LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Lawyers representing online gambling interests told the Kentucky Court of Appeals on Friday that Gov. Steve Beshear’s effort to seize domain names is blatantly unconstitutional.

A three-judge panel is weighing Beshear’s unprecedented move to seize the domain names of 141 gambling Web sites.

Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate allowed the Cabinet for Justice and Public Safety to seize the domain names last month. The seizure, at this point, is meaningless because the state cannot control the content of the Web sites until a judge orders the domain names forfeited to the state.

A forfeiture hearing has been stayed pending the ruling from the Court of Appeals.

In oral arguments Friday, lawyers representing six domain names, two online gambling trade groups and The Poker Players Alliance said the cabinet’s move is littered with legal and constitutional flaws.

They focused on four arguments:

• Wingate does not have jurisdiction to allow the state to seize domains registered in other countries where gambling is legal.

• Domain names are not gambling devices.

• Domain names can be seized only after a criminal conviction. The state has not attempted to criminally prosecute the Web site operators.

• The commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution prohibits Kentucky from regulating interstate and international commerce, which the trade groups argue Wingate’s order effectively allows.

“We have Kentucky exercising worldwide jurisdiction,” said Frankfort lawyer William Johnson, who represents five domain names.