Kentucky Enforces Law Against Real Gambling Devices, Not Domains

If Beshear were to seize the home computers of online casino patrons, it would at least show his intentions.

A Kentucky judge this week demonstrated at least one person in the state understands the meaning of "gambling device." Clark County District Judge Earl-Ray Neal ordered ten business owners to forfeit the video poker machines they were using to conduct illegal gambling.

The court also kept proceeds associated with the machines in an amount over $10,000. The defendants were also given suspended sentences which would put them in jail for six months if any further legal trouble arose.

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has been using the statute outlawing the use of "gambling devices" in a contorted way to attempt to seize the domain names of 141 online casinos. Judge Thomas Wingate has ruled in Beshear's favor, deciding that Internet gaming sites that cannot prove they are blocking access to Kentucky citizens must forfeit their domain names.

The case is under appeal, and will be heard before the Kentucky Court of Appeals December 12th. While the action is being contested for a multitude of reasons, including the violation of several clauses of the Constitution, one of the major attacks on Wingate's ruling is the misapplication of the old Kentucky law.

Passed in the days before the Internet, the law clearly means actual, physical machines, such as the video poker machines pulled in the police raids. A domain name is not a "device', nor is it located in Kentucky's jurisdiction.

If Kentucky politicians want to follow their own laws, they would be forced to find machines that facilitate gambling in this case. The servers hosting the sites may be applicable, except they aren't anywhere near Kentucky. The computers used by citizens to play may be the closest thing to a "gambling device" in Kentucky jurisdiction.

If Beshear were to seize the home computers of online casino patrons, it would at least show his intentions. After all, it is the mark of repressive government to deny people access to communication, and make no mistake, Beshear's moves are absolutely repressive. At least then Kentucky voters would understand the type of censorship and Big Brother leadership Beshear is presenting.