Jack Thompson Rescinds Offer

Goalmaster3000 writes to tell us Joystiq.com is reporting that Jack Thompson has rescinded his offer of a $10,000 donation to charity if a video game were made to fit his model. Recently a group of GTA modders cooked up a scenario to fit the bill but apparently Thompson is claiming that his piece 'A Modest Video Game Proposal' was intended as satire that the video game community was not bright enough to grasp. Perhaps Thompson was just afraid he was going to have to sue himself? Update: 10/17 20:02 GMT by SM: It appears that the Penny Arcade crew has taken the next step by donating the promised $10,000... in Jack Thompson's name.

Re: unwittingly sassed

[s388]

well, afterall, he is an idiot, you know.

Jack Thompson Is A World-class Asshole

[Anonymous Coward]

Jack was a neighbor of mine a couple of years back. I can tell you from personal experience that I was not surprised to see his latest lie. The guy is a world-class asshole. And I do in fact believe the son of a bitch has my router (wood working variety) he borrowed.

The guy spouts to be an expert in everything under the sun. But once you call him on it, you come to know he only has a superficial understanding of things. If you can imagine a slimy car salesman, that's Jack.

Re:Who is Jack Thompson?

[ForumTroll]

Jack Thompson [wikipedia.org]

Re:Idiot

[Meagermanx]

I didn't know it was satire.
 
I just thought he was crazy.

Re:This man is a moron

[Anonymous Coward]

You arnt talking about the vgcats exchange, are you?

http://www.vgcats.com/jack.php [vgcats.com]

Jack's game scenario

[Profane MuthaFucka]

I can't believe that Jack Thompson offered 10 grand to charity if a game where animals hump your leg was made.

Oh, it wasn't that at all? Well, you know if someone had fucking LINKED THE ORIGINAL THING THAT JACK WROTE then I would have known that. Goddamn.

I found this description of the original hoo-hah:

  Essentially, the game involves Osaki Kim, a father whose son was "beaten to death with a baseball bat by a 14-year-old gamer." The guilty party was "only" sentenced to life, even after finding a connection to video games and the murder, so O.K. (as Thompson abbreviates) goes on a killing spree to avenge his son - he kills the publisher (Take This, a not-so-subtle reference to San Andreas publisher Take Two), followed by all parties involved in the trial, merchants of GameStop-like store and arcades - and, of course, any cops that get in his way.

You're welcome.

Re:This man is a moron

[Tomchu]

I can't find the original forum where it was posted, but it's been posted all over the Internet. Use this Google query: http://www.google.com/search?q=%22I+found+a+link+t o+your+site%22+stopkill [google.com]

jack thompson DID donate...

[sxtxixtxcxh]

if by "jack thompson" you mean "penny arcade"... http://www.penny-arcade.com/news.php?date=2005-10- 17#2834 [penny-arcade.com]

Re:Tycho

[brentodd]

Tycho and Gabe just donated $10,000 to the Entertainment Software Foundation in Jack's name.

Donation

[bprime]

Tycho and Gabe just made the donation on Jack's behalf. See the 3rd post down [penny-arcade.com].

In other news

[Barrakketh]

Gabe & Tycho of Penny-Arcade have made a donation to who they think Paul Eibler would have picked: The ESF.

From their site:

It was only a matter of time until a mod team took Jack Thompson's disgusting revenge fantasy and made it flesh - and, just as I suggested, it was deemed insufficient.

Thompson now claims that his repellent suggestion was "satire," and we must conclude that his financial offer was also satire, some new breed of satire apparently that I'm sure is just hilarious to people in need.

You know what, Jack? We're going to be the men you're not. You said that your insulting, illusory ten thousand dollars would go to the charity of Paul Eibler's choice. We've got a good guess that he'd direct your nonexistant largesse toward The Entertainment Software Foundation, a body that has raised over six point seven million dollars over the last eight years. We've just made the donation you never would, and never meant to. Ten thousand dollars' worth. And we made it in your name.

Quoth TFA

[smose]

By rescinding the offer in 2005, he likely escapes, the key line being:

"...if any video game company will create, manufacture, distribute, and sell a video game in 2006 like the following..."

Quoth TFA:

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." The Golden Rule

This writer has been saying for seven years that violent video games can be "murder simulators" that incite as well as train some obsessive teen players to be violent.

I've been on 60 Minutes and in Reader's Digest this year explaining how an Alabama teen, with no criminal record, shot two policemen and a dispatcher in their heads and fled in a police car--a scenario he rehearsed for hundreds of hours on Take-Two/Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto video games.

I have sat with boys in jail cells, their lives over because of murder convictions, after they, with no history of violence, have killed innocents while in a dreamlike state. Said one cop who investigated such a murder in Grand Rapids, Michigan: "The killing was like an extension of the game."

The video game industry, through its lawyers, its spokesmen, and its head lobbyist, Doug Lowenstein, the president of the Entertainment Software Association, all say it is utter nonsense to suggest that what is dumped into a kid's head hour after hour, day after day, year after year, could possibly have behavioral consequences. Cigarette ads can persuade kids to smoke, but interactive simulators in which these same kids punch, hack, bludgeon, and maim affect not a wit their attitudes and behaviors, notwithstanding the findings of the American Psychological Association, published in August 2005.

The video game industry says Sticks and stones can break my bones, but games can never hurt me. Fine. I have a modest proposal for the video game industry. I'll write a check for $10,000 to the favorite charity of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc's chairman, Paul Eibeler - a man Bernard Goldberg ranks as #43 in his book 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America - if any video game company will create, manufacture, distribute, and sell a video game in 2006 like the following:

Osaki Kim is the father of a high school boy beaten to death with a baseball bat by a 14-year-old gamer. The killer obsessively played a violent video game in which one of the favored ways of killing is with a bat. The opening scene, before the interactive game play begins, is the Los Angeles courtroom in which the killer is sentenced "only" to life in prison after the judge and the jury have heard experts explain the connection between the game and the murder.

Osaki Kim (O.K.) exits the courtroom swearing revenge upon the video game industry whom he is convinced contributed to his son's murder. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay" he says. And boy, is O.K. not kidding.

O.K. is provided in his virtual reality playpen a panoply of weapons: machetes, Uzis, revolvers, shotguns, sniper rifles, Molotov cocktails, you name it. Even baseball bats. Especially baseball bats.

O.K. first hops a plane from LAX to New York to reach the Long Island home of the CEO of the company (Take This) that made the murder simulator on which his son's killer trained. O.K. gets "justice" by taking out this female CEO, whose name is Paula Eibel, along with her husband and kids. "An eye for an eye," says O.K., as he urinates onto the severed brain stems of the Eibel family victims, just as you do on the decapitated cops in the real video game Postal2.

O.K. then works his way, methodically back to LA by car, but on his way makes a stop at the Philadelphia law firm of Blank, Stare and goes floor by floor to wipe out the lawyers who protect Take This in its wrongful death law suits. "So sue me" O.K. spits, with singer Jackson Brown's 1980's hit Lawyers in Love blaring.

With the FBI now after him, O.K. keeps moving westward, shooting up high-tech video arcades called GameWerks. "G

Re:Jack jacks charity, penny arcade makes up for i

[higuy48]

Yeah, I read that and couldn't believe it. That's insane. That's incredible. Just for that, I'm going make it a point to donate to Child's Play this year.

PA just earned the maddest props they could have possibly earned. Wow.

Video games cause violence!!!!

[sqlrob]

From today's CNN:

All major categories of violent crime in the United States declined in 2004, bringing the rates of the most serious offenses, including murders, rapes, robberies and assaults, to a level 32 percent lower than those reported in 1995, the new figures show. [cnn.com]

Wow, look how the crime rate has absolutely skyrocketed as violence in games has increased. Someone send these figures to Jack so he can use them in his jihad.

PA gave the money instead

[ragingmime]

...and did it in his name, according to the newspost at the bottom if this [penny-arcade.com] page.

So Jack Thompson is a Warrior of God now? Glad to see he's attacking something as significant as video games, and not tackling war or poverty or anything silly like that. Yeesh.

Re:Which Charity was it?

[Anonymous Coward]

He said (iirc) that he'll put it to a donation regarding the wish of the take two entertainment's CEO?

Anyway, as for the tally, Penny Arcade (ie. Krahulik and Holkins) matched his 10K offer and donated to The Entertainment Software Association Foundation, and donated under his name (yeah!)

Check Penny Arcade [penny-arcade.com] and scroll down for more info.

And if somebody want's to donate anything, consider Child's Play charity [childsplaycharity.org] which is run by Penny Arcade

Re: Quoth TFA (source)

[smose]

Forgot the attribution on TFA quote: Advanced Media Network [advancedmn.com].

Contact him

[sabernet]

John B. Thompson, Attorney at Law
1172 South Dixie Hwy., Suite 111
Coral Gables, Florida 33146
305-666-4366

[e-mail]
August 5, 2005
Patricia Vance

source: http://www.vgcats.com/jack.php [vgcats.com]

Make sure to write any letters or make any calls in the same civil manner as he himself has shown others.

Make extra sure.

Sadly this will never stop...

[Khyber]

You cant stop it. In the 70s or so, it was comic books that they blamed. In the 80s, it was music and hair-metal that got the blame. In the 90s, it was Television and MTV and etc, and now its video games. People in America seem to have a common problem, for the most part. They can't realize that they are the ones causing their own problems.

Here's the original forum

[Khyber]

http://croqaudile.com/?article_id=10299 [croqaudile.com]

Enjoy it. I know I did.

Re:Sadly this will never stop...

[NeuroManson]

Actually, it was the late 50s, early 60s, when Dr. Frederick Wertham published "The Seduction of the Innocent", about the evils of comic books. That led to the comics code.

But in either case, it's just more fricking McCarthyism in action. Are you now or have you ever been top ranked in Quake Arena?

Technicalities

[mliu]

In my opinion (IANAL) after looking at the letter, I don't think, following the letter of his proposal, that the requirements have been met.

His proposal was as follows:

The video game industry says Sticks and stones can break my bones, but games can never hurt me. Fine. I have a modest proposal for the video game industry. I'll write a check for $10,000 to the favorite charity of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc's chairman, Paul Eibeler - a man Bernard Goldberg ranks as #43 in his book 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America - if any video game company will create, manufacture, distribute, and sell a video game in 2006 like the following:

Osaki Kim is the father of a high school boy beaten to death with a baseball bat by a 14-year-old gamer. The killer obsessively played a violent video game in which one of the favored ways of killing is with a bat. The opening scene, before the interactive game play begins, is the Los Angeles courtroom in which the killer is sentenced "only" to life in prison after the judge and the jury have heard experts explain the connection between the game and the murder.

Osaki Kim (O.K.) exits the courtroom swearing revenge upon the video game industry whom he is convinced contributed to his son's murder. "Vengeance is mine, I will repay" he says. And boy, is O.K. not kidding.

O.K. is provided in his virtual reality playpen a panoply of weapons: machetes, Uzis, revolvers, shotguns, sniper rifles, Molotov cocktails, you name it. Even baseball bats. Especially baseball bats.

O.K. first hops a plane from LAX to New York to reach the Long Island home of the CEO of the company (Take This) that made the murder simulator on which his son's killer trained. O.K. gets "justice" by taking out this female CEO, whose name is Paula Eibel, along with her husband and kids. "An eye for an eye," says O.K., as he urinates onto the severed brain stems of the Eibel family victims, just as you do on the decapitated cops in the real video game Postal2.

O.K. then works his way, methodically back to LA by car, but on his way makes a stop at the Philadelphia law firm of Blank, Stare and goes floor by floor to wipe out the lawyers who protect Take This in its wrongful death law suits. "So sue me" O.K. spits, with singer Jackson Brown's 1980's hit Lawyers in Love blaring.

With the FBI now after him, O.K. keeps moving westward, shooting up high-tech video arcades called GameWerks. "Game over," O.K. laughs.

Of course, O.K. makes the obligatory runs to virtual versions of brick and mortar retailers Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, and Wal-Mart to steal supplies and bludgeon store managers and cash register clerks. "You should have checked kids' IDs!"

O.K. pushes on to Los Angeles. He must get there by May 10, 2006. That is the beginning of "E3" -- the Electronic Entertainment Expo -- the Super Bowl of the video game industry. O.K. must get to E3 to massacre all the video game industry execs with one final, monstrously delicious rampage.

How about it, video game industry? I've got the check and you've got the tech. It's all a fantasy, right? No harm can come from such a game, right? Go ahead, video game moguls. Target yourselves as you target others. I dare you.

Here is what was made:

Mild mannered Christian attorney by day, Jack Thompson moonlights as Banman, a homicidal hero who cuts through immorality and beauracratic laws with an automatic rifle. Utilizing his Schwarzenegger sized personal arsenal and his trusty Bannedwagon, Banman fights the evil videogame industry's dirty tactics. From destroying trucks to make sure the children are kept safe from violent games, to fighting off an armed rebellion of lesbians, feminists, and female golfers led by General Janet Reno, Banman puts it all on the line to protect the homeland.

Jack Thompson meanwhile sets himself hard to work at protecting the youth through the power of the lawsuit, finally going after those evil Super Mario Bros. B

Re:This man is a moron

[poot_rootbeer]

Parent poster was not involved in an argument with Thompson; therefore it is not a rhetorical fault to call him names such as "fucking moron".

Re:Idiot

[Kierthos]

No, no. He has not just crossed that line. He crossed it a long time ago.

Kierthos

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Not trying to troll

[propagandize]

I really no very little about Jack Thompson, but I was curious what he wrote. While I don't agree with much of anything he seems to stand for, I was able to find what I think is the original text he posted at http://news.spong.com/detail/news.asp?prid=9201&cb =0.1497723.

From that text:

...I'll write a check for $10,000 to the favorite charity of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc's chairman, Paul Eibeler - a man Bernard Goldberg ranks as #43 in his book 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America - if any video game company will create, manufacture, distribute, and sell a video game in 2006...

While Hellfish seems awfully creative, I don't know if they qualify as a video game "company" and they don't seem to be "selling" the module (and as an even more minor point, it's not 2006).

Re:Ugh

[Anonymous Coward]

You must not know that many lawyers. Because most for most of them, $10,000 is a lot of money. While it is a common idea that all lawyers have gotten disgustingly rich from medical malpractice lawsuits, class-action suits, and corporate litigation; the majority of attorneys are not wealthy. Prosecutors, defense attorneys, whatever the lawyer equivalent of a General Practitioner is, these guys are not big bucks sort of people. They are sitting in the middle of the income bracket.

Want to hurt him? Here is how

[snowwrestler]

Write to your members of Congress, inform them that you vote and you actively follow the issues that are important to you, and then tell them that if they associate with Jack Thompson, you will vote against them when they are next up for re-election. It might be helpful to include links to Jack's initial offer, and the open letter ending his association with NIMF.

Initial offer and game description:
http://gc.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=5883 [advancedmn.com]

NIMF letter:
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 12259 [gamesindustry.biz]

Be polite, be civil, and be sure to include your full, real name, and your full, real address. Ask for a reply. You'll probably get one.

Believe it or not, members of Congress pay close attention to these things. They spend hundreds of thousands of dollars per year on staff and supplies for constituent relations. I know it's cool to think that only big corporations get things done in Washington, but it's not true. When enough people speak up, they can move the government.

You can be sure that those who agree with Jack are writing letters once a week. Only by matching or beating that can we fight back.

Here's a good site to get started, for free. Find your representative and senators and write today!

http://www3.capwiz.com/y/dbq/officials/ [capwiz.com]

Re:Ugh

[DavidBrown]

You got it backwards. What happened was that Gabe sent Jack Thompson an email pointing out the large sums of money gamers have donated to Child's Play. Gabe's cell phone number was listed in his .sig, and Jack Thompson called him, and proved he was the jerk we all know him to be.

A Modest Proposal

[k1ng_0n3_3y3]

Here's the thing, though, the title of his little satire should have tipped everyone off: it is modeled after (Gulliver's Travels author) Thomas Swift's "A Modest Proposal", which is itself a pretty well known satire of the English treatment of the Irish people. Come on, folks, if we're going to keep up with the assholes and hustlers, we need to be up on our literature and history, not just technology. In closing, though, this guy is a grade-A asshole. And that's not being sarcastic.

Re:Minor Corrections.

[Yorrike]

I'll do it. He can't sue me, since I'm not an American and my country has laws protecting free speech :)

In fact, I'll do it right now;
http://www.hardcoregamers.com/jack-thompson/ [hardcoregamers.com]