Jack Thompson Attacks DoD, ESA, GTA With Utah Bill 235
eldavojohn writes "Delusional disbarred Miami attorney Jack Thompson claims to have a bill in the state of Utah that targets retailers and entire industries with the Truth in Advertising Law. The best part of his rant: 'Our military appropriately uses violent video games a) to suppress the inhibition to kill of new recruits, and b) to teach killing scenarios. Games have the same effect on civilian teens.' While GamePolitics couldn't find the bill on Utah's state site, they did receive a response from him claiming 'I have a sponsor and a bill, and [the video game] industry is in trouble.' For 2009 bills, there seems to be merely a bill enhancing the Truth in Advertising Law but does not contain any of Thompson's verbiage. Good 'ole Jack — always good for some laughs, but really he needs to give it up one of these days."
Re:Just as it happens in movies (Score:2, Informative)
Zombies don't count as kills, they're already dead.
Hans
jack was a sanctimonious a%%h#@e (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Video games vs Jack (Score:5, Informative)
No, they haven't. Check the DoJ's website if you don't believe me. The more popular video games have gotten, the lower *actual* violence amongst youths has gone down. In 2003-5 it was at a FORTY YEAR LOW, at the supposed "height" of video game violence controversy.
Re:Video games vs Jack (Score:3, Informative)
At the risk of feeding the trolls...
Hmmm. Read some Puritans sometime.
Secondly, Rome built a Colosseum (and other structures, but that's the main one in Rome, of course) purely for entertainment, correct? And there they watched (and enjoyed watching) gladiators and slaves and criminals either killing each other or getting killed by animals, etc. And often very violent, such as putting freshly-killed-animal skins on a person, tying him or her to a post, and unleashing half starved lions. Yup, definitely less "enjoy-violence"-esque than punishing someone with public humiliation by putting them in stocks. Obviously, Puritans were far worse and loved violence far more. Putting someone in stocks and facing public humiliation is worse than death by being tied to a post naked with smelly animal skins and getting torn to shreds by lions in front of tens of thousands of people.
Right.
Witch burnings, I offer no defense, except that I wasn't trying to compare mobs to general society. Did they happen? Unfortunately, yes. Did all Puritans like it? No. Read some accounts of contemporary commentary. [wikipedia.org]
Truth in Advertising? (Score:3, Informative)
Maybe ol' JT should disclose that he's not a lawyer [gamepolitics.com].
Now that's truth in Advertising.
Re:Hahahah (Score:3, Informative)
Looks like he is going with 'recently practicing lawyer.'
Re:Hahahah (Score:3, Informative)
AFAIK, state bars are not government institutions. They are a group of Lawyers. It's like lawyer government. By the people for the people. By lawyers for lawyers. Self-regulating and all that.