Blizzard Sued By South Carolina Inmate

Benjamin Duranske writes "Jonathan Lee Riches, an inmate in South Carolina famous for filing long, handwritten, rambling screeds against celebrities, politicians, and even buildings, has filed a third-party motion in Federal Court in Arizona in the MDY v. Blizzard botting case claiming that Blizzard's World of Warcraft 'caused Riches mind to live in a virtual universe, where Riches explored the landscape committing identity theft and fighting cybermonster rival hacker gangs. Riches was addicted to video games and lost touch with reality because of defendants. This caused Riches to commit fraud to buy defendants video games. Riches chose World of Warcraft over working a legit job, Riches mind became a living video game.'"

Please Don't Give This Man Attention!

[eldavojohn]

This is another ridiculous lawsuit. I was first aware of this when he sued Michael Vick a while back. He is an attention whore [justia.com], please do not give him anymore attention!

Check out this recent lawsuit [justia.com] and its defendents:

George W Bush, Richard B. Cheney, Condeleza Rice, Donald H Rumsfeld, John W Snow, Unknown Authors, Carlos M Gutierrez, Michael O Leavitt, Elaine Chao, Stephen L Johnson, Margaret Spellings, Samuel W Bodman, Norman Y Mineta, Hillary Rodham Clinton, James Hoffa, www.GOOGLE.com, Benedict, XVI, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Jerry West, www.ACCUWEATHER.com, Usama Bin Laden, William Gates, Hugo Chavez, John Deere, Adolf Hitler's National Socialist Party, Island Def Jam Music Group, Roc-A Fella Records, Shawn Carter, Queen of England, Jo Anne B Barnhart, Steven Spielberg, RJ Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc, Japan's Nikkei Stock Exchange, Gambino, Three Mile Island, Kofi Annaan, Tony Danza, Islamic Republic of Iran, Don King Productions Inc, Paris Hilton, Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah's Witness, Jose Padilla, University of Miami, Geico Insurance, Vienna Convention, Matt Drudge, Marion Blakey, Consulate General of Nigeria, The Salvation Army, Jewish State of "Israel", John E Potter, Soledad O'Brien, Miles O'Brien, Magna Carta, Tsunami victims, Alan Greenspan, American Red Cross, Mark Emerson, Jessica Alba, Sirius Satellite Radio, Charles Moose, Dalai Lama, Houston Chronicle, Al Qaeda Islamic Army, Fruit of A-Loom, American Civil Liberties Union, Out-Back Steakhouse, Donald J Trump, Chris Berman, Vatican, The, Shawn John Combs, Michael Brown, Vincent K McMahon, Taliban, The, Richard M Daley, Meals on Wheels, John Grisham, Columbine High School, Ariel Sharon, United Parcel Service, Tara Reid, Black Entertainment Television Inc, Saddam Hussein, Jewish Workers, Brad Pitt, Jack Welch, Elizabeth Smart, George E Pataki, Charlie Sheen, Surgeon General, The, Vladimir Putin, Oliver North, George Orwell, www.ASKJEEVES.com, Sean O'Keefe, Various Buddhist Monks, www.SECUREDPARTY.com, I Lewis Libby, Warren Buffett, Sierra Club, John D Negroponte, Christina Applegate, Jewish Mossad, National Vanguard Books, Air and Space Museum, Christopher Reeves, Gale A Norton, Halliburton Company, Kellogg Brown & Root, John Walsh, Mein Kampf, City of Crawford Texas, John P Abizaid, Venus Williams, www.DEFCON.org, John Dudas, Medieval Times, International Trade Commission, Anna Nichole Smith, United States Marine Corps, William F Buckley, Denny's, Brotherhood of the Snake, Larry King, Charles E Schumer, Rastafarian Natives, Spencer Abraham, Rollingstone Magazine, Monogram Bank of Georgia, Grace Jones, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, Planet Hollywood, Joseph H Boardman, Marshall Bruce Mathers, III, Uliminati,Founder Adam Weishaupt, The Apollo Theater, David W Anderson, Assistant Secretary For Indian Affairs, Jason Society, Wu Tang Clan, Wu-Wear Inc, Philip Purcell, CEO Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Nordic Gods, Presidental Emergency Operation Center, Screen Actors Guild Inc, R James Nicholson, New York Stock Exchange Inc, The Da Vinci Code, Moorish Science Temple of America, Sears Tower, Mike Tyson, Native American Fish Society, Holocaust Survivors, Byzantine Republic Army, Dennis Hopper, Mt. Rushmore, Barbara Walters, First Presbyterian Church, Gordan R Sullivan, Yellow Cab Company, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America, Michael Savage, Dennis Hastert, Green Bay's Lambeau Field, Slobodan Milosevic, Pizza Hut, King James Bible, Scott Peterson, Department of Housing and Urban Affiars, Smithsonian Institute, Robert C Bonner, Ming Dynasty, Ray Nagin, Barry Bonds, Thomas J Ridge, Jenna Bush, Gangs in Hong Kong, United Methodist Church, European Union, Porter Goss, Harrah's Las Vegas Inc, Grand Wizard of Ku Klux Klan, General Motors, Christopher Cox, Proctor & Gamble, Jewish Synagogue's, www.ebay.com, Knights of Malta, A

Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention!

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, I always thought Al Jazeera and Bumble Bee Tuna were connected somehow.

Finally, proof.

Re:

[Cocoa Radix]

Most people forget that important little "Home Depot" bridge between the two...

Common mistake. Don't beat yourself up about it.

Re:

[Jabbrwokk]

Uliminati

The secreter, shadowier even more scarier elite wing of the Illuminati? Maybe this guy is on to something! Or just on something.

Re:

[nickheart]

He also sued Hurricane Katrina

Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention!

[pcolaman]

I guess that's why he was suing GWB, since Bush used the weather machine to create Hurricane Katrina.

Re:

[JCSoRocks]

He's suing fruit of A-Loom rather than fruit of The Loom - that's how you know he's crazy.

Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention!

[camperdave]

The Da Vinci Code? Magna Carta? Statue of Liberty? Miles O'Brien? George W Bush?

He's suing inanimate objects and fictional characters? Good luck with that!

Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention!

[internerdj]

George W Bush is a fictional character? That explains so much and is a great relief at the same time.

Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention!

[Itninja]

No, that was one of the inanimate objects.

Re:

[internerdj]

Awww. Well at least it still explains alot.

Re:

[Samah]

The two criteria were not mutually exclusive, you know. ;)

Re:

[ByOhTek]

There's a journalist/reporter (CNN? NBC? Can't remember) named Miles O'Brien.

I saw him on the news a few times. Always good for a laugh.

Does GWB count as fictional or inanimate?

Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention!

[firex726]

Looks like Pluto is off the hook. He calls it a "Planet".

Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention!

[Adriax]

Lawyers don't play the Kevin Bacon game anymore, they play the 1 degree of separation to Jonathan Lee Riches game.

Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention!

[Rogerborg]

Well, sure. "Lonely bored crazy guy yells at squirrels in the park" is not a headline either.

Re:

[Hoi Polloi]

Except for Christina Applegate, Bob Barker, Green Bay's Lambeau Field, and Denny's I agree it is frivolous. I've been after those bums for years. I'm not sure what "Jewish Mossad" is though. Is there a "Hindu Mossad"?

His list of defendants reads like it was generated by the same program that generates spam.

Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention!

[crawling_chaos]

I'm not sure what "Jewish Mossad" is though. Is there a "Hindu Mossad"?

Yes, there is. They are not as good at intelligence, but their song and dance routines are legendary.

check out the last order in this case

[Rene S. Hollan]

"MINUTE entry before Judge Harry D. Leinenweber : It has come to the Court's attention that the docketing department of the Clerk's Office is still inputing the names of the hundreds of defendants named in this action. This action was dismissed on 8/17/07 for failure to state a claim, and the Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal on 10/31/07 for failure to pay the required docketing fee. It is a waste of judicial resources for the Clerk's Office to continue adding these names to a closed case that the Court determined was delusional in its order of 8/17/07. The Clerk is therefore directed to cease adding the defendants' names to this docket. As this is an internal housekeeping matter, the Clerk is directed not to send notice of this order to Plaintiff. No notice to be mailed (gcy, )"

Re:

[Pulzar]

Poor judge who has to deal with it and waste time on actually writing a full motion to dismiss the case [justia.com], including references to supreme court cases explaining what is delusional and what's not. A fun read nonetheless :).

Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention!

[nizo]

Apparently he doesn't realize that when google lawbot indexes this, it is gonna toss out all these random keywords, right?

Or is there some secret message in there somewhere?

Re:

[orielbean]

I don't know, I like his style. Can we give him a TV show maybe?

You say "attention whore", I say "insane".

[sgant]

Seriously, the guy is delusional. Insane. A nutter. Crazy. Over the rainbow. Bars in the window. Truly gone fishing. Out to lunch.

He's apeshit mad, barmy, batty, berserk, bonkers, cracked, crazed, cuckoo, daft, delirious, demented, deranged, dingy, dippy, erratic, flaky, flipped, flipped out, freaked out, fruity, idiotic, kooky, lunatic, mad, maniacal, mental, moonstruck, nutty as fruitcake, of unsound mind, out of his tree, psycho, he's round the bend, a schizo, a screwball, he has a screw loose, silly, touched, unbalanced, unglued, unhinged, unzipped, wacky.

(yes, much was copied and pasted from thesaurus.com)

Re:

[Chris Burke]

"Seriously, the guy is delusional. Insane. A nutter. Crazy. Over the rainbow. Bars in the window. Truly gone fishing. Out to lunch.

He's apeshit mad, barmy, batty, berserk, bonkers, cracked, crazed, cuckoo, daft, delirious, demented, deranged, dingy, dippy, erratic, flaky, flipped, flipped out, freaked out, fruity, idiotic, kooky, lunatic, mad, maniacal, mental, moonstruck, nutty as fruitcake, of unsound mind, out of his tree, psycho, he's round the bend, a schizo, a screwball, he has a screw loose, silly, t

Re:

[monkeyman_67156]

I like how he sues the article "The". He'd probably have a better chance going after the preposition, "around".

Re:

[Nazlfrag]

He might have a little trouble getting Adolf Hitler's National Socialist Party into court, oh and Three Mile Island might be tricky, as would the Vienna Convention, Magna Carta, Tsunami victims, Jewish Workers, Various Buddhist Monks, Mein Kampf, Rastafarian Natives, Uliminati Founder Adam Weishaupt, Nordic Gods, The Da Vinci Code, Byzantine Republic Army, Mt. Rushmore, King James Bible, Ming Dynasty, Gangs in Hong Kong, Statue of Liberty, Geneva Convention, The World Court Hague, Yale Skull and Bones, City

Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention!

[Rick Bentley]

He must be lonely in prison.

Maybe we can arrange for him to get a new friend...

Re:

[GameboyRMH]

I wonder if he could be transferred to an Alaska prison...

Re:

[snspdaarf]

I wonder if he could be transferred to an Alaska prison...

Nah. Just put him in a cell with an ex-lawyer from Florida.

Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention!

[Bu11etmagnet]

I wonder if he could be transferred to an Alaska prison...

Nah. Just put him in a cell with an ex-lawyer from Florida.

That would be classified as cruel and unusual punishment...

Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention!

[thePowerOfGrayskull]

Yeah, but against which one?

Norse Gods!

[djdavetrouble]

Please tell me how I can find the part about the Norse Gods in some legal finding computer thingy !!
This has got to be infinitely quotable....

Re:

[djdavetrouble]

Ok, I didn't find that but I did find his other law suit,
George Steinbrenner made me Surrender my Mind [thesmokinggun.com], in which
he says that he committed wire fraud with Steinbrenner's sons, and used the proceeds to finance A-Rod's contract purchase,
and:
Steinbrenner loves him, and calles him cake boy, sweet cheeks, and Jonny Choo Choo,
made him eat a banana in front of the 1998 Yankees, and I quote the rest:
"In a letter shaped as a heart, Steinbrenner wants me to replace Derick jeter at shortstop when I come home"
"Steinbren

Same thing happened to me after Metroid

[antifoidulus]

after I found out there may be a space-pirate-ass-kicking chick with a lazer and a "screw attack" out there, I couldn't stop masturbating.

Re:

[VeNoM0619]

I'm confused... who would you sue, and what exactly did you lose of value?

Re:Same thing happened to me after Metroid

[RabidMoose]

Sue Nintendo for loss of genetic material.

Re:

[Fumus]

The vile game forced him to commit mass murder on unborn children thus damning his soul for eternity.
Why doesn't anyone think of the children? ~

Re:

[Chris Burke]

I tried the same thing, but the court dismissed my suit calling it a "pre-existing condition". WTF, I thought that was just something my health insurance did!

Miscategorized

[davidwr]

This belongs in stupidpeople.slashdot.org, attentionwhores.slashdot.org, or the catch-all idle.slashdot.org, not games.slashdot.org.

Re:

[lxs]

Is there a schizophrenics-exploited-by-unscrupulous-lawyers.slashdot.org?

Because after reading that summary I think that this guy is benefitted more by daily medication and a good psychiatrist.

Option past "dismissed"

[Alcimedes]

Can a judge just say "fuck off already" to this kind of crap?

Re:Option past "dismissed"

[Anonymous Coward]

Can a judge just say "fuck off already" to this kind of crap?

Talk about a campaign slogan. Vote Judge Common F. Sense in 2008! If you don't like it, fuck off!

I'd sure as hell vote for him.

Oblig. Idiocracy

[Kemanorel]

"If you don't smoke Tarrytons, fuck you!"

and

"Carl's Jr... Fuck you! I'm eating!"

Re:

[Malevolent Tester]

I dunno about you lot, but in Britain someone can be declared a vexatious litigant and banned from suing people. Do you have anything similar?

Counter-suit

[Shotgun]

Can the judge sue Riches for being driven from having to read such drivel?

Re:

[Shotgun]

From being driven INSANE from having to read such drivel.

Re:

[ImaLamer]

Can I sue because I had to read the poorly written summary?

Re:

[Pulzar]

Apparently, they have fined him a few hundred dollars for previous "delusional" suits, and he now has to pre-pay a fee to file any more lawsuits, unless in "immediate physical danger". It's not exactly a counter-lawsuit, but it's pretty close :).

amazing how video games warp the mind but ads dont

[GeezTheGeeza]

its amazing the continuing trend of folks using the 'my mind was warped by the normalisation and glamour of violence in video games and horror films' but these same people have sufficiently strong minds to not succumb to the continuous deluge of advertising thrust upon us every day. in the 90's we had advertising everywhere, the sidewalk, the urinals, the sky, but NEVER in our dreams

I, for one, want his number...

[kaizendojo]

I'd like to sue the game Dead or Alive. I can no longer perform sexually unless my girlfriend wears tight clothes and high kicks me repeatedly in the groin.

Re:I, for one, want his number...

[Anonymous Coward]

Move to germany.

Thats normal over there.

Obligatory

[dedazo]

http://www.instantrimshot.com/ [instantrimshot.com]

Re:

[Lobster Quadrille]

I recommend a rehabilitation program- play DOAX until you are comfortable with them wearing bikinis and jumping around.

Re:

[adamofgreyskull]

high kicks me repeatedly in the groin

so how short is she? If it ain't on youtube it didn't happen.

You've got it the wrong way round [disclose.tv], you insensitive clod.

When the death penalty is appropriate

[MosesJones]

Personally I'm against the death penalty as I think its state sanctioned murder. I do however believe in the right to self-defence and therefore I'd say that this is where the courts should be able to use the death penalty, as a punishment to those who waste their time with ridiculous lawsuits.

Imagine the scene.

Judge: Trivial lawsuit, I'm finding for the plantiff, awarding him costs and sentencing you to death for wasting my time

Its the self-defence of the justice system and would I think stop these cases

Re:

[Oswald]

Or if appeal was possible, but they didn't delay your execution waiting for a resolution.

Re:When the death penalty is appropriate

[mapsjanhere]

That's a bit extreme, simply write a bot program that can do "meaningful" judicial exchanges with the person in question. Let him have his fun writing long memos, and the program sends him back memoranda, motions and decision. He's happy, and no one else notices.

Re:When the death penalty is appropriate

[Anonymous Coward]

FOR SALE: Sense of humor.

Mint condition - never been used.

Thank goodness the election is over

[Anonymous Coward]

Now we can get back to the quality stories that Slashdot is known for.

Because it's fun?

[nine-times]

Riches chose World of Warcraft over working a legit job

So he's suing because he'd prefer to play the game than have a legit job? There are tons of things I'd rather do than my job, and my job isn't even all that bad. But here at work, I'd rather be watching a movie than doing my job. Yet here I am, at work.

... posting on Slashdot. Can I sue Slashdot for being more interesting than my job?

Re:

[pcolaman]

Well, if he had been eligible to vote, I'm assuming he'd have voted for Obama. He could play World of Warcraft and get paid.

Re:

[pcolaman]

*whoosh*----*boom*

The sound of the joke flying at mach two above your head.

Re:

[whisper_jeff]

So he's suing because he'd prefer to play the game than have a legit job?

Legit job? The guy's an inmate. A criminal. I don't think this guy knows what "legit job" means. He's a parasite intent on taking the easy way out. (Yes, I'm making an enormous generalization here but I'm in a pissy mood so the outcome is I'm going to insult some dumbass crackpot criminal - sue me.)

Re:

[m.ducharme]

Of course, he's probably just a guy with a mental illness who got railroaded into the prison system instead of getting the treatment he needs, but don't let complications like that stop you from making enormous generalizations.

Re:

[whisper_jeff]

First, he's not mentally ill - he's a crook. Riches is incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution Williamsburg in Salters, South Carolina, for wire fraud under the terms of a plea bargain. [wikipedia.org] He's a leach. He's a criminal who looks for the easy way to make a buck and is looking for any and every chance for comical self-promotion. Second, yes, I made an enormous generalization. I stated as much. Deal with it.

Re:

[m.ducharme]

Of course I'm sorry. Everyone who's convicted of a crime in the US is of course guilty of that crime, and mentally ill people never get sent to jail when they should be sent to a hospital. I'm glad you cleared that up for me.

Re:

[Chaos Incarnate]

He may have a mental illness. But if he was competent enough to commit the fraud, I have a hard time believing he wasn't competent enough for his allocution to hold.

Re:

[m.ducharme]

I think maybe, given his long record of frivolous and bizarre claims, that maybe there's some question as to whether he's competent enough to commit fraud, regardless of what a court has ruled on the matter.

Now having said that, I don't know the man or his case, and won't commit one way or the other to what, if anything may be wrong with him, but I will suggest that maybe some meds would help this guy out a lot, and might at the very least eliminate these bizarre lawsuits. Certainly he deserves better than

Re:

[Chaos Incarnate]

I can certainly agree with that last. :)

Riches again?

[yerktoader]

I'm starting to think that Riches must be related to Jack Thompson...

If this "holds water"

[HogGeek]

It should probably be a class action...

Not that I think it should...

Sorry

[Anonymous Coward]

I feel sorry for the guy. He should be in a psychiatric ward, not a prison.

Has he even played the game?

[RichMan]

Given his history when would he have been not in jail and playing the game in the last 4 years?

He gets out in 2012. I could not find the date he was committed.

"Riches has court cases in Pennsylvania dating back to 1996. In 1996 he was arrested for a bomb threat to Conestoga High School."

Re:Has he even played the game? - No

[RichMan]

World of Warcraft Release date 2004-11-23

JLR was convicted of fraud in 2004 and incarcerated.

I can't find a date on it but unlikely he was caught and convicted between Nov 23 and the end of the year.

His release date is 2012-03-23. And he was sentenced to 8 years.

Re:

[MindlessAutomata]

He gets out in 2012
Right in time to fulfill the prophecies.

Re:Has he even played the game?

[DarthVain]

Isn't that when Sarah Palin will run for President? Perhaps she needs a running mate?

legal system abuse

[Atreide]

can't judge fine him for legal system abuse ?

reboot Riches

[swschrad]

see if he comes back normal.

Insanity...

[dr_strang]

It's a hell of a drug.

So a crazy person...

[Itninja]

....does something crazy. Big deal. Why is this even on /.? Oh, I see, it marginally relates to video games. News? No. For nerds? Maybe. Stuff that matters? Not remotely. Epic fail.

Hell yeah!

[holychicken]

He is just telling you what those fat-cats at Blizzard don't want you to know! This has got a chance! Go, go crazy prison dude!

I'm a victim too.

[bennomatic]

I should sue /. for forcing me to live in a fantasy universe where my input is considered, alternately, funny, insightful or merely overrated.

I love this guy!

[SpuriousLogic]

Law needs more humor, and this guy has produced dozens, if not hundreds of these wonderful lawsuits. Maybe he is trying to atone for his crimes by trying to improve society by making judges laugh?

Some Legal Clarification

[314m678]

the inmate has attempted to join the suit even though his presence is not requested or required by the plaintiff or defendant. He can do this under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(b), however the judge will quickly dismiss it because FRCP 24(b)1b requires that his claim shares a common question of law or fact as the main case.

Better lawsuit against Blizzard

[Hoi Polloi]

If he wants to sue Blizzard at least sue them for a real crime, like the warcraft reputation system.

Hrmmm

[Toll_Free]

Sad as it sounds, I bet this isn't too far from really what goes on in the clowns head.

Judging from his past litigation, it DOES look like this idiot lives in an alternate universe.

--Toll_Free

Job?? He's in Prison!

[WiiVault]

Playing WoW is keeping him from working? In jail? SHould this man even have access to a computer considering his history of suing anybody or anything?

Re:

[Pulse_Instance]

If I remember correctly he doesn't even have access to a typewriter which is why all of his law suits are handwritten.

Oh great

[elrous0]

Now he'll sue /. for slander, for posting this article.

What a pathetic loser

[GuyverDH]

He's just another individual who chose to do something and now can't deal with the consequences of his choice and actions.

Taking responsibility for your own actions appears to be something that more and more people cannot or will not do, not when it's easier to try and find someone else to blame for your own stupidity.

What's the problem?

[Broken Bottle]

"Riches chose World of Warcraft over working a legit job, Riches mind became a living video game" It sounds like he got off light compared to some WOW addicts I've read about :)

Cellmate?

[Anachragnome]

He must have a lawyer as a cellmate.

Only a lawyer could come up with this shit.......

Your kidding...

[Valcrus]

Riches chose World of Warcraft over working a legit job

If this works I'm going to quit my job to masturbate all the time. Then I will sue the Govt and the Porn industries of the world for causing me to quit my job and for the horrible calluses I would develop from constant fapping.

Re:

[TinFoilMan]

Wouldn't "poor riches" be an oxymoron?

Re:Hahah, Oh wow.

[compro01]

Unfortunately, I don't think any state besides California has a vexatious litigant status.

Re:

[kaizendojo]

Below NORTH Carloina and East of Goergia

oh, and I forgot...

[Simonetta]

Have a nice day!

Re:throw a guy a bone here, will ya?

[Lobster Quadrille]

You bolded 6 instances of his name, but only two deserved apostrophes.

Re:

[MindlessAutomata]

Isn't WoW a prison unto itself?

They tried that

[GameboyRMH]

They tried that but the virtual courtroom was repeatedly invaded by swarms of giant flying penises.