Jack Thompson Calls Cops on Penny-Arcade 913
Anon1001 sent us the latest developments in the ongoing saga between Miami Attorney Jack Thompson and Penny-Arcade. So far the story goes that Jack has filed a wrongful death suit against Rock Star, claiming that GTA is a cop killing training simulator responsible for the murder of a pair of cops. He also
offered $10k to charity if anyone who would develop some ridiculous murder spree game. When someone did it, and he changed his mind and Penny-Arcade donated the cash instead. All of this is being documented on the Penny Arcade website, in phone calls, rants and comics, as well as an 'I Hate Jack Thompson' T-Shirt. (Note, Slashdot's parent company owns ThinkGeek).
He has now
called the cops claiming harassment. Update: 10/18 17:40 GMT by Z : It seems like this confrontation has been brewing all summer. The most recent altercation is just another link in the chain made by Thompson's reaction to Hot Coffee and his crusade against the Sims 2. Further, PA has put up the scan of the letter to the cops, and a photo of the check.
What about VGCats? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Wow (Score:5, Informative)
<imitation type="loser jack">
No, he didn't! no he didn't! no he didn't! [vgcats.com]
The VG cats guys started it when they replied to the email he sent them!
</imitation>
Re:Eh.... (Score:5, Informative)
Penny-Arcade accused him of playing a "shell-game" and donated the money themselves, satisfied that Jack's orginal proposal had been satisfied to the letter.
The idea was (Score:5, Informative)
Not sure its been mentioned here (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Fascinating, but who hears it? (Score:5, Informative)
+Led the campaign against the 1989 2 Live Crew album "As Nasty As They Wanna Be", and later, Ice T's "Cop Killer."
+Filed with the FCC regarding the contents of a 2003 edition of Howard Stern's radio show resulted in Clear Channel Communications being fined $496,000 in 2004.
+Filed, in 1999, a $33 million federal products liability lawsuit against several entertainment companies, including Time Warner Inc., Polygram Film Entertainment Distribution Inc., Palm Pictures, Island Pictures and New Line Cinema, Atari Corp., Nintendo of America, Sega of America Inc. and Sony Computer Entertainment on behalf of the parents of victims of the 1997 Paducah schoolhouse shootings.
+Most recently has taken his tirade against videogame publishers Take Two (Grand Theft Auto series, Bully et. al.), Capcom (Killer 7), and EA (The Sims. Yeah really).
A great interview with Jack by Chatterbox Video Game Radio can be found at: http://www.chatterboxgameshow.com/jack.htm [chatterboxgameshow.com]
This guy has really made himself a credible source for irrationality and brought many smiles to sane peoples faces.
Most comment points excerpted from Wikipedia.org
Re:Disbarrment (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Wow (Score:3, Informative)
Jack Thompson interview and comments (Score:5, Informative)
"Let me tell you something, idiot."
This utter professionalism is well-reflected in the text of his fax to the Seattle police.
"There are a bunch of computer geeks out there who think..."
"These idiots have been so careless as to..."
I can only imagine what some of his non-game-related correspondence is like.
Also, this has probably been posted before, but here it is again: the ChatterBox interview [chatterboxgameshow.com] with Thompson. Lunacy thrown into the sharpest relief.
Re:Jack got the URL wrong (Score:2, Informative)
I certainly did, however, lose respect for Senator Clinton when she decided, after that, to attend a fundraiser thrown for her by the video game industry and by ESA's Doug Lowenstein. To me, that was a sell-out for campaign cash.
http://biz.gamedaily.com/features.asp?article_id=
And I don't see why the parent post was modded Redundant, seeing how TFA doesn't link to www.pennyarcade.com. *sigh*
Re:Hah (Score:4, Informative)
Who has the balls? (Score:0, Informative)
jackthompson.tc is available.
jackthompson.vg is available.
jackthompson.ms is available.
jackthompson.gs is available.
jackthompson.be is available.
jackthompson.co.nz is available.
jackthompson.at is available.
jackthompson.com.mx is available.
jackthompson.org.uk is available.
jackthompson.me.uk is available.
jackthompson.net.nz is available.
jackthompson.org.nz is available.
jackthompson.de is available.
jackthompson.tv is available.
jackthompson.cc is available.
jackthompson.bz is available.
jackthompson.com is unavailable.
jackthompson.net is unavailable.
jackthompson.org is unavailable.
jackthompson.info is unavailable.
jackthompson.us is unavailable.
jackthompson.biz is unavailable.
jackthompson.name is unavailable.
jackthompson.co.uk is unavailable.
Re:Wow (Score:3, Informative)
well they didn't directly but they did link post this:
You're all asking me for Jack's Email and or phone number and I respect that. The problem is that I can't give that info out. The fact is that Jack had time to call me after I sent him a sarcastic email. I have no doubt in my mind that he would try and pull some legal bullshit if I post his phone number.
Did I ever mention how much I like VG cats? [vgcats.com]
Check out the "VG cats?" link which I myself have not done.
Re:Wow (Score:5, Informative)
Just because a donation is made in his name doesn't mean that he made it. To take a deduction on a charitable gift you actually have to document that you gave a charitable organization some of your money or goods of a certain value and they received it from you. In this case, PA (depending on how the company is actually structured and where the money actually came from) will probably get to take a deduction.
The only case where a pure cash donation to charity can really be advantageous to your bottom line is if you are teetering on the edge and the deduction will drop your AGI into a lower bracket. You may also be able to help yourself if you can figure the donation in as an adjustment instead of a deduction (but this is not an easy set of rules to meet). You can also sometimes receive beneficial tax credits that when you donate in specific ways or to specific organizations such as with tsunami relief in 2004.
A handy deduction tip: Give your old stuff away to charity instead of having a garage sale. If you are already itemizing your deductions anyway (most homeowners are in this boat) the tax savings from the deduction at a reasonable declared value will bring you more than taking pennies on the dollar from spendthrifts at your sale. Plus, you dont have to pay taxes on the income from the garage sale (since there is no income).
Re:Well, the T-shirt is a little much... (Score:2, Informative)
T-Shit is fine, just like Bush or Kerry T-Shirts (Score:5, Informative)
The geeks calling his house and such IS harassment, but Penny Arcade isn't liable for that. Nowhere on their site do I see his contact info or directions to contact him. In fact they say "You're all asking me for Jack's Email and or phone number and I respect that. The problem is that I can't give that info out."
As far as I can see, Penny Arcade is in the clear.
Re:The idea was (Score:2, Informative)
Well, according to him, a mod is a game. Which is why Rockstar got into all kinds of trouble they didn't mean to. This is of course only slightly different than the trouble they DO mean to get into.
Not according to the RCW! (Score:2, Informative)
Definition -- Penalties.
(1) A person is guilty of harassment if:
(a) Without lawful authority, the person knowingly threatens:
(i) To cause bodily injury immediately or in the future to the person threatened or to any other person; or
(ii) To cause physical damage to the property of a person other than the actor; or
(iii) To subject the person threatened or any other person to physical confinement or restraint; or
(iv) Maliciously to do any other act which is intended to substantially harm the person threatened or another with respect to his or her physical or mental health or safety; and
(b) The person by words or conduct places the person threatened in reasonable fear that the threat will be carried out. "Words or conduct" includes, in addition to any other form of communication or conduct, the sending of an electronic communication.
(2)(a) Except as provided in (b) of this subsection, a person who harasses another is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
(b) A person who harasses another is guilty of a class C felony if either of the following applies: (i) The person has previously been convicted in this or any other state of any crime of harassment, as defined in RCW 9A.46.060, of the same victim or members of the victim's family or household or any person specifically named in a no-contact or no-harassment order; or (ii) the person harasses another person under subsection (1)(a)(i) of this section by threatening to kill the person threatened or any other person.
(3) The penalties provided in this section for harassment do not preclude the victim from seeking any other remedy otherwise available under law.
----
BTW how many weapons out there have gamepads attached them them? Seems to me that to be actually training to kill cops, you'd at least need a gun based game controller. This guy should be dis-barred.
Re:Disbarrment (Score:5, Informative)
I would do it myself, but you have to be in some way involved with the lawyer (client or opponent) to file a complaint, it seems.
movies,websites,books,music ban (Score:1, Informative)
Right now it's video games. But the rest is not just speculation. He's already on record demanding a ban on certain movies, web sites and music.
Most notably: 2LiveCrew. Yeah, same guy.
Re:But he'd make a GREAT politician... (Score:4, Informative)
Kid's Violence Levels [bolt.com]
Make your complaints known! (Score:5, Informative)
Center for Professionalism:
Carl J. Zahner
czahner@flabar.org
Terri Anderson
tanderso@flabar.org
Paula Stephenson
psteph@flabar.org
from http://www.floridabar.org/TFB/TFBOrgan.nsf/54E05C
If only... (Score:3, Informative)
Florida Bar
Complaints - Phone
- Attorney Consumer Assistance Program
- (850) 561-5600 + 1 + 5673
- ACAPflabar.org
If only there were a ton of witnesses to his wanton bullying who were willing to corroborate these claims and perhaps get his license to practice law suspended.
Well, I can dream can't I? =)
Re:If only... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:T-Shit is fine, just like Bush or Kerry T-Shirt (Score:3, Informative)
Yeah, but the random link immediately underneath that to vgcats *does* have his email and phone number, so they're giving it out indirectly in a reasonably obvious way.
Not that I think they're completely off-base, but I don't think they're completely in the clear either.
Re:IANAL & YANAL (Score:5, Informative)
Why, dear reader, by doing exactly what the parent poster indicated:
"He keeps dancing around direct legal threats, because he knows what will happen."
We tend to call that "barratry" here in the US. And yes, it is actionable.
Penny Arcade Address (Score:1, Informative)
From the check:
9500 Roosevelt Way Ne, Suite 300F
Seattle, WA 98115
http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=9500+Roosevel t+Way+Ne,+Seattle,+WA [google.com]
I DO hate Jack Thompson (Score:5, Informative)
Hatred is a human emotion. So unless you bleed green and you have pointy ears, chances are you had a taste of it.
The shirt is an expression of how the wearer feels about a public person, the wearer could be a hypocrite and pretend he meerly dislikes, or disagrees with Thompson, but if we do hate him for consistently attacking our character based solely on our preferred passtime, and his attempt to ban our passtime, then the shirt is simply expressing our feelings in a perfectly reasonable way.
I hate that fucker Jack Thompson.
There, I said it.
Re:Poetic justice (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Disbarrment (Score:5, Informative)
John Bruce Thompson
Member in Good Standing Eligible to practice in Florida
ID Number: - 231665
Firm:
1172 S Dixie Hwy Ste 111
Coral Gables Florida 331462918
Phone: 305.6664366
Fax:
E-Mail: jackpeace@comcast.net
County: Dade
Circuit: 11
Admitted: 05/31/1977
From the Florida Bar Association [floridabar.org] web site. Don't sue me, Jack!
-h-
Garage sale revenue is not taxable income (Score:3, Informative)
Consider selling your car. If you bought the car for $15,000 and then sell it for $10,000 you are losing $5,000 of value, even though the other $10,000 has been converted to cash. The conversion to cash is a red herring--taken as a whole, the transaction loses money so you don't pay income tax.
The taxman looks at your total monetary value before and after each transaction...income taxes are only assessed on positive differences.
Think of your salary, where you start each pay period with x asset value, and you end each pay period with asset value of (x + paycheck)--you're taxed on the difference (paycheck). Or investments, where your investments start each quarter with n. If you have (n + appreciation) at the end of the quarter you pay taxes on the appreciation. If you have (n - depreciation) you get to deduct the depreciation from your total income.
Re:He is actually crazy (Score:5, Informative)
Re:But he'd make a GREAT politician... (Score:2, Informative)
This trend has been checked against violent teen crime statistics in states that legalized abortion sooner.
I will go ahead and supply the link to the counter-rant http://www.isteve.com/abortion.htm [isteve.com] .
It is oozing with legitamacy.
Pot. Kettle. You don't understand tax law either. (Score:5, Informative)
I don't know the answer to that question, but your post shows that you don't know anything about tax law either.
The only case where a pure cash donation to charity can really be advantageous to your bottom line is if you are teetering on the edge and the deduction will drop your AGI into a lower bracket. You may also be able to help yourself if you can figure the donation in as an adjustment instead of a deduction (but this is not an easy set of rules to meet). You can also sometimes receive beneficial tax credits that when you donate in specific ways or to specific organizations such as with tsunami relief in 2004.
1) "Dropping into a lower tax bracket" alone does not magically save you money. If you donate cash to a real charity, you will ALWAYS pay out more money than you will get back in tax deductions. The term "tax bracket" refers to your "marginal" rate. If you are in the 28% "bracket", it does not mean that you owe 28% on all of your AGI. The U.S uses what is called a "progressive" tax system. That means that you owe X% on the first $Y of your income, A% on the NEXT $B of your income, C% on the NEXT $D, etc. If you drop from $1 over the 28% line to one dollar under the 28% line (into the 15% range), you will have donated two dollars, and you will owe $.43 less in taxes, for a net cash payout (read money out of your pocket) of $1.57. Your charity dollars acutally go LESS far towards reducing your tax bill, the lower bracket you are in.
2) Tsunami relief did NOT give you special tax CREDITS. Instead, it shifted the deduction date deadline, which let folks take a DEDUCTION on their 2004 taxes for donations made in 2005. A credit is dollar-for-dollar reduction in the check you must cut to the IRS. A deduction merely reduces the amount that tax is calculated from.
A handy deduction tip: Give your old stuff away to charity instead of having a garage sale. If you are already itemizing your deductions anyway (most homeowners are in this boat) the tax savings from the deduction at a reasonable declared value will bring you more than taking pennies on the dollar from spendthrifts at your sale. Plus, you dont have to pay taxes on the income from the garage sale (since there is no income).
The "reasonable value" you are allowed to deduct for used household goods is supposed to be what the items would sell for at an establishment such as a thrift shop. Unless your local Salvation Army sells stuff 3x-6x more than a garage sale (depending on your marginal rate), you aren't going to end up on top by doing this.
Please actually READ tax law (or at least IRS publications) before giving out wacky advice like this...
SirWired
Re:Wow (Score:1, Informative)
That's not how tax brackets work. They're more like "buckets" that you fill up. You start at the bottom with the lowest taxation rate, when you fill that one up, you overflow into the next highest rate.. and so on. Your first $10,000 (or whatever the "brackets" are) is taxed at the lowest rate, then anything above that to $20,000 is taxed at the next highest, and so on. So if you earn $20,001 you get taxed at the lowest rate on the first $10,000, the next highest rate on $10,000 - and the next highest rate on the $1 over $20,000, etc.
There may be some advantage to making a tax-deductable donation for other reasons (like pushing your AGI down a little so you can make an IRA contribution for the year - or, yes, as your interesting alternative to a garage sale) - but most of the time it makes no sense at all if you're simply trying to maximize income.
In summary: be very suspicious of financial advice on Slashdot (including this post).
Re:Jack is evil (Score:3, Informative)
Google has trouble with that.
Re:T-Shit is fine, just like Bush or Kerry T-Shirt (Score:4, Informative)
This has been the subject of extensive case law and precedent over the years. Ultimately it is decided by a jury if the case makes it that far.
Here's some elucidating info:
And some futher explanation of 'public figures':
I think in this case, Mr. Thompson is certainly a 'limited public figure' and as such would have a much higher burden of proof in a libel or slander case.
Harassment however is a whole other can of worms.
What law/rule/statute would it be breaking to make/wear/sell a t-shirt that said 'I hate John Smith'?
None as far as I know. (IANAL) However you might be treading on thinner ice if you walked around with a t-shirt that said "John Smith murders kittens." or "John Smith is a homosexual."
Re:I once read... (Score:5, Informative)
Basically, the rationale is that an individual, or a group of like minded individuals, have an attraction to something which has been deemed by the rest of society as being "wrong". To counter this attraction, these individuals seek to eliminate, in totality, that which they are attracted to. In certain cases, where the elimination of the object of attraction is not possible, they seek to make that attraction and/or the slightest expression of that attraction illegal, in the hopes that if this is so, they themselves will no longer be attracted to it, and the burden will be lifted.
Sounds fine and rational on the surface, doesn't it? Therein lies the problem, which these individuals never dare to face: the attraction lies entirely within the realms of their own psychological makeup. Removal of the external representation ultimately does nothing to quell the attraction which lies within their minds and thoughts. If they truely thought that it would work, rather than eliminate the external sources, they would just remove themselves from societal forces entirely, either via suicide (in the extreme case), or through self-imposed isolation or exile (moderately extreme, but likely the classic method for dealing with the pains of society by individuals throughout history - is it any wonder why such practice tends to be part and parcel of most major religions?). In the case of the latter solution (because, after all, sucessful suicide would be a working solution), these individuals would quickly realize that the issues and troubles they (and others) face is within them, and can only be rectified through self-realization and self-actualization...
Is it any wonder that this sounds like the beginning of so many religions?
Anybody with half a rational brain can deduce this. Unfortunately, for many, they have to take the difficult route and either screw up the rest of society which has figured this out already via crazy changes to the law, or return from the wilderness after an extended stay to reveal their "revelation" to the masses (many of whom then agree and seek to follow, giving money and property at every turn) - only after they realize that it is all in their heads, and not much short of changing their worldview will change that.
The thing is, if they would just stop what they were doing, and love themselves for who they are, both physically and mentally, rather than continuing with their self-flaggellation at every turn, the world would likely be a better place overall...
Re:Wow (Score:1, Informative)
If they know nothing then they know more than you. You are chock full of misinformation.
The only case where a pure cash donation to charity can really be advantageous to your bottom line is if you are teetering on the edge and the deduction will drop your AGI into a lower bracket.
"Drop your AGI into a lower bracket"? Your AGI is not *in* a single bracket in the first place, and it cannot be "dropped" into a lower bracket. A cash donation to charity will not lower your tax due.
Re:Disbarrment (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Disbarrment (Score:3, Informative)
i don't think any university teaches "game programming".
you sure [smu.edu] about that?Re:Disbarrment (Score:3, Informative)
Re:IANAL & YANAL (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Where's the game? (Score:1, Informative)
Another text game can be found here: http://oghc.blogspot.com.nyud.net:8090/ [nyud.net]
Re:He spelled his own name wrong, too (Score:1, Informative)
"Jack" is a nickname. (which he uses to get himself mixed up with some politician or something.) "John" is his real name.
Re:Where's the game? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:But he'd make a GREAT politician... (Score:2, Informative)
That made some sense when applied to DOOM. It made even more sense when applied to games like Unreal with stragety. Teaching you how to aim and not get shot and whjen to snipe from, etc.
GTA, OTOH, teachs you nothing. Admittedly, I haven't played it in like four years, so I'm like two games behind, but let's see what it teachs you:
You do not learn how to steal a car, beyond the obvious carjacking, which anyone with a working brain can figure out. You do not lean how to hotwire one or get a locked one open.
You do not learn how to aim and fire guns, unless they've added some FPSing to a recent game. Aiming a gun in the third person is entirely different than actually aiming in real life, and you can take a lot more damage than is realistic.
You do not learn how to flee from the police, unless the game has gotten a lot more realistic. Transposing thirty minutes the sort of crime spree you can do in the game into real life would result in all sorts of hassles. Unlike the game, you can't just duck out of sight and get a new car and keep going after taking out a few cops.
You also cannot get health from hookers to recover. This is just obviously wrong.
You cannot steal vehicles like taxis and firetrucks and just randomly do their job. This is an incredibly stupid idea.
With the Hot Coffee hack, it may teach you to be better in the sack, but I rather doubt it.
GTA doesn't train anyone for anything Whether it encourages all sorts of anti-social behavior is a meaningfull question, but it doesn't show you how to do any of it.
Re:I tried to email him :( (Score:5, Informative)