Thompson Sues ESRB, Best Buy

Well known anti-gaming lawyer Jack Thompson is following up on his clever sting operations against Best Buy. He's filed suit against the consumer electronics retailer for allegedly selling M-rated games to underage gamers. He has also included the ESRB in that suit. GamePolitics reports: "As we reported, the claim against Best Buy suit looks as if it will be going nowhere. Thompson has also apparently named the ESRB in the suit. That looks like a non-starter as well. His explanation: 'The ESRB has been sued by Thompson because it is well known that it a) is owned and operated by the video game industry, b) does not even play the games it rates to conclusion, c) routinely mislabels games as to age appropriateness, per testimony before the U.S. Congress, and is engaged in representations to American parents that the age label are accurate and are keeping "Mature" games out of the hands of kids.'"

IANAL

[Anonymous Coward]

And neither is Jack Thompson.

Self counter-suit mayhem

[netsavior]

Ok so the ESRB is at fault because it makes faulty ratings, and WorstBuy is at fault because they do not enforce the aforementioned faulty ratings? Which is it, do they need to be enforced or are they invalid?

His kid must be mortified

[the_tsi]

"an email from Attorney Jack Thompson stating that his 15-year-old son purchased the Mature-rated game BioShock from a local Best Buy."

Jack's son: if you're reading this, don't worry. We know your dad forced you to do it, and you're not as much of a tool as he makes you out to be. In another three years you can move out, and we'll all pretend this crap never happened.

sigh

[NiceGeek]

I'll say this for him, he's consistent

Re:IANAL

[Kemanorel]

New tag time:

JTINAL - Jack Thompson Is Not A Lawyer

Re:His kid must be mortified

[Anonymous Coward]

I might add that Thompson is a common name and unless your dad named you Bealzebub, after your grandfather, you stand a pretty good chance of being able to conceal your infamous pedigree.

Re:IANAL

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"And neither is Jack Thompson."

It takes a brave man to claim that Jack Thompson isn't anal... I'd call you that, but you posted anonymously.

Re:His kid must be mortified

[Bios_Hakr]

Here's a good idea: RockStar should hire Jack's son as a games evangelist. Pay they kid's way through pre-law (or whatever he wants to do) and have the kid come out every now and then to talk about how cool the newest game is...

Ambulance chaser...

[GregPK]

I envision a game called Ambulance chaser. Your whole job is to catch the ambulance so you can hand them court papers. Extra points for every illegal move you make in the proccess of catching said ambulances. Then afterwards you get to choose your idiotic statement towards the arguement that we need to sue the ambulance guys because the may have saved my life, but in the proccess they broke my foot.

Re:Did anyone else...

[jandrese]

Has anybody ever seen both of them in a room at the same time?

Did Jack get the game back?

[ZombieRoboNinja]

I hope Jack got the copy of Bioshock back before his kid was exposed to it. You know how impressionable teenagers are - a few hours of playing, and Jack Jr. might have been inspired to craft complex literary-political allegories that investigate the nature of humanity.

Did someone tell Thompson about Portal?

[Hayden Panettiere]

It encourages kids to violate the laws of physics!

Re:Anyone can sue anyone

[The MAZZTer]

Standing, eh? Here's hoping Thompson falls flat.

Re:I'm Beginning to Like Jack Thompson

[Calmiche]

Whew. I feared I was the only one.

I'm starting to enjoy the write-ups in the news and gamming journals, as well as the Penny-Arcade rants and comics. I can just imagine him, sitting in his volcano lair, stroking his white fluffy cat and yelling "I'll get you next time Gamers!"

You know, if he didn't act so serious and foam-at-the-mouth angry, I'd be tempted to think he was the greatest viral marketing for videogames ever invented. I bet he has sold more games than the entire marketing departments for Take 2 Games/Rockstar.

Re:IANAL

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"Maybe he's not brave, but he's a lot smarter than you, registration-slave. Slashdot has YOUR personal info to misuse or get stolen, not his."

Oh noes!! They have my super-secrete throw-away email address! I'm totally their bitch now!!!

Boy, you really showed me.

Re:Self counter-suit mayhem

[Surt]

To be clear, that's really all I meant. The parent/guardian should have control, which means that best buy can't be selling the game to the child behind the parent's back. There should be no issue with the parent buying the game and giving it to their child. Most kid's are smart. Very smart. If your kid isn't capable of hiding things from you, it's not that you're a great parent, it's that your kid is dumb.