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Note: This is not Thompson's wiki entry, that is here. This is a whiteboard of events, gathered together from many different websites so they can be organized and eventually put on the main page. This page is a research tool to help write the article, not an article itself.

Contents 1 Bio 2 Political run 3 Man in Miami 4 Video game cases 4.1 James vs. Meow Media 4.2 Strickland vs. Sony 4.3 Miscellaneous cases 4.4 Investigation by Florida Bar Association 5 Activism 5.1 Video Games 5.2 Ad hominem attacks on Douglas Lowenstein 5.3 Communications with Gamers 5.4 "A Modest Video Game Proposal" 5.5 Amazon.com threatened with legal action 5.6 Jacob Robida Murders 5.7 National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF) 5.8 Video game legislation lobbying 5.9 Other video game-related incidents 5.10 Howard Stern 6 Flowers for Jack 7 Other legal cases 7.1 Ileana Flores 7.2 First Amendment issues 7.3 2 Live Crew suit 7.4 Freedom Alliance 7.5 Miami radio stations 8 See also 9 Books 10 External links 10.1 News 10.2 Interviews 10.3 Articles and Editorials By Jack Thompson 10.4 Contrary opinion(s) 10.5 Vocal opposition 10.6 Parodies 11 References 12 The incident 13 Mayor blames videogames 14 Thompson comments 15 Letters to court officials 16 Threats against newspaper 17 Other letters & statements 18 Calls for District Attorney's arrest 19 The "Modest Proposal" 20 Defamation of Character: A Jack Thompson Murder Simulator 21 I'm O.K. - A Murder Simulator 22 Penny Arcade 23 LiveJournal/GamePolitics 23.1 LiveJournal Parodies 24 Correspondence 25 Response 26 Threats 27 Metalgearsolid.org 27.1 Grand Theft Auto 27.1.1 Hot Coffee 27.1.2 Jacksboro shooting 27.1.3 Liberty City Stories parody 27.1.4 Other GTA-related incidents 27.2 The Sims 2 27.3 Bully 27.4 Killer7 27.5 The Warriors 27.6 25 to Life 27.7 Postal 27.8 Halo 27.9 Manhunt 27.10 The Getaway 27.11 Call of Duty 2 27.12 Alabama Pro Hac Vice Status revoked

[edit] Bio

John Bruce "Jack" Thompson (born 1951) is a Miami, Florida-based attorney at law and is often cited in the media for his views on the effects of obscenity and violence in popular media. He grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. He is a BA graduate of Denison University, and is a 1976 JD graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Law. He has practiced as a medical malpractice attorney in Florida since his acceptance into The Florida Bar (formerly the Florida State Bar Association) in 1977. www.martindale.com/xp/Martindale/Lawyer_Locator/Search_Lawyer_Locator/search_detail.xml?STS=10&LNAME=thompson&CN=&PG=1&bc=65&CRY=1&FN=&FNAME=John&STYPE=N&a=568DC4F72C5D91&l=&type=2&pos=1&cnt=4 Since the mid-70's he has been married to Patricia Thompson, a fellow attorney who specializes in commercial law.

[edit] Political run

In 1988 Thompson ran for and won the Republican candidate nomination for the position for Office of Dade County State Attorney. He subsequently lost the election to the incumbent, future Attorney General of the United States Janet Reno. During the lead-up to the election, Thompson allegedly accused Reno of being blackmailed by the Mafia, and implied that she was a closet lesbian. conwebwatch.tripod.com/outthere/otthompson.html

[edit] Man in Miami

In April, 2000, Thompson became a featured writer for NewsMax.com as their "Man in Miami". In several articles for NewsMax, he made a series of allegations regarding Reno, claiming among other things that she was suffering from various mental disorders as side effects of medication for Parkinson's disease. web.archive.org/web/20010416003717/www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2000/8/27/193359 web.archive.org/web/20010609064203/www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=2000/5/1/162149

[edit] Video game cases

Thompson is an advocate of preventing minors from accessing violent media due to what he calls "harmful influences". In the pursuit of this, he contributed to several notable lawsuits detailed below.

Thompson has also been involved in video game activism outside the courtroom (see Jack Thompson#Activism).

[edit] James vs. Meow Media

In 1999 Thompson, working on behalf of parents of three girls killed in the Paducah, Kentucky school shooting by a 14-year-old student, filed a lawsuit against various entertainment entities, including video game makers, console manufacturers, movie companies, pornographic websites, and retailers. The suit was dismissed at the trial level. This dismissal was upheld by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and in 2003, the US Supreme Court denied certiorari.

See main article: Paducah schoolhouse shootings class action suit

[edit] Strickland vs. Sony

In 2003, Devin Moore was arrested for suspicion of car theft in Alabama. While at the police station, he grabbed an officer's gun, and shot and killed both officers present as well as the dispatcher. He was found guilty of murder in 2005 and sentenced to death by lethal injection. Thompson filed a lawsuit on behalf of the families of the three victims, attempting to link the incident to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Thompson was removed from the lawsuit by the judge who revoked his Pro Hac Vice status (a temporary license to practice law in Alabama) for Thompson's pre-trial conduct. A motion to dismiss the lawsuit was denied, and another lawyer on the plaintiffs' team took over the case.

See sub-article Strickland vs. Sony

[edit] Miscellaneous cases

Thompson attempted to persuade the lawyers defending Dustin Lynch, charged with the murder of JoLynn Mishne, that video games were responsible for the defendant's actions. The defending lawyers declined to employ this line of reasoning, at which point Thompson offered to defend Lynch for free. The defending lawyers did not accept Thompson's offer. Dustin's mother initially insisted that the judge appoint Thompson as her son's lawyer, but later reversed that decision after declaring "It has nothing to do with video games or Paxil, and my son's no murderer." www.antidepressantsfacts.com/2003-09-16-plain-dealer-teen-trial-in-murder-girl.htm

[edit] Investigation by Florida Bar Association

In response to Thompson's behavior regarding Penny-Arcade's response to Thompson's "Modest Proposal" (see A Modest Video Game Proposal), Penny Arcade forum members wrote, edited and sent letters and faxes to the Florida Bar Association detailing Thompson's activities and urging the review of his license to practice law. Jack Thompson had already received a reprimand by the Bar for his actions in 1998, and is still under investigation from two previous complaints, both of which relate to Thompson's fight with Howard Stern. A representative of the Florida Bar Association acknowledged that they received several thousand complaints, and the letters and faxes forwarded to the disciplinary committee. However, they are not investigating Thompson on this issue at this time. www.gamespot.com/news/6136188.html.

Thompson has sent his own letter to the FBA, reminding the FBA that the last time he was investigated they had to pay him damages. The settlement was reported to be around $20,000 USD. www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/173623.html The letter a fan sent to the FBA can be read at www.penny-arcade.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=17111327#17111327 the Penny-arcade forums.

Following his dismissal from the Strickland vs. Sony case in Alabama, the Florida Bar once again opened a disciplinary investigation into Thompson's behavior, following a referral by judicial officials in Alabama. Thompson responded with a letter threatening to contact the Bar's insurance carrier over "The Bar's ongoing, recidivist, tortious conduct". www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/166568.html

As of the 8th of January, 2006, Jack Thompson's website stopkill.com has been closed down and redirected to a spam site. Thompson has since opened a new website. www.theflabar.org/ theflabar.org is a text based website, directly abusing the Florida Bar Association and others who were responsible for giving Thompson his license, citing ethical and moral disputes. Many of the claims on the site include claiming that Thompson was not forcing his entertainment and religious beliefs on others, counter to what the Florida Bar is perceiving. The final note on the website is asking anyone who views the page to rise up and oppose the Florida Bar Association.

According to GamePolitics gamepolitics.livejournal.com/190366.html, the FBA currently has 3 investigations into Thompson. One for Blank Rome, one for the Alabama Bar Association, and one pertaining to Howard Stern.

[edit] Activism

Jack Thompson has a set of arguments and phrases that he often reinforces in public speeches.

• Thompson describes video games with violent or competitive content as "murder simulators" and "sexual simulators".

• Thompson asserts that young persons accused of violent crimes have "trained" or "rehearsed" their actions using "murder simulators".

• Thompson asserts that video games are used by the military to desensitize and remove the inhibition to kill. A lot of commercial off-the-shelf computer games serve military purposes.www.dodgamecommunity.com One of the earliest games for military usage was Marine Doom, a modified version of Doom II used to train United States Marine Corps fireteams in decision making skills. The United States Army has developed a first-person shooter called America's Army as a recruitment tool. In response to many of their troops playing video games while deployed, the U.S. Army also commissioned Pandemic Studios to produce a tactical training simulation, which was later turned into a commercially released game, Full Spectrum Warrior. The original military version of the game and its companion for higher-ranking personnel, Full Spectrum Command, can be unlocked within the retail version.

• Thompson frequently refers to medical studies that he claims scientifically prove that there is a link between violent media and aggressive behavior. Although he has used several variations of this argument, a statement on his website is typical of the approach taken:

  "Recent medical brain scan studies at Harvard and Indiana University prove ... children's brain functions are damaged by a steady diet of violent images and messages."

  The Indiana University study makes no mention of children's brain functions being "damaged" by exposure to violent media. It is mentioned that "there is a difference in the brain activation patterns of youths with Disruptive Behaviour Disorder and those without when exposed to a specific stimulus," but it is not explicitly claimed that there is a correlation between exposure to violent media and brain activity. (The study was funded by "Center for Successful Parenting", a lobby group campaigning against media violence.)

• Thompson states that games with adult content are developed for and marketed to children.

• Thompson claims that before (violent) video games "[k]ids took guns to school for 200 years in this country [the United States] without turning them on one another" www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/24/tech/gamecore/main676446.shtml.

• Thompson identifies himself as a Christian and frequently quotes the Bible to justify his actions. One such example is name-calling, which he claims the Bible does allow, but only as long as it is a truthful name. In an interview with the Sun-Sentinel, Thompson linked his views on religion and video gamesnews.neilrogers.com/news/articles/2004042112.html:

"The Bible doesn't promote killing innocent people," Thompson said. "Grand Theft Auto does."

• Thompson frequently makes use of character references, such as when he likened ESA head Doug Lowenstein to Joseph Goebbels, Hitler, and Saddam Hussein. (see CBS interview below) ^[1]

• Thompson has stated that companies like Rockstar Games work together with the Entertainment Software Association to release violent and/or sexual content to underage buyers.

• Webcomics like Penny Arcade, VG Cats, Ctrl+Alt+Del, and similar groups have also had much-publicized spats with him, further fueling controversy (See below in the Penny Arcade section).

• Thompson also blames violence on Islam, expressing his opinion that the Qur'an "promotes the killing of innocent people" and "infidels", who he claims the Qur'an identifies as Christians and Jews.

• Thompson regularly contradicts himself when asked about his views. He has said that "My only position for six years on this has been: Mature games must not be sold to minors. That is my only position." www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/146121.html?thread=7277769#t7277769 and "The Warriors must not fall into the hands of anyone under 18. In fact, it should not be sold to anyone" (sic) www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/71285.html

• In an www.netjak.com/review.php/1091 interview with Netjak's Rick Healey, he referred to video games as "a masturbatory activity" and told gamers to "put down the controller and get a life". (Also see Netjak for the interviewing group).

These views are conveyed in the legal cases above, and in his personal activism below.

[edit] Video Games

Over the course of his activism against violent and sexual content in video games, Thompson has singled out several specific titles. Most notable are any violent games from publisher Take-Two Interactive, specifically any developed by Rockstar Games.

See sub-article Jack Thompson/Video Game Activism

[edit] Ad hominem attacks on Douglas Lowenstein

^ In one of a series of "video game violence" interviews by CBS, he compared Douglas Lowenstein of the Entertainment Software Association to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels (this response has since been edited)^[2], in reference to Lowenstein's alleged role as "spin doctor" for the video game industry. Months thereafter, Thompson instead wrote an open letter comparing Lowenstein to Adolf Hitler, comparing Lowenstein's knowledge of the US Constitution to Hitler's apparent ignorance of Napoleon's failed attack on Moscow. In a June 2005 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Thompson implied that Lowenstein was worse than Saddam Hussein. Come July 2005, Thompson released the aforementioned open letter, simultaneously praising Hillary Clinton's call for federal game legislation and targeting Lowenstein, asking for his resignation. www.kotaku.com/gaming/top/thompson-calls-for-esa-pres-resignation-112565.php

[edit] Communications with Gamers

Thompson has often communicated with members of the video gaming community about his views. He may debate with gamers, or try to just make or prove a point. Gamers have also initiated communication with him as well. Much of this happens electronically, via e-mail or talk forums on gaming-related sites. Thompson often uses Biblical quotes in order to support his views.

See sub-article Jack Thompson and Video Gamers

[edit] "A Modest Video Game Proposal"

Main article: A Modest Video Game Proposal

On October 10, 2005, Thompson sent another open letter to members of the press and to Entertainment Software Association president Doug Lowenstein. He proposed that, if someone could "create, manufacture, distribute, and sell a video game in 2006" that allows players to play the scenario he has written, he will donate $10,000 to the charity of Take Two's chairman Paul Eibeler's choosing. The title of the letter alludes to Jonathan Swift's classic 18th century satire: A Modest Proposal.

Several groups took up the challenge and created games that mirror or parody the proposal, although none have fully satisfied the list of criteria Thompson laid out. Some accused Thompson of using the offer of charity as a ploy to gain attention, and that he had no intention of paying out the money. Thompson insisted the offer was real.

[edit] Amazon.com threatened with legal action

Soon after Jack Thompson's book, Out of Harm's Way www.amazon.com/gp/product/1414304420/104-6202971-7646343, appeared on Amazon.com users from the game community added prank personal pictures, recommended various sex books, and added various tags to the page, such as "unscientific" and "scaremonger". When it went on sale several people posted their one-star reviews of the book. Thompson has accused Amazon of not living up to their end of their contractual agreement which he claims should require all reviews that violate Amazon's terms of service to be removed.

A review by Jack Thompson was also added to Amazon's page www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/2005/10/01. Jack Thompson's long review condemned Amazon for the negative reviews but was also removed from the page, since it too violated Amazon's www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/14279631/102-1486469-3914558#reviewguidelines review guidelines. Thompson issued an ultimatum to Amazon to remove the negative reviews before November 20, 2005 at 7:16 P.M., and to block any further ones. Amazon has removed many reviews that don't adhere to its guidelines, but recommended Thompson use the "Report this" button to report inappropriate reviews (rather than emailing). www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/131391.html www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/135046.html www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/135431.html

On November 21, 2005, Thompson wrote a letter www.gamepolitics.com/images/JT-2-amazon.doc to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, accusing Amazon (among other things) of "knowingly collaborat[ing] in violations of the First Amendment" and "that Amazon.com does so at its own grave risk." www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/137095.html As of November 22nd the offending user submitted pictures have been taken down and the amount of reviews has been reduced to only 23, mostly unfavourable. The number of reviews before moderation peaked around 232.

[edit] Jacob Robida Murders

In February, 2006, an alleged neo-nazi attacked a gay bar in New Bedford, Massachusetts before fleeing to Arkansas. He killed a police officer, and later during a shootout with a police roadblock, killed his girlfriend, and himself. Thompson attempted to link the incident to Grand Theft Auto and Postal².

See sub-article Jack Thompson and the Jacob Robida murders

[edit] National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF)

Thompson's proposals and press have also ignited response from other sides of the video game debate. In an open letter, David Walsh, founder of the National Institute on Media and the Family, condemned Thompson for his use of biased and vitriolic tactics and asked him to refrain from implying that the Institute supports him and his work in any way. Walsh requested that Thompson remove his link to www.mediafamily.org the Institute's website from his own site. Additional details can be found at www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=12259 GamesIndustry.biz. Walsh also sent this letter to several others, including Senator Hillary Clinton, Bill Gates and Doug Lowenstein of the Entertainment Software Association.

Jack Thompson later replied to David Walsh gc.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=5909 in another letter. Thompson argued that Walsh withdrew support because Best Buy recently donated money to the NIMF; Thompson currently has a lawsuit against Best Buy. Thompson also criticized Walsh's decision to send an open letter, rather than "confronting me directly man-to-man."

Recently Thompson has been using Dr. Walsh's name to describe the ESRB as a "sham ratings system" that "Dr. David Walsh helped create" and that it "actually markets M games to kids rather than prohibit the sales of such games to kids." www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/130370.html?thread=5656386#t5656386 Dr. Walsh however, is not known to have assisted in the creation of the ESRB, which was formed from the old IDSA ratings system after pressure from Senator Joe Lieberman and Senator Herbert Kohl. www.gamespot.com/features/6090892/p-5.html As with other accusations Thompson has so far declined to elaborate, or provide supporting evidence of his accusations.

On November 28, 2005, Thompson sent out a press release claiming that a year previously, Best Buy had signed an agreement with him in order to settle a lawsuit he had brought against the retailer. The agreement was supposed to be that Best Buy would stop selling M rated games to anyone under the age of 17 (as a member of the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association, Best Buy already has such a policy). Thompson claimed to have done "a reverse sting" using his underaged son to buy the Mature-rated game The Warriors at one of their locations. www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/144632.html According to Jack, this one instance proves that Best Buy as a company was not living up to its end of the settlement, and vowed to bring a lawsuit against the retail giant asking the courts to enforce the original agreement. www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/144158.html?thread=7078942#t7078942 Some critics speculate that this press release was an attempt to discredit Dr. Walsh and the National Institute on Media and the Family, as their 10th Annual MediaWise Video Game Report Card www.mediafamily.org/research/report_vgrc_2005.shtml was released a day later, and praised Best Buy for the enforcement of their store policy with regards to not selling Mature-rated games to minors. Others speculate that the "settlement" was likely a standard letter explaining Best Buy's policy, and that Thompson is claiming they signed an agreement with him personally rather than the public at large. www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/145625.html Thompson later sent a letter to Dr. Walsh accusing him of a "conflict of interest", since Dr. Walsh allegedly received financial support from Best Buy. gc.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=6215

Dr. Walsh denies ever receiving financial support from Best Buy, admitting to receiving contributions from one of Best Buys' competitors, Target, which did not get praised in the report card. www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/164315.html

[edit] Video game legislation lobbying

Thompson has frequently claimed to be working with various levels of government to develop video game legislation aimed at restricting minors' access to "ultra-violent" video games. He has also turned on those he claimed he was working with, calling their work "failures" because they were unconstitutional. At one time he claimed to have been working with Sen. Hillary Clinton on a federal bill, but as soon as she held a fundraiser run by the ESA, Thompson denounced her, and from then on attacked her bill as "unconstitutional."

On September 29th, 2005, Thompson issued a press release claiming that Florida Governor Jeb Bush had personally asked him to write a bill restricting the sale of violent video games to minors. After the Governor's press office denied the Governor had made any such request, Thompson claimed that "Jeb Bush often says one thing and does another" and that "One of the Governor's chief policy advisors CALLED "ME." (sic) The press office acknowledges that Thompson spoke with one of the policy advisors, although they still insist that Thompson called them first with the offer. They also say Thompson was told that "the Governor does not use the bully pulpit to target individual industries", and that he should talk to his legislator if he wants to submit ideas for new bills. Critics have accused Thompson of twisting what was discussed with the policy advisor to make it seem like the Governor was asking Thompson to write legislation on his behalf. Both Thompson and the press office continue to insist they were each first called by the other, although Thompson no longer claims the request came from the Governor himself, but rather just from his office. www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/98611.html www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000203061323/#comments www.theinquirer.net/?article=26629

On January 12, 2006, Governor Jeb Bush officially announced that he would not be in favor of restrictions, saying, "I think self-regulation is the first step. Parents ought to take control over their children's lives... If it requires regulation after that, fine, but I don't think government should replace that... And sometimes we rush in to fill the void when it's more appropriate for moms and dads to be, ultimately, the best regulators." www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/florida/sfl-fvideo12jan12,0,3298917.story

On January 19, 2006, Thompson announced he was once again working on video game legislation, and planned to use Miller v. California in order to restrict violent games. Miller v. California only defined how legal definitions of obscenity cover the depiction or description of sexual content, not violent content. gamepolitics.livejournal.com/179894.html?thread=10991030#t10991030

February 15, 2006. Thompson announced he was working with Utah Rep. David Hogue on video game legislation. The bill (HB 0257) had initially been defeated in committee, but eventually passed the committee vote after the bill was narrowed to only focus on video games instead of all media. The bill would treat violence the same as pornography, using the Miller Test as a guide, although the test was ruled to only apply to sexual conduct, not violent conduct. gamepolitics.livejournal.com/207897.html?thread=14356249#t14356249 Rep. Hogue's office has not confirmed Thompson's involvement.

February 17, 2006, Thompson claimed he had helped North Carolina State Senator Julia Boseman write SB2, another bill that seeks to treat violent content as if it were sexual content, once again using the Miller Test as a guide, although the Miller Test was ruled by the US Supreme Court to only apply to sexual conduct. SB2 had passed a vote in the Senate and was now being considered by House Judiciary I Committee in preparation for a House reading. Once again Sen. Boseman has not confirmed Thompson's involvement. Unlike North Carolina's obscenity statues though, SB2 would only restrict violence in video games, not any other media. gamepolitics.livejournal.com/210675.html?thread=14747379#t14747379

[edit] Other video game-related incidents

On August 19th, 2005, Jack Thompson complained about a buddy icon that featured himself, which can be found on the Internet ^[3] (it was originally posted on badassbuddy.bolt.com/ BadassBuddy). He claimed to be terrified by it and contacted the NYPD and the FBI to investigate this case and New York offices of bolt.com to remove the offensive icon ^[4]. The icon was removed by the site owner before any action could be taken. Thompson has subsequently claimed the removal to be admission of guilt.

On October 10th, 2005 Jack Thompson posted in the GamePolitics.com www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/118400.html?thread=5442432#t5442432 website, going on record to say that Video Gamers are no better than the KKK or Skinheads. He goes on to claim that gamers missed the point of his use of the word Pixelante and it was "wholly predictable" (sic). This was in response to the GamePolitics.com website hosting a "Pixelante T-Shirt" competition in which all proceeds from the T-shirt sales would be sent to the ESA Charity.

Jack Thompson also suggested that the GamePolitics.com website hold a "Child Molester" T-shirt designing competition wherin the winning entry should be a photograph of Doug Lowenstein with the caption "Child Molester For Hire" beneath.

On December 15th, 2005, Thompson wrote a lengthy letter to Take-Two's CEO Paul Eibeler. The letter, sent out to many media outlets, summed up all the negative publicity Take-Two had received during the past year over the Hot Coffee incident, and reminded Eibeler of all of Thompson's threats, such as demanding that Rockstar's upcoming game, Bully, not be released. The letter also said that Eibeler was worse than Tom DeLay, as Thompson claims "Mr. DeLay doesn't mentally molest minors for money." psp.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=2181

On December 21st, 2005, Thompson bought shares in Take Two Interactive, so that he could attend shareholders' meetings, to directly confront its CEO, Paul Eibeler. Thompson took the opportunity in a letter to accuse Eibeler of following in Bill Gates' footsteps, and implied that Gates' games (such as Halo and Microsoft Flight Simulator) had trained the 9/11 hijackers, as well as the Washington Sniper. ds.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=3090

On February 9, 2006, Thompson announced he may be looking for clients for a class action lawsuit against News Corporation, owners of MySpace in relation to the Jacob Robida murders (see above). gamepolitics.livejournal.com/202166.html?thread=13483446#t13483446

[edit] Howard Stern

In mid-2003, a complaint by Thompson about radio shock-jock Howard Stern was investigated by the Federal Communications Commission. In 2004 the FCC fined Clear Channel $495,000 for indecency. Clear Channel dropped Stern from six of its networks, but he was quickly picked up by CBS Radio, (formerly Infinity Broadcasting) which serviced a larger area. He also wrote a letter to CBS Radio's parent company, Viacom, threatening civil action if they did not drop Stern altogether. www.neilrogers.com/news/articles/2004111604.html In early 2005, Thompson filed another complaint over on-air descriptions of sexual activity during Stern's radio show. The FCC has yet to rule on a fine (although the maximum penalty was proposed). Under pressure from the FCC and congress, CBS Radio censored Stern until he completed his move to Sirius Satellite Radio. Stern had signed a 5-year contract with Sirius in late 2004 for $500 million, to begin on January 1, 2006. Sirius has also promised to broadcast Stern's show online, although this has not happened yet.

[edit] Flowers for Jack

In January, 2006, two gamers started a group called "Flowers for Jack", and planned to raise money to send Thompson a large batch of flowers, as well as a letter contesting his stereotyping of gamers. The concept was to make a non-threatening statement and open a casual dialogue free of insults and generalizations. The group raised over $1,000 US, and approximately half was used to buy the flowers, while the other half was donated to charity.

In February, 2006, the flowers were sent, and Thompson denounced the incident as a "stunt" and "harassement". He then forwarded the flowers to Take Two Interactive and Blank Rome, along with his own letter, "in the memory of all of the people who now lie in the ground because of your reckless design, marketing, and sale of mature-rated murder simulators to children, facilitated by lawyers who know no shame."

See main article Flowers for Jack.

[edit] Other legal cases

[edit] Ileana Flores

Thompson first came into the public eye in 1986 when he represented Ileana Flores in her divorce from Frank Fuster. Fuster had been convicted the previous year of multiple counts of child abuse in the controversial Country Walk Case.

[edit] First Amendment issues

Following the Flores case Thompson became prominently involved in First Amendment issues, particularly concerning the possible effects of sexually violent material. The Florida Supreme Court ordered that he undergo psychiatric testing during this campaign, which he successfully passed. He later quipped that "I am the only officially certified sane lawyer in the entire state of Florida"^[5].

[edit] 2 Live Crew suit

Thompson led the campaign against the 1989 2 Live Crew album As Nasty As They Wanna Be. In the 1990 federal trial which ruled the album obscene, he submitted material as an amicus curiae. He would reprise this role as a third-party "expert" in various video games cases (see above). The court's decision led to the arrest of several members of the group and a record retailer, although the ruling was soon reversed, and the charges were dropped.

The CD has since returned to sale on Amazon.com and various other US media outlets with merely a tag saying "Explicit Language" www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000000QQP

[edit] Freedom Alliance

In 1992, Thompson represented Oliver North's www.freedomalliance.org Freedom Alliance at the annual Time Warner shareholders' meeting, regarding Ice T's song "Cop Killer". He put forward the argument that, should the song inflame listeners and lead to the killing of police officers, widows would be able to sue Time Warner over the content of the record. Time Warner subsequently dropped the performer.

As a result of Thompson's efforts against Ice T's song, he was named a "top ten" censor by the American Civil Liberties Union ^[6]. Thompson states on his website that he considers the ACLU's 'award' a badge of honor.

[edit] Miami radio stations

In 1988, Thompson unsuccessfully sued Miami radio stations WZTA and WINZ for 200 million dollars, for reportedly violating an agreement the two parties reached in late 1987 following a feud between Thompson and radio personality Neil Rogers. Rogers had a temporary restraining order against Thompson for harassment, stemming from Janet Reno's refusal to arrest Rogers over comments he made on air. By August of 1988, Thompson claimed that Rogers had violated the agreement by mentioning Thompson's name 40,000 times, keeping track by taping broadcasts made by Rogers. www.theroc.org/roc-mag/textarch/roc-03/roc03-03.htm www.ggl.com/news.php?NewsId=1806my.ampednews.com/images/photo_gallery/327_jack.jpg

[edit] See also

• Censorship
• Media controversy
• Moral panic
• Video game controversy
• Family Entertainment Protection Act
• Gamepolitics

[edit] Books

• Out of Harm's Way by Jack Thompson; ISBN 1414304420

[edit] External links

• www.stopkill.com Jack Thompson's stopkill.com (Currently off-line — see a cached version here: web.archive.org/web/20050311045523/www.stopkill.com/)
• www.starttruth.com StartTruth.com : : Spreading the truth about video games since 2005
• web.archive.org/web/20010416002606/www.freerepublic.com/forum/a39719ca95afa.htm FreeRepublic.com - Thread by Thompson warning FreeRepublic with legal action
• www.geocities.com/codemasterdavis/violence_articles.html Listing of articles related to Jack Thompson's "crusade against the gaming industry"
• croqaudile.com/?article_id=10299 Jack Thompson e-mail arguments against a 14 year old regarding video games
• gr.bolt.com/articles/violence/violence.htm The Truth About Violent Youth and video games on gr.bolt.com Game Revolution
• www.floridabar.org/names.nsf/All/07D079003898F95585256A830051348B?OpenDocument Thompson's Membership in the Florida Bar
• money.cnn.com/2003/01/29/commentary/game_over/column_gaming/ CNN/Money: Crackpot or crusader?
• www.jackthompson.org/ JackThompson.org: Informational site about Thompson
• www.apfn.org/apfn/IBT1.htm Jack Thompson Exposes Reno at Indianapolis Baptist Temple - APFN.org
• 216.120.255.192/~muncdho/thommys_doc.doc Palmer Trinity Convocation, April 13, 2005 - By Jack Thompson (Ms word file)
• gr.bolt.com/articles/jack/jack.htm "Jack Thompson Tried To Arrest My Boss" from gr.bolt.com Game Revolution
• www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000627063759 Penny-Arcade donates 10K to the Entertainment Software Association Foundation after Jack Thompson withdraws his proposal to donate the same amount of money from www.joystiq.com Joystiq
• www.theflabar.org/ "Welcome to www.theflabar.org" (Jack Thompson's website defaming the Florida Bar)
• www.jackandgoliath.com/ "JackAndGoliath.com" (Jack Thompson's announced new website)

[edit] News

• www.thedenverchannel.com/kobebryanttrial/2648868/detail.html thedenverchannel.com - Article featuring Jack Thompson's involvement in the Kobe Bryant Case
  • www.courts.state.co.us/exec/media/eagle/11-03/req_no_emc.pdf Thompson's motion to prohibit the live broadcast of the Bryant case (PDF file)
• cube.ign.com/articles/639/639809p1.html IGN: ESRB Adversary and Lawyer Targets Killer7
• gc.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=5512 Thompson On Killer7 - Advanced Media
• xbox.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=5399 Thompson On Bully - Advanced Media
• gc.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=5435 Thompson on Sims 2 - Advanced Media
• www.freepress.org/columns/display/3/2004/940 The Free Press: The Columbus sniper, Video Games and the new Manchurian Candidates
• www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041121/NEWS08/411210370/0/NEWS toledoblade: Ohio sniper case may put video games on trial
• ps2.ign.com/articles/640/640942p1.html IGN: Killer Tries GTA Defense, Jury Convicts
• money.cnn.com/2005/07/28/technology/personaltech/sims_rating/index.htm CNN/Money: 'Sims' content criticized
• www.kotaku.com/gaming/top/thompson-calls-for-esa-pres-resignation-112565.php Kotaku: Thompson Calls for ESA Pres Resignation
• ps2.ign.com/articles/536/536062p1.html IGN:Manhunt Lawyer Speaks
• www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=646&Itemid=2 Next Generation - Thompson Takes on Vice City
• www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000390063717/ Response to "modest proposal"

[edit] Interviews

• www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/24/tech/gamecore/main676446.shtml CBS.com's GameCore: GameSpeak Interview with Thompson
• www.gamespot.com/news/2005/07/14/news_6129164.html Anti-game activist brands ESA "criminal" - GameSpot
• www.gamespot.com/news/2005/07/22/news_6129609.html Sims 2 content "worse than Hot Coffee" - GameSpot
• www.chatterboxgameshow.com/archives/Jack%20Thompson%20interview_07-31-2005.mp3 ChatterBoxGameShow.com Radio interview (MP3 file)
• libsyn.com/media/gamepolitics/GamePolitics-Podcast02.mp3 Close Encounters of the Jack Thompson Kind: GamePolitics Podcast #2 (MP3 file)
• www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3141144 Head to Head from 1UP.COM: Jack Thompson vs. Henry Jenkins
• news.neilrogers.com/news/articles/2004042112.html Puritanical intolerance is scarier than Stern himself - Sun Sentinel
• www.gamergod.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=344 October 2005 interview with GamerGod
• downloads.frc.org/27-DEC-05__EF05L32_0005084E-1A24-13B2-A1B51014AC140000.mp3 Family Research Council (MP3 file)
• 65.201.162.234/qtmedia/mp3/498.mp3 Culture Shocks (MP3 file)
• www.netjak.com/review.php/1091 Netjak.com Interview

[edit] Articles and Editorials By Jack Thompson

• fradical.com/Sniper_trained_on_video_game.htm "Beltway Sniper Trained on Sniper Video Game" December 14, 2002.
• www.tvp.org/video_games.html "Ben Stein's Tragedy" by Jack Thompson.
• www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/opinion/13377085.htm "What kind of game is Hillary Clinton playing?" Sun, Dec. 11, 2005.
• www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/columnists/story/5446063p-4916552c.html "Violent video games feed unhealthy ideas to young kids" January 8th, 2006.

[edit] Contrary opinion(s)

• www.tgdaily.com/2005/10/15/in_defence_of_jack_thompson/ In Defence of Jack Thompson (written by a video games journalist)

[edit] Vocal opposition

• www.vgcats.com/jack.php Jack Thompson's e-mail discussion with Scott Ramsoomair.
• www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/news.php?i=860 Commentary from Tim Buckley of Ctrl+Alt+Del
• stopjack.simchoice.com/ Stop Jack, a "demonstration of defense from members of the Sims 2 Community".
• www.gamersalliance.org/ The Gamer's Alliance against Censorship (GAAC)
• www.brendastardom.com/arch.asp?ArchID=701 Jack's Transgressions article
• www.brendastardom.com/arch.asp?ArchID=709 Jack Thompson's Video Game Defense Gets Shot Down
• Categorical debunking of several of Jack's arguments by OCP. ocpundit.blogspot.com/2005/03/040305-oh-no.html ocpundit.blogspot.com/2005/06/jacks-back.html ocpundit.blogspot.com/2005/07/theres-something-wrong-with-man.html
• www.brendastardom.com/arch.asp?ArchID=713 Jack Thompson Is Taking A Beating By Gamers
• gr.bolt.com/articles/jack/jack.htm Jack Thompson Tried To Arrest My Boss at gr.bolt.com/ Game Revolution
• think.artakproductions.net/jackthompson Commentary by Ar'tak Productions: Think about Jack Thompson
• www.freewebs.com/shadow_the_evilandgood_hedgehog/jackthompsonbash.htm Correspondence With Jack and Rallying Cry to Gamers
• www.gamepolitics.com/ Game Politics Website that Jack Thompson frequents
• s13.invisionfree.com/GAJ_2 Gamers Against Jack 2 - forum where gamers can vent their frustrations with Jack
• www.brendastardom.com/arch.asp?ArchID=738 Brenda Stardom - Rockstar Rattles, Rankles Jack Thompson
• www.cad-comic.com/news.php?i=859 Ctrl+Alt+Del - An Open Letter to Jack Thompson
• www.penny-arcade.com/news.php?date=2005-10-14 Penny-Arcade recounts a conversation with Jack
• www.brendastardom.com/arch.asp?ArchID=752 Jack Thompson Proposes Violent Video Game Plus Takes On Fox
• www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/28/tech/gamecore/main992768.shtml CBS.com's Gamecore interview with Steven Burkeland regarding Jack Thompson
• www.escapistmagazine.com/issue/19/4 Jack Thompson: A Profile - The Escapist
• gc.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=5923 Clear and Present Absurdity - Casey Ayers
• www.igniq.com/2006/01/jack-attack-thompson-that-is.html Jack Attack - Thompson That Is Igniq
• www.plinkomedia.com/showarticle.php?articleID=380 An Open Letter to Jack Thompson, et al. August 14, 2005
• vansau.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=6402632&publicUserId=5242551 "Will Someone Please Shut Jack Thompson Up Already?"

[edit] Parodies

• www.starttruth.com/images/jackcom.jpeg Jack Thompson disavowed by God - www.starttruth.com/ StartTruth.com parody of NIMF disavowing Thompson
• drcomix.smackjeeves.com/comics/4406/ On the Bandwagon - drcomix.smackjeeves.com/ DR Comix provides suggestions for improving "A Modest Proposal"
• www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/10/14 And all of it was true - Penny Arcade response to Thompson's phone calls
• ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=2005-10-12 An open letter to Jack Thompson - Ctrl+Alt+Del response to "A Modest Proposal"
• www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=2003-12-15 To prove a point - Ctrl+Alt+Del shows how gamers are feared as "programmed" killers
• ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=2005-08-08 Bathing Suit Area - Ctrl+Alt+Del Thompson's "origins"
• www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=158 Coco Beans in Warm Water - VG Cats The Hot Coffee media frenzy
• www.little-gamers.com/index.php?comicID=1160 Good Ol' Ben Theory - Little Gamers Motive?
• www.little-gamers.com/index.php?comicID=1161 Endorse the Semiauto - Little Gamers More guns, less sex in games.
• www.little-gamers.com/index.php?comicID=1267 Let it hang out - Little Gamers Put down the controller and go outside?
• sociopaths.ytmnd.com/ Jack Thompson doesn't spread stereotypes
• nucleolus.comicgen.com/d/20060222.html Jack Thompson vs Wikipedia Amy Robinson about Jack Thompson's quote.

[edit] References

1. ^  web.archive.org/web/20010416003717/www.newsmax.com/showinsidecover.shtml?a=2000/8/27/193359 Newsmax: Man in Miami article about Janet Reno, by Jack Thompson
2. ^  conwebwatch.tripod.com/outthere/otthompson.html Exhibit 8: Is This Guy Nuts? By Terry Krepel Posted: 9/12/2000; www.rotten.com/library/bio/usa/janet-reno/ Rotten.com: Janet Reno
3. ^  www.eff.org/Censorship/Academic_edu/CAF/civil-liberty/top.art.censors.1992 ACLU "1992 Arts Censors of the Year."
4. ^  forums.gamerunlimited.com/index.php?board=85;action=display;threadid=1924 Gamer Unlimited (Thompson Responds to Cold Shoulder)
5. ^  www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/news/local/5966240.htm?1c Akron Beacon Journal (login required)
6. ^  fradical.com/Sniper_trained_on_video_game.htm The Free Radical: Beltway Sniper Trained on Sniper Video Game
7. ^  www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041121/NEWS08/411210370/0/NEWS Toledo Blade: Ohio sniper case may put video games on trial
8. ^  www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/03/tech/gamecore/main677960.shtml CBS GameSpeak: Tim Buckley www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/02/24/tech/gamecore/main676446.shtml CBS GameSpeak: Jack Thompson www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/08/tech/gamecore/main678913.shtml CBS GameSpeak: Claude Errera www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/05/tech/gamecore/main678332.shtml CBS GameSpeak: Scott Ramsoomair
9. ^  www.kotaku.com/gaming/editorials/cbs-news-balks-cuts-naziesa-story-034275.php Kotaku: CBS News Balks, Cuts Nazi-ESA Story
10. ^  ve3d.ign.com/articles/633/633763p1.html IGN Voodoo Extreme: An Open Letter from Jack Thompson
11. ^  www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050815/APN/508150881&cachetime=3&template=dateline Tuscaloosa News.com
12. ^  notjackthompson.blogspot.com/ Not Jack Thompson
13. ^  www.gamesarefun.com/news.php?newsid=5446 Games Are Fun.com: Jack Thompson At It Again
14. ^  www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/thesims2/news_6129609.html Gamespot: Sims 2 content "worse than Hot Coffee"
15. ^  illspirit.com/index.php?page=art_of_war illspirit's "Art of War" page
16. ^  www.gamespot.com/news/2005/08/03/news_6130289.html Gamespot: Bully draws protesters to Rockstar's front doors
17. ^  cube.ign.com/articles/630/630908p1.html IGN review of Killer7
18. ^  www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000370053344/ Joystiq: Jack Thompson goes Killer7 on…well, Killer7
19. ^  www.vgcats.com/jack.php Jack Thompsons email discourse with Scott Ramsoomair
20. ^  www.penny-arcade.com/news.php?date=2005-10-17 Jack Thompson's fax to Penny Arcade, threatening arrest and laying out accusations.
21. ^  gc.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=5883 Jack Thompson's Game Proposal as reported by the Advanced Media Network
22. ^  www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=12259 The National Institute on Media and the Family distances itself from Jack Thompson
23. ^  www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000743063662/ Jack Thompson retracts his offer to donate $10,000 to charity, claiming it was "Satire".
24. ^  www.penny-arcade.com/news.php?date=2005-10-12 Penny Arcade informs Jack Thompson that they donated over $500,000 to charity.
25. ^  www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1496&Itemid=2 Jack Thompson compares Sony and Take Two's sale of the Grand Theft Auto game to Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor
26. ^  64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:HTFXDM1vR5gJ:www.insightmag.com/main.cfm/include=detail&storyid=113680 Insight Magazine references Jack Thompson's psychiatric evaluation.

Thompson, Jack Thompson, Jack Thompson, Jack Thompson, Jack Thompson, Jack

Starting January 21, 2006, two gamers, George Ettinger and Alyson Burch of Michigan, began a project to send Miami lawyer John B. "Jack" Thompson, a video game activist, a large number of floral arrangements to draw his attention to an accompanying, well-written letter contesting his stereotyping of gamers. The concept was to make a non-threatening statement and open a casual dialogue free of insults and generalizations.

They collected donations via the internet, totaling $1,049.99. After paying for the flowers, the money left over was set aside to be donated to www.childsplaycharity.org/ Child's Play. It was incorrectly reported as www.miaminewtimes.com/Issues/2006-02-09/news/metro2.html $750 US and is accurately closer to $550. It will be mailed directly to Gabe and Tycho of Penny Arcade once the paypal account is settled.

The finished letter was seven pages long and accompanied by ten pages of approximately 280 signatures of supporters and donators, spanning forty states and ten countries. Not all donators signed and not all signers made donations, so a final tally of supporters is not yet known. Flowers For Jack estimated it at 400 people. The letter addressed issues including:

• Denouncing criminal acts by gamers, including phone harassment and threats.
• Asking his current position on the behavior and policies of the NIMF.
• Discussing the word "Pixelante."
• Requesting a clear statement of his agenda and goals for the gaming industry.
• Contesting the perception of average gamers and stereotypes.

Finding out about the project from Joystiq before it was complete, Jack responded that once said flowers were received, he "will pack them up and send them to Judge James M. Moore, Fayette County Courthouse, Fayette, Alabama", the same judge who kicked him off the Strickland vs. Sony case and revoked his Pro Hac Vice status in Alabama. Thompson "[wanted] Judge Moore to know that the flowers are an 'in memoriam' tribute to the three good men cut down because Paul Eibeler, CEO of Take-Two/Rockstar is a sociopathic criminal who knowingly markets adult, cop-killing murder simulators to kids." www.joystiq.com/2006/01/23/flowers-for-jack-if-you-cant-beat-him-send-him-pretty-things/

• flowersforjack.livejournal.com/ Flowers For Jack
• www.gamerandy.com/pixelantenation/viewtopic.php?t=14 Letter attached to flowers

On February 7, 2006 Thompson announced that he had received the flowers, and is "about to do something with them". gamepolitics.livejournal.com/201054.html?thread=13056094#t13056094 He then claimed to have sent them on to Paul Eibeler (Take Two's CEO), and David Girard-diCarlo & Jim Smith of Blank Rome, "in the memory of all of the people who now lie in the ground because of your reckless design, marketing, and sale of mature-rated murder simulators to children, facilitated by lawyers who know no shame." Thompson called the flowers "harassment". gamepolitics.livejournal.com/201054.html?thread=13081438#t13081438 He has also incorrectly blamed Joystiq and Take Two Interactive for sending the flowers to him, neither of which were involved. He did not acknowledge any receipt or knowledge of the letter at that time. During the week and a half leading up to the delivery he had left multiple harassing comments on the original joystiq article.

Thompson later clarified why he blamed Joystiq, since "The reportage of the flowers stunt involved Joystiq in the stunt." He also blamed Take Two because FFJ allegedly "follows Take-Two’s and Blank Rome's lead in characterizing me in the media and in an Alabama courthouse as, variously, a bisexual pedophile, 'mentally ill,' 'paranoid,' and so forth." www.joystiq.com/2006/02/07/flowers-for-jack-part-deux/

The Miami New Times also weighed in, accusing Thompson of "glower[ing] down from the high ground." www.miaminewtimes.com/Issues/2006-02-09/news/metro2.html

On February 12, 2006, after Flowers For Jack sent an email to Thompson asking why he was blaming others for the flowers, Thompson replied:

Your flowers project was a pathetic stunt to point to yourselves and to minimalize the loss of life caused by Rockstar. Grow up. www.gamerandy.com/pixelantenation/viewtopic.php?t=65

When repeatedly asked why he was refusing to acknowledge or respond to the accompanying letter, Thompson wrote:

Why wouldn't I ignore it? It is silly, it is self-important, and it has absolutely nothing to say about anything I care about. You all should send flowers to bereaved families whose loved ones are dead because of the folks at Rockstar. You're focused on harassing the solution--me--not on the problem--them. www.gamerandy.com/pixelantenation/viewtopic.php?t=67

The www.edmontonsun.com/Entertainment/Spotlight/2006/02/12/1438440-sun.html Edmonton Sun also weighed in on the situation. Said Steve Tilley in an article regarding FFJ, Saying anti-video game crusader and soundbite manufacturer Jack Thompson lacks a sense of humour is sort of like saying a snake comes up a little short in the limbs department.

George Ettinger and the community that supported Flowers For Jack have since started a growing gamer activism organisation, www.pixelantenation.com/ Pixelante Nation. It is currently expanding from its forum base and is accepting new members for setting up real-world correspondence and branches. It is organizing publicity movements to bring attention to gamer charity programs and the Flowers For Jack letter.

This is a sub-article relating to Miami lawyer Jack Thompson's activism against videogames. This is one of many criminal incidents that Thompson has attempted to link to videogames in general.

[edit] The incident

Jacob Robida was an alleged neo-nazi who was a fan of the band Insane Clown Posse. On February 2, 2006, he walked into a gay bar in Massachusetts and attacked patrons with a hatchet and a 9mm pistol. He then fled with his girlfriend to Arkansas, where he killed a police officer. Eventually he was stopped by police, and during the ensuing gun battle, shot his girlfriend before turning the pistol on himself. He later died in hospital.

See Jacob D. Robida.

[edit] Mayor blames videogames

At first the Mayor of New Bedford, Scott Lang, attributed the attack to video games:

This was a hate crime... the actions of a single deranged individual act as a wake up call to our community and once again the nation... This cycle of violence must stop. The guns have to come off the streets. The violent video games have to be taken out of our homes. www.ci.new-bedford.ma.us/Statement_2_4_2006.htm

Believing the mayor was jumping to conclusions, gamers and members of GamePolitics wrote to Mayor Lang, citing that nobody had even mentioned video games as connection to the mass murders, nor did Robida even once mention games on his MySpace weblog. In reply to Andrew Eisen, a member of GamePolitics who had written to the mayor over his comments, Mr Lang wrote:

There is no doubt in my mind that Mr. Robida played these video games on a regular basis as he was completely obsessed with weapons, violence and destruction. See his my space website for more details.gamepolitics.livejournal.com/201054.html

However, examination of Robida's MySpace website (archived on GamePolitics www.gamepolitics.com/images/robida.pdf (PDF)) showed a passion for neo-nazism and the rap group Insane Clown Posse, known for its homophobic and violent lyrics. The lyrics also mention attacking people with hatchets.

[edit] Thompson comments

On February 7, 2006, Jack Thompson weighed in on the incident, describing the gay bar attack as a "killing scenario" from Postal² and the killing of Officer Sell a "suicide by cop homicide" inspired by Grand Theft Auto. gamepolitics.livejournal.com/199361.html?thread=12858305#t12858305 gamepolitics.livejournal.com/199361.html?thread=12930241#t12930241 Critics pointed out that Postal² does not require you to go into the gay bar at all (plus there is no edged weapon in the game), and GTA does not have a "suicide by cop" scenario. In fact, dying in GTA is heavily penalized. Police later dismissed the "suicide by cop" theory when it was discovered that Robida had fatally shot himself. news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=124997

Thompson claimed to have spoken to a New Bedford detective gamepolitics.livejournal.com/202166.html?thread=13242294#t13242294, who "repeatedly" said that Robida's friends had said "he played the Grand Theft Auto games." No further details have emerged, but the following day the Bristol County District Attorney rejected the video game link after examining all the evidence collected from Robida's appartment and car.

My look at the search warrant [for Robida's home] was that the investigators turned up no video games. From the information we have here, there is no proof video games were involved. www.baxterbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060208/NEWS01/602080339/1002

[edit] Letters to court officials

Thompson responded by first calling on the DA to seize any video games at Robida's appartment for they were "critical evidence." gamepolitics.livejournal.com/201054.html?thread=13035870#t13035870. After receiving no reply from the DA's office he followed by a letter to the Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Massachusetts gamepolitics.livejournal.com/201054.html?thread=13121374#t13121374 demanding that the court force the DA to "do his job and follow the facts and evidence wherever they lead." He has also claimed to have filed for a Writ of Mandamus to compel the seizure.

In a followup letter, Thompson announced that the absense of video games at Robida's apartment "has nothing dispositive to say about whether he played games." He also called the DA a "pretty media boy" and demanded that the DA "find the evidence", since he claims "the games have been ditched." gamepolitics.livejournal.com/202166.html?thread=13269430#t13269430 Critics point out that Robida didn't bother to clear out his MySpace page, or his room, of nazi paraphenelia and Insane Clown Posse references, so it seems unlikely that he would attempt to hide any video game equipment.

[edit] Threats against newspaper

Thompson has also demanded the Baxter Bulletin's lawyers contact him. The Arkansas newspaper originally printed the Bristol County District Attorney's quote denying a video game link. Thompson accused the paper of "lying" when they told him they weren't going to cover the video game angle. gamepolitics.livejournal.com/202166.html?thread=13372342#t13372342 He also demanded a correction and public apology. www.joystiq.com/2006/02/08/no-connection-between-robida-killings-and-video-games/#c1007549

[edit] Other letters & statements

On February 9, 2006, Thompson implied that the police had found a copy of GTA or a PlayStation 2 in Robida's car. gamepolitics.livejournal.com/202166.html?thread=13502902#t13502902 However, police only reported finding cash, a stolen shotgun and rifle, and the original handgun. The hatchet had been recovered at the gay bar. www.baxterbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060209/NEWS01/602090350/1002

The same day Thompson issued this statement, Gamehelper.com contacted the New Bedford police and District Attorney's office to inquire about the facts Thompson claimed to have received from the police department. Both groups denied providing him with any information about the case.newswire.gamehelper.com/common/default.asp?App_Module=NEWS&ID=7930

[edit] Calls for District Attorney's arrest

On February 12, 2006, Thompson sent a letter to the Baxter County Sheriff, claiming that Bristol County District Attorney Paul Marshall knew about the "specific involvement of the Grand Theft Auto game", and was "covering it up." He called for the sheriff to arrest the DA for "impersonating a law enforcement official." gamepolitics.livejournal.com/204440.html?thread=13872280#t13872280 Perhaps the strangest thing about this claim is that the Bristol County District Attroney's name was not Paul Marshall, but Paul Walsh Jr., which Thompson seemed to be aware of earlier in the week when he sent Walsh verbally abusive faxes.

This is a sub-article of Jack Thompson, a Miami lawyer and video game activist.

On October 10, 2005, Thompson sent another open letter to members of the press and to Entertainment Software Association president Doug Lowenstein. He proposed that, if someone could "create, manufacture, distribute, and sell a video game in 2006" that allows players to play the scenario he has written, he will donate $10,000 to the charity of Take Two's chairman Paul Eibeler's choosing gc.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=5883. The title of the letter alludes to Jonathan Swift's classic 18th century satire: A Modest Proposal.

Thompson was unaware that Running With Scissors had already released a commercial first person shooter, Postal², in which the player could massacre the employees of Running With Scissors, including its CEO, Vince Desi, and actor Gary Coleman.

[edit] The "Modest Proposal"

Thompson's letter gc.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=5883 describes a game whose protagonist is Osaki Kim, the father of a high school boy beaten to death with a baseball bat by a 14-year-old gamer who played game about beating people to death with a bat. The game intro shows the court session where the killer is sentenced to "only" life in prison.

Osaki Kim then swears vengeance, and gets weapons, "even baseball bats. Especially baseball bats." Kim goes to New York to kill Paula Eibel, the CEO of "Take This", the company that made the "murder simulator on which his son's killer trained", along with her husband and kids, then urinates on their severed brain stems (as in Postal 2). Kim then kills the lawyers of "Blank, Stare", the law firm that defended Take This, "with singer Jackson Brown's 1980's hit Lawyers in Love blaring." Kim then destroys high-tech video arcades called "GameWerks". Lastly, he goes to E3 on its opening at May 10, 2006, destroying all video game industry execs in "one final, monstrously delicious rampage".

Along the way, Kim steals supplies from Best Buy, Circuit City, Target and Wal-Mart stores, and roughes up store managers and clerks. "'You should have checked kids' IDs!'"

[edit] Defamation of Character: A Jack Thompson Murder Simulator

A group of modders known as the Fighting Hellfish had released exactly one week prior a mod for the game San Andreas, called Defamation of Character: A Jack Thompson Murder Simulator hellfish.gtajunkies.com/Jt.html. The mod features Jack Thompson himself acting out a remarkably similar scenario, at one point even assassinating Doug Lowenstein. Acting under hypnosis, Thompson moonlights as Banman and takes to the streets in his Bannedwagon to destroy the entire shipment of Rockstar's Bully before it reaches distribution. Jack later assassinates Janet Reno after thwarting her coup, which forces him to confront the realization that his time spent researching violent games has turned him into his own "Manchurian Candidate". Although the team never asked him to donate the money, Thompson refused to when he discovered that the game existed. He later claimed that his proposal was satire and said that he would not donate the $10,000.

Thompson argued that the game had to be released in 2006, that Paul Eibeler had yet to pick a charity, and that the game had to be released by a company, not thrown together by "anyone in a garage". He claimed the offer was still valid, and that only the description of the scenario was satire, the offer to donate money was real. www.netjak.com/review.php/1091

[edit] I'm O.K. - A Murder Simulator

In response to the 'Modest Proposal', a team "Consisting of 3 alcoholics and a foreign exchange student" formed a company called Thompsonsoft and created I'm O.K - A Murder Simulator in January 2006. www.slutbear.com/thompsonsoft/.

The game is based on the description of the 'Modest Proposal', and features several weapons. The story follows a disgruntled father of a killing victim who takes his revenge upon the games industry, which he blames for 'training' the man who killed his son. The father begins a spree of murders in retaliation, attacking the offices of "Take This," who made the game, and killing the chairman "Paula Eibel" and her family. The father then begins a road trip across the states, back to Los Angeles, then assaulting the law firm "Blank, Stare" who represent "Take This" and various gaming arcades and games stores before arriving at E3 and completing a "monstrously delicious rampage" on the participants. Thompson argued that the game industry would never make such a game, in which the targets are virtual representations of themselves, for fear of turning players into their own killers. Jack Thompson later claimed that the game didn't come close to his Proposal, although other than the fact that Take Two CEO Paul Eibeler hasn't officially picked a charity, he hasn't gone into detail as to what parts of his Proposal are yet to be satisfied. He also announced that "the attorneys for these idiots will be contacted." gamepolitics.livejournal.com/197980.html?thread=12683356#t12683356

Thompsonsoft has since moved to a more stable web server, imokgame.com imokgame.com and reports that their lawyers have not been contacted. Their original web host apparently dropped them after having been threatened with legal action.

[edit] Penny Arcade

On October 17, 2005, Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins of Penny Arcade www.penny-arcade.com/news.php?date=2005-10-17#2834 donated the promised $10,000 to charity on Jack Thompson's behalf ^ . Krahulik and Holkins donated the money, under Thompson's name, to the ESA Foundation www.theesa.com/foundation/index.php, the charitable arm of the Entertainment Software Association. Thompson e-mailed both Penny Arcade and Joystiq, who ran a story about the donation, demanding that the articles be taken down "or else." The check, presented to the ESA Foundation, was delivered at an ESAF fundraising dinner in San Francisco which said, For Jack Thompson Because Jack Thompson won't [sic]. www.penny-arcade.com/news.php?date=2005-10-17#2838

In retaliation, Jack Thompson faxed a letter to Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske, requesting assistance in halting the activities of Krahulik and Holkins www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/110152.html. In his letter, he described how personnel within Penny Arcade were harassing him: the sale of an www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/pennyarcade/7a15/ "I Hate Jack Thompson" shirt and frequent postings on their website where they allegedly admitted to harassment.

According to GameSpotwww.gamespot.com/xbox/action/gta4/news.html?sid=6135979, as of 9:55AM PDT October 18, 2005, the Seattle Police Department had not received Thompson's fax, which at that point had been sent to GameSpot, Penny Arcade, and other sites. Thompson emailed GameSpot, claiming that he had fixed the URL for Penny Arcade (which was incorrect in the original fax) and faxed the letter, commenting, "They have it now." Thompson also told GameSpot that he was not a "pixelated piñata in a game." He ended by saying that the "moral midgets" at Penny Arcade had chosen "the wrong target" and "I've been at this longer than he has." These vague threats have been deemed "nothing to worry about" by Penny Arcade. The Seattle Police Department confirmed to GameSpotwww.gamespot.com/news/6136318.html on October 21 that they had received a complaint from Thompson.

On October 21, 2005, Thompson claimed to have sent a letter to John McKay, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, in an attempt to get the FBI involved. Thompson reiterated his claims of "extortion" and accuses Penny Arcade of using "their Internet site and various other means to encourage and solicit criminal harassment".www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/112527.html Penny Arcade denies the charge of "extortion", noting that they paid the $10,000 to charity, and are asking nothing in return.www.penny-arcade.com/news.php?date=2005-10-21

Thompson also contacted the office of Washington State Legislature Representative Mary Lou Dickerson, and her office confirms they asked John McKay to look into the matter. Thompson has not clarified how he is being "extorted," but accuses Penny Arcade's Mike Krahulik of soliciting Florida Bar complaints against him through Mike posting the Florida Bar's link on www.penny-arcade.com Penny Arcade's website. The link, however, is in a post asking fans to stop sending letters to the Bar because the Bar is fully aware of the current situation.www.gamespot.com/news/6136318.html

On October 27, 2005, the Seattle PD acknowledged receipt of Thompson's complaint, although after the initial reading of the letter they noted that the complaint appeared to be a civil, rather than criminal matter. They passed the letter on to the chief of their criminal investigations bureau for review. www.gamespot.com/news/6136737.html

This is a sub-article of Jack Thompson, a Miami lawyer and video game activist.

Jack Thompson has often communicated with video gamers, to debate with the group that seems to include many of his hardest critics or to make a point. Gamers also initiate communication with Thompson, often for similar reasons.

[edit] LiveJournal/GamePolitics

In response to GamePolitics requiring that all persons commenting on stories have LiveJournal accounts, Jack Thompson signed up the service using various screen names, as occasionally his accounts get banned for comments he makes on the website.

In response to automated emails from LiveJournal notifying him that responses were posted to his comments, Thompson claimed he was being harassed, and cited a federal law against anonymous harassment. GP posters pointed out that Thompson could just turn off the automated notification, and he would no longer receive the emails.

Despite having numerous accounts banned by GamePolitics, he continues to post by signing up for new accounts.. On February 23, 2006, Thompson registered the account jackjackjackjacjackjackjackjac.livejournal.com/ after his last account was banned due to the posting of personal details on the site. After several posts, including the posting of Dennis McCauley's supposed office number, were deleted, Thompson was once again banned. Later that day, he registered with the name dennisintroubledennisintrouble.livejournal.com/, claiming Dennis had lied about being a columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and that he had not contacted him for his side of a story on NIMF's David Walsh gamepolitics.livejournal.com/214704.html?thread=15456944#t15456944. Users pointed out that Dennis had made a number of attempts to contact Thompson for comment, providing links dating back to the incident. Dennis pointed out that he had been using the term "columnist" for over a year, and the Pioneer Press had never objected before, despite many complaints from Thompson. After a friendly discussion with a Pioneer Press editor, Dennis changed the message to read "frequent contributor" so as to differentiate him from Pioneer Press employees. The Pioneer Press continues to welcome Dennis' gaming columns. When dennisintrouble was seemingly banned within hours of posting, Thompson appeared with a new name, byebyerockstarbyebyerockstar.livejournal.com/profile.

A number of Live Journal users from Gamepolitics.com are forming a petition to get the LJ admins to permanently ban the IP addresses of Jack Thompson and forward a complaint to his comcast ISP for violating their terms of service, although this has not been confirmed as going beyond discussion at this stage.

GamePolitics site admin Dennis McCauley has filed an "abuse" complaint with LiveJournal against Thompson, after Thompson posted McCauley's private, unlisted phone number in the comments section.

Thompson's posts on GamePolitics have usally been press releases or insults directed towards users. Both result in the other users replying, mostly in a negative way.

[edit] LiveJournal Parodies

A few LiveJournal users have signed up for extra accounts and have begun to parody Jack Thompson. Notably are ogthompson.livejournal.com/ ogthompson (A caveman attorney trying to have fire outlawed), jarkthomsen.livejournal.com/ jarkthomsen (A senile, cootish version of Jack Thompson), and goliathandjack.livejournal.com/ goliathandjack (Who has taken to doing anything but directly identifying himself as Jack Thompson, and is paraphrasing the catch phrases of famous WWE superstars). Said goliathandjack.livejournal.com/ goliathandjack out of character, It's scary. I'm trying to parody Jack Thompson by making comments more outrageous than he would, but many readers don't get that it's a joke. They really think I'm Jack Thompson. I suppose that says something about him when people think he could actually say "...solitaire led to the downfall of the Roman Empire, the creation of HIV, and the cancelling of Gilligan's Island".

Discovering Wikipedia through links at GP, Jack Thompson posted what he termed to be corrections on this article http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jack_Thompson&diff=40142795&oldid=40122558. It was treated as vandalism and reverted. Said Thompson to a GP poster, Actually, I corrected it moron. gamepolitics.livejournal.com/210675.html?thread=14864883#t14864883

[edit] Correspondence

Thompson has gained notoriety as a caustic and combative individual, to some extent borne out in many examples of exchanges between him and other individuals that have been posted in emails on the Internet, as well as interviews and media appearances.

He invokes broad negative stereotypes against gamers in general. For example, in an e-mail correspondence with Scott Ramsoomair, he questions: "Honestly, are all of you gamers on drugs, or what?" www.vgcats.com/jack.php. In a correspondence with Ryan Acheson (gaming writer for The Horror Channel's Dread Central), when Acheson said he supported Thompson's intentions to make M-rated games inaccessible to children, he identifies "gamers' ideas" as "the latest oxymoron" aelon.net/2005/07/jack-thompson-straw-man/.

In some interviews Jack refers to Pixelantes, a derogatory term referring to gamers.

Thompson offered to speak at the 2006 Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association Executive Summit, although IEMA President Hal Halpin has once again declined to comment, essentially refusing his offer. Thompson claimed that he could "get Hillary off [the industry's] backs" and that he was their "ticket out of where the industry is right now." gc.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=6198

On January 6th, 2006, Thompson wrote a letter to US President George W. Bush, demanding that the president appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Blank Rome, over allegations they used political connections to Republican National Committee members to win a post-Hurricane Katrina relief contract for one of their clients. Thompson has previously gone after Blank Rome since they represent Take Two Interactive. gc.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=6364

[edit] Response

With his attacks aimed, not just at the corporations which distribute/develop video games, but also at the gamers who play them, Thompson has received a notable number of opposing responses from the gaming world; not only insults and threats via email, but challenges and invitations to debate. He has been credited for bringing together the often-divisive gaming community into a united front against his actions.

With Thompson's renewed public profile due to the Hot Coffee modification, his presence in the gaming news was for a time a weekly occurrence. Many gaming websites reported articles regarding Thompson with mocking tones; he is rarely presented as a serious advocate for more sensible controls on game distribution, but more often as a sensationalist striving for fame and recognition or financial profit www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4149&highlight=jack+thompson. Many gamers see him as a caricature of an out-of-touch generation whose kneejerk reaction is to ban something that which is new and unknown, in a way analogous to previous generations' attempts to ban rock and roll, violent films, and comic books.

Recently, webcomics have shifted their focus, using their webpages to address Mr. Thompson's accusations in both email exchanges and in webcomics. In addition to the tri-weekly comic Hsu and Chan ape-law.com/evilmonkey/hsuchan.htm, Ctrl+Alt+Del www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20050808 www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20051012, GU Comics www.gucomics.com/archives/view.php?cdate=20050816 www.gucomics.com/archives/view.php?cdate=20051018, VG Cats www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=158 have all voiced their opinions through their comic strips, most recently with www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/news.php?i=860 this response from Ctrl+Alt+Del to Mr. Thompson's offer of a $10,000 donation to charity (A Modest Video Game Proposal above).

Mr. Thompson's responses to these websites comic-styled criticisms of him have become the source of much discussion among the webcomic community. Webcomic sites such as VG Cats have posted transcripts e-mail exchanges between Thompson and Scott Ramsoomair over Thompson's portrayal www.vgcats.com/jack.php of Killer 7.

In the 2005 retrospective of the March 2006 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, Jack Thompson was 'awarded' the "Jack Thompson Is A Total Jackass Award". The caption stated that Electronic Gaming Monthly would not have resorted to personal attacks had Jack Thompson not done so first, "Against everyone in the world who doesn't agree with his puritan-on-the-moon agenda".

[edit] Threats

There have been threats made against Jack Thompson. On December 9, 2005, one such individual, a 16 year old boy, was charged in Texas for leaving threatening phone calls on Thompson's home answering machine in Florida. Initially, Thompson claimed that he had taped the phone calls separately, but rescinded this statement when challenged that such conversation recording without prior warning to the other participant is considered a violation of US Wiretapping and privacy laws.www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/3515801.html The calls, placed in October 2005, threatened torture resulting in death, and the boy was charged with harassing communication, a misdemeanor offense. Thompson went on to imply that the boy was part of a larger campaign by the gaming industry to "shoot the messenger" and that it backfired because of the arrest. www.gamespot.com/news/6141010.html

On January 10, 2006, Thompson began threatening posters on GamePolitics.com with arrest following the signing of "using internet communication with intent to annoy" (Sec. 113), which President Bush signed into law as part of a justice bill. The section was amended to help protect people from stalkers. The section makes it illegal to annoy someone through electronic communications while hiding their true identity. Many posters pointed out that Thompson's posts annoyed them, and that he was using an alias, "Jack Thompson", instead of his true identity "John Bruce Thompson". Thompson retaliated by insisting that the posts pointing this out were in violation of said law. www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/174842.html?thread=9869306#t9869306

As a result of these threats and him insulting the suicide of a gamer, GamePolitics.com changed its posting policy and made it required to have LiveJournal account to post comments on the website.gamepolitics.livejournal.com/182386.html

[edit] Metalgearsolid.org

January 2nd, 2006 A gamer named Mitchell S. with the online screenname "Kuja105", who posted on a few online video game forums (including GameFaqs.com and MetalGearSolid.org) committed suicide. He posted a message in both forums detailing his intent to end his own life, citing overwhelming complications with school and finances. Later, members from the site contacted Mitchell's family to find out the grave news. They reported it to their online community, and posted a tribute to their passed friend on the front page of metalgearsolid.org. A very brief period of initial disbelief was followed by a barrage of replies from fellow forum members pleading that he not take his life, trying to talk him out of it. For days, no word was heard from Mitchell. Fearing the worst, members and administration from metalgearsolid.org began searching for contact information, spending hours on the phone trying to get in touch with him. Finally on January 4, Ryan K., an administrator at metalgearsolid.org, got him on the phone and spent hours desperately trying to talk him out of it. Sadly, Mitchell soon ended his own life by consuming antifreeze and painkillers. Mr. Jack Thompson then sent in the following letter regarding the situation to MetalGearSolid.org, one of the forums frequented by Mitchell, where he was known well:

"Your "gamer friend" will find peace through the Lord, Jesus Christ, but sadly it's too late for that.

There is a void in every heart. You can fill it up with the things of God, or the things not of God. This unfortunate soul chose to fill it up with combat games. The playing of these video games is masturbatory activity, meaning senseless self-stimulation. If you gamers could use a dictionary you would know that that term is not necessarily a sexual one.

The real tragedy here extends beyond the life and death of this one fellow. There are literally millions of young people and young adults whose despair is deepend by turning to the things of this world and then finding them meaningless.

All of you gamers need to put down the controllers and get a life. The utter inanity of the vast majority of postings here shows how vapid "gaming" really is.

You are one of the cheerleaders for this wasting of time and the wasting of lives. Do you feel any remorse for having contributed to this "culture of death?" Of course not. Hey, let's all play MORE games, and ignore all the really productive things to do with our lives.

Let's pretend to be shocked that a gamer might descend into deeper depression, as his gamer "buds," knowing he was killing himself, couldn't figure out how to call 911 themselves for him. That would have involved leaving their computers I guess. Sad. Sad for all of you." news.gaminghorizon.com/media2/1137635340.3198.html metalgearsolid.org/

On January 20, 2006, MetalGearSolid.org issued their response:

"Once again, Mr. Thompson, you've proven that your ignorance knows no bounds. We're not going to participate in this war you wish to wage against us -- we're bigger than that. We're bigger than you.

This is a case where our tragedy is greater than the sum of our transgressions. The fact that you want to exploit the loss that both we and his family have suffered to forward your own selfish, religiously driven ambitions speaks volumes about the integrity (or lack, thereof) of your character, and it only serves to strengthen our resolve.

You can continue to try and discredit us and insult us, though no true man of God would do such a thing. We pity you and your ignorance, and only hope that someday you can come to terms with and mature away from your biggotry. As Metal Gear Solid fans, we have learned to believe in the best of individuals. We've learned to show charity. We've become better people, and through the loss of our friend, we've become a closer-knit community.

We forgive you, Jack, and we hope that God will do the same for you."

This is a sub-article of Jack Thompson, a Miami lawyer and video game activist.

Over the course of his activism against violent and sexual content in video games, Thompson has singled out several specific titles. Most notable are any violent games from publisher Take-Two Interactive, specifically any developed by Rockstar Games.

[edit] Grand Theft Auto

[edit] Hot Coffee

In July 2005, Thompson Patrick Wildenborg, a modder, discovered a sexual mini-game (dubbed "Hot Coffee"); players could not normally access it in the game, but could through applying a third-party hack. Although the 3rd party alterations were unknown to and unapproved by developer Rockstar Games, Rockstar was held accountable by the ESRB because they failed to sufficiently disable or remove the incomplete mini-game. As a result of Thompson's (and other activists) public outcries, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) reviewed the game again and changed the game's rating from "Mature" (M), for ages 17 and above, to "Adults Only" (AO), ages 18 and above. Rockstar subsequently released a patch disabling the mini-game in the PC version, and a new "Mature" rated console version with the mini-game removed has been released to stores.

On July 25, 2005, the US House of Representatives voted 355 to 21 to support a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) inquiry into Take Two and Rockstar Games, to determine if they intentionally deceived the ESRB in order to get an M rating instead of AO, as most retailers refuse to carry AO rated games. www.gamespot.com/xbox/action/gta4/news.html?page=1&sid=6129723 Take Two has confirmed that the FTC has begun the investigation. www.gamespot.com/news/6129836.html

On August 3, 2005, Thompson claimed that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City had a similar sex minigame, also unlockable through a third-party code. He said that the game involved a normally non-nude sex scene when the player enters a strip club. The code, Thompson said, allowed for full frontal nudity and sexual activity of an extremely vulgar nature. However, third parties failed to find this alleged game. Thompson also sent a letter to the ESRB claiming www.gamepolitics.com GamePolitics, a gaming news website, told him about the code, although the site reported no such thing. www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/58574.html

On November 15, 2005, Thompson claimed that the FTC had sent him a letter stating that "Take-Two continues to aggressively market M games to kids. The M is a sales tool in such marketing." So far he has not produced a copy of the letter to back up his claim. www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/130370.html?thread=5656386#t5656386

[edit] Jacksboro shooting

On November 8, 2005, a student at Campbell County Comprehensive High School in Jacksboro, Tennessee was arrested after the shooting of 3 school employees, including the principal, who managed to wrestle the .22 from the suspect. An assistant principal later died at the hospital, and the others were treated in intensive care. No students were hurt other than the suspect, whose hand was grazed by a bullet during the struggle. www.cnn.com/2005/US/11/09/school.shooting.ap/index.html While police have not yet determined a motive for the shooting, Thompson has already proclaimed the incident to be video game-related. www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/126637.html?thread=5255597#t5255597 So far he has not provided corroborative evidence to back up this claim. On November 9, 2005 he sent out a press release www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/127210.html?thread=5334250#t5334250 claiming to have spoken to relatives of the suspect, and that they have supposedly confirmed that the suspect, Ken Bartley, Jr., was a player of Grand Theft Auto, and that Bartley "did not go to school with the intent to kill", but "When pushed by fear, the game’s rehearsal function becomes the young brain’s 'default setting.'"

[edit] Liberty City Stories parody

On September 13, 2005, Thompson accused Rockstar Games of implying that he was a sexual pervert. Rockstar's website for Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories www.rockstargames.com/libertycitystories/gta_lcs.html had a parody of Thompson, where a character named "JT", representing a group called Citizens United Negating Technology For Life And People's Safety www.citizensunitednegatingtechnology.org/, a fictional activist group, seeks to ban the Internet. Thompson claimed the emails from "jt@citizensunitednegatingtechnology.org" imply that he "likes to surf the Internet for pictures depicting deviant sex acts by teenage girls." The parody email in question stated that "JT" wanted to find information about "teenage girls water sports" for his niece, who is a "keen water skier and state wide sailor", but what he found was "not for the faint hearted", and encouraged people to join his society to have the internet "turned off". There is also a radio clip on the website where a man named "Jack" is found naked in a boy's bedroom. Thompson claimed these attacks are the same the pornography industry used in 1989 when his complaint resulted in an FCC fine. www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/87105.html

As with Bully, Thompson has requested that Troy King (Alabama's Attorney General) file a lawsuit declaring GTA: Liberty City Stories a "nuisance" since it is a "cop-killing game" that is allegedly advertised during daytime TV aimed at children. He has not specified which programs the ads were seen in. A successful nuisance injunction would see GTA:LCS pulled from store shelves in Alabama. www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/131391.html King's office confirmed it was investigating the request, but did not comment on whether it would be taking any action. www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051122/NEWS/511220321/1001

[edit] Other GTA-related incidents

Thompson has "called on California law enforcement personnel [to] seize GTA games." www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/131391.html?thread=5795647#t5795647 Although Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California, had signed into law a bill requiring "ultra-violent" video games to be labelled with an "18" sticker, the law was blocked by a judge.

On January 16, 2006, Thompson announced in a letter to Take-Two that if copies of "The Warriors, Manhunt, and all versions of the Grand Theft Auto games" were not recalled from retailers by five o’clock p.m., Tuesday, January 17, 2006, he would initiate legal proceedings against Take-Two for the beating of two homeless men and death of one other in Florida, who were attacked by assailants wielding baseball bats. Thompson insisted the attackers were copy-catting Take-Two games, although many critics point to similarities to A Clockwork Orange rather than Grand Theft Auto. Others, including several homeless rights associations, blame society at large for treating the homeless as second-class citizens. www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/177444.html?thread=10558756#t10558756

As of 5:00 p.m. EST January 17, 2006, Thompson's specified deadline, there has been no official follow-up or response from either Take-Two or Thompson.

In February, 2006 Thompson claimed that the "Nut Case" gang in Oakland, California had "trained on Grand Theft Auto III to do carjackings and murders." gamepolitics.livejournal.com/199361.html?thread=12930241#t12930241 The primary shooter of the gang was on trial for a rampage of murders and thefts dating from 2002 to 2003, mostly targeting illegal immigrants and fellow drug dealers. The gang members had admitted to police that they played GTA III and "would act out what they'd done when they grew bored with the game." www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/02/06/NUTCASE.TMP

Thompson has attempted to link Grand Theft Auto to a cop-killer and an alleged "suicide by cop". (see Jacob Robida Murders)

[edit] The Sims 2

On July 22, 2005, after the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas case was settled, Thompson attacked The Sims 2, saying that the game "is no different than what is in San Andreas, although worse." (sic), due to the availability of a mod that removes the censorship fields from all characters when they are nude. Thompson claimed that this allows pedophiles to see computer-rendered nude children ^[7], "much to the delight, one can be sure, of pedophiles around the globe who can rehearse, in virtual reality, for their abuse." Only consenting adults can engage in relationships in the game, sexual or otherwise. All sexual encounters between Sims are handled in a comedic fashion and are not explicitly seen by the player, contrary to Thompson's claims. In another instance, he claimed "Sims 2, the latest version of the Sims video game franchise...contains, according to video game news sites, full frontal nudity, including nipples, penises, labia, and pubic hair." He accused Electronic Arts (EA) and Maxis of cooperating with the mod community to "peddle vile smut to minors."

However, even with the "blur" removed, The Sims 2 contains no such details; the characters have no visible reproductive organs or pubic hair whatsoever, similar to children's dolls, and female models lack both nipples and areolae. Thompson further accused EA and Will Wright of supporting adult custom content specifically. However, Will Wright has historically supported all user-created game content universally on the principle of endorsing personal creativity, innovation, and personalization. Although there are user-created content packages available on the Internet many would consider adult material, they are neither created nor specifically endorsed by Maxis or EA.

In an Internet radio show interview that aired at ChatterBox Game Show, Thompson retracted his previous statements about "pubic hair" and other details. However, he defended his position on The Sims 2 and expressed his opinion that, because EA does not protect its copyright by stopping the mod community from making adult-oriented changes to the game, they "lose their right to defend their copyright." This doctrine where intellectual property rights must be defended to prevent them from being lost, however, is only applicable to trademark law, not copyrights.

[edit] Bully

During the first week of August 2005, Thompson publicly protested Rockstar's yet to be released video game Bully. As part of the protest, he recruited two school buses of children to join him. Thompson emailed Bill Gates, stating that he has 54 days to stop the release of Bully on the Xbox, insinuating a threat of legal action. After this 54 day period Jack Thompson took no action and has not commented on the incident since. He also filed a complaint against various retailers in Dade County, Florida state court in August, 2005 jackthompson.org/archives/legal.htm, seeking to have "Bully" declared a "public nuisance" and kept off the shelves. After the defendants filed a motion to dismiss, Thompson voluntarily dismissed the case.

[edit] Killer7

On August 5, 2005, Thompson sent an e-mail to Patricia Vance, president of the ESRB, accusing them of being too lenient on the game Killer7. He cited an IGN review ^[8] and said:

"...profanity, sex and bloodshed are commonplace... We can’t stress it enough: kids should not play Killer7. Not just because there’s an M on the box, but because for once that M really means something. There’s much more than blood and guts in the game. Everything from the design of puzzles to the subject matter is designed for older players and it's really that simple...And there are cinematics that feature full-blown sex sequences... Killer7’s adult themes, which encapsulate extremely violent, profane and sexual situations, as well as a wide range of issues from terrorism to the sale of children, make the M on the box really mean something."

Despite the objections of many gamers that the Killer7 fully-clothed sexual scene contains content no worse than in a PG-13 movie, Thompson urged Vance to contact retailers and ask them to pull the game from shelves, adding that, unlike the Hot Coffee incident, this was a case of where full-blown sex was easily accessible but that the ESRB "chose to put an 'M' rather than an 'AO' rating on it." He claimed that the ESRB was involved in "a criminal conspiracy to distribute sexual material harmful to minors in violation of criminal statutes" and called for the dismantlement of the ESRB.

[edit] The Warriors

Thompson spoke out against Rockstar Toronto's 2005 title, The Warriors, a video game for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox gaming systems, based on the movie of the same name. He said that it should be rated "Adults Only" by the ESRB or he will do it himself, despite the fact that the movie the game is based on received an R-Rating from the MPAA (An R-Rating is the equivalent to an M-Rated game, as AO is to NC-17/X). He has described The Warriors as being a "murder simulator" and that "it should not be sold to anyone under 18, or anyone for that matter." The ESRB chose to ignore Thompson, giving The Warriors an M rating. www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/71285.html

The Warriors was also the game involved in a sting operation allegedly run by Jack Thompson against Best Buy (see National Institute on Media and the Family).

[edit] 25 to Life

Following the announcement that Eidos, publisher of 25 To Life were sending the game to gold master in January, 2006, Thompson immediately sent out a letter demanding that California's Attorney General declare the game a public nuisance, and pledged to go on the air encouraging all police officers in California to seize and destroy copies of the game. Public nuisances under California's Civil Code are allowed to be abated after a court injunction, but if property is seized or destroyed, owners are allowed to recover the costs of the property. Thompson would need to argue before a judge that the game is a nuisance as it sits on the shelves, as once it's bought and taken into people's homes to play it becomes a private matter. www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/175835.html

Thompson also insisted that Eidos had an agreement with Utah's Attorney General to not release the game, and insisted that the AG was "madder than a wet hen, and all this is going to hit the fan..." www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/175835.html?thread=10150875#t10150875 However, Eidos had only promised to delay the game's release until after the Christmas buying season, which it did. Utah's AG also said he didn't plan any legal action against Eidos, and hoped retailers such as Wal-Mart would choose not to stock the game but acknowledged that was a "corporate, free-market decision." www.abc4.com/local_news/featured_websites/story.aspx?content_id=2570007E-3F54-4784-8F92-263759B1118C www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3398326

[edit] Postal

Thompson sent a letter to the Russian ambassador to the US, following a knife-attack in a Moscow synagogue by a man who read a lot of anti-semitic literature and reportedly played Postal. Thompson urged the ambassador to contact him for assistance in blocking Running With Scissors, who created Postal, from distributing the game Postal² over the internet. www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/175948.html?thread=10102092#t10102092

Running With Scissors CEO Vince Desi noted that neither Postal nor Postal² have knives as weapons, although the Postal² add-on, Apocalypse Weekend, does have a boomerang machete. www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/175948.html?thread=10112076#t10112076 RWS also released a press release denouncing the attack, saying "Despite our renegade image, we have ALWAYS maintained that violence belongs in video games, NOT on the streets." and "Violent behavior and mental illness are complex issues and trivializing them with baseless anti-game invective helps no one." www.gopostal.com/pr/rwsresponds.php

Thompson responded by calling Desi a "sociopath" who provided "Jew-haters" with their very own "murder simulator" and called Postal² "open season on Jews." www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/179392.html?thread=10817984#t10817984 He then challenged Desi to a public debate on the issue, and suggested that "Maybe the great philantropists (sic), Penny Arcade, will put up the money to defray the costs. How about it, tough guy?" www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/179392.html?thread=10824384#t10824384 Mike Jaret, RWS' "marketing moyle", pointed out that he was the only Jew present in the game, although his character is not identified as Jewish. www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/179392.html?thread=10823360#t10823360 www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/179392.html?thread=10826944#t10826944 Thompson followed up by claiming that Postal² "is a game that targets people because of their minority status" and proceeded to say "Why am I not surprised that all you white bread crackers here at GamePolitics don't have a problem with that?" www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/179392.html?thread=10881728#t10881728

As with his many other debate challenges, Thompson said that if Desi wouldn't debate him, he was a "coward". www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/179392.html?thread=10859200#t10859200 Thompson had also challenged Florida "game lawyer" Tom Buscaglia to a debate, which Buscaglia accepted, but Thompson later withdrew the offer, saying "I don’t do debates with people who lie about what I do." gameattorney.com/blog/?p=13

Thompson has attempted to link Postal² to an attack on a gay bar. (see Jacob Robida Murders)

[edit] Halo

In the Washington Sniper case, Thompson was the first to suggest that video games may have been the source of the sniper's skills, although police never made any link between the two. Dateline NBC reported that Malvo "trained" extensively on the Xbox game Halo. He also stated that there was an option within the game entitled "God mode" or "Sniper mode" (although there is a sniper rifle available, Halo does not have a "God mode" like most other first person shooters). From that report, Thompson claimed that "the games both broke down his inhibition to kill and gave him incredible shooting skills" and he believes that "Microsoft should be sued and held liable for money damages by the victims of the Beltway Snipers." Thompson's critics point out that John Allen Muhammad was a former soldier with significant rifle training, as predicted by the police, and that Lee Boyd Malvo's shooting skills could have easily been the result of instruction by Muhammad.

[edit] Manhunt

He has also claimed that Rockstar's Manhunt provoked the murder of Stefan Pakeerah, 14, by his friend Warren Leblanc, 17, and was to represent the victim's mother in an undetermined fashionps2.ign.com/articles/536/536062p1.html. Contrary to popular belief, and reports from the Times, Thompson had not filed a lawsuit, and his representative role seemed to have been in a public relations faculty. The police and judge presiding over the case denied that the game had been a contributory factor in the murder. In the case, it was the victim who owned a copy of Manhunt, and not the killer, as confirmed by the local police. Thompson counter-claimed that: "By the way, the reports that the game belonged to the victim are false. Somebody in a gaming magazine in Scotland or England put that out. That's false. The game belonged to the murderer."

[edit] The Getaway

In addition, Thompson blames the Columbus, Ohio sniper shootings on video games when it was found that Charles McCoy Jr. had a PlayStation 2 and the game The Getaway. McCoy initially claimed insanity due to severe paranoid schizophrenia, believing that TV media coverage of various issues (Michael Jackson's trial was an example) were mocking him. www.courttv.com/trials/mccoy/050305_ctv.html Even though experts on both sides acknowledged his mental illness, the disagreement was on whether he knew that what he was doing was wrong. He later plea bargained, dropped the insanity plea, and was sentenced to 27 years. www.courttv.com/trials/mccoy/080905_guiltyplea_ctv.html

[edit] Call of Duty 2

February 12, 2006. Following the arson attacks on nearly a dozen Baptist churches in Alabama, Thompson wrote a letter to Alabama Attorney General Troy King, attempting to link the burnings to video games. Thompson cited events such as a scene from Call of Duty 2 where Nazi soldiers are shown burning a church, and implied that buildings could be firebombed in Grand Theft Auto. Two churches and a mosque could be seen in CoD2, but none are witnessed to be burned by any soldier, although the former two have sustained substantial war damages. While GTA has featured some missions where players were required to destroy certain buildings, none are places of worship; in addition, none of the buildings aside those to be destroyed in missions are destructible. gamepolitics.livejournal.com/206319.html?thread=14105327#t14105327 Police have ruled out racial motivation, as both white and black dominated congregations have been targeted. The only common factors so far are that the churches are Baptist (although it is the dominant religion in the region), and rural. Suspects were described as two middle-aged men in an SUV.

Several more churches were burnt after Thompson became involved. Some have suggested the cause of these attacks to be copy-catting of news reports of the original fires.

Thompson, Jack Thompson, Jack

This is a sub-article from Jack Thompson, a Miami lawyer and video game activist.

Devin Moore was convicted in 2005 for the 2003 shooting of 2 police officers and a dispatcher as he was being detained for allegedly stealing a car. He grabbed one officers' handgun and killed all three before fleeing the station. He was eventually caught and sentenced to death by lethal injection.

In March, 2005, Thompson announced he was filing a lawsuit on behalf of the families of two of the three victims in Fayette, Alabama. He was featured in a 60 Minutes special on the case. www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/04/60minutes/main678261.shtml

On August 12, 2005 Thompson officially filed Strickland vs. Sony. The third victim's family later joined the lawsuit.

On Tuesday, November 1, 2005, Thompson sent an email to various websites commenting on the opening day of the civil trial. In it, he compared Sony and Take Two Interactive's sale of the Grand Theft Auto video game to Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II. According to Thompson, certain regional governments in Japan had prevented the sale of the Grand Theft Auto games to minors, though Sony continued to sell the game where its sale was not restricted in Japan and abroad (Microsoft is doing the same for its own video game console). Thompson also compared the distribution of violent games to the distribution of pornography. www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1496&Itemid=2

On Friday, November 4, 2005, Blank Rome submitted a motion to have Thompson removed from the case, stating that Thompson would "turn the courtroom into a circus." www.gamespot.com/news/6139206.html

On November 7, 2005, Thompson withdrew from the case stating, "It was my idea [to leave the case]." He was quick to mention that the case would probably do well with or without his presence. This decision followed scrutiny from Judge James Moore, however Thompson claimed he received no pressure to withdraw. At the same time, Judge James Moore had taken the motion to revoke Thompson's license under advisement. Jack Thompson appeared in court to defend his right to practice law in Alabama (using Pro Hac Vice), following accusations that he violated legal ethics.www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/126359.html www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051108/NEWS/511080361/1007

Just before leaving the case, Thompson filed a motion with the court, quoting noted designer Warren Spector (Deus Ex, Thief) as being critical of Rockstar's actions, taken from a speech Spector gave at the Montreal International Game Summit. He even implied that Spector could be served a subpoena to testify, even though the court's jurisdiction did not extend to Spector's place of residence. On November 9, 2005, Spector lashed out at Thompson for taking his comments out of context, saying "Take two or three things, from different contexts, mash them together and you can mislead people pretty dramatically." www.gamespot.com/news/6139443.html

[edit] Alabama Pro Hac Vice Status revoked

On November 18, 2005, Judge Moore rejected Thompson's request to withdraw, and instead revoked his Pro Hac Vice admission (a temporary license to practice in Alabama), in an 18-page decision. Thompson responded with a letter to Alabama's Judicial Inquiry Commission, questioning Judge Moore's ethics and accusing him of violating the first 3 www.alalinc.net/jic/docs/cans2000.pdf Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/134653.html www.gamespot.com/news/6140117.html Thompson also claimed the judge had "absolutely no authority" in preventing him from withdrawing from the case, and so therefore the court's decision to kick him off the case was a "legal nullity". He accused the court of punishing him for "aggressively telling the truth" while it "looked the other way when Blank Rome elegantly told those lies." www.gamespot.com/news/6140202.html

Judge Moore has also referred this matter to the Alabama Bar for "appropriate action" remarking among other things: "Mr. Thompson's actions before this Court suggest that he is unable to conduct himself in a manner befitting practice in this state." ps2.ign.com/articles/668/668345p1.html

On November 21, 2005, Thompson claimed that "We had heard going into this civil case, before it was even filed, that a particular Western Alabama lawyer had to be part of our litigation team or Judge Moore would not give us a fair hearing. This lawyer himself claims, openly, that 'Judge Moore will not allow you to survive summary judgment if I am not on the case.' For too long we have heard swirling around this Judge allegations of improper influence." (sic) www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/137095.html Thompson alluded that the "fixer" was local lawyer Clatus Junkin, although Junkin denied he had any influence over any judges, or that he had made such a comment, as he was "not that dumb [...] or foolish enough to imply that [he] could [influence Judge Moore]." He also declined Thompson's request to join the plaintiffs' team, citing disagreements over Thompson's demands of complete control of any contact with the news media. Judge Moore noted that even though he had banned comments on the case outside the courtroom, Thompson had issued 7 different communications between the start of the case and the day he revoked Thompson's Pro Hac Vice. www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051122/NEWS/511220348/1007

On December 13, 2005, Thompson announced that he will be "assisting plaintiffs’ counsel during the discovery process and in the courtroom at trial" when the civil trial begins in 2006 (the judge ruled on both Thompson's dismissal from the case, and dismissal of the case itself, during pretrial hearings). He also claimed he "will likely be a witness in the case." Although he gave no details as to what he would be a witness to, except that he claimed he had "warned, in writing," Take-Two and Rockstar Games "that murders such as those in Alabama would occur by teens who had rehearsed the murders on their virtual reality killing simulators." www.livejournal.com/users/gamepolitics/157172.html?thread=8478452#t8478452 It should be noted though, that Judge Moore forbade Thompson from "[communicating] with the court or the judge" or he "would be held in contempt of court." www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051119/NEWS/511190331/1007 While that order was appealed, it has not yet been ruled on.

On February 16, 2006, Thompson sent a letter to the Alabama Bar, accusing Judge Moore of breaking the bar rules by publicly disclosing that he had filed a complaint about Thompson with the Alabama Bar. He accused Judge Moore of denying Devin Moore a fair trial, and claimed the FBI was investigating the Florida Bar's "disciplinary process". Thompson gave the Alabama Bar until "five o’clock p.m., Eastern time, February 17, 2006" to drop the complaint, or else he would file a "federal lawsuit in the United States District Court in the Southern District of Florida on Monday, February 20, 2006." gamepolitics.livejournal.com/208673.html?thread=14563617#t14563617

The Alabama State Bar rules state that a court official who revokes Pro Hac Vice due to conduct must refer the matter to the Bar for review, and the Bar decides if an investigation is needed. No complaint is required to open an investigation.

Thompson's deadline of February 17th passed, without action from either party.

On February 22, 2006, Thompson followed up with another letter, announcing that he had filed a lawsuit against the Alabama Bar, for investigating a complaint " which in fact was not even filed" in "violation of its own Bar Rules." gamepolitics.livejournal.com/213925.html?thread=15262117#t15262117

The Alabama Bar has not yet been served notice with any complaint from Thompson, nor has any Florida court acknowledged a civil suit being filed.

Just as a note, Thompson never had a license in Alabama he was participating in a case on Pro Hac Vice. So it could not be Revoked. Title should read ==Alabama Pro Hac Vice revoked== This would be more NPOV as License Revoked appears to be more of a loss of a license to practice rather than a judge saying you're not going to participate on this case as an Attorney --70.10.171.143 20:52, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

In 1999, Jack Thompson, a Miami lawyer and anti-videogame activist, filed a $33 million federal products liability class action lawsuit, James v. Meow Media, against a number of entertainment companies on behalf of the parents of victims of the 1997 Paducah schoolhouse shootings, in which 14-year old Michael Carneal shot at a group of fellow students as they were leaving a preschool prayer group in the school's lobby, killing 3 and wounding 5. Carneal was sentenced to life in prison. www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/juvmurders/stories/paducah.htm Defendants included Time Warner Inc., Polygram Film Entertainment Distribution Inc., Palm Pictures, Island Pictures, New Line Cinema, Atari Corp., Nintendo of America, Sega of America Inc., and Sony Computer Entertainment.

In 2000, the judge dismissed the suit, citing Kentucky tort law, absolving the companies of responsibility for Carneal's actions. www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=16730 In 2002, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal, and in 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari, refusing to review the case because it was not dismissed on 1st Amendment grounds. www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=17477

Dr. Dewey Cornell, a psychiatrist who interviewed Carneal, rebuked the idea that Carneal had never fired a gun before, as Thompson claimed, as Carneal admitted to having stolen and practiced with a .22 caliber pistol, and had previously practiced with other handguns. Carneal eventually stole 5 rifles from a friends' father's gun cabinet while the family was away at a Thanksgiving dinner, as well as stealing 2 shotguns from his own father. www.nap.edu/books/0309084121/html/140.html

Category:Spree shootings