I've been doing a bit of reading lately and i stumbled upon this list of moronic and stupid laws from all around the world...
Some of them are funny, some of them are sad, i guess they all have a story but after reading those, i'm starting to think a lot better about my country, Romania.
As a few examples for the funny ones, did you know that in Atlanta, Georgia it is illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole? It's funny because who owns a giraffe?
Or did you know that it is illegal to wear a bullet-proof vest during a crime in New Jersey? WTF...so...you're in a shootout with the cops but you don't wear a vest so you won't get a fine?
Of maybe funniest,in China, it is illegal to reincarnate, without permission from the government. :) Isn't that the whole point of the Buddhism?
And now a few less funny, did you know that in Greece, video games were illegal a few years ago?
Or that in Dubai is illegal to show any affection in public like kissing or holding hands :|

I'd write some more but i'm a bit sleepy.
Some world we live in right?

10 years ago*

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Sorry, I may be misunderstanding, but isn't reincarnation Hinduism, not Buddhism? I thought Buddhism was reaching Nirvana by casting aside material pleasures

10 years ago
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It's part of both. I'm no expert, but afaik, in Buddhism you get reincarnated as long as you haven't reached Nirvana. Hence the karma, the more you have, the better you get reincarnated, so if you got insane amounts of karma, you get reincarnated as a god (Hinduism).

(Please correct me if I'm wrong)

10 years ago
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"Karma" isn't analogous to a mana-pool in Diablo. You don't accrue it over time and use it to "level up" your reincarnation. It also isn't the same as reddit karma, that uses "karma" to mean something good for you. It isn't a collectible thing you build up over time. It annoys the hell out of me that everyone keeps using it this way, also in common parlance. "Yeah you should help that old lady - it's good karma" or "you shouldn't do that, you'll get bad karma".

The concept of karma is a little more complex. It is the path you take in life, your "fate", as it were (albeit in a less pre-determinded fashion than the Judeo-Christian traditions). It is affected by good, and bad things around you, and what you do, think, and feel throughout life. It is at all times tied to the universe, all things, as are you.

10 years ago
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Well, thanks for clearing that up. I must say, however, that I didn't mean to say that you build it up over time or anything of that sort, I should have used 'better' instead of 'more'. What I said is just what I remember from ethics class in school.
(I don't play Diablo or use/visit reddit, nor do I believe in the buddhist version of karma btw)

That description kind of reminds of Tao, but those far eastern religions probably are all interwoven in a way similar to abrahamic religions. I should just shut up about things I don't know anything about :/

10 years ago
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Nah, as long as you're not presenting stuff as hard fact, or as if you're quite knowledgeable about stuff, any discussion is fine. It's how we connect as people, and learn new stuff, all the time, right?! :D

10 years ago
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well the dalai lama's probably the most famous buddhist aside from the buddha himself and he's a reincarnation so that lead me to believe they probably believe in reincarnation, you reincarnate to absolve your soul of past sins as i understand so bad folks become say an insect in their next life and good ones i dunno a tiger maybe, i know id want to be a tiger :)(i could be very wrong as my eastern religious knowledge isnt someting ive ever purposly aquired)

10 years ago
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Why tiger? You'll get hunted and killed before you even reach maturity.
Joke a side, isn't reincarnation just process after physical death, where you get new body depending of you accumulated karma in life before? And ultimately goal is to reach Nirvana, where you become one with Brama and end reincarnation cycle forever?

10 years ago
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stop spoiling my fantasies with facts :), your explanation might be more accurate theirs a reason i failed my GCSE english exam after all :), i dont think i acutally belive it but its far more palatable to my rationality that punishment follows bad deeds than the religions of abraham that absolve you of your sins if you do some things and damn you if you break certain arbitrary rules

10 years ago
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See my comment reply to Ultor. Karma isn't "do good, get good stuff happen to you; do bad, get bad stuff happen to you". That is far too simplistic a view of karma. Sometimes, you might even do good, and not even notice the effect it has on your karma. Conversely, you might do bad, and the effect on your karma might not be direct, but rather indirect, or become apparent much later in life. You can even be rewarded for bad things you do - in the short term - perhaps because someone you treated badly needed to learn something about some bad deed they did, and you were the teacher their karma drew into their path at the time.

10 years ago
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what can i say im a simple creature :)

10 years ago
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Heh.

10 years ago
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See my comment reply to Ultor, as well as blindio.

10 years ago
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in canada, lollies are banned

10 years ago
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Hmm, I don't want to burst you bubble or anything, but many of these "funny laws" are totally made up. Others are just in effect in small regional communities, only affecting a couple hundred people at most. I wouldn't read too much into it.

There are more serious and widespread laws that are completely bonkers, that's the ones we should be worried about.

10 years ago
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Or the ones that are consistently broken by white-collar crooks and thieves rich enough to buy their freedom through bribes, or enormous teams of lawyers that can spend enough time finding loopholes to garner their clients immunity from laws anyone not as sociopathic and selfish as these criminals would consider moral and just, and logical if applied to them. Then of course there's also simply the fact that sometimes, they can strong-arm someone into dropping a case by threatening audits of some kind, or promising to hunt them down for the rest of their life with litigation they can't afford to oppose in court, while this rich fuck threatening them can afford to keep going to court with them ad nauseum.

10 years ago
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I know a few:

  • In the city of Washington if you are about to commit a crime, you must report it to the police.
  • In Poland the age of consent is 15, but till to make a movie with anyone who is less than 18 years old you need a premission prom this person parents or legal guardians. As a result you can be a porn star at the age of 15 if you have a permission from your parents to record it. You don't need a permission if it is a live show. Also the pornography with the 15-year old teens is legal, however you need to be 18 years old to watch it legally.
  • Also in Poland it is forbidden to make a photo of a Railroad Station.
  • Advertising Pension Funds (which are fully legal) in Poland is forbidden. The fine for this is 3 milion złoty (aprox. 1 milion dollars) for each advertisement. And in first draft of this law it was 3 years in jail. (fortunately they changed it)
  • In Thailand prostitutes are forbidden to open beer bottles with their vaginas. (question to all girls around this forum - have you ever tried that?)
10 years ago
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Does not child labor law contradict with porn-star law in Poland?

"Bear bottle"... is there a panda or maybe polar flavor? :P

10 years ago
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Fixed the bear bottle.

And you can legally work part-time in Poland as a minor. There are many limitations, but none of them forbids to work in porn industry.

And by the way - all incomes from prostitution in Poland are Tax-Free.

10 years ago
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the tax free prostitution only seems right i mean you shouldnt be getting screwed twice :)

10 years ago
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You can take a photo of railroad station. I've taken dozens. But I think I know where the urban legend originates. Railroad workers who remember communist times still insist it's illegal (it was back then). One time I took a photo of railyard and the railyard security ran towards me yelling to stop because it's illegal. I yelled back that as long as I'm standing on public road it's legal and if they disagree they should call the police - because they have no authority outside railroad area. They yelled back a few insults and walked away. There's the proof I was right, if you can read Polish: legal act
Authorities breaking the law is another story. There was one instance few years ago when in similar situation police came and arrested the photographer. They took him to the police station when chief broke his equipment in front of the arrested, and them they let him go - because there was no legal reason to jail him. To my knowledge, police chief haven't been disciplined for that until today and the photographer didn't recieve compensation nor even apology from Police Dept.

10 years ago
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eh id take a camera broken rather than my own face, i mean its wrong but it could be worse :)

10 years ago
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I think half of these picture taking laws involve staving off terrorist attacks.

10 years ago
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IIRC the "no photos of railroads" was during the communist rule and doesn't apply since then.

10 years ago
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I can read Polish, since it is my first language. There are in this (wie ktoś jak jest rozporządzenie po angielsku?) whatever it is called. There are many things which are listed as forbidden, and nothing about what is allowed. The photo ban comes from different legislaction act. The one from 1965 if I remember correctly. It lists places where it is forbidden to make photos. However there is no executory act to this legislation - so it is dead law. It is still forbidden, but police cannot do anything but educate you that you are doing wrong.

Po polsku:
Ustawa zabraniająca fotografowania ciągle istnieje i ma się dobrze, ale nie ma aktu wykonawczego do tej ustawy, więc policjant może ciebie co najwyżej pouczyć, gdyż nie ma uprawnień na wystawienie mandatu, ani na podjęcie innych środków karnych. Więc jest to martwy przepis - ale jest.

10 years ago
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The drug war has produced some of the most upsetting and dangerous laws, leading to more incarceration and death than any other.

There was a funny law we had in this state for a while where if you saw a group of 5 or more indians (native americans) in one spot you could legally shoot them and they're considered a "war party" or something along those lines.

I also think prostitution being illegal is ridiculous, especially thanks to the added risk since it's not regulated and no one gets tested since there's no legitimate competition on the market. Unfortunately in our puritan society sex is taboo, unless you film it you can't exchange money for it. I'm satisfied by porn myself, but I'm pretty disappointed in the hypocrisy and lack of freedom we must endure.

I hope someday we can reach the level of civilization in Firefly and not wipe ourselves out before then, but at this rate of increasing oppression and control it doesn't seem likely (other than there being some corrupt empire restricting our actions and exchanges, that part of Firefly is already here to stay).

10 years ago
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Not only sex but human affection and intimacy is taboo (not just in the US but worldwide as far as I'm concerned - even in "free" countries like here, NL, and northern / eastern EU countries where generally sex is more accepted). Even when sex is discussed openly / candidly, it is spoken about as if it were nothing more than a physical function / need, like pooping or peeing. There's no appreciation for the connection you share with someone, no respect for the profundity of the whole thing. No respect for the humanity, and love you're sharing with someone then (even if you're fucking like animals).

And what always gets me - concerning the US specifically - is how talk / display / promotion of extreme violence is totally OK. Wanna hang a poster like this up in a movie theatre? NOPE (was recently rejected by the MPAA "for nudity - curve of under breast and dark nipple/areola circle visible through sheer gown"). But this, or this, maybe this, or this, or perhaps this is totally OK for a kid wandering through a cinema to see, right? I mean god forbid he stores an image of a titty in his wankbank and faps to it at home, doing something entirely natural and that doesn't hurt anyone (in fact teaches him about his body and makes him more comfortable in it), right? But if he sees something that might give him nightmares, or desensitise him to violence, to be less alarmed by the sight of blood / gore (something very logical and natural stemming from a part of us that evokes empathy and valuing life), that's totally cool, huh.

Guess you need to get emotionally distant and repressed, angry, sexually pent-up, testosterone fuelled psychopaths somehow, right? How else would you be able to fill that overbearing, law breaking, empire building, nation annexing military? ;)

10 years ago
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Some of the annoying laws we have here in Singapore is,

1) Chewing gum is banned

2) We cant bring over certain food products from our neighbours Malaysia, such as their local Burgers, meat, chicken, etc. Partly we all feel is their currency is lower than ours by a bit and the government feels that it'll damage our economy a lot.

3) Speaking against the government can land you a fine or worst.

4) Our local male population has to serve 2 years of national service, followed by reservist and be operationally ready until we are 40 years old or have been called up 10 times after serving our national service.

10 years ago
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Isn't Singapore the no littering country? I like that part actually. Pretty neat.

10 years ago
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Yes it is. I like it too which is why I didnt mention it X)

10 years ago
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The one real bad thing is 3.

10 years ago
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I see nothing wrong with being subservient to your masters, elected or otherwise.

10 years ago
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Yeah, the law for that here is really tigt in my opinion. A person can even be detained indefinitely if they are deemed to a threat to the ruling party.

10 years ago
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Don't mess around, there would be a serious problem. It isn't just a "stupid law", it would be a repressive and antidemocratic law. Your country has actually a bad ranking in the World Press Freedom Index made by Reporters Without Borders.

10 years ago
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2 can make a lot of sense though, depending on more specific figures concerning your currency value, and import / export rates.

10 years ago
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Yes I agree that it makes sense when it is that way, but having to throw out 6 burgers that we bought just across the border to have for our dinner when we get home is kinda dumb

10 years ago
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Yeah I can get that. You mean at like, border crossings, right?

10 years ago
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Also, you must make sure you fill your petrol tank to at least three quarter full before entering Malaysia.

10 years ago
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10 years ago
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10 years ago
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Most likely there's an endangered species of lagomorph living there that mates around that time, that they don't want to see disturbed while trying to find a hotty to get their freak on.

10 years ago
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Lol, good luck getting to that speed on a bike, though.

10 years ago
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10 years ago
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.. We're not talking about speed records set by professional athletes on expensive bikes built for rugged terrain and enormous speed, riding down steep inclines. We're talking about regular bikes rode by regular people, in regular urban circumstances / settings.

10 years ago
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10 years ago
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this law is in switzerland:

let's say something get stolen from you, now A(the guy that stole something from you) sells it to B (buyer of stolen product)

so let's say, dunno... 5 months later you see that it's your object that's stolen (let's say bicycle) you have the right to buy it back for the price that B has paid..

yup.. if you don't pay B back, you won't get your stuff, if you want it, you have to pay the price B has paid.

10 years ago
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But I assume B does have to fully cooperate in any investigation into who the original thief was to prevent getting in trouble, themselves. It kind of makes sense that someone buying a product that was stolen isn't punished - they could easily have been swindled themselves, not knowing it was stolen to begin with. They shouldn't be punished, or have any form of damages incurred to them. The person who stole and sold your stuff (two separate offences) should.

10 years ago
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10 years ago
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Valentines Day should be banned.

10 years ago
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I lived in Dubai / Sharjah for 6.5 yaers. My dad at some point did business there with a guy who had an uncle or friend or something (it's about 17 years ago for me :P) that had 6 or 7 wives, maaaaaaaaany kids per wife, something like 8 or 9 on average. It was so insane, that he didn't even bother calling them by name, but by number (his kids). Because, you know, it can get confusing when you call "Mohammed" and 6 kids show up.

10 years ago
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Sadly I believe that is true but then again, as far as I know religion wise for them, a man can have up to 4 wives only . SO I dont know how is it possible for him to have another 3/4 more =X

Numbering them is just inappropriate

10 years ago
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I think I'd number the wives and sub-number the children, so 7.9 (ninth child of seventh wife).

10 years ago
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One of the stupidest laws made within the last 20 years....

You are allowed to make backup copies of CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays, but only if you don't bypass the copy-protection. (all CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays have copy-protection)

10 years ago
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And this, while most copy protection being used today actually scrambles or somehow damages the data you're trying to copy (as with damaged sectors on CDs) in such a way that the data itself is unreadable / not possible to copy without circumventing the copy protection scheme somehow. As in - you can't just copy the disk as a whole (as a legal backup for your own personal use and no more). The legislation and technology backing it has gone fukkin out of wack.

10 years ago
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no they don't, most do but not all.

10 years ago
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..?

10 years ago
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In much more of a plain and simple English.
Not all professional/retail CDs, CVDs & Blu-Rays use copy protection, just most of them.

10 years ago
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Umm.. You do know how the english language works, right?

The guy you're replying to never said anything about how many professional/retail CDs, CVDs & Blu-Rays use copy protection.. His point was that it's a bit absurd that technically, you're allowed to legally make backup copies of stuff for yourself, yet they create copy protection to prevent that which you're not allowed to circumvent, by law.

Your reply made no sense.

10 years ago
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Quote: "You are allowed to make backup copies of CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays, but only if you don't bypass the copy-protection. (all CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays have copy-protection)"

See the part where he said, "(all CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays have copy-protection)"

I do understand how the English language work, quite well in fact.

I do understand the absurdity of the laws, my comment was to his "all" comment.
=)

10 years ago
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Lookey here, my mistake! I read over the "all" bit. Please, slap me with a large trout.

10 years ago
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<><
Uh, I tried, it just sits there.

10 years ago
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Is it fresh?

10 years ago
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In Hungary, you cannot take a photo, if there is someone (stranger) is in the picture. The shot people have the right to demand an "offence-fee" from the photographer, if they didn't ask for permission beforehand. For example, if you want to take a picture of the Parliament, and a distant child in the background walks into the picture, their parents can report you, and ask for the fee.

10 years ago
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It's illegal in my city, Natanya, to whistle. Not an enforced law, it's been in existence since the British Mandate. (You'd actully pay a fine back in those days.)
And in another city, it's illegal to ride on biyclces. Yep, again, the Mandate.

10 years ago
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Being raped in UAE (or any islam driven state) is equal to sex outside of marriage and you will be imprisoned for that, with stoning being likely.

10 years ago
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Who needs to obey laws when you have swag? me...

10 years ago
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This site is making me laugh my ass off

One that really got me laughing was that Ohio has a law that it is illegal to fish for whales on Sunday. Since when are there whales to even fish for in Ohio? Also is illegal to get your fish drunk.

And gotta love Texas for this one "A recently passed anticrime law requires criminals to give their victims 24 hours notice, either orally or in writing, and to explain the nature of the crime to be committed."

10 years ago
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Of maybe funniest,in China, it is illegal to reincarnate, without permission from the government. :) Isn't that the whole point of the Buddhism?

your lack of understand of the issue is staggering

10 years ago
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I never stated i was an expert on these matters but there have been quite a few who explained the issue to everybody so i can only tell you that your comment is late and unnecessary.

10 years ago
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China is officially atheist. I like China because of this. Most of their other laws are stupid.

10 years ago
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that would be good if there wasnt a rising high in christian conversions going

10 years ago
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Makes up for all the killing of Chinese Christians when Communists took control.

10 years ago
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I lived south of a city in which there was a law explicitly states that it illegal to detonate a nuclear device within the city limits.

When it comes to the wearing body armor during the commission of a crime makes sense, it would just be used to add to the violators sentence.

10 years ago
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10 years ago
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Same thing here in Finland.

10 years ago
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10 years ago
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In Poland it's illegal to walk with a pocket knife on the street. But it's legal to walk with a scythe, an axe and a chainsaw.

10 years ago
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Greece Never had a law about video games.
It was about arcade game stores (with coins) and gambling machines.

(sorry for my English)

10 years ago
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Can't marry with my cousin

jk... i did

10 years ago
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In South Africa it is illegal to own or purchase a TV without a license.

10 years ago
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I think it is true for countries with a TV license, back when it was a luxury to own a TV. Still pretty common in many countries.

10 years ago
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Closed 9 years ago by Gabzilla.