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Florida Law May Accidentally Ban Computers and Smartphones
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. "
fuck Rick Scott.
Florida is a stupid as Texas, and twice as swampy.
They will be forgotten in a few years...
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).
Talk about overly broad, isn't a coin a device that can be used in a game of chance?
http://gawker.com/5800990/did-florida-accidentally-ban-sex So, what is there left to do in Florida? Die?
There are reasons why Florida has its own tag on Fark.
This is one of them.
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BMO
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.
Yes, but by the same token you don't need to have corruption for idiocy to occur either. People make mistakes, but due consideration can help reduce them. That is why the current trend of the US Congress passing 2,000 page bills without giving members of Congress a chance to read and digest them before a vote is such an appallingly bad idea. These bills are often being changed up until the last moment and written with the help of outsiders. There is no way that anybody can read them, there is no way that anybody can understand them and consider the consequences. I think it is exceedingly dangerous to democracy, liberty, transparency, and good government.
much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
Applicances are not intercompatible with appliances and intercompatability between the word 'compatibility' and the prefix 'inter' is dubious at best. As is any claim you make.
"any machine or device or system or network of devices" that can be used in games of chance.
Anyone driven a car in Florida? Going to the grocery store is a game of chance down there. :-)
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
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.
This is roughly as stupid as when people claimed Florida banned sex a couple years ago. Read the bill. It clearly refers to devices that perform gaming function on activation; not general purpose devices.
Common sense, people. What is more likely? A hundred and forty legislators voting to ban computers, or a bogus lawsuit with a silly premise?
Just means they can't be used to compile C++ in Florida.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
You should visit one of these "internet café's". It would be amusing to watch you try to go online and visit Slashdot or check your email, because one can't. As you have never seen or experienced these places, you are going on the name they are using. They aren't calling themselves casinos, slot parlors, gambling dens, etc. because those are illegal. Instead they are using virtual slot machine software on networked computers. There is no general internet access.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
First off, these aren't the kind of internet cafe' one can go to and get on-line and check one's email or visit a web site. The computers only have gambling program(s) and it is basically a virtual slot machine. These places don't even offer wifi so you can bring your own computer. They are, in effect, illegal casinos.
Second, the law specifically defines the establishments and computers. It only applies to computers which are set up to ONLY run programs that are games of chance and the establishments that have them.
Third, the reason the law talks about internet cafe's is because that is what these places call themselves.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
Then why can't the police just charge them under *existing* anti-gambling laws?
I don't trust Rick Scott or FL Republicans....seems every law passed in these places must have a secret second purpose that kicks back money/power to conservatives and their allies.
Who is benefitting from this 'internet cafe' ban?
Thank you Dave Raggett
Before you jump to defend the internet cafe owner, read his complaint. The "internet cafe" was a disguised gambling den.
TLDR:-
1. Their computers all carry a "Game Display" programme.
2. Buying internet time entitles the user to participate in sweepstakes where they can win prizes. The more time you buy, the more chances you get to join the sweepstakes.
3. The "Game Display" was expressly created to, in their own words, "instill in the patron a sense of excitement and entertainment".
Yes, the law is overly broad and should be reworded, but in this case it did not get the wrong victim.
Having said that, the politicians appear to be equally dirty. There is some suspicion that this legislation was about politicians covering their butts and keeping legalized gambling interests happy.
If gambling is illegal in Florida, why are people still allowed to bet on Wall Street? It's just another bookmaking operation
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”