Thanks to Eric for finding this, I read it and about fell out of my chair from laughing so hard.
Jack Thompson tells Bill Gates that Microsoft is potentially liable in school shootings
In essence, Jack Thompson sent a letter to Microsoft, saying:
Several Korean youths who knew Cho Seung Hui from his high school days said he was a fan of violent video games, particularly Counterstrike, a hugely popular online game published by Microsoft, in which players join terrorism or counterterrorism groups and try to shoot each other using all types of guns.’”
Mr. Gates, your company is potentially legally liable the harm done at Virginia Tech. Your game, a killing simulator, according to the news that used to be in the Post, trained him to enjoy killing and how to kill. You knew five years ago that your on-line game, Counterstrike, so clearly figured in the massacre by a student in Erfurt that the event and the game impacted the race for Chancellor in Germany at the time!
Yet, here you are, five years after “Erfurt,” still marketing Counterstrike. having done nothing to disable the server(s) for this mass murder simulator, and it looks like “Virginia Tech” is a consequence. There’s more going on in the world than Vista. Just ask the bereaved Virginia Tech families.
Mr. Gates, pull the plug on Counterstrike today, or do we need more dead to convince you? “Virginia Tech” was the 9-11 of school shootings, and it appears Microsoft is in the middle of it, in more ways than one.
I am really tempted to fire off a letter of my own to Jack Thompson. If I do, it’ll go something like this:
Mr. Thompson-
I recently read your letter to Bill Gates telling him to pull the plug on Counter-Strike, a game he supposedly published, to stop the violence in schools.
Mr. Thompson, you’re an ill-informed idiot.
If you had the brains to do any research on the topic, you’d find out that, while Counter-Strike runs on Windows systems, Microsoft has little (if anything) to do with its distribution. The disc versions are presently published by Electronic Arts, while the online distribution is handled by Valve software’s Steam program.
The fact is, Microsoft has no more control over Counter-Strike than you do. If you take up a lawsuit against them, chances are the judge will laugh you out of the courtroom. Not that any gamers would mind terribly, but regardless, if you’re going to sue someone, get your facts straight.
I’m seriously considering starting the Gamer’s legal defense fund, with the intention of filing a class-action lawsuit against Jack Thompson for defamation of character and slander. Gamers, what do you think?
Tags: News by Andrew Laine
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