The Jack Thompson-bashing Thread

[Hijuda]

why? PA is great.

Erm... no, not really. Most of their comics suck. Now VGCats, that's a good comic right there.

[Evans]

Well, as much as I'll defend any moron's right to speech, I just won't sit by as he spits his crap all around, so here's what a guy I think highly of, despite the looks, and I had to say regarding one of his letters. Enjoy. BTW, I wrote the text in red, the rest is from Cyber. I hope you don't mind me doing this, dude. And if this is too much, moderators, please feel free to mention it. Thanks.

------

Eh, 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 responded to it. I don't intend to do anything with it, at least not yet, but I thought I'd post it here, to get both your opinions on the issues he brings to the table, as well as whatever the hell it was that I wrote.

For backstory on the on the story, 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.

Now onto the letter!

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:
Part of the text is missing, or this guy makes no fucking sense.

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.

We regard you with the same disgust you express towards our "community".

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 sir, 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, sir.

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.

Being an attorney, you should be well aware that an increasing amount of evidence supports you theory even more. Why would someone whose e-mail account bring him evidence of what he suggests to be true would delete or change accounts and mention it??? That just makes no sense, especially since e-mail accounts can be linked back to an IP address without to much effort, and even less so if you have the ressources needed for such a search. Were your intentions to take those people's actions and threats and use them as proof of what you put forward, I couldn't possibly understand your doings, but since you've made it quite clear that you're hell-bent on prooving that the gaming industry breeds nothing more than a bunch of moronic, violent sociopaths, I see why those threats are of no use to you... WAIT! That makes no sense, much like your case. Hum. Food for thought.

Sir, 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.

As such, 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 just to further your crusade against the gaming industry, but it can't be said that it was harrassment.

No sir, 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.

Well, this is just dandy! People write news solely to manipulate the poor half-wits who read them into making some sort of harassment. WOW. I'm flabbergasted, that is the stupidest thing I've ever read. Why not go against the tabloids and newspapers for some attempt at mass manipulation? Big bucks there, Mr. Thompson, big friggin bucks. Maybe then you'd be able to buy yourself some common sense. Now, why would you get more harassment at your new e-mail address, if that is the case, because, correct me if I'm wrong, I've yet to see proof of that? Who's supplying it to the masses? A friend? Your kids? Or yourself? You see, it would be more than easy for a sleazy delusion of grandeur striken person such as yourself to register at a forum and then supply it to some idiot you've read post of and thinks of you as an idiot too, sparking a fire you prance around screaming "injustice", spitting quite debatable arguments regarding the motives of the gaming industry and making offensive, yet laughable weight throws saying that you'd sue anyone placing a complaint against you or questioning your own motives, which to this day remain most certainly unclear.

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.

Now now, why is it that an attorney, whose personal informations are of public domain, would receive death threats from kids he disrespects blighthinly in an attempt to score it big? I wonder... Not. How were they referencing Penny Arcade? "I'm writing in for PA" ? Somehow, I highly doubt it. And again, you seem unable to confront the opposing side by putting up facts, but rather do so qualifying their opinions as being warped and bizarre. You've again proved that your whole argument is based not upon tangible facts, but on your own questionnable, over-the-hill morals. Wow, that last bit really adds to my argument, don't it? As for that so-called orchestrated criminal harassment, prove it. Simple, is it not? Just find unrefutable proof of what you shamelessly throw at the reader as being fact, which it isn't. Unless you can proove otherwise, you, sir, are a total and complete ignorant and should be called before the Bar association and have all that crap you throw at people put in your face. I eagerly await the outcome of all this, you surely can put up quite an amusant show.

Sir, 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.

Now wait a minute, you say an attorney takes the side of the client he represents??? That is utterly unacceptable, burn him to the stake! HA HA HA, imbecile. Where did you get your certification? Crackle jack University?

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

Sir, 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, sir, 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.

Protect your family against what? Sigh, you give credit to a bunch of people you try so hard to discredit. It makes no sense. To believe such a poor excuse of an argument, the one involving the freedom of speech, you'd have to prove that the industry is in fact a bunch of no-good sociopaths. Good luck with that. "Most people, at some level, recognize the necessity of religious liberty and toleration, but some balk when a religious tenet of a minority religion conflicts with a generally applicable law or with their own religious faith." This also applies to moral issues. And I believe it is exactly what you're trying to do, force your moral beliefs upon a particular community. That, sir, is unnaceptable. I hope the Bar sees that, or is noticed of it. Also, I do hope you realize that no minority will ever upset the general public, you try to duke it out with the wrong part of the opposing side. You go after manufacturers and conceptors who have done nothing wrong. You then try to bash the gaming community by turning what are seemingly false allegations of criminal intent on the par of PA and it's attendants into a solid argument. Shit can be solid, but it's still shit. You could even cook it, but it would still remain shit nonetheless. You have nothing, just a bunch of make up stories about people making threats. I, in a way, pity you.

I don't recall any laws being breeched by any company, were it the case, you'd have a case, but you don't.

Sir, 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 sir, 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.

You think you have a right to complain? WTF!? Aren't you an attorney, shouldn't you know this? And yes, you have the right to complain all you want, even if in the process you make an ass of yourself. Well, now you're CNN's admitted puppet, are we gonna lodge a complaint about you being manipulated into ranting some more? "Anderson Cooper was more negative about it than I was." That's what a child would say, "he did it more than I". Such a pity, from a full grown man at that... What are you aiming for? Are your intents to have the gaming community harassed as well, that is, if you ever were?

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.

Sir, 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?

Do you seriously need an adult to dictate what you should do? God!

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.

Again, insulting the opposing side makes such good arguments, keep at it, retard. You're proving, again, that you don't have all your head on the matter and that you let your deluded sense of moral justice take the "better" of you.

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 sir, easily as much, if not moreso than the gamers you're so 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.

And you have done such a good job at making an argument of the fact that the gaming community holds amongst it's ranks a good number of idiots, that your zealous, vindictive and vacuous campaign is bound to meet an early grave. Clap clap clap, bravo. Ever thought about being a pallbearer, because you're so good at burying your own fantasies?

More empty threats, sir? 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.

Licensed retard, Jack Thompson

Threats, frivolous ones at that, are gonna lead nowhere. Thanks for the ultimate demonstration that you're only doing this for the money.

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

I believe I'll add more, that guy just cracks me up.

[Ichigo]

when i say hello mr thompson and press down on your foot, you nod your head.

hello mr thompson.

i think he's talking to you.

[Evans]

when i say hello mr thompson and press down on your foot, you nod your head.

hello mr thompson.

i think he's talking to you.

Now now, don't be harsh towards stupid dummies, they have done nothing wrong, so don't you dare compare them to Jackoff Thompson.

[Hijuda]

Comedy Central should show some of Thompson's exploits on 60 Minutes. It seems like it would be the perfect place for them.

[Paladin_Hammer]

Everyone needs a cause. Unfortunately, most are stupid.

[BiggySmall]

No MAD TV should make a parody on him

[Anonymous]

mad tv is sucky. SNL FTW

[Drageuth]

Just because the man has a whacked out opinion and can't defend it for Christ doesn't mean he's a horrible person.

I'm amazed at the number of people in here who are bashing Jack Thompson just because of what he says. To be perfectly honest, the whole "I Hate Jack Thompson" thing is really fucking stupid, and basically puts you somewhere below him in my books.

Some people need to grow the fuck up. If someone came up to you and said "I don't agree with your opinion," would you beat the shit out of him, debate the topic, or wlak away? 'cause at the rate we're going, everyone is going to beat the shit out of him, and that's just fucking retarded.

I'm aware of the mentality of some of the people around here. That's fine. Can live with that. I'm also aware that even if someone presents himself in a completely fucked up, bias and horrendously incoherent manner, this does not mean he's open for the shots.

He may be a fucktard, but this has gotten really old reallly fast.

[Skinner8]

I don't agree with that, Meth. You're such a goddamned idiot.

[Anonymous]

i'm with skinner on this one.

[Evans]

Just because the man has a whacked out opinion and can't defend it for Christ doesn't mean he's a horrible person.

Of course not, the problem is that he just won't come to his senses. Now, I'm the first to say that the way people react to his nonsense only fuel his crusade, but let's face it, he gives a pretty funny show.

I'm amazed at the number of people in here who are bashing Jack Thompson just because of what he says. To be perfectly honest, the whole "I Hate Jack Thompson" thing is really fucking stupid, and basically puts you somewhere below him in my books.

Hum, I'd bash him for what he does, but I'm not aware of that.
Hating someone who is hell-bent on dissing you for the only fact that he believes what you do to be wrong is just normal, healthy even. He hates us, we hate him. Simple as that.

Some people need to grow the fuck up. If someone came up to you and said "I don't agree with your opinion," would you beat the shit out of him, debate the topic, or wlak away? 'cause at the rate we're going, everyone is going to beat the shit out of him, and that's just fucking retarded.

Arguments beg to be argued, cynical remarks beg for an ass whooping.
If someone came up to you and said something you whole-heartedly disagreed with, what would you do? Leave him alone, argue or bash him if you hadn't the required skills to do so? Some people wish to express their disgust with him, they just aren't capable or willing to write it up, they instead summarize it to a "you're a fucktard".

I'm aware of the mentality of some of the people around here. That's fine. Can live with that. I'm also aware that even if someone presents himself in a completely fucked up, bias and horrendously incoherent manner, this does not mean he's open for the shots.

He may be a fucktard, but this has gotten really old reallly fast.

He's trying to harm us, he most certainly can't, but he's trying nonetheless, which is why people are so reactionary when faced to him.

Peace out.

[Anonymous]

Pwnage to the infinity power