Well, we’ve installed a new, cleaner “theme” for the BLBlog that provides an opportunity to post a picture.

The banner is designed to represent all parts of the commonwealth. Here’s a rundown (from left to right):
• Northern Virginia – the Iwo Jima memorial in Arlington
• The Valley – Shenandoah Caverns
• Central Virginia – the Washington statue on the Capitol Grounds in Richmond
• The Peninsula – the Colonial Capitol in Williamsburg
• Hampton Roads – the Chesapeake Bay Bridge
• Southside – the Tobacco Warehouse District in Danville
• Southwest Virginia – White’s Mill outside of Abingdon

By Paul Fletcher

In Kentucky, they’ve gone to court to crack down on illegal online gambling.

Yep, the commonwealth of Kentucky now owns the domain names of numerous illegal gambling sites (141 to be exact), after a judge ordered their seizure yesterday.

By seizing the domain names, Kentucky can require illegal casino operators to block their domains from access by Kentuckians.

Gov. Steve Breshear noted in a press release that the state loses tens of millions of dollars each year to unlicensed Internet gambling operations.

Those operations undermine and threaten horseracing, “Kentucky’s signature industry and a key tourism industry,” he said. That must be the reason that Kentucky, first and so far alone among the 50 states, has gone after Internet gambling this way.

Lots of interesting legal issues to note, though, including state ownership of Web sites, status of domain names as property, jurisdiction, online blocking, among others. A brave new world, indeed.

By Paul Fletcher

The court’s opinion is here. A report from the Richmond Times-Dispatch is here.

The winners are property owner groups in both the large-scale gated community of Lake Holiday in Frederick County and the small Dogwood Valley subdivision in Greene County.

In the Lake Holiday case, as reported by Virginia Lawyers Weekly, the judge dismissed the suit that sought to invalidate the Lake Holiday Country Club as a POA under the Virginia Property Owners’ Association Act.

In the Dogwood Valley case, U.S. District Judge Norman K. Moon rejected claims of racketeering and extortion against the Dogwood Valley Citizens’ Association.  Even though the group had no authority to make special assessments, it “simply tried to collect the monies necessary to maintain the roads and common areas as required by the deeds of declaration and the DVCA bylaws.”  Moon’s opinion is here.

According to a news release from the George Mason University School of Law, the soldier was ordered to move to military quarters, but his private landlord was not cooperative when the solder sought to terminate his lease. The landlord not only failed to return the soldier’s security deposit, he counterclaimed for the balance of the rent due under the full lease term (as well as damages and attorneys’ fees).

Although Virginia’s Residential Landlord and Tenant Act protects service members when they are ordered on base, the landlord claimed that the protection provision did not apply because the soldier helped to arrange for the order to move on base.

GMU’s Clinic for Legal Assistance to Servicemembers (CLAS) took up the cause for the service member. At a hearing this week, Arlington District Judge Karen Henenberg rejected the landlord’s argument that the soldier’s involvement in obtaining “orders” to move into base housing was disqualifying under the statute.

According to the GMU release, Henenberg refused to read into the statute language that was not there. She noted that, especially where the landlord was aware of the statute, early termination is a risk the landlord assumes.

Henenberg also observed that if a tenant’s involvement in obtaining orders to move on base should make the statute inapplicable, that would be an issue for the General Assembly to address.

Henenberg ordered the landlord to pay damages under the Consumer Protection Act.

Avoidance of the landlord’s claim for rent, damages and fees, and the award of the security deposit and tenant’s damages, resulted in a victory for the CLAS client in excess of $13,000, according to the news release.

Utah was second, with Washington, North Carolina and Georgia rounding out the top five.

In ranking states, Forbes.com looks at business costs, labor issues, regulatory climate, economic climate, growth prospects and quality of life.

By Peter Vieth

 This sign explains it all…

With retailers lowering the purchase price of DVDs and movie-rental alternatives such as NetFlix and OnDemand gaining popularity, Blockbuster sought to take its business in a new direction by acquiring the consumer electronics chain.  The company went public with its plans this past April. But under pressure due to market conditions, Blockbuster walked away from the deal.    

Circuit City’s shares closed yesterday at nearly three times less than their NYSE trading price a year ago. For its first fiscal quarter, the electronics company reported a net loss of $164.8 million. Blockbuster also reported losses this past year.

Circuit City says it will continue to seek other options.