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Jack Thompson Under Investigation
djflipstarx writes "Jack Thompson, famous anti-videogame lawyer, has found himself in the position of being investigated by the Florida Bar Association after trying to get Penny-Arcade writers Gabe and Tycho arrested. A bunch of people from the Penny-Arcade forums then went and sent letters to the FBA asking for them to check up on Thompson's current actions and review his license to practice law. The fact that even the National Institute on Media and the Family distance themselves from Thompson doesn't help his case either." The lesson here? There are many nerds in the world. Some of them have a posse. Be careful who you pick on.
Just so everyone's on the same page, that Ars article doesn't get the story 100% correct. There was a second round of phone calls and emails after the initial one mentioned, and the check is from both Gabe AND Tycho. Also, the inclusion of his phone number in the email sig wasn't "unfortunate," as stated by Tycho in the PA blog - Gabe knew full well it was there.
ACs are modded -6. I don't read you, I don't mod you, I don't see you. Don't like it? Don't be a coward.
As far as I can see, nowhere in the article does it state that the man is 'under investigation'. All that's happened to date is that, 'according to a spokesperson, the letters and faxes have been received and forwarded to the disciplinary committee.' I have no idea how this body works, but I'd imagine that forwarding a complaint about someone to the committee does not automatically mean the person in question is 'under investigation'.
On the PA forums it seems the focus has shifted to contacting mainstream media outlets in hopes this story will get widespread coverage.
Something like this could certainly hinder Jacks political agenda. We can only hope the rest of the world will see he's nothing more than an ambulance chaser, and networks like CNN will stop classifying him as an 'Expert' of any kind.
To quote the shirt, "I HATE Jack Thompson" as much as anyone, but keep in mind that an investigation alone won't get him disbarred. I'd love to have that kind of P.R. weapon on the side of the games industry, but premature gloating isn't going to win any hearts on the Florida bar. In fact, it may have the opposite effect.
A better strategy would be to send correspondence to the bar alerting them to other infractions Jack has made besides those against Penny Arcade. For instance, his use of these same tactics on Lou Kerner of Bolt Media is my personal favorite.
Or you could cite his threats against the author of VGCats.
Or even the latest vague legal threats against Dave Walsh of the National Institute on Media and the Family.
One of these can be overlooked, but if the Bar knows about all of these, perhaps Jack will be out of the game for good.
This is a link to the letter that was originally sent to the FBA (which was then followed by an absolute flood of letters, faxes, calls and e-mails requesting a formal investigation):
p =17101843#17101843
http://www.penny-arcade.com/forums/viewtopic.php?
Student Manager - Take control of your education!
Mind-numbing as it is, you can find his response at http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000427064233/ Comment #10.
John B. Thompson, Attorney at Law
1172 South Dixie Hwy., Suite 111
Coral Gables, Florida 33146
305-666-4366
October 20, 2005
Alan B. Bookman
President
The Florida Bar
Tallahassee, Florida Via e-mail
Entire Board of Governors
The Florida Bar
C/o John Harkness and to Governors Directly
The Florida Bar
Tallahassee, Florida Via e-mails
Re: Targeting of Jack Thompson for Criminal Harassment by "Gamers"
Dear Mr. Bookman and All Governors of The Florida Bar:
As you know, eighteen years ago I commenced efforts against the entertainment industry's illegal distribution of adult entertainment to minors. That fledgling effort resulted in the first decency fines ever levied by the FCC.
The broadcasters struck back with Bar complaints. One happy result of that is that The Bar's insurance carrier had to pay me money damages for The Bar's having taken the bait offered by the SLAPP bar complainants. SLAPP is the acronym for "strategic litigation against public participation." Filing such a complaint violates certain federal civil rights statutes and state laws as well.
As you also know, the Philadelphia law firm of Blank Rome, which is lead lawyer and chief lobbyist registered in the US House of Representatives and in the US Senate for Take-Two Interactive, has chosen to use the SLAPP approach in our wrongful death case in Alabama by asking the Alabama state judge to kick me off that case because 1) I have been so effective in telling the American people about the reckless activity of their clients, Take-Two and Sony, through 60 Minutes and Reader's Digest that they can't now get a "fair trial," and 2) I have a "colorful history" of pornographers filing SLAPP bar complaints against me, which indicates I am unfit to practice law.
Interesting logic, but remember: this is Blank Rome talking. Blank Rome has a very long history of "opposition research" through partners such as "Barbara Comstock," who was called by the Washington Post a "one-woman wrecking crew" for her brilliance in character assassination on behalf of her clients.
Blank Rome's Comstock is the US Congressman Dan Burton staffer who was doing his "work" for him when he was clandestinely keeping a mistress on his federal payroll staff in violation of federal law.
Blank Rome also has been recently caught up in the scandal of securing Department of Homeland Security contracts for its clients allegedly because of its massive campaign contributions to former DHS Secretary Tom Ridge, Bush-Cheney, and the RNC. This has been covered in the mainstream media. Blank Rome is clearly the most powerful law firm, right now, in America, because of its tight personal and financial relationships with Jeb and George Bush. Blank Rome likes to make stuff up to run over people who are in the way of their clients. Pretty standard stuff, really. But don't you love the fact that a bunch of "family values" Republican loyalists to George Bush are representing Take-Two/Rockstar and fraudulently smearing a conservative Christian Republican who has got Rockstar on the run? But this is wha the GOP has become: the lap dog for corporate America, the parents who provide the party's base be damned.
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.
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 Penn
http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000427064233/#com ments
Comment #10
Highlights include him thinking Penny Arcade owns Think Geek, and him threatening the FBA. It's most likely however this wasn't actually sent to the FBA, just like his nice letter to the Seattle PD never made it there either.
. Posted Oct 20, 2005, 9:59 AM ET by jack thompson
John B. Thompson, Attorney at Law
1172 South Dixie Hwy., Suite 111
Coral Gables, Florida 33146
305-666-4366
October 20, 2005
Alan B. Bookman
President
The Florida Bar
Tallahassee, Florida Via e-mail
Entire Board of Governors
The Florida Bar
C/o John Harkness and to Governors Directly
The Florida Bar
Tallahassee, Florida Via e-mails
Re: Targeting of Jack Thompson for Criminal Harassment by "Gamers"
Dear Mr. Bookman and All Governors of The Florida Bar:
As you know, eighteen years ago I commenced efforts against the entertainment industry's illegal distribution of adult entertainment to minors. That fledgling effort resulted in the first decency fines ever levied by the FCC.
The broadcasters struck back with Bar complaints. One happy result of that is that The Bar's insurance carrier had to pay me money damages for The Bar's having taken the bait offered by the SLAPP bar complainants. SLAPP is the acronym for "strategic litigation against public participation." Filing such a complaint violates certain federal civil rights statutes and state laws as well.
As you also know, the Philadelphia law firm of Blank Rome, which is lead lawyer and chief lobbyist registered in the US House of Representatives and in the US Senate for Take-Two Interactive, has chosen to use the SLAPP approach in our wrongful death case in Alabama by asking the Alabama state judge to kick me off that case because 1) I have been so effective in telling the American people about the reckless activity of their clients, Take-Two and Sony, through 60 Minutes and Reader's Digest that they can't now get a "fair trial," and 2) I have a "colorful history" of pornographers filing SLAPP bar complaints against me, which indicates I am unfit to practice law.
Interesting logic, but remember: this is Blank Rome talking. Blank Rome has a very long history of "opposition research" through partners such as "Barbara Comstock," who was called by the Washington Post a "one-woman wrecking crew" for her brilliance in character assassination on behalf of her clients.
Blank Rome's Comstock is the US Congressman Dan Burton staffer who was doing his "work" for him when he was clandestinely keeping a mistress on his federal payroll staff in violation of federal law.
Blank Rome also has been recently caught up in the scandal of securing Department of Homeland Security contracts for its clients allegedly because of its massive campaign contributions to former DHS Secretary Tom Ridge, Bush-Cheney, and the RNC. This has been covered in the mainstream media. Blank Rome is clearly the most powerful law firm, right now, in America, because of its tight personal and financial relationships with Jeb and George Bush. Blank Rome likes to make stuff up to run over people who are in the way of their clients. Pretty standard stuff, really. But don't you love the fact that a bunch of "family values" Republican loyalists to George Bush are representing Take-Two/Rockstar and fraudulently smearing a conservative Christian Republican who has got Rockstar on the run? But this is wha the GOP has become: the lap dog for corporate America, the parents who provide the party's base be damned.
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
jack thompson wikin ey)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Thompson_(attor
------ hi mom
Lawyers who are found to be consistently engaged in the practice of barratry have been disbarred in the past. There's precedent. Of course, the problem is that whomever gets tapped to step up and take his place might not be insane, but could easily be as big a zealot for the anti-games crusade. That could be a problem. Gabe & Tycho mentioned this in their posts, I believe.
The FBA's "contact us" page is here.
From the PA boards:
To Whom It May Concern:
This letter is regarding the current status of the license to practice law currently granted to Jack Thompson through the Florida Bar Association.
Jack Thompson is a very controversial lawyer, more often than not resorting to political matters to solve his own personal disputes rather than through the legal system. However, in recent months, it has become clear to me that Thompson is not merely a controversial individual, but is also a very corrupt, callous, and often rude individual who, in my own estimation, does not exemplify the ethical and moral principles for which a lawyer should hold, and I believe that the Florida Bar Association, in holding with the claim that "One of the primary purposes of The Florida Bar is to assure the highest standards of professionalism in the practice of law for the benefit of members and the public.", must organize a referendum to determine if Jack Thompson should be able to continue practicing law as a licensed attorney. Evidence for this need is widespread and incriminating. Examples of this unprofessional and unethical behavior are detailed below, and I urge those who this concerns to properly review these actions by this callous individual carefully.
Recently, he has engaged in a very callous, unprovoked and irresponsible tirade with the creator of the popular VGCats online web comic (http://www.vgcats.com/ and evidence of this encounter is available here: http://www.vgcats.com/jack.php. During this exchange, Jack Thompson made a number of references questioning Scott Ramsoomair's sexuality, intelligence, and his use of psychotropic drugs, all of which are unsubstantiated and irrelevant to the discourse (which Mr. Thompson initiated), and then proceeded to threaten legal action in an irresponsible manner.
During this discourse, after initiating contact with Mr. Ramsoomair and proceeding to insult him, he then claimed that he had not initiated contact, despite the fact that it is verifiable that Mr. Thompson did initiate contact.
This kind of conversational process is not uncommon with Mr. Thompson, and a simple search can uncover literally dozens of people and organizations who have had incredibly negative and often dishonest discourse with Mr. Thompson, commonly initiated by Mr. Thompson himself.
"(c) engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation;"
[source: http://www.floridabar.org/divexe/rrtfb.nsf/FV/DE51 D6D9608C634A85256BBC00558300%5D
Furthermore, Mr. Thompson has made claims that the creators of the extremely popular online webcomic Penny Arcade (http://www.penny-arcade.com/ Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins, were "criminally harassing" him. However, this harassment allegation was made in response to a single e-mail sent to Mr. Thompson which responded to a proposal made by Mr. Thompson (where he requested that someone make an extraordinarily violent video game directed at a specific individual in exchange for $10,000 donated to a charity [source: http://gc.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=5883%5D ). In this response, it was explained that his proposal had been carried out by a programmer
[source: http://hellfish.gtajunkies.com/Story.html%5D. Mr. Thompson responded to this civil e-mail by calling the creators of Penny Arcade, spouting vulgarities at them and rudely explaining that the proposal was entirely in jest and that no money would be donated to a charity. Therefore, the o
Blaze a trail to the New World
- AMW
Methinks it isn't as clearcut as you'd suggest: Reality Bytes: Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked. I mean if you can't trust PBS and MIT...?