Game Stooge

Jack Thompson Alleges Crimes Against Video Game Blogs

• Scribbled on March 28th, 2007 by S Holmes
• Filed in Humor, Industry News, Off Topic, WTF

I missed this last week but feel it’s my duty to post about it now. In his current dispute with Take-Two, Jack Thompson has made allegations against some seemingly unrelated parties. Specifically, the allegation reads,

34. Take-Two . . . has collaborated and conspired with third parties to commit these racketeering activites [sic], including but not limited to the Entertainment Software Association, the Entertainment Software Rating Board, the Entertainment Consumer Association, Gamepolitics, Kotaku, SPOnG, Joystiq, Gamespot, ign, Game Informer, Electronic Gaming Weekly, Penny Arcade, Doug Lowenstein, and others.

The filing goes on to allege that he has been subject to threats, harassment, and other illegal acts as a result of the conspiracy between Take-Two and these other parties.

When asked for comment on this story by SPOnG, Thompson responded (by email) with, “By the way, tell me what weeks in the next few months are best for your deposition.” There is absolutely no reason for this comment other than to bully Spong and take satisfaction in any lack of knowledge they may have about the law. Depositions aren’t scheduled this way and this case is a long way away from the deposition stage.

A deposition is a normal part of any lawsuit where a party or witness in the case is asked questions (”deposed”) by the attorneys for both parties. They are used to ask any questions and “discover” as much information as possible about the case. Depositions can get pretty heated and are always a nerve-rattling time for the person being questioned (the “deponent”).

I can’t imagine Thompson actually believes what he’s alleging. What gamers and the general public should take away from this is that Thompson is declaring all out war on the entire video game industry. He wants to see any supporter of the video game industry spend time, money, and effort to defend against his claims. And if that isn’t successful, he simply wants them to lose sleep. This war he is waging is a personal vendetta that fuels him. This is not work to him.

Frankly, I’d love for him to take the depositions of some of these parties just because they’d be so entertaining, but I don’t think it will ever get that far. I’ll reserve judgment on his claims until I see if he has any evidence to support them, but so far, his comments are just big words from a little man.

[Via SPOnG]