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Digital Media Concepts/Jack Thompson

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John Bruce "Jack" Thompson(Born July 25, 1951) is a lawyer/activist, known for his anti-video game actions to violent video games or outright media that contains obscenities.

Jack Thompson
JackThompsonAttorney crop
NameJohn Bruce "Jack" Thompson
BornJuly 25, 1951(Age 66)
BirthplaceCleveland, Ohio, USA
OccupationLawyer(Disbarred)

Career

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Introduction:
On December 1st, 1997. A 14-year-old child named, Michael Carneal[1] killed 3 students and injured 5 at Heath High School in Kentucky. He pleaded guilty, citing the games Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein, and Resident Evil as motivation. Thus began Jack’s vendetta against the video game industry, he filed a $130 million lawsuit against Nintendo, Sega, and Sony claiming them as responsible for Carneal's actions.[2]

Grand Theft Auto:

Grand Theft Auto logo series

In June 3, 2003. A teenager named Devin Moore, shot and killed 3 officers of the local police force after being arrested for being suspected of stealing a car. Once captured, he said, “Life is like a video game, everybody’s got to die sometime.” The murderers were linked to the game GTA: Vice City as inspiration of his attack on the police force. After claiming the law firm Blank Rome's strategy was to shoot the messenger than dealing with the video game companies, Jack Thompson withdrew the case before the case, but then refused. He then got his licence in practicing law revoked, and had to drop the case 4 days before the trial. [3]

In 2005, a Mod based off a scrapped mini game that featured intercourse called, Hot Coffee was released online that unlocked the unused source code to be accessed, and caused enough controversy that it caused the ESRB to almost reconsider the rating of the game to be rated M to AO+(Adults Only) therefore causing retail stores to not sell the product. To avoid this, Rockstar to recall all first released versions of the game, and to be replaced future editions of the game to include a patch. Thompson blames the company Rockstar for being responsible for this and many of the other cases he had filed in the past against them.[4][5]

Controversy

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Disbarred: In 1993, Jack Thompson was against the bar organization in Florida claiming it unconstitutional, because they had a vendetta against him due to their liberal messages. He tried to file the same claim in 2006, but as the first one both were dismissed. In 2007, the Florida club would file a disbarment complaint, in 2008, Thompson was found guilty of 27 complains set against him. On September 25, 2008, Thompson was disbarred and was no longer allowed to practice law.[6][7]

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http://www.jackthompson.org/about_thompson/index.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heath_High_School_shooting http://www.jackthompson.org/games_in_the_court/paducah_shooting.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devin_Moore
http://www.jackthompson.org/video_game_cases/gta_hot_coffee.htm
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/debate-intensifies-over-hot-coffee-sex-in-gta/1100-6128837/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Coffee_mod
http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2015/09/15/the-rise-and-fall-of-video-gamings-most-vocal-enemy
https://kotaku.com/5054772/jack-thompson-disbarred
http://www.gamespy.com/articles/112/1121508p1.html
http://www.wdrb.com/story/13279449/school-shooter-michael-carneal-discusses-delusions

References

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  1. School shooter Michael Carneal recalls delusions. (2010, October 06). Retrieved February 15, 2018, from http://www.wdrb.com/story/13279449/school-shooter-michael-carneal-discusses-delusions
  2. Jack Thompson.org, from http://www.jackthompson.org/games_in_the_court/paducah_shooting.htm
  3. Benson, Julian. “The Rise and Fall of Video Gaming's Most Vocal Enemy.” Kotaku UK, (2015, September 15),from http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2015/09/15/the-rise-and-fall-of-video-gamings-most-vocal-enemy.
  4. Jack Thompson.org, from http://www.jackthompson.org/video_game_cases/gta_hot_coffee.htm
  5. Surette, Tim. “Debate Intensifies over Hot Coffee Sex in GTA.” GameSpot,(2005, July 11),from https://www.gamespot.com/articles/debate-intensifies-over-hot-coffee-sex-in-gta/1100-6128837/
  6. Fahey, Mike. “Jack Thompson Disbarred.”, Kotaku.com, (2008 Sept. 25),from https://kotaku.com/5054772/jack-thompson-disbarred
  7. Benson, Julian. “The Rise and Fall of Video Gaming's Most Vocal Enemy.” Kotaku UK, (2015, September 15),from http://www.kotaku.co.uk/2015/09/15/the-rise-and-fall-of-video-gamings-most-vocal-enemy.