The long awaited settlement with two major international online poker companies in the Isle of Man-based Rational Group - Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker will add $6 million to the Kentucky's General Fund, Associated Press reported Wednesday in one of the most surprising news of the week.
The handsome amount will be added to the state fund as a result of the settlement related to a largely debated domain confiscation case from several years ago. The disputable case involved around 140 international internet gambling domains, among which were also the two Rational Group business.
After the bluegrass state officials attempted to seize the domains on the grounds of their illegal operations in the state, they were excluded from the .com registry and the state of Kentucky, which was followed by a series of major actions through the Kentucky courts.
The action was challenged by the internet freedom groups which questioned how the state could close down websites that are located outside Kentucky.
Kentucky governor Steve Beshear announced the settlement, saying that the additional money will give the state a cushion should General Fund revenue fail to meet projections in June, the last month of the fiscal year.
Beshear also said that while Kentucky was pursuing the domain seizures, federal agencies in New York and Maryland undertook similar actions in federal court in 2011 against Pokerstars and Full Tilt Poker, thus prompting bluegrass state to join the federal lawsuits against the online gambling firms. The subsequent action resulted in the $6 million settlement announced Wednesday.
The original domain litigation is still continuing in the Kentucky state appeal courts.
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