Jack Thompson (activist)

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Jack Thompson is also the name of an actor; see Jack Thompson (actor).

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John Bruce "Jack" Thompson (born July 23, 1950) is an American attorney at law often cited in the media for his views on the effects of obscenity and violence in popular media. He was born in Ohio. He is a 1976 JD graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Law and has practiced as a medical malpractice attorney in Florida since 1977.

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Jack Thompson on WCPO

Political run

In 1988 Thompson was the unsuccessful Republican challenger to Janet Reno for the Office of Dade County State Attorney. Following this, as the "Man in Miami" for NewsMax.com, he made a series of allegations regarding Reno, met with incredulity in the press , claiming among other things that: she was a closet lesbian suffering from various mental disorders as side effects of Parkinson's medication and that she was being blackmailed by the Mafia. Many feel that these allegations have not been sufficiently corroborrated by Mr. Thompson.

Video game controversy

Thompson's views

Jack Thompson has a set of arguments and phrases that he often reinforces in public speeches.

Thompson describes video games with violent or competitive content as 'murder simulators' and 'sexual simulators'.

Thompson asserts that young persons accused of violent crimes have 'trained' or 'rehearsed' their actions using 'murder simulators'.

Thompson asserts that video games are used by the military to desensitize and remove the inhibition to kill. There are no known commercial games being used for this purpose by any military forces. The United States Army, however, has developed a first-person shooter called America's Army as a recruitment tool. In response to many of their troops playing videogames while deployed, the U.S. Army also commissioned Pandemic Studios to produce a tactical training simulation, which was later turned into a commercially released game, Full Spectrum Warrior. The original military version of the game and its companion for higher-ranking personnel, Full Spectrum Command, can be unlocked within the retail version. It should be noted however that this game was developed to teach strategy and tactics, not a disinhibition to kill, and was commissioned in response to soldiers playing the very games Thompson claims the military uses. The source of this idea may be the literature of Dave Grossman, a fellow censorship advocate.

Thompson frequently refers to medical studies that he claims scientifically prove that there is a link between violent media and aggressive behaviour. Although he has used several variations of this argument, a statement on his website is typical of the approach taken:
"Recent medical brain scan studies at Harvard and Indiana University prove ... children's brain functions are damaged by a steady diet of violent images and messages."
The Indiana University study makes no mention of children's brain functions being 'damaged' by exposure to violent media. It is mentioned that "there is a difference in the brain activation patterns of youths with Disruptive Behaviour Disorder and those without when exposed to a specific stimulus", but it is not explicitly claimed that there is a correlation between exposure to violent media and brain activity. (The study was funded by "Center for Successful Parenting", a lobby group campaigning against media violence.)

Thompson states as fact that games with adult content are developed for and marketed to children.

Thompson claims that before (violent) videogames "ids took guns to school for 200 years in this country without turning them on one another" .

Thompson identifies himself as a Christian and often includes references to the Bible or God in his communication. In an interview with the Sun-Sentinel, Thompson linked his views on religion and video games:

"The Bible doesn't promote killing innocent people," Thompson said. "Grand Theft Auto does."

Thompson claims that the head of the board of the ESA is comparable to Hitler. He has further stated that companies like Rockstar Games work together with the Entertainment Software Association to release violent and/or sexual content to underage buyers. Penny Arcade, VGCats, and similar groups have also had much-publicized spats with him, further fueling controversy. (See below in the Penny Arcade section)

Thompson also blames violence on Islam, expressing his opinion that the Qur'an "promotes the killing of innocent people" and "infidels", who he claims the Quran identifies as Christians and Jews.

Thompson uses religious and Bible references, which has caused him to be accused of comparing himself to Jesus

Correspondence

Thompson has gained notoriety as a caustic and combative individual, to some extent borne out in many examples of exchanges between him and other individuals that have been posted in emails on the Internet, as well as interviews and media appearances.

He invokes broad negative stereotypes against gamers in general. For example, in an e-mail correspondence with Scott Ramsoomair, he questions: "Honestly, are all of you gamers on drugs, or what?" . In a correspondence with Ryan Acheson (gaming writer for The Horror Channel's Dread Central), when Ryan Acheson said he supported Thompson's intentions to make M-rated games inaccessible to children, he identifies "gamers' ideas" as "the latest oxymoron" .

In various communicae with Jack, he refers to Pixelantes, a derogatory term referring to gamers.

Video game cases

In 1999, Thompson filed a $33 million federal products liability class action lawsuit against a number of entertainment companies, including Time Warner Inc., Polygram Film Entertainment Distribution Inc., Palm Pictures, Island Pictures, 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. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case in 2002.

Since the Paducah lawsuit, Thompson has pursued the companies that develop violent video games in court: he attempted to link the Columbine shootings and the Washington Sniper to first-person shooters and frequently attacks Rockstar, linking Rockstar North's Manhunt game and Grand Theft Auto series to a wide variety of murders, particularly those involving vehicles or weapons other than firearms.

Some consider Thompson to be a Fredric Wertham-like figure in the video gaming world. However, Thompson lacks Wertham's psychology background, and his actions have not led to a censorship movement; neither has he succeeded in connecting the media in question to violent crime in the eyes of the US Government.

More recently, he has attempted to persuade the lawyers defending Dustin Lynch, charged with the murder of JoLynn Mishne, that video games were responsible for the defendant's actions. The lawyers have declined to employ this line of reasoning, and Thompson has subsequently offered to defend Lynch for free, presumably in the hope that he may create credibility behind the "video games defense" .

As well as propagating the "video games defense," Thompson attempts to predict which violent crimes will be caused by specific video games. In the Washington Sniper case, he was the first to suggest that video games may have been the source of the sniper's skills, a conjecture apparently vindicated by the discovery of a PlayStation in the van used as a "mobile hideout" by the two snipers. Dateline NBC reported that Malvo "trained" extensively on the Xbox game Halo. From that report, Thompson believes that "Microsoft should be sued and held liable for money damages by the victims of the Beltway Snipers." Thompson's critics point out that John Allen Muhammad was a former soldier with significant rifle training, as predicted by the police, and that Lee Boyd Malvo's shooting skills could have easily been the result of instruction by Muhammad.

In addition, Thompson blames the Columbus, Ohio sniper shootings on video games when it was found that Charles McCoy Jr. had a PlayStation 2 and the game The Getaway. Thompson also proactively linked Grand Theft Auto III to violent crime in general. He was also linked by British newspapers to claims that Rockstar's Manhunt provoked the murder of Stefan Pakeerah, 14, by his friend Warren Leblanc, 17. The police and judge presiding over the case denied that the game had been a contributory factor in the murder, however, and it was in fact the victim's mother who originally made the claims, leading Thompson to tell IGN that his involvement was fabricated by British tabloids. In the case, it was the victim who owned a copy of Manhunt, and not the killer.

In one of a series of "video game violence" interviews by CBS, he compared Douglas Lowenstein of the Entertainment Software Association to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels (this response has since been edited). Months thereafter, Thompson instead wrote an open letter comparing Lowenstein to Adolf Hitler and, in a June 2005 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, implied he was worse than Saddam Hussein. Come July 2005, Thompson released the aforementioned open letter, simultaneously praising Hillary Clinton's call for federal game legislation and targeting Lowenstein yet again.

Grand Theft Auto

In July 2005, he attacked Rockstar North's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas game. Patrick Wildenborg, a modder, discovered a sexual mini-game (dubbed "Hot Coffee"); players could not normally access it in the game, but could through applying a third-party hack. Although 3rd party alterations unknown to and unapproved by developer Rockstar Games, Rockstar was held accountable because they failed to remove the incomplete mini-game. As a result of Thompson's (and other activists) attacks, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) reviewed the game again and changed the game's rating from "Mature" (M), for ages 17 and above, to "Adults Only" (AO), ages 18 and above.

On August 3, 2005, Thompson claimed that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City had a similar sex minigame, also unlockable through a third-party code. He said that the game involved a normally non-nude sex scene when the player enters a strip club. The code, Thompson said, allowed for full frontal nudity and sexual activity of an extremely vulgar nature. However, third parties failed to find this alleged game. When asked about it, Thompson said, not interested.

On August 12, 2005 several online newspapers published a story from The Associated Press: "Relatives of two slain Fayette officers turn to suit over video games." Thompson filed a lawsuit representing families of two of the three victims in Fayette, Alabama. The third victim's family later joined the lawsuit .

On Tuesday, November 1, 2005, Thompson sent an email to various websites in order to comment on the opening day of the Alabama trial involving Devin Moore. In this same email, he compares Sony and Take Two Interactive's sale of the Grand Theft Auto video game to Imperial Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II since according to Thompson, certain regional governments in Japan had prevetented the sale of the Grand Theft Auto games to minors, though Sony continued to sell the game where its sale was not restricted in Japan and abroad (Microsoft is doing the same for its own video game console). A large number of readers of the letter expressed their anger at Thompson's comparison to the Pearl Harbor attack.

On Friday, November 4, 2005, the Blank Rome made a motion to have Thompson removed from the case, stating that Thompson would "turn the courtroom into a circus."

The Sims 2

On July 22, 2005, after the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas case was settled, Thompson attacked The Sims 2, saying that the game "is no different than what is in San Andreas, although worse." (sic), due to the availability of a mod that removes the censorship fields from all characters when they are nude. Thompson claimed that this allows pedophiles to see computer-rendered nude children . In another instance, he claimed "Sims 2, the latest version of the Sims video game franchise...contains, according to video game news sites, full frontal nudity, including nipples, penises, labia, and pubic hair." He accused Electronic Arts (EA) and Maxis of cooperating with the mod community to "peddle vile smut to minors."

However, even with the "blur" removed, The Sims 2 contains no such details; the characters have no visible reproductive organs or pubic hair whatsoever, similar to children's dolls, and female models lack both nipples and areolae. Thompson further accused EA and Will Wright of supporting adult custom content specifically. However, Will Wright has historically supported all user-created game content universally on the principle of endorsing personal creativity, innovation, and personalization. Although there are user-created content packages available on the Internet many would consider adult material, they are neither created nor specifically endorsed by Maxis or EA, unlike the Hot Coffee mod.

In an Internet radio show interview that aired at ChatterBox Game Show, Thompson retracted his previous statements about "pubic hair" and other details. However, he defended his position on The Sims 2 and expressed his opinion that, because EA does not protect its copyright by stopping the mod community from making adult-oriented changes to the game, they "lose their right to defend their copyright."

Bully

During the first week of August 2005, Thompson publicly protested Rockstar's yet to be released video game Bully. As part of the protest, he recruited two school buses of children to join him . Thompson emailed Bill Gates, stating that he has 54 days to stop the release of Bully on the Xbox, insinuating a threat of legal action. After this 54 day period Jack Thompson took no action and has not commented on the incident since.

Killer7

On August 5, 2005, Thompson sent an e-mail to Patricia Vance, president of the ESRB, accusing them of being too lenient on the game Killer7. He cited an IGN review and said:

"...profanity, sex and bloodshed are commonplace… We can’t stress it enough: kids should not play Killer7. Not just because there’s an M on the box, but because for once that M really means something. There’s much more than blood and guts in the game. Everything from the design of puzzles to the subject matter is designed for older players and it’s really that simple...And there are cinematics that feature full-blown sex sequences...Killer7’s adult themes, which encapsulate extremely violent, profane and sexual situations, as well as a wide range of issues from terrorism to the sale of children, make the M on the box really mean something ."

Despite the objections of many gamers that the Killer7 fully-clothed sexual scene contains content no worse than in a PG-13 movie, Thompson urged Vance to contact retailers and ask them to pull the game from shelves, adding that, unlike the Hot Coffee case, this was a case of where full-blown sex was easily accessible but that the ESRB "chose to put an 'M' rather than an 'AO' rating on it." He claimed that the ESRB was involved in "a criminal conspiracy to distribute sexual material harmful to minors in violation of criminal statutes" and for the dismantlement of the ESRB.

The Warriors

Thompson has now spoken out against Rockstar Games' newest title, The Warriors, a video game for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox gaming systems. His accusations are based on the movie of the same name. He said that it should be rated AO by ESRB or he will do it himself, despite the fact that the movie the game is based off of received an R-Rating from the MPAA (An R-Rating is the equivalent to an M-Rated game, as AO is to NC-17/X). He has described The Warriors as being a "murder simulator" and that "it should not be sold to anyone under 18, or anyone for that matter." The ESRB chose to ignore Thompson, giving The Warriors an M rating.

"A Modest Video Game Proposal"

On October 10, 2005, Thompson sent another open letter to members of the press and to Entertainment Software Association president Doug Lowenstein. He proposed that, if someone could "create, manufacture, distribute, and sell a video game in 2006" that allows players to play the scenario he has written, he will donate $10,000 to the charity of Take Two's chairman Paul Eibeler's choosing . The title of the letter alludes to Jonathan Swift's classic 18th century satire: A Modest Proposal.

The game follows a disgruntled father of a killing victim who takes his revenge upon the games industry, which he blames for 'training' the man who killed his son. The father begins a spree of murders in retaliation, attacking the offices of "Take This," who made the game, and killing the chairman "Paula Eibeler" and her family. The father then begins a road trip across the states, back to Los Angeles, then assaulting the law firm "Blank, Stare" who represent "Take This" and various gaming arcades and games stores before arriving at E³ and completing a "monstrously delicious rampage" on the participants. Thompson argued that the game industry would never make such a game, in which the targets are virtual representations of themselves, for fear of turning players into their own killers.

Defamation of Character: A Jack Thompson Murder Simulator

Unbeknownst to Thompson, however, a group of modders known as the Fighting Hellfish had released exactly one week prior a mod for the game San Andreas, called Defamation of Character: A Jack Thompson Murder Simulator . The mod features Jack Thompson himself acting out a remarkably similar scenario, at one point even assassinating Doug Lowenstein. Acting under hypnosis, Thompson moonlights as Banman and takes to the streets in his Bannedwagon to destroy the entire shipment of Rockstar's Bully before it reaches distribution. Jack later assassinates Janet Reno after thwarting her coup, which forces him to confront the realization that his time spent researching violent games have turned him into his own "Manchurian Candidate". Although the team never asked him to donate the money, Thompson refused to when he discovered that the game existed. He later claimed that his proposal was satire and said he would not donate the $10,000.

Penny Arcade

On October 17, 2005, Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins of Penny Arcade donated the promised $10,000 to charity on Jack Thompson's behalf . Krahulik and Holkins donated the money, under Thompson's name, to the ESA Foundation, the charitable arm of the Entertainment Software Association. Thompson e-mailed both Penny Arcade and Joystiq, who ran a story about the donation, demanding that the articles be taken down "or else." The check, presented to the ESA Foundation, was delivered at an ESAF fundraising dinner in San Francisco and said, For Jack Thompson, because Jack Thompson won't.

In retaliation, Jack Thompson faxed a letter to Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske, requesting assistance in halting the activities of Krahulik and Holkins . In his letter, he described how personnel within Penny Arcade were harassing him: the sale of an "I Hate Jack Thompson" shirt and frequent postings on their website where they allegedly admitted to harassment.

According to GameSpot, as of 9:55AM PDT October 18, 2005, the Seattle Police Department had not received Thompson's fax, which at that point had been sent to GameSpot, Penny Arcade, and other sites. Thompson emailed GameSpot, claiming that he had fixed the URL for Penny Arcade and faxed the letter, commenting, "They have it now." Thompson also told GameSpot that he was not a "pixelated piñata in a game." He ended by saying that the "moral midgets" at Penny Arcade had chosen "the wrong target" and "I've been at this longer than he has." These vague threats have been deemed "nothing to worry about" by Penny Arcade. The Seattle Police Department confirmed to GameSpot on October 21 that they had received a complaint from Thompson.

On October 21, 2005, Thompson claimed to have sent a letter to John McKay, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington, in an attempt to get the FBI involved. Thompson reiterated his claims of "extortion" and accuses Penny Arcade of using "their Internet site and various other means to encourage and solicit criminal harassment". Penny Arcade denies the charge of "extortion", noting that they paid the $10,000 to charity, and are asking nothing in return.

Thompson also contacted the office of Washington State Legislature Representative Mary Lou Dickerson, and her office confirms they asked John McKay to look into the matter. Thompson has not clarified how he is being "extorted," but accuses Penny Arcade's Mike Krahulik of soliciting Florida Bar complaints against him through Mike posting the Florida Bar's link on Penny Arcade's website. The link, however, is in a post asking fans to stop sending letters to the Bar because the Bar is fully aware of the current situation .

Response

With his attacks aimed, not just at the corporations which distribute/develop video games, but also at the gamers who play them, Thompson has received a notable number of opposing responses from the gaming world, both insults and threats via email but challenges and invitations to debate. He has been credited for bringing together the often-divisive gaming community into a united front against his actions.

With Thompson's renewed public profile due to the Hot Coffee modification, his presence in the gaming news is now a weekly occurrence. Many gaming websites report articles regarding Thompson with mocking tones; he is rarely presented as a serious advocate for more sensible controls on game distribution, but more often as a sensationalist striving for fame and recognition or financial profit . Many gamers see him as a caricature of an out-of-touch generation whose kneejerk reaction is to ban something that which is new and unknown, in an analogous way to previous generations' attempts to ban rock and roll, violent films, and comic books.

Recently, webcomics have shifted their focus, using their webpages to address Mr. Thompson's accusations in both email exchanges and in webcomics. In addition to the tri-weekly comic Hsu and Chan , Ctrl+Alt+Del , GU Comics , VG Cats have all voiced their opinions through their comic strips, most recently with this response to Mr. Thompson's offer of a $10,000 donation to charity A Modest Video Game Proposal above).

Mr. Thompson's responses to these websites comic-styled criticisms of him have become the source of much discussion among the webcomic community. Webcomic sites such as VG Cats have posted transcripts e-mail exchanges between Thompson and Scott Ramsoomair over Thompson's portrayal of Killer 7.

NIMF support withdrawn

Thompson's proposals and press have also ignited response from other sides of the video game debate. In an open letter, David Walsh, founder of the National Institute on Media and the Family, condemned Thompson for his use of biased and vitriolic tactics and asked him to refrain from implying that the Institute supports him and his work in any way. Walsh requested that Thompson remove his link to the Institute's website from his own site. Additional details can be found at GamesIndustry.biz. Walsh also sent this letter to several others, including Senator Hillary Clinton, Bill Gates and Doug Lowenstein of the Entertainment Software Association.

Jack Thompson later replied to David Walsh in another letter. Thompson argued that Walsh withdrew support because Best Buy recently donated money to the NIMF; Thompson currently has a lawsuit against Best Buy. Thompson also criticized Walsh's decision to send an open letter, rather than "confronting me directly man-to-man."

Investigation by Florida Bar Association

In response to Thompson's behavior regarding Penny-Arcade's response to Thompson's "Modest Proposal" , Penny Arcade forum members wrote, edited and sent letters and faxes to the Florida Bar Association detailing Thompson's activities and urging the review of his license to practice law. Jack Thompson had already received a reprimand by the Bar for his antics in 1998, and is still under investigation from two previous complaints, both of which relate to Thompson's fight with Howard Stern. A representative of the Florida Bar Association acknowledged that they received several thousand complaints, and the letters and faxes forwarded to the disciplinary committee. However, they are not investigating Thompson on this issue at this time. .

Thompson has sent his own letter to the FBA, reminding the FBA that the last time he was investigated they had to pay him damages. The letter a fan sent to the FBA can be read at the Penny-arcade forums.

Other legal cases

Ileana Flores

He first came into the public eye in 1986 when he represented Ileana Flores in her divorce from Frank Fuster. Fuster had been convicted the previous year of multiple counts of child abuse in the controversial Country Walk Case.

First Amendment issues

Following the Flores case Thompson became prominently involved in First Amendment issues, particularly concerning the possible effects of sexually violent material. The Florida Supreme Court ordered that he undergo psychiatric testing during this campaign, which he successfully passed. He later quipped that this made him one of the few sane lawyers working in the state. The specific reasons that prompted the court to require Thompson to be tested, and on what grounds they compelled him, are unknown.

2 Live Crew suit

Thompson led the campaign against the 1989 2 Live Crew album As Nasty As They Wanna Be. In the 1990 federal trial which ruled the album obscene, he submitted material as an amicus curiae. He would reprise this role as a third-party "expert" in various video games cases (see below). The court's decision led to the arrest of several members of the group and a record retailer, although the ruling was soon reversed.

Freedom Alliance

In 1992, Thompson represented Oliver North's Freedom Alliance at the annual Time Warner shareholders' meeting, regarding Ice T's song "Cop Killer". He put forward the argument that, should the song inflame listeners and lead to the killing of police officers, widows would be able to sue Time Warner over the content of the record. Time Warner subsequently dropped the performer.

As a result of Thompson's efforts against Ice T's song, he was named a "top ten" censor by the American Civil Liberties Union . Thompson states on his website that he considers the ACLU's 'award' a badge of honor.

Howard Stern

An indecency complaint Thompson 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. The network subsequently dropped Stern from 6 of their stations. Stern has since moved on to satellite radio, namely Sirius Satellite Radio, garnering a 5-year, $500 million dollar (US) contract.

Misplaced Pages

Political run

Video game controversy

Thompson's views

Correspondence

Video game cases

Grand Theft Auto

The Sims 2

Bully

Killer7

The Warriors

"A Modest Video Game Proposal"

Defamation of Character: A Jack Thompson Murder Simulator

Penny Arcade

Response

NIMF support withdrawn

Investigation by Florida Bar Association

Other video game-related incidents

Other legal cases

Ileana Flores

First Amendment issues

2 Live Crew suit

Freedom Alliance

Howard Stern

See also

Books

External links

News

Interviews

Support

Contrary opinion(s)

Vocal opposition

References