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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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.
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Bored cops
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Because it's American and evil
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