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Author Topic: Computers and Smartphones got banned Florida, WTF?  (Read 12521 times)

Offline JFC

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Computers and Smartphones got banned Florida, WTF?
« on: July 13, 2013, 05:52:46 AM »
Quote
Florida Accidentally Banned All Computers, Smart Phones In The State Through Internet Cafe Ban: Lawsuit
Posted: 07/08/2013 11:59 am EDT  |  Updated: 07/09/2013 6:32 pm EDT

VIDEO - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/florida-banned-computers_n_3561701.html

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.

Florida's 1,000 Internet cafes were shut down immediately, including Miami-Dade's Incredible Investments, LLC, a café that provides online services to migrant workers, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

The owner, Consuelo Zapata, is now suing the state after her legal team found that the ban was so hastily worded that it can be applied to any computer or device connected to the Internet, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by The Miami Herald.

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.

The suit maintains that the ban was essentially passed "in a frenzy fueled by distorted judgment in the wake of a scandal that included the Lieutenant Governor’s resignation" and declares it unconstitutional.

Read the full complaint here. --> http://miamiherald.typepad.com/files/internet-cafe-complaint.pdf
FULL ARTICLE LINK - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/08/florida-banned-computers_n_3561701.html


Quote
Did Florida Accidentally Ban All Computers and Smartphones?
Casey Chan | Tuesday 1:00am

Because Florida was hastily attached to America to be the butt of her jokes, this latest piece of ridiculousness should come as no surprise: Florida might have accidentally banned all computers and smart phones. How? It all stems from a poorly worded bill that banned Internet cafes and slot machines.

The purpose of the ban was to kill Internet cafes that allowed customers to gamble online by playing games like bingo and other slots-type games. A thousand of those Internet cafes shut down in Florida after the bill went into effect in April but it looks like Florida may have overlooked a few details in offing Internet cafes.

Now an owner of one of those Internet cafes that got shut down, Consuelo Zapata, is fighting back and has discovered that in the process of shutting down Internet cafes, Florida might have just banned all computers and smartphones altogether.

The key is the wording of what was banned. The Huffington Post reports:
    The ban defines illegal slot machines as any "system or network of devices" that may be used in a game of chance.

As you can see, any system or network of devices is a pretty broad definition which means it can be applied to "any number of devices", according to Miami law firm Kluger, Kaplan, Silverman, Katzen & Levine. Zapata is now suing the state in hopes that the court calls the Internet cafe ban unconstitutional. I'm secretly hoping the courts decide that banning all computers and smartphones is the lawful thing to do in Florida just to see what will happen.

[Miami Herald via Huffington Post]
FULL ARTICLE LINK - http://gizmodo.com/did-florida-accidentally-ban-all-computers-and-smartpho-714494265



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