News Article: Greece bans video games
News Date: 09/03/2002
Source: C-Net/MSNBC
Link: http://msnbc-cnet.com.com/2100-1040-...&subj=cnetnews
That's right. If you're going to Greece any time soon, be sure you leave that GBA at home.

Discuss it in Talkback!

In an attempt to stop "illegal gambling", the government of Greece has passed a law that simply makes all video games illegal.

Greek Law Number 3037, enacted at the end of July, explicitly forbids electronic games with "electronic mechanisms and software" from public and private places, and people have already been fined tens of thousands of dollars for playing or owning games.

The law applies equally to visitors from abroad: "If you know these things are banned, you should not bring them in," said a commercial attaché at the Greek Embassy in London, who declined to give her name.

Internet cafes will be allowed to continue to operate, providing no games-playing takes place. If a customer is found to be running any sort of game, including online chess, the cafe owner will be fined and the place closed.

The Greek government introduced the law in an attempt to prevent illegal gambling. According to a report in the Greek newspaper Kathimerini, Greek police will be responsible for catching offenders, who will face fines of 5,000 to 75,000 euros (about $4,980 to $74,650) and imprisonment of one to 12 months. "The blanket ban was decided in February after the government admitted it was incapable of distinguishing innocuous video games from illegal gambling machines," the report said. Apparently, the law is being enforced primarily in public places (such as the chess example in an Internet Café). It seems that the police are not raiding people's homes or anything like that yet. The law will likely be modified (fixed) before it comes to that.

An accused man will be facing trial next week, and if he is convicted, the case will likely be appealed to the "European Court".

Originally posted by Jackskeleton
talk among myself? How about we discuss it among everyone here.

and please, if you are going to post a link, tell us more about it.

the basics would be fine.

Fun Things Suck, Says Greece
Greece goes gaming crazy... or just crazy.

September 03, 2002 - Greece just passed an incredibly short sighted and absolutely ridiculous law using the grand old excuse, "Well we're stupid and lazy, so we made a law so the people complaining would drown out the hollow sound our heads make when we bonk them together to think up new laws." What's the new law? Well just that every form of electronic gaming has been banned altogether from the country. And I mean every form of electronic gaming. This includes mobile phones with games (goodbye Snake II) and Gameboys and most definitely includes any PS2, Xbox, GameCube, or PC game. Good thing my dad isn't Greek, he'd suffer from Solitaire withdrawal.

Why in the hell would a country do this? Apparently because they couldn't tell the difference between illegal gambling machines and video games... You can all say it with me now, GUH? I know that Mario character is a shifty guy and Counter-Strike does have a Vegas level, but how did Greece lawmakers suddenly get wackier than ours? Or maybe that study I was going to conduct on the adverse affects of Greek olives on the psyche wasn't so crack-brained afterall? I knew there was a reason I hated them so much.

The great thing about this law is that it also applies to visitors who might have brought a Gameboy along to pass time on trains or planes or just whittle away a nice day in the sun. Tourists are getting fined and fined and fined. Neither in public nor in private can games be played. Of course, all of this has resulted in tens of thousands of dollars in fines already meaning tons of money from unsuspecting travelers unfamiliar with the way crazy people make laws. Says our own EIC Steve Butts, "The caning they gave me in China for peeing on the front gate of the forbidden city I can understand and even enjoy a little bit, but fining people for playing games?! That just makes me all pissy."

So this totally screws all of those Greek folk that have sunk tons of money into consoles and gaming machines and more especially, those seeking this out as a source of income. Somehow I doubt the Internet cafes will get quite the same business without the games. Never fear though, one of those Internet petitions is up and ready for signing if you want to help out or whatever those things do. Meanwhile, Greek gamers are getting ready to protest like crazy if a guilty verdict should arise in the first case heard on this law next week.

Our heart goes out to all of the sane people in Greece and the sheep that will get their attention now that video games aren't there to distract them anymore.