WebProNews spoke with Eli Lehrer, the Vice President of The Heartland Institute, about the legislation, and he said that it was “common sense.” The bill, called the Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection, and Strengthening UIGEA Act of 2011, or H.R. 2366, has also received bipartisan support, which Lehrer believes is significant.

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Ironically, Beshear’s primary focus in his race to become governor was to bring casinos into Kentucky. He claims his recent action is an effort to abolish illegal and unregulated gambling. However, Kentucky does allow gambling on horse racing and bingo and also has a state lottery.

As you can imagine, Beshear’s action has not sat quietly with the gambling industry and even the Internet community. A hearing was held in which representatives of sites such as PokerStars, GoldenCasino, GoldenPalace, Poker Players Alliance, and many others argued whether domain names could actually be seized under Kentucky law, whether the state had jurisdiction in the case, and whether First Amendment rights had been violated.

In the most recent chain of events, Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate did not dismiss the case as many had hoped. In response to the Judge’s decision, Sherman Bradley of Online Casino Advisory issued a boycott on all taxable gambling products in Kentucky with the primary target being the state’s signature industry – horse racing.

More irony in this case is the fact that TwinSpires.com was not included in the 141 domain names to be seized. TwinSpires.com is an online horse racing and wagering website that is owned by the parent company of Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. It accepts bets from the residents of Kentucky, but also pays the state taxes.

Bradley hopes the campaign will be effective enough to get Governor Beshear to back down from his initiative. The campaign will run with Churchill Downs’ fall calendar, October 26 – November 29.

The next hearing in this case is scheduled for December 3.

We would like to mention that some of the above mentioned websites already hold messages stating: “SORRY THIS SERVICE IS NOT AVAILABLE FOR KENTUCKY RESIDENTS.”  However, Kentucky residents can still reach these sites by using a proxy site such as pagewash.com.