From what I understand, the 141 affected online gaming sites have 30 days to comply with the “geo blocking” of their domain names, otherwise, they will have to face a seperate hearing for domain seizure. Bad news indeed.
“In short, Judge Wingate’s controversial findings dismissed virtually all the arguments against the state of Kentucky’s initiative and ruled that the owners of the websites — other than those sites that are used only for advertising or information and not gambling — start blocking access to Kentucky residents. The Judge gave the companies and individuals concerned 30 days to implement such a block, failing which a forfeiture hearing will take place at 10.30am on November 17 in which the domains could be confiscated.”
Basically, if this judgement is not appealed or overturned, then it will most likely open the door for other states to do the same. Next thing you know, the gambling sites will be forced to block access to their sites to all of the states.
I’m not exactly sure what happens from here, but I don’t like the smell of it. The good news is that I’d say 98% of our business is from international customers these days, so it will not affect us too much. However, with that said, it’s already hard enough for me to deposit and withdraw from the various poker/sportsbook sites. With this ruling, it’ll make it nearly impossible.
I just looked on Bodog‘s site and you know how long it takes to receive a withdrawal? Maximum of 8 weeks. No chance that I put money into my bodog account if there’s a possibility that it’ll take 8 weeks for me to get it back. Seriously.