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.

Comments

Guess Jack is learning an important lesson...

[thesandtiger]

... that lesson being "Other people can write letters too, and they vastly outnumber you."

Of course, I imagine that poor, pathetic, insane Jack Thompson probably imagines that he's the noble martyr in some epic battle against the hordes of evildoers who want nothing more than to poison the minds of children, and will not, for a second, ponder the possibility that maybe he's wrong.

Jack, people you thought of as staunch allies have left you, are publically distancing themselves from you. Thousands of people are writing letters demanding that you be investigated while not a single solitary soul is writing the FBA saying you're a good guy. Most people might take that as a hint that their views are not actually meshing well with reality - hopefully you'll take this opportunity to take an assessment, get some help, and most importantly, shut the fuck up already.

Re:Guess Jack is learning an important lesson...

[Profcrab]

Jack is just a desperate man who has seen all his attempts at political notice go away. He sees himself as far more important than he is and does not believe that he need political allies. He thinks that they will flock to him if he gets big enough.

In short, his actions are that of a frustrated individual. The attack against The Sims and Will Wright should be a dead giveaway. Any rational champion of the cause would have paraded the The Sims around as a decent entertainment and attempted to create catagories of "decent" and "indecent" developers. They also would have done extensive research. Thompson's lack of research, when his profession is built around research, shows that he is not actually interested in the subject itself, only the notice it brings him. He is getting old now, though, and he is seeing his chances at political advancement starting to slip away from him. His desperation shows in his mistakes.

Re:Guess Jack is learning an important lesson...

[thesandtiger]

Very true - while it is certainly *possible* for someone to mod The Sims to make it pornographic, the game itself is not. Saying that, because people can mod games to make them hyperviolent or pornographic or both is like saying that we should ban text editors because someone could write "Mein Kampf" in them.

His using The Sims - a game that has had such huge exposure - was a critical mistake: So many of the people he's trying to reach have played it, and probably are wondering how the heck this guy can actually believe it's mind poison.

His positions do have a tiny sliver of a kernel of value to them: Children should not be able to directly purchase hyperviolent/sexually charged video games just as they cannot legally directly purchase pornography. If a parent is willing to let their kid play those kinds of games, then let the parent purchase the game. At least that way they have *some* idea of what their kids are up to.

But any validity gets blown out of the water by such absurdly stupid comments, such as his claiming the Beltway snipers "trained extensively with Halo," rescinding offers to donate to charity, and threatening legal action against people who have done far, far more good (albeit with far, far more profanity and fruit fucking) than he has.

There is a discussion that can be had here, but it's a discussion that should be had between rational people who actually hope to accomplish something positive - not reactionary fuckwits who lash out blindly at things that they clearly don't understand.

moderation

[Achoi77]

Looks like we are in the midst of seeing a legal-troll get metamodded to oblivion. Lets see if he'll end up getting the (-1 DISBARRED) moderation...

Let's not gloat just yet...

[Caiwyn]

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.

Re:Confusion

[Anonymous Coward]

If you visit ground zero (the Penny Arcade forums) you can find some evidence that this is the case:

I contacted the FBA requesting an update, and was told that they have been so overwhelmingly innundated with complaints, that they are having an emergency meeting to decide what kind of action to take.

So there is certainly something happening at the FBA, even if it's not a formal investigation yet.

Jack under new scrutiny . . .

[galonso]

I have to say I was shocked by the lack of professionalism Jack displayed in his communications, and even given the 'selective quote' syndrome, and suprised how poorly he represents himself.

I am thankful that /. has been brought to bear in a responsible way, as have the fans of PA, many of whom hang out here too. I was afraid there would be a bunch of childish hacking attempts that would hit the national media furthering his hyperbole, which may in fact have been his intent -- we'll never know.

I think this shows that PA and /.ers don't 'always get it wrong' and or over-compensate for our passion.

It's good to be a nerd today;)

PA Political Action Group?

[Agilus]

This is weird, but in a good way, I think.... Penny Arcade has, almost certainly by accident, formed a type of political action group, like all those concerned mothers groups, religious groups, etc. And it's a group that seems to be actually accomplishing things (maybe unlike Slashdot and some political communities). It's kind of funny to think that part of the reason this group is actually doing things is both because it is very passionate, and a larger percentage of it has lots of free time (i.e. no job, part time job, still living with parents, in college, etc.).

It's realy interesting, and I'm not trying to imply anything negative about the Penny Arcade audience, as I'm certainly one of them (although not a very active one, unfortunately). In fact, I think it could be a very positive thing if they can get the media, politicians (could they be considered a constituency?), and just plain other people to listen to them. Heck, now might be a good time to introduce some of these people to the EFF, or get them otherwise politically involved. *shrug*