December 29, 2006
In one of the more compelling video game controversies of 2006, anti-game attorney Jack Thompson sought to have Rockstar's T-rated Bully declared a public nuisance by a Miami judge.Despite his failure in that case, Thompson has vowed to pursue the same tactic against M-rated games in 2007. An e-mail press release sent out by Thompson on Christmas Eve reads in part:
Thompson announces today that he will bring lawsuits in the next calendar year, under various states’ existing public nuisance laws, to stop the marketing and sale of certain ESRB-rated “Mature” video games to minors...
Thompson’s 2006 suit to stop the sale of Take-Two/Rockstar’s Columbine simulator Bully was just a practice run for what is to follow. The court’s order of the production of the Bully game prior to its commercial release sets the precedent for what Thompson will do again, but this time with Mature-rated titles that the Federal Trade Commission has recently found are being sold to children across America 42% of the time!
GP: Frankly, we don't see this happening. For one thing, Miami-Dade County Judge Ronald Friedman's order to produce Bully in court for his review carries no legal authority in other states. And, despite his demand to view the game, Friedman ultimately ruled that Thompson's public nuisance claim was entirely without merit.
What's more, Thompson has unsuccessfully tried to push this idea before. In 2005 and 2006 he sought to convince California Attorney General Bill Lockyer that police officers could walk into retail stores and seize copies of 25 to Life under the public nuisance theory. That suggestion went nowhere.
Comments
For JT to call Bully a Columbine simulator at this point is further proof the man is totally insane. JT, what about the friggin' "hidden" blood and gore you and your "hardcore gamer" accomplace found? What of your "deadline" to Patricia Vance to re-rate Bully?
I'll cite this
"A person is guilty of a public nuisance (also known as common nuisance), who (a) does an act not warranted by law, or (b) omits to discharge a legal duty, if the effect of the act or omission is to endanger the life, health, property, morals, or comfort of the public, or to obstruct the public in the exercise or enjoyment of rights common to all Her Majesty's subjects."
Some people may believe that violent games train us to kill, and other misinformed garbage like that, so therefore he actually does have a ledge to stand on, even though its a small one
However a few parts of that make Jacky guilty aswell, we all know about his *cough* arguements... that he has made on here, and certainly it has obstructed the public (community of GP and other sites) to exercise and enjoy our right to view the comments on this site
I'm... I'm speechless. I think that's him saying that he KNEW the Bully suit was going to fail, and was only using it to get ready for other nuisance cases. In my opinion, either he has some secret information about games coming out in '07, or we're going to see a LOT of (State) v. Spore cases, for daring to teach Evolution. If it's the first, then do you mind telling me when .hack//GU Volume 2 and 3 are coming out, Mr. Thompson?
I also wonder if we can have HIM jailed for being a public nuissance.
"...to stop the marketing and sale of certain ESRB-rated “Mature” video games to minors…"
"Thompson’s 2006 suit to stop the sale of Take-Two/Rockstar’s Columbine simulator Bully was just a practice run for what is to follow."
2 sentences, 3 gross misrepresentations of the truth. Firstly, as is well known, Bully was rated T not M, so the lawsuits are not directly to do with the issue he claims them to be. Second, quoting the Columbine simulator thing is really dumb, slanderous and an obvious attempt to get the press release printed, especially as that quote came from Thmsom himself. Thirdly, what is he actually saying with this press release? That he's going to get all games produced to courts before they are released?
The sad thing is, all this press whoring does is polarise the issue in the popular press, when we should be having an open debate as to whether the ratings board is accurately rating the games (I believe they are), and to educate parents that, yes, some games are unsuitable for under 10s, and please do your job as a parent before blindly buying them...
BAAAAAHAAHAHAHAAHAAAHA! You pose as much threat to the videogame industry as walking up to me and taking a swing.
In other words, you're harmless. You get on gamers about how they waste their time... it obviously hasn't hit you yet that you are wasting your time. In fact, I'd think you waste a lot more time and even more money.
MY animosity towards you isn't even about your vendetta. It's your arrogant and self ritious attitude about it all.
Jack, you don't even begin to come off as though you care about the well being of anyone. You are more like the 21 year old body building gang banger with chrome teeth and a stretch limo H3 Hummer with spinners. The ONLY thing it says is that
1: You have no taste and no class.
2: You want the world to look at you and what you want the world to believe.
You'll pardon me if I don't hold my breath waiting for you to topple the entertainment industry. You'll have croaked from congestive heart failure long before you even make a dent.
Education is what you SHOULD be focusing on. Of course, if you want to teach our nation's children how to act like a responsible and respectable human being you need to be one, perhaps that's why you resort to wasting money and time with needless and pathetic lawsuits... you friggin' hippie.
For every rule there is always an exception.
Ever taken AP chem, for every lab you have to do each experiment you have to repeat it 3 times for accurate results, and the reults you get can be very diverese even if you think you're doing it right. Back to the point not every judge is the same and not every game is the same so it really doesn't fit the definition you described (I highly doubt Jack will succeed but I don't think this counts as insanity).
The reason for the gamer angst about me and more importantly about what I do, is that I pose a real and present danger to companies like Take-Two.
If you think not, then just watch the two wrongful death cases in New Mexico and Alabama against Take-Two that are up and running.
Litigation against Big Tobacco met with early defeats, but the race goes, as it did there, to the persistent.
At root, the real problem that all video game addicts have with me is that they accomplish absolutely NOTHING with their gaming other than a waste of time. When someone comes along to show what one person can do, by the grace of God, against an evil sector of an otherwise benign industry, then that discomfits the nerds who sit on couches feeling guilty about the lives they are wasting.
This coming year is going to be a great year. Just watch. Oh, and put down the controllers, step away from the consoles, and get a life.
Jack Thompson
Jack Thompson Blasting off again!!!
Cue paper cut out JT Pokemon crossover on youtube.
That's why I always laugh when Jack calls us scum, he obviously hasn't looked in the mirror for a very long time ;)
Funny thing is, a lot of politicos and 'concerned parents' forget two things about the 'good old days' of the 50's. First, child mortality was higher, much higher, disease and abuse were far greater killers than they are now, crime was lower because beating your son with a carpet-paddle was considered discipline then, not crime. Secondly, the average age of marriage was around 14-16 years old.
Makes me wonder whether these people genuinely think that going back to the 'good old days' will actually help or whether they are simply too weak-charactered and afraid to face the present themselves.
I agree with you there, Jack Thompson including other christians should get a life out there and put down their bibles. Me wonders why christians are sissies.
I read Richard Dawkins book "The God's Delusion" and all of it is facts, I think the world is better off without christianity, it is slowing down world advancement and kept complaining about things that are so-called "unholy" to their imaginary God.
Of course though, atheists and agonistics like us love our neighbours, appreciate modern technology that has helped us but of course, christians make peace with the sky and not only being unappreciative but criticized modern technology because of it's "unholiness".
I wouldn't believe anything in the British media. Right now, the media and most of the public are wanting us to return to "fifties values" in a very ker-azy way by banning everything, shipping off all foreigners and dealing with troubled young people by shipping us all off to war.
Good Point!
- Warren Lewis..
I don't know about you guys but I usually take that day off to spend with my family. I've got this image of Thompson dressed as Scrooge sitting in a cold, cold apartment, scribbling madly and cursing the carrollers outside.
Bah humbug Mr. Thompson. Bah humbug!
I think he's more like that Weepinbell that James had.
Every time he comes out to fight, he ends up eating one of his allies.
Sorry to disappoint, nobody will look up to him and bow down to worship the infamous Jack Thompson, even though he is famous, but what's the point on being famous if all of the world hates him?
the video game industry truly is not involved with the game at all after they hit the store shelves, the only people that can be blamed for selling the games to minors would me the retail outlets, which the industry has absolutly no control over
Jacks only real argument against the game industry (that could possibly hold even the slightest bit of water) is in his claims that they advertise M rated games to minors, however i've never heard of him giving any such examples of such advertising except when he once claimed of GTA adds running on sports net, which of course is a program with a core demographic of somewhere between 16-35 year olds
Oh, I hope lots of people are watching Mr Thompson, I hope the world sees a man offering to protect a child abuser to further his own personal crusade to 'protect' children. And you can rest assured they will see through the tissue of false prophethood you wear.
Methinks our favorite idiot from Miami needs to re-evaluate his life.
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=2725010
I think that's what JT is shooting for. Yes, it's a crazy plan, but just crazy enough to work. Right now, that's the best he can hope for.
I’m… I’m speechless. I think that’s him saying that he KNEW the Bully suit was going to fail, and was only using it to get ready for other nuisance cases.
When I read that line, I wondered how he thinks he's going to win any suits when he lost his "practice run." No matter how you read it, though, that line is pure idiocy.
Back in November(?), JT issued several statements about finding hidden blood, gore, and killing in Bully with the help of a "hardcore gamer". Around that time, he issued a warning to Patricia Vance to have the ESRB re-rate the game. The deadling passed, and JT has said nothing further of the matter.
I grow weary of your antics. Jack, you sure can spin any defeat, no matter how crushing, debilitating, humiliating, etc. it may be, to your advantage. "Gadfly attourney," much?
Anyway, this new IP is banned from posting & reading GP.
"Now what haven't I tried to ban under public nuisance? Grand theft auto, No, 25 to life, no, bully, no, ahh here's something Timesplitters, sheesh never heard of it, wait that means the evil game companys are trying to pull the woll over my eyes those bastards, to the courthouse"
are movies regulated? i see kids enter r rated movies with no question, both with and without parents.
And he also tries the same tactics over and over again... How many times are they going to try to catch pikachu by digging a hole in the ground and waiting for Ash and his friends to fall into it?
I see Jack's changed. He's gone from being a self-important egotist to being a self-delusional madman.
Pardon me for saying, but I hardly think that's an improvement.
I also see, in his references to "Columbine Simulator", he's still professing to be a Christian, while ignoring the Ninth Commandment.
Jack: Out of my way 2007, i have a new idea! new idea!
goes in to court room*
10 mins later leaves court room*
Jack: dammit! that was the same dam idea from 2006!
I'm not sure what country's public nuisance law you cited, but rest assured the United States does not have a queen. Additionally, the First Amendment trumps public nuisance laws in that "speech" can not be considered a nuisance in the USA. According to the courts, video games = speech. Ergo, video games are not a nuisance.
And since Jack can only practice law in Florida, it should be noted that the law there was pretty much designed to shut down nudie bars, but can also be applied to something with immediate negative effects on the public welfare. Video games do not qualify under this.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_ar...
You see, if it wasn't computer games, it MUST have been Harry Potter, because they are both using exactly the same excuse.
I'd say another similarity is that the whole thing was funny at first, but now every time I hear about him I just feel kind of annoyed.
And unlike games, selling liqour to underaged people is an an offence. A documentary in Britain (so I'm told) had a small girl (under 12) who they made an ID card for. She went to pubs and liqour stores around the country, buying liqour. Amazingly, many of the liqour stores didn't ask for ID at all in the first place.
So before we all get scared about the fact that the cashier at Wallmart doesn't want to go through the bother of rejecting a purchase of an M rated game to a kid who will clearly get his parents to do it for him anyway, lets also think about the ineffectiveness of REAL age controlled purchases, such as liqour.
lol At first I thought the title meant that Jack Thompson promises to be more of a public nuisance with his silly claims in the up coming year XD
Oh well, at least we'll be able to point and laugh at his repeated failures for another year.
What do you mean by "Get a life"?
Can you also please explain what are "video game addicts"?
"...accomplish absolutely NOTHING with their gaming..." What do you mean? Couldn't media like books and movies be classified the same? or what about activities like sports?
One thing i'm worried about is that he might be slowly gaining experiance from his losses(*cue napolean qoute*), but other then that, The pro-gamers have this.