Steve Beshear?
Steve Beshear? Governor Steve Beshear's attempt to use a 1974 law allowing Kentucky to seize gambling devices as a means to force forfeiture of Internet domain names was met with a continuance today, as the presiding judge gave attorneys defending online casinos and poker rooms a chance to file briefs. Seven days were granted to properly prepare arguments. Defense attorneys had argued the state had acted ex parte, and they needed to have a chance to respond.

The lawyers representing some of the owners of 141 websites named in the Kentucky complaint asserted that they would strive to convince Judge Thomas Wingate that the court had no jurisdiction and should dismiss the order. However, when none of the lawyers for the defense wished to name any individuals whom they represented, Kentucky prosecutors attacked.

Robert Foote, representing the state, said that the attorneys had no standing in the case without clients, and stated, "A domain name has no right to have a lawyer, only a corporation or person can have a lawyer."

Meanwhile, the Poker Players Alliance filed a brief as a friend of the court, arguing that, regardless of the general decision regarding Internet casinos, poker should not be included, as, being a game of skill, it does not qualify as a game of chance, part of Kentucky's legal definition of gambling.

Although poker is most certainly a game of skill, the PPA rides a fine line. Continuing to distance itself from other forms of wagering may technically serve poker players, but avoids the bigger question of whether government has the authority to limit individual freedoms, or censor the Internet.