Oh ooh.. guess WHO'S back...

[Regulus Tera]

Clickity-Click!!


And this time, he has weapons! You know, metaphorical ones. At least the guy finally managed to get something through Senate.

[ElfLad]

Instant I saw the title, I knew it was Thompson.

Huh, well I have no problem with the first two conditions. But "The game, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors."???

There are G-rated movies that lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors." They're typically called "harmless fun."

[Dark Seraphim]

contemporary community standards

But who ever could be the arbitrator of that?

------
On a serious note, I wouldn't let my hyopthetical play GTA. I also probably wouldn't let him watch Sin City, and AFAIK the need parent to see/buy R rated movies is a store/theater policy, not federal law.

And generic Thompson is a moron comment.

[Roland]

I wanted this topic to be about a certain DS-bound lawyer whose games are awesome.

Instead, it's Jack Thompson.

Why must he continue to be such an attention whore? We get it, Thompson! You don't like video games! I don't like the fact that the Yankees get paid so much, but I don't demand media attention to make that clear!

... Yankees suck. So does Jackie here.

[Zesty]

I'm surprised he can even WATCH clips from GTA games...I figured the moment an ambulance appeared on the screen, he'd KO himself going after it.

In all seriousness, though, I'd say he's a joke, but through some staggering twist of plausability, people in influential positions still seem to think his opinions are worth more than than the toilet paper they're stuck to. What the heck is he doing to keep them from seeing that he's double-dipped in crazy sauce? Or for that matter, how do his cases keep getting further than the judge saying "Dismissed. Please read the first amendment, Mr. Thompson...And please remember that I'm not here to cover for lazy parenting."?

[Eltargrim]

I am filled with a violent rage and urge to kill Jack Thompson.

All is normal. Carry on.

[Mannix]

did anybody see the punishment line? up to a 2000 dollar fine and a year in jail? for the kid trying to rent or the cashier that rents it to him? because jail is a great place to learn morals, and punishment isn't NEARLY as harsh for somebody that, say, sells a kid alcohol or tobacco. why are people still listening to this asshole? seriously, you think that courts would treat him the way local police departments treat that crazy old lady that dials 911 whenever she sees movement near her property line.

[ApathyMan]

God forbid a minor buys a videogame without serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. We don't want out children playing Super Mario Brothers after all - that dastardly duo has been corrupting the minds of our children with their mindless cartoon violence, promoting gluttony, drug use, beastiality, and sexual ambiguity. It is a menace that must be stopped.

All the violence in those Metal Gear Solid games! My my! A seventeen-year-old certainly does not have the mental capacity to understand the concepts and consequences of life and death decisions on the battlefield - granted we'll let them join the army at seventeen, but we won't let them play this game because they're still not mature enough to understand it... I mean... look at their age! Not eighteen!

In fact, I would suggest we go further and ban the selling, or even airing, of all non serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific works to minors. And the best part is that all of these are backed up with referencing to community standards. Of course, using such vague language in a legal document is dangerous, so I'm going to define them myself, based on my own idealistic morality. Hopefully, minors won't be able to purchase many mindless children's films, such as Shrek and The Incredibles. Fuck you, economy.

Even moreso... Ren & Stimpy ravaged an entire generation, and SpongeBob Squarepants is continuing the cycle. I propose we forcibly prevent cable companies from providing such channels to families with young children. I'm certain all parents will appreciate the government stepping into their lives.

Also, I've never read many Science-Fiction books and thus don't fully understand the nature of the genre, but I'm pretty sure most of them are mindless garbage that certainly corrupt our youth and thus don't meet up with my ideal of community standards. Lets ban the sale of those to minors. Also, we'll mandate that America's children ought to read all those emotionally and politically deep John Grisham books that I like.

Of course the morality of our society is on a crash course, and that the immorality is based on these numbers that I'm certain are correct - I mean... they back up my opinion and were formulated and funded by both governmental and non-governmental organizations that agree with my position, so it certainly must be true! Certainly! So support this bill and everything will be just as perfect as I want it to be.

[Zesty]

Originally Posted by ApathyMan

So support this bill and everything will be just as perfect as I want it to be.

Well said, ApathyMan. It seems that these days, no one is capable of basic responsibility. Once they disapprove of something, it's fit for NO ONE!

You know, a perfect example (or perhaps anti-example) for this is my mother. She will be the first to admit she was overly protective of me as a child. I was not allowed to listen to most popular music, I didn't see my first PG movie until I was nearly a teenager, and I was not allowed to watch He-Man, Thundercats, Silverhawks or Care Bears (long story).

However, did my mother demand these shows be taken off the air? Did she go get crazy lawyers to try and make it illegal for PG movies to be shown to minors? No. She simply monitored what I watched and did, and DIDN'T LET MET DO OR WATCH THINGS SHE DIDN'T APPROVE OF. When I got a video game console, she checked out what I was playing, and sometimes even played the game with me (the woman's a TERROR at Duckhunt, I digress). In other words, she PARENTED. She took fundamental responsibility for what I did and watched. And she did it without Jack Thompson's help, or sweeping federal legislation. Hell, she did it without the ESRB.

It seems like parents today are just bloody desperate to shove reponsibility off on anything they can, and force our already overburdened legal system to do their work for them. They would rather violate my personal freedoms than actually turn off the Tivo and do their jobs as parents. And if they keep getting their stupid little way, we're going to wind up in a world where a man cannot order a steak because a baby cannot chew it.

Sorry to ramble, but it's late and I'm feeling cantankerous.

[Bob The Mercenary]

Originally Posted by Zesty

Sorry to ramble, but it's late and I'm feeling cantankerous.

No, that was perfect.