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Florida Law May Accidentally Ban Computers and Smartphones

Posted by Soulskill on from the language-should-not-be-wielded-like-a-blunt-instrument dept.

GrueMaster writes "Did Florida ban computers and smartphones? They tried banning Internet Cafes, but the wording in the law is overly broad. '... it's the wording that's problematic, as it defines a slot machine as "any machine or device or system or network of devices" that can be used in games of chance. Turns out the Internet is full of gambling sites, which is where the definition runs into some problems. Consuelo Zapata, owner of the Miami-Dade county Internet cafe Incredible Investments, LLC, is suing the state (PDF) to overturn the ban, saying that definition is too broad and could be applied to any number of electronic devices. "

10 of 238 comments (clear)

  1. florida's governor is a criminal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    fuck Rick Scott.

    1. Re: florida's governor is a criminal by Charliemopps · · Score: 4, Insightful

      http://flalottery.com/

      Florida's legislature can go fuck themselves. Gambling is either bad or it isn't. If the government is running the largest gambling operation in the country and then turns around an makes other types of gambling illegal, they're doing nothing more than eliminating competition.

    2. Re: florida's governor is a criminal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      This is Florida, if they were to pass a law against axe murderers it would probably ban lumberjacks and the whole state would end up covered in trees.

    3. Re: florida's governor is a criminal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      So why not call them what they are and then see if that classification falls into a bannable category? The way it is at present they could all re-emrge as "supermarkets of fortune" or some similar name. Then the next law will ban supermarkets. Continue looping round various names and bans until everything is illegal in Florida.

      Surely the reason that language has different words, is to apply them to different things? Not just to allow lawyers ti weasel out of complying with an intention.

    4. Re: florida's governor is a criminal by Cenan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It should be possible, without a law degree, to deduct the laws of a society directly from common sense. If that is not possible, law makers have failed. Full stop. Problem now is, that whenever a hole in a legislation is found, it is patched with more text, not rewritten. This creates a demand for people who can read obscure texts (lawyers, who are otherwise completely useless to society), but more dangerously, it also creates a system in which you can't be sure you are following the law, even if you're just going about your business.

      And once someone breaks one of the obscure laws, revenge is enacted (as opposed to justice) and a prison gains a new resident. Without regard for the fact that a prison is little more than a higher education in criminal conduct. Fixing problems is not on anyone's radar, filling prisons is, because it makes you look tough on [whatever] and let's face it, the person was a criminal, so who cares? There is no incentive to fix the problem, because if crime went away completely you would have to come up with a new topic to appear tough on. Crime is easy, because everyone agrees that it's bad, and that the solution is to take the criminals off the streets, not examine what lead to them becoming a criminal to begin with (and that is even ignoring all the people who didn't know they were committing a crime to begin with).

      --
      ... whatever ...
  2. Penalties for bad wording by Mitreya · · Score: 4, Insightful

    People responsible for crafting laws should be penalized for poor and vague wording.
    Even if it was unintentionally vague (I suspect it is frequently intentional, too).

  3. Banning loose change? by Tea-Bone+of+Brooklyn · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Talk about overly broad, isn't a coin a device that can be used in a game of chance?

  4. Stop distinguishing smartphones & computers by Bradmont · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Please stop drawing a distinction between smartphones and computers (and tablets). They are all computers. Allowing the farce of distinction to survive is a major part of the reason smartphones can be classified as "applicances" and don't have to follow laws about openness and intercompatability.

  5. Re: Stop distinguishing smartphones & compute by tepples · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I draw the distinction based on whether someone else's permission is required for a given program to execute. Android devices are computers; iProducts and game consoles aren't.

  6. Re:Hysterical nonsense. by Roogna · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In Florida? You obviously don't live here.

    I'd go with A hundred and forty legislators voting to ban computers. A lot of them really are that bad at their jobs.