Florida House Passes Bill To Ban "Internet Cafes" 124
A user writes "Concerned about their use as fronts for gambling operations, the Florida legislature passed a law banning Internet cafes. The law appears to be a reaction in part to the recent stepping down of Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, embroiled in a scandal involving a company that operates Internet Cafes. More ordinary cafes with Wi-fi, where you supply your own computer (such as Starbucks), are not affected by the ban." The nomenclature here is confusing; the bill (PDF) (summary) is clearly aimed only at "cafes" that are essentially gambling venues; an Internet cafe wouldn't violate the proposed rule merely by providing computers. Whatever you think of prohibitions on gambling among consenting adults, the bill itself is sort of amusing for its very specific loopholes for bingo and "reverse vending machines."
Re:As usual, TFA essentialy opposite of the summar (Score:5, Interesting)
This is how they are trying to fix the gambling statutes... there's a "sweepstakes" loophole in most states' laws that these internet cafe' operations have used to end-run traditional gambling bans.
Re:As usual, TFA essentialy opposite of the summar (Score:5, Interesting)
Outrage sells just as much as sex - and since there's no nudity on Slashdot... outrage is the only demographic left to pander to. Seriously, you've never noticed the number of badly written summaries and stories published seemingly just to fan the flames and provide an opportunity for a Two Minute Hate?
Re:About time... (Score:4, Interesting)