Greek gamers are preparing to fight legislation banning them from playing any electronic game in public.

New laws barring PC and console games in places like internet cafes came into force at the beginning of August, as part of a policy to clamp down on illegal gambling in the country.

But Hellenic games players have slammed the law for not making a distinction between interactive gambling and computer games.

A statement from the Greek Internet Cafe Union, which is fighting the ban, said that theoretically users could be arrested for using a PC to play games like chess or backgammon on sites such as Yahoo.

Government officials admitted to the BBC that, even though the law bans the playing of games on PCs and consoles at home, it will only be pursuing gamers who flout it in public places such as internet cafes.

The first case of its kind will come before the Greek courts next week following the arrest of two people who allowed users to play the popular online game, Counter-Strike. They face fines of £95,000 and up to a year in jail.

The Greek Internet Cafe Union said that such cases would remain in the sphere of comedy if it didn't concern the employment of thousands of people.

It also warned that the government would have to sue Microsoft to get it to remove games from the Greek version of Windows.

But officials have maintained that they have no plans to ban the import of consoles or to take legal action against Microsoft.

Greek gaming site www.gameland.gr has launched an online petition against the ban and has received 14,000 signatures so far.