You can bann anything in Greece, but no one will care since stupid laws are there to be broken. Most likely, they'll probably go to extremes in the opposite direction with online gambling machines everywhere (including the police stations.)
Europe has a long tradition of banning any sort of activities, whenever it suits the government. But this is definitely something new. Going to jail for playing Minesweeper? I've probably lived in another world until now.
Really? I've lived here all my life and never heard of anything like it. Please, elaborate on Europe's "long tradition of banning any sort of activities".
Europe has given the world two world wars that America had to end, and the horrors of Communism will be hardly ever forgotten. Do you know how many millions had lost their lives during Stalin's regime? You do. Do you know how many people's lives were wasted during Communism during 40 years of oppression in East and Central Europe? Take Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria... and Russia, of course.
I live in Czechia. I've lived in a free country for 12 years. Yet there was a publisher being fined for publishing a book last year, and if he hadn't a great lawyer he might have been imprisoned. Man, it's real. Wake up :)
Uh, so.. what does this have to do with your claim that "[Europe has had a ] long tradition of banning any sort of activities"?
And how is it even tangentially related to the absurd law that passed in Greece (which by the sound of it is doomed to be withdrawn)?
What I meant was 1) In the past, people were banned to do various things in Europe, like reading books (the BAD books), 2) It's not ended as we can see. I respect your right to disagree with me. However, certain things can hardly be denied.
But enough of this :) I'm gonna play some DoD now
What do you mean "in Europe"? Europe is not a country, Europe does not "ban" books. Maybe some books at some point was banned in, say, Czechia, but that does not mean it's a European thing, any more than it's an Earth thing.
Banning books has nothing to do with Europe, but with the human trait of corruption, bizarre notions of hubris and the will to maintain status quo. It can be seen in every country where people can read, often disguised in a thin veil of "Save the children!" They often don't have the power to suppress everything on a bigger scale, but it's there and should be fought against with valour. (I'm an anti-censorship freak, can't you tell?)
About the silly laws, we've had them too. None quite as silly as this, but we've had them. PUL comes to mind almost immediately. Or, even better, the strawberry-laws of the European Union.
(Quite faulty, most of us Swedes forget about the former communist countries when talking about things such as these.)
Tomas, the law will probably not be revoked. They just remove the penalty bit, much less paperwork that way.
America does have their share of silly laws, too. If I remember correctly it is illegal to cross a road on ones hands in Texas, and I hear it is illegal for a moose to mate in the street in an other..
Nicklas: They might have to, because games come with every installation of Windows, including the ones used by the goverment. Also, with every mobile phone, etc.
The _point_ of the law was not to ban playing "snake" on your phone, but to ban illegal gambling, this is merely a result from not being able to distinguish between illegal and legal forms of games. A silly one, but nevertheless. I'm pretty sure this all-types-of-games blanket ban will be lifted, Greek authority simply cannot go on fining people for owning a mobile phone when the law is supposed to stop illegal gambling..
Or, atleast I hope so.. ;)
Comments
To prevent online gambling? That is like banning the use of cars because people keep driving them over cliffs...
Comment by Doug at 15:54, 05 Sep, 2002 #
No, no! It's more like banning the cliffs! ;-)
Comment by Tommy at 16:22, 05 Sep, 2002 #
Or, like banning moving at all..
Comment by tomas at 17:11, 05 Sep, 2002 #
You can bann anything in Greece, but no one will care since stupid laws are there to be broken. Most likely, they'll probably go to extremes in the opposite direction with online gambling machines everywhere (including the police stations.)
Comment by Nicklas at 18:14, 05 Sep, 2002 #
Europe has a long tradition of banning any sort of activities, whenever it suits the government. But this is definitely something new. Going to jail for playing Minesweeper? I've probably lived in another world until now.
Comment by Teekay at 20:47, 05 Sep, 2002 #
Really? I've lived here all my life and never heard of anything like it. Please, elaborate on Europe's "long tradition of banning any sort of activities".
Comment by tomas at 20:57, 05 Sep, 2002 #
Europe has given the world two world wars that America had to end, and the horrors of Communism will be hardly ever forgotten. Do you know how many millions had lost their lives during Stalin's regime? You do. Do you know how many people's lives were wasted during Communism during 40 years of oppression in East and Central Europe? Take Poland, Hungary, East Germany, Bulgaria... and Russia, of course.
I live in Czechia. I've lived in a free country for 12 years. Yet there was a publisher being fined for publishing a book last year, and if he hadn't a great lawyer he might have been imprisoned. Man, it's real. Wake up :)
Comment by Teekay at 21:59, 05 Sep, 2002 #
Uh, so.. what does this have to do with your claim that "[Europe has had a ] long tradition of banning any sort of activities"?
And how is it even tangentially related to the absurd law that passed in Greece (which by the sound of it is doomed to be withdrawn)?
Comment by tomas at 22:15, 05 Sep, 2002 #
What I meant was 1) In the past, people were banned to do various things in Europe, like reading books (the BAD books), 2) It's not ended as we can see. I respect your right to disagree with me. However, certain things can hardly be denied.
But enough of this :) I'm gonna play some DoD now
Comment by Teekay at 22:44, 05 Sep, 2002 #
What do you mean "in Europe"? Europe is not a country, Europe does not "ban" books. Maybe some books at some point was banned in, say, Czechia, but that does not mean it's a European thing, any more than it's an Earth thing.
It's not a matter of opinion.
Comment by tomas at 23:56, 05 Sep, 2002 #
Banning books has nothing to do with Europe, but with the human trait of corruption, bizarre notions of hubris and the will to maintain status quo. It can be seen in every country where people can read, often disguised in a thin veil of "Save the children!" They often don't have the power to suppress everything on a bigger scale, but it's there and should be fought against with valour. (I'm an anti-censorship freak, can't you tell?)
About the silly laws, we've had them too. None quite as silly as this, but we've had them. PUL comes to mind almost immediately. Or, even better, the strawberry-laws of the European Union.
(Quite faulty, most of us Swedes forget about the former communist countries when talking about things such as these.)
Tomas, the law will probably not be revoked. They just remove the penalty bit, much less paperwork that way.
Comment by Nicklas at 00:06, 06 Sep, 2002 #
America does have their share of silly laws, too. If I remember correctly it is illegal to cross a road on ones hands in Texas, and I hear it is illegal for a moose to mate in the street in an other..
Nicklas: They might have to, because games come with every installation of Windows, including the ones used by the goverment. Also, with every mobile phone, etc.
The _point_ of the law was not to ban playing "snake" on your phone, but to ban illegal gambling, this is merely a result from not being able to distinguish between illegal and legal forms of games. A silly one, but nevertheless. I'm pretty sure this all-types-of-games blanket ban will be lifted, Greek authority simply cannot go on fining people for owning a mobile phone when the law is supposed to stop illegal gambling..
Or, atleast I hope so.. ;)
Comment by tomas at 10:45, 06 Sep, 2002 #
The discussion has been closed on this entry. Thanks to everybody who participated.