April 19, 2007
They didn't exactly kiss and make up, but Grand Theft Auto publisher Take Two Interactive and anti-game attorney Jack Thompson have apparently reached settlement on a pair of pending legal actions in Florida.One immediate result is that Thompson will no longer have to worry about being jailed for contempt of court in regard to last October's Bully case.
GamePolitics readers may recall that Take Two filed suit against Thomspon in a Florida federal court last month. T2's action was primarily based upon Thompson's threats to sue to block sales of upcoming Rockstar games Manhunt 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV.
Thompson promptly filed a countersuit whch was highlighted by charges that Take Two violated federal racketeering (RICO) statutes. The controversial attorney also accused several prominent game media outlets (including GamePolitics) of participating in a vast conspiracy against him. However, as reported by GamePolitics, an amended complaint subsequently filed by Thompson quietly dropped the RICO allegations
In the settlement, filed with Federal District Court Judge Cecilia Altonaga, Thompson has agreed that he:
1.) will not sue or threaten to sue to block sale or distribution of any game published by Take Two or its subsidiaries (i.e., Rockstar).
2.) will not communicate to Take Two or anyone doing business with T2 (like, say Wal-Mart) any accusation that the company committed any wrongdoing by selling its games. Thompson is not restricted from criticizing the content of T2 games, nor is he prevented from acting as counsel in lawsuits brought against Take Two by other parties
3.) will make any future contacts with T2 through its attorneys
For its part Take Two has agreed to dismiss the federal lawsuit and Thompson will drop his counterclaim. T2 has also agreed to drop the Bully contempt of court matter. There was to have been a hearing on the case tomorrow morning, and Thompson could potentially have been jailed if he were found to be in contempt by a Miami-Dade County judge.
Read all of the settlement legalese here.
Comments
Re: GTA Publisher, Jack Thompson Settle Lawsuit
Not surprised at all, surely its not kiss and make up or kiss and patch up but out of court settlement means that there has been a stance that has been taken where it benefits both. Florida Lawsuit Advice
Re: GTA Publisher, Jack Thompson Settle Lawsuit
Frankly, I was expecting to happen like this. It was absolutely normal that they would end up to compromise like this. Some days ago when I was having some work with some frigidaire parts I was talking with some people around there and when I told them that this would happen, no one believe me. Oh well, now it has become true!
Jack Thompson tries this shit on other companies they can do the same.
In the world of Jack Thompson Correlation = Causality no matter what factors might be involved. How does he have a liscence?
personally i wouldnt have dropped anything and i'd make sure he went down for his crap but at least its taken care of..
ok im gonna go watch the jt video now
Microsoft.
I'm with Game/Life on this one. Jack, please sue Microsoft.
He'd have to be very careful with encouraging other people to start lawsuits against Take Two, I think it would be down to Judges discretion. Oddly enough, I seem to recall that Bar rules state that, since he only has a State License, not a Federal one, his 'hard selling' by constantly Emailing and faxing adverts for his sideline, is actually in violation of the Bar terms anyway, but it's a minor infringement, and I think they have bigger fish to fry as far as JBT is concerned. However, if he starts to try and solicit work, rather than being approached by the parties, I doubt the Judge would take a positive view of it.
"Who is he to know how fast anyone’s heart is beating? Was he following Hui with a freaking stethoscope?"
Does jack thompson even have a heart to compare it to? I thought that an lived out of pure spite. To think he would even have a something as human as a heart....
Really? A Year? I give him two weeks. Three, if he's busy.
Jack will be claiming a massive victory in 3...2...1...
This part seems like a loophole he can exploit. Can't he just convince someone else to bring the lawsuits and then he can attack T2 as counsel to the suing party? Finding some like-minded religious imperialist crusader shouldn't be hard. We haven't seen the last of him from a legal standpoint much less from a critical standpoint. T2 might have lost an opportunity to put this guy behind bars for awhile, while only achieving modest gains.
He can try all he likes. He's still deprived of his favorite target. With GTA he could easily use its lurid depictions of violence and mayhem and point to it as a shorthand representation of violence in all video games. Take 2 and Rockstar would also be hard-pressed to defend their games as "artistic expression" in the face of such criticism (though the silence of the earlier management certainly didn't help either and in fact made it all the more easier for JT).
As much as he may want to use Counterstrike now, he'll have an even harder time trying to make as convincing an argument with it, as its depiction of violence is far less sensationalistic. Also, Sierra/Vivendi/Valve will probably be a lot more proactive and vocal in countering than Rockstand and Take 2 were.
As for soliciting his clients, I'm sure most of the VT students are aware of him. Also Gov. Kaine said in reference to people like JT that they'd be advised to take whatever little crusades they happen to be on for their personal gain elsewhere. And hopefully if he even dares try to approach the victims' families, they'll take that advice to heart and tell JT to take his class-action lawsuits and shove them up his ass.
The fact that major news outlets haven taken him less seriously in the wake of this and that he didn't appear nearly as much as he did when Columbine happened is a clear indication his credibility is slipping. And this latest announcement has severely crippled his crusade as well. The dismissal of the Cody Posey case and his eventual (I hope) disbarment will be the final nails in his coffin.
No, it's T2's lawyers that filed the court contempt so they are free to drop it if they wish so. However the judge in the Bully case filed a bar complaint toward Jack Thompson. These are two different but I guess you could say related things.
I believe he's still under investigation, including for the complaint from the judge that presided over the original contempt charge before he reclused himself.
--TR
Who is he to know how fast anyone's heart is beating? Was he following Hui with a freaking stethoscope? Truth is, motive and return fire would more than likely account for an increase in heartrate, not the act of killing others with impunity. The problem lies in the act of firing a gun. It's simply point and pull trigger. That's what allowed people to increase efficieny over previous weapons. Heartrate increase has nothing to do with the mind and motive of a depraved individual who would commite these type of crimes.
Ouch.
I wonder if there's any penalties attached to violating the settlement? I haven't read through all the legalese yet.
It was a rather interesting compromise.
The game industry won. That's right Jack, we won. There's no shame in losing at something, alright? Take it like a man.
How is this possible.... isn't the contempt charge from the court not T2? Ok I am missing something here... Jack didn't something wrong in court and the judge held him in contempt but T2 has the right to drop that?
Can someone in the law field please fill me in on what I am missing.