27-March-2010

Yatahay Ltd. revealed Thursday it owns TruePoker.com, one of the 141 online casino, Internet poker site and Internet gambling guide domain names the Commonwealth of Kentucky seized in Oct. 2008. The company came forward after the Kentucky Supreme Court found the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association lacked standing to contest the state’s seizure.

Thursday, March 18, a 6-0 state Supreme Court finding said one or more of the 141 domains’ owners must appear in court for justices to rule on the case. The Court also requested affidavits corroborating the appearing owners’ membership in iMEGA or the Interactive Gaming Council.

During the Supreme Court hearing iMEGA and IGC lawyers represented the domain owners, claiming the owners were members of the organizations. Yet neither organization’s legal team identified the owners by name.

In response to the Court’s request, iMEGA’s lawyers filed two affidavits Thursday. The first affidavit asserted TruePoker.com is the property of Yatahay, a tribal operator licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission; the second, on behalf of iMEGA Chairman Joe Brennan Jr., confirmed that Yatahay is an iMEGA member.

The domain-name seizure first made headlines when Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear’s Public Safety Cabinet filed suit against the domains’ owners. Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate subsequently ordered the domain names seized until he ruled on the matter.

Following Wingate’s ruling that Kentucky could permanently requisition the domain names, iMEGA and the IGC filed an appeal. Kentucky officials then appealed the Kentucky Court of Appeals decision to reverse Wingate’s ruling.

As for the recent Supreme Court finding, iMEGA said it is confident the justices will rule in the domain owners’ favor. iMEGA supported this opinion by citing the Court’s statement that the organization’s arguments were strong.

“The owners of the TruePoker.com domain have taken a big step on the behalf of the industry and players,” 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 (sic) the Commonwealth’s attorneys.”

iMEGA’s lawyers also filed a motion Thursday to have the matter again transferred to the Kentucky Supreme Court as per the Court’s recommendation. No date has yet been set for the Court to hear the organization's case again.

Phill Provance
phill.provance@acehoyle.com

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