Jack Thompson Seeking to Have Halo 3 Declared a Public Nuisance in Florida

FriskyTanuki

FriskyTanuki

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http://gamepolitics.com/2007/09/21/jack-thompson-seeks-to-have-halo-3-declared-a-public-nuisance-block-its-release-in-florida/

With the video game event of the year - the Halo 3 launch - just days away, game-hatin’ attorney Jack Thompson is apparently seeking to re-create one of his greatest non-triumphs.

Although he failed miserably with a similar bid against Rockstar’s Bully in 2006, Thompson hopes to have a Florida court declare Halo 3 a public nuisance. He promised as much late last year (see: Jack Thompson Vows More Public Nuisance Suits Against Games in 2007).

No surprise, really, that Halo 3 is in the media-hungry attorney’s crosshairs. Thompson seems to prefer rattling his saber when high-profile game releases are involved. In his latest attention grab Thompson has released the text of what appears to be a court filing in the 11th Circuit, the same jurisdiction in which he failed embarrassingly during last year’s Bully case.

Once again, Thompson is basing his claim on a Florida statute which defines public nuisances as that which:
…tend to annoy the community, injure the health of the citizens in general, or corrupt the public morals
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To get an idea of what the public nuisance law was really designed for, the types of places named in the statute include:
…any house or place of prostitution, assignation, lewdness or place or building where games of chance [i.e., gambling] are engaged in violation of law or any place where any law of the state is violated, shall be deemed guilty of maintaining a nuisance…
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GP: Not a video game retailer in the bunch.

As with Bully, Thompson clearly hopes the court will grant him a hearing. Although after last year’s well-publicized Bully performance, which earned Thompson a Bar complaint from presiding Judge Ronald Friedman, that seems unlikely.

More troubling by far are the long term implications of this action. Thompson apparently feels emboldened to invoke Florida’s public nuisance law against any video game he desires to target. That is the essence of censorship and the video game industry cannot allow it to continue on any number of grounds - legal, moral or creative.

The full text of Thompson’s complaint is here (MS Word format)…
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:lol: He just doesn't quit.
 
More troubling by far are the long term implications of this action. Thompson apparently feels emboldened to invoke Florida’s public nuisance law against any video game he desires to target. That is the essence of censorship and the video game industry cannot allow it to continue on any number of grounds - legal, moral or creative.
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They give him way too much credit. He'll probably read that and think "yeah, I'm up against something real here." and feel empowered.

It has been proven time and time again that the guy is doomed to failure. The industry doesn't need to do anything--he's a fly. A simple "look what the dumbass did now:" at the top of a description is enough.
 
Halo 3 did leave a flaming bag of poo on my door stop last night.

I also suspect it sneaks into my room at night when I'm sleeping and humps my face.
 
ZOMG killing aliens will corrupt our youth! even though they can watch the news and hear about 13 killings that day and watch TV shows with real humans killing real humans! Video games must be stopped!
 
[quote name='Strell']Halo 3 did leave a flaming bag of poo on my door stop last night.

I also suspect it sneaks into my room at night when I'm sleeping and humps my face.[/quote]As far as the humping goes, you should take what you can get.

*insert reply from Strell about humping my mom*
 
if he does get a hearing, somebody should show up in full master chief spartan armor to present the opposing viewpoint.
 
I seriously can't stand this guy. When he came out badmouthing video games for Virginia Tech, like an hour after it happened, that was just the final straw for me.
 
I thought he had his license suspended a short while back while he was being investigated or something. Maybe I'm thinking of the Duke lacross DA?
 
He is like the energizer bunny. He keeps going, and going, and going. Just waiting for Topper Harley to pop up and blast him. :)
 
Video game players... this is YOUR fault.

You are all such fools.

Knee jerk reactionists who can't laugh anything off.

Jack Thompson is a NOBODY. He's some schmo lawyer. A crackpot. You've taken this nobody and you've EMPOWERED him.

Everytime he points at a game and says "EVIL" you flip out. Everytime. You spread it around the internet to message boards and chat rooms trying to expose your belief that he's an idiot.

Well he's not an idiot. A liar maybe, an opportunist certainly, but not an idiot.

Jack Thompson has power over video game players. This power was granted to him by you. Yes you, the idiot reading this right now. Your inability to just ignore this raving lunatic the way you would ignore the piss covered bum standing on main street who wears a sandwich board warning of the end of times has given all the Jack Thompsons of the world power. Everytime he declares another game to be evil, the cycle begins anew. You post your outrage on message boards such as this one. You might try to bring up things to discredit him, such as the fact that the Florida Bar Association is currently seeking sanctions against Thompson for inappropriate conduct.

Save it. It's been said. People will wish he would just shut up. It's happened in this thread already.

He needs to go away...like now.
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Well, he won't. Why should he? He's an American, and he's exercising his right to be an idiot, and besides, you just gave him power over you. You might not realize it, but you did. You gave him power to make you angry, to get your blood boiling, to leave a taste of disgust in your mouth. What did Jack Thompson do to deserve that power? You gave it over so willingly it must have been pretty important.

But it's not. Gamers, take a deep breath. The power belongs to you and you alone. When Jack Thompson speaks, instead of a knee jerk reaction like "he needs to go away" keep your mouth shut. When he points at the next M rated game and says "evil" don't say anything. Don't post it on message boards, don't mention it to your friends. Why give power to someone that is an enemy to your lifestyle? Instead of spreading his message under the guise of outrage, take his voice away from him by not spreading his message.

He's not going to shut up and nothing you will ever say in your whole life will change it. You do not have that power and nothing will give it to you. Your power is your ability to let him be. Make him that piss covered, sandwich board wearing bum. You have that power.

Just ignore him. He won't go away, but you won't notice he's here.
 
We need people like him. He brings LULZ to our lives. Besides, if it wasn't Jack Thompson it would be some other person bringing us LULZ of his caliber.
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']i want to chop him up and cook him into a stew and serve him at my wedding.[/QUOTE]

Awesome way to prove he's wrong about video games not making people braindead psychos.

Sometimes I'm embarssed to be a game player. That post created one of those moments.
 
[quote name='Survivor Charlie']Awesome way to prove he's wrong about video games not making people braindead psychos.

Sometimes I'm embarssed to be a game player. That post created one of those moments.[/QUOTE]
Joke: 1 a : something said or done to provoke laughter; especially : a brief oral narrative with a climactic humorous twist b (1) : the humorous or ridiculous element in something (2) : an instance of jesting

Go be high and mighty somewhere else. :roll:
 
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']I can't say I can hate Jack at all. He's too valuable as a source of humor to wish him any ill will.[/quote]

I agree. Every time I hear something with the title Jack Thompson. I know in my heart that hilarity will ensue. He's one ongoing shenanigan. Though I wonder if he truly believes the shit he spouts. Or maybe he's doing this secretly to get LULZ and goes to websites to see if he tops the hilarity meter? Who truly knows, but I know that he has some secret motive to continue all of this stuff.
 
The whole damned nation needs to file a lawsuit against him. As someone said earlier. The moment he started chasing ambulances and blamed V-Tech on Counter Strike was the last straw.
 
[quote name='Paco']We need people like him. He brings LULZ to our lives. Besides, if it wasn't Jack Thompson it would be some other person bringing us LULZ of his caliber.[/QUOTE]

I like to use Jack as my personal reminder for when the games I want are out. I'm going to get Manhunt 2, not sure what the release date is at the moment, but I know good old Jack will pop up to remind me!
 
[quote name='Paco']I agree. Every time I hear something with the title Jack Thompson. I know in my heart that hilarity will ensue. He's one ongoing shenanigan. Though I wonder if he truly believes the shit he spouts. Or maybe he's doing this secretly to get LULZ and goes to websites to see if he tops the hilarity meter? Who truly knows, but I know that he has some secret motive to continue all of this stuff.[/QUOTE]

I think its pretty obvious that Thompson will gladly accept humiliating defeat 99 times out of 100, if it means he can get that one "win" (as in the Hot Coffee debacle).
 
What I'd like to know is whose paying this guy, and how much money has making. I mean hes not doing all this worthless lawyering for free. If it is all from his own pocket, the guy is definately certifiably nuts. Is it possible hes just bilking some agency with no actual chance for real legal action?
 
[quote name='jlarlee']He annoys the gaming community so can we file a suit against him as a public nuisance?[/quote]

I really, REALLY wonder if we, as a community, could do this. I guarantee that if we could get it filed under the same court that he's been filing all of his complaints, they'd instantly rule in our favor.
 
[quote name='dinovelvet']I think its pretty obvious that Thompson will gladly accept humiliating defeat 99 times out of 100, if it means he can get that one "win" (as in the Hot Coffee debacle).[/QUOTE]One win is all it takes to set a precedent.
 
You're confused, that burning bag of poo was Halo 3.

[quote name='Strell']Halo 3 did leave a flaming bag of poo on my door stop last night.[/quote]


Finally, something I agree with the crazy old bastard about.
 
[quote name='Survivor Charlie']Awesome way to prove he's wrong about video games not making people braindead psychos.

Sometimes I'm embarssed to be a game player. That post created one of those moments.[/quote]

Hopefully Thompson never plays Halo 3 on xbox live. The racial slurs and homophobic cracks would make his head explode.
 
If you read the report he filed, you'll see that he got the release date of Halo 3 wrong.
 
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