Raleigh, N.C. — Attorney General Roy Cooper, a Democrat, said North Carolina's law banning video sweepstakes gambling is "strong" and welcomed a Davidson County judge's ruling Monday that ended an injunction that kept law enforcement from moving against the operators of certain machines. 

Judge Robert Johnson dismissed a challenge by a sweepstakes software maker on technical grounds late Monday, but Cooper said it reinforces the state's ban on the gambling devices. 

"The state Supreme Court decision is a strong one and gives the authority to law enforcement and prosecutors to act on the law," Cooper said, referring to a December ruling by the state's highest court. 

Asked about software that is supposed to meet the letter, if not intent, of state law, Cooper said, "We've not looked at the software, we haven't examined it, but we do know the court has talked about the fact that these video poker companies continue to try to change their software in order to a avoid the law. I think that's what this judge (in Davidson County) was saying pretty clearly, that he was not going to allow that. There's always a question, too, whether the software they say they're running is the software that's actually running much of the time in the sweepstakes area. This is why law enforcement needs to, or certainly has authority, to move forward and investigate."