Internet Sweepstakes Gaming

Controversy continues in Brunswick over internet cafes and whether or not they should be allowed to operate in the city.  No new Internet cafes may move into the city until City Council and the Planning and Zoning Committee have determined the best way to regulate the influx of these business into the community.  Applications are streaming into the city at about two or three a week so the issue is a top priority in regulating new business activity.  While a six-month moratorium is in affect, the four cafes already in the city limits can continue to operate.  Licensing fees and annual fees for each computer terminal on which gaming would be done can have a large impact on the financial income the city would generate when the gaming ordinance takes affect.  Acccording to law the city council can not outlaw these businesses, but can control the physical locations in the city limits where the cafes would operate.  It is a concern cafes should not be located near areas frequented by children and families, such as  schools, day care centers, parks, playgrounds and places where families worship.  The cafes sell phone cards to customers who then use them to play online games that look like video slots.  Customers are then entered into sweepstakes offered by the individual cafes according to how much money they pay for the phone cards.  The big question is whether the cafes are promoting gaming or gambling.  The more internet time a customer purchases, the more sweepstakes points they accumulate.  The results of the sweepstakes are pre-determined by computer, not by skill or chance, making them legal in the State of Ohio.  Cafes are appearing throughout Northeast Ohio in Brook Park, Garfield Heights, Cleveland, Seven Hills, Cuyahoga Heights, Bedford and Brunswick.  So is it gaming or gambling when people use money to buy phone cards with the hope of winning money through a sweepstakes?  It sounds similar to playing the lottery to me.  It also sounds like something people could become addicted to, especially children.  What do you think, yeah or nay?
Donna