GREECE : BAN ON VIDEOAGMES : PART 2 FOLLOWUP

Templehorn · Post by **Templehorn** » Mon Sep 23, 2002 4:07 pm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2271130.stm
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 Greek net cafes face ruin
 
 
 Playing computer games like Counter-Strike is banned
 
 
 
 By Daniel Howden
 in Athens
 
 
 Greek police have been accused of using "Taleban tactics" after a fresh wave of arrests under a controversial law banning all forms of computer games closed down internet cafes around the country.
 A judge in the city of Thessaloniki had earlier thrown out the first case brought under the gaming law but prosecutors have appealed against the decision and launched a new crackdown.
 
 "The police are acting like the Taleban, closing down businesses, seizing property and stopping people enjoying themselves," one of the two owners awaiting a retrial, Christos Iordanidis, told the BBC.
 
 Four arrests were made in the northern town of Serres, another in the central Greek city of Larissa and a sixth in Orestiada.
 
 In each case, computers were seized and impounded as evidence of criminal activity. More arrests are expected.
 
 Delaying tactics
 
 The Greek gaming community have expressed their fears that the latest raids represent a change in tactics that could see widespread confiscation of PCs.
 
 
 
 In an atmosphere of darkness and a return to the middle ages... the parliament has unanimously criminalised the playing of computer games, even over the internet
 
 Spokesman for Greek Internet Cafe Union
 A court hearing in Serres on Thursday backed the Thessaloniki judge´s decision that the ban was unconstitutional, but police have so far refused to return confiscated computers.
 
 Campaigners have accused local prosecutors of deliberately delaying legal proceedings in a bid to economically cripple cafe owners.
 
 "The prosecutor by-passed the normal procedure and will announce the trial at a date that could be up to a year from now. That means that the owner will be ruined, he has no computers to work with," said Mr Iordanidis.
 
 The Greek Government passed legislation in July outlawing all electronic or mechanical games in a bid to stamp out an illegal gambling epidemic thought to be worth 320 million euros per day.
 
 European heavyweights
 
 The bill has been widely criticised for failing to distinguish between fruit machines and mainstream computer games such as Counter-Strike and Age of Empires.
 
 "In an atmosphere of darkness and a return to the middle ages, with a logic only encountered in dictatorships where the internet is seen as diabolical, the parliament has unanimously criminalised the playing of computer games, even over the internet," said a spokesman for the internet cafe owners´ union.
 
 Greek Campaigners have been joined by European gaming heavyweights Sega, Namco and JVH in an appeal against the blanket ban to be heard by the European Commission in October.
 
 However, Nikos Serdaris, managing director of gaming company´s JVH´s Greek division believes the Greek Government, and the bills main sponsor deputy finance minister Apostolos Fotiadis, will not back down easily under EU pressure.
 
 Widespread support
 
 "This law was passed purely for political reasons. I´ve met with Mr Fotiadis and he told me he knows the law is not OK, but it was a political decision and they won´t abide by European law," said Mr Serdaris.
 
 Law 3037 was passed in record time in the wake of a national scandal earlier this year involving an MP from the ruling Pasok party, forced to resign after being caught on film playing on a fruit machine at an illegal gambling shop.
 
 "The Greek Government does not have a good record of abiding by European law," said Mr Serdaris.
 
 The presiding judge in the case in Serres told one defendant: "I do not care what they do in the European Union," according to local media.
 
 Greek Gamers have launched an online petition that has attracted international support and been signed by more than 19,000 people.
 
 
 -
 ORIGINAL STORY : PART 1 : BELOW :
 
 In Greece, Use A
 Game Boy, Go To Jail
 By Matt Loney and Rupert Goodwins
 Staff Writers, CNET News.com
 9-4-2
 
 In Greece, playing a shoot-´em-up video game could land you in jail.
 
 
 The Greek government has banned all electronic games across the country, including those that run on home computers, on Game Boy-style portable consoles, and on mobile phones. Thousands of tourists in Greece are unknowingly facing heavy fines or long terms in prison for owning mobile phones or portable video games.
 
 Greek 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 dollars for playing or owning games.
 
 
 The law applies equally to visitors from abroad: "If you know these things are banned, you should not bring them in," said a commercial attaché at the Greek Embassy in London, who declined to give her name.
 
 Internet cafes will be allowed to continue to operate, providing no games-playing takes place. If a customer is found to be running any sort of game, including online chess, the cafe owner will be fined and the place closed.
 
 The Greek government introduced the law in an attempt to prevent illegal gambling. According to a report in the Greek newspaper Kathimerini, Greek police will be responsible for catching offenders, who will face fines of 5,000 to 75,000 euros (about $4,980 to $74,650) 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," the report said.
 
 The Greek gaming community has reacted with a mixture of shock, disbelief and anger. One Web site, www.gameland.gr, has started a news service about the ban and opened a petition to protest it. In addition, it is posting 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 organize 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 Fridah, 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," Tipis said. "This was the first time for a qualifier (for this tournament) in Greece."
 
 ZDNet UK´s Rupert Goodwins and Matt Loney reported from London.
 
 http://news.com.com/2100-1040-956357.html?tag=fd_top
 
 
 
 [ This message was edited by: Templehorn on 23-09-2002 13:12 ]