Minnesota Web Site “Black List” Challenged in Federal Court
iMEGA today asked the US District Court in Minneapolis to prevent the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) from enforcing an order it issued to 11 Internet service providers (ISPs), to block state residents' access to 200 Web sites.
The Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement division (AGED) of the Minnesota DPS sent letters last week to AT&T, Comcast, Verizon and other companies offering Internet access, ordering the companies to prevent Minnesota residents from viewing sites included on an AGED "black list". All of the sites named on the list are related to online gambling.
iMEGA filed suit against John Willems, director of AGED, to prevent the order from being enforced. In its suit, iMEGA stated that Minnesota lacked the authority to compel the ISPs to block residents access to the sites, and that their actions constituted a violation of free speech rights guaranteed by the First Amendment of the US Constitution.
"It's our hope that Minnesota will recognize their error and drop their blocking order," said Joe Brennan Jr., iMEGA chairman. "Censoring Internet access for Minnesota residents would establish a troubling precedent of government intrusion into the online world, and we just can't allow that to happen."
iMEGA also sent letters to each of the ISPs contacted by Minnesota, informing them that the state had erred in its application of a Federal law (18 U.S.C. § 1084(d)) from the 1960s regarding the use of telephone and telegraph wires for the transmission of illegal wagers. The letters went on to say that Minnesota had neither the authority nor the jurisdiction to order the ISPs to block Minnesota residents access to site that were not located within the state.
"Because website operators are not subscribers of yours, have no contracts with you and are not provided facilities by you, you should be aware the the MN DPS is attempting to mislead (either intentionally or inadvertently) you into believing that you are bound by federal law to do what the MN DPS asks," the letter stated. "In fact, [the Wire Act] simply does not apply to the web site operators and imposes no duty upon you and provides no authority to you to comply with the MN DPS request."
iMEGA has launched several court challenges, at both the state and federal level, in support of the Internet gambling industry. A lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 1996, a law that prohibits US banks and credit card companies from processing payments between US residents and international online gambling sites, is due to be decided in the US 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals this summer (Case No.08-1981). In another suit, iMEGA prevented Kentucky from seizing the rights to 141 domain names, all related to gambling, with a victory this past January in the state's Court of Appeals (No. 2008-CA-002000-OA). That decision is being appealed by attorneys for Kentucky to the state's Supreme Court.
Links US District Court: iMEGA v. Willems of MN Dept. of Public Safety, AGED (.pdf format) Download: iMEGA Letter to ISPs on Minnesota Blocking Order (.pdf format)
