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Jack Thompson Files Take-Two, Rockstar Lawsuit
Posted by
samzenpus
on Tue Aug 15, 2006 08:22 PM
from the think-of-the-children dept.
from the think-of-the-children dept.
rtt writes "Jack Thompson is back on the video game scene and has followed through with his threat to file a law suit against Rockstar, Take-Two and Walmart for Rockstar's upcoming "Bully" title. bit-tech was sent a copy by the man himself which started as follows "Take-Two has until five o'clock p.m., Eastern time, Monday, August 14, 2006, to inform me in writing that it will forthwith provide me with a copy of Bully so that I and others can analyze it to determine whether it still poses a threat of copycat violence in our schools.""
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Assassins, Bullies, and Messiahs 47 comments
Some interesting news for a few upcoming game titles. Firstly (to no one's surprise), Assassin's Creed is coming to the 360. It will also be available for the PC. Secondly, Valve and Ubisoft have announced that Dark Messiah is coming to Steam when it releases in October. Chris Grant's commentary: "Ubisoft is acknowledging the demand for digitally distributed AAA content and using the largest platform they can find to promote it. We're still waiting on government-distributed protein pills and personal submarines, but the third pillar of our future vision is now realized." Finally, Rockstar appears to have partially bowed to public pressure over their 'Bully' title. In Europe, at least, Bully is now known as Canis Canem Edit, which means 'Dog Eat Dog' in Latin. To which I respond: Semper Ubi Sub Ubi.
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An anonymous reader writes "Family members of three victims of a shooting by a 14-year-old have filed a $600 million lawsuit against the makers of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. From the article: 'The $600 million lawsuit names several companies and Cody Posey, who it alleges played the game ''obsessively'' for several months before he shot his father, stepmother and stepsister in July 2004 ... The plaintiffs accuse the corporate defendants -- Sony Corporation of America, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. and its subsidiary, Rockstar Games -- of a civil conspiracy, saying they should have foreseen their entertainment would spawn such copycat violence.'" It may or may not be a coincidence that Jack Thompson is the plaintiff's attorney.
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Your Rights Online: Judge Clears Bully For Publishing 393 comments
stupid_is writes "The BBC are reporting that Judge Ronald Friedman has cleared Bully for publication in Florida. Jack Thompson is, predictably, critical of the decision, stating "You did not see the game, you don't even know what it was you saw." after Take-Two gave him the game, along with someone to play the game for him to watch before he made a decision." This is a follow-up to our story last week about Take-Two handing over copies of Bully per court order.
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Blair Bullied Over Bully 71 comments
Following up the banning of Bully by British retailers, UK BM Tony Blair faced criticism from Parliment members over the Rockstar title. During the daily 'Question Time' the PM faces, Leicester East's Keith Vaz called for a meeting on the game, and investigation of the title. From the article: "'I know that the Minister for Creative Industries and also the Minister responsible for the industry are very happy to meet with him and stakeholders to discuss it. It's obviously an important issue. I know there's a lot of concern about it. It is, I think, right to say that the video games industry, or certainly a very substantial section of it, have made significant strides and advances over the last few years, but he's quite right, it's important that's maintained,' Blair said."
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From Hot Coffee To Warm Tea 129 comments
I've been avoiding posting about it, but Joystiq has a completely and utterly sane discussion of the non-story that is the Bully boy on boy kissing 'scandal'. Despite the ravings of Jack Thompson, the homosexual behavior in Bully was seen by the ESRB and is not the first game to feature such content. From the article: "The ESRB would be insane if they were bullied into giving an 'M' (Mature 17+) rating to Bully, as this story continues to gain traction in the mainstream press ... It would also force the ginormous Electronic Arts into the mix to defend the 'T' rated Sims. We're willing to wager that Electronic Arts, which has a Human Rights Campaign corporate equality index score of 88 and had transsexual game designer Danielle Bunten Berry on staff, will put up a good fight if challenged. Rockstar played this brilliantly, they slid in a topic that is controversial, but perfectly defensible, and those that would attack 'Warm Tea,' won't have an easy time of it compared to 'Hot Coffee.'" SFGate put up a thoughtful opinion piece / review of Bully this past weekend. If you're not familiar with the game, it's a great way to fully understand how there's really nothing to worry about here.
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So, um (Score:5, Funny)
Seems easier on everyone's behalf.
Re:Don't know why I'm even responding to this (Score:5, Funny)
Assumeing that A means one.. did he just publicly emit that he plans on comitting copyright violation by either making copies and passing them out OR conducting a public preformace of a copyrighted work.
me things someone needs to send him a nasty gram
Parent
I want a Rolls Royce (Score:5, Funny)
Free Promotion (Score:5, Funny)
Or maybe he could just eat a dick (Score:5, Insightful)
He's a self-promoting moralistic jerkoff. Stop giving him air by paying attention to him.
Re:Or maybe he could just eat a dick (Score:5, Insightful)
With Jack, ignoring him will merely be taken as a sign that you either cannot counter his flimsy arguements, or else that you agree with him. He may be the worlds biggest troll, but he's considered credible by politicians and the media, and that makes him more dangerous than most crackpots.
Parent
I think I speak for everyone here, (Score:5, Funny)
I wonder (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Case without evidence or a crime. (Score:5, Interesting)
This has to be thrown out of court.
Rockstar should send him a copy. (Score:5, Funny)
Rockstar should do that.
oh lordy (Score:5, Insightful)
To file a lawsuit you need a small amount of money. That's it. This doesn't mean anything. Trust me. They have no standing, they have no legitimate cause of action, this will go nowhere. Just calm the hell down people.
Now that's an ego... (Score:5, Funny)
Takes a serious ego to think you have the right to make such a demand from a company, simply because you've set yourself up as the one to make sure video games aren't too violent.
I'd love to see Take-Two to tell him to take a flying leap.
Jack is a better PR flack than lawyer (Score:5, Interesting)
The language from his suit is designed for media consumption, not to sway a judge.
Here's a random clip from his statement of facts:
Lawyers vary in how they make their statements of fact, but a long litany of statements like this make you sound unhinged and guilty of gross hyperbole. Maybe that's why he's been so stupendously unsuccessful [wikipedia.org] in all of his anti-game lawsuits.
I also wonder at the letter he sent to Take-Two and Wal-Mart. The opening paragraph certainly sounds like a bald attempt at extortion [wikipedia.org]. He's already skated on thin ice with the Florida Bar and with various judges. I wonder how much longer he'll be able to push the envelope with these vague and poorly constructed lawsuits before he gets nailed to the wall for it.
PA's Gabe is on to something I think (Score:5, Interesting)
...
All we have to do, is not be who he says we are.
-Gabe out
I really wholeheartedly agree. Giving him attention when he pulls this stupid crap is not going to make him go away. He's an attention-whoring lunatic. He WANTS us to get worked into a tizzy.
Bzzt, Wrong Answer (Score:5, Insightful)
A warning for those of you lazy self absorbed and/or just plain inattentive parents: All the censorship in the world won't make up for bad parenting if your child is more influenced by our games than by Mommy & Daddy, both you and your offspring have much bigger problems than the gameplay. So before you go hauling us or any other studio into court, look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself if you did the best you could, because if you're considering taking us to court, you didn't.
Inspiration for above [wikipedia.org]
Re:Bzzt, Wrong Answer (Score:5, Insightful)
Parent
Enough is enough! (Score:5, Insightful)
Instead of going after media (games, movies, whatever), why not focus on the ONLY place where social problems can be adequately addressed...the HOME.
Re:Okay, I think I stand for all of us when I say. (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Okay, I think I stand for all of us when I say. (Score:5, Informative)
Personally, I kind of want him to win, so I can demand free stuff from every company in the world, and threaten a law suit. That'd be sweet.
Seriously, this just shows that he think he is above the law, and everybody else is below it. He just can't accept the concept of fairness, if he thinks he has any right to demand that a corporation give him something for free. Especially given that he cites a school board resolution as if that were a major legal binding precident...
Some of my favorites in his crazy person rant:
21. Take-Two is fraudulently and deceptively marketing this game not only because it desperately needs the cash from the sale of this controversial game, whose release has been delayed for over a year in large part because of the efforts of the undersigned petitioner, but also because controversy still swirls about the Bully game, and Take-Two is Hell-bent to defuse it.
Because, you know... No video game in the history of the world ever shipped late, except because of his crusade. It can't possibly be related to needing more time to finish the game. Crazy people like him think they are winning great victories whenever anything happens.
29. Florida Congressman Jeff Stearns, who recently chaired hearings in the United States House of Representatives, discovered how thoroughly flawed the video game rating system is, as the ESRB is actually paid for and operated, in effect, by the video game industry itself. This is a classic case of the fox guarding the chickens. Congressman Stearns has now introduced to Congress a Bill called the "Truth in Video Game Ratings Act" largely because of the illicit collaboration between the ESRB and Take-Two.
Right... Thank god for the Federal Book and movie censors... Because, you know, the MPAA isn't funded by movies. And, why the hell is nobody even bothering to ask the industry to self regulate books? I can read a graphic description of horrible bestiality gang bang child rape and decapitation with a chain saw without having to show ID. But, 30 polygons try to do it doggy style, and it's the end of the world.
Parent
Re:Okay, I think I stand for all of us when I say. (Score:5, Funny)
Wait, you mean he's the bastard who has been keeping Duke Nukem from me for the last decade plus?
String him up boys!
Parent
Re:Okay, I think I stand for all of us when I say. (Score:5, Insightful)
In Thompsons warped view of the world, games make children violent. This isn't a particularly rational viewpoint, but his actions here are consistant with it. What does he care that the game doesn't condone bullying? It's a Rockstar game (which he hates), and it's violent (which gives him a chance to get up on his soapbox and preach).
Parent
Re:Here's hoping for a "Jack Thompson head" mode.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Being pissed off at what an asshole Jack Thompson is makes me violent.
Parent
Re:Here's hoping for a "Jack Thompson head" mod... (Score:5, Funny)
No, no -- you need to aim for a vital organ.
Parent
Re:Here's hoping for a "Jack Thompson head" mod... (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:AOL Response (Score:5, Insightful)
Then sue him for slander, breach of NDA (assuming any of his comments are even vaguely related to the game, which may be tricky) and soak up even more free publicity.
Profit...
Parent