the public domain for the sake of safeguarding the interests in Kentucky. After June 2010 over zealous the Department of Justice (DoJ) officials could easily draw upon the information filed in the Kentucky case to make their prosecutions stronger. Sherman Bradley, a gaming analyst, said, "At least one owner must step forward and risk persecution by the US Department of Justice in the next 20 days, or else Kentucky's seizure order will go forward while leaving legal arguments against the Constitutionality of the action untested."

Without waiting for the 20 day period to come to an end, one domain name owner has stepped forward to be identified, while taking the risk of further consequences not related to the Kentucky case. This is Yatahay Limited who is the owner of True Poker, one of the domain names listed in the seizure case. Yatahay Limited has filed an affidavit pledging that it is a member of iMEGA. Joe Brennan, the iMEGA chairman, in turn has filed an affidavit clarifying that iMEGA has represented Yatahay's interests throughout the litigation. As direct in the Kentucky Supreme Court order, iMEGA has applied for the case to be transferred back to the Kentucky Supreme Court for further argument on the substantive issues.

The Yatahay poker network is the 25th largest worldwide in terms of real money ring game traffic. Other poker rooms on this network are BetCRIS and 5Dimes. It has been reported that Yatahay Limited is a Canadian company with a disconnected phone number and some observers have opined that this could queer the pitch for iMEGA. However Brennan does not feel so. He said, "We've overcome the technicalities that gave the Commonwealth their short-lived victory. The court can now make a decision based on Kentucky law."

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