At 12:53 PM 09/04/2002 -0700, Morlock Elloi wrote:

I'm not sure which is more funny - this being a hoax or not.

Appears not to be, at least if you can believe "The Register". I can't tell if "operation of games", as defined under Greek law, refers to anybody playing the game, or is more technically defined as "running a business that provides game-playing opportunities to customers", or if the term "gaming" is the more general term for playing games or is a euphemism for "gambling", as it is in the US gaming industry. Foosball appears to still be legal, if nobody bets on it, but pinball machines are usually electromechanical so they're banned. And, of course, "Zero Wing", the source of "All your base are belong to us" is obviously banned. It's either time to start mailing those poor oppressed Greeks copies of nethack and URLs for file:\\windows\System32\sol.exe or else to use this as an excuse to ban Microsoft from Greece, whichever is a sillier opportunity to insult the politicians. Of course, there are other places with stupid laws as well; I've heard that in parts of the US, cannabis plants aren't allowed to grow, but I've seen no evidence that Nature pays attention :-)

http://www.netcafe.gr/ http://www.netcafe.gr/files/law.txt

LAW NUMBER 3037 - 30 July 2002 GAMING PROHIBITION

The President of Greek Republic We issue the following law which was voted by the Greek Parliament --------------------- Article 1 Game categories --------------------- According to notion of the commands of the current law: a. Mechanical games are those, that depend on one's muscle force. b. Electrical games are those, that depend on electrical mechanisms. c. Electromechanical games are those that depend on electrical mechanisms and the use of one's muscle force. d. Electronic games are those, that depend on both electrical-electronic mechanisms and software. e. Entertainment technical games are those, whose result depends exclusively on the ability and skill of the player, and are used solely for entertainment.

The category (e) also includes all card games which had been characterised as "technical" games, according to the statement of law F.E.K A21. ---------------------------------------------- Article 2 Game prohibition ---------------------------------------------- 1. Operation and installation of any game of type (b), (c) and (d) of Article 1, including computer games, placed in public places such as hotels, cafeterias, organization halls and in any other public or private place, is prohibited.

2. Operation of games of type (e) is allowed in devices of type (a). Regarding these games, it is prohibited to place bets. Such bets will attract penalties described in Articles 4 and 5. ------------------------- Article 3 Internet cafes -------------------------- The prohibition of using computers described in Article 2 does not affect internet cafes, as long as the computers are not used for any gaming activities.

To be able to run an Internet cafe, a special permit is required from the municipal or the state where the company is based) and from its starting point (port) if it is a boat based company. According to the first application of this measure, the company should be equipped with this permit in three months from the issue date of this law.