Take-Two gets a new shareholder: Jack Thompson
No, your eyes are not deceiving
you. Jack Thompson has purchased shares in Take-Two
interactive - otherwise known as the publisher behind the Grand Theft Auto series of games. So has JT suddenly
become a financial supporter of the company he's long campaigned against? Not a chance. JT has purchased stock in the
company in order that he might attend Take-Two's shareholder meetings and face up to the company's CEO, Paul
Eibeler.In advance of attending the shareholder's meeting, he sent a ranting letter to Eibeler, outlining his plan to attend the meeting and visit several issues that have been on our favorite lawyer's mind as of late. In the letter, JT questions Eibeler's handling of the "Hot Coffee" sex scandal (which won an award, by the way) and mentions a report by MarketWatch naming Eibeler as the "worst CEO of 2005". Up until this point, the letter raises legitimate concerns that any shareholder could have regarding the company's CEO.
But, as JT's letters always do, it degrades into a messy rant against the video game industry in general. At one point, JT refers to Microsoft's Flight Simulator as a training simulator for the 9/11 terrorists: "What's next, Paul, a game in which players can practice flying commercial jetliners into the World Trade Towers? Oh, I forgot. Microsoft already did that." We're not going to dignify that statement with a retort. As these kind of statements demonstrate: Jack Thompson is, and will forever remain, a childish attention seeker. We hope the organisers of the next Take-Two shareholder's meeting refuse to obey JT's request for a "cordless microphone at the shareholders meeting." That's all he needs: a voice.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
nowhere @ Dec 22nd 2005 8:06AM
I say give him the mic, it'd be hilarious to hear what he says.
DG @ Dec 22nd 2005 8:10AM
There are ongoing crises in Niger and the Sudan, there is sex trafficking in Eastern Europe and South America, 15 percent of the American population is under the poverty line, American children are fat and getting stupider by the day, and, oh yeah, the House and Senate just past bills stripping funding for food stamps, housing programs, and student loan reimbursement.
Of course, this asshole's biggest problem is video games. These "family values" idiots are great at getting attention to themselves, but their priorities suck.
Zero_ @ Dec 22nd 2005 8:15AM
Okay, the whole violence in video games thing I can understand from Jack Thompson, but Flight Simulator as training for terrorists? He might as well attack Pac Man for being a training simulator for devouring small objects, harmful to children under 3.
Cem @ Dec 22nd 2005 8:16AM
"Thompson is, and will forever remain, a childish attention seeker." Yes, and he is getting it with posts like these :)
yay @ Dec 22nd 2005 8:20AM
This guy is starting to get on my nerves.
Jon A. @ Dec 22nd 2005 8:22AM
Oh, I really love his determination to try to get his voice heard. To me, that's really admirable.
But at this moment, he is not going at his cause in a professional manor and is ranting worse than a Sony fanboy.
Simon @ Dec 22nd 2005 8:33AM
Hoooo boy, this is going to be fun to watch.
Gimbal @ Dec 22nd 2005 8:34AM
"What's next, Paul, a game in which players can practice typing inane, misguided, narcissistic diatribes? Oh, I forgot. Microsoft already did that."
Fixed.
WizarDru @ Dec 22nd 2005 8:39AM
The core truth remains; Thompson and his ilk are desperate attention seekers. This is merely the latest in a long series of ever more pathetic attempts to get that attention. The best response is no response at all. Without anyone to give him that attention, he withers and fades. Let him fade.
Brook @ Dec 22nd 2005 8:44AM
he's the kind of jerk that would say america was more family-oriented and better off 50 years ago WHEN BLACK PEOPLE COULDN'T DRINK FROM THE SAME WATER FOUNTAINS.
Dave @ Dec 22nd 2005 8:53AM
I really hope this thing is televised. I want to see him get dragged out, kicking and screaming about suing everyone.
Or him make a huge fuss and be completely ignored.
And even if it proves his point, isn't it pretty silly to invest in Take Two right now?
Lucas Kane @ Dec 22nd 2005 8:56AM
I bet he's doing it for profit, a lawyer dont pay so good now does it? Why not make a good buck while making yourself in the spotlight on news network, any excuse to wear make up Jack.
Ryan @ Dec 22nd 2005 8:58AM
Why?! Why are you giving this guy what he wants? Attention!
Phil @ Dec 22nd 2005 9:05AM
Hey Jack, you friggin' idiot, the terrorists didn't use a flight simulator to practice flying planes, they got real lessons in Florida, you retard! How about you pick up the torch against companies who give flying lessons! They are the real enemy!
GlitchCog @ Dec 22nd 2005 9:07AM
As video games get more complex, they're going to have increasingly more options to the point where the player gets to choose whether to do good or evil. A flight simulator is a perfect example of this. All it does is simulate flying an airplane, which is not clearly pointed in any moral direction. Instead, you, as the player, get to decide to either crash it into a building or land safely. The game doesn't make anyone evil. People bring their evil to games like this.
Sockatume @ Dec 22nd 2005 9:13AM
Might we get to see him manhandled out of the building by burly security guards? That'd be a true Christmas miracle.
Scythe @ Dec 22nd 2005 9:20AM
Thank god I stopped play Need for speed, it was training me to run from cops and take really dangerous curves at extreamly high speeds. I'll go and play with a paper airplane now..... oh wait is that a flight sim too??? I'm so lost and confused! J.T. What should I be playing?
J.T. "says": Do what I do find you a goat and give it some sweet loving and that will make the earges go away.
FRECK!
Slitty the Pirate @ Dec 22nd 2005 9:47AM
Jack Thompson's obliviousness might be funny if it weren't so sad!
The ZeroCorpse @ Dec 22nd 2005 9:56AM
What a loser. JT is now past the category of "attention whore" and into "raving lunatic" mode.
Someone slash his tires or something.
illspirit @ Dec 22nd 2005 10:33AM
You know what this means? Jack is, for all intents and purposes, suing himself now down in Alabama. Wow. Just wow.
2kings @ Dec 22nd 2005 10:36AM
Guys a douche
Slugo @ Dec 22nd 2005 10:36AM
It looks like everyone is missing the point here. He is trying for a hostile take over on Take2. If he can get more people like him to buy shares in Take2. They then could try a hostile take over and they would dictate what game Take2 could make and release.
Vejadu @ Dec 22nd 2005 10:37AM
I'd love to hear his take on some classic games:
Pac-Man: Focuses on gluttony and eating disorders
Frogger: Encourages children to play in traffic
Pitfall: Glamorizes risky adventurous lifestyle
Mario Bros: Advocates cruelty towards animals
neale @ Dec 22nd 2005 11:05AM
what a bastard
create loads of media attention then invest. ban something and whatch it rocket up in success
Perri @ Dec 22nd 2005 11:16AM
oh man, thats a brand new low. Must have cost him a lot of money to get that many shares no? Anyway, this guy is what they call an extremeist. Sure people could fly into buildings on a flight sim, but you aren't supposed to, you don't get rewarded for that. Saying that any flight simulator was a terror simulator is just rediculous, anything could be bad then. Zelda prepares uraban Teens for knife fighting? Mario supports obesity misleading kids-fat people can play all these sports! Wouldn't want those RTS's on the market too long, might teach some kid how to lead an army, and he'll rise up to become the next Hitler. Anything can be twisted around and turned into something evil, thats why we have a rating system (I know not very well enforced) But go after the parents, those kids did not shoot up columbine BECAUSE they played a video game, I'm sure it didn't help, but there was something wrong with them, and it was because of people that they lashed out. The real problem is society and video games are a very small part of that compared to film or television. Jack Thompson is a disgrace, and the controversy he creates only feeds the fire. I think this will be pretty entertaining, but you know after one meeting he's going to sell his shares anyways - he's a wuss that way
Matt A. @ Dec 22nd 2005 11:27AM
I understand that Jacky Boy is a news item, but honestly, all reporting his foolish rants does is give him the voice he seeks. His points are irrational, childish and when he actually uses factual information, he twists it so it suits his purpose. The man is an atrocity to his profession, which already has a pretty bad reputation to begin with (there are almost as many lawyer jokes as there are blonde jokes).
While I do find his hissy fits entertaining, I've reached the point where I wish people would just stop reporting about his doings. It's obvious he has no ability and he will NEVER stop the video game industry. If he considers the Hot Coffee scandal a victory he must have a warped sense of success because the same game was on the market no more than 6 months later with the hidden sex scene, that most gamers couldn't even access in the first place, removed and all the violence he lobbies against intact. Wow... What a victory.
It's kind of like the "Attack Of The 50 Foot Eyesores" short from The Simpsons (for those who have seen it). You want him to go away, "just don't look." Don't give him the attention he seeks. It's not REALLY news when somebody throws a temper tantrum anyways.
MosquitoControl @ Dec 22nd 2005 12:13PM
They can mostly ignore him.
He hasn't held the shares terribly long, and he did not buy them in good faith.
No court will uphold any changes Thompson tries to make in the company as a minority shareholder.
Jon @ Dec 22nd 2005 12:20PM
Jack Thomson is batshit crazy and is rapidly heading towards disbarment. Also, on more than one instance he's lost arguments to 6 year olds.
empt @ Dec 22nd 2005 12:52PM
lets not go overboard.....I don't think even JT's ego would let him think that he could organize a hostile takeover of Take2.....
Not that that would be bad, however. Let him and his friends sink all their money in the company, release some incredibley bad games, and then suck on the big fat destruction of their stock price
All he wants is a crowd of people in a room, and a microphone. He doesn't care what the subject of the meeting is. In '91, I went to a debate about violence in Rap music. It was JT vs Professer Griff from Public Enemy........Lets just say JT is a tool now, and he was a tool then.
What I'd like to hear is JT commenting on why all the recent video game laws keep getting squashed by the courts....
JRM @ Dec 22nd 2005 1:16PM
how I would love to see someone pie him in the face when he goes up to speak.
skooby @ Dec 22nd 2005 1:18PM
Wouldn't it be more productive to point out some of the more "socially building" game companies than to continually hashing this stuff around.
I imagine JT only purchased 1 share. But say he purchased a share into a company that would actually listen to what he has to say.
Granded with that ownership in the company he can watch the company like a hawk and notify regulators of anything out of the ordinary. Not that Jack would do something like that... Nah...
ih8scrnms @ Dec 22nd 2005 1:27PM
While MosquitoControl touched on it, I really have to wonder how this will impact the lawsuit in Alabama. I seem to remember that JT said he would be called as a witness now that he has been removed from the case as a lawyer.
But since he is now a shareholder for one of the defendants, isn't there some kind of conflict of interest that should prevent JT from even testifying?
I understand his tactic, that it is easier to take down the giant from within, rather than trying to tie its shoelaces together and trying to trip it up, but still, it seems like he's shooting himself in the foot with regard to the court case.
//my 2 cents
White Rose Duelist @ Dec 22nd 2005 2:51PM
I wonder if he spent more for this than the $10k he didn't donate to charity?
Pixelantes Anonymous @ Dec 22nd 2005 2:53PM
By all means, if Jack wants to make a jackass of himself in the presence of other shareholders, let him! It'll make some pretty good comedy, and hopefully the crooked CEO of Take-Two will do something equally stupid in reaction. I'm thinking of buying share(s) just for the right to be there to see it.
ClearSkin @ Dec 22nd 2005 3:04PM
I wonder how the other shareholders feel about this...
Even he did manage to rally enough cash contributions to become a majority shareholder, it's not like there wouldn't be 20 other publishers in line happy to publish Rockstar's games instead. They would tank Take2, but have little effect on the game developers.
And of course JT knows this, he's just, as has been said, doing what slimy lawyers to in order to stay in the spotlight.
Tiktok @ Dec 22nd 2005 4:40PM
@ #20
It's more likely that a big company, EA or Sony, succeeds at a hostile takeover than Jack Thompson. If Jack was trying one, it would be for the sole purpose of destroying a Take2 and it's hard to find investors willing to shell out money just to lose it all.
jack thompson @ Dec 22nd 2005 4:49PM
Ranting? Why don't you censors provide the text of the letter and let the readers here decide? Nobody was laughing when I did this at the 1992 Time Warner shareholders meeting and persuaded the Time Warner board to pull Ice-T's "Cop Killer" from store shelves worldwide.
See, the basic method of you gamers is to ignore the successes of your opponents so as to try to marginalize them. Publish my letter here. Paul Eibeler isn't laughing. He's this close to losing his job. Jack Thompson
jack thompson @ Dec 22nd 2005 4:51PM
John B. Thompson, Attorney at Law
1172 South Dixie Hwy., Suite 111
Coral Gables, Florida 33146
305-666-4366
December 22, 2005
The Honorable Eliot Spitzer
Attorney General, State of New York
120 Broadway
New York City, New York 10271 Via Fax to 212-416-8139
Re: Distribution of Sexual Material Harmful to Minors by Take-Two Interactive, Inc./Rockstar Games of New York City
Dear Mr. Spitzer:
In July of this year, Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., and its subsidiary Rockstar Games, both headquartered in New York City, were caught by the video game industrys Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) with having fraudulently embedded explicit sexual material in the hyperviolent, cop-killing video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. This was referred to as the Hot Coffee mod sex scandal.
Take-Two lied about having done this, claiming somebody else put the explici sex in the game, which patent deception prompted Senator Hillary Clinton to request an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission into Take-Twos fraud. I prepped Senator Clinton for her news conference at which she announced that request, making headlines around the globe. Subsequently, the United States House of Representatives voted by a whopping 355-21 to join with Senator Clinton in the request to the FTC.
Take-Two has a history of illegal activity, as this year it had to pay $8 million in fines to the federal Security Exchange Commission for accounting fraud. Fortune magazine this summer recounted the long history of insider trading at Take-Two.
Not surprisingly, MediaWatch named Take-Twos Paul Eibeler, sitting right there in Manhattan this morning, Americas Worst CEO in 2005 for his lies regarding Hot Coffee. A San Francisco public relations firm named Take-Twos disastrous deceptions about what it had done in Hot Coffee one of its Top Ten P.R. Blunders of 2005.
Lost in all of this is the fact that Take-Two put explicit sex into a video game marketed and sold to minors. As soon as the ESRB verified that a) Take-Two had knowingly placed the explicit sex in the game and b) Take-Two had lied about what it had done, the game was ordered by the ESRB off store shelves and re-rated AOAdults Only.
The removal and re-rating is probative of whether Take-Two distributed and conspired to distribute sexual material harmful to minors. Paul Eibeler personally and Take-Two corporately should be prosecuted for this criminal activity which violates New York Penal Code Section 235, et sequitur regarding the distribution of sexual material harmful to minors.
You might also want to pursue Take-Two for its fraudulent and deceptive trade practices arising out of Hot Coffee. After all, it marketed and sold a game that was rated M, when in fact it was really an AO game, as the ESRB action proves.
Please be further advised that the Philadelphia law firm of Blank Rome, which is the largest single lobbyist/law firm contributor to Bush-Cheney and the Republican National Committee, is the official, registered lobbyist in the US House and US Senate for Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.
Hows that for Republican family values? Blank Romes Chairman, David Girard-diCarlo, raises tons of campaign contributions for his friend President Bush, and thereby buys both protection and access for Blank Romes clients, including scofflaw Take-Two.
I and others would appreciate hearing from you and your office by Friday, January 13, that a criminal investigation of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., has commenced. It is long overdue.
Regards, Jack Thompson
Copies: Media
jack thompson @ Dec 22nd 2005 4:54PM
Why doesn't one of you go google "stockholder derivative action" and then you'll know what this is about. I'm crazy like a fox. Duh. Jack Thompson
Kristian @ Dec 22nd 2005 5:22PM
Very smart man. I applaud his initiative.
He may act stupid sometimes, but he sure as hell isn't.
sevtron @ Dec 22nd 2005 5:40PM
People such as this are pathetic. The ESRB serves its purpose to analyze games for their content and give an accurate, fair rating. Why do idiots like this have a problem with games that are already rated Adult? Oh my, there was a Sex mod in a mature rated game, does he even know how many teenage boys look at porn in America already? Why doesn't he do something about that!
No terrorist will find any pertinent information on how to fly a plane from a video game. What kind of douche do you have to be to say something such as that? Thats like saying Grand Turismo teaches you how to drive. This guy does not even look into the sanity and logic of his claims, which will be his downfall.
Greyfire @ Dec 22nd 2005 5:43PM
You mean like on http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/casecode/uscodes/28/parts/iv/chapters/87/sections/section_1401.html:
"Section 1401. Stockholder's derivative action
Any civil action by a stockholder on behalf of his corporation may be prosecuted in any judicial district where the corporation might have sued the same defendants."
So you can sue someone on behalf of the corporation that you are a shareholder. As a shareholder of the corporation now who are you going to sue on behalf of the corporation? The president of the corporation or yourself? Haven't you been doing that kind of thing already?
How about explaining how you're getting around the attorney's conflict of interest ethics? I'm really curious about that.
-=- Greyfire
HASTE:GAG @ Dec 22nd 2005 6:38PM
What would be really great to see is the SEC going after him for corporate sabotage or something to that effect. I'm pretty sure any company's shareholders should have the right to limit investment (even as a publicly traded company) to someone who recently sued them...
Dan T. @ Dec 22nd 2005 7:47PM
This guy is just nuts. he's the sort of person who can't stand freedom of speech, but uses it to insight hate against games producers, a.k.a. fucking hypocrite!
bloody cretin laywers who think they always knwo whats best for millions of people with out even meeting the so called millions he is "protecting" (yeah, protecting them from their freedom!)
- Tinned_Tuna
ThisHappenedb4 @ Dec 22nd 2005 8:02PM
You know Jack Thompson isnt the first moron to do this. The industry will survive despite his idiocy.
Any comic book fans may know what the Comics Code Authority is It is the ESRB version for comics. Some comics companies use it some don't. Anyway my point is that in the 50's there was this whole issue with comics....here let me post the wikipedia info which pretty much describes it and you can draw your own conclusions:
"The CCA was founded in 1954, in respose to a public outcry about what was deemed inappropriate material in many comic books, especially crime and horror comics, and the sexual innuendo of Good Girl Art. Dr. Frederic Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent rallied opposition to this sort of material in comics, arguing that it was harmful to the children who made up a large segment of the comic book audience. Congressional hearings led by Senator Estes Kefauver had many publishers concerned about government regulation, prompting them to form a self-regulatory body to prevent that."
Gee sound familiar? The industry will survive as long as it regulates itself. At this point retailers need to be the ones who are to blame for letting games with adult content or even mature content get sold. This is purely a retailer thing. Idiots like thompson are indeed in it for attention. And they get the attention indeed. In the end they will fade into history's obscurity. Free media has always prevailed and always will.
Restrictions to it should be applied to the individual level. Free Speech also means free choice. You can choose to listen or you can choose not to. Anyone who says otherwise is full of crap and is a totalitarian. This is up to people to choose and retailers to enforce ratings.
Freedom of choice is the issue here. It is obvious that JT wants to take that away by trying futily to bring this industry down.
Using the comics reference He did the equivalent of burning comic books by buying stock in this company.
anyway here is my wiki reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comics_Code_Authority
:P long rant but I strongly feel free speech and choice must prevail. As long as things get squelched in the name of.... because of someone's self intrests politically or monetarily we will find ourselves quickly losing freedoms that we currently enjoy as a country
RS @ Dec 22nd 2005 8:35PM
I loved the comment made by White Rose Duelist; it's almost exactly what I would post. So he didn't have the money or the generosity to donate the money he promised, instead he dangled it over their heads. Violent video games are bad for kids Mr. Thompson? I beg to differ. I believe it is inconsiderate people like you that are. How dare you make a statement like that only to fail to donate, only to buy stock in the company you stand against? Of course I would send this to Mr. Thompson himself, only I don't want his half assed lawyers knocking at my door with idle threats of lawsuits. I don't have that kind of time to waste Mr. Thompson, as you apparently do.
Matt @ Dec 23rd 2005 12:06AM
"What's next, Paul, a game in which players can practice flying commercial jetliners into the World Trade Towers? Oh, I forgot. Microsoft already did that."
Two words: slippery slope. And that's all I'll say because otherwise I'll get too angry and ranty.
Kajex @ Dec 23rd 2005 1:26AM
To this, I say...
"Restraining Order, Biatch."
Google Nazi @ Dec 23rd 2005 2:35AM
EXCUSE ME SIR!!!!
Where do I mine for fish?
groovie @ Dec 23rd 2005 10:30AM
Every video game he mentions and complains about just starts selling better. I think he's in it for the money now. Isnt there some law about causing the stock price to rise by making false anouncements? isnt it called "Pumping"? Now that he holds stock in Take Two cant he be arrested for this?
Pumping:The specific intent is to stimulate interest in the stock, attract buying, and cause the price to rise. Scenario, the fraudster buys a stock at lets say $5.00 a share, he/she then releases some false information causing the price to rise. He then sells making a profit.