Cuba Bans PC Sales, Greece Bans Video Games

GMontag writes: "From the Wired article -- 'The Cuban government has quietly banned the sale of computers and computer accessories to the public, except in cases where the items are "indispensable" and the purchase is authorized by the Ministry of Internal Commerce.' Sounds like the MPAA is making inroads into Cuba. Opposition view at CubaNet." Greece, meanwhile, has banned all arcade games in an effort to stop illegal gambling." (Thanks, MediaBoy77.)

What does the MPAA have to do with this?

My god, the original submitter is an idiot. Cuba is a communist nation, arguably the closest thing to a pure Marxist state left in the world. Fidel isn't banning computers because they could be used for piracy. He's banning them for the same reason that China set up that nationwide firewall and proxy server: he doesn't want his people to communicate with the 'decadent' capitalist world.

I imagine that if he thought striking against the MPAA/RIAA would deal a blow to the US economic system, he would be encouraging his people to pirate.

Well now..

In the past I would have commented on how communism is stupid and is screwing everything up.

Now I see this article and can't help but think how long before the US government bans computer sales in favor of more controllable set top boxes for everything. =/

hmm..

sounds like GMontag didnt do his research on the cuba article. I can say with a straight face it wasnt the MPAA/RIAA. This is Cuba remember. Poverty for the vast majority of people there. Movies and entertainment are almost non existent simply because they cant afford it.

Wired says in the article that they dont know why Cuba banned the PC. They're unable to speak with the government. They can only speculate that they're trying to stop anti-Castro people from publishing to the internet from within Cuba.

Gambling (Greece and elsewhere)

I have to say that, while I am personally opposed to gambling in the traditional sense, I've never really understood why anyone would care if someone else out there in the wide world (or country, as may be appropriate) was gambling.

Of course, as John Stossel once pointed out, most state governments in the US heavily restrict gambling except under certain circumstances, then run lotteries and encourage their citizens to play. Silly and hypocritical, at best.

Red Irony

It's sort of ironic that one of the last Marxist states is banning this technology -- 'cause for years the US jumped through hoops to keep technology "with military applications" out of the Soviet bloc. (Actually, in the case of Cuba, it still does [state.gov].) At one time it was even illegal to sell them 16-bit computers! (Apple IIs apparently did not represent a security threat.) In hindsight this was just plain dumb. Information technology played a big role in the downfall of the left-wing dictatorships, and continues to make life difficult for autocracies of every stripe.

Sad.

Stop and consider the discussion, debate, and even trolling that happens just on this site would be considered dangerous in Cuba. Your free speach is a rare and unique thing in the world.

Not only has Cuba banned computer sales to individuals, but the story say it's $260 dollars a month for an internet subscription. Annual saleries average $240 dollars. It sounds to me like the Cuban dictatorship has been unsuccessful in it's filtering of "enemy" web content. So they just make it too expensive to read.

There's a reason people are willing to float to the US on unsafe boats and rafts. Life sucks in Cuba. People disappear every day never to be seen again. The standard of living is terrible. School is nothing more than communist indoctrination.

The world will be a better place once Castro kicks off.

Janet Reno is a damn fool. I can't imagine the Cuban exile community in southern Florida ever forgivive Reno for deporting Elian Gonzolas.

Gaming in greece will return

The ban on all arcade games in greece is only a knee-jerk reaction because of a large number of arcade owners (750 in the last 2 months) have been arrested for having machines pay out money. Since gambling is illegal outside of casinos there, this is a way to curb illegal gambling. Gaming for entertainment will undoubtedly be allowed after owners get the idea that illegal activity will not be allowed.

"The problem," said Dimitris Batzelis, secretary general of Greece's Financial Crime Bureau, "isn't enforcing the gaming ban. It's clarifying what the ban will in fact ban."

They say specifically that there is no final word on what is banned. No need to worry, travellers will still have their pac-man!

That's not nice!

But I do have a few questions; what percentage of homes in Cuba have electricity? And how many of those have telephone service? And who would be their ISP?