Louisville, Kentucky (January 20, 2009) – The Kentucky Court of Appeals today issued a ruling prohibiting the Franklin Circuit Court from enforcing its seizure order against the 141 domain names in the domain seizure case. The Court found that Internet domain names do not constitute a gambling device under Kentucky law and that the Franklin County Circuit Court clearly erred in concluding that the domain names can be construed to be gambling devices subject to forfeiture.

The appellate court was provided powerful arguments from a strong coalition of independent voices who opposed the Franklin Circuit Court ruling. Groups like the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the ACLU of Kentucky and the Electronic Frontier Foundation all successfully weighed in with the appellate court from a variety of legal perspectives.

“This is a tremendous victory for Internet freedom and the rights of Kentucky residents who enjoy playing online poker,” said John Pappas, Executive Director of the Poker Players Alliance. “We are pleased that the appeals court has forcefully reversed Judge Wingate’s earlier ruling and confirmed many of the arguments that have been raised in opposition to the seizure effort. The Court of Appeals has agreed with the PPA‘s position that Judge Wingate did not have jurisdiction to issue the order that he entered against these domains and that Secretary Brown has no legitimate right to deprive the citizens of Kentucky of the legal right to play poker online.”

“On behalf of the thousands of PPA members who live in Kentucky, we hope that Governor Beshear and Secretary Brown will abandon this misguided effort and focus new energies into regulation and taxation of Internet poker,” said Rich Muny, Kentucky State Director for the PPA, who resides in Union, KY. “This common-sense approach would benefit Kentucky’s poker enthusiasts and the revenue will benefit the state as a whole. Rather than spending hard to find dollars on this case, the Governor could actually turn this into a much needed new revenue stream for the Commonwealth.”