Jack Thompson Threatens Legal Action Over Halo 3
Yes, friends, good old Jack has poked his nose where it doesn't belong yet again. He claims he wants to ensure Halo 3 stays out of the hands of people of the age of 17, and if Microsoft doesn't comply, he'll sue. Here's the letter he sent to Gates.
Dear Mr. Gates:
As you know, the Federal Trade Commission has repeatedly found that games rated Mature by the video game industry-captured Entertainment Software Rating Board are routinely sold to kids under the age of 17 despite the age rating. The most recent failure rate of the ratings on Mature games, according to the FTC, is 42%. The entire rating system is a fraud, and broken, the latter description aptly provided by Senator Hillary Clinton.
As you also know, Lee Boyd Malvo trained on Microsofts Halo to further enable him to become the remarkably efficient DC Beltway Sniper. That was reported by NBC News at the time and was noted in Malvos criminal trial.
You appeared on CBS 60 Minutes II and rather revealing and usefully noted that the cool thing about these games is that they transport you to a world you think is real. Precisely. Capcom has recently disclosed to investors that your video game industrys violent games, sold to children, pose a real hazard to the health of the industry. Right on.
The hyperviolent Microsoft Xbox 360 game Halo 3 is scheduled by your company for commercial release in September of this year. The Beta version that was released last week shows us all just how violent the game is and how inappropriate it is for play by anyone under 17, as the Mature rating it will surely receive indicates.
Heres the deal, Mr. Gates: Either Microsoft undertakes dramatic, real steps, through its marketing, wholesale, and retail operations to assure that Halo 3 is not sold, via the Internet and in stores, directly to anyone under 17, or I shall proceed to make sure that Microsoft is held to that standard by appropriate legal means. I have done that before successfully as to Best Buy, and I shall do so again as to Microsoft and all retailers of Halo 3.
It sounds like a load of shit. He can try to sue the pants off Microsoft all he wants, but he's just not going to win.
When will he give up?
Here's a link to the GameAlmighty article.
Discuss.
Dear Mr. Gates:
As you know, the Federal Trade Commission has repeatedly found that games rated Mature by the video game industry-captured Entertainment Software Rating Board are routinely sold to kids under the age of 17 despite the age rating. The most recent failure rate of the ratings on Mature games, according to the FTC, is 42%. The entire rating system is a fraud, and broken, the latter description aptly provided by Senator Hillary Clinton.
As you also know, Lee Boyd Malvo trained on Microsofts Halo to further enable him to become the remarkably efficient DC Beltway Sniper. That was reported by NBC News at the time and was noted in Malvos criminal trial.
You appeared on CBS 60 Minutes II and rather revealing and usefully noted that the cool thing about these games is that they transport you to a world you think is real. Precisely. Capcom has recently disclosed to investors that your video game industrys violent games, sold to children, pose a real hazard to the health of the industry. Right on.
The hyperviolent Microsoft Xbox 360 game Halo 3 is scheduled by your company for commercial release in September of this year. The Beta version that was released last week shows us all just how violent the game is and how inappropriate it is for play by anyone under 17, as the Mature rating it will surely receive indicates.
Heres the deal, Mr. Gates: Either Microsoft undertakes dramatic, real steps, through its marketing, wholesale, and retail operations to assure that Halo 3 is not sold, via the Internet and in stores, directly to anyone under 17, or I shall proceed to make sure that Microsoft is held to that standard by appropriate legal means. I have done that before successfully as to Best Buy, and I shall do so again as to Microsoft and all retailers of Halo 3.
It sounds like a load of shit. He can try to sue the pants off Microsoft all he wants, but he's just not going to win.
When will he give up?
Here's a link to the GameAlmighty article.
Discuss.
Replies
And while we are at it put down that nasty ass Hilary Clinton. God damn she is dog ugly.
I hope Gates replies, here's a template he can use:
"Dear Fuckwit,
Let's start with ignoring the vast quanity of shite and lies you make up and get to the meat of this issue.
Vendors are responsible for who games are sold to. You don't sue Smirnoff if minors go into a bar, get served and get drunk.
Grow a pair of braincells, rub them together to create a spark of intelligence, and lock yourself in a vault, where no one need ever be subjected to your stupidity again.
Sincerely,
The Human Race"
Let's start with ignoring the vast quanity of shite and lies you make up and get to the meat of this issue.
Vendors are responsible for who games are sold to. You don't sue Smirnoff if minors go into a bar and get drunk.
Grow a pair of braincells, rub them together to create a spark of intelligence, and lock yourself in a vault, where no one need ever be subjected to your stupidity again.
Sincerely,
The Human Race"
L M F A O !
"Dear Fuckwit,
Let's start with ignoring the vast quanity of shite and lies you make up and get to the meat of this issue.
Vendors are responsible for who games are sold to. You don't sue Smirnoff if minors go into a bar, get served and get drunk.
Grow a pair of braincells, rub them together to create a spark of intelligence, and lock yourself in a vault, where no one need ever be subjected to your stupidity again.
Sincerely,
The Human Race"
[/ QUOTE ]
NOW THAT WOULD ROCK! haha Yeah seriously. I just don't get how these guys can attack video games when it is up to Target to stop the sale to an underage kid. Rockstar and Bungie are not gonna be selling the games out of vans to underage kids like crack from an ice cream truck.
This guy really needs to have a massive heart attack or something. Something really painful or disturbing would be nice.
That would be the best response ever! I want that sent to him and documented all over the net. The Smirnoff example. I can't imagine how he could reply to that.
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He'd send a nastygram to all the alcohol producers of the world.
That would be the best response ever! I want that sent to him and documented all over the net. The Smirnoff example. I can't imagine how he could reply to that.
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I don't think he'd care, he's a man of action and priorities. I mean come on, video games are WAY more dangerous than alocohol.
The thing that really boggles my mind is the fact that people believe that murderers and rapists "train" on first person shooters and the like. Sorry to burst your bubble, but attempting half the shit you see in Counter-Strike or Halo is only going to make the cops' job of shooting your sorry ass easier.
I should be ready to win the Masters by next year.
I'm going to spend the new few months spending several hours a day playing Microsoft Golf.
I should be ready to win the Masters by next year.
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Yeah I've been playing madden everyday so I think I have a shot at a spot on the Patriots roster this year.
when does his ranting become slander and or libel? because it isn't against a person, but directed at a type of media/group?
Thompson bursts into Gate's office
Thompson:"Bill, we've got precedent, witnesses and a paper chase a mile long!"
He slams is briefcase on the desk.
Gates:"Oh really?" He presses a button on his desk. "Well I've got 100 high priced lawyers". The walls slide away to reveal many lawyers. Thompson screams and runs away, leaving his briefcase behind. It is opened to reveal nothing but shredded newspapers.
I get a nice mental image from the Episode of the Simpsons where Marge gets a job at the nuclear power plant.
Thompson bursts into Gate's office
Thompson:"Bill, we've got precedent, witnesses and a paper chase a mile long!"
He slams is briefcase on the desk.
Gates:"Oh really?" He presses a button on his desk. "Well I've got 100 high priced lawyers". The walls slide away to reveal many lawyers. Thompson screams and runs away, leaving his briefcase behind. It is opened to reveal nothing but shredded newspapers.
[/ QUOTE ]
"...but your card says you work on a contingency basis, no money down."
"Oh, they screwed this all up. It should read, 'work on a contingency basis<font color="red">?</font> No<font color="red">,</font> money down<font color="red">!</font>' This Bar Association logo shouldn't be here either."
Everyone here makes games or wants be part of the industry in one form or another and I don't think we are responsible for what little 15 year old Johny from East Kansas is buying with his birthday money at the local Wal-mart. Who is responsible though? His parents for one and the person not checking his id if he buys that game.
HAHAHA, thanks guys.
-caseyjones
should minors really be playing violent games?
although take a step back guys.
should minors really be playing violent games?
[/ QUOTE ]I don't believe age really has much bearing over whether or not someone is mentally stable enough to play violent video games. Should six and seven year olds be playing Grand Theft Auto? Most certainly not, but the same can't always be said for fourteen or fifteen year olds.
Being 16, I'm sure my views are a bit biased, but the environment in which someone grew up, whether or not their parents taught them the difference between reality and fiction, etc. can affect a person's maturity and level of understanding a lot more than age alone.
Like how many guns are sold and used in violent crimes. It's not the reponsibility of the manufacturers who the guns are sold to.
... and rather revealing and usefully noted ...
... I have done that before successfully as to Best Buy ...
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I'm not actually acquainted with Thompson's style and am therefore speaking directly from my ass, but this does not seem like the level of polish I'd expect from a lawyerly letter. Lawyers proofread before rushing out and demanding to be taken seriously by major corporations. And I've never heard of GameAlmighty.com ... why are they being forwarded letters? I'm guessing it's some kinda hoax.
although take a step back guys.
should minors really be playing violent games?
[/ QUOTE ]
Depends on the parents and their moral standpoint, of course. Thankfully, morality isn't a one size fits all matter. It's fully legit to say they shouldn't be allowed if that's their prerogative. But, this is not the point.
The point of the argument is that other forms of media, namely movies and music, should not get special treatment while violent games are treated as pornographic content. Their ('they' being the said promoters of this propsed law) reasoning is that video games are highly influential in contrast to other mediums, and drive your kids crazy, apparantly. Others argue that video games are hardly an art form, and that they contain no purpose or 'message', and are simply mental masturbation.
Like probably everyone else here, my parents raised me and allowed me to play many violent and mature video games, as well as watch and read violent movies and books, comic books. I like to think I turned out OK. So again, it lies with the parents moral standpoint, and of course, whether or not the kid is fucked in the head already.
Hell, look how Jesse turned out. Case-in-point psycho.
Hell, look how Jesse turned out. Case-in-point psycho.
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HEY! What does that mean? Haha... I only tried to rip my cousins head off with his spine still attached ONCE after I got Mortal Kombat.
I'm not actually acquainted with Thompson's style and am therefore speaking directly from my ass, but this does not seem like the level of polish I'd expect from a lawyerly letter. Lawyers proofread before rushing out and demanding to be taken seriously by major corporations. And I've never heard of GameAlmighty.com ... why are they being forwarded letters? I'm guessing it's some kinda hoax.
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It's not a hoax. If you've never heard of Jack Thompson until now, you're one lucky man.
He's a poor excuse for a lawyer, and often stretches the truth, or downright lies to get his way. He ignores truthful statements, and insults those who try to express their opinions. In short, the man is a bloody asshole.
Google some of his other cases. He's the one brought around the whole "Hot Coffee" debacle and got Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas slapped with the "AO" rating.
while violent games are treated as pornographic content.
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I'd rather my kids be watching porn than gore.*
* = I don't actually have any kids
I'm not actually acquainted with Thompson's style and am therefore speaking directly from my ass..
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Err, you just contradicted yourself, it seems you are intimately familiar with his style
Communication with your child is actually something good.
Seriously, half the time I read about this asshat, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.