Slashdot Log In
State of Kentucky Seizes Control of 141 Domain Names
Posted by
timothy
on Thu Sep 25, 2008 12:11 PM
from the when-the-state-is-an-avaricious-prig dept.
from the when-the-state-is-an-avaricious-prig dept.
ashmodai9 writes "In a rather interesting (read: insane) decision, a district judge in the State of Kentucky has awarded control of 141 online gambling domain names to the governor of the state. Most of these are hosted offshore, and very few are registered under US domain name registrars, let alone registrars in the State of Kentucky (are there any?). You can check out the press release here, and confirm that the Commonwealth of Kentucky does in fact now 'own' these domain names by performing a WHOIS search on any of the domains listed here."
Related Stories
[+]
News: Kentucky Judge Upholds State's Gambling-Domain Grab 272 comments
JohnHegarty writes "A Kentucky judge has upheld that state's seizure of some of the world's most popular online casino domain names, ruling they constitute a 'gambling device' that is subject to Kentucky's anti-gambling laws." Wasn't it surreal enough on the first round?
[+]
KY Appeals Court Nixes Seizure of Gambling-Linked Domains 82 comments
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.'"
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Full
Abbreviated
Hidden
Loading... please wait.
A few of these morons and (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:A few of these morons and (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:no. just imagine (Score:5, Insightful)
russia, perma member of the council, and has veto power. and, run by a mafia mob.
And if the UN controlled ICANN you just *know* decisions on domain names would be brought before the Security Council.
Parent
Chicken (Score:5, Funny)
What I'd really like to gain control of are those 11 secret herbs and spices.
Re:Chicken (Score:5, Funny)
2. lard
3. fat
4. oil
5. grease
7. deep fryer crud
8. salt
9. bread crumbs
10. MSG
11. aritificial flavouring.
Don't tell anyone!
Parent
Re:Chicken (Score:5, Informative)
1 tablespoon rosemary
1 tablespoon oregano leaves
1 tablespoon powdered sage
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 teaspoon marjoram
1 1/2 teaspoons thyme
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons dry minced parsley
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
2 tablespoons garlic salt
2 tablespoons onion salt
2 tablespoons chicken bouillon powder (or 4 cubes, mashed)
1 package Lipton tomato Cup-a-Soup mix
Place all ingredients in blender and pulse for 3-4 minutes to pulverize, or rub through a fine strainer. Store in an airtight container so the spices will not lose their potency. Makes about 3/4 cup.
Add 1 ounce mix to every one cup of flour for coating chicken. http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/eatingout/eating_k/kentucky-fried-chicken-spice.htm [razzledazzlerecipes.com]
Enjoy.
Parent
Re:Chicken (Score:5, Funny)
And the secret to their state jelly! It's kind of bland but the tube makes it so easy to spread on the bread!
Parent
Well... (Score:5, Funny)
Rule of 3 (Score:5, Interesting)
Live in one country, host in a second, DNS in a third. Preferably non-contiguous ones that don't share languages.
Confirm? (Score:5, Informative)
I WHOIS'ed about a dozen of these domain names, and not a single one showed up as having anything to do with Kentucky.
How would the State of Kentucky "seize" a domain name registered in the Isle of Man anyway?
Re:Confirm? (Score:5, Funny)
Simple. The judge says "I'm teh reel ultimate powerz and my gavel sez I PWN TEHSE NAMES ON THE TUBES!" And since he ordered it, it must obviously happen.
Next up, Judge Orders Construction of Perpetual Motion Machine.
Parent
Re:Confirm? (Score:5, Informative)
Domain Name: GOLDENCASINO.COM
Registrant:
Commonwealth of Kentucky
Michael Brown (secretaryofjustice@ky.gov)
125 Holmes Street
Frankfort
Kentucky,40601
US
Tel. +1.8592557080
Creation Date: 27-Oct-1997
Expiration Date: 19-Nov-2010
Many of them appear to be changed to me. Some from the list aren't, but a lot of them are.
Parent
many are back but see dates of last update (Score:5, Informative)
I checked a few random domains and noted some very recent updates... noone would really think this would stick?
$ whois casinoextreme.com
Updated Date: 23-sep-2008
Creation Date: 15-feb-1999
Expiration Date: 15-feb-2010
$ whois casinoextreme.com
Updated Date: 23-sep-2008
Creation Date: 15-feb-1999
Expiration Date: 15-feb-2010
$ whois inetbet.com
Updated Date: 23-sep-2008
Creation Date: 15-jan-1999
Expiration Date: 15-jan-2012
Parent
Jurisdiction? (Score:5, Insightful)
Arn't the offshore sites and registars a little out of the juridiction of the state? I could understand(well not really even then) if it was the government of the United States doing this. But the state being able to take things from people over seas just because they accept american gambling? How is that different then shutting down a store in Africa because they run a store that is illegal by american standards and accept US currency? By a state no less.
Re:Jurisdiction? (Score:5, Insightful)
So, they went to a site out of the country to do it. Are you saying that you should ban everything in amsterdam just because some guy from kentucky decided to go there?
Parent
Wow. (Score:5, Insightful)
I am just completely flabbergasted that this can occur. By this logic, China could sue every website that posts anti-government information and seize all of their domains. Including something like google. This is really blowing my mind- can someone smarter than me explain what the judge was smoking, and why this isn't actually going to happen?
the most important question: (Score:5, Funny)
what's the over/ under on how many days before kentucky reverses itself?
and what site should i go to to get a piece of that action?
What is so dangerous about gambling anyway? (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously what is the issue here? Given that the biggest gambling Mecca in the western world is in the US (Las Vegas) which has the biggest gambling sporting events (Boxing) what is the issue with online gambling?
I'm a Brit, our issue was that we couldn't tax it so they went offshore. Our solution? Change the tax rules so they want to come back onshore. So far society hasn't collapsed and it appears that doing online poker is less risky than trusting your money to a bank right now anyway. I have friends who work in the sector who get nervous when they fly to the US even though they are developers, its just madness that the US seems to thinks gambling is a massive evil, in a country that things gun ownership is a right.
Given the current banking collapse and the way the Fed have clearly gambled on things (house prices going up for ever) it is ranking up there with a Kim Jong Il moment as weirdest things that a government could do.
The scary bit is I don't see anyone pushing back on it, not McCain, not Obama, not congress and certainly not the President. So please someone tell me
What the hell is so fundamentally wrong with gambling?
Re:What is so dangerous about gambling anyway? (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Re:What is so dangerous about gambling anyway? (Score:5, Interesting)
What the hell is so fundamentally wrong with gambling?
As long as it's taxed and has governmental oversight, nothing. There are state owned and run lotteries, Nevada and New Jersey have casinos, many other states have "Riverboat casinos," and many horse/dog tracks around the country.
Hell, the Kentucky Derby isn't there to look at the "purdy ponies."
Parent
Re:What is so dangerous about gambling anyway? (Score:5, Insightful)
have you been paying attention to the global markets lately? It wasnt people investing that caused the meltdown but unadulterated gambling...
Parent
What next? (Score:5, Funny)
VERY Interesting Line In Order.... (Score:5, Informative)
The judge included this line in his order:
"The domain names' configurations shall otherwise remain unchanged."
So - the state is not permitted to use the siezure to shut down the sites.
What's also interesting is that the title of the case is Commonwealth of Kentucky v. 141 Domain Names.
In other words, they didn't sue the companies and owners, they are doing a "civil forfieture" type of case. Nobody affected by this case was notified or served process.
This case is going to be really fun to watch. You can bet that it's going to be removed to Federal Court very quickly.
pot, kettle... (Score:5, Insightful)
So the most significant problem with online gambling, in Kentucky's eyes, is that it decreases the pool of money available to the horse track. Of course, they can tax that. They're really whining about the drop in tax revenue.
The last point is a good one, but it's as applicable to internet shopping as to internet gambling. Anytime you give someone money over the 'net, do it with a credit card. Any problem with the transaction, for any reason, call your card issuer and issue a chargeback. It's that simple, and it's the only thing that works. Government hasn't figured out a better way to deal with e-commerce yet, and they aren't likely to anytime soon.
The others are just a state who can't deal with new technology -- they're whining about how the Internet works, for chrissake. Welcome to the 21st century, Kentucky. Can we move forward now??
Re:Parent Missing Major Component (Score:5, Informative)
Here [thedomains.com] you go, sir, the court order.
Parent