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Utah pol threatens Jack Thompson

Being disbarred for life wasn't enough to keep ex-attorney Jack Thompson from pursuing his crusade against violent video games. Earlier this year, the Florida lawyer pushed for Utah to pass a new law that would use truth-in-advertising laws to keep retailers from selling violent games to children...

Being disbarred for life wasn't enough to keep ex-attorney Jack Thompson from pursuing his crusade against violent video games. Earlier this year, the Florida lawyer pushed for Utah to pass a new law that would use truth-in-advertising laws to keep retailers from selling violent games to children against rating label recommendations.

While that bill breezed through the state's legislature, the governor vetoed it last month, saying that the language used is so broad that it could be struck down for "an unconstitutional violation of the Dormant Commerce Clause and/or the First Amendment." According to the Salt Lake Tribune, that's when Thompson started an e-mail campaign to get the veto overridden by the legislature, an effort that was not as enthusiastically received as the initial bill. Senate President Michael Waddoups has heard enough from Thompson, threatening legal action unless the former lawyer stops e-mailing him.

"I asked you before to remove me from your mailing list," Waddoups explained to Thompson. "I supported your bill but because of the harassment will not again. If I am not removed, I will turn you over to the AG [Attorney General] for legal action."

Waddoups told the paper that he would go after Thompson for violating the federal CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, which can levy a fine of up to $11,000 for harassing "e-mail whose primary purpose is advertising or promoting a commercial product or service." Thompson told the Tribune that his actions--including sending an attachment of a Grand Theft Auto IV lap dance scene to the senator--don't constitute harassment.

"As disturbing as the image is, it's something an adult ought to be able to handle looking at," Thompson said. "There are two women who are clad and a guy's looking at them. I would love to be tried criminally for writing a state senator an e-mail with something he thinks is pornographic, but who is not offended by the fact that children can buy this."

174 Comments

  • Master_JB

    Posted Jan 7, 2010 4:01 pm GMT

    Ehhh, go play in traffic, Jackie-boy.

  • Sergeant_R7

    Posted Jul 4, 2009 6:30 pm GMT

    Everyone has a Lex Luthor,
    And Ours is Jack Thompson.

  • Gao_Wuji

    Posted Apr 20, 2009 6:57 pm GMT

    I think a real lap dance would greatly improve his mood.

  • Roggirek

    Posted Apr 20, 2009 12:21 pm GMT

    He's just mad cuz he got TK'd and spawn camped last time he tried to play Dora the Explora.

  • aussenbagen

    Posted Apr 19, 2009 6:42 pm GMT

    The only way to deal with guys like Thompson is just to completely and utterly ignore them. It will drive him out of his mind. He simply wants to get attention and have people engage him and his ideas. It does not matter to him if you agree with him or not. He thrives on interaction. His biggest fear is to be marginalized.

  • ldonyo

    Posted Apr 19, 2009 7:20 am GMT

    Jacky needs to be put in jail with his new friend Bubba.

  • airshocker

    Posted Apr 19, 2009 7:02 am GMT

    What a joke. This clown needs to find something better to do.

    Maybe he should play some video games and relax...

  • 07pops07

    Posted Apr 17, 2009 11:34 pm GMT

    he looks like a mofo he probably just sucks at video games

  • Psikosis

    Posted Apr 17, 2009 7:35 pm GMT

    Jack Thompson is just pathetic. His irrational and obsessive behavior suggest he's probably mentally ill...he needs drugs or something...

  • Kcube

    Posted Apr 17, 2009 7:27 pm GMT

    @Roggirek

    lol man

  • 008Zulu

    Posted Apr 17, 2009 3:33 pm GMT

    He doesnt like video games because he was never able to get 1 power pellet in Pac-Man before the ghosts killed him.

    This is the first time the anti spam laws have been quoted, Thompson has been using the spamming tactics for years now and this is the first time it has been considered?

  • necronaux

    Posted Apr 17, 2009 10:43 am GMT

    Why won't this guy just go away? Maybe they can commit him to an insane assylum for his own protection. I'ts only a matter of time before he pushes his actions so far, he'll try to imitate something from a game and use the defense the video game made him do it.

  • BloodLoss

    Posted Apr 17, 2009 8:56 am GMT

    This guy clearly has issues...

  • pamplinas322

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 8:16 pm GMT

    What is wrong with this guy? Maybe he is just a lunatic.

  • supadave841

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 5:26 pm GMT

    serves him right...

  • darthfrag

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 4:50 pm GMT

    "As disturbing as the image is, it's something an adult ought to be able to handle looking at," Thompson said.

    And yet this lunatic is STILL trying to abridge our rights to buy and enjoy games. His inability to see that he's contradicting his own cause is just further evidence of his disconnection from reality.

  • SteveTwo

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 4:28 pm GMT

    He's done. Not able to change, he will die angry and alone, most likely after a long life of misery. Pity those who are not capable of understanding the world they live in.

  • zombey1333

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 3:37 pm GMT

    rofl. i think it's time for a straight jacket and some meds. he's thrown away his life on fighting against games that most people can keep out of the hands of children just fine :p the only thing that would make this guy more hysterical is if he started going after the ease of accessibility on the internet XD

  • Roggirek

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 2:30 pm GMT

    Did his parents beat him with a controller or something? Jeezus Jack, go back to your coffin, the sun is up.

  • woods0419

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 2:07 pm GMT

    What a tool...

  • Inconnux

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 12:36 pm GMT

    I wonder if Jack Thompson is mentally ill, they should pass a law that gets him checked out by a good psychiatrist.

  • wills_b

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 11:10 am GMT

    "As disturbing as the image is, it's something an adult ought to be able to handle looking at,"

    Would you mind getting lost and letting us play games without harassement then?

    "who is not offended by the fact that children can buy this."

    I am. That's why they have age ratings. So go and harass the stores that sell games to underage people and not the people who make or play them.

  • Doolz2024

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 10:42 am GMT

    lol Jack Thompson is a loser

  • prdroog

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 10:16 am GMT

    Jack Thompson sucks.

  • firehawk998

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 9:30 am GMT

    This guy is so focused at his crusade that he has gone insane. Any gamers that live in UTAH beware this guy may later go into killing people who plays M-rated games. If I was the govener of the state I would issue a mandatory order to put this guy in a mental asylum.

  • megawhoosits

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 7:39 am GMT

    Why is he still on such a crusade? Did video games eat his children or something?

  • sieg6529

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 7:22 am GMT

    he's really gone off the deep end. I sure hope Utah goes after him.

  • FidelSarcastro

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 7:07 am GMT

    I have to say that part of me feels bad for the guy, I dont personally agree with him but its getting to the point where its like a Britney Spears Meltdown moment where I just gotta look away and ask myself "Why?". I mean heck I am for keeping mature games from being sold to kids (if the parents want to get it for them then thats their deal) but you dont see me going off the wall and sending harassing letters, emails and whatnot. I mean I am sure he has burned alot of bridges in his professional and possibly personal life but doesnt he have people close to him that will talk some sense into him? I mean look at him, this is really disturbing type of behavior here, can we say Intervention?

  • AuronTsubaki85

    Posted Apr 16, 2009 6:06 am GMT

    Wacko Jacko is not having a good day. Thank god the Utah senate is growing some balls for a change & striking against this idiot.

  • nurse_tsunami

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 11:35 pm GMT

    Man Jack is like a train-wreck these days. You would expect someone like him wandering around the streets mumbling to himself about how "video games are out to get you" while wearing a winter coat in the summer and no shoes. This guy really needs to reevaluate his life and priorities. When you start harassing politicians over video games you know you've taken a wrong turn.

  • KBABZ

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 11:30 pm GMT

    While the bill in itself is a good move, that it is vague so that it has loop holes bigger than the Stargate Portal is insane. The email harassment is also quite silly. I mean even I know when to take discretion, think "Ok this guy is probably going to be annoyed if I mail him again".

    Another point is that it's not the rating, it's that people don't even know/enforce the rating. That's like not having cops to enforce the law. Thus kids can get their hands on it.

  • akiwak

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 10:49 pm GMT

    Children can't buy that first of all. Teens maybe....

    .....and now a supporter of Thompson realized the guy is CRAZY!!!

    ROTFLMAO

    Thompson is only making his hole deeper, I'd only like to be the guy that covers it up in cement with him inside of it.

  • Wolfie600

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 10:48 pm GMT

    christ.. Jack thompson Fail's Horribly.

  • hatieshorrer

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 9:17 pm GMT

    Jack Thompsons ENOUGH! Is it enough for Jack Thompson that the senator already supports your bill and that Mr. Thompson has been bard from practicing Law.

    Read the last paragraph it sounds like Jack Thompson is proud to waste a US senators time with pornograghy when the senator could be working on issues of war, economy, treatment of terrorist prisoners, gun control, etc.

  • swmeek

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 9:08 pm GMT

    Jack when are you going to learn to just shut the F*ck UP?

  • Khasym

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 8:41 pm GMT

    Junglist101, don't hate Jack Thompson. He is a good man who is trying to look out for the welfare of our children and ensure a better.... **Gunshot**



    Okay, now that the real Khasym's back in control, don't Hate Thompson. People like Thompson thrive on hatred. ANY attention he gets, is what he wants. In truth, he's not much different from Stern and Imus.



    If anything, pity the poor guy. When he's out of energy in those twilight years, and looking back on the course of his life, all he's really gonna see is this trail of bile he's been spewing for decades. There's not going to be mass monuments to him, or days named after him. He's just going to go away quietly, no more listened to then, than he is now.

  • suprsolider

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 7:58 pm GMT

    Jack, YOU HAVE LOST.
    GAME OVER

    Deal with it, hang your head in shame and go away forever.

  • gameking5000

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 7:56 pm GMT

    Now Jack Thompson is the kind of person the gaming world needs. But the last this gaming needs is he to be in a legal battle

  • Kfoss

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 7:52 pm GMT

    and now the state legislature of Utah fully realizes what they should of realized a long long long long time ago even before the thought of the concept of coming up with such a bill, if JT has a hand in it..it not only will fail....but you will be cursed for life..by the lunatic delusions of the self proclaimed "savior of children from video games"....until of course you throw him under a legal bus like they did in Florida or throw him under a real bus..which ever comes first...

  • junglist101

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 7:37 pm GMT

    I hate this guy. I bet you Jack is one of those guys who's all "against" everything he deems un-moral and then goes home and orders escorts and adult dvd's. I would love to check this jerk-offs internet history.

  • Voodoo933

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 7:21 pm GMT

    Jack Thompson is like a bad case of gonorrhea, he's annoying, he makes others very uncomfortable, always pops up at inconvenient times and will NEVER go away. I say we start legislature to send him up in the space shuttle and throw him out the air lock with out a space suit... Write your congressman today!!!

  • jake-lutze

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 7:15 pm GMT

    @nappen:

    sounds like a plan. =D

  • Kenaue

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 6:35 pm GMT

    Jacky-Boy is going about this the wrong way. His end goal is innocent enough, but his means to that goal are idiotic. The BEST way would be imposing fines that sell these to under-17's, NOT removing the game from the market, or forcing the devs to change it. And yes, under-17's would still be able to get them, why? Because some parents either don't care. At the same time, some parents know that their children may be mature enough for it. In the end, it comes down to parents and responsible retailers.

  • BulletsnOctane

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 6:23 pm GMT

    This guy... again?

  • Kakua_Omari

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 6:19 pm GMT

    Atrimus, He doesn't look drunk, he IS drunk

  • atrimus

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 6:10 pm GMT

    shouldn't there be a law against looking drunk and unkempt while on live TV, sitting in front of a fake, cardboard cut-out of a real city?

  • Stedmister

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 6:09 pm GMT

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dal-0Z27_CM

    has anyone seen this

  • fixer293

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 6:02 pm GMT

    Ty all.

  • TheAustrian

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 5:56 pm GMT

    @fixer293

    To chime in with a few others on this topic, that Family Guy piece... just brilliant.

  • fixer293

    Posted Apr 15, 2009 5:53 pm GMT

    I don't think Jack got the message last time he was here, so I hired Vince Mcmahon to tell him. Jack Thompson, Mr. Vincent Kennedy Mcmahon

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz7zo1BvvA4&feature=related

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