FRANKFORT — Gov. Steve Beshear and his Justice Secretary, J. Michael Brown, want to put a stop to “unregulated and illegal” Internet gambling in Kentucky.

Last week, Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate granted their request for an order transferring domain names of 141 Internet gambling sites to Kentucky, what Brown called the “first step to blocking this activity.” A Sept. 25 hearing will determine if Wingate orders the forfeiture of those names to the state.

If he does, Brown said the state can require the domain registrar to transfer their control to the state and block access from Kentucky Internet users to the sites. It’s possible, he conceded, the action will block access to those sites nationally.

“Unlicensed, unregulated, illegal Internet gambling poses a tremendous threat to the citizens of the commonwealth . . . and siphons off money from regulated and legal games such as Kentucky’s thoroughbred racing industry, our lottery and charitable gaming activities,” Beshear said.

He called the effort an “unprecedented action in this country to protect one of our signature industries from illicit interests that are attempting to profit at our expense.” Brown showed a slide of one of the sites that features a photograph of thoroughbreds racing at the Kentucky Derby.

“The culprits are foreign companies, huge companies that rake in millions to billions of dollars and operate beyond the reach of law enforcement,” Beshear said, including “tens of millions of dollars from Kentucky.” Because the games are unregulated, anyone who plays and thinks he’s been scammed has no legal recourse, Beshear said. He called the companies “leeches on our communities.”

The governor said the Internet gambling sites are “not gaming as we know it at race tracks, at established casinos or the lottery.” He said it’s illegal in all 50 states, including Nevada and New Jersey. Kentucky’s gaming laws, Beshear said, are among the toughest in the country and that makes Kentucky a good place to attempt to stop the activity.

Brown said state law allows the state to seize “devices” used in illegal gambling and Wingate accepted the state’s argument the domain names constitute devices.

Beshear – who championed a constitutional amendment to allow casino gambling in Kentucky – doesn’t think it’s morally dubious to go after Internet gambling while promoting horse racing, the Kentucky Lottery or casino gambling.

“I’m not looking at this so much from a moral standpoint as from protecting the public in terms of the tax dollars, the tax revenue and protecting our industries here in the state that have legalized gaming,” he said.

“This activity is totally opposite of the activities that we allow. It is unregulated, it is illegal, there is no way we can assure that it is fair to the public,” Beshear said.

Among the 141 domain names transferred to the state are sportsbook.com, pokertime.com and casinobar.com. Brown said they are distinguished from such sites as twinspires.com, operated by Churchill Downs, by their virtual existence and the fact that twinspires.com offers wagering on actual, regulated events “that are really taking place and are regulated.”

Ronnie Ellis writes for CNHI News Service and is based in Frankfort. He can be reached by e-mail at rellis@cnhi. com.