LV gambling company sues website operator

Wednesday, May 30, 2001 | 10:17 a.m.

Alliance Gaming Corp. of Las Vegas sued a Costa Rica man to stop him from using the domain name "alliancegaming.com" to allegedly divert Alliance's website users to at least three gaming websites allegedly administered by him.

The slot route operator and gaming device maker, which manages more than 8,800 gaming machines in non-casino venues, accused David Highfield in the U.S. District Court lawsuit of creating the impression that Alliance is engaging in illegal activities when he linked the domain name to his three gaming websites, cascadesportsbook.com, royalislandcasino.com and turbocasino.com.

Alliance, which said law enforcement agencies currently regard the operation of Internet gaming as a criminal violation of federal and state laws, seeks an order to stop Highfield's operation of allegedly "unauthorized and unregulated" online casino websites that it said puts its gaming license in jeopardy.

Alliance also seeks an order for an accounting of Highfield's profits earned from the use of the domain name, including any advertising revenues generated by his websites, all sales made and information indicating the number of Internet users who were diverted to the websites.

But Highfield disputed the charges.

"I am a British subject and I live in San Jose, Costa Rica. I registered alliancegaming.com without knowing that Alliance Gaming existed. I told them earlier that I've no problem relinquishing domain name provided they pay for it. But they never got back to me."

"If they want the name back, they can have it. I can always register under a different website."