Pokerstars Contests Kentucky Domain Seizures

Friday July 26,2013 : POKERSTARS CONTESTS KENTUCKY DOMAIN RAID
 
More repercussions from the 2008 attempt by Kentucky to hijack international internet domains
 
The 2008 attempt by the state of Kentucky to seize 141 international domain names belonging to global online gambling companies had a 2013 sequel this week when Pokerstars parent The Rational Group fired off a motion to dismiss the Kentucky courts' controversial view of the extent of its jurisdiction and other questions.
 
In its motion to dismiss with prejudice, The Rational Group points out that:
 
* The Rational Group has never been provided with notice that its Pokerstars.com domain was to be seized.
 
* The company has never been given an opportunity to challenge the seizure order before a competent judicial authority.
 
* That the state of Kentucky does not have jurisdiction over out-of-state located domain registrars or holders.
 
* That the seizure was ineffective, as evidenced by the fact that federal officials seized the supposedly Kentucky-seized domains in 2011 in the Black Friday enforcement actions…a fact that Kentucky has already conceded.
 
* Kentucky's definition of gambling devices as applying to domain names was and is far too broad. The Rational Group claims that the Kentucky Court of Appeals and the state Supreme Court have not shared the view that domain names are gambling devices in related court proceedings.
 
* That the actions taken by the state of Kentucky undermine the principles governing trademark rights in the United States, and raise serious constitutional questions relating to interference in global commerce, freedom of speech and extra-territorial activity.
 
The ball is now quite literally in Kentucky's court….