Internet Cafes Still Not Allowed in Strongsville

A new ruling by an appeals court on Internet cafes has reaffirmed Strongsville's position on the businesses, Law Director Ken Kraus said.

Kraus said the Eighth District Court of Appeals recently upheld gambling convictions against three Cleveland Internet cafes.

"The ruling by the Eighth District is consistent with the legal opinion we issued years ago in Strongsville," he said.

Kraus in 2010 wrote a legal opinion on Internet sweepstakes cafes, which at the time were making their first inroads into Cleveland's suburbs.

He said the businesses involve illegal gambling and shouldn't be allowed to operate.

Since then, any time an Internet cafe has sought an occupancy permit, the operators get a letter saying they will be charged with a crime.

They have moved into other suburbs, though, many of which have written rules that regulate their operation.

At the cafes, customers buy time on computers to play online games, some of which resemble casino games.

Proponents argue that because the outcome is predetermined -- rather than games of chance -- they are a type of sweepstakes, not gambling.

Kraus has said he will not back down until the Ohio Attorney General or a court rules that the sweepstakes cafes are not a form of gambling.