I think people should let their registrars know how we feel about this.
 

http://www.xbiz.com/news/100918

Some fucked up shit going on. This could be very very bad. If one state sets precedent, many more may follow. This truly is some fucked up shit for anyone who owns domains. Don't think that it cannot spread into porn and other "objectionable" subjects. I even read on a gaming site that a very popular domain registrar who many here know and use loyally are going to give up the domains. I will be moving all of my domains if they do in fact do that. Don't just say that this only deals with gaming. If it stands, we know people could very easily attempt to use the case law as a precedent for seizing domains elsewhere.

Please read before posting like you know it all. It's very complicated.


---------from the article-------------------

Kentucky has seized and "locked" the domains of more than 140 online gambling sites.

Judge Thomas Wingate is expected to decide within seven days whether to dismiss the case or allow it to proceed to a forfeiture hearing.

Gov. Steve Beshear requested that the state pursue the seizure that was approved by a Kentucky circuit court judge last month.

According to a Washington Post report, the seized domains include gaming sites UltimateBet.com and FullTiltPoker.com. Gov. Beshear was elected on a platform that included bringing gambling to the state.

Several organizations have spoken at hearings about the seizure. According to the article,

READ MORE HERE

Continued......... on the potential expansion into adult

http://www.gambling911.com/gambling-...ts-102108.html

Something else we derived from the piece is that Moniker Online Services will likely comply with the Kentucky ruling. An attorney for Moniker subsidiary Oversee.net said that many of the registrars are based in the U.S. even if the Web sites aren't, meaning that they have to comply with the court's order. Moniker has two of the 141 online gambling domain names.


Cited from this article:

http://www.gambling911.com/gambling-...se-102008.html


Any registrar in the USA would have to comply with the courts order!

Keep Your Eyes Open!!!!!!!!!

:Oh crap:Oh crap

The undertones are rather troublesome for what it could mean for us.

When I read shit like that, for some reason, I also see it akin to threads being closed by moderators on a message board. My thinking's probably really fucked up, though. *shrug*

Before anyone thinks I am bashing Moniker, that is not so.

People need to know stuff like this. I am sure any registrar in the U.S. will give you up like a bowl of cereal.

So, not a Moniker bashing thread. They are only following the law.

People change laws only if voices are heard in numbers.

FYI.

Not sure why they would close anything. Many registrars are on public record citing that they will in fact turn over domain names to the state. There is no libel or slander. Just stating publicly printed statements from the company them self.

TTM, time to move.

My post didn't get it across; I was just thinking along the lines of using a service one doesn't own - one only has as much control as what the owners of said service will provide.

Law is Law. Gambling is illegal (in some places). Porn is still legal (in most places). If they target porn-domains, they first have to target porn itself; "...spread into porn..." Right?

i think this is probably one of the scariest things to happen in a while, this and net neutrality are two things that i hate

i think this is because the government has had so much control over the mindset of people over the history of man kind, there has always been a way for the government to control the media and what gets out and what doesn't. its just until recently that people have been able to get points of view across that only 20 years ago would have been impossible to get across - at least to the same amount of people. this without a doubt worries governments from all sorts of different angles, like sensitive info getting out and computer hackers but most important is their lack of control of the collective mindset. for the first time ever if the powers that be didn't want you to see something they were shit out of luck and they had to put up with it.

this is probably just the beginning of a mass censorship campaign but you can't just go after anything at first, you have to go after something evil like gambling.

think of it like this. you have roughly 50 times more of chance that someone can fuck with you instead of 2 (meaning the state you live in, or federal authorities). i'm not pulling a "hey be fucking scared" type of thing, but it does open some doors for people against adult materials potentially.

Does anyone have a list of registrars that are involved in this case?
WG

seems like those 'siezed' domains are still in business. You would think if it had any substance. The domains that are taking and locked wouldn't be working anymore?

The pornwebmaster must follow his local laws, no matter where he register the domain. And the registrars must follow their local laws, no matter where the customer lives. Thats how I think of it.
Sure, there are some potential complications, but not more complicated than anything else. Its could be a problem for those registrars not adapting and offering offshore services, and those webmasters not reading the registrars TOS. But in the end, its all about banning porn or not, because they can't lock a legal website/domain.

They're stayed until November 17th, when the judge has ordered the domain owners, regardless of where they reside to appear in court.

Yes. However.

In a country where "legal" as applied to the adult business is determined on a case by case basis in the form of what is "obscene", and where the laws on "legal" are so blurred on so many levels, this is something to put in the back of your brain and watch carefully.

(Hypothetical) Is it legal to have videos on your site in Alabama where a girl has two guys come on her face?

Anything left open for interpretation is bound to be tested under a new precedent. Its like a trend in the industry. One guy opens a tube site, hey look at that, now theres 100 of them. You know what I mean? One state passes a law, the rest of them look around at ways the can potentially benefit from them.

Laws = Revenue. Everyone should remember that. Revenue in a legal sense is called restitution.

Nothing to really prove right or wrong on either side here. Just keep your eyes on this.

:thumbsup:)

id also like to know.

Who wants to invest in my new project..buy a country -> setup domain registrar -> make mad monies :thumbsup

I'd suspect that this will end up in the Kentucky Supreme Court, should anyone lose domains to the state, and ultimately the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. Regardless, the road on this one will be long I suppose.

Time to take preemtive steps, move to a non-US based registrar.

Fabulous.com is among one I use, here's a list:

http://www.internic.net/origin.html

yeah, its ok for wall street and banks to gamble but not joe the gambler... lolzzzzzz

fuck any registrar that rolls over without a fight.... :2 cents:

Let's see what happens before people go talking about jumping ship. I'd like to see the registrars tell the state to fuck off, get held in contempt of court and get ICANN involved in some court of law, if that's the way it works. That would surely raise some eyebrows. I don't know, just guessing. If someone knows better than me, feel free to jump in. That's what this thread is for.

What better way to get registrars attention than to jump ship? Transfer domains in mass with an email saying why. You can always transfer back later. Even if Kentucky loses this case, who wants their domain in limbo while they box it out in court?

Gambling, pharmacy, adult... all the money makers are at risk.

I wouldn't want to be a US based registrar and disregard a US court order though...
WG

List of gambling sites:

http://www.jayvis.com/hi1.jpg
http://www.jayvis.com/hi2.jpg
http://www.jayvis.com/hi3.jpg
http://www.jayvis.com/hi.jpg

I am currently brushing up on my spanish with Rosetta Stone.

Always have an escape plan. :1orglaugh:1orglaugh

Taken from http://www.poker-king.com/poker-king...hp?article=537

Funny, I play on Ultimate Bet.

OUCH! I'm sure these registrars have very high paid council to guide and advise them.

Sucks to be a domain owner if this stands.

Go namecheap and never have any problems.

always heard good things about namecheap. im not gonna overreact just yet though.

we'll see what happens soon enough.

is EFF on the case?

they are one group that we should all be donating a little paypal to, because there aren't too many that are fighting the fight to keep freedoms ahead of government plans to control :2 cents:

http://www.eff.org/

I thought namecheap was a US company based out of California.
If so, do you even understand the implications of this shit and if so why would you say what you did?

I've never looked, but I've always assumed they were OS.

.COMs are under the jurisdiction of the US, regardless of the Registrar domicile. So change to any Registrar you want, in any country you want, the US has final say in regards to .COMs

They very well could be. I just swore I thought they were US based, or maybe it is that they bought a US company not to long ago. Damn memory.

No matter the opinion on the matter, its good to clear the legal perspectives on this, so everyone know what to do... and not to do. If you wanna register a domain for porn today, its not exactly a secret that chinese registrars (if there are any) is a bad idea....
Greed, lack of common sense and knowledge, is your worst enemy in this business. Not democratic governments.

Virginia would be the state that has jurisdiction over .com because the registry is there.

I like how godaddy just rolled over like that :disgust

yah i'd expect them to roll first. i fucking hate go daddy. only one worse is net sol. they can suck my cock.

It's strange to me. I mean, the entire internet is based on Servers and Clients. So right off the bat, you can have a situation where a Clients local laws prohibit them from even viewing some material that is legal to view in the place the Server is located. In other words, the Client would be at fault, not the server. The server only sits there, awaiting requests. It's the client who requests.

Besides which, nothing is actually "stored" or kept with a Registrar other than an idea. What is the physical properties of a domain name? I'm not being silly, I'm seriously asking. Why does the state in which a registrar is located have any bearing whatsoever?

Oh well, glad other people are lawyers.

BTW: Wiredguy, your sig image is broken for me (using gofuckyourself.com)

i am curious too and found it they are located at inglewood in cali

Namecheap.com
336 W. Fairview Blvd
Inglewood, CA
USA

(source: http://www.namecheap.com/legal/privacy.asp)

that sucks!

update: http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/low...10-16-08-3.htm

why the fuck is icann not involved. like seriously.

I guess thats good.

I hate reading crap like that

So the state of Kentucky wants to own more gambling domains because "Gov. Beshear was elected on a platform that included bringing gambling to the state" so they are getting in the biz, and they were able to find a judge who thought it was reasonable for a new business to randomly seize the assets of multiple existing ones???

The decision will surely be appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court.

What you think and what a judge thinks are two different things...

True. Dat.