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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. "

2 of 238 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Penalties for bad wording by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I agree. There are so many laws, and so many of them vague, that the authorities can find something to hang anybody if they are motivated.

    And on the other hand, recently the President just announced that he was issuing a decree that the law of the land would not be enforced, despite having been duly passed by Congress. I'm talking about the Affordable Care Act, A/K/A ObamaCare, and the "Employer Mandate". That law is a 2000 page monstrosity, it's not working, and the President's decree is nakedly political (they want to postpone the unpopular and unworkable Employer Mandate until after the 2014 elections).

    The Republicans should sack up and push back against this arrogation of power to the Executive branch. I don't know why they haven't yet. The USA has three branches in the Federal government, theoretically co-equal, yet the Congress lets the Executive just give himself new powers.

    Just imagine if George W. Bush had tried to issue decrees like he was some sort of king. The howls would have deafened us all. But with Barack Obama it is the silence that is deafening.

  2. New York by Kunedog · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    In their rush to infringe on the 2nd Amendment, New York unwittingly banned cops from carrying certain guns earlier this year:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NY_SAFE_Act#Criticisms

    Poorly thought-out authoritarian extra-constititutional power-grabs aren't solely a left- or right-wing thing.