Em10

In a further example of the idiotic bias against online poker in the U.S., A Kentucky judge is blocking that state’s residents from enjoying their right to gamble. According to Casino City times, Judge Thomas Wingate has given 141 online gambling sites, including blackjack, and texas holdem sites, 30 days to block access to Kentucky residents. If the sites in question have “reasonably established to the satisfaction of the Kentucky’s Justice and Safety Cabinet or this Court that such geographical blocks are operational, (they) shall be relieved from the effects of the Seizure order and from any further proceedings in the instant civil forfeiture action,” said Wingate in his 43-page ruling.

The exact nature of the verification process remained unclear in the immediate aftermath of the decision Sites that don’t block access from Kentucky will have an opportunity to present their case before Wingate on Nov. 17 at 10:30 a.m. In his ruling, Wingate indicated one line of defense he would be willing to hear is the Web sites are simply advertisements. The rest of Wingate’s ruling Thursday focused mostly on whether Kentucky had jurisdiction over domain names, arguments that domain names were not illegal gambling devices and standing.

And his decision that Kentucky did indeed have the jurisdiction to seize domain names to enforce gambling laws didn’t come as a surprise to those following the case. I have noted recently many instances in countries all over the world that have legalized online poker, taxed it, and profited mightily from doing so. It’s a win-win: law-abiding citizens have their right to gamble, and the government benefits from an additional revenue stream.

Why this Kentucky judge and many others in power in the U.S. don’t realize this only highlights their utter stupidity.

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