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Kotaku Games Blog Sued By Jack Thompson
Reacting to Kotaku's coverage of comments Thompson made last week about the VA Tech incident, Thompson has sued Kotaku and their parent company Gawker media. He also tried to sic the FBI on them (getting as much success there as he did with the Penny Arcade gents). From GamePolitics' coverage: "Thompson's ire was apparently raised by Kotaku reader comments which the attorney maintains are threatening. He also alleges in the complaint that Kotaku and Gawker declined to remove the menacing posts. The messages in question stem from Kotaku's coverage of Thompson's claims that video games prompted last week's Virginia Tech massacre. The Gawker suit is actually an amendment to an action Thompson filed on March 13th against the Florida bar. On April 11th he amended it to include the members of the Florida Supreme Court. And now Gawker joins the list of defendants."
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Drink deeply or not at all."
I bet this is the first time someone has ever used the phrase, "the chances are slim to none, and Slim just left town." in a Legal filing before.
Isn't enough that I ruined a pony, making a gift for you?
"Waah! Your readers were mean to me!"
If only all the nutjobs were as easily dismissable as Jack.
"Oh boy! Are we going to try something dangerous?"
Remember kids, when Grandpa goes senile, it's not a good idea to let him drive...or practice law.
"Live as if you'll die tomorrow." Ridiculous. You could die later today.
It's pretty funny if you read it. Thompson is so eloquent when you calls people "liberal intolerants" and "Stalinists."
"...today consumers have been conditioned to think of beer when they see a bullfrog..."
"Vexatious litigation is legal action which is brought, regardless of its merits, solely to harass or subdue an adversary. It may take the form of a primary frivolous lawsuit or may be the repetitive, burdensome, and unwarranted filing of meritless motions in a matter which is otherwise a meritorious cause of action. It is considered an abuse of the judicial process and almost always brings down sanctions on the offender." -- wikipedia
Belief is the currency of delusion.
From the desk of the millions of normal people who play games:
Much like you, we were deeply disturbed by the actions of the shooter at Virginia Tech and feel terribly for the families of the lost. However we deeply resent the fact that you have totally bypassed the issue at hand and chosen instead to scapegoat the electronic entertainment industry. Perhaps instead of blaming videogames (which are clearly not your area of expertise) we should instead delve a little deeper in order to find what causes these depraved/deprived individuals to take such drastic measures. Your "proof" of a link to video game violence is tenuous at best - equivalent to such joke statistics as bread creating murderers. Statistical correlation is not proof of cause and effect but beyond that, you have failed to even show a statistical correlation, instead bringing up the specific examples where the statistics say what you want to prove.
Like naysayers for the past several centuries, you see the advent of a new form of entertainment as the downfall of society. Novels, the waltz, radio and television have all been targetted in the past and so far civilization has emerged unscathed (but not unchanged).
Perhaps this is the issue; you (and millions of right-wing conservatives) are afraid of what the future may bring. Who knows what changes the liberalization of the West may bring?
In short, we feel that you are doing nobody any good - you are attempting (and luckily failing) to take the attention away from the actual issues (which in the case of the VT shooting are as of yet indetermined).
Signed,
Gamers of the world.
P.S. While we harbour you no malice, I wouldn't suggest you attempt any retribution - we have all been trained on "murder simulators" . . .
Godless heathen.
I don't understand how people get so diluted in their views on reality. Can't they just realize that they are sometimes (read: often) wrong? Another recent example that stuck with me throughout this story is that of Michael Crook. (And in this example of Crook, after his apology video he posted an "I'm not really sorry, but I had to say it." video to YouTube. I'm not linking it to spare you all.)
I thought it was common sense that if you get proven wrong (or your lies dissected) that you get the fuck over it and get on with your life, right? The only thing to gain is a more wide-spread reputation -- but mind you, it's the type of reputation you want.
That said, what is it that spawns these people? They seem to infest society in both recent and dated history... Nobody ever likes them, so why do they do that to themselves?
When a moron like Jack Thompson is allowed to toss frivolous lawsuits at every man woman and child that says or does something he doesn't like. I'd think all this horse-shit he keeps pulling would bite him in the ass, but it never does.
I am going to kill Jack Thompson with a chainsaw.
I should get a job in law, it obviously doesn't require the slightest bit of intelligence.
If I were a lawyer I'd be deeply offended by that complaint. Lord help us if Jack ever writes a biblical commentary.
Thunderclone: ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE! ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE!
that Jack Thompson is in fact suing all these companies. It means he's falling and knows it. He's going to try to take whoever he can with him. within a year no one will know he existed.
THe best thing to ever happen in the favor of gamers was Jack's soap box jump within hours of Vtech. Blaming games, and saying Cho never would NEVER have "learned to enjoy killing withoutplaying violent video games". Only to later find out, that Cho, well never really played games. Maybe mine sweaper to pass some boring class time.
He made the biggest fool of himself and lost all credibility he had. Jack's an empty shell and a nobody now. While someone else will eventually take his place in the crusade, gamers everywhere can comfortably play games without scrutiny.
To all of us rational minded people, we may look at the comment that the kotaku reader left and think this lawsuit is very silly, but we're talking about Jack Thompson here. In his mind, games like Grand Theft Auto aren't games, they're training tools to teach potential future killers.
To us, we may see this user's comment that that Jack should be shot for attempting to exploit the tragedy as the hyperbole that it is. To Jack though, this is potentially a trained killer making a threat, which is ridiculous, but then again, so is Jack Thompson in general.
Don't mind me, I'm just rambling...
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Someone should create a 'Sued by Jack Thompson' logo for gaming sites.
[Insert pithy quote here]
Seriously, why isn't this filed under humor? The brief is hilarious! It starts out kind of slow, but pretty soon he gets going. Jack starts throwing around terms like "internet idiot," and accuses the Florida Bar of conspiring with opposing attorneys to "hector" him. The further he goes, the more emotional, paranoid, and downright loony he gets. It'd be a great joke if the lunatic weren't serious.
If you are really serious about your weird pseudo-statistical theory, shouldn't you thank the VT shooter? After all, chances are that, it being a tech U and all, there were quite a few other gamers among his victims. Surely, if you are right, they would all sooner or later have gone on a killing spree. Right?
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
made people half as violent as he wished, wouldn't one of us gamers have shot him already?
It's only a matter of time until this guy sues himself. I can see it now: "Your honor, on the day in question after locking my keys in my car I called myself an idiot and slapped myself on the forehead. This is a clearcut case of slandering myself and, even worse, assaulting myself. It's obvious I present a clear and present danger to myself and I demand you grant a restraining order ordering me to stay at least 500 feet from me at all times. In addition I think it only right you award me $3 million in damages to be paid by me to me at once. Thank you." Yup, any day now.
You are so boring that when I see you my feet go to sleep.
Sure it's broken. He's a vexatious litigant and a disgrace to the profession; he should be disallowed from filing lawsuits without explicit permission of the courts. That's it. Problem solved.
Belief is the currency of delusion.
The answer to this problem is clear, if we can only muster the will to follow through on it. We must ban those monstrous "Phoenix Wright - Ace Attorney" games, and protect our children from their insidious influence.
It is clear to any right-thinking person that these so-called "games" are in fact Lawyer Simulations. Thanks to their brutal desensitization we are in danger of creating an entire generation of Jack Thompsons.
Please, think of the children.
-T.
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The real Tetsujin 28 is a giant robot.
Declaring yourself an expert is easy, I love it!
psmylie's dictionary: Godzillion (noun) Any number large enough to destroy Tokyo
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