Thompson stifled by Take Two settlement

bilateralrope · Post by **bilateralrope** » 2007-04-20 08:10pm

Though Jack Thompson is always in and out of the public eye, he's been quite active in the last little while. The restless attorney has battled corporate evils relentlessly, stopping only to diagnose the world's violent ways as the result of video games. However, it appears that his once mighty roar is now to be temporarily quieted, as the well-documented case—which included numerous bold claims, outrageous scandals, and even a counter-suit—between Thompson and publisher Take-Two has reached a settlement.

The original case began as Take-Two filed suit against Thompson for his threats to impede, hinder, and otherwise block the sales of upcoming Rockstar games Manhunt 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV. As a result of this, Thompson filed a counter-suit which billed Take-Two as a key player in an industry-wide conspiracy against him and his family. Recent discussions eventually brought the case to a settlement at the hands of Federal District Court Judge Cecilia Altonaga.

A copy of the settlement viewed by Ars Technica—which is decidedly more boring than Jack's previous manifesto—details the various stipulations that Thompson has (reluctantly, I imagine) agreed to. In addition to the expected dismissal of the case, Thompson will not be allowed to file any suit, or even threaten any suit, pertaining to the sale of the Rockstar products in question. Moreover, an order says that Thompson must not engage in any communications with Take-Two or any third party doing business with Take-Two (for example, retailers), with special attention paid to possibly harmful accusations or potentially damaging statements. Any statements or concerns that Thompson wishes to voice will now have to first go through Take-Two's lawyers.

The settlement should surely pacify Thompson for a while. However, something tells me this isn't the last we'll hear of old Jack. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and slap around some citizens in The Godfather

Posted without comment for now.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2007-04-20 08:21pm

He should be labelled as senile and put in a home. He can lecture the OAPs there on how society is crumbling because of the horrors of videogames showing what has been in movies and books for decades to centuries. The rest of the world is just tired of these tirades of toothless takes on the videogame industry.

Arrow · Post by **Arrow** » 2007-04-20 08:37pm

Good ol' Jack has already found another windmill to tilt at: Bill Gates.

Link

Jack Thompson wrote:Mr. Gates, your company is potentially legally liable the harm done at Virginia Tech. Your game, a killing simulator, according to the news that used to be in the Post, trained him to enjoy killing and how to kill. You knew five years ago that your on-line game, Counterstrike, so clearly figured in the massacre by a student in Erfurt that the event and the game impacted the race for Chancellor in Germany at the time!

Emphasis mine. Now, anybody knows anything about first person shooters knows that Counterstrike is a Valve, not Microsoft, product. Good shooting there, Jack!

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2007-04-20 08:40pm

Yeah, I noticed that Valve/MS mixup in a WaPo article too

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2007-04-20 08:43pm

I forgot the most elite were trained to kill via a monitor and a mouse and keyboard. Is that true? I must be Andy McNab level badassness now then, because I can point and click like a motherfucker.

Aaron · Post by **Aaron** » 2007-04-20 08:57pm

Yeah Counterstrike's so effective at breeding killers that the military used it for training me and my mates...... oh wait. Fuck even our simulators involve using facimilies of real weapons to reinforce the training. What's Counterstrike going to teach me? Point and click the enemy to death? Camp the spawn point and I can win the match?

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2007-04-20 09:51pm

Did you know that the killer also wore pants? I think we need to sue the manufacturers of pants, because we have found that an astonishing 100% of school shootings have been committed by people wearing pants. That is an even stronger correlation than the Counterstrike phenomenon! DOWN WITH PANTS!

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2007-04-20 09:55pm

Darth Wong wrote:Did you know that the killer also wore pants? I think we need to sue the manufacturers of pants, because we have found that an astonishing 100% of school shootings have been committed by people wearing pants. That is an even stronger correlation than the Counterstrike phenomenon! DOWN WITH PANTS!

He also wore shoes that enabled him to walk to the school building and post office to mail the package without any impediments by natural obstacles, such as thorns, broken glass or sharp rocks that might have otherwise slowed him down. Clearly we must sue shoe manufacturers for their part in aiding his attack.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2007-04-20 10:11pm

General Zod wrote:
Darth Wong wrote:Did you know that the killer also wore pants? I think we need to sue the manufacturers of pants, because we have found that an astonishing 100% of school shootings have been committed by people wearing pants. That is an even stronger correlation than the Counterstrike phenomenon! DOWN WITH PANTS!
He also wore shoes that enabled him to walk to the school building and post office to mail the package without any impediments by natural obstacles, such as thorns, broken glass or sharp rocks that might have otherwise slowed him down. Clearly we must sue shoe manufacturers for their part in aiding his attack.

Yes, but DOWN WITH SHOES is not anywhere near as good a battle cry as DOWN WITH PANTS.

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2007-04-20 10:18pm

Darth Wong wrote:Yes, but DOWN WITH SHOES is not anywhere near as good a battle cry as DOWN WITH PANTS.

You're just saying that because you want to see bare female asses. You won't be so enthusiastic with that battle cry after seeing some Ron Jeremy look-alikes with no pants.

SirNitram · Post by **SirNitram** » 2007-04-20 10:22pm

Darth Wong wrote:Did you know that the killer also wore pants? I think we need to sue the manufacturers of pants, because we have found that an astonishing 100% of school shootings have been committed by people wearing pants. That is an even stronger correlation than the Counterstrike phenomenon! DOWN WITH PANTS!

Pants are a source of great evil in this world. Think about it. Hitler wore pants. Stalin wore pants. Osama? Pants.

Let's face it folks. Pants are evil, and they are out to kill us all.

Oni Koneko Damien · Post by **Oni Koneko Damien** » 2007-04-20 10:22pm

Darth Wong wrote:Yes, but DOWN WITH SHOES is not anywhere near as good a battle cry as DOWN WITH PANTS.

*raises hand meekly* I got it, funny.

Of course, ironically enough, how long do you think it will be before someone comes out with a V-Tech mod for counterstrike?

Flagg · Post by **Flagg** » 2007-04-20 10:26pm

SirNitram wrote:
Darth Wong wrote:Did you know that the killer also wore pants? I think we need to sue the manufacturers of pants, because we have found that an astonishing 100% of school shootings have been committed by people wearing pants. That is an even stronger correlation than the Counterstrike phenomenon! DOWN WITH PANTS!
Pants are a source of great evil in this world. Think about it. Hitler wore pants. Stalin wore pants. Osama? Pants.

Let's face it folks. Pants are evil, and they are out to kill us all.

Yet I get arrested when I cross the street to get my mail wearing just a t-shirt. And of course who does the arresting? Cops. Cops with pants on.

NeoGoomba · Post by **NeoGoomba** » 2007-04-20 10:38pm

Comrades, you are all forgetting the one TRUE enemy at work here. Oxygen. Without such vile gas, the vile murderers of this world would have their firearms of Terror would be silenced. Yea, verily, this "oxygen" is what empowers these demons to wreack their havoc, providing their very bodily systems the energy it needs.

Turn your bile away from such underlings as "pants" and "video games". Oxygen is the real danger, DON'T LET IT IN YOU

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2007-04-21 02:39am

That's only treating the symptoms.

The real problem is obviously schools. If you didn't have schools, you wouldn't have school shootings.

BAN THE SCHOOLS!

Flagg · Post by **Flagg** » 2007-04-21 02:40am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:That's only treating the symptoms.

The real problem is obviously schools. If you didn't have schools, you wouldn't have school shootings.

BAN THE SCHOOLS!

Speaking of that, I never have been able to understand how the same people can complain about school overcrowding and school shootings.

2000AD · Post by **2000AD** » 2007-04-21 05:03am

Of course we can tell he learned skills from Counterstrike because he was jumping all over the place, calling the people that barricaded themselves in 'camping noobs'.

Ritterin Sophia · Post by **Ritterin Sophia** » 2007-04-21 05:16am

You know what? I'm sick and tired of camping being such a bad thing, maybe you guys in the military can enlighten me, is one of your tactics running around like your head was chopped off instead of staying low and out of view?

Invictus ChiKen · Post by **Invictus ChiKen** » 2007-04-21 09:56am

Flagg wrote:Speaking of that, I never have been able to understand how the same people can complain about school overcrowding and school shootings.

Flagg.... Thanks to you pepsi shot out of my nose and all over my keyboard

This is forty kinds of wong.

Invictus ChiKen · Post by **Invictus ChiKen** » 2007-04-21 09:57am

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:That's only treating the symptoms.

The real problem is obviously schools. If you didn't have schools, you wouldn't have school shootings.

BAN THE SCHOOLS!

Spanky's right! Not only this but I have it on authority that Osama, Stalin and even Hitler all went to School...

Clearly these "schools" are dens of scum and villany...

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2007-04-21 10:00am

General Schatten wrote:You know what? I'm sick and tired of camping being such a bad thing, maybe you guys in the military can enlighten me, is one of your tactics running around like your head was chopped off instead of staying low and out of view?

Oh yeah, as if the objectives of real-life war (victory at all costs) and the objectives of gameplay (fun) are identical

Ritterin Sophia · Post by **Ritterin Sophia** » 2007-04-21 10:02am

Darth Wong wrote:
General Schatten wrote:You know what? I'm sick and tired of camping being such a bad thing, maybe you guys in the military can enlighten me, is one of your tactics running around like your head was chopped off instead of staying low and out of view?
Oh yeah, as if the objectives of real-life war (victory at all costs) and the objectives of gameplay (fun) are identical

You forget, the point is also to get as many points as you can, and dying does not help your score.

Invictus ChiKen · Post by **Invictus ChiKen** » 2007-04-21 10:03am

Arnt most levels now designed to sorta eliminate camping?

Faram · Post by **Faram** » 2007-04-21 10:04am

Is the solution tho the pants probelm that we all wear togas like the Romans?

They where peacefull and nice.

/edit\

Also what did Jesus wear? we must get all people to wear that same stuff, hey I have the soultion to world paece!

Gimme to Nobel now damnit!

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2007-04-21 10:04am

General Schatten wrote:
Darth Wong wrote:
General Schatten wrote:You know what? I'm sick and tired of camping being such a bad thing, maybe you guys in the military can enlighten me, is one of your tactics running around like your head was chopped off instead of staying low and out of view?
Oh yeah, as if the objectives of real-life war (victory at all costs) and the objectives of gameplay (fun) are identical
You forget, the point is also to get as many points as you can, and dying does not help your score.

No, the point is to have fun. Winning at all costs is the mentality of a stupid asshole who has forgotten the whole point of gaming. It's like the shitheads who play dirty in sports, and forget what sports are supposed to be all about.

Do you honestly think the whole point of games is to win, not to have fun? If I'm not having fun, guess what: I don't play.