Government is being forced to amend a bill aimed at banning gaming machines which could also have outlawed virtually every computer and palm pilot in Bermuda.

The Prohibition of Gaming Machines Act 2004 is due to be debated in the House of Assembly tomorrow but currently stands to ban "any computer or an electronic device that may be used wholly or partly for the purpose of playing a game of chance".

Those flouting the ban faced possible fines of up to $250,000 and jail terms of up to five years.

Legislative Affairs Minister Michael Scott said Customs officials and the Director of Public Prosecutions had spotted the loopholes and advised changes.

He said: "The tabled item of legislation in its current form is wider than it should have been.

"Amendments will be made on Friday to bring it into the framework of the objective to avoid creating mischief we don't want to create."

Asked if it shouldn't have been more carefully drafted originally, Mr. Scott said: "It was extremely carefully drafted but it was drafted in the context of meeting a deadline."

He said gaps cropped up "sometimes even when doing your best in meaning to cover this kind of legislative mischief".

Lawyer Paul Harshaw, of Lynda Milligan-Whyte and Associates, said the Prohibition of Gaming Machines Act 2004 as written would have put Bermuda back in the Stone Age.

While not particularly bothered by the issue of gaming one way or another Mr. Harshaw said Government, including the United Bermuda Party, which first brought in anti-gaming machine legislation, had consistently missed the mark.

He said the Prohibition and Importation of Gaming Equipment in 1999 had to be repealed and replaced by the Prohibition of Gaming Machines Act 2001 which aimed to outlaw the Island's 300-plus machines.

That Act was due to come into force on July 1, 2004 but, in the meantime, put a ban in the importation of gaming machine parts.

The law applied to machines which have slots for money or tokens but new-style touch-screen gambling computers which did not take coins then hit the island. Punters pay for a PIN number which allows them to log onto a touch-operated computer monitor.

In order to tackle that loophole, the Prohibition of Gaming Machines Act 2004, which was tabled last week, deleted the definition of "machine" and said it applied to "any apparatus, computer or electronic device".

Section four said the Act applied to any machine which "is constructed or adapted for playing a game of chance by means of the machine".

It went even further to say the act also applies to "any computer or an electronic device that may be used wholly or partly for the purpose of playing a game of chance by itself or in combination with any other device".

Mr. Harshaw said: "It outlaws every computer and palm pilot on the Island. I am astounded by this. I can't understand how it could have happened."

He said the bill's harsh sanctions could have led some concerned citizens to hand over their gizmos to Government while others would be forced into ignoring the law.

"What do you do if you are Ace, XL or Fidelity? They can't shut down their systems."