Internet Cafés Declared 'Illegal Businesses' in Ohio

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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Ohio House Bill 7 was passed by the Ohio State Senate on Wednesday, effectively closing down all Internet Cafes in the state and putting an estimated 6-8K employee out of work. The main concern was not so much the Internet as it was with sweepstakes games which financed the stores.

"In our office we always believed these places were illegal. Now we're armed with a court decision which makes this crystal clear," DeWine told reporters at the time.
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Glad I got the hell out of Ohio. Entire state is a cesspool of unemployment and backwards-thinking rednecks.
 
As Much as I would like a chance to slam on politicians for retarded laws, I can at least agree with the logic of this one.

What frequent internet café patrons really want, the bill's sponsors say, is the chance to play computer "sweepstakes games," which the cafés allow for free with every purchase. These games typically resemble slot machines and offer players the chance to win cash prizes, which DeWine says essentially makes the cafés unlicensed casinos
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Pretty black and white right there. They were effectively running unlicensed casino's. True internet cafe's won't be impacted by this law. By running unlicensed casino's they are avoiding paying a shit ton of taxes they would otherwise be paying.
 
So this not only limits what those cafes pay out but what any and all businesses that have sweepstakes in Ohio regardless of what that business is to $10?
 
So they wanted to shut them down because of sweepstakes? What a dumb reason, glad I don't live in OH.
 
While they're at it why not shut down Cell phone stores, and ban smartphones, They provide the same access.
 
If people had read the article they'd see that they were running what amounted to unlicensed casinos. That may not sound like such a big deal, but an unlicensed casino can rig everything and nobody ever inspects the equipment. Licensed casinos have to play by certain legal rules and their equipment has to be inspected to make sure it's actually an honest fleecing when they get all your money. If you're going to run a business you need to know the law and abide by it.

Of course, I do would wonder how much of an issue this would have been had the Horseshoe not just opened in Cincinnati... If these internet cafes were such a threat to the public you'd think they would have handled it sooner. I can think of better ways to spend taxpayer money... maybe by doing something about all the shootings in downtown Cincinnati? :rolleyes:
 
would it be really hard to just regulate it?, 6,000-8000 people without jobs in a country which has still a fragile economy at the moment does not really sound good. I find the solution rather hard, its like saying if my son keeps accessing porn on my computer, I'd rather throw away my computer rather than installing first some parental tools.. just saying
 
Checked the comments just see how many folks RTFA. :D

Seems pretty clean cut to me. These were casinos with paid Wi-Fi. And selling phone minutes? LOL. Shady mob operation is shady.
 
obviously it's the work of the new casinos that all opened recently in the state.
 
dyzophoria said:
would it be really hard to just regulate it?, 6,000-8000 people without jobs in a country which has still a fragile economy at the moment does not really sound good. I find the solution rather hard, its like saying if my son keeps accessing porn on my computer, I'd rather throw away my computer rather than installing first some parental tools.. just saying
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I guess it's easier to kill jobs than make law enforcement actually go enforce something.

I'd love to see them explain to little Billy and/or Susie that putting mommy or daddy in the unenjoyment line rather than placing restrictions on their place of employment is in their best interest.
 
In Ohio Internet Cafes are wrong but it is legal to marry your first cousin? I'm glad they have their values straightened out...
 
mynamehere said:
I guess it's easier to kill jobs than make law enforcement actually go enforce something.

I'd love to see them explain to little Billy and/or Susie that putting mommy or daddy in the unenjoyment line rather than placing restrictions on their place of employment is in their best interest.
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If they were going to do something about the shootings in NastNatti they would have to disarm the police first since they do most of the killing.

And yes, as someone who currently lives in Ohio I can say this whole state is one giant cesspool of shit. Sadly this is where most of my family lives so I am unwilling to go too far away.
 
Toledo has alot of them Internet cafes in the city, I see Ohio/Toledo are doing there job of making dumb laws. Ohio/Toledo is a shitty State/City.

I cant wait for Sept when i move to South Carolina, To get away from the this shitty state of ohio and the Great shitty City of Toledo, It has gotten so bad, alot of people here have no common sense and are bunch of jackass's
 
Sorry no edit button, i forgot to add, The Police take an hour to show up to your house/home, unless your being shot at or someone is breaking in your house other then that, forget about the Toledo Police.
 
xxEIEIOxx said:
In Ohio Internet Cafes are wrong but it is legal to marry your first cousin? I'm glad they have their values straightened out...
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In Ohio internet cafes are NOT illegal/wrong/whatever, but gambling parlors acting as internet cafes by giving people "free slot pulls" based upon how much they buy in the cafe are.

RTFA moment here.
 
Ohio did not make internet cafes illegal. They did not even make the "sweepstakes games" (unlicensed/unregulated gambling) illegal. They just limited the payout these unlicensed casinos could hand out to $10.

Ohio is a cesspool of backwards thinking welfare leeches, despite that most of them have a running vehicle, that they don't insure or know how to drive (not that this stops them from driving). If I were a gambling man, I would bet there are more people on food stamps in Ohio than there are with a job.
 
Having lived in a few different states before moving to Ohio 3 years ago, I have the sad duty of informing the Ohio haters that there really aren't any places out there that don't have stupid people, corrupt politicians, and a dozen other problems. That's right, there is no paradise!
 
maddude0025 said:
Having lived in a few different states before moving to Ohio 3 years ago, I have the sad duty of informing the Ohio haters that there really aren't any places out there that don't have stupid people, corrupt politicians, and a dozen other problems. That's right, there is no paradise!
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But you guys do it the bestest!
 
When I saw the headline,I thought it was another instance of publicity seeking politicians overstepping their authority. But reading the story,I can't slam them for this one. Gambling has gotten out of hand,more people end up ruining their lives than winning.
 
michael.pa2 said:
When I saw the headline,I thought it was another instance of publicity seeking politicians overstepping their authority. But reading the story,I can't slam them for this one. Gambling has gotten out of hand,more people end up ruining their lives than winning.
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its because people have no self control, its there fault they gamble and gamble nobody has a gun to there head, nobody is telling them to say "hey, keep playing keep going you will win"

so dont give me that b/s, its because people let gambleing or drugs run there life, people are in charge of there own life, nobody else is. end of story
 
Gulkor said:
its because people have no self control, its there fault they gamble and gamble nobody has a gun to there head, nobody is telling them to say "hey, keep playing keep going you will win"

so dont give me that b/s, its because people let gambleing or drugs run there life, people are in charge of there own life, nobody else is. end of story
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So we're supposed to let others profit from that weakness by essentially running unregulated,unlicensed casinos?
 
MajorDomo said:
Ohio House Bill 7 was passed by the Ohio State Senate on Wednesday, effectively closing down all Internet Cafes in the state and putting an estimated 6-8K employee out of work. The main concern was not so much the Internet as it was with sweepstakes games which financed the stores.
Click to expand...

It is not the place of the state to tell someone they cannot run a casino. The Ohio States Senate is committing an act of grand theft. They did that here in North Carolina and now the thug departments have been committing armed robbery against these businesses left and right.
 
I'll shut up if I'm arguing against someone who wants zero gov't involvement in your life/city/country/property. But I will say I'm glad the government regulates certain things so that I, as a decent person, am not "swindled and pimped" and "tricked by bizzznass" on a constant basis by every product and lie, just because "no one has a gun to my head" forcing me to buy it.

If you don't follow the comparison, I'll also stop arguing since you don't get it. :)
 
damicatz said:
It is not the place of the state to tell someone they cannot run a casino. The Ohio States Senate is committing an act of grand theft. They did that here in North Carolina and now the thug departments have been committing armed robbery against these businesses left and right.
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Are you sure about that? I mean, really, if only you could look something like that up somewhere before posting on a forum.
 
LonerVamp said:
I'll shut up if I'm arguing against someone who wants zero gov't involvement in your life/city/country/property. But I will say I'm glad the government regulates certain things so that I, as a decent person, am not "swindled and pimped" and "tricked by bizzznass" on a constant basis by every product and lie, just because "no one has a gun to my head" forcing me to buy it.

If you don't follow the comparison, I'll also stop arguing since you don't get it. :)
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There is a difference between fraud (which is a violation of the non-aggression principle) and running a casino.
 
I wonder how many of you actually read the article before posting some asinine slam on the Ohio state government? The internet cafe's that actually just provide internet and phone minutes will still stay in business. What they will run out of the state are the ones that are there to do nothing more than fleece the public. As someone else pointed out, running an unlicensed gambling operation means they can rig it and no one will inspect them. All this law did was limit the amount of a payoff that they can give out. Technically they are not gambling as the customer is purchasing something else and this is offered as a reward. So, instead of hurting a time old practice, they just limited the payout, making that kind of business less attractive.

Seriously, if you are so hell bent to find a reason to hate on government officials, at least find a reason that makes sense.
 
Dark Shade said:
Glad I got the hell out of Ohio. Entire state is a cesspool of unemployment and backwards-thinking rednecks.
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Yep me too. I moved back to Tennessee where we don't have a state income Tax and already have fiber to the home installed in multiple cities and my hometown :D

Housing is much cheaper here and the weather is awesome.
 
ianken said:
Checked the comments just see how many folks RTFA. :D
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no shit. it's obvious many did not RTFA and just commented on the sensationalist headline.


This is not going to affect legitimate internet cafes one bit.
 
damicatz said:
It is not the place of the state to tell someone they cannot run a casino. The Ohio States Senate is committing an act of grand theft. They did that here in North Carolina and now the thug departments have been committing armed robbery against these businesses left and right.
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Actually in OH, the gambling law that passed a few years ago (that allowed for the few big casinos) was a CONSTITUTIONAL amendment to the states document which only allowed for a few billionaires to get richer by ONLY allowing those casinos.

If anyone else wanted to open a gambling joint, they are screwed.

I am all for legal gambling (I don't gamble, don't like it) but it is not my place to say someone can or cannot do it but I voted down the measure because the WAY it was done was stupid and heavy handed.
 
Yet another sensationalist headline for a poorly written article which people comment on without reading...
 
Can someone give me an example of what one goes and does at these types of places, and how. What it costs, how you're paid, games you can play, etc. I'm sorta fuzzy on what exactly these places are.
 
Rigged gambling isn't a casino, it's a scam. It's like playing the 3 card monte game (I think that's what it's called), that's not gambling because the operator rigged it with sleight of hand and trickery. Casino needs to be regulated.
 
If you are stupid enough to gamble at a location in a state where gambling is illegal, you deserve to lose every penny you tried making millions off of.
 
Glad to see the majority couldn't be bothered to read the actual article. Either way not sure this is really H-related news unless a lot of you guys are really into gambling.
 
Florida passed pretty much the same law. "Sweepstakes" places will soon be outlawed. They did not make the law "Internet Cafes", but rather any "online gambling" place. These "Sweepstakes" places have popped up everywhere in the last few years. Im glad to see them close down.
 
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