All Games Banned In Greece face a fine if you have them

[quiksilver 0]

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.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/gamers-face-jail-in-greece/

That is carzy!!

The law even includes games that come with windows and cell phones.

I feel bad for those guys. I bet there are a lot of angry teenagers in Greece.

If America ever does this I am moving to Canada

[Se?or Maniac 0]

Yeah I think that they should revise the law so that it does not have to include games on consoles or even the ones that come with the operating systems. I too think that the law is unfair. Another thing that I think is that the tourists should not be held accountable for something that does not put a life or quality of life in danger. They are not residents there and should not be in trouble. Gaming is not like speeding where something or someone can be harmed. But I think that the government will find a way to revise it so that what they intended it to cover is covered, and other parts that are just in their becuase because of cicumstance.

[Saint_Michael 3]

put it like this greece just lost a lot of tourism and money i tell you this i be damn if i pay fine cuz i have a cell phone and that i need when traveling. might as well ban all froms of entertainment too while they are at. i blame the parents for that law going into effect.

[rvalkass 5]

Why? Why on earth would they ban video games, especially in private homes. OK, people playing GameBoys in public can be annoying, especially on a long train journey, but in their own home? Where is the logic behind that? Perhaps someone from Greece can enlighten us on this strange law?

[Becca 0]

Sometimes people relate game playing to the way a person acts or what they do. But why the hell are they banning all GAMES...? what is everyone going to do? Just watch TV all day...? What about online games? Is that banned too...this is seriously crazy and pathetic.

[jmb2006 0]

http://www.zdnet.com/article/gamers-face-jail-in-greece/

 

That is carzy!!

 

The law even includes games that come with windows and cell phones.

I feel bad for those guys. I bet there are a lot of angry teenagers in Greece.

 

If America ever does this I am moving to Canada

158959[/snapback]

what the hell, ban games, why?

prepare yourself UK and America cause were about to get invaded by Immigrants.

 

whats the point of going to greece if you cant bring your gameboy, lol

its just pointless.

[palladin 0]

And what is next, drink a water with bubles ? I can expec somthing like this from Iraq or other SouthEastern countrys but Greece is civilizated UnitedEurope Member ?!? ... i think this law will be baned by UE when Greece Goverment lose a process with people. --------------------Practice is when evrything is work but no one know why.Theory is when work nothing but evry one know why.Programmers join Practice with Theory - nothing work and no one know why

[Cerb 0]

This seems to me a horribly pathetic move on Greece's part. Banning video games will not get anyone anywhere. It will not cut down on violence. It will not change the way people act. It will do nothing more than make quite a few people extremely mad.

[dexter 0]

That's interesting. Anyone actually from Greece that knows the reasoning behind this? If one is to ban electronic games, why not all games? What makes games in an electronic form worse than those that aren't?Apparantly online chess is banned. What makes that any different from normal chess? I say throw everyone who plays games in jail.

[dexter 0]

Give me an edit button.

10 seconds later I see this:

"The blanket ban was decided in February after the government admitted it was incapable of distinguishing innocuous video games from illegal gambling machines,"

What a terrible mis-managed government. A decision like the makes me almost as upset as I was about the Grokster vs. MGM result (another sad day for the IT industry).

[dexter 0]

Sorry for the triple post...I've just discovered that this is old, old news (2002).... Anyone know if the ban was lifted or what?

[psychiccyberfreak 0]

Hahaha, I'm not going to grece. video games make me do bad things, yeah right!!!

[ruckusbag 0]

I wonder why they would do such a thing... There goes hours of entertainment...

[psychiccyberfreak 0]

honestly feel really bad for them. It's cruel and unusual punishment. No games? now, what did they do back then? Oh yeah, they beat the crap outof a wooden hoop, right? how primitive. I dont know what I woud do without a day of videogames. The last time I did that, I was seriously messed after the week I got back from scout camp. It actually wasen't that bad, just really boring. think of going through that every day!

[quiksilver 0]

Yeh, I am also at a complete loss as to why they would do that.