KY Appeals Court Nixes Seizure of Gambling-Linked Domains

davidwr writes "A state appeals court in Kentucky ruled that the state courts cannot seize domain names as 'gambling devices.' The court ruled that 'it's up to the General Assembly — not the courts nor the state Justice Cabinet — to bring domain names into the definition of illegal gambling devices.'"

Re:Great...

[Chris Mattern]

If it passed, the law would get struck down in the Federal courts as unconstitutional. States don't get to interfere in interstate commerce, and that includes trying to regulate internet domain names.

Re:Great...

[Translation Error]

That's the court's job. When disallow something in a ruling, they tell why they did so; they don't say, "You can't do this, but we're not going to tell you why."

Re:What??

[LandDolphin]

No, they don't make law. However, they do invalidate unconsitutional laws.

Re:Great...

[Anonymous Coward]

Ahem, you lack context.

If Kentucky law considers something gambling devices, the Governor can seize those devices as property of the state, which is exactly what they attempted to do with 140 gambling domain names in 2008. That is very clearly interstate commerce, on par with seizing a casino in Las Vegas because Utahans can drive to it.

Re:And this differes from other countries how?

[AuMatar]

No, states in the US are *not* separate countries. That was true under the Articles of Confederation, but the states gave up their sovereign status by ratifying the Constitution. The states are now semi-autonomous legislative districts with delineated responsibilities under the nation the United States. Far closer to the Scottish parliament and the UK than to the EU, UN, etc.