SMC Louiville became a nonprofit corporation in January of this year. As Jason Falls, the President of the club, explains above, SMC Louiville is striving to become a valuable resource on social media to the southern region. The group is holding boot camps in order to bring in expert speakers to make the events even more effective.

Jason is encouraged since other social groups are rising up and joining their cause because it gives southerners a larger Web presence. As these groups come together, he hopes they will be able create new ideas and ultimately solve problems.

For more information on Social Media Club Louiville, visit their site.

You may remember our coverage last year when Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear ordered the seizure of 141 gambling domain names by the state. The case went to court and Circuit Court Judge Thomas Wingate upheld the Governor’s order. The website owners appealed the ruling and in January of this year, the appellate court reversed Judge Wingate’s ruling saying domain names should not be considered gaming devices.

Clarke refers to this case as a classic example of a state not understanding its state limitations of jurisdiction on the Web. Sarah points out that the Kentucky appellate court’s ruling was based only upon a 2-1 decision. She expresses fear that other states will follow Kentucky’s example and push for action in similar cases.

Despite the ruling, Kentucky is not giving up its fight against the Internet domain names. In a statement released from Governor Beshear’s administration, Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet Secretary J. Michael Brown said:

“The Commonwealth will continue its action to protect Kentucky citizens from illegal Internet gambling operations, and appeal the recent Court of Appeals ruling to the state Supreme Court.”

He went on to say:

“The evidence demonstrated that illegal and unregulated activity is occurring in Kentucky, and that millions of dollars are being lost as a result of that activity…”

WebProNews will continue to keep you updated as this battle continues.

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.