Tuesday, September 3, 2002 |
02:29 - Europeans Know Best
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/26939.html
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Wow. This one's one for the ol' record books. The Greek government has just banned all video games. All of 'em.
The government of Greece is making heroic efforts to humiliate the nation in front of the entire world, by banning all electronic games. That's right; something as innocent as playing computer chess on your laptop in a hotel lobby is now a crime with penalties of up to three months in stir and a fine of 10,000 euros.
The purpose behind this charming legislation is to crack down on Internet gambling (which already was illegal) -- or, rather, to enable legislators to enact their little public dance of righteous aversion to Internet gambling.
Improved enforcement of existing law is all that was needed, but there's a problem. Unfortunately, the Greek government is "incapable of distinguishing innocuous video games from illegal gambling machines," according to an older article from the English-language Kathimerini newspaper, written while the bill was under consideration.
But these are the Greeks! They're just weird! Uh, yeah, but I thought the whole EU thing was about breaking down national identities and stuff. Doesn't work so well when one member state does something completely moronic, eh?
Man oh man. I'm no great fan of video games, but at least in the rest of Europe and in the US (thus far) we know the difference between Diablo and Gamblor.
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