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Jack Thompson Tasked With Writing Law
Gamespot's Rumor Control column this week handles the usual spurious talk that swirls around the game news sites. One (sadly) factual rumour they report on details gamer-hunting lawyer Jack Thompson's new role as a lawmaker. From the article: "Repeatedly, Thompson has called for states to pass laws criminalizing the sale of M-for-Mature rated games to minors. Now it appears he may get the chance to pen such a law himself. In an e-mail sent out Thursday, Thompson says he has 'been asked by the Office of the Governor of the State of Florida, Jeb Bush, to draft and submit to him and to Florida legislators a bill that will prohibit the sale of violent and sexually explicit video games to minors.' ... When queried by GameSpot for more details, he would only say that he is the only person thus far who has been asked to submit a bill to the governor's office about M-rated game sales. He did not offer details about what kind of penalties the bill would prescribe for offenders or whether or not said penalties would be imposed solely on the clerks selling the games or also on the establishment selling the game and/or the game's publisher."
If there is ANYTHING good and right in the world, please prevent this from happening. This guy is a freaking nut -- please do not let him do ANYTHING to censor video games.
Show this to your friends and family that don't know what a real hacker is
says he has 'been asked by the Office of the Governor of the State of Florida, Jeb Bush, to draft and submit to him and to Florida legislators a bill
Hear that? Its my respect for florida flying out the window.
It sounds like it has the potential to be ambiguous enough to include games that get rated "Teen." After all "violent" games can teens and it gets a little fuzzy. I doubt repurcusions would get all the way to game publishers though (except from companies not wanting to handle the liability of Mature games), after all Hollywood doesn't get dinged when someone underage makes it into a theater. Or when someone underage buys alcohol. But the tides do seem to be against game publishers these days, and some places are still trying to sue firearms manufacturers for stuff that third-parties do with their guns. Time'll tell, but I hope it falls flat.
We are talking about the state that had Too Live Crew arrested though.
"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education." -Albert Einstein
Why the fuck isn't the florida legislature doing this? Isn't this their job? Does every legislature get paid money to sit in a chair and say yea or nay?
signatures are for fools with hands
For some reason, I thought we might manage to make it out of this whole can of worms without ridiculous legislation, but I guess not. So far Jeb has done an OK job at balancing the right wing conservative fundamental religious nutcases in the Panhandle with the left wing liberal nutcases in the Wang, but this smacks of falling prey to letters from the west.
I'm still not sure I understand why government entities feel like they need to step into a system that was sufficient for informing parents about the nature and content of media. The MPAA rates movies, the theaters sort-of enforce the rating requirements, but there are no real laws underlining any of it. The ESRB rates games, the vendors sort-of enforce the rating system, but apparently society as we know it is going to come crashing down if we don't impose some fines or jail sentences.
How is legislation like this and the Michigan law going to affect online sales of games?
You say you got a real solution
Well, you know
We'd all love to see the plan
(The Beatles)
I give up. The religious idiots have won. I give up. I'm moving out of this theocracy and going to live somewhere else.
Question though, what are my options? Where is a decent place to live without the christian assholes that want to run every ones lives? I've lived in this country for 43 years and even served in the military. Yet I've seen the christian morons take greater and greater control over my country. Especially when they've made it known that their top priority now is porn and videogames...no folks, not the terrorists or drug dealers or the other criminals. Porn and videogames are the true evil Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales has listed. He wants to gather evidence against "manufacturers and purveyors" of pornography -- not the kind exploiting children, but the kind that depicts, and is marketed to, consenting adults. You know, just your basic humping and pumping. Next on the list will be videogames. I guess they've won the war on terror. They are saying porn is bad because it victimizes women. That they are the ones that are hurt through regular porn. So I suppose that gay porn between two men is ok with them?
Yeah, I know, this is flamebait...troll...whatever. Mod me down, I don't care anymore. So again, goodbye America. I'm sick of your bullshit and I want out. Now, where to go?
"Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
According to this, Thompson is somewhat full of shit.
"A representative of Jeb Bush's press office characterized as "untrue" yesterday's Jack Thompson press release in which the Miami attorney and self-described "anti-game crusader" claimed that he was crafting video game legislation on behalf of the Florida governor."
More through the link.
Why are we all assuming that this is bad?
If Rockstar (or whoever) wants to make a game that will appeal to adults then they can do so without limiting themselves for the sake of a lower rating. Find an alternative way of distributing the game (such as through the Internet) and they could even make more money on the titles since Gamestop and whoever won't be marking it up in their stores. Not only that, we wouldn't have to drive to the mall or order online and wait for the big brown truck.
This could open a whole new genre in gaming, no?
Hey, let me know if you figure out where to go to. I think there is a large number of us wandering around lately wondering what the heck happened in the last few years. Part of me keeps telling myself that everywhere else has its own weird problems, too, and its just extra embaressing for it to be the US, since you know, we're all 'freedom' and 'democracy' and whatnot.
You say you got a real solution
Well, you know
We'd all love to see the plan
(The Beatles)
One word: Canada. Really, look into it. All of the perks of the U.S. without the nut jobs...
You will know that the article is not completely up to date. Currently, Bush officials have denied that they asked Jack Thompson to write up video game legislation for them. Actually, blame should be put on GameStop for not researching this subject further, which is sad being that it is a highly visted videogame information site for many gamers.
See you in Canada. All the benefits of living in a modern economy a hair's breath from the world's sole superpower; none of the drawbacks of living in a third world society. You even get to speak English!
Just be sure to pack heavy, it's cold up here.
The unofficial
I personally see no problem in restricting the sale of "adult" material to minors. Neither does the Supreme court.
If the freakin' game lobby would get a clue and do what the movie industry did, and actually hype that angle up rather than being adamantly opposed to any fines for the sale of this material to minors, then maybe you wouldn't need to worry about Jack Thompson.
A few "Gamestop fires employee for selling GTA w/o ID check" headlines would do it. But nooo...
I also fail to see how restricting the sale of violent(and or/sexual) games to minors in any way infringes on the right to free speech as held by the SCOTUS, nor how it would:
A. Keep the games out of the hands of minors whose parents allow them to play such things.
B. Keep adults from playing these games.
C. Keep these games from being made if the guys pushing for the legislation really DON'T have a point.
If gamers don't give up the 12-yos should be allowed to go into Gamestop and buy a copy of Tentacle-fucker 3 - Revenge of the Overfiend(at the extreme end) angle with no fines for the store OR the guy that sold it then they're not going to get a voice in how the law is constructed and the chances it's going to be whacked out insane increase. Because it's GOING to happen.
And there are upshots to it you probably can't even fathom.
The key to the enjoyment of pop music is to replace any instance of "love" with "C.H.U.D."
All of Jack Thompson's documented writings and speeches on the subject indicate he has neither a social sciences background nor any experience with programming or playing a computer/video game. They're gonna get a piece of crap. Just stating the obvious.
Not that I'm terribly in favor of this bill, and I can't RTFA (at work), but doesn't this bill sort of get the game studios off the hook for violent games? If mommy has to go buy GTA for their kid, then the fault will be completely on the parent. If they had to go get the game for their kid, then it's their own fault their kids are shooting hookers all over the place (in game), as the parents facilitated the kids ability to do so.
Again, I'm not in favor of censorship in anyway, but how is this much different than a movie theatre not letting a 12 year old into an R rated movie? How is this even censorship, anyways? They're not looking to remove content from games are they?
Sarcasm aside, I demand that any legislator writing such a vigeogame law justify how that media can be treated differently than any other work. And interaction is not a valid defense, choose your own adventure books would meet that standard.
I do agree some games are not suitable for minors, but just as the law doesn't jail or fine movie theaters if minors get into R-rated shows, there should be now such law punishing video game stores and clerks for essentially the same offense.
-- I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist. It's not my fault that life sucks so much. --
...one of those "I Hate Jack Thompson" T-shirts they're selling at ThinkGeek!
Honestly, I'm proud to be one of the "Right-Wing-Bible-Thumping-Republican-Christian" wackos that the average Slashdotter loves to hate. But Jack has really been taking things too far the past few months.
Last line should read: there should be NO such law punishing video game stores and clerks for essentially the same offense.
-- I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist. It's not my fault that life sucks so much. --
"Thompson says that he is too busy drafting the legislation to bother having a tit-for-tat verbal battle and he considers his position clear and the matter closed." -- Aaron McKenaa for the Inquirer It's funny how you'll hear faith healers and those sorts of folk say almost exactly the same thing. "I'm much too busy healing people to bother with 'clinical studies' or 'having a rational discussion.'" We all know that, in the end, it doesn't really matter who did the asking. Who else thinks that this hack's going to write some crazy thing and just send it to every important governmental official until he finds someone who bites?
From TFA:
He did not offer details about what kind of penalties the bill would prescribe...
From some of his stands in the past, I think that his ideal punishment for offenders would be castration.
This sig is false.
In response to the complaints that I've been hearing about this subject like "Why not books?" "What about movies?" "Isn't this censorship?" and so on and so forth, I have this to say:
- No, this isn't censorship because content is not being taken out. If the studios have to remove content to reach their audience, they'll find a way around regulations (they always do). Children aren't allowed to buy pornography and yet I hear no massive outcry about that. This is simply trying to keep excessively vulgar and violent games away from very young children.
- Yes, youth violence is on a constant decline as it has been for the past several years, making all these "games raising you children to kill" arguments mostly idiodic.
- Video games can be conceived of as more influential to children than books (I doubt it) and especially movies (easily so) as numerous studies suggest (keyword: suggest) that games are more powerful due to the level of interaction and feedback they require from the user.
- Books are also not being targetted because anybody who looks at social trends can tell that literacy, or at least recreational reading in the US is on the decline. The numbers aren't large enough to get a response.
But finally, games are being the scapegoat because the majority of the voting population in America doesn't understand games. By the time all those kids who were 6 or so when Nintendo first hit the US (people like me) become the major voting demographic, politicians will need to find a new target.
Perfecting Discordia
www.stevenvansickle.com
If we ignore him, he's no longer an interesting controversial figure and he loses pretty much all his power.
Please, no more damn articles on this asshole.
The World's Worst Webcomic!
Is to have someone discover a huge pile of pornography underneath Jack's bed...
Could we please just put that asshole Thompson out of our collective misery already? We don't need to kill him, just stick him on a deserted island for the rest of his life.
Christopher S. 'coldacid' Charabaruk -- coldacid.net
Canada is a good choice, probably. Europe might also work, but it depends on the exact country then, of course; the UK is deteriorating its citizens' rights and all that pretty quickly under Blair, too, and the rest of Europe would require you to learn a different language (of course, so would half of Canada, and one might argue that you'd have to even in the UK).
*If* the language barrier is not going to be a problem, then the Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands and maybe also Belgium are good choices.
quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
All of the perks of the U.S. without the nut jobs.
Canada is a nice country, but it has its own share of problems.
I lived there for three years, and I noticed:
- A LOT of petty micromanagement in the government. No country should spend tax dollars on governmental inspectors to ensure that restaurants are limited to a certain number of televisions, and that each of them must be below a maximum size. Or to arbitrarily decide that waitresses can wear a rollerskate on one foot, but not both. Two pieces of photo ID to buy liquor at the store, but only one from a bar? If you have two pieces of ID but your friend only has one, anything they were carrying can't be bought and you can only buy what you have in your hands?
- Stupidly high taxes, probably due mostly to the last point.
- A very conservative attitude re: appearances. I had long hair at the time, and I felt like I was back in the 50s because so many people thought I was a girl.
- A much bigger problem with non-deadly crime, e.g. theft and home invasions. Related to this, the much more restrictive firearm laws, although obviously some people prefer it that way.
- (related to the first point, but split out because this is a long rant) The incredibly annoying Canadian content laws for broadcasters. I had a show at my university's radio station, and there just aren't that many good Canadian industrial bands. Content should be about quality, not country of origin. A lot of the popular music in Canada is even worse than in the US (which is saying a lot) because the law requires radio stations and MuchMusic to play bands that are Canadian knockoffs of American pop bands (who are themselves third- or fourth-generation knockoffs of interesting music). I am looking at you, shitty band I can't remember the name of who tried to pull a Hendrix and turn the Canadian national anthem into a wailing guitar solo.
On the other hand:
- Socialized healthcare is good in many ways, although I think they should take the funding for the petty bureaucrats and use it to make sure people don't have to wait months for surgery.
- University is actually affordable for citizens.
I definitely have fond memories of it, but enough things got under my skin that I wouldn't live there again. That's kind of my dilemma - I feel similarly to the GP, but I don't know of any countries that would as a whole make me happier than the US.
"...always new atoms but always doing the same dance, remembering what the dance was yesterday." -Richard Feynman
try Brazil. there are jews, muslims, christians, evangelic, and every kind of religion you want living together, without prejudice between black or white or indians, every race living peacefully with each other (and mixing together btw). its not a terrorist target, it is the country with the world largest coast, so you will have a lifetime and you wouldn't visit all the beaches. the music is great and the women are beatifull. oh, and sex is part of the culture, so everybody is doing it all the time, and talking about it without any paranoia.
Ok, so an article about Jack Thompson (that might not even be true) has been asked to write a law on video games has finally pushed you to moving out of the country. It's not like the law has been a) written b) actually applied in any state. Yeah, I am frustrated with other people who can't understand why I don't want their morals made in to laws. But how is running away from the problem going to solve it? Why don't you start a pro-gaming platform? Why don't you try to stir people up? Why don't you assemble like minded people to write letters to your congressman?
It's just pathetic to me see people say they are moving out of the country. I really wish they would make a law that states anyone who posts on Slashdot that they are moving out of the country would be deported within a month. Seriously, what have you learned by being in the military and in this country for 43 years? To run away when things happen that you don't like? Fine, then go, just don't cry about it on here.
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So just the incredible poverty then? Largest gap between rich and poor in the world, right?
Canada is a good choice, probably. Europe might also work, but it depends on the exact country then, of course; the UK is deteriorating its citizens' rights and all that pretty quickly under Blair, too, and the rest of Europe would require you to learn a different language (of course, so would half of Canada, and one might argue that you'd have to even in the UK).
*If* the language barrier is not going to be a problem, then the Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands and maybe also Belgium are good choices.
No, no, no. You stay on your side of the big pond. We send you there for a reason.
ps. And while you are there, you might try fix your country.
There are actually sites that collect Jack Thompson's mad rantings, Like http://www.jackthompson.org/.
Also he posts occasionally on (the excellent site)http://www.gamepolitics.com/, which always turns out to be fun.
Its pretty much sounds like a 'he said, they said' argument. Bush officials deny it, Thompson claims it. Given Thompson's record and the sheer political flak and financial loss that would follow from such a law states that this is B.S. though.
Where would we be if everyone just ran from their problems, instead of standing up to them? I've been strongly tempted to find a "safe haven" from the moralist-hypocrisy that the U.S. has become. But you know what? There is no safe-haven. Things won't change until reasonable people start acting.
Where is that Einstein quote...
"Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds." Stand up to the opposition!
"It's overkill, of course. But you can never have too much overkill." - Anonymous Slashdot Coward
I read somewhere that Brunei has a substantial ex-pat population. English is one of the three major languages spoken there, too.
"The newly born animals are then whisked off for a quick run through a giant baking oven." --heard on Food Network
It isn't about running away from anything. I've been fighting an uphill battle all those years. Everyone says "if you don't like things, then get out and vote". Well, I get out and vote. I try to get out and work in the community. I go to city council meetings. I am part of the school board. I write my congressman and Senator constantly almost to the point where I'm a nuisance. All to no avail.
When I have to sit in on meetings about teaching intelligent design in our school system, I try to object that it's not even science at all I get people looking at me like I'm nuts. I even had a guy tell me to move to France as he said they're Godless over there too...to which he had a bit of applause from the group! It's a long story on that one, but you get my point I hope.
So you say it's running away when things happen I don't like. Well, I suppose you would say that anyone that in the past has left an oppressive country and government were "running away when things happen" also? You seem to be one of these people that look down on people that bad-mouth their country...pathetic you call them. You even want to pass a law that if anyone says they want to leave the country would be deported in a month. And how dare I "cry" about it here. Sorry to muck up your perfect world order by my crying. I know you're just spouting off, but I'm not so sure that one day they would indeed pass this law...as our free speech that some still hold dear is eroding away year by year along with other freedoms...like the new bill about how the police would be able to take DNA samples from anyone detained. That's detained, not even arrested. Yes, this means that a minor traffic stop you "could" be required to give a DNA sample. More about this here.
I'm tired. I just now want to live my life in peace and quiet now. This Jack Thompson thing is just another straw on a very over burdened camel.
"Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
Just thinking of the warm hearted Thompson actually making laws kind of makes you feel all warm and cuddly!
.... but this really isn't anything new. Essentially what he's looking for is to take a system that's already in place (the videogame ratings system) and giving it some useful purpose.
This isn't censorship. This is just limiting the audience. This has happened with nearly every other medium that children could be interested in (books being the exception for several reasons). This is nothing new and while people like to be outraged over a perceived loss of freedom, this loss of freedom is being directed specifically at minors who do not enjoy the same rules as their parents are supposed to be responsible for them. Since parents are supposed to be responsible for their children, it makes sense that it requires parental involvement to get access to some titles.
Sometimes, I wonder if people just complain just for the sake of complaining.
"If the good lord had intended us to walk, he wouldn't have invented roller skates." -Willy Wonka
and Floridians (is that the term), knew Jeb Bush was a nut - yet still voted him in. You reap what you sow, and the rest of the world'll point and laugh.
It is funny you mention "Tentacle-fucker 3 - Revenge of the Overfiend", I was preparing to submit a review of the game, but instead I will post it here.
***** spoiler alert *****
***** no not read if you are still playing TF2TIT ****
'Tentacle-fucker 3 - Revenge of the Overfiend' (or TF3RO to the fan base), was a predictable answer to the screaming masses fresh off the adrenaline high of 'Tentacle-fucker 2 - Tentacles in Time' (TF2TIT). The game play stays relatively the same with respects to the basic controls. You still can control the Heroine, Jade Akashaki (Aki to the in crowd) or flip to the writhing tentacle mass attacking her. As Aki you can position yourself, prepare special "dress spheres" for added bonus, and string deadly combos against the Tentacles. As the mass of slimey tentacle fun, you still can: fuck Aki, choose orifices for penetration, and string together combos of orifice permutations for high points.
The new options come in on both sides. Aki now has a partner - RenyaRamaLama WongDong (Renny for short) - who can be tagged in to assist "taking down" these menaces. New combos now exist when both girls are on the screen, new weapons (can we say LIGHTSABER?!), and a ton of new dresses to go into the dress spheres. Oh did I mention that hairstyles play a part? The studio, infamous Perky-44EE, is not saying how, but they say it will defiantly revolutionize the game market.
For those of you who chose the darker path of the Tentacle, Perky-44EE Studios has not forgotten about you. There are new backgrounds to destroy, colors of tentacles produce different effects (standard: white tentacle does ice damage, red does fire, green does acidic, black does poison, and the blue has electric effects), new "slap" ability that can be used to draw attention/protection away from certain orifices, and battle armor. Additoinally, the Studio moved the tentacle from just an x/y axis to a full 3-d mode. You can control depth, speed, location, rotation, and angle. There is a new option for "texture" which can be changed on the fly (with the right power ups), but I am not sure how much of a factor that can be. Wow. If you are a fan of the "dark side" you better be up on your moves! The word on the street is if a large enough combo is generated then the Tentacle will be able to exploit "a previously unknown orifice". I am not sure what that means, but I am excited to find out!
As for the story line, TF3RO picks up after Aki's flight from the past right as she tries to put the pieces of her shattered life back together in the present (no she DIDN'T die at the hands of the one eyed evil half dragon/half tentacled beast known only as "Dominator"). After a few brief cut scenes the action picks up. Tentacles come from the left, the right, and right behind her! It is action packed for the first part, then it slows down as Aki find Renny buried under the corpses of a hundred tentacle zombies. There is a touching scene of Aki nursing Renny back to life that almost brought a tear to this old sailor's eye. The rest of the game is the duo running through scenes and mini-bosses slowly piecing together how this attack in the present happened (didn't they stop the invasion in the past in TF2TIT?). Soon the Overfiend's identity is known (and it is a SHOCKER!), and the final battle is waged. I won't tell you the end, but there are sixty-nine different variants, so replay is high.
Over all the game is a good third in the series. Studio Perky-44EE innovates enough to breathe life back into this stale genre (usually when they start making WWII games - makers of "Acht Tung: Tentacle Blitzkreig" I am looking at you), but keeps it enough the same to not alienate the fan base. The game play has a bit of a steep curve, but it is worth the effort. I was worried this w
Sorry, but there IS prejudice here. It's a shame that a country so mixed as ours still exists racism and prejudice around :(
And, of course, there a lot of other big, bad and ugly issues here.
*clap clap clap* I'm sorry if I doubt your sincerity. My main problem with your post is that I am tired of reading comments like this. If you find things so objectionable, just move. Don't post about it, just do it. I think we probably have a similar view on things, though. I would go nuts if people were talking about teaching intelligent design to my children. You must live in a very conservative part of the country. I don't, so it doesn't seem as much of a problem for me.
My problem with what you posted is more that you decided to take this thread (Jack Thompson writing a law) to say you are moving out of the country. Based on something that isn't even written or close to a law, it's now time to move out of the country...ok. Same thing with your DNA thing. Is it a law yet? Are people doing it? Would they actually do it on a traffic stop? You don't know! Yet just because it is suggested, you want to pack up shop and leave. If you are going to leave, leave because you don't like things that are actually happening. There are a lot of crazy ideas out there that you aren't going to agree with...but until they are actually implemented, you can't count that against the country.
You have been around a lot longer than I have..so I think you would have experienced the political pendulum more. Things go back and fourth in our country. Right now it has been swinging to the right...I think it is too far right now and it makes me uncomofortable. But once it gets too far, then there is a backlash and things swing back to the left. It's been doing this for a long time.
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I do have to agree that the US is slowly turning into an theocracy. We are slowly being pushed further towards this conservative, religious views while forgetting the actual concepts behind the Constitution of the United States. Our government has openly said that porn and video games are the great evils to be stopped, and they are going to fight them to the ends of censorship if they must. It is truly interesting and quite hypocritical for the Republicans to claim a small government ideology, when they have actually embraced the exact opposite.
While the Democrats typically push for social programs meant to "aid" the disadvantaged, the Republicans have taken to pushing social programs meant to "push" an ideological view onto the citizens of the US. Government wants to regulate everything, but in the manner of regulation they seek, they actually create a BIGGER government instead of the smaller one they seek. This inevitably leads to increased taxes and great social divisions.
In the perfect example of a large government failure, we have the FEMA response to the last two hurricanes. While not simply a failure on their own part for not responding quickly or appropriately, they also did plenty to prevent proper aid and help from being received. They were not the only ones turning down this help, but the governments as a whole failed. Examples of this failure include turning back Wal-Mart trucks carrying water and supplies; a coast guard vessel also carrying water was turned away; Amtrak's offer to evacuate citizens was ignored; volunteer Doctor's have been prevented from going into these areas for various reasons; amature hovercraft operators were also turned away. The list goes on and on, and the problem is the government involved where it doesn't belong.
People have often attacked the Libertarian ideology because it requires businesses and corporations, along with the common citizen, to make decisions that will affect the good of people. The disaster in the Gulf Coast is an example where this complaint fails. Millions of people have volunteered time and money to aid those in the area. Churches and non-profit groups have sent aid and people to help. Large corporations have donated money and supplies to the area in an effort to help and inevitably more groups will do the same in an effort to help rebuild the area.
When you create a large government you begin to create larger beauracracies that simply get in the way of things getting accomplished. This is what happened in the Gulf Coast and this is what happens with a large part of the problems we see in other heavily regulated industries. The government has enacted laws they believed would make certain programs more accessible to the individuals, but in the end they actually raise the cost of many of these services outside the bounds of many other individuals.
I believe it was the original intention of the founding fathers to setup a government where there was a core of beliefs that would be held true throughout the nation as a hole. These core beliefs are what make up the original Bill of Rights. It was meant to ensure everyone's right to free speech, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, etc. However, I think they also intended for the majority of other lawmaking and governmental control to be maintained, not at a national level, but at a state and local level. This is quite obvious, in my opinon, from the 10th Amendment of the Bill of Rights that says, The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
As for decisions on where else to go, I would not be able to recommend many places to people. I am a Libertarian and like the idea of small government. Hence, I would not be a big fan of Canada. I am actually tempted to see how the privatization of Japan's mail service goes (assuming it ever goes), and to see if they would actually continue on a path that leads to small government.
"Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb."
the rest of Europe would require you to learn a different language (of course, so would half of Canada,
half? i wasn't aware Quebec had 16.5 million people. it's about 7.5 million. roughly 1/4, and there aren't really that many french people elsewhere in canada (roughly 5% of the rest of the population)
upon the advice of my lawyer, i have no sig at this time
So yea, creating barriers to make it more difficult for teenagers and such to buy violent/sexual games is in my opinion a good thing.*Quick aside* How do they check your age on the internet purchases folks? *Aside over* But why is Jack Thompson being given the chance to write this law? As a person who has worked in Washington for a short time and talked to people there, I understand that it is advocacy groups that write 99% of all legislation on the books, but why charge this assclown , with a record of ridiculous imcompetence, failure and outright lunacy with such a task? There are definatly video game developers in florida, or corporate offices for retailers who would gladly take on such a task if it was presented to them that this law was an inevitability. Plus it would make even more sense because these companies have traditionally fought these kinds of laws, and won. If they came out with the type of legislation themselves it might come out in a coherent and logical fashion. And I'm pretty sure old Jebbers could convince those companies that this law will be on the books either with them on board or without. With J.T. all we are going to get is a proposed law that is ambiguous and oversteps the charge he was given. Almost guarenteeing it to be Unconstitutional. Which, if you are a conspiracy theorist, could be Jeb's plan all along. Make it seem like he is doing something to solve the issue in his state, while making sure the law will fail to come into enforcement, thereby placating the game company special interests.
I am and always will be a stereotype, because who in their right mind prefers mono?
If the VideoGame industry did not stupidly equate AO games to X Rated Pornography they wouldn't have a problem with games such as San Andreas being rated for adults (18+) only. The videogame industry wants to be taken as seriously as Hollywood, and wants to have the influence of Hollywood. (btw...Does Hollywood want this?) Just as Hollywood got where it is today by bribing officials..err lobbying officials...then the Videogame Industry needs to play that game,pardon the pun, as well.Otherwise it will never be taken seriously. This Thompson fellow should have never been allowed the credibility he now seems to hold and should have been ridiculed publicly and resoundingly discredited a long long time ago. It's what Hollywood would have done. Maybe the videogame industry really is just for kids.
-Gel214th
That would require consistent community involvement! We're outraged NOW and want someone else to do the work for us when we forget about this problem for the new problem of lethal turkey dinners I heard on the news. Apparently my family could be next!
Einstein fled Nazi Germany.
Not really the best example.
So, Randy Ball phoned him to ask him to write legislation? Was this before or after Hugh Jazz, Mike Hunt, Hugh E. Doob, and I. P. Freely et al. phoned from the CIA asking him to help find Osama.
- Incest
- Premarital sex
- Terrorism (see the Ten Plagues)
- Bioterrorism (again, see the 10 plagues)
- Genocide
<IRONY>This book definitely needs to be banned.
</IRONY>
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
He can write any law he wants, but if the state courts think it's unconstitutional, they'll shoot it down.
It should be noted that Jack has a very strange view of the First Amendment...
From a short spot Jack had on Nancy Grace:
Thompson: Yes. The 1st Amendment, people who understand the 1st Amendment know does not protect the right of a company to sell an M-rated game to a child.
Nancy Grace: Jack, Jack, I`ve...
Thompson: Children don`t have a 1st Amendment... (EDITOR'S NOTE: What??? All citizens are covered by the First Amendment)
Jack Thompson may be lying -- or so says the office of Governor Jeb Bush. this article at Advanced Media details the whole story, and they have backup from sources: GamePolitics.com, here at Inquirer, and here at Joystiq. Someone is lying... could be Bush's people, could be Thompson.
excerpt: "...or also on the establishment selling the game and/or the game's publisher."
Are you fsck'ing kidding me? What control does the publisher have over the counter sale? And therefore, what responsibility do they carry for the "proper" distribution of the game?
The publisher publishes the game. That's where their responsibility ends.
The distributor distributes the game. Ditto.
The reseller is the ONE responsible for maintaining control over the counter sales. End of story.
Understandable, n'est ce pas? Why the hell can't our *lawmakers* get it, then?
Making unrelated parties responsible for perceived violations [of *someone else's* _moral_ _code_, mind you,] is tantamount to a witch-hunt, and if allowed to flourish, will bring about the end of innovation and experimentation.
Idiots.
P.S. Another parallel to this is the attempt of NJ legislature to make gas station attendants liable for drunk drivers - if the 17-year-old kid working the pump sells gas to a drunk driver, and then the drunk kills someone, the kid is responsible... for up to 10 years in jail. Nice, huh? Thank God it's only an attempt [as of yet], and not an actual law.
Same principle, though - let's screw over someone who has nothing to do with the offense... just because we can. {flips through dictionary} oh yeah, here it is - "Tyranny"!