All Electronic Gaming Banned In Greece
 

Gamers face jail in Greece


Rupert Goodwins and Matt Loney
ZDNet UK
September 03, 2002, 12:55 BST



A new law passed in Greece means that anybody carrying an electronic game - even if it is just on a mobile phone - could face a hefty fine or lengthy jail sentence


Thousands of British tourists in Greece are unknowingly facing heavy fines or long terms in prison for owning mobile phones or portable video games. The Greek government has banned all electronic games across Greece, including those in home computers, Game Boy-style portable consoles, and on mobile phones.

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 euros for playing or owning games.

Internet cafes are allowed to continue to operate, providing all gaming is prohibited: if a client is found to be running any sort of game, including online chess, the café owner will be fined and the place closed. The law applies equally to visitors from abroad: "If you know these things are banned, you should not bring them in," said the commercial attaché at the Greek Embassy in London -- who declined to give her name.

The law was passed to prevent illegal gambling. According to the Greek newspaper Kathimerini, "The police will be responsible for catching offenders, who will face fines of 5,000 to 75,000 euros 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." One online report said that even watching a film on DVD -- many of which contain promotional games linked to the movie -- had resulted in an arrest and a 10,000-euro fine.

The Greek gaming community has reacted with a mixture of shock, disbelief and anger. One site, www.gameland.gr, has opened a petition and a news service on the ban, as well as providing English translations of the law and messages of support from around the world.

A test case is to come before the Greek courts next week, and the Greek gaming community is already planning protests in the event that the defendant is convicted.

"We are trying to organise a protest against this law," said Petros Tipis of Thessaloniki-based gaming company Reload Entertainment, which has had to cancel a gaming tournament that was to be held this week.

If the prosecution of the defendant next week is successful, said Tipis, the Greek gaming industry will take the case to the European Court.

In the meantime, Tipis told ZDNet UK, a lot of people in Greece are very worried about the new law. "They are taking it very seriously," he said. "It even affects the games that come with Windows. This law isn't the right one," he added. "It is unfair. It was introduced too quickly."

Reload's tournament, which was to be held on 6 September, was a qualifier for the CPL Oslo 2002 gaming tournament. "Now we are trying not to lose the two slots we were given from CPL for the tournament," said Tipis. "This was the first time for a qualifier (for this tournament) in Greece."



http://news.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/mob...2121692,00.htm

That's crazy!!

I've got cousins living in Greece who are games freaks...and I go over there occasionally...I'm quarter Greek you know...

Yet how are they going to stop peope using them?? They can't watch everyone all the time...

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/talkback/?PRO...360t-10000010c

It sounds too stupid to be real..

That's so fucking lame.

Enacted at the end of July?...... already been fined?...

no


I was with it untill it said people had already been fined, for a law that takes effect at the end of july.

http://zelaron.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6107
http://zelaron.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20491

GG

Edit:

If you examine the posting, it's dated September 2002

Rofl, next he'll post the All Your Base video.

HAI GuYz LooK aT tHis AwEsOmE ViDeO I foUnd !!!1111

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/asianpride.php

How did none of you not notice that?

I even remember when this happened...

That "Every time you masturbate, god kills a kitten" picture is just hilarious!

My spooon is tooo big.




My spoon is too big.



My spoon is to big.

JR, why exactly did you post this?

Yes I remember now... I trusted him to not be posting old stupid shit.

http://www.symbolics.com/


For whoever doesn't know already, that's the first registered domain name if I recall correctly. I win.

I'm gonna dial in to Prodigy! I win.

As WetWired already pointed out, there was a thread made about this, in 2002, when this was news. I would also bet cash-money that JRWakeboard was a member at the time, and actually posted in said thread.

Edit:

Okay, I would have lost cash-money on that one...

Cash is almost as good as money.

Because I didn't check the date and assumed it was new. My bad.




And thank you. I think until this point I've been very good about not doing so. I'll try to be extra vigilant moving forward.

Give the man a break, honest mistake.

HOLY SHIT I JUST DISCOVERED FIRE.

p