We’ll talk next week about different ways to protect your domain name, but if Kentucky has its way that may become quite a bit more challenging. Some time ago, the state (actually a commonwealth) sent forfeiture orders to domain name registrars demanding that certain gambling-related domain names be turned over under the state’s anti-gambling statutes. Problem is, none of the owners live in Kentucky and the names aren’t registered there. In fact, many of the domain name owners don’t even live in the US, so it’s entirely possible that the illegal gambling activity isn’t even illegal where they are. Given that set of facts, it was a whole lot easier to go after the registrars, all of whom likely do business in Kentucky and have little vested interest in the customer’s names.
This is a scary prospect for domain owners who are involved in a legitimate business in one state or country, but who do not (or cannot) block access from other locations where the activity is illegal or politically unpopular. With little or no means of defending against such orders from faraway government entities, those domains would be at the mercy of courts with little to gain from upholding their rights.
Fortunately, that wasn’t the end of the story, and the forfeiture orders became the subject of of litigation. For now, at least, Kentucky courts have thrown out the government’s attempted domain name grab, but the end of this story has not yet been written.
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