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Blizzard Sued By South Carolina Inmate

Benjamin Duranske writes "Jonathan Lee Riches, an inmate in South Carolina famous for filing long, handwritten, rambling screeds against celebrities, politicians, and even buildings, has filed a third-party motion in Federal Court in Arizona in the MDY v. Blizzard botting case claiming that Blizzard's World of Warcraft 'caused Riches mind to live in a virtual universe, where Riches explored the landscape committing identity theft and fighting cybermonster rival hacker gangs. Riches was addicted to video games and lost touch with reality because of defendants. This caused Riches to commit fraud to buy defendants video games. Riches chose World of Warcraft over working a legit job, Riches mind became a living video game.'"

57 of 239 comments (clear)

  1. Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Informative
    This is another ridiculous lawsuit. I was first aware of this when he sued Michael Vick a while back. He is an attention whore, please do not give him anymore attention!

    Check out this recent lawsuit and its defendents:

    George W Bush, Richard B. Cheney, Condeleza Rice, Donald H Rumsfeld, John W Snow, Unknown Authors, Carlos M Gutierrez, Michael O Leavitt, Elaine Chao, Stephen L Johnson, Margaret Spellings, Samuel W Bodman, Norman Y Mineta, Hillary Rodham Clinton, James Hoffa, www.GOOGLE.com, Benedict, XVI, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Jerry West, www.ACCUWEATHER.com, Usama Bin Laden, William Gates, Hugo Chavez, John Deere, Adolf Hitler's National Socialist Party, Island Def Jam Music Group, Roc-A Fella Records, Shawn Carter, Queen of England, Jo Anne B Barnhart, Steven Spielberg, RJ Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc, Japan's Nikkei Stock Exchange, Gambino, Three Mile Island, Kofi Annaan, Tony Danza, Islamic Republic of Iran, Don King Productions Inc, Paris Hilton, Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah's Witness, Jose Padilla, University of Miami, Geico Insurance, Vienna Convention, Matt Drudge, Marion Blakey, Consulate General of Nigeria, The Salvation Army, Jewish State of "Israel", John E Potter, Soledad O'Brien, Miles O'Brien, Magna Carta, Tsunami victims, Alan Greenspan, American Red Cross, Mark Emerson, Jessica Alba, Sirius Satellite Radio, Charles Moose, Dalai Lama, Houston Chronicle, Al Qaeda Islamic Army, Fruit of A-Loom, American Civil Liberties Union, Out-Back Steakhouse, Donald J Trump, Chris Berman, Vatican, The, Shawn John Combs, Michael Brown, Vincent K McMahon, Taliban, The, Richard M Daley, Meals on Wheels, John Grisham, Columbine High School, Ariel Sharon, United Parcel Service, Tara Reid, Black Entertainment Television Inc, Saddam Hussein, Jewish Workers, Brad Pitt, Jack Welch, Elizabeth Smart, George E Pataki, Charlie Sheen, Surgeon General, The, Vladimir Putin, Oliver North, George Orwell, www.ASKJEEVES.com, Sean O'Keefe, Various Buddhist Monks, www.SECUREDPARTY.com, I Lewis Libby, Warren Buffett, Sierra Club, John D Negroponte, Christina Applegate, Jewish Mossad, National Vanguard Books, Air and Space Museum, Christopher Reeves, Gale A Norton, Halliburton Company, Kellogg Brown & Root, John Walsh, Mein Kampf, City of Crawford Texas, John P Abizaid, Venus Williams, www.DEFCON.org, John Dudas, Medieval Times, International Trade Commission, Anna Nichole Smith, United States Marine Corps, William F Buckley, Denny's, Brotherhood of the Snake, Larry King, Charles E Schumer, Rastafarian Natives, Spencer Abraham, Rollingstone Magazine, Monogram Bank of Georgia, Grace Jones, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, Planet Hollywood, Joseph H Boardman, Marshall Bruce Mathers, III, Uliminati,Founder Adam Weishaupt, The Apollo Theater, David W Anderson, Assistant Secretary For Indian Affairs, Jason Society, Wu Tang Clan, Wu-Wear Inc, Philip Purcell, CEO Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Nordic Gods, Presidental Emergency Operation Center, Screen Actors Guild Inc, R James Nicholson, New York Stock Exchange Inc, The Da Vinci Code, Moorish Science Temple of America, Sears Tower, Mike Tyson, Native American Fish Society, Holocaust Survivors, Byzantine Republic Army, Dennis Hopper, Mt. Rushmore, Barbara Walters, First Presbyterian Church, Gordan R Sullivan, Yellow Cab Company, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America, Michael Savage, Dennis Hastert, Green Bay's Lambeau Field, Slobodan Milosevic, Pizza Hut, King James Bible, Scott Peterson, Department of Housing and Urban Affiars, Smithsonian Institute, Robert C Bonner, Ming Dynasty, Ray Nagin, Barry Bonds, Thomas J Ridge, Jenna Bush, Gangs in Hong Kong, United Methodist Church, European Union, Porter Goss, Harrah's Las Vegas Inc, Grand Wizard of Ku Klux Klan, General Motors, Christopher Cox, Proctor & Gamble, Jewish Synagogue's, www.ebay.com, Knights of Malta, A

    --
    My work here is dung.
    1. Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well, I always thought Al Jazeera and Bumble Bee Tuna were connected somehow.

      Finally, proof.

    2. Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by nickheart · · Score: 3, Funny

      He also sued Hurricane Katrina

    3. Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by JCSoRocks · · Score: 2, Funny

      He's suing fruit of A-Loom rather than fruit of The Loom - that's how you know he's crazy.

      --
      You are using English. Please learn the difference between loose and lose; they're, there, and their; your and you're.
    4. Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by Cocoa+Radix · · Score: 3, Funny

      Most people forget that important little "Home Depot" bridge between the two...

      Common mistake. Don't beat yourself up about it.

    5. Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by camperdave · · Score: 4, Funny

      The Da Vinci Code? Magna Carta? Statue of Liberty? Miles O'Brien? George W Bush?

      He's suing inanimate objects and fictional characters? Good luck with that!

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    6. Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by internerdj · · Score: 4, Funny

      George W Bush is a fictional character? That explains so much and is a great relief at the same time.

    7. Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by Itninja · · Score: 5, Funny

      No, that was one of the inanimate objects.

      --
      I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
    8. Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by firex726 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Looks like Pluto is off the hook. He calls it a "Planet".

    9. Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by internerdj · · Score: 2, Funny

      Awww. Well at least it still explains alot.

    10. Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by Adriax · · Score: 4, Funny

      Lawyers don't play the Kevin Bacon game anymore, they play the 1 degree of separation to Jonathan Lee Riches game.

      --
      I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
    11. Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by Rogerborg · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, sure. "Lonely bored crazy guy yells at squirrels in the park" is not a headline either.

      --
      If you were blocking sigs, you wouldn't have to read this.
    12. Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by pcolaman · · Score: 3, Funny

      I guess that's why he was suing GWB, since Bush used the weather machine to create Hurricane Katrina.

    13. Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by Rick+Bentley · · Score: 4, Funny

      He must be lonely in prison.

      Maybe we can arrange for him to get a new friend...

      --
      My favorite quote doesn't fit into 120 characters. Now no one will like me.
    14. Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by nizo · · Score: 4, Funny

      Apparently he doesn't realize that when google lawbot indexes this, it is gonna toss out all these random keywords, right?

      Or is there some secret message in there somewhere?

    15. Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by crawling_chaos · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'm not sure what "Jewish Mossad" is though. Is there a "Hindu Mossad"?

      Yes, there is. They are not as good at intelligence, but their song and dance routines are legendary.

      --
      You can only drink 30 or 40 glasses of beer a day, no matter how rich you are.
      -- Colonel Adolphus Busch
    16. Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by monkeyman_67156 · · Score: 2, Funny

      I like how he sues the article "The". He'd probably have a better chance going after the preposition, "around".

    17. Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by Bu11etmagnet · · Score: 5, Funny

      I wonder if he could be transferred to an Alaska prison...

      Nah. Just put him in a cell with an ex-lawyer from Florida.

      That would be classified as cruel and unusual punishment...

      --
      Life is complex, with real and imaginary parts.
    18. Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by Samah · · Score: 2, Funny

      The two criteria were not mutually exclusive, you know. ;)

      --
      Homonyms are fun!
      You're driving your car, but they're riding their bikes there.
    19. Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by thePowerOfGrayskull · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yeah, but against which one?

    20. Re:Please Don't Give This Man Attention! by lordshipmayhem · · Score: 2, Funny

      Their guards

  2. Re:Guess What? by TinFoilMan · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wouldn't "poor riches" be an oxymoron?

    --
    In my other life, I eat cats.
  3. Same thing happened to me after Metroid by antifoidulus · · Score: 5, Funny

    after I found out there may be a space-pirate-ass-kicking chick with a lazer and a "screw attack" out there, I couldn't stop masturbating.

    1. Re:Same thing happened to me after Metroid by RabidMoose · · Score: 4, Funny

      Sue Nintendo for loss of genetic material.

  4. Miscategorized by davidwr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This belongs in stupidpeople.slashdot.org, attentionwhores.slashdot.org, or the catch-all idle.slashdot.org, not games.slashdot.org.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  5. Option past "dismissed" by Alcimedes · · Score: 2, Funny

    Can a judge just say "fuck off already" to this kind of crap?

    1. Re:Option past "dismissed" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Can a judge just say "fuck off already" to this kind of crap?

      Talk about a campaign slogan. Vote Judge Common F. Sense in 2008! If you don't like it, fuck off!

      I'd sure as hell vote for him.

  6. Counter-suit by Shotgun · · Score: 4, Funny

    Can the judge sue Riches for being driven from having to read such drivel?

    --
    Aah, change is good. -- Rafiki
    Yeah, but it ain't easy. -- Simba
  7. amazing how video games warp the mind but ads dont by GeezTheGeeza · · Score: 2, Insightful

    its amazing the continuing trend of folks using the 'my mind was warped by the normalisation and glamour of violence in video games and horror films' but these same people have sufficiently strong minds to not succumb to the continuous deluge of advertising thrust upon us every day. in the 90's we had advertising everywhere, the sidewalk, the urinals, the sky, but NEVER in our dreams

  8. I, for one, want his number... by kaizendojo · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'd like to sue the game Dead or Alive. I can no longer perform sexually unless my girlfriend wears tight clothes and high kicks me repeatedly in the groin.

    1. Re:I, for one, want his number... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Move to germany.

      Thats normal over there.

    2. Re:I, for one, want his number... by Lobster+Quadrille · · Score: 2, Funny

      I recommend a rehabilitation program- play DOAX until you are comfortable with them wearing bikinis and jumping around.

      --
      "The cup is in turn designed for holding hot or cold liquids, and has an open rim and closed base." --US Patent #5425497
  9. Thank goodness the election is over by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now we can get back to the quality stories that Slashdot is known for.

  10. Because it's fun? by nine-times · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Riches chose World of Warcraft over working a legit job

    So he's suing because he'd prefer to play the game than have a legit job? There are tons of things I'd rather do than my job, and my job isn't even all that bad. But here at work, I'd rather be watching a movie than doing my job. Yet here I am, at work.

    ... posting on Slashdot. Can I sue Slashdot for being more interesting than my job?

  11. Riches again? by yerktoader · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm starting to think that Riches must be related to Jack Thompson...

  12. Sorry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I feel sorry for the guy. He should be in a psychiatric ward, not a prison.

  13. Has he even played the game? by RichMan · · Score: 3, Informative

    Given his history when would he have been not in jail and playing the game in the last 4 years?

    He gets out in 2012. I could not find the date he was committed.

    "Riches has court cases in Pennsylvania dating back to 1996. In 1996 he was arrested for a bomb threat to Conestoga High School."

    1. Re:Has he even played the game? by DarthVain · · Score: 4, Funny

      Isn't that when Sarah Palin will run for President? Perhaps she needs a running mate?

  14. Re:When the death penalty is appropriate by mapsjanhere · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That's a bit extreme, simply write a bot program that can do "meaningful" judicial exchanges with the person in question. Let him have his fun writing long memos, and the program sends him back memoranda, motions and decision. He's happy, and no one else notices.

    --
    I'm aging rapidly, I bought a new game and had no idea if my machine was good for it.
  15. legal system abuse by Atreide · · Score: 2, Insightful

    can't judge fine him for legal system abuse ?

    --
    The world belongs to those who get up early. - I'm far from being the king of Earth then :-(
  16. Obligatory by dedazo · · Score: 4, Funny
    --
    Web2.0: I love when people Flickr my cuil and digg my boingboing until my google is reddit and I start to yahoo
  17. Re:Hahah, Oh wow. by compro01 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Unfortunately, I don't think any state besides California has a vexatious litigant status.

    --
    upon the advice of my lawyer, i have no sig at this time
  18. Re:Huh? by kaizendojo · · Score: 2, Funny

    Below NORTH Carloina and East of Goergia

  19. So a crazy person... by Itninja · · Score: 4, Informative

    ....does something crazy. Big deal. Why is this even on /.? Oh, I see, it marginally relates to video games. News? No. For nerds? Maybe. Stuff that matters? Not remotely. Epic fail.

    --
    I judt got a nre Kinesis keybiartf so please excusr ant egregiou typos.
  20. Re:Has he even played the game? - No by RichMan · · Score: 3, Informative

    World of Warcraft Release date 2004-11-23

    JLR was convicted of fraud in 2004 and incarcerated.

    I can't find a date on it but unlikely he was caught and convicted between Nov 23 and the end of the year.

    His release date is 2012-03-23. And he was sentenced to 8 years.

  21. Re:throw a guy a bone here, will ya? by Lobster+Quadrille · · Score: 3, Informative

    You bolded 6 instances of his name, but only two deserved apostrophes.

    --
    "The cup is in turn designed for holding hot or cold liquids, and has an open rim and closed base." --US Patent #5425497
  22. Hell yeah! by holychicken · · Score: 2, Funny

    He is just telling you what those fat-cats at Blizzard don't want you to know! This has got a chance! Go, go crazy prison dude!

  23. I'm a victim too. by bennomatic · · Score: 4, Funny

    I should sue /. for forcing me to live in a fantasy universe where my input is considered, alternately, funny, insightful or merely overrated.

    --
    The CB App. What's your 20?
  24. Some Legal Clarification by 314m678 · · Score: 2, Informative

    the inmate has attempted to join the suit even though his presence is not requested or required by the plaintiff or defendant. He can do this under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(b), however the judge will quickly dismiss it because FRCP 24(b)1b requires that his claim shares a common question of law or fact as the main case.

  25. check out the last order in this case by Rene+S.+Hollan · · Score: 5, Informative

    "MINUTE entry before Judge Harry D. Leinenweber : It has come to the Court's attention that the docketing department of the Clerk's Office is still inputing the names of the hundreds of defendants named in this action. This action was dismissed on 8/17/07 for failure to state a claim, and the Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal on 10/31/07 for failure to pay the required docketing fee. It is a waste of judicial resources for the Clerk's Office to continue adding these names to a closed case that the Court determined was delusional in its order of 8/17/07. The Clerk is therefore directed to cease adding the defendants' names to this docket. As this is an internal housekeeping matter, the Clerk is directed not to send notice of this order to Plaintiff. No notice to be mailed (gcy, )"

    --
    In Liberty, Rene
    1. Re:check out the last order in this case by Pulzar · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Poor judge who has to deal with it and waste time on actually writing a full motion to dismiss the case, including references to supreme court cases explaining what is delusional and what's not. A fun read nonetheless :).

      --
      Never underestimate the bandwidth of a 747 filled with CD-ROMs.
  26. Better lawsuit against Blizzard by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 3, Funny

    If he wants to sue Blizzard at least sue them for a real crime, like the warcraft reputation system.

    --
    It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
  27. Re:Riches chose World of Warcraft... by MindlessAutomata · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Isn't WoW a prison unto itself?

  28. You say "attention whore", I say "insane". by sgant · · Score: 4, Funny

    Seriously, the guy is delusional. Insane. A nutter. Crazy. Over the rainbow. Bars in the window. Truly gone fishing. Out to lunch.

    He's apeshit mad, barmy, batty, berserk, bonkers, cracked, crazed, cuckoo, daft, delirious, demented, deranged, dingy, dippy, erratic, flaky, flipped, flipped out, freaked out, fruity, idiotic, kooky, lunatic, mad, maniacal, mental, moonstruck, nutty as fruitcake, of unsound mind, out of his tree, psycho, he's round the bend, a schizo, a screwball, he has a screw loose, silly, touched, unbalanced, unglued, unhinged, unzipped, wacky.

    (yes, much was copied and pasted from thesaurus.com)

    --

    "Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
    1. Re:You say "attention whore", I say "insane". by Chris+Burke · · Score: 2, Funny

      "Seriously, the guy is delusional. Insane. A nutter. Crazy. Over the rainbow. Bars in the window. Truly gone fishing. Out to lunch.

      He's apeshit mad, barmy, batty, berserk, bonkers, cracked, crazed, cuckoo, daft, delirious, demented, deranged, dingy, dippy, erratic, flaky, flipped, flipped out, freaked out, fruity, idiotic, kooky, lunatic, mad, maniacal, mental, moonstruck, nutty as fruitcake, of unsound mind, out of his tree, psycho, he's round the bend, a schizo, a screwball, he has a screw loose, silly, touched, unbalanced, unglued, unhinged, unzipped, wacky."

      "This... is an ex-sane person!"

      Sorry, I couldn't help but read your whole post in the voice of John Cleese, and then I just had to finish it.

      --

      The enemies of Democracy are
  29. Re:When the death penalty is appropriate by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    FOR SALE: Sense of humor.

    Mint condition - never been used.

  30. Your kidding... by Valcrus · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Riches chose World of Warcraft over working a legit job

    If this works I'm going to quit my job to masturbate all the time. Then I will sue the Govt and the Porn industries of the world for causing me to quit my job and for the horrible calluses I would develop from constant fapping.