Louisville, Kentucky - Kentucky authorities want to seize 140 Internet domain names, saying the web sites bring illegal gambling within the borders of the commonwealth. Attorneys for a trade association for the gambling web sites countered that Kentucky lacks the authority to make that move because the domain names aren't property and, besides, they are based offshore and beyond Kentucky's jurisdiction. A three-judge appeals court panel in Kentucky is now weighing whether a state can seized a web site domain name to curtail gambling within its borders...

Three civil liberties groups urged a Kentucky appeals court to overturn the seizure of domain names for some of the world's most popular gambling sites, arguing the move is based on "incorrect factual assumptions" and violates Free Speech guarantees and other provisions of the US Constitution. In a friend-of-the-court brief filed with the Court of Appeals of Kentucky, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Center for Democracy and Technology...

Frankfort, Kentucky - A judge yesterday declined to order 141 gambling Web sites forfeited to the state, saying he needed more time to understand the complexities of what experts call an unprecedented effort to crack down on illegal Internet gambling. Instead, Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate ordered attorneys representing both sides to file briefs on some of the issues and scheduled a hearing for Oct. 7.