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Jack Thompson sued by Take Two Interactive

17 March 2007 9:43 by Andre "DVDBack23" Yoskowitz | 14 comments

Earlier this week, Take Two, the game distributor, took a step to get Jack Thompson off their backs by filing a federal court case against him in the state of Florida. Mr. Thompson has, for the past year, been attacking the distributor, trying to get restraining orders against their games, the most recent being "Bully".

Take Two has plans to release Manhunt 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV in the near future and are trying to avoid another of Mr. Thompson's lawsuits. Thomspson made it clear he would try to block both games from being released and so Take Two asked a judge to "enjoin him from bringing suit on behalf of the State of Florida to enjoin the sale of GTA IV or Manhunt 2."

According to the lawsuit, Take Two is tired and frustrated by Thompson's threats, lawsuits, retractions, and dismissals. The complaint states such actions by Mr. Thompson as "he brought suit on behalf of the State of Florida, dismissed it, filed again, sought a temporary restraining order, and then failed to pursue that motion" These lawsuits come at "unpredictable times and under unpredictable circumstances" which also interrupts a smooth transition between Take Two and retailers. In the past, Mr. Thompson has sued such giants as Walmart, Best Buy and Target over the sales of Take Two distributed games.

Take Two argues that Mr. Thompson's "nuisance" lawsuits are so utterly vague that they can't be constitutional. They also argue it is infringing on their First Amendment rights to free expression. "This unconstitutional vagueness will have a chilling effect on Plaintiff as well as Plaintiff's customers, Plaintiff's distributors likely will respond to the uncertainty and fear of penalties by withholding Plaintiff's video games from the public."

Take Two is seeking attorney's fees and a restraining order preventing more "nuisance" lawsuits from Mr. Thompson.

Source:
Arstechnica

Permalink to this article

Jack Thompson sues Facebook for $40 million (2 October 2009)

Anti-videogame lawyer permanently disbarred (26 September 2008)

GTA IV delayed until early 2008 (3 August 2007)

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Discuss this article!
nintenut (Senior Member) 17 March 2007 9:50
Awesome, all I can say is awesome. Jack thompson can suck my- sued [ + quote]
pstamer (Member) 17 March 2007 12:48
F**k Jack Thompson. Rockstar rules. [ + quote]
BurningAs (Senior Member) 17 March 2007 13:22
yeah, what is up with this guy! If you don't liek something fine, dont have to take down the whole world! [ + quote]
syntheti (Junior Member) 17 March 2007 13:39
Well its about time [ + quote]
drzayus01 (Junior Member) 17 March 2007 13:44
sigh Jack, you have to be kidding me. [ + quote]
A_Smith (Newbie) 17 March 2007 15:53
I applaud Take Two for this but maybe it's a bit too soon. Jack certainly must have helped game sales with his lawsuits - T2 should have waited until a couple of weeks before the games are released. [ + quote]
Venom5880 (Senior Member) 17 March 2007 19:42
XD I love Take Two. And for those that haven't seen it, here's a nice little parody from Rockstar relating to 'ol JT. Citizen's United Negating Technology For Life And People's Safety [ + quote]
avoidz (Junior Member) 17 March 2007 23:49
Go Take Two! Take down that arsehole! [ + quote]
benhayden (Newbie) 19 March 2007 4:27
This made me smile for the rest of the day. Fuck you Thompson!!! [ + quote]
handsom (Senior Member) 19 March 2007 8:06
This will surely be followed by a statement from Mr. Thompson that "The big corporations are trying to shut him up" and if it goes through he'll scream bloody murder that "The corporations have taken over, controlling the courts." But you know, it's fun to watch. If there's one thing I can say about Jack Thompson, it's that he always keeps things interesting. For those who haven't heard it, I highly suggest checking out the interview with 'Jacko' at vgcats; it gives you a different perspective. It shows you that he's not a raving lunatic, as many headlines about him would lead you to believe; but it also serves as a clear demonstration, that he has some... 'Interesting' ideas in his head and has no real scientific or factual basis to back them up; he instead just insists them over and over again. It's as though they're common sense, and he figures that by saying it again, with a comment mocking your intelligence for having the very courage to challenge him, he'll win by default. Either way, it's a darn interesting audio interview, and I highly suggest you give it a listen if you haven't. [ + quote]
ZzeusS (Junior Member) 19 March 2007 10:13
It's good to see a little proactive effort against these kind of nuisance suits. Why wait for someone to keep taking a dump on you? Go after them first. [ + quote]
handsom (Senior Member) 20 March 2007 5:22
Check this out; if I could, I swear I'd make it it's own newspiece here: http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/13035/Jack-Thompson-Goes-Messianic/ Quote: The pit Take-Two has dug for itself will be patently clear next week when I strike back. Oh, and by the way, the entire Take-Two management and board will be gone on March 23, so this pit-digging comes at a very bad time indeed. This statement comes after they openly acknowledge they are considering selling their company. It's kind of like saying "I SWEAR TO YOU, THE SUN WILL RISE IN THE MORNING!" Sure, it's true; but it doesn't make you any smarter. As the kicker though: http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/13036/Take...of-the-Company/ Quote: "in light of the expressed intention of a shareholder group to act by written consent under certain circumstances, the Board of Directors has set a record date of the close of business on March 29, 2007 for the purpose of determining the shareholders entitled to act by written consent." Rockstar did this just to rub it in Jacko's face. They moved the date back about six days, just to prove him wrong; you gotta love it. Anywho, thought y'all might find this entertaining, I sure did. Professional Grade Glass Etching - Get your favorite Game/Movie/Anime logos etched into glass, PM me for info. [ + quote]
DVDBack23 (Staff Member) 20 March 2007 7:37
Quote: Check this out; if I could, I swear I'd make it it's own newspiece here: http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/13035/Jack-Thompson-Goes-Messianic/ The pit Take-Two has dug for itself will be patently clear next week when I strike back. Oh, and by the way, the entire Take-Two management and board will be gone on March 23, so this pit-digging comes at a very bad time indeed. This statement comes after they openly acknowledge they are considering selling their company. It's kind of like saying "I SWEAR TO YOU, THE SUN WILL RISE IN THE MORNING!" Sure, it's true; but it doesn't make you any smarter. As the kicker though: http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/13036/Take...of-the-Company/ "in light of the expressed intention of a shareholder group to act by written consent under certain circumstances, the Board of Directors has set a record date of the close of business on March 29, 2007 for the purpose of determining the shareholders entitled to act by written consent." Rockstar did this just to rub it in Jacko's face. They moved the date back about six days, just to prove him wrong; you gotta love it. Anywho, thought y'all might find this entertaining, I sure did. I will write the article and credit you with th find, very interesting read, thank you :) [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 20 March 2007 7:38
handsom (Senior Member) 20 March 2007 8:04
Very cool. Thanks, I feel kind of honored! (I'm an uber-geek!) Professional Grade Glass Etching - Get your favorite Game/Movie/Anime logos etched into glass, PM me for info. [ + quote]