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Jack Thompson Calls The Feds On PA
Gamespot is reporting that Jack has taken his beef to the Feds regarding the dangerous pixelantes over at Penny Arcade. From the article: "In a letter addressed to John McKay, US Attorney for the Western District of Washington, and sent to media outlets, Thompson this morning said the site was using a variety of means 'to encourage and solicit criminal harassment' of him. Thomspon wrote to McKay, 'Please help me if you can,' but did not include specific actions he wished to have taken against the site. McKay's office prosecutes cases investigated by several law enforcement agencies in Western Washington, including the FBI." PvP is also running a parody indicating that Jack has appealed to the Justice League for assistance with Gabe and Tycho.
"Penny Arcade, by means I choose not to specify because that would be really dumb to do right now, given what will be distribution of this information, have intentionally orchestrated death threats and other harassment toward me. I'll provide the proof, some of which these folks don't know I have, to the charging authorities. That's as specific as I want to be given to whom I am ulimately[sic] speaking. I'm not as dumb as I look."
Jack Thompson rules
Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
Seriously, has this guy ever heard of the first amendment? how about New York Times vs Sulivan?. Mr. Thompson is a public figure and therefore a valid target of criticism. Penny arcade has done nothing except to post the messages the Jack has sent. people making death threats could be prosucted. but PA is protected under the law.
sorry 'bout the mess...
That doesn't mean that the harassment is "OK" it just means that 1) it isn't Gabe & Tycho's creation and 2) he has lowered protections against speech anyway given that he's made himself a public figure.
7 November 2006: The day Americans realized corruption and incompetence weren't addressing 11 September 2001
He's an attention whore. He's just pissed because Penny Arcade out-whored him on this one. And I doubt that Tycho and Gabe donated the $10,000 thinking they'd make it up in ad revenue. They might, but nearly everyone who follows this scandal already knows about PA. They may gain a few new readers out of it but not many.
At least Andy Kaufman had the sense to promote himself as an actor.
Seriously though, if someone acts like a jerk, they shouldn't be surprised when they receive their comuppance.
I am a science fantasy fan
Penny Arcade is NOT in anyway shape or form harassing him.
It is LEGAL to make donations in another's name. (IE you can make a donation to the NAACP in David Duke's name...)
Is it LEGAL (at least in the USA) to correspond with another and say "ha ha you're a fool"
Is Penny Arcade directing attention to this guy? Yes. And it's LEGAL to do so (in the USA).
They're not threatening him. They're not telling people to threaten him. They are trying to get people's attention on him so that they'll realize that this campaign to sue video game companies is one man's personal vendetta and not necessarily a generalized public response.
He wasn't "hit out of the blue" He's been harassing video game websites for months now and has been publically bashing the entire video game industry. He publically made an offer of donating money to charity if they'd build a game to his specification which he renegged on. He's a public figure, waging a public vendetta.
That's NOT illegal (in the USA). That's called FREE SPEECH.
Disbar Jack Thompson
He's just being stupid now.
Realy, realy stupid.
-schwal "Hanging is too good for punners, they should be drawn and quoted"
http://www.law.stetson.edu/excellence/litethics/fl bar.htm
n d%20Inn%20of%20Court%20Creeds.pdf
The Florida Bar
Ideals and Goals of Professionalism
These aspirational guidelines for lawyers were
adopted by the Board of Governors of the Florida Bar on May 16, 1990.
"A lawyer's word should be his or her bond. The lawyer should not knowingly misstate, distort, or improperly exaggerate any fact or opinion and should not improperly permit the lawyer's silence or inaction to mislead anyone."
http://www.jud10.org/WillsonInn/Florida%20Bar%20a
Florida Bar Creed Of Professionalism
"I will not knowingly misstate, distort, or improperly exaggerate any fact or opinion and will not improperly permit my silence or inaction to mislead anyone."
Let's not forget that Thompson does this for profit, a hell of a lot more than the Penny Arcade guys get. Thompson has orchistrated multiple lawsuits and class-action suits against the industry over the years, and has profitedly handsomly from it. Thompson inhabits a space that attempts to restrict expression for personal profit. That's a lot more tenuous than the position of Penny Arcade where they express themselves and get paid for it.
Thompson is very relevant to Penny Arcade. They've sold "I hate Jack Thompson" t-shirts for years. He claims that Electronic Arts sells pornography via Sims2 to children and that videogames caused Columbine. Penny Arcade is a webcomic about videogame culture. Thompson is a part of that culture. There is a clear connection there, and a clear reason for Penny Arcade to e-mail this very public figure.
He then called them. On the phone. In meatspace. Of his own volition. Which of course they post about, as Penny Arcade is a blog that posts about videogame relevant experiences these two people have. That's what they do. And having tons of readers, some respond by making baseless threats. That's the nature of the modern instantaneous communication and not at all PA's fault. If you haven't had at least one nut job claim you're going to be staring down the end of a 357, you're not trying hard enough.
And Thompson did a lot to fan the flames. Like pretending to contact the police, when in fact he was faxing everyone but them. And now the feds. Oh, and the whole open challenge to the video game industry PR stunt followed by "my promise to donate to charity was a farce." And he happened to be in the news anyway, what with the National Institute on Media and the Family distancing itself from him.
Not to put it too bluntly, but Penny Arcade has raised over 1/2 million dollars for toys for children's hospitals. Jack Thompson just copped out on making a promised 10,000 dollar donation to charity. That's basically what they said to him, and it's true.
Either way, he's a lawyer. He's supposed to be held to a higher moral standard. He's not supposed to make baseless threats, scream obscenities at media people, or mislead about legal actions he's pursuing.
On the other hand, the Penny Arcade blog, the modern equivalent of a morning radio show, has been posting inflammatory things like:
Jack is not special. He is not a unique snow flake as they say. He is just the latest vocal opponent of whatever is "corrupting" our youth at the moment. When my dad was growing up it was rock and roll devil music. Then it was comic books then movies and rap music. Today its videogames. If we were to succeed in getting Jack blacklisted from the major news outlets someone else would simply take his place. Imagine him as an actor playing a part in a play. The point is that Jack Thompson is not important. If he were to be fired a new actor would simply take up the role. The same lines would still be delivered in the same way and the same audience would pay to see it. We are actually fortunate that the current actor is so impotent in his role. Imagine what might happen if some charming, efficacious attorney took his place. The more I consider it the more I think we may be lucky to have Jack playing the part of the alarmist. The alternative might be someone who is actually capable.
That's major inducement to harass right there.
The ______ Agenda
Jack might be a right wing nut job but he does have a point about Penny Arcade. He was doing an independent campaign that had nothing to do with them, then they took it on themselves to e-mail him.
Yeah, I suppose a guy trying to shove his morality down the collective throats of gamers has absolutely nothing to do with gamers.
Thanks, you fail at life.
He's not even trying to shove morality down the throats of gamers... He's in it for the money and that's all the morality he needs.
Well, at least he admits that he looks dumb. Although, in the pictures I've seen, it looks more like he's stoned...
My Anti-Jack-Thompson Door ( Door Comic Closeup )
Thanks to Ctrl-Alt-Del for that excellent comic.
Ignoring him is definitely not the best thing to do here. As the PA guys mentioned recently, we can't afford to ignore Thompson because *other* people will still listen to him.
Just a few days ago Thompson was on CNN. He has name recognition and so he can easily get into the media's spotlight. Once there he can spout off about whatever he feels like. If nobody pushes back, he wins by default.
Elrond, Duke of URL
"This is the most fun I've had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"-Sam&Max
They didn't say "haha you're a fool." They e-mailed him and said the $10,000 dollars that he pledged to give to charity (then later rescinded because it was "satire") was nothing compared to the $500,000 that gamers give to charity each year through Child's Play, the program they set up. Jack Thompson then called them (their phone number was in the e-mail) and screamed at them.
Against stupidity the Gods themselves contend in vain.
Rape isn't funny.
Lamarr: Qualifications?
Outlaw: Rape, murder, arson and rape.
Lamarr: You said rape twice.
Outlaw: I like rape.
"Nobody knows the age of the human race, but everybody agrees that it is old enough to know better." - Unknown
No, you have one man claiming that he's getting all these death threats. When he ponies up the emails, with headers, from all these people putting out death threats on him, then he has a case. Right now, he's twisting the truth to get other people to do what he wants. But of course, that's what lawyers do.
I mean, go check out actual email conversation with the guy.. VG Cats & Jack!.. even when he starts the conversation, he starts seeing death threats and attacks in the responses. He's got the shittiest pair of rose-colored-glasses I've ever seen. Anything said to him is either total support, or a death threat.
"If Common Sense was so common, it wouldn't be such a valued trait."
He has - and he used it in response to the inquery from the Florida Bar Association.
But in any case, I took a look at how his reply was written - it contained no soild arguments. While there is circumstancial, indirect, and/or vague claims, they are things that can be countered by a layman.
He also seems to claim that anti-SLAPP lawsuits are unconstitutional from the same letter, but that could be the highly ambigious interpretation speaking. Overall, it's nothing to worry about but something that can't be ignored right now.
Yes! Absolutely, help him! Refill his meds and make sure he actually takes them and doesn't spit them down the sink again!
You cannot truly appreciate Dilbert until you read it in the original Klingon.
Past topics:
Thompson threatens PA with lawsuit.
Thompson complains to Police against PA.
Now:
Thompson Calls The Feds On PA
Next on Slashdot:
Thompson sends in the Navy against PA.
Thompson demands ONZ to take steps against PA.
Thompson wants the Pope to excomunicate PA.
I wonder when he decides to use the nukes.
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