Jack Thompson Isn't Quite Done Just Yet...

[((KvN))]

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051019-5458.html


The guy makes me sick. (sorry Jack Thompson fans) I was reading this, and it makes me want to hurt someone. I'm not saying much, but I think he has no life, who doesn't give a shit about any "underage" violent gamers. He wants money, and advertising himself. Don't get me wrong, while I do respect that the selling of violent games to a minor isn't a very good thing, he's just pulling every other crap out of his pants. It might work, and that is to stop him, the media must not let him get whatever his 15 minutes of fame to be.

Jack recently appeared on CBS's 60 Minutes trying to drum up support for his efforts. However, this publicity was apparently not satisfying enough for him, as he went on to try and create more outrage on his own. Attempting to emulate Jonathan Swift, he issued a "Modest Proposal" that offered a US$10,000 reward to anyone who would create a video game featuring Osaki Kim, a father whose son was beaten to death with a baseball bat by a 14-year-old gamer. The game would feature Kim extracting brutal revenge on the video game industry itself, including beating game company executives to death, removing their heads and urinating on their brain stems.

Self pwnage right there. Isn't that a hyprocrit statement? I'm not sure, but I think it is. Is that the best way he can get against us gamers? Is to get the attention to unleash his own game the way he wants it to be? One man army... psh.







Kill him.

[Lag]

Hahaha. That guy is... cool? Are they actually going to put that father in their games and make him urinate on peoples' brains? :X

[Roux!]

Where've you been...? Someone already made a mod about it, but Yack refused to make the donation because it was "a satire", not an actual proposal...

The guys at Penny-Arcade went ahead and made the donation on his stead and now he's all riled up against them... Calling them terrorists, or something like that...

Check out the latest four/five pages of PA...

www.penny-arcade.com

There's a few news items over at GS too, that guy's just a major dick... I bet if he saw this post he'd go ahead and sue me...

[Mistral]

Behold, the amazing self-satiring person. Jack Thompson can be really...something.

EDIT:

Where've you been...? Someone already made a mod about it, but Yack refused to make the donation because it was "a satire", not an actual proposal...

The guys at Penny-Arcade went ahead and made the donation on his stead and now he's all riled up against them... Calling them terrorists, or something like that...

Check out the latest four/five pages of PA...

www.penny-arcade.com

There's a few news items over at GS too, that guy's just a major dick... I bet if he saw this post he'd go ahead and sue me...

You forgot to read the article, too, didn't you? I had made a huge post about what happened after, too, then I actually opened the article to read this:

What Jack did not expect was that the enterprising PC gaming mod community would turn around and make this mod a reality. Jack then reneged on his promise of a US$10,000 donation to the charity of the modder's choice, saying that his original bounty had been "satire", and therefore not a legitimate promise.

This is where Penny Arcade, the popular video game-themed online comic strip, entered the story. One of the co-creators of the strip, Mike "Gabe" Krahulik, emailed Jack Thompson and informed him that he thought his proposed US$10,000 charitable donation was pretty small in light of Penny Arcade's more than half a million dollars, raised as part of their "Child's Play" charity event. Unfortunately for Gabe, his email contained his phone number as part of the signature, and Jack took advantage of this to phone him directly. The phone call included a threat of a lawsuit if Gabe emailed him again. In response, Gabe sent a check to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) in the amount of US$10,000 with the note "For Jack Thompson Because Jack Thompson Won't" on the bottom.

The threats then escalated. Jack then faxed a letter to the Seattle Police Department claiming that Penny Arcade was "criminally harassing" him, and urging the arrest of "this little extortion factory".

The really funny part that they missed? This.

However, it appears Thompson did neglect to send the letter to one very important party. As of 9:55 a.m. PDT, the Seattle Police Department confirmed to GameSpot that it had not received any such fax from Thompson.

Thompson e-mailed GameSpot again at 10:38 a.m. PDT, saying that he has fixed the URL and apparently faxed the letter, commenting, "They have it now." Thompson added, "The moral midgets like the computer geeks at Penny Arcade think that I am some sort of pixelated pi�ata in a game. I'm not. Gabe [the in-comic alter ego of Penny Arcade artist Krahulik] decided to go after me, and he chose the wrong target. I've been at this longer than he has."

[UPDATE]: GameSpot once again called the Seattle Police Department to confirm receipt of Thompson's fax. As of 2:31 p.m. PDT, Kerlikowske's office still had not received any communication from Thompson.

[Roux!]

Well, since I've already read what's going on, I didn't bother following a link to yet another article about it...

And since they both focused on the part of the game proposal, I just assumed they didn't know anything beyond... Assumption is a powerful weapon indeed...

Any reason to justify myself...? Uhm... No... Maybe it won't make me look like such a retard to the next set of posters...

Or will it...?

*Dun dun dun*

[ncxtreme]

Have I missed something about JT or does it seem like the only company that he attacks is "Rockstar"?

[Roux!]

I think they deserve it for being such shameless criminals...

[Mistral]

Indeed. In fact, Gabe, err, Juan is already deathly afraid that the police are going to stop in.

[Cyberxion]

I was checking out the videogame websites earlier, and noted that a new correspondance had arrived from our favorite shyster jack-ass lawyer, Jack Thompson. Having nothing better to do, I decided to take it apart, as if I was discussing the issue with him in an open forum. I don't intend to send this off, and I dont have delusions that he'll otherwise read it. This was just something I did during some downtime.

I hear today, then, from the Internet-based 'enthusiast video game press' that 'gamers' are going to file or have filed new SLAPP Bar complaints against me. Here's why:

An outfit in Seattle called 'Think Geek' is marketing a t-shirt emblazoned across the front of which are the words 'I Hate Jack Thompson.' That kind of tells us where they are on the subject of me.

Mr. Thompson, In order to make it stick that we're nothing more than a bunch of joystick jockeys, out to get you simply because you're threatening our favorite industry, we would have to ignore the ever-increasing back-cataloge of your exploits, that serve to paint a very different picture indeed.

Your expliots have illustrated to the country, that you are an incredibly self-important individual who cannot be bothered to approach his crusade with facts firmly in hand, and who on top of that is unwilling, or unable as the case may be, to entertain the opinions of those on the opposing side of the issue. You've resorted to gross rhetoric and outright lies in your attempts to paint the videogame industry as a monolith of poor moral values, and you've both strong armed and personally insulted anyone who dare disagree with you.

On top of your that, we must also question your motives. I believe that in the end, we're all in agreement that children should not play violent videogames. However, the key point on which we differ, is that we gamers believe that it is the responsibility of the parents to make that decision. We believe that parents should carry the responsibility of monitoring what their children are to be exposed to, and that the ideal solution is to educate parents on the rating system, rather than removing violent videogames, and thus our freedom of choice, from the equation altogether.

I submit that your interests ultimately lie with the almighty dollar, as you stand to make more off of law-suits involving multi-million dollar corperations, than you do if we were to start holding parents responsible.

Those are the reasons why we're interested in having the FBA investigate you. Not because you disagree with us or our hobby, but because you're attempting to tear it down for completely selfish reasons, and dont have a single qualm about lying on national television to futher your goals.

We also take issue with the fact that you've raised yourself into the limelight as a prominant public figure, only to cry foul everytime someone says something that's a little less than flattering about you. You've been known to resort to personal insults yourself, often unprovoked, so I'd say that's simply a case of reaping what you sow. Of course that's just ancillary to our main point of contention, and does more to paint the picture that you're a childish jerk, rather than an incompetant ambulance chaser. Even so, you ought to think before you sling childish invectives at us. We gamers aren't the addle brained incompetants you'd have everyone believe we are. You've poked and prodded us long enough, now we're fighting back. You've proven to be an unscrupulous hack of a lawyer, and now we want you investigated.

The parent company is an outfit called Penny Arcade. In the last several days, the folks at Think Geek provided, improperly, Penny Arcade with my email address, which had not been widely circulated (I had to get rid of the last one because of death threats and the like). Some idiot at Penny Arcade foolishly emailed me and told me, in effect, of the amusement that comes from going after me, and then he foolishly explained on the Penny Arcade site how they were going to do it.

When a prominant public figure such as yourself puts his contact information in a place that is accessible to the public, he loses the right to complain about "harrassment". If you dont want people to contact you, then it falls upon you to make your contact information private.

Now as far as Penny Arcade goes, they, like so many others, were disgusted by both your "Modest Proposal", as well as the fact that you were dangling $10,000 in front of needy children, money you didn't intend to pay out should your proposal actually be met.

Penny Arcade contacted you in an attempt to show you that people close to the industry have done alot for charity, and that your measly 10 grand wasn't needed, if it was going to come with strings attatched.

When it became abundantly clear that you didn't intend to pay up, they decided to donate to charity in your name. Yes, it could be said that their generous donation was an attempt to stick it your craw that you're a jerk for dangling money in front of needy children in an ill thought out attempt to further your crusade against the gaming industry, but it can't be said that it was harrassment.

No, you're just sore that an establishment with more integrity than you'll ever possess, was willing to do what you wouldn't, and did it without asking anyone to bend over and grasp their ankles first.

Penny Arcade put out a 'news story' that was wholly false, and the purpose of it, of course, was to generate the sort of Internet-based gamers harassment of me that has caused me to coin the useful phrase 'pixelante.' Blank Rome is just a highly-paid pixelante. I was not getting this harassment at my new e-mail address until Penny Arcade did this.

Now, while you can suggest that this imagined harrassment is PA's fault due to timing, did you ever stop to think that your reprehensible behavior has prompted action on the part of PA's readers, and not any call to arms on the part of the sites owners?

At no time has PA posted anything that would suggest a desire on their part for their readers to harrass you. In fact, they withheld your contact information, imploring members to ignore you, rather than, to borrow a common message board phrase "Feed the Troll".

No, any harrassment that has come your way, imagined or otherwise, is not the responsibility of Penny Arcades owners.

The result of Penny Arcade's intentional targeting of me is that I almost immediately started receiving emailed and phoned death threats, many of them referencing Penny Arcade. Penny Arcade has every right to express their warped bizarre opinions, but they don't have the right to use the Internet to orchestrate criminal harassment of me, which is precisely what they did.

A reference to Penny Arcade made by someone who visits the site is not proof of wrong-doing on the part of Penny Arcade and its owners.

These death threats, if they exist, are the responsibility of those who were stupid enough to type them up. You're a lawyer, shouldn't you know this?

I asked to speak with their attorney, which I did yesterday, and this guy is a perfect fit with Penny Arcade, because his position is that this is all my fault.

The fact that this actually could be you fault didn't even enter your mind, now did it?

That is par for the course with you. Everytime someone catches you in a compromising position, you rattle off some irrelevant nonsense in order to pass the buck. The fact is that in this case, and many others, you've been the instigator. Be a man, own up to your failings.

I have written the Police Chief in Seattle and asked that their department investigate this matter, as I believe this constitutes a criminal act by Penny Arcade. Penny Arcade has thus ramped up the harassment, and now there is a campaign among gamers to go to The Florida Bar to 'discipline' me for trying to protect myself and my family, as well as my right, under the First Amendment to try to get the video game industry to start acting like something other than a bunch of sociopaths.

I believe that it has been confirmed by now, that your "fax" never reached the Police Chief in Seattle. Why is that? If you have such an airtight case against Penny Arcade, why hesitate?

I believe this is yet another case of your strong-arm tactics in action. You thought that Penny Arcade would back down to your threats, and unfortunately all it's amounted to, is a whole bunch of gamers calling for you to be investigated for improper practices. That is entirely your fault.

On a side note; I find it incredibly amusing that a man who's entire campaign against the industry amounts to nothing more than an attempt to take away its first amendment rights, would invoke the same amendment in an attempt to justify his actions. Wow.

I was on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 two nights ago because there is now a new game out in which pro footballers send prostitutes to the other team's players' hotel rooms. Quaint stuff. I think I have a right to complain about that, which CNN wanted me to do when they contacted me. Anderson Cooper was more negative about it than I was. I am making progress.

I suppose that would mean something, if not for the fact that in your zeal to further your crusade, you lied about how the NFL allegedly barred Midway from using its name in the game due to its content.

You're either ignorant by nature or design, but what it amounts to either way, is that you went into that ten second piece and misrepresented facts. EA games bought the exclusive liscense to the NFL name, and as such Midway CANNOT use it. It's not a matter of being Midway being barred from using it; they could not use it one way or the other, without setting themselves up for a major law suit. One I'm sure you'd be more than happy to represent EA in, should the opportunity present itself.

Whatever the case may be, you're missing the point of that big M rating on the back of the box. Y'know, the one that's intended to keep children from buying it? Instead of complaining about a games content, why not do your best to insure that parents are educated on the sort of games that are appropriate for their children? Oh wait, I covered that earlier. You're just a greedy shyster. I almost forgot.

But I especially appreciated the computer-generated call last night that said 'We are coming to get you, Mr. Thompson.' This is from the Penny Arcade faithful. That is precisely what Penny Arcade wanted, and I have received similar computer-generated calls threatening me.

Provide proof of these calls, and then provide proof that Penny Arcade ochestrated them. Provide proof, beyond the shadow of a doubt, and beyond mere speculation on your part, that not only are these calls made by "Penny Arcade faithful", but that they were set up by the guys running Penny Arcade. That is, if you're even recieving them.

I wont hold my breath waiting for that proof.

I am quite certain that lawyer Daniel Horowitz would advise me to take such threats seriously, aren't you?

Well, sure! What kind of lawyer would he be, if he didn't play yes-man to your every mad fantasy?

No, a better question would be, would Mr. Daniel Horowitz advise you to against being such a confrontational, shyster, blowhard nut-job?

Several weeks ago some gamer idiot (sorry to be redundant) managed to email me thousands of death threats from a blast email service based in Ireland using the following email address: [email protected]. The Secret Service shut that pixelante right down. It's probably too much to expect the Secret Service to shut Blank Rome down. That's a joke, by the way.

Gotta hate the extremists. Y'know, just like how your camp views you by now. You have people on your side who want nothing to do with you. Now why would that be, Mr. Thompson? Because you're a fanatic, easily on higher level than the gamers you're out to tromp beneath your holier-than-thou toes.

So yeah, I think another thing both sides agree on, is that you extremists do more damage than good, and that we'd all be better off without you.

Now, let me be clear. Any Bar complaint coming from these morons arising out of the above incident is baseless and itself constitutes a violation of a specific federal civil rights statute.

More empty threats? Your actions have given us ample justification in our attempts to have you investigated, as I outlined above.

If the Bar Association agrees, there is nothing you can do about it, but accept it as an inevitability brought on by your actions.

This is all on you, Mr. Thompson. Time to chin up to the bar.

If The Bar proceeds with any of these, it does so at its own peril. The Bar paid me once. I am certainly willing for it to pay me again, along with others.

Regards, Jack Thompson

Now you're threatening the Bar? You've still got two investigations pending against you. Good luck with that.

For backstory, consult the following sites: http://www.gamespot.com http://www.penny-arcade.com and well, http://www.google.com , I guess. Just search for "Jack Thompson", and you'll find plenty of fodder.

[Roux!]

If you sent that to Thompson, you'd likely get sued...

I think Mr. Thompson would make a great addition to Shadowman... The sixth serial killer...?

A hack is in order!!

[Cyberxion]

No, I wouldn't get sued. He'd threaten to sue me, but he wouldn't actually do it, because to do so would require him to have something to sue me over.

[Roux!]

D'oh! Righto.

[X-EvansBasher-X]

I came across this story by accident on this site. WTH is UP with this guy? Me thinks he is chemically inbalanced & needing serious mental health fix0r. For those not following the story, a little bit of info can be found here.