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Cuba Bans PC Sales, Greece Bans Video Games

Posted by timothy on from the workers'-paradise-vs.-regular-paradise dept.

GMontag writes: "From the Wired article -- 'The Cuban government has quietly banned the sale of computers and computer accessories to the public, except in cases where the items are "indispensable" and the purchase is authorized by the Ministry of Internal Commerce.' Sounds like the MPAA is making inroads into Cuba. Opposition view at CubaNet." Greece, meanwhile, has banned all arcade games in an effort to stop illegal gambling." (Thanks, MediaBoy77.)

4 of 47 comments (clear)

  1. Re:hmm.. by Kanon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I suspect he just forgot his smiley when he made the MPAA comment. Perhaps he just thought people would get the joke without needing tags.

  2. Gambling (Greece and elsewhere) by SocialWorm · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I have to say that, while I am personally opposed to gambling in the traditional sense, I've never really understood why anyone would care if someone else out there in the wide world (or country, as may be appropriate) was gambling.

    Of course, as John Stossel once pointed out, most state governments in the US heavily restrict gambling except under certain circumstances, then run lotteries and encourage their citizens to play. Silly and hypocritical, at best.

    --
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    1. Re:Gambling (Greece and elsewhere) by JofCoRe · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I've never really understood why anyone would care if someone else out there in the wide world (or country, as may be appropriate) was gambling

      Because if it's not government sanctioned and controlled, the government can't collect taxes on all the money that's exchanged.
      They don't want to lose out on all those tax dollars...

      --

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  3. Re:That's not nice! by NaturePhotog · · Score: 3, Insightful
    According the the CIA Factbook for 2001:
    • Telephones - main lines in use: 473,031 (2000)
    • Telephones - mobile cellular: 2,994 (1997)
    • domestic: principal trunk system, end to end of country, is coaxial cable; fiber-optic distribution in Havana and on Isla de la Juventud; 2 microwave radio relay installations (one is old, US-built; the other newer, built during the period of Soviet support); both analog and digital mobile cellular service established
    • Internet country code: .cu
    • Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 4 (2001)
    • Internet users: 60,000 (2000)
    So they've got phones, ISPs, even celluar. In addition, it indicates a high literacy rate (95.7%) and long life expectancy (76.41 years, compared with 77.26 for the U.S.). The economy took a big hit when the Soviet Union broke up and stopped sending them $4-6 billion US a year, but has been slowly recovering, due to tourism and foreign investment.

    But obviously it's not a perfect place to live, otherwise so many people wouldn't risk their lives on makeshift rafts and boats trying to cross to the U.S.

    And while PCs may be expensive compared to the per capita income, obviously some people have them and can connect the to Internet, and it would seem that is what the Cuban government is trying to limit.