Thursday, July 10, 2008
Tallahassee, FL (TNR) - Judge Dava Tunis, the appointed referee over Jack Thompson's ongoing bar trial, has recommended the permanent disbarment of the anti-video games attorney, The Nerd Report has learned.
The Florida Bar Association is seeking Thompson's disbarment for a period of ten years, but the Judge Tunis has declined to follow this recommendation, instead taking the precedent-setting step of permanent disbarment, noting that Thompson "does not proceed within the guidelines of appropriate professional behavior, but rather uses other means available to intimidate, harass, or bring public disrepute to those whom he perceives oppose
him" when engaging in litigation, and that there is "no evidence whatsoever to indicate that [Thompson] is amenable to rehabilitation, or even remotely appreciates the basis upon which a need or purpose for such rehabilitation is warranted."
Mr. Thompson has engaged in extensive litigation against the gaming industry for over a decade, claiming that violence in video games teaches children to engage in violence themselves. Throughout this time, he has treated those opposing him with disdain and even open mockery, at one point submitting a document to the court in picture form, claiming that the court couldn't understand him without the visual aids. The court in question was Judge Tunis' own, during the proceeding that has led to the recommendation for his disbarment.
The decision in the case is not yet final, but the appointed referee's recommendation makes it highly likely that Jack Thompson's days as a practicing attorney are numbered.
Showing posts with label Video Games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Video Games. Show all posts
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
College age gamer elected mayor of Muskogee, OK
May 29, 2008
The Internet (TNR) - Earlier this month, 19 year old video gamer John Tyler Hammons was elected mayor of the town of Muskogee, Oklahoma, a large town of approximately 38,000 residents.
The Nerd Report does not have a correspondent in the area, so it has been unable to secure interviews. The Associated Press reports that his first priorities as mayor are to establish tougher campaign finance reporting rules and an independent ethics commission.
A registered Republican, Hammons served as president of both the Young Republicans and Young Democrats while in high school. His position as mayor makes him the youngest at-large delegate to the Republican National Convention from Oklahoma.
However, Hammons has pledged to leave politics at the door to City Hall, focusing on the needs of the city in his duties.
AP reports that Hammons has ambitions to run for governor of Oklahoma in the future, and if successful in that, to consider seeking the Presidency. There is no word on his position regarding the role of government in gaming, but TNR finds it safe to conclude that he would not be as restrictive as some current-day candidates for high office.
The Internet (TNR) - Earlier this month, 19 year old video gamer John Tyler Hammons was elected mayor of the town of Muskogee, Oklahoma, a large town of approximately 38,000 residents.
The Nerd Report does not have a correspondent in the area, so it has been unable to secure interviews. The Associated Press reports that his first priorities as mayor are to establish tougher campaign finance reporting rules and an independent ethics commission.
A registered Republican, Hammons served as president of both the Young Republicans and Young Democrats while in high school. His position as mayor makes him the youngest at-large delegate to the Republican National Convention from Oklahoma.
However, Hammons has pledged to leave politics at the door to City Hall, focusing on the needs of the city in his duties.
AP reports that Hammons has ambitions to run for governor of Oklahoma in the future, and if successful in that, to consider seeking the Presidency. There is no word on his position regarding the role of government in gaming, but TNR finds it safe to conclude that he would not be as restrictive as some current-day candidates for high office.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Opinion column: Susan Estrich blasts Rockstar Games for GTA 4
Thusday, May 8, 2008
In her column released today by Creators Syndicate, columnist Susan Estrich lambasted Rockstar Games and its employees for creating Grand Theft Auto IV, saying she writes from the perspective of the mother of a gamer.
Well I write from the perspective of a gamer, the brother of a gamer, the friend of many gamers, and, incidentally, a sane, rational, and mentally sound person. And I say she's wrong.
To explain: I find the Grand Theft Auto series distasteful; there are plenty of other ways to get in a good gaming fix without playing a mobster. But where she's wrong is when she says Rockstar's designers are wasting their talent, in essence. The thing is, they're not.
Why not? Well, as Ms. Estrich so astutely points out, Rockstar is rolling wheelbarrows of money to the bank off of the GTA series, and have a large segment of an American generation playing their games. She says they're wasting their talent because they could be using this influence for other things (presumably designing more wholesome games), but this ignores one fact: They have all this money and influence because of the kinds of games they produce. If they were making games with GTA's graphics and complex level design but with a different premise, would they have such a wide audience? Probably not. Grand Theft Auto is a proven game concept, like it or not, and as a for-profit company, it is not a waste for Rockstar to profit by capitalizing on it. Saying that they should use their money and influence to make different, less violent games is putting the cart before the horse. In games, violence sells. Whether this is a bad thing or not is up for debate, but as Ms. Estrich also notes, there is no proven correlation between playing violent video games and an increased rate of actual violent crime.
I have to commend Ms. Estrich for refusing to blame GTA for real violence in society, but on the whole, she has completely misunderstood the gaming market.
In her column released today by Creators Syndicate, columnist Susan Estrich lambasted Rockstar Games and its employees for creating Grand Theft Auto IV, saying she writes from the perspective of the mother of a gamer.
Well I write from the perspective of a gamer, the brother of a gamer, the friend of many gamers, and, incidentally, a sane, rational, and mentally sound person. And I say she's wrong.
To explain: I find the Grand Theft Auto series distasteful; there are plenty of other ways to get in a good gaming fix without playing a mobster. But where she's wrong is when she says Rockstar's designers are wasting their talent, in essence. The thing is, they're not.
Why not? Well, as Ms. Estrich so astutely points out, Rockstar is rolling wheelbarrows of money to the bank off of the GTA series, and have a large segment of an American generation playing their games. She says they're wasting their talent because they could be using this influence for other things (presumably designing more wholesome games), but this ignores one fact: They have all this money and influence because of the kinds of games they produce. If they were making games with GTA's graphics and complex level design but with a different premise, would they have such a wide audience? Probably not. Grand Theft Auto is a proven game concept, like it or not, and as a for-profit company, it is not a waste for Rockstar to profit by capitalizing on it. Saying that they should use their money and influence to make different, less violent games is putting the cart before the horse. In games, violence sells. Whether this is a bad thing or not is up for debate, but as Ms. Estrich also notes, there is no proven correlation between playing violent video games and an increased rate of actual violent crime.
I have to commend Ms. Estrich for refusing to blame GTA for real violence in society, but on the whole, she has completely misunderstood the gaming market.
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