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The Kentucky supreme court last week issued a ruling that it will not lift the freeze by registrars of 141 Internet gambling domain names unless an owner of the names comes forward.
Gambling911.com can reveal that one member of The Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA.org) has decided to step forward and, as such, satisfy the court's requirement on "standing".
Yatahay Limited Limited owns the rights to the domain name TruePoker.com. One or more members coming forward satisfies standing. A passport of the TruePoker.com domain name compliance officer will be provided to the court along with all necessary signatures and documentation.
Attorneys for iMEGA also filed a motion with the Kentucky Court of Appeals to stay an attempt by the Commonwealth to seize the rights to 141 Internet domain names. The motion comes in the wake of last week's decision by the state's Supreme Court last week, which found that iMEGA and the Interactive Gaming Council lacked standing to contest Kentucky's actions until they came forward and provided the court with proof that they in fact represented the domains' owners.
The Supreme Court asked that iMEGA and IGC to file affidavits, asserting that one or more of their members were the owners of an affected domain name, so that the Court could then make a ruling on the merits, which many experts believe favor iMEGA and its members.
iMEGA's attorneys filed two affidavits to satisfy the Supreme Court's request. The first affidavit was on the behalf of Yatahay Limited. Yatahay Limited declared their membership in iMEGA, making it the first company to come forward and identify itself as an affected party.
The second affidavit was on the behalf of iMEGA's chairman, Joe Brennan Jr., confirming TruePoker.com's domain rights holder as a member of the trade association.
In its intermediate ruling, The Court stated that iMEGA's arguments against the seizure of the 141 domains were strong, but that the association must first meet the standing requirements before their arguments could even be considered.
"The owners of the "TruePoker.com" domain have taken a big step on the behalf of the industry and players," iMEGA's Brennan said. "We've overcome the technicalities that gave the Commonwealth their short-lived victory. The Court can now make a decision based on Kentucky law. Based on the language of the decision last week, we know the Court wants to do just that. We know that the law favors us, and frankly, so does the Commonwealth's attorneys."
iMEGA's attorneys also made a motion to have the matter immediately transferred back to the Kentucky Supreme Court, as was recommended by the Court in their decision last week. In that decision, the Court also said that additional briefings or arguments were not needed to make a ruling on the merits, another sign, along with the Court's recognition of the strength of iMEGA's arguments, that has led experts to say the Court is likely to rule in favor of iMEGA and the rest of the affected parties.
"The Commonwealth's attorneys knew they were lucky to get this one into overtime," Brennan said. "It's time to put them away."
Gambling911.com can also reveal that Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Thomas, who initially ruled in favor of the commonwealth, declined on Wednesday to amend the initial complaint that would name professional poker players as part owners in Full Tilt Poker.
Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
