Thompson threatens Microsoft over GTA4, ignores Sony
Everybody's favorite lawyer is at it again, this time sending a heads up letter to Microsoft chairman Bill Gates promising to "undertake various means to prohibit and stop the sale of [Grand Theft Auto 4] to minors." The letter, a copy of which was sent to Joystiq, warns Microsoft against "participating in any fashion, directly or indirectly, in such sales to minors." We can only guess than indirect participation would be simply allowing the game to be released on the Xbox 360, and we doubt that Microsoft will be willing to give up its day-and-date bombshell just because of a vague threat from Thompson.
In the letter, Thompson cites an Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility report which shows game retailers like Target and Best Buy are actually "doing a better job of controlling sales of violent video games to children." Wouldn't a study that shows retailers doing a worse job have been a better choice? Also, wouldn't such a letter have been more effective going to a retailer than a console maker that has little to no control on point-of-purchase sales ratings enforcement?
And why is Thompson targeting Microsoft while ignoring Sony, which is also planning to host GTA4 on its system later this year? Last year Sony was public enemy No. 1 for allowing GTA in Japan. Has the PS3's launch-time troubles made them a less attractive target?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
crono141 @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:03AM
SHH! You musn't speak his name!
sully @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:07AM
You guys really should follow the model the GameSpot people are using - a total refusal to ever put Mr. Thompson's name in the news from this point forward.
Deny the publicity whore his fix and we all win.
ackmondual @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:09AM
And yet, no1 seems to find all the porn and violent movies like the Saw series that are just as easily as accessible to children as GTA, but can be much more violent and inappropriate
Kevin @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:09AM
Gotta give Thompson credit. He really knows how to exploit controversy to further his own slimy career. Love him or hate him, you all know his name now.
What I would love to see is a nice, bloody FPS where Thompson is the enemy. The only enemy. Yes, it would be repetative, but that's not a bad thing in this case. Each new weapon would present a new way of slaying Thompson! Weeeeeee!!!
vidGuy @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:10AM
JT is impotent as a lawyer and this lack luster attack will result in nothing. The fact that he/his office sent a copy of the letter to Joystiq (and surely other media outlets) shows how media-hungry he is.
Rob @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:11AM
Moron. XBox 360 and PS3 already have parental controls.
IslandLife @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:15AM
@ Rob
EXACTLY! So why doesn't he spend his time and energy making parents aware of this fact. Or maybe that would be too simple.
Sam @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:17AM
Microsoft has so much money, they should just bury this guy!
Derbeste @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:17AM
Why is JT after MS now?
DUH!
MS has much deeper pockets.
You don't REALLY think it's the children he cares about, do you?
Btw....sully is right. Ban news about this guy. The only person that wants to see news about him on here.....is JT. (He sent you the fuckin' letter for hell sake. Does he pay you a fee to have it published too?)
KineticOnline @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:18AM
[Name never to be spoken] should be ignore by all the media, its the only way a jackass like him will see sence.
If games like this really make people violent isnt the prick pissing off the wrong people (i.e. people he says are likely to hunt his ass down and chainsaw him)
Rob @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:18AM
@IslandLife
Because he only cares about controversy. He doesn't know how to affect real change, nor does he care anything but being in the spotlight.
---
Hey Jack, sqlrob from LJ here - still humping those corpses? Since LA failed, obviously so.
BklynKid @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:19AM
What does he want MS to do about it, not release the game? Why doesn't Thompson send angry letters to parents telling them to take responsibility for what their kids consume? Typical Republican stance thinking that the government must protect its people from themselves.
Daniel @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:19AM
I agree with Sully. This stuff was kinda funny to read a year ago, but now it's just boring. Not slagging Joystiq here - just saying that if I never read another story about JT, I definitely wouldn't lose sleep.
doobiwan @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:20AM
@6 & 7
Ditto, Microsoft can actually use this massively in their favour, he's selling their parental controls for them :p
"Unlike the PS2, protect your 17 years old fragile little mind with Xbox Parental controls!"
Funny, actually, PC's basically shut down JT's whole lifes work . . .
Scott @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:23AM
Bill Gates' response: "I pay people to poop larger turds than Jack Thompson."
WedgeTalon @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:24AM
Hahaha, good to see Thompson back in the news. I was afraid he had gotten tired of his crusade and that someone who might actually be taken seriously would fill the void left by his removal.
Well, that and everything he does is so hilariously pathetic. Swiss cheese has less holes than this man's arguments.
zero2dash @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:30AM
Oh snap! He's cutting off the supply line of millions of underage gamers everywhere! Oh noes! Microsoft stores EVERYWHERE will start carding game buyers and refrain from selling games to minors!
/sarcasm
Hey Jack, go crawl back in your hole; no one gives two $#!ts about your BS anymore. Last I checked - there were no Microsoft stores that sold games. Go send your letters to people who give a crap. No, wait. Before you lick that stamp and seal the envelope, realize that the answer to that question is NO ONE. NO ONE GIVES A CRAP WHAT YOU THINK JACK THOMPSON. SO F OFF.
nea @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:32AM
i wish he'd fuck off
8dot3 @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:36AM
This just proves he has no clue. To go after MS and not Sony is the first mistake. And then show that Target and Best Buy actually provide measures to prevent minors from buying M rated games proves hes going after the wrong people!
Hollywood Video also prevents minors from renting M rated games. The rating system works if retailers choose to use it. Why threaten the creators?
fork @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:43AM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barratry#Criminal_and_civil_law
diskoboy @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:48AM
Oh this is hilarious...
Hey Jack, remember this - Bill Gates got where he is because he's ruthless, cunning, and would walk all over you to make a buck, if given the chance.
You're about to give him that chance. MS doesn't fuck around.
FSK405K @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:49AM
Seems Jackoff T should contact HBO about Tales from the Crypt. I started watching that when I was about 8.
Firegirl @ Jan 3rd 2007 10:50AM
Why go after Microsoft? Why not go after the retailers who actually have control over who the game is sold to? And I agree with the statements above. He should be promoting the parental controls that are built into these game systems already. Too bad this guy doesn't come with his own set of controls so we can turn him off!
cowboy_ein @ Jan 3rd 2007 11:10AM
This is a great move by Thompson in my opinion, now MS can use their all powerful lawyers to send this guy back to the stone age where he belongs. Yay capitalism!
Jason @ Jan 3rd 2007 11:28AM
god i love jackass thompson.
what exactly is MS supposed to do more than they have already? They have parental controls in the console. They participate in the ESA's rating system. They don't condone the sale of M-rated video games to minors. What else is there?
Does Jack realize how far MS is removed from the publication of this game and that MS' only participation in this is to make sure damn thing works?
Kevin, I like how you think. Replace all the zombies in Dead Rising with multiple copies of Jackass Thompson and let's go to work.
Jack Thompson @ Jan 3rd 2007 11:40AM
Xbox games rot kids minds. Playstation games do not.
Starsmore @ Jan 3rd 2007 11:43AM
Microsoft beat an investigation by the United States government into their monopoly on the PC side of things...
...I don't think they have much to worry about from Mr Jam 'n' top shock
KEEL @ Jan 3rd 2007 11:45AM
What a fucking retard! If he is so fucking concerned about who buys this game he should apply for a job at Wal-Mart and check IDs for buyers...
Saneless @ Jan 3rd 2007 11:52AM
"no1 seems to find all the porn and violent movies like the Saw series that are just as easily as accessible to children as GTA"
Bull.
Most stores won't sell you a movie like that if you're under 17. Game stores will sell you M rated ones, though. That's the whole issue the guy's bringing up.
I agree with an above commenter that this has NOTHING to do with MS. This has everything to do with retailers.
Callandor @ Jan 3rd 2007 11:53AM
Jack is going to keep going after Grand Theft Auto, and he probably realizes that he'll have more success attacking the 360 at this point because of it has a significantly larger install base than the PS3. Politicians and parents are most likely to respond because it's more likely that their children have 360s.
Maylon @ Jan 3rd 2007 11:57AM
Uh, @ 12, less government is a Republican stance, Thompson is a moron, not a Republican.
JameyT @ Jan 3rd 2007 12:01PM
Wow, sucks to be Sony.
Now they don't even qualify for The Unspoken Ones attention.
DT @ Jan 3rd 2007 12:05PM
and at no point is the parent responisble. eh jack, or should i call you john, that of course being your real name??
This man must be stopped before he raises our blood pressure beyond that which is healthy for us. Stop putting him in the spot light, stop talking about him. from here on in, this moron does not exsist, nor does his views, unless he can actually at somepoint say something that makes sense, isnt full of holes, and is practible for the industry, the parents, and the users.
Rainbow chaser, thats all he is.
Callandor @ Jan 3rd 2007 12:07PM
@ 33
Both Democrats and Republicans have shifted towards big government. Neither party truly supports small government anymore.
cocks @ Jan 3rd 2007 12:12PM
The only reason he isn't targeting Sony is because GTA signed a contract to release GTA4 on the shit Xbox first you cockheads. *sighs*
Moogle @ Jan 3rd 2007 12:12PM
I'm in no way defending JT or even implying he's sane, but I think people are missing a large part of his argument (and why parental controls don't affect it).
Over-protective mothers are not worried about their own children playing GTA. They are worried about OTHER PEOPLES improperly cared for children playing GTA, getting ideas and 'training' and then shooting their own precious child.
Parental controls don't help here because the parents of the 'bad kids' don't care and won't use them. This is why Jacko feels it is necessary to make it illegal to sell games to kids, so that everyone else can feel safe knowing that they won't be killed by children corrupted by violent games.
The implication that kids wouldn't shoot people or knock each other up if it weren't for video games is there, but it's also not necessary for the argument. Even if a kid was going to shoot up a school, JT argues that the availability of GTA is training for how to do it effectively.
Overall, it's pretty weak. It's very unlikely that videogames could effectively make a kid significantly better at killing others. It also ignores more significant factors, such as things like the Columbine shooters being trained to hunt (deer, etc) by thier family.
I'm pretty sure JT realizes the implications of his arguments. I'm sure he knows where its weak points are and where it doesn't make sense. As nuts as he seems to be, he's not an idiot, and he knows his audience.
Luigi193 @ Jan 3rd 2007 12:21PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Thompson_%28attorney%29
Really funny, what a loser.
He gives rebulicans and christians a bad name...I dont play those violent videogames but you should stop caring! Let people decide what they want to play!
Callandor @ Jan 3rd 2007 12:26PM
@ 38
It's none of the other parents' goddamn business what a mother or father let their kid play. Jack Thompson and politicians need to stop trying to play nanny with people's kids and do their job. It's not their place to tell parents what to let their kids play. It's not their right to tell companies what games they can release. Thompson's bullying of Rockstar, Take Two, and Microsoft is pathetic.
vidGuy @ Jan 3rd 2007 12:45PM
I don't know, Moogle, I think he just rambles and hopes something makes sense, and because he's found a topic that a lot of parents feel strongly about he finds an audience WITHOUT making sense. Take his last violent-game-ban bill from Louisiana. He continuously claimed it was constitutional, when in fact it never specified what a "violent" game was. Legally, that makes it overly broad. How is a sales clerk supposed to withhold violent games from minors if he or she doesn't know if an act of violence in the laws' eyes is a shooting gun or Mario jumping on a Goomba's head?
GTA4 will be released on time, whenever that is, and JT will be laughed at again, harder.
Dave @ Jan 3rd 2007 12:52PM
Why doesn't he target parents who don't know how to monitor their children?
Bill Gates @ Jan 3rd 2007 1:01PM
Dear Jack,
I've run your letter through my legal team and they have approved the following response:
"Go fuck yourself!"
Sincerely,
Bill "I'll publish whatever the hell I want on my game system" Gates
SuperSaiyan4 @ Jan 3rd 2007 1:12PM
Firstly look at this guy he clearly looks like someone who should be in a NUT HOUSE!
CynicalMatt @ Jan 3rd 2007 1:51PM
You've gotta hand it to him - the guy has balls.
Microsoft could buy and sell him a million times over and he's threatening a simple lawsuit? It's especially funny in light of the almost neverending stream of failure he's had introducing bills prohibiting the sale of games to minors into law. He has no legal precedent to stand on and he threatening a lawsuit on a megacorporation.
Yeah, good luck with that buddy. You'll have about as much success as you did with that Louisiana law you were so smug about.
David004 @ Jan 3rd 2007 2:02PM
Maybe he should go after all the parents that buy GTA for their 10 year old children?! Just a thought.
What a fucknig jackass this guy is. Won't he just die.
Alecks @ Jan 3rd 2007 2:09PM
Lol, I doubt Bill Gates is actually concerned, let alone keeps his eye over the xbox corner of his entire Microsoft Company. Maybe a memo or two, other than that, I see him at a golf meet with his best buddy, George Washington, A trillion of them, Going " Lol what the heck is a xbox 360?" Or Better yet, this is a goodway of reminding you all of Concerned- The rise and fall of Froman .
Blazur @ Jan 3rd 2007 2:13PM
Think of the opportunity this presents to Microsoft. If they crushed him once and for all, they'd be regarded as hero's!
warlock7 @ Jan 3rd 2007 2:28PM
Jack "Ass" Thompson can SUXOR my BALLS!
mandarin @ Jan 3rd 2007 2:29PM
Its all about the money...
Sony wont give a dime to this guy to shut up. Heck they treat their own customers like crap. MS on the other hand....
Cecil475 @ Jan 3rd 2007 2:44PM
He won't do anything. Just like Bully on XBOX where he told Gates He had 54 days to pull the game from his system or else. It did get pulled for reasons I don't remember. But it was WELL OVER 54 days.
- Warren Lewis
Mike OHara @ Jan 3rd 2007 2:45PM
It's a bad thing he's not an elected official (god forbid if he were) ... if he was, you could at least circulate a recall petition to remove him from office.
The bad thing is also this ... elected or not, important and influential people listen to this cretin's ramblings.
Mr. Thompson ... you are now one of the reasons I am a Democrat. Because you use scare tactics. fearmongering, and misinformation against the gaming industry in general, I sincerely hope you suffer defeat after defeat until you finally are forced to leave us gamers alone and our industry alone. Either that or you're struck down by God, take your pick.