Thompson Pushes for Legal Action Against Retailers

[CSN NewsBot]

Everyone's favorite deranged social activist, Jack Thompson, is pushing for legal action to be taken against Take Two and a number of retailers selling Grand Theft Auto IV.

"Indictments should be returned against Take Two corporately and its Chairman, Strauss Zelnick, along with other Take Two officers. Indictment should also be against Sony and Microsoft which are making this pornographic game available to minors, and openly so, on their PS3 and Xbox systems," Thompson wrote. "Further, indictments should be handed down against Wal-Mart, Best Buy, GameStop, and all other retailers distributing this game to minors at their retail stores, openly, to kids who are only seventeen."



"Grand Theft Auto IV is the gravest assault upon children in this country since polio. We now have vaccines for that virus... The 'vaccine' that must be administered by the United States government to deal with this virtual virus of violence and sexual depravity is criminal prosecutions of those who have conspired to do this."

Thompson then continues to link to the Ladies of Liberty City at IGN (NSFW) as his example.

I guess he just doesn't realize that these games never were, nor ever will be marketed to minors? Nor does he understand that these retailers already have age restriction guidelines set up by the ESRB and that they are already not allowed to sell to minors. It just amazes me as a gamer and as a rational thinking human being how people can get to this realm of thought where the truth and rationality are just thrown out the window.



Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go pick up my copy of Grand Theft Auto IV and not commit any heinous acts of violence or wanton debauchery.

[Diamond Dust]

I wish there was an option to disable this guy from the news. I can't wait until he see's GTA4 smashing records for sales



Also who put this guy in charge of parenting everyones children? Gamers aren't children the avg gamer is in their 30's, thats adults, and we want to play adult games. get all your demographic info http://www.theesa.com/

[pwnedbyIbanez]

Nintendo would give 'em a +1 for flaming

[PseudoKnight]

"I wish there was an option to disable this guy from the news"



If we keep paying attention, he'll keep being in the news. These things should have stopped being posted a year ago, but gamers like making fun of him too much now.. or being outraged at his ridiculous outrage.

[jollesonn]

I realize this is a site devoted to people who devote a small or large chunk of their lives to video games, but how about being unbiased for once?

The content of that video is not only immature, it's heinous. No one in their right mind would be turned on by those depictions of women, and their inclusion is just some kind of strange admiration for the dejected people who do turn to strippers and prostitutes, what else could it be, authenticity? Does he go to the restroom as well?



The biggest problem I have with these continuous slams on a few's attempts to tighten content control in the video game business is the complete one-sidedness of your postings. It's the extent of ignorance to say that games don't have an affect on people. It isn't that different from saying 'I own a gun, but would never dream of turning it against another.' Similarly, I've played games like this before, and they never had one iota of influence over my thoughts-- what's key is that I'm saying "I". You cannot project, you cannot speak for everyone. Clearly there are people who turn to the digital world as a way out, that don't live well-rounded lives; clearly there are younger siblings that see their brothers and unfortunately, fathers, get a kick out of what's depicted on a screen, etc. So these waves of the hand posted on this site don't amount to more than "please don't let regulation take away my toys". Is that how you want to be viewed?



I'm not here to wage a war on culture, just to give people who read thsi site something to think about given the complete lack of dissenting views.

[Linux]

LOL @ Jack... Fail for life...

And yes we need to stop paying attention to him, buts its like Tom Cruise... So easy to make fun of....



But oh well, can't we just /delete him like we do with web sites and RSS links? That would be too easy.

And I hope GTA4 kicks his butt with records.



Oh and jack can go f*** himself... Me and all my friends agree to that.



http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs....r-auction?rel

if only I had the money . Need to have him sign GTA4

[Pyro978]

is this guy not married or something? does he not have a life? jeez give it up already. he needs to get a wife or a mistress or something and get some.

[Zips]

jollesonn wrote..

I realize this is a site devoted to people who devote a small or large chunk of their lives to video games, but how about being unbiased for once?

The content of that video is not only immature, it's heinous. No one in their right mind would be turned on by those depictions of women, and their inclusion is just some kind of strange admiration for the dejected people who do turn to strippers and prostitutes, what else could it be, authenticity? Does he go to the restroom as well?



The biggest problem I have with these continuous slams on a few's attempts to tighten content control in the video game business is the complete one-sidedness of your postings. It's the extent of ignorance to say that games don't have an affect on people. It isn't that different from saying 'I own a gun, but would never dream of turning it against another.' Similarly, I've played games like this before, and they never had one iota of influence over my thoughts-- what's key is that I'm saying "I". You cannot project, you cannot speak for everyone. Clearly there are people who turn to the digital world as a way out, that don't live well-rounded lives; clearly there are younger siblings that see their brothers and unfortunately, fathers, get a kick out of what's depicted on a screen, etc. So these waves of the hand posted on this site don't amount to more than "please don't let regulation take away my toys". Is that how you want to be viewed?



I'm not here to wage a war on culture, just to give people who read thsi site something to think about given the complete lack of dissenting views.

This can be nulled in a few short sentences: It is a game. It is a form of entertainment. It's no worse than reading a book or watching a movie with the same content. :)



I'm more amused that you claim my side is one-sided. What's his then? Taking views from across the spectrum on the issue? Haha, no. I, and other reputable news sources, merely act as a balance to his delusions of grandeur.



I acknowledge there are two sides to any issue. I'd "fairly" present them both if he had a point to make in the first place. As it is, he's just bringing up issues for no reason at all.

[snkcube]

How can you not be unbiased when you post a headline of Jack Thompson? It's so hard not to. =P

[PseudoKnight]

Bias is in everything, of course. I don't think Zips was even saying he was unbiased in his post.



@jollesonn, the point is there are protections in place already to prevent adult content to get into the hands of non-adults. (better protections than movies, even) Now with adults, there's the freedom of expression issue. It's constitutionally unsound to impose any government mandated restriction on this. If people want to blow virtual people up, who's to say they can't? This is NOT about supporting the content of the game. It's about supporting the right for the developers to make and distribute said game with the same rights as other content creators as established by our constitution. You want to keep the game out of kid's hands as planned? You won't find any arguments here.



Lastly, play the game before you talk about what's in it and why. This is partially why Jack looks like an ***hat. He doesn't know the subject matter because he's not a gamer.

[Admz]

Wasn't there a settlement where Jack Thompson had a screw off from trying to block Take-Two games? from the JT wiki:



On March 14, 2007 Take-Two filed a lawsuit to prevent Thompson from preventing the sale of Grand Theft Auto IV and Manhunt 2 to minors, claiming that Thompson's effort to block sales of its games through lawsuits violates the company's First Amendment rights.Responding, Thompson said, "I have been praying, literally, that Take-Two and its lawyers would do something so stupid, so arrogant, so dumb, even dumber than what they have to date done, that such a misstep would enable me to destroy Take-Two." On April 19, 2007, Thompson and Take-Two settled their suit, with Thompson agreeing not to restrict sales through any court worldwide of Take-Two's games, threaten to sue the company, or accuse Take-Two of any wrongdoing based on the sale of any of its games.



guess he, like most evil attorneys, must have found a loophole so he can keep bugging the shit out of everyone.

[Thortok2000]

Yes, there's protections in place.



No, they're not strong enough.



You know how it's illegal to buy alcohol for the purposes of giving to a minor, and that you can go to jail for it? (With the exception of for your own kid...and that's monitored by social services.)



The same thing should apply to mature video games. First off, it should be illegal to buy the game for the purposes of giving/selling to a minor, unless it is your own child. And secondly, social services should be aware of when adults are buying games for their children, as a signal that they may need to be more involved. Keyword "may."



Buying the game should require that you sign a waiver, along these lines:



"This is a pornographic, adult-natured game, and I hearby declare that I will keep it out of the presence of unrelated persons under the age of 18. I acknowledge that failure to do so may result in jail time and fines of up to $5,000."



And require that you sign that waiver and keep a copy for yourself and for the store, in order to purchase the game.



Something along those lines. I'll repeat myself: Again, I defend the right of the games to exist, but if they enter a single 11 year old's hands, that's one 11 year old too many.

[Zips]

And if they enter an 11 year old's hands, it's the fault of the parent or gaurdian. No store in the US is legally allowed to sell the games to those under age.



At the midnight launch that I was at last night, EVERYONE was carded, everyone. Myself, older looking adults, and the obvious ones that didn't look old enough. That is all that can be done. Signing a waiver is extreme and doesn't give you any more protection than checking an ID does. You'd just be wasting everyone's time with that nonsense.

If a game like this ends up in the hands of an 11 year old, it's the fault of another person who doesn't know any better.

[jollesonn]

Sure, it's the parent's fault, because here in the United States everyone is held accountable. How many evenings did you spend thinking that up? It's a simple dismissal if ever there was one.

[< )))><]

I agree with Zips on this issue, but I'd also like to point out that there are multiple studies that show that there is no link between the violence in games and aggression in kids.



http://www.g4tv.com/xplay/videos/21264/...yl_Olson.html

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20...nt-games.html

http://www.physorg.com/news5758.html



The first link is particularly revealing.