Video Games Still Illegal In Greece

from the how-long-does-this-go-on-for? dept

We've had a series of posts about the ridiculous law in Greece outlawing the playing of video games. While the courts keep throwing out the cases, police continue to waste time and money shutting down internet cafes because it's the law. The law was designed to stop illegal gambling, but because politicians couldn't be bothered figuring out the difference between a game and gambling, they banned all games. After complaints, the law was clarified to say you could still play games at home - but not at an internet cafe. Cafe owners are complaining that they're getting shut down randomly for months at a time, even if the courts are just throwing out the charges. It really makes you wonder about the politicians who leave this book on the law and the police departments who continue to enforce it even when they admit shutting down these cafes "prevents us from pursuing our real aim, which is the fight against illegal gambling." The courts are against it, the police are against it, the people are against it. Why is this law still in place?
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  1. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 25 Feb 2004 @ 3:01pm

    No Subject Given

    the police are against it
    But are they really? I don't know about Greek police, but U.S. police certainly practice selective enforcement and rarely enforce laws they don't agree with. So while an Athens police public relations official may tell the public that they don't support it, their actions say otherwise.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Mark, 25 Feb 2004 @ 3:33pm

    No Subject Given

    "It really makes you wonder about the politicians who leave this law on the books and the police departments who continue to enforce it."

    That's Greece for you. Its news headlines often read like political satire. Note the crusade against the tiny state of Macedonia, which has nothing to do with Alexander the Great but which Greece opposes (and, for a while at least, blockaded) because they feel threatened by the name.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Mike, 25 Feb 2004 @ 3:35pm

    Bored cops

    You wouldn't think Greece would have a bunch of bored cops running around. Afterall, the Olympics are in Greece this year and coming up really fast. The last I heard Greece was still a jumping off point for many terrorists coming out of the Middle East.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    dorpus, 25 Feb 2004 @ 4:12pm

    Because it's American and evil

    Americans invented the internet, so it should be outlawed.

    link to this | view in thread ]


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