Tag Archives: Jack Thompson

Jagex Games Studio announced today that Jon Hare has joined the company as Head of Publishing, with a particular focus on further developing FunOrb.com, Jagex’s gaming website targeted at time-pressed gamers.

“Jon is one of the most highly rated game designers in Europe and has had a hugely successful career developing classic titles such as Sensible Soccer, Mega-Lo-Mania and Cannon Fodder,” said Mark Gerhard, Jagex CEO.

“Jon will be playing a very hands-on role, actively engaged in developing and optimizing all of our games. Jagex has always focused on creating games that we want to play, FunOrb is no different. We have specifically created FunOrb for the time-pressured gamer, people who want a high quality deep gaming experience but only have 30 minutes a day or perhaps even a week to relax and enjoy playing.

“The site isn’t for kids or for mums; it is designed for adult gamers who ask themselves ‘why don’t they make great games like they used to?’.”

Hare has developed more than 30 games on over 20 formats from Sinclair Spectrum to the Nintendo Wii, and was named one of the top 10 Britons who changed the games industry by The Times.

Utah Governor Jon Huntsman has vetoed a Bill (HB 353) put forward by Jack Thompson which would have seen harsher fines to retailers that allowed under-age kids to buy adult rated games.

Here’s why:

After careful consideration and study, I have decided to veto HB 353, TRUTH IN ADVERTISING ACT AMENDMENTS, and have transmitted it to the Lieutenant Governor for filing.

While protecting children from inappropriate materials is a laudable goal, the language of this bill is so broad that it likely will be struck down by the courts as an unconstitutional violation of the Dormant Commerce Clause and/or the First Amendment.

The industries most affected by this new requirement indicated that rather than risk being held liable under this bill, they would likely choose to no longer issue age appropriate labels on goods and services. Therefore, the unintended consequence of the bill would be that parents and children would have no labels to guide them in determining the age appropriateness of the goods or service, thereby increasing children’s potential exposure to something they or their parents would have otherwise determined was inappropriate under the voluntary labeling system now being recognized and embraced by a significant majority of vendors.

Thanks, Kotaku.

30 days and zero appeals later, Jack Thompson’s career in “law” is finally kaput.

The Florida Bar’s website, after a quick search for the unsuccessful law-fighter, serves as official proof of the man’s disbarment. A large, bold, “Not Eligible to practice in Florida” is now the most noticeable aspect of his profile. Neat.

Go check it out, if you feel like it. Make Thompson’s defamed profile your desktop background or something.

Thanks, GamePolitics. You made our day.

[Doesn't this mean he can just go and practice in Ohio, or something? - Ed]

By Nathan Grayson

Ex-ESA boss Doug Lowenstein’s written to Kotaku to claim that about-to-be-disbarred legal sensation Jack Thompson was partially a monster creation of the games media, accusing the specialist press of reporting on him despite the fact “he was a charlatan who wholly lacked credibility”.

“The game press had a schizoid relationship with Thompson,” said Lowenstein. “He was the person they loved to vilify and the person they could not get enough of. Time and again, the game press — and mainstream press — would ask ESA to engage with, or respond to Thompson’s latest excess. The media knew well that he was a charlatan who wholly lacked credibility.

“But hey, they said, he was news and could not be ignored. That was a cop out. It gave Thompson a platform he might not have had for as long as he did.”

Lowenstein went on to say Kotaku’s coverage of Thompson gave legs to mainstream stories, branding Thompson an “extremist.”

“As it takes delight in his apparent demise, it is a good time to contemplate whether the game media itself has matured,” he said.

“You help set the tone for mainstream media coverage and if you validate extremists you give license to the less informed to follow your lead.”

Read the full thing through the link.

Kotaku’s reporting that Jack Thompson has finally, genuinely been disbarred. Or at least he will be 30 days from now.

A US court has approved a previous ruling made by Judge Dava Tunis that Thompson be permanently removed from the law professions, stating:

The Court approves the corrected referee’s report and John Bruce Thompson is permanently disbarred, effective thirty days from the date of this order so that respondent can close out his practice and protect the interests of existing clients. If respondent notifies the Court in writing that he is no longer practicing and does not need the thirty days to protect existing clients, this Court will enter an order making the permanent disbarment effective immediately. Respondent shall accept no new business from the date this order is filed.

So long, Jack. He’s already filed an emergency motion to try to stop all this happening, but, like, seriously. Dude. Go sit by the beach, or something.

Daily Business Review’s posted an audio file of Jack Thompson’s Miami hearing last week, during which a judge recommended he be disbarred for 10 years.

It’s shit quality, but you can make out what’s going on. It’s not the prettiest thing in the world.

If you can’t be bothered to listen to it, you can read the full transcript on GamePolitics.

A Florida court yesterday recommended that anti-game super-lawyer Jack Thompson be banned from practicing law for the next decade.

If upheld, the ruling will be Thompson won’t be able to perform any legal function whatsoever for ten years.

Thompson stormed out of the hearing, claiming the judge involved had no right to hear his case.

Judge Dava Tunis’ specific recommendations for sanctions will be included in her official report, to be due to the Florida Supreme Court by September 2.

There’s a huge report on this on Kotaku, including a full, 4,500-word objection Thompson filed with the court.

“I am ‘guilty’ of being right and ahead of the curve when it came to Howard Stern and as to Grand Theft Auto. Because I took on Bar complainant, Al Cardenas, the Howard Stern Show is off terrestrial radio and his influence diminished,” said the soon-to-be-not-lawyer.

“Because I took on this cop-killing, woman-bashing video game, the Presidential race is now addressing the issue and this particular video game. Try to get me disbarred. Go ahead, do your worst, Referee Tunis. I will continue to do my best.”

Jack, for Christ’s sake. Take the fucking hint.

Jack Thompson has offered his help to EA in securing a take-over of Take-Two, and in the process getting rid of Strauss Zelnick, the publisher head he blames pretty much everything in the world on.

“I am delighted to work with Electronic Arts to evict the Zelnick Trojan Horse from within Take-Two’s corporate walls,” he said in a letter sent to EA. “In doing so, I can get the new Take-Two into the clear as to the trouble I and others can send its way.

“Zelnick is the source of trouble headed Take-Two’s way, not I, and EA can make the case, with my help, that such trouble can be avoided.”

He doesn’t mention how he can help EA buy Take-Two. The letter was CC’d to various media outlets. If you can help by engaging in a campaign of shameless self-promotion, Jack, we’re sure EA will be interested. Great portrait, by the way.

Jack Thompson has written to North Illinois University threatening a lawsuit if the institution doesn’t hand over any documents related to killer Steven Kazmierczak’s experience with videogames.

“Pursuant to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request production of copies of all documents that reveal Steven Kazmierczak’s play of violent video games, including but not limited to the use of his computer to play Counter-Strike, which he apparently, according to the New York Post, used to rehearse for his Valentine’s Day Massacre at NIU,” said Thompson in the letter faxed to the University today. “The killers in the two worst school massacres in history — in Erfurt, Germanay, and at Virginia Tech University—similarly trained on Counter-Strike to rehearse for their killing sprees. If I am not provided with this information, I shall bring a civil action to secure these documents.”

The editor of GamePolitics.com got in touch with Thompson, asking him if had really sent the letter. Thompson replied:

“Of course I sent it to them, you idiot. The NIU investigators have already responded, professionally, and told me they will get me this information in due time. This is how you do this, which you wouldn’t know.”

Us? Stunned.

Anti-games campaigner Jack Thompson has written to the president of North Illinois University – site of this week’s shootings by former student Stephen Kazmierczak to again link the crime to “mass murder simulation game, Counter-Strike”.

Following the shooting, Thompson appeared on Fox News to immediately associate the killings with gaming. Yesterday, the New York Post “revealed” that Kazmierczak used to play Counter-Strike while enrolled at the campus.

John B. Thompson, Attorney at Law
1172 S. Dixie Hwy., Suite 111
Coral Gables, Florida 33146

February 16, 2008

John G. Peters, President
Northern Illinois University
1425 W. Lincoln Hwy.
DeKalb, IL 60115-2825 Via Fax to 815-753-8686

Re: Part of the Explanation for this Awful Disaster

Dear President Peters:

First of all, my condolences for this terrible loss. I have had the disturbing privilege of representing a number of families devastated by these types of incidents. I represented all six parents of the three girls killed by a 14-year-old video gamer in the Paducah, Kentucky, school massacre. I currently represent the families of three policemen in Alabama who were slain by a teen who trained to kill them on the cop-killing simulation video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. This case was featured on 60 Minutes. See [here].

The day after the NIU tragedy this week, I was on the Fox News Channel predicting that the killer on your campus would be someone who was immersed in violent video games, as this is a common thread in almost all of these incidents. I mentioned in the interview the mass murder simulation game, Counter-Strike. It was the game of choice by the killers in the two worst school shootings in history—Virginia Tech and Erfurt, Germany.

Sure enough, the New York Post reports today the accuracy of that prediction. I attach herewith the Post article.

Governor Blagojevich was on Fox hours later echoing my specific concern about the linkage between violent video games and school killings.

I have addressed roughly 200 college campuses about this problem. I am more than willing to come to your campus, free of charge of course, to explain to the students and faculty and surrounding community why these games, played by students, pose a public safety hazard. Brain scan science recently coming out of Harvard explains it well. There are multiple reasons why these evil events happen. Immersion of young males in murder simulation as a form of entertainment is one of the more powerful reasons.

Blessings,

Jack Thompson

To be honest, Jack, it rankles that we have to give you air-time. Maybe you should be looking into the fact that any kid can buy a gun on a US street for about 50p instead of taking issue with creative entertainment.

This is pretty shocking. As you can see from the video below, US attorney Jack Thompson made more than a passing reference to games on Fox News yesterday in relation to the llinois University shooting this week.

The first thing Thompson said in the report, in response to a question about what can be drawn from the fact Stephen Kazmierczak was 27 years old and had already graduated from the university, was , “Well, we find from brain scan studies out of Harvard that if you get started, for example, playing violent videogames you can, ah, more likely to copycat the behaviours in the games. And the disturbing thing that keeps popping up in many of these, as in Virginia Tech, Columbian, [something else which we can't make out] where I represented the parents of the three girls shot and killed, is that you can rehearse these types of massacres on simulators which are called videogames, and can therefore be made more proficient in doing this.”

We would say something. But we’re speechless. Watch for yourself. So far there has been no evidence at all that Stephen Kazmierczak played videogames.

According to this, anti-games campaigner Jack Thompson appeared on Fox News this morning to blame yesterday’s Illinois University shooting on games such as Counter-Strike.

As far as we’re aware, no evidence has linked anything that happened during the shooting with gaming in any way.

Stephen Kazmierczak opened fire on a class at the university yesterday, killing five and injuring 15 before killing himself.