A website calling itself www.boycottkentucky.com orchestrated a campaign Friday to have angry Web users call Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear's office en masse.
Beshear has taken action to have 141 online gambling domain names seized. A forfeiture hearing is scheduled for mid November. Beshear called those businesses "leeches" to the community and claimed they were hurting the commonwealth's economy.
Some of those calling say they are getting an answering machine where they are leaving a message expressing their views, Ron Jackson of Domain Name Journal reported.
The Boycott Kentucky website has gone further to ask people worldwide to avoid companies that are based in the state. Those companies including Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell and, add Papa John's Pizza to the list. They also want people to stop drinking bourbon.
"If Kentucky's action is upheld by the courts, then everyone's domain names would be at risk to any local governing body that feels like taking over those names," Jackson writes.
Internet gambling groups have already filed court papers asking for the November 17 forfeiture hearing to be either delayed or cancelled entirely. Trade organizations such as the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association argue that the Franklin Country circuit court lacked proper jurisdiction. They also assert that domain names are not "gambling devices".
Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
