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The Courts Government News Entertainment Games

Jack Thompson Tasked With Writing Law 118

Posted by Zonk from the please-stop-hurting-puppies dept.
Gamespot's Rumor Control column this week handles the usual spurious talk that swirls around the game news sites. One (sadly) factual rumour they report on details gamer-hunting lawyer Jack Thompson's new role as a lawmaker. From the article: "Repeatedly, Thompson has called for states to pass laws criminalizing the sale of M-for-Mature rated games to minors. Now it appears he may get the chance to pen such a law himself. In an e-mail sent out Thursday, Thompson says he has 'been asked by the Office of the Governor of the State of Florida, Jeb Bush, to draft and submit to him and to Florida legislators a bill that will prohibit the sale of violent and sexually explicit video games to minors.' ... When queried by GameSpot for more details, he would only say that he is the only person thus far who has been asked to submit a bill to the governor's office about M-rated game sales. He did not offer details about what kind of penalties the bill would prescribe for offenders or whether or not said penalties would be imposed solely on the clerks selling the games or also on the establishment selling the game and/or the game's publisher."
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Jack Thompson Tasked With Writing Law More

Jack Thompson Tasked With Writing Law

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  • Please, no (Score:3, Interesting)

    by PunkOfLinux ( 870955 ) <mewshi@mewshi.com> on Monday October 03, 2005 @03:28PM (#13707223) Homepage
    If there is ANYTHING good and right in the world, please prevent this from happening. This guy is a freaking nut -- please do not let him do ANYTHING to censor video games.
    • One thing is for sure: Only bad can come of this.
      • Let us consider two very important facts:
         
        1. We need a new supreme court justice.
        2. Jack isn't really doing anything. He's probably free.
      • There may be some good to this. Get hypothetical with me for a minute.

        Let's say he writes what is really going to be a really stupid law. Then let's pretend that the legislature of Florida puts it up to a vote. They and their constituents can see just how over-the-top stupid it is and vote it down. Then that may put a stop to all other such laws.

        Less hypothetical and more likely to happen: Some 16 yr old playing GTA in Florida goes over-the-top and kills him for it.

        Either case is a win.

    • I second that. This whole f'ing thing is retarded.
    • Well, at least it can ONLY affect florida. -sigh- guess i won't be buying games in florida on vacation anymore.

      • Re:Please, no (Score:2, Flamebait)

        by badasscat ( 563442 )
        Well, at least it can ONLY affect florida. -sigh- guess i won't be buying games in florida on vacation anymore.

        I guess I won't be going on vacation in Florida anymore. It's apparently ok in Florida to shoot people for any reason you like [nwsource.com], but it's gonna be jail time if you sell the wrong video games?

        Not to sound prejudiced against 1/50 of my fellow countrymen or anything, but this is not a state that should exist on this Earth. Can we at least dig a moat or something to symbolically separate ourselves fr

    • Well... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by buffer-overflowed ( 588867 ) on Monday October 03, 2005 @03:45PM (#13707379) Journal
      I personally see no problem in restricting the sale of "adult" material to minors. Neither does the Supreme court.

      If the freakin' game lobby would get a clue and do what the movie industry did, and actually hype that angle up rather than being adamantly opposed to any fines for the sale of this material to minors, then maybe you wouldn't need to worry about Jack Thompson.

      A few "Gamestop fires employee for selling GTA w/o ID check" headlines would do it. But nooo...

      I also fail to see how restricting the sale of violent(and or/sexual) games to minors in any way infringes on the right to free speech as held by the SCOTUS, nor how it would:
      A. Keep the games out of the hands of minors whose parents allow them to play such things.
      B. Keep adults from playing these games.
      C. Keep these games from being made if the guys pushing for the legislation really DON'T have a point.

      If gamers don't give up the 12-yos should be allowed to go into Gamestop and buy a copy of Tentacle-fucker 3 - Revenge of the Overfiend(at the extreme end) angle with no fines for the store OR the guy that sold it then they're not going to get a voice in how the law is constructed and the chances it's going to be whacked out insane increase. Because it's GOING to happen.

      And there are upshots to it you probably can't even fathom.
      • In the 50's it was comic books. In the 20's it was jazz. I'm sure people were just as stupid back then, but it seems they didn't put up with as much because neither are illegal today.

        Also, there are no laws saying that theaters can't let kids see rated-R movies at will. This isn't about protecting the children, just like most "OMG FOR THE LOVE OF ALMIGHTY GOD WON'T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!!!!!11111oneoneone " campaigns.

        • The CMAA was created BY the comic book industry in response to negative popular perception after Senate hearings on post-war horror and crime comics. The comic book code was imposed by the comic book industry. No nasty big-brother government. They did it to themselves.

          And no, there aren't any laws that fine theater owners for allowing children into R or NC-17 movies. Because hollywood and theater-owners not only self-regulated they managed to convince the public that they HAD self-regulated. If you did
          • The only reason the game industry can't pull the same shit as the movie industry is because it doesn't have the same market penetration as the movie industry. Games are usually looked down upon by most parents and other 'adults'. It seems that we are more rational and fair than adults these days though.

      • Re:Well... (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Psmylie ( 169236 ) * on Monday October 03, 2005 @05:04PM (#13707892) Homepage
        This doesn't need to be legislated. Community groups of concerned parents should work with the retailers to make sure that it is company policy to not sell M or AO rated games to minors. When you have a law to do this instead, it's censorship.

        Movie theaters voluntarily keep minors out of R-rated movies, sort of an unofficial social contract. It work pretty well, for the most part.. most kids can't see R-rated movies without a parent, and if one does, then maybe someone gets fired but nobody goes to jail or is fined. That's what we need for game stores. Not censorship. The rating system already in place is sufficient, in my opinion.

        • Re:Well... (Score:2, Insightful)

          by buffer-overflowed ( 588867 )
          No, it's not censorship unless you dictate content. Children form exceptions to our various rights according to the SCOTUS. They can't drink, drive cars, smoke cigarettes, view pornography, wear what they want, say what they want, have sex with who they want, etc. No one is dictating content outside of the industry(yet). They're dictating what is appropriate for sale to a group of minors. And if you have a problem with that, you should also have a problem with kids NOT being able to buy pornography(at
          • Actually, it's perfectly legal for kids to smoke. However, it's illegal to sell them to kids.
          • No need to tell me to STFU just because you disagree with me, I'm just voicing my opinion. And restriction of information is censorship... According to my handy Webster's dictionary:
            Censor, (v): To examine in order to suppress, or delete anything considered objectionable.
            As a side note, I consider the Miller test far too vague to be a useful metric.

            I oppose laws in this case simply because I think they are unneccesary, and too harsh... should someone be fined a thousand dollars or more or do jail time b

          • And if you have a problem with that, you should also have a problem with kids NOT being able to buy pornography(at the minimum) because it's the same damn thing at it's heart.

            Not that this changes your opponent's point, but some of us do have a problem with restricting access to porn, cigarettes, alcohol, etc. to kids.

            In places where they don't protect kids from pictures of humans in their natural (ie, unclothed) state, from the realities of reproduction, from even the "fun" of sex - They have lower ra
        • most kids can't see R-rated movies without a parent,

          That didn't seem to stop me getting my brother into R rated movies. I was 17-18 at the time...

      • It is funny you mention "Tentacle-fucker 3 - Revenge of the Overfiend", I was preparing to submit a review of the game, but instead I will post it here.

        Title: Tentacle-fucker 3 - Revenge of the Overfiend
        Studio: Perky-44EE
        Genre: Action
        Rating: M
        Score: 7/10

        ***** spoiler alert *****

        ***** no not read if you are still playing TF2TIT ****

        'Tentacle-fucker 3 - Revenge of the Overfiend' (or TF3RO to the fan base), was a predictable answer to the screaming masses fresh off the adrenaline high of 'Tentacle

      • I totally agree. I have no problem enforcing the 17+ rating for M games. As long as people who are at least 17 can still buy these games, then what is the big problem with not letting 13 year olds buy GTA?
    • if anything this is probably a good thing. If the sale of adult oriented video games is regulated then more stores will be able to carry them and more adult themes will be able to enter the games. It's similar to the situation with pornography, since the sale of pornography is restricted stores can carry pornography that is considered by many to be wildly objectionable.
      Also, if legislation is introduced parents will not be able to complain when their kid has a game like GTA because they knowingly would hav
      • Well there are issues with so-called obsenity laws that prohibit the sale or display of things not meeting "community standards" but that's a seperate fight and it's a free-speech fight as opposed to a child-rights fight(a fight which has been lost since Fortas left the SCOTUS).

        Sorta-like how you can't sell a vibrator as a vibrator in parts of the US south. It's a "back-massager."
  • says he has 'been asked by the Office of the Governor of the State of Florida, Jeb Bush, to draft and submit to him and to Florida legislators a bill

    Hear that? Its my respect for florida flying out the window.

    • Re:Whoosh (Score:2, Funny)

      by Sorce ( 756519 )
      you had respect for florida?
    • why? it's a worthwhile piece of legislation that will make both sides happy. The gamers will still get their adult themed games, while the concerned parents don't have to worry about their children getting the games.
      Once something like this goes into effect the people that complain that the games their children play are too adult will not have a leg to stand on.
      • it's a worthwhile piece of legislation that will make both sides happy. The gamers will still get their adult themed games

        Not if the vendors decide it is too much of a hassle or liability to have to card purchasers to carry the game. If anything it will make M-rated games more expensive to offset the training for employees to recognize a valid ID vs. a fake ID. They may also have to require an adult be present in the store at all times to handle sales.

        It's certainly not going to make Wal-Mart suddenly dec
        • Not if the vendors decide it is too much of a hassle or liability to have to card purchasers to carry the game.

          You are probably right. They will decide that the extra income from the Halo, GTA, Half-Life, Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein, and Diablo series is not worth the trouble of implementing a policy wherein an expendable-minimum-wage-replace-at-will employee has to ask for ID. It'll never work.

          • well, AFAIK, every retailer (this is in canada) that sells M rated games already asks for ID. Wal-fart, Zellers, EB games, Circut city, Future Shop, et all. i don't really see the need for this law. though it would play nicely to the masses (of ignorants) rallying behind Jack's banner if what you suggested happened.
            • Which proves the point. The added revenue from these games alone is worth it to the Wal-Marts, EB Games, etc.,to tell their employees to ask for ID. And if their employees fail to follow such a store policy, they will be reprimanded and eventually replaced because they are expendable. We're talking replacing a Wal-Mart store clerk here, not John Carmack. I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "what you suggested." The only thing I suggested is that asking for ID is worth the added revenue of being able

  • Worse than "M-Rated" (Score:2, Interesting)

    by faloi ( 738831 )
    It sounds like it has the potential to be ambiguous enough to include games that get rated "Teen." After all "violent" games can teens and it gets a little fuzzy. I doubt repurcusions would get all the way to game publishers though (except from companies not wanting to handle the liability of Mature games), after all Hollywood doesn't get dinged when someone underage makes it into a theater. Or when someone underage buys alcohol. But the tides do seem to be against game publishers these days, and some p

  • wtf? (Score:1)

    by boog3r ( 62427 )
    Why the fuck isn't the florida legislature doing this? Isn't this their job? Does every legislature get paid money to sit in a chair and say yea or nay?
    • I don't think it's that common for legislators to write legislation themselves. It's very common to let "experts" write legislation, or crib a piece of legislation from another state. Sometimes special interest groups, lobbyists, etc., have items of legislation that they take from representative to representative, trying to find someone to sponsor it.

      I think you're doing legislators a great disservice to describe their jobs as, "get[ting] paid money to sit in a chair and say yea or nay." You forget, they

  • Poor Florida (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Morgalyn ( 605015 ) <slashmorg@gmail.com> on Monday October 03, 2005 @03:36PM (#13707284) Journal
    For some reason, I thought we might manage to make it out of this whole can of worms without ridiculous legislation, but I guess not. So far Jeb has done an OK job at balancing the right wing conservative fundamental religious nutcases in the Panhandle with the left wing liberal nutcases in the Wang, but this smacks of falling prey to letters from the west.

    I'm still not sure I understand why government entities feel like they need to step into a system that was sufficient for informing parents about the nature and content of media. The MPAA rates movies, the theaters sort-of enforce the rating requirements, but there are no real laws underlining any of it. The ESRB rates games, the vendors sort-of enforce the rating system, but apparently society as we know it is going to come crashing down if we don't impose some fines or jail sentences.

    How is legislation like this and the Michigan law going to affect online sales of games?
  • I give up. The religious idiots have won. I give up. I'm moving out of this theocracy and going to live somewhere else.

    Question though, what are my options? Where is a decent place to live without the christian assholes that want to run every ones lives? I've lived in this country for 43 years and even served in the military. Yet I've seen the christian morons take greater and greater control over my country. Especially when they've made it known that their top priority now is porn and videogames...no folks
    • Hey, let me know if you figure out where to go to. I think there is a large number of us wandering around lately wondering what the heck happened in the last few years. Part of me keeps telling myself that everywhere else has its own weird problems, too, and its just extra embaressing for it to be the US, since you know, we're all 'freedom' and 'democracy' and whatnot.
    • One word: Canada. Really, look into it. All of the perks of the U.S. without the nut jobs...
      • All of the perks of the U.S. without the nut jobs.

        Canada is a nice country, but it has its own share of problems.

        I lived there for three years, and I noticed:

        - A LOT of petty micromanagement in the government. No country should spend tax dollars on governmental inspectors to ensure that restaurants are limited to a certain number of televisions, and that each of them must be below a maximum size. Or to arbitrarily decide that waitresses can wear a rollerskate on one foot, but not both. Two pieces of photo I

    • Re:Thanks...I'll be leaving the US now...it's over (Score:4, Informative)

      by Gherald ( 682277 ) on Monday October 03, 2005 @03:45PM (#13707373) Journal
      See you in Canada. All the benefits of living in a modern economy a hair's breath from the world's sole superpower; none of the drawbacks of living in a third world society. You even get to speak English!

      Just be sure to pack heavy, it's cold up here.
    • Canada is a good choice, probably. Europe might also work, but it depends on the exact country then, of course; the UK is deteriorating its citizens' rights and all that pretty quickly under Blair, too, and the rest of Europe would require you to learn a different language (of course, so would half of Canada, and one might argue that you'd have to even in the UK).

      *If* the language barrier is not going to be a problem, then the Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands and maybe also Belgium are good choices.
      • the rest of Europe would require you to learn a different language (of course, so would half of Canada,

        half? i wasn't aware Quebec had 16.5 million people. it's about 7.5 million. roughly 1/4, and there aren't really that many french people elsewhere in canada (roughly 5% of the rest of the population)
    • Ok, so an article about Jack Thompson (that might not even be true) has been asked to write a law on video games has finally pushed you to moving out of the country. It's not like the law has been a) written b) actually applied in any state. Yeah, I am frustrated with other people who can't understand why I don't want their morals made in to laws. But how is running away from the problem going to solve it? Why don't you start a pro-gaming platform? Why don't you try to stir people up? Why don't you as
      • It isn't about running away from anything. I've been fighting an uphill battle all those years. Everyone says "if you don't like things, then get out and vote". Well, I get out and vote. I try to get out and work in the community. I go to city council meetings. I am part of the school board. I write my congressman and Senator constantly almost to the point where I'm a nuisance. All to no avail.

        When I have to sit in on meetings about teaching intelligent design in our school system, I try to object that it's
        • *clap clap clap* I'm sorry if I doubt your sincerity. My main problem with your post is that I am tired of reading comments like this. If you find things so objectionable, just move. Don't post about it, just do it. I think we probably have a similar view on things, though. I would go nuts if people were talking about teaching intelligent design to my children. You must live in a very conservative part of the country. I don't, so it doesn't seem as much of a problem for me.

          My problem with what you
    • Where would we be if everyone just ran from their problems, instead of standing up to them? I've been strongly tempted to find a "safe haven" from the moralist-hypocrisy that the U.S. has become. But you know what? There is no safe-haven. Things won't change until reasonable people start acting.

      Where is that Einstein quote...

      "Great spirits have always encountered opposition from mediocre minds." Stand up to the opposition!
    • I read somewhere that Brunei [cia.gov] has a substantial ex-pat population. English is one of the three major languages spoken there, too.
    • I do have to agree that the US is slowly turning into an theocracy. We are slowly being pushed further towards this conservative, religious views while forgetting the actual concepts behind the Constitution of the United States. Our government has openly said that porn and video games are the great evils to be stopped, and they are going to fight them to the ends of censorship if they must. It is truly interesting and quite hypocritical for the Republicans to claim a small government ideology, when they

  • Not Quite.. (Score:5, Informative)

    by \\ ( 118555 ) on Monday October 03, 2005 @03:41PM (#13707329) Homepage
    According to this [livejournal.com], Thompson is somewhat full of shit.

    "A representative of Jeb Bush's press office characterized as "untrue" yesterday's Jack Thompson press release in which the Miami attorney and self-described "anti-game crusader" claimed that he was crafting video game legislation on behalf of the Florida governor."

    More through the link.
    • "Thompson says that he is too busy drafting the legislation to bother having a tit-for-tat verbal battle and he considers his position clear and the matter closed." -- Aaron McKenaa for the Inquirer It's funny how you'll hear faith healers and those sorts of folk say almost exactly the same thing. "I'm much too busy healing people to bother with 'clinical studies' or 'having a rational discussion.'" We all know that, in the end, it doesn't really matter who did the asking. Who else thinks that this hack'
  • Why are we all assuming that this is bad?

    If Rockstar (or whoever) wants to make a game that will appeal to adults then they can do so without limiting themselves for the sake of a lower rating. Find an alternative way of distributing the game (such as through the Internet) and they could even make more money on the titles since Gamestop and whoever won't be marking it up in their stores. Not only that, we wouldn't have to drive to the mall or order online and wait for the big brown truck.

    This could open a
    • I believe the Wall-Mart factor comes into play here. Wall-Mart won't sell stuff that is "adults only". While it is one retailer, they sell a ton of games. Adults only tends to have a negative connotation in retail. And, like it or not, retail is where most sales are made.
      • Yea, but that's my point. Retail doesn't have to be the end-all. The RIAA messed up by trying to continue the retail model in the face of new technology. Look where it got them. People want better distribution systems and better content. If game developers would cater to the adult crowd and use new distribution methods it could be a big boost to them.

        • This is all well and good until a Florida Attorney General gets elected on a "Think of the children!" ticket and decides to take one of these online services to court for unwittingly selling an M-rated game to a minor.

  • Actually, if you took a mintue to do research..... (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    You will know that the article is not completely up to date. Currently, Bush officials have denied [livejournal.com] that they asked Jack Thompson to write up video game legislation for them. Actually, blame should be put on GameStop for not researching this subject further, which is sad being that it is a highly visted videogame information site for many gamers.
  • All of Jack Thompson's documented writings and speeches on the subject indicate he has neither a social sciences background nor any experience with programming or playing a computer/video game. They're gonna get a piece of crap. Just stating the obvious.
  • Not that I'm terribly in favor of this bill, and I can't RTFA (at work), but doesn't this bill sort of get the game studios off the hook for violent games? If mommy has to go buy GTA for their kid, then the fault will be completely on the parent. If they had to go get the game for their kid, then it's their own fault their kids are shooting hookers all over the place (in game), as the parents facilitated the kids ability to do so.

    Again, I'm not in favor of censorship in anyway, but how is this much dif

    • but how is this much different than a movie theatre not letting a 12 year old into an R rated movie?

      This is legislation. It is an agreement amongst movie theatres that you must be accompanyed by a guardian to enter a rated R movie, not an actual federal law. That is why some theatres hastle 16 year olds while others freely let yougsters into movies. This, though, would make it a violation of state law.

      What I find even more odd (If, infact, this is even true) is that the legislators would decide to let on

    • Knowing Thompson he'd probably add a clause that makes the developer liable if some stupid mom buys the game for her kids and complains.

  • Why not books? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Jtheletter ( 686279 ) on Monday October 03, 2005 @03:51PM (#13707414)
    There is easily a hundred times more depravity, violence, and subversive thinking in books on a public library shelf than in any set of video games. Thank god we've already formed committees to review and rate these harmful works and prohibit minors from accessing th.... wait, what's that you say, any child can check out these seditious and violent works with nothing more than a library card? The works of the Marquis de Sade? Historical accounts of wars? Works of terror by Stephen King? What have we come to as a country if minors are allowed to view these materials unchecked? I demand that public libraries and librarians be fined and jailed for allowing such terrible influences to be given to our children!!

    Sarcasm aside, I demand that any legislator writing such a vigeogame law justify how that media can be treated differently than any other work. And interaction is not a valid defense, choose your own adventure books would meet that standard.

    I do agree some games are not suitable for minors, but just as the law doesn't jail or fine movie theaters if minors get into R-rated shows, there should be now such law punishing video game stores and clerks for essentially the same offense.

    • Damnit, and I even proofed it this time.

      Last line should read: there should be NO such law punishing video game stores and clerks for essentially the same offense.

    • There is easily a hundred times more depravity, violence, and subversive thinking in books on a public library shelf than in any set of video games.

      Yes, but we all know that no child in the US in their right mind goes to the library. Libraries are for geeks and losers.
    • The works of the Marquis de Sade? Historical accounts of wars? Works of terror by Stephen King?
      Something far worse... the Bible. [infidels.org]
      • Yep. The Bible depicts (and sometimes condones):
        • Incest
        • Premarital sex
        • Terrorism (see the Ten Plagues)
        • Bioterrorism (again, see the 10 plagues)
        • Genocide
        <IRONY>
        This book definitely needs to be banned.
        </IRONY>
    • I call bullshit. Video games are decidedly NOT like books, or movies, or watching TV, or listening to music. Video are BY FAR the most immersive way to interact with media, and are becoming more immersive all the time.

      Most popular modern video games provide the player with a fully-realized virtual world where they must make the decisions that guide the action. This draws the average player in more than any other media. If it wasn't true, video games wouldn't be growing at the expense of other media. An

      • You make some good points and I agree with the majority but you gloss over a few realities of the situation. The first and most important being that the people in power now, who will pen these laws, and the voting constituents they pander to, are older than the generation playing videogames and probably well above the average /. poster's age. Myself I am 26 and a fulltime robotics engineer to give you some perspective. My generation grew up playing videogames, and though I was on the cusp of that revolution
        • I think maybe we share a lot of common ground here. A couple minor clarifications on my part:

          - When I talk about teaching kids how to consume media, I am thinking mostly of things like making sure they can easily separate what's real from what's not real and when media is trying to bypass their conscious thought and go directly to the brain stem. Whether it's subtle advertising or a game that plays to some atavistic desire for violence rather than providing an actual story with meaningful decisions, kid

          • Always nice to get a reasoned conversation here on slashdot. :)

            Being a parent you certainly know better than I the responsibilities and difficulties of shielding your children from harmful influences. I can definitely understand how any tools to aid you in that are welcome. I also believe we're on the same track here.

            The distinction with this legislation as I see it is self-enforced vs state-enforced. AFAIK, and I could be wrong, there are no actual laws citing criminal charges or fines for allowing minors

  • ...one of those "I Hate Jack Thompson" T-shirts they're selling at ThinkGeek!

    Honestly, I'm proud to be one of the "Right-Wing-Bible-Thumping-Republican-Christian" wackos that the average Slashdotter loves to hate. But Jack has really been taking things too far the past few months.
  • From TFA:

    He did not offer details about what kind of penalties the bill would prescribe...

    From some of his stands in the past, I think that his ideal punishment for offenders would be castration.

  • Clearing up a few gripes (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Iriel ( 810009 ) on Monday October 03, 2005 @04:36PM (#13707725) Homepage
    In response to the complaints that I've been hearing about this subject like "Why not books?" "What about movies?" "Isn't this censorship?" and so on and so forth, I have this to say:

      - No, this isn't censorship because content is not being taken out. If the studios have to remove content to reach their audience, they'll find a way around regulations (they always do). Children aren't allowed to buy pornography and yet I hear no massive outcry about that. This is simply trying to keep excessively vulgar and violent games away from very young children.
      - Yes, youth violence is on a constant decline as it has been for the past several years, making all these "games raising you children to kill" arguments mostly idiodic.
      - Video games can be conceived of as more influential to children than books (I doubt it) and especially movies (easily so) as numerous studies suggest (keyword: suggest) that games are more powerful due to the level of interaction and feedback they require from the user.
      - Books are also not being targetted because anybody who looks at social trends can tell that literacy, or at least recreational reading in the US is on the decline. The numbers aren't large enough to get a response.

    But finally, games are being the scapegoat because the majority of the voting population in America doesn't understand games. By the time all those kids who were 6 or so when Nintendo first hit the US (people like me) become the major voting demographic, politicians will need to find a new target.
    • No, this isn't censorship because content is not being taken out.

      Censorship: The use of state or group power to control freedom of expression, such as passing laws to prevent media from being published or propagated. (Wiktionary.org)
      Sounds like censorship to me.
    • "Children aren't allowed to buy pornography and yet I hear no massive outcry about that. This is simply trying to keep excessively vulgar and violent games away from very young children."

      Pornography is made with the express intent to be spank material, and they don't even bother sending a copy to the MPAA for a rating. When was the last time someone was arrested for selling a minor a ticket to or a copy of a movie the MPAA gave an NC-17 rating, let alone an R?

      "that games are more powerful due to the level
      • Pornography is made with the express intent to be spank material, and they don't even bother sending a copy to the MPAA for a rating. When was the last time someone was arrested for selling a minor a ticket to or a copy of a movie the MPAA gave an NC-17 rating, let alone an R?

        When was the last time a theater got fined for letting a kid into a R or NC-17 rated movie? The main point of people that say this isn't the sky falling down is that the games industry has been too inept to enforce the rating syste
        • And that's where the problem lies. Currently, the industry does have a ratings system in place. The issue is that, like the MPAAs system, it's entirely self enforced. There are no requirements on either industry to enforce the ratings. In both cases they ask retailers to enforce them, but again, there is no requirement to do so.

          The reason, I think, that there is such an outcry over all of this is that while the MPAA was and still is, given free reign without fear of gov't intervention, the gaming indus

  • Can we stop paying attention to this freak? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by The Evil Couch ( 621105 ) on Monday October 03, 2005 @04:59PM (#13707862) Homepage
    Seriously. The only reason why this guy has political figures interested in him is because he's stirring people up.

    If we ignore him, he's no longer an interesting controversial figure and he loses pretty much all his power.

    Please, no more damn articles on this asshole.

    • We may know better than to pay him any heed, but those miserable, stupid peons who make up most of the world's population are another story. And that's why he's a danger.
    • It doesn't matter if we ignore him. There is a large segment of the population which loves the idea that we're on the train to the land of Moral Decline, and the only thing that can save our nation is to ban "smut", reintroduce corporal punishment, and make the damned kids start calling people "sir" and "ma'am" again. These people vote, write letters to their representatives, and basically wield the sort of political influence that can only be generated by large crowds of idiots.

      If we ignore the idiots, t
  • Could we please just put that asshole Thompson out of our collective misery already? We don't need to kill him, just stick him on a deserted island for the rest of his life.

    • Could we please just put that asshole Thompson out of our collective misery already?

      It's easier to ignore him. Jack Thompson is not important - as soon as he makes a law that restricts games, he either wasts taxpayers dollars on something that fails to the first admendment, or the law is forcefully extended by the game industry to supress removing all violent media (including a large quantity Agatha Christie novels which generally have someone murdered.)

      Jack Thompson may claim to be the crusader in the

      • Unfortunately, as I stated earlier [slashdot.org], to ignore him may be to simply put our heads in the sand. If we're lucky, this "game law" he claims he's been comissioned to create will be his downfall into absolute crackpottery, but what if it turns out that he hasn't just been pulling this story out of his ass? What then?

        • Unfortunately, as I stated earlier, to ignore him may be to simply put our heads in the sand.

          That expression pertains to Ostriches - they stuff their head into the sand to feed, rather than to avoid fear.

          If we're lucky, this "game law" he claims he's been comissioned to create will be his downfall into absolute crackpottery, but what if it turns out that he hasn't just been pulling this story out of his ass? What then?

          If this were Canada, I'd be worried since there restrictiosn can be passed.

          However, th

  • Just thinking of the warm hearted Thompson actually making laws kind of makes you feel all warm and cuddly!
  • .... but this really isn't anything new. Essentially what he's looking for is to take a system that's already in place (the videogame ratings system) and giving it some useful purpose.

    This isn't censorship. This is just limiting the audience. This has happened with nearly every other medium that children could be interested in (books being the exception for several reasons). This is nothing new and while people like to be outraged over a perceived loss of freedom, this loss of freedom is being directed
  • and Floridians (is that the term), knew Jeb Bush was a nut - yet still voted him in. You reap what you sow, and the rest of the world'll point and laugh.
  • So yea, creating barriers to make it more difficult for teenagers and such to buy violent/sexual games is in my opinion a good thing.*Quick aside* How do they check your age on the internet purchases folks? *Aside over* But why is Jack Thompson being given the chance to write this law? As a person who has worked in Washington for a short time and talked to people there, I understand that it is advocacy groups that write 99% of all legislation on the books, but why charge this assclown , with a record of rid
  • If the VideoGame industry did not stupidly equate AO games to X Rated Pornography they wouldn't have a problem with games such as San Andreas being rated for adults (18+) only. The videogame industry wants to be taken as seriously as Hollywood, and wants to have the influence of Hollywood. (btw...Does Hollywood want this?) Just as Hollywood got where it is today by bribing officials..err lobbying officials...then the Videogame Industry needs to play that game,pardon the pun, as well.Otherwise it will neve

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