Florida Accidentally Banned All Computers, Smart Phones In The State Through Internet

[Somerville]

This is what happens when lawmakers don't actually read the bills they vote for

Florida Accidentally Banned All Computers, Smart Phones In The State Through Internet Cafe Ban: Lawsuit

When Florida lawmakers recently voted to ban all Internet cafes, they worded the bill so poorly that they effectively outlawed every computer in the state, according to a recent lawsuit.

In April Florida Governor Rick Scott approved a ban on slot machines and Internet cafes after a charity tied to Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll was shut down on suspicion of being an Internet gambling front -- forcing Carroll, who had consulted with the charity, to resign.

The suit filed by one internet cafe owner is claiming that phrasing used in the legislation might be applied to any computer or smart phone connected to the internet.

The ban defines illegal slot machines as any "system or network of devices" that may be used in a game of chance.

And that broad wording can be applied to any number of devices, according to the Miami law firm of Kluger, Kaplan, Silverman, Katzen & Levine, who worked with constitutional law attorney and Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz.

 

[specklebang]

Re: Florida Accidentally Banned All Computers, Smart Phones In The State Through Inte

You know. It's FLORIDA. A very special place.

Do you even have computers there? They're complicated devices you know. The words DEVICE and DEVIL are very similar!

More seriously, they are elected as law-MAKERS, not law-WRITERS. All these bills are written by their clerks. Their clerks get the jobs by whose family they are from, not by skill.

100 million laws and yet they can find something new to pass a law about every day of the week. A good example is Obamacare - no matter if you're for it or against it - and its thousands of pages. Just as there is not one living soul that knows all the tax code, nobody knows exactly what Obamacare does either.

Now, we need a new law to limit the laws. Of course, we'll need 23,000 pages to do this.......

This is what happens when lawmakers don't actually read the bills they vote for



The suit filed by one internet cafe owner is claiming that phrasing used in the legislation might be applied to any computer or smart phone connected to the internet.

 

[dirtpoorchris]

Re: Florida Accidentally Banned All Computers, Smart Phones In The State Through Inte

Why the hell would anyone want to ban internet cafes anyways??? If we disregard the "miss-targeting" this is still asinine.

 

[PeteEU]

Re: Florida Accidentally Banned All Computers, Smart Phones In The State Through Inte

Why the hell would anyone want to ban internet cafes anyways??? If we disregard the "miss-targeting" this is still asinine.

Yea we need less competition for the big ISPs ...

Also we cant have the poor getting on the Internetsss ...

 

[Somerville]

Re: Florida Accidentally Banned All Computers, Smart Phones In The State Through Inte

Why the hell would anyone want to ban internet cafes anyways??? If we disregard the "miss-targeting" this is still asinine.

The claimed justification for the bill was something to the effect that the internet cafes had become de facto casinos with many of the users using the cafes' computers to play online games that the cafe profited from.

 

[Spriggs05]

Re: Florida Accidentally Banned All Computers, Smart Phones In The State Through Inte

This is what happens when lawmakers don't actually read the bills they vote for

Business as usual in Congress?