“The state of Florida, already the butt of many jokes because of its penchant for news-making citizens, reviled governor and incompetent state government has taken another one on the chin with the news that a poorly-worded law intended to ban Internet cafes and slot machines has overreached and declares any electronic device capable of playing a ‘game of chance’ on the Internet to be illegal,” Electronista reports. “The law is being challenged in court by an Internet cafe owner who was forced to shut down her business following a scandal involving the lieutenant governor.”
“Over 1,000 Internet cafes in Florida were closed after passage of the bill,” Electronista reports. “The original purpose was to expand the traditional meaning of ‘slot machine’ (normally associated with a physical device usually found in casinos) to include computers connected to the Internet in such cafes, as they could be used as digital equivalents and used to play bingo and other slots-type games that are mostly illegal in Florida.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: You know those “unintended consequences” that we sometimes discuss when warning of new legislation? Thanks, Florida, for the excellent example.