Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Jack Thompson On Another Warpath

Oh great, here we go again. Jack Thompson has just set his legal sights on Microsoft this time over the pending Halo 3. The linked article contains the letter Thompson sent to Microsoft. From the article:

As you also know, Lee Boyd Malvo trained on Microsoft’s Halo to further enable him to become the remarkably efficient “DC Beltway Sniper.” That was reported by NBC News at the time and was noted in Malvo’s criminal trial.
This is downright ridiculous. Anyone, and I mean anyone, whom has ever both fired an actual gun and played a video game such as Halo knows that the experieces are wholly and completely different. To say otherwise simply shows your ignorance. I can snipe nazis with dead accuracy on Medal of Honor, but the few times I have tried to fire an actual gun, I'd be lucky to hit the broadside of a barn. To say that video games provide sufficient training on live firearms is ludiicrous.
Here’s the deal, Mr. Gates: Either Microsoft undertakes dramatic, real steps, through its marketing, wholesale, and retail operations to assure that Halo 3 is not sold, via the Internet and in stores, directly to anyone under 17, or I shall proceed to make sure that Microsoft is held to that standard by appropriate legal means. I have done that before successfully as to Best Buy, and I shall do so again as to Microsoft and all retailers of Halo 3.
Thompson really is the most ignorant "lawyer" I have ever had the pleasure of not meeting (thank god) in my life. He has no touch with reality whatsoever.
  1. To my knowledge, there has yet to be an online age verification system that actually works well enough to ensure Microsoft complies with Thompson's demands.
  2. Microsoft has no control over independant third-party retailers' practises in ensuring that M rated games are not sold to minors. If Wal-Mart, for instance, fails to adequately prevent the game from being purchased by minors, this is Wal-Mart's fault, not Microsoft's.
Jack Thompson really needs to find a hobby and quit bothering other people.

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