Greek electronic game ban

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In 2002 the Greek government, ostensibly in an attempt to fight illegal gambling, passed the ambiguous and controversial law 3037/2002 which effectively banned all electronic games, including those running on home computers. The bill was formulated after a member of the ruling PASOK socialist party was videotaped in an illegal gambling establishment, resulting in public hysteria that was fueled by sensationalist reporting on the press and television. The bill was declared a law on July 30, 2002.

During a case against some Internet cafe owners who allowed their customers to play online chess and other games, a local court in Thessaloniki declared the law unconstitutional. More than 300 people were gathered outside the court in support of the Internet cafe owners.

The European Commission sent an official letter to the Greek Foreign Ministry explaining that the law may be in conflict with European legislation. In that case, the European Court of Justice could take action against Greece.

The law would affect both Greek citizens and foreigners.

On September 24, 2002 government officials published a document in an effort to clarify the controversial articles of the law.

After the EU intervention and debates with the Internet cafe owners, the government passed a new decision (1107414/1491/T. & E. F.), published in the Government Gazette issue 1827, on December 8, 2003. The new law clarifies some articles of 3037/2002 but it still bans video games in Internet cafes, and computer software which delete or encrypt files on hard disks of computers owned by Internet cafes.

The law is currently suspended and deprecated as anticonstitutional; therefore, it is not being enforced.

[edit] Related events

On January 14, 2004, the Greek police raided Internet cafes in Larissa, as reported by Eleftherotypia newspaper. Eighty computers were taken by the police as evidence, and three Internet cafe owners were arrested. See [1]

On February 10, 2005 European Parliament Committee on Petitions referred Greece to the European Court of Justice over its ban on electronic games. See [2]