Jack Thompson Targets Webcomic For ...Parody

Jack Thompson Targets Webcomic For ...Parody

September 24, 2007
Miami attorney Jack Thompson has apparently threatened to rain some legal fire on webcomic My Extra Life and its author, Scott Johnson.

Scott's crime? He's running a Jack Thompson PhotoShop Contest:
Jack Thompson actually gave me a "cease and desist" Not any sort of official or legal one, mind you, but he did indeed send me the following this morning:



Subject: You have one hour to cease and desist



...Since anyone with half a mind knows he has no legal basis to say anything to me about anything, especially something as dumb and satirical as a Photoshop Contest, it becomes more the matter of do I respond at all, say anything, do this post, etc. and give him the additional exposure he seems to crave among the gaming crowd...

Why would a person sit in front of a computer and search... all day to see if people are saying your name? Why would a person care about a photoshop contest to the degree that they make threats...? Why would a Florida bar certified lawyer even bother with our stupid little mom and pop shop here?

GP: Speaking of Jack Thompson parodies, what ever happened to last Friday's 5PM deadline for Rockstar to remove the attorney mission from GTA4?

Answer: Nothing, because there is no case there.

Thompson, who is so enamored of his own visage that he routinely cites his television appearances in court filings, seemingly has not adapted so well to the flipside of being a public figure - that one is subject to criticism and parody.

Comments

Good grief, thats just silly. its a photoshop contest for crying out loud, if you've made yourself a so called 'vigilante' against video games to the point of becoming a public spectacle (especially amoungst the gamer community, oh how we laugh), then you should expect this sort of thing.

if you wanted to create the image of a professional, mature, concerned citizen protecting the people around you from disgusting, vulgar trash, then you've missed. instead, you look silly.
This is just stupid, Jack is such a damn attention whore.
He just keeps reaffirming my theory that he aspires to be the most successful forum troll ever known to man... without even posting on 3/4 of the forums that talk about him.
i don't know exactly what Thompson's goals are when he does the anti-games stuff...

senator yee maybe thinks that videogames are an important issue for parents who vote -so for him making some noise about the ESRB and stuff maybe helps his career, and put's his name is positive light for voters because it looks like he's doing something for familes or whatever...

maybe Thompson has something similar going on and wants to get his name associated with anti-games stuff.. maybe he hopes to be like the type of 'pundit' that would appear on news with Chris Matthews (more frequently) as a fake expert with a 'take' on videogames issues... maybe he wants to write a book or something like that

in order to accomplish these goals... he would want to generate some positive press about himself (probably trying to block Halo 3 instead of any other game is a publicity move)... if he wants to become like the "Dr. Phil" of videogames.

as far as i can tell, he doesn't get a lot of positive press... but he does get some negative press from the gaming community....

maybe something that Thompson would really like is an on-line feature or an NY-times op-ed that praises his efforts or at least mentions him favorably... as far as i can tell, nothing like that exists... so a parody photoshop contest probably hurts

it's noteworthy that when there's senator yee coverage, the reaction from gamers seems to more like "i disagree with that guy" or "he has it wrong" rather than....

"he sucks... what an @$$hole... he's doing WHAT?" -which is usually the Thompson reaction

- - - - -

ps: my personal hope is that Thompson one day has some kind of about-face and decides to use his talents to be a 'champion' for freedom of expression in games or gamers-rights or something like that (not very likely).... but if he did something like this total reversal it might be a great way to turn his bad pr (or lack of good pr) situation around
@ A-wel Cruiz

Nevermind them, I'm rather shocked raiders like *chan haven't had fun with yet, especially after the attacks on Hal Turner. Granted, they're not anyone's personal army, but he has been asking for it for some years now. Or did it happen already? Or maybe they respect what could be the greatest troll on the net? *muses*
How long do you think it will be till he tries to issue a 'cease and desist' on GP? Surely he's not that stupid...

Or is he?
Why is everyone complaining about JT? He's so much fun to berate..
Sometimes, I wonder if he was referring to himself when he said this in the "Gaming makes GPA lower" article:

"Video Gamer: What is a brain?"
i wonder if jack even knows what the word "humor" means as it seems he doesnt have any sense of it whatsoever.
Isn't obvious? He's hooked on trolling!
Isn't IT obvious? Wherefore art thou edit button?!
thompson enough is enough. this is getting to the point where i am almost becoming concerned about your mental state. you intentionally put yourself out in the spotlight, your going to get attention just like everyone else who does, like it or not, positive or negative. if you cant take it, then consider shutting the fuck up for once in your laughable life. you are eventually going to have to accept it and if you are incapable of doing so then you have serious self-esteem issues because the ability to accept criticism or knowing that *THE_WORLD_DOES_NOT_REVOLVE_AROUND_YOU* is a huge requirement for being able to correctly live and interact with other people.
you know I was wondering why he trolled everything that had his name in it. Maybe it's cause there hasn't been a massacre in a while that he can jump on.
It's funny Mr Thompson doesn't even have the gaul to file actual legal papers anymore, just threaten people. Now that's how professional people act.

Mr Thompson, I suggest you rent the movie "The People vs. Larry Flint" There is a potion of that movie that should explain how parodies and other harmless ridicule of media and public figures is allowed by law, because obviously this was not covered in your law classes.
what a silly reaction on jacks part, you don't see politicans sueing political cartoonists for making fun of them in millions of newspapers. one has to wonder what would have happened if he had been elected to the office rather then janet reno
I may not be Jewish, but the first things to come out of my mouth when I saw this?

"Oy vey"

Anyway, this is just silliness. No question. He should be actually RESEARCHING facts about violence in video games, instead of furiously masturbating every time a website mentions him on Google. Blech.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!
Jack's really gone off the deep end...
I think he hopes people will be so scared of being sued that they will just cave....
Jack desperately needs a sense of humor.
This makes me wonder if Jack wasn't some kind of former Viacom/20thCFOX/Disney/RIAA employee........
"Why would a person sit in front of a computer and search… all day to see if people are saying your name? "

It's called obsession (NO, not the perfume, silly boy). He's addicted to... his own name!

"Why would a person care about a photoshop contest to the degree that they make threats…? "

I was going to simply put it down to him being a cry-baby, but quite frankly, he fits the stereotype of a Bully more than anything. Willing to dish out all sorts of verbal (spoken AND written) and mental abuse (I'll ASSUME he has crossed the line into other forms of abuse) against others, but when it comes to receiving it... well, we've seen his response over the last few years.

So much for his FALSE claim to support Freedom of Speech. What's his argument against that? He'll probably say that parody is slander/libel. BUT, his lawsuit in Federal Court that suggests his verbal (spoken AND written) and mental abuse against others (with his religious beliefs as a foundation) should be protected by Freedom of Speech contridicts that stance. In other words, his own actions show that he believes it's acceptable to treat others abusively in the name of his religion, but to make jokes about HIM isn't protected speech.

It would be hilarious if that were introduced at any court that he tried to file suit against anyone for parody against him.

John Bruce: Judge! They made fun of me! :: Sticks out bottom lip. ::
Opposing Attorney: :: Holds out copy of John Bruce's Federal lawsuit mentioned above. ::
Judge (To John Bruce): Get a Life and Grow the Hell Up.
John Bruce: :: Throws himself on the floor kicking and screaming. :: It's not fair! It's not fair! God is on MY side. God is on MY side!

Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
Heheh. I actually would like to see Jack sue 'the perpetrator' immediately for not ceasing and desisting, without actually, y'know, *filing* a Cease and Desist order.

Judge: "...Mr. Thompson, I'm afraid this court cannot accept your assertion that essentially saying 'Quit it!' has legal weight, as it were."

Jacko: "But it's *me* saying it, so it counts!"

Judge: "..."
I've said it before and I'll say it again: If Jack Thompson feels so strongly that video games are a training ground for human behavior, then maybe he needs to go buy a copy of Phoenix Wright so he can train to become a real lawyer.
Jack Thompson is a good example of an extremist.

he is no better than an Islamic suicide bomber.
There is no way to respond to this in a serious manner. He has regressed to the level of a shrieking, crying infant.
Just going to get this in before Jack shows up. Jack, you are a public political figure. In the same general area as congressmen and senators, now I say in the same general area in the same way their is a dump somewhere in the general area of a city. Now these other political figures get lampooned in may different media forms and can not complain or sue with in reason. That extends down to you. Right now you are hoping to scare someone off by throwing around legal words, but it doesn't work on anyone who knows your antics.

This is all funny, but there are other fake law things that will never go through for you to do that are just funnier for us to watch. Bring a suit up against Nintendo that their Wii console is attempting to turn the youth of America into sex fiends because Wii sounds like it could be slang for penis. Well all get a good laugh and go home and you can get on the news some more. Either way everyone goes home happy.
Oh, come on guys, it's not like any of us are surprised by this.
Look at the bright side, maybe they can use this as another example of unprofessional/unreasonable behavior at his bar hearing. I mean let's face it. "You have one hour to cease and decist, isn't what I would call a whole lot but better then your average thug." That's one of the things I really can't stand about him. If it were just a matter of accepting the fact that he does not share my beliefs for his own reasons I could get past that, but he insists on bludgeoning his beliefs on anyone who will listen by wielding the court system as his own personal weapon. He is a bully. I hope he gets disbarred, and I hope he gets a minimum wage job at Best Buy to pay the bills. I'm a big fan of irony.
Jesus Tap-Dancing Christ, this guys a loon.
Thought about it a while - tempted to email Scott Johnson myself now. I'm curious if it ever even occurred to him to be civil. I'm curious to ask Scott, if he had approched him upfront, said "look, about this contest, I've got some serious problems with it. Would you please take it down?" Would he have agreed to take it down?
Come one guys you know this is just another part of the video game industry conspiracy against Jack. Extra Life is in it with R*, Take Two, Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and the list goes on. I think we need to tone it down some though Jack seems to be catching on that the industry is out to get him.
Actually, this is more akin to the JT of "old" who was threatening anyone who even mentioned his name.

Jack, did you know that your little ego-boosting schenanigans is MASTURBATION- in line with your very own definition? And you know what God does to people who masturbate...
"And you know what God does to people who masturbate…"

Obviously nothing, so far. Otherwise, I'd be long dead.

TMI???
Wow, Jack's REALLY reaching these days... what's the matter, Jack, can't even cowe a small-time webcomic artist anymore?

And the slide into obscurity continues...
@ A-wel

Some (most?) Christians believe that it is a sin and you will go to hell for it.
What Jack Thompson doesn't understand is that his litigious nature has caused everyone not to care about his threats. He hands out so many threats, none of them come to pass, and he hasn't won a case in years, due to his "mistruths" that he uses in his battle. He is the worst kind of ambulance chaser, who should be more concerned with the tribalistic, hooligan violence exhibited in sports matches around the world (including the USA), than video game violence.

I guess Jack Thompson has never heard the story of the boy who cried wolf.
I like GP's sketch the best so far, though the other parodies are funny as well!
I masturbate to the fact that Fag Thompson visits this website.
I find this funny. I guess he figured that if he was "going after" the big dogs for parody, he needed to go after the little do as well. After I read this yesterday from the forums, I thought of making a couple of games staring Jack Thompson. Maybe I will. I think it will be fun.
@ Zerodash,
I see what you did there, and i like it.
Sorry about the doublepost, but now i think i have the format right.
@ Zerodash

Than I'm convinced that these Christians you speak of are self-loathers. For as my personal hero, George Carlin, once said:

"Only someone who hates himself would refer to the pleasures of masturbation as 'Self-abuse'."
I'm starting to think that Jack may actually be a satirist.
And that's another lawsuit in which JT will fail..
Man.. South Park has got to do one on Thompson... they just have to!
@Uberb00brama

You have to be if your a Christian lawyer.
HA! He's worse than metallica. At least they don't go after parody attempts.
He's still stinging from that Penny Arcade incident when the Seattle FBI laughed their asses off at him.

"You want them charged for... donating money to charity?"
@ Artem

Now that is a great idea. If they had a South Park episode about Jack Thompson I would really tape that episode to pop into my vcr whenever I want to get a really good laugh just like the Michael Jackson episode. Yet Jack Thompson would go furious and start harrassing the company that is in charge of having South Park on the air. I thing that they should have the episode anyway.
I saw "The Warriors" last night for the first time. Jack Thompson is the equivalent of (spoilers) Luther after Swan throws the knife into his wrist. He can dish it out, but hoo boy does he NOT react well when he has to take it.
Here's the rest of that e-mail exchange on extra life:

When I was unsure of who it was, I replied with the following:

"If you are the real Jack Thompson, then I should be getting a LEGAL cease and desist letter from you, not some anonymous comment in a blog post. So since I did not get that. And since I don’t think you are him at all, then the answer is no.

Nice try though…made me giggle.

Scott"

To which he then replied:

"Ok, your mistake. Laugh your ass off"






Phoenix:
Funny how Jack doesn't even know how to file a proper cease and desist paper so he just goes about like a middle schooler and posts about it in a blog....I guess that shows that he really is immature...but we already knew that.
Still waiting for JT to pop in and insult Dennis's Journalism. Apparently he's got something better to do today. Or he finally grew up. Probably the former. The latter would take a miracle from god.
Even then the former is fairly unlikely.
Did you know that if you say Jack Thompson's name in the mirror 3 times, he comes out of it sues you?
@Zerodash

Just like Baby Construction.. And Harry Potter..
@ Blackice

Don't forget the "impure thoughts"- you go to hell just for thinking!
@Zerodash

Yeah, those bastards are always on your arse..
silly, silly man with the biggest ego I've ever seen
I think Shawn Baby said it best in broken pixels: "Keep sharpening those knives and Google searching yourself."
"Man.. South Park has got to do one on Thompson… they just have to!"

Personally, I'd rather see him on an episode of "Penn & Teller: Bullshit!". Now that would be a good episode for P&T to do: the Video Game Controversy. And you know they could get Jack to appear. Sure, he'd get raked over the coals like never before in his life, but this guy cannot say no to the spotlight, so I'm positive he'd accept.

Jack: Jack Thompson, Miami attorney and video game violence expert.

Penn: (VO) And then there's THIS asshole!!!

Ooh, I want that! I'd tape it and watch it every single day!
That door you just heard shut was JT's brain leaving...

It's finally had enough...
I'm starting to think he doesn't actually search the Internet himself. There's just too much small stuff he finds. My money says he either pays someone to do it, or he has something automated set up. There's just too much digging otherwise.

-Mike Schwinger
Jack Thompson:

Still unable to take a fucking joke.
Chalk up another failure for JT.
*Points at the "tried to shutdown Penny Arcade because they sold 'I hate Jack Thompson' T shirts episode*

History, Joke Thompson. It prevents you from repeating mistakes.
So.. how many people actually went to look at the Photoshop Competition?
Being the recipient of a similar threat by him, I chose to ignore it and called his bluff by replying, "Make my day, asshole." Needless to say I have not heard from him since. :)

We tend to hold lawyers to a certain degree of professionalism and JT has exhibited none of that, and it's one of the reasons why he ought to be disbarred. How he can act that way boggles my mind as well. There are probably other lawyers out there who are just as unprofessional (scary as the thought of that may be), but because he's been the most visible, his behavior is big black smear on the already tarnished reputation lawyers have. Plktrn's analogy to "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" BTW is a remarkably apt one.

@Artem & Spartan Michael

I'm suprised Trey Parker and Matt Stone haven't skewered Thompson yet after all this time, especially when you consider South Park was also in his crossharis some years back and usually Parker and Stone are pretty quick to make fun of anyone who criticizes or speaks ill of them. For that matter I'm also waiting for Seth Macfarlane to take a few potshots at him on Family Guy. Or for that matter Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb on Xplay (considering Adam's confrontation with him last year). I don't know why they haven't yet, but a possible reason why coud be because they feel he already does a good job of making fun of himself.
Still no comment from the man himself? Guess he's too busy preventing the October 25th release date of Halo. When does it come out in Belgium?
Isn't it a worldwide release?
Jack Thompson, theres something whats called "Freedom of Expression"
Is this a great country or what? Hooah!
@Zerodash

You haven't earned that right.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
As I've said before, Thompson is as willing to wave the law around like a blunt instrument, for all his claims that Video Games train people to perform the moves in them, he remains blind to the fact that Mr Thompson prefers legal threats as his first and preferable action. He probably gets some kind of Cranial Law-Book, unfortunately, it's corrupted.

Thompson is far more violent and likely to make a threat on you using the law than simply talk to you like an reasonable human being, in many ways, he's the walking epitome of everything he claims Video Games turn people into, incapable of original thought or action, and merely parroting a set of actions repeated time and time again without remorse or guilt.
@BlackIce

"So.. how many people actually went to look at the Photoshop Competition?"

I did! I started saving all of the photoshops in a folder on my desktop. My favorites so far include a Super Mario Bros. screencap with Thompson's head photoshopped over Bowser's, and another of Resident Evil 4 where Jackie has joined the Los Ganados in attacking Leon.
I liked the Wolfenstein one :)
Looks like ol' Joke Thompson isn't getting down in the dirt and posting with the likes of us scum today.
Oh, nonsense, he's just busy getting his (snicker) court order (snicker) barring the (snicker) sale of Halo to minors in florida.

Maybe he thinks he's doing his own version of David and Goliath, although frankly, I'm more inclined to think it's more like David and Galactus.
@Quad9damage

I personally think the GTA one is the best. I mean, we all know the old wanker's done that to someone..
Penny Arcade hasn't done one on JT... Wait, have they?
I love his recent obsession with countdowns, his latest attempt at credibility.
@ Meggie

Can't speak for everyone, but empty threats like "...or else" don't really establish credibility in my eyes.
Love those JT cartoons.
this just in: Jack Thompson admits to being an elaborate hoax. Millions of gamers trolled "eye are el".
@ Jadedcritic

With that in mind, someone should do a photoshop of Master Chief smacking JT with his rifle butt. It's what he deserves. ;)
these days jacky is nothing more than a light wind storm

just wait a few minutes for the howling to stop lol
Only on a game-related website can you have a story where the headline should have been:

"Crackpot lawyer makes empty threat to web site"
Jack Thompson is a punk.

Jack Thompson is a hypocrite.

Jack Thompson is a bully.
@GoodRobotUs

Wolfenstien? I thought it was Doom..
Wasn't he supposed to have Gamepolitics.com shut down and all of its posters sued? I remember him getting all pissed because he accidentally opted to get email updates whenever comments were added, and he went apeshit. Started demanding everyone provide their names & addresses.

This was when GP was on livejournal:
"You post anonymously at this site at your own great peril.
You've been warned. Now we're going to see how smart you really are. We know how dumb Dennis McCauley is. He put you in this bind when he went to LiveJournal. Really, really dumb. "

Wonder what happened with that? :)
@Zerodash

See, if he actually found out who I was, he'd have one countersuit from me, one from my employers and another thrown in from me, just to make him realise what it feels like.

You can wager he'd also have the US Government and/or Military on him through some posters.

But, as usual, he was talking out of his arse.
Ha ha ha... This reminds me of the Mortal Kombat crap he pulled over the creat-a-fighter.

What a loser. At some point the "any press is good press" stuff loses its appeal.
I always find it funny when people who aren't familiar with Jacko get contacted by him. They inevitably say, "I don't think it is really him since any lawyer would be more professional than that."
Yeah.. Then they look at everything else he's ever said..
@BlackIce

I thought it was Doom at first glance, but the actual Minigun-wielding Robo-Hitler was the end Boss of Wolfenstein, they were both based on more or less the same engine anyway :)
Wow no

"Again Dennis Mcaully gets it wrong again" comment from Jack, something IS wrong!
Ignore him. Otherwise he is playing you like a fiddle.
jack must be too busy dancing for the disbarment comittee to play with us lol
Yep. That or he's trying to claw his way out of another suit.
I've said it once, and I'll say it again:

You can't be in the public spot light and not expect someone (if not the majority/all) lampoon you, your believes, your ethics, or even those that know you.
@ daniel3
Yee's approach is not insulting, derogatory or rude. He clearly stated his position and most of us just go "I disagree" or "I agree". Thompson started out with some good points, but he quickly sank into a swamp of hyperbole and personal attacks thus alienating the only people who could really support his cause: Us.

The gaming community has a lot of (probably too much) time and energy on our hands and Thompson's attacks on them has turned the community at large against him. Thompson himself just put this contest on the map.
didnt this same thing happen with a parody and Jack Thompson last week?
That's it - I'm printing off a full-facial image of JT's face and making a mask of it. I will wear this mask tonight as I wait for midnight and my copy of Halo 3. Jack can then sue me for impersonating him and defaming him, or whatever other legal bullshit he can come up with.
It seems someone doesn't have the testicular fortitude to post a response today. C'mon JT, be a MAN and join the conversation!
Apok - that's AWESOME!

There are times that I'm so glad I'm your brother.
Zerodash - I'll bet he won't.

I'll bet his wife told him to stop, in order to stop piling up the evidence against his sanity. If true, we know who really has the balls in that relationship.
aresil - oh I'll bet he is! :)

"You must cease and desist informing people of my stupidity and of their rights as citizens. WHAAAAA!"
@Mnementh2230:

Jack? Sane? LMAO. Oh, he's sane cause his old college buddy the shrink said so, I forgot.
ApokalypseNow Says:

"That’s it - I’m printing off a full-facial image of JT’s face and making a mask of it. I will wear this mask tonight as I wait for midnight and my copy of Halo 3. Jack can then sue me for impersonating him and defaming him, or whatever other legal bullshit he can come up with."

what a great idea! maybe ill do that for halloween.
@ ApokalypseNow & tallimar

just be careful he doesn't try to sue for impersonation!
Funny how he is embodying his own self-parody by propagating his own stereotype of suing everyone and anyone who even mention his likeness.

You heard it here folks, he has reached his prime of being his own parody that he'll have to sue himself.
the thing that bothers me is that he puts himself in these situations, and then can accept the consequences that may or may not come with them. maybe that would be a bit more understandable for a teenager or something but a 50-something year old? come on. grow up thompson.
@jonc2006

Oh, he's grown up, just his brain is still catching up
@ApokalypseNow

I'd do the same, but instead I'd take the picture and put in on my dart board. ;)
For the record, there are differences between satire and parodies. My older sister is a linguistics teacher (specializing in Latin and classical Greek) and is always lecturing me on matters of correct syntax and definitions.
Jack, Jack, Jack. You're a sad little man. You can't stop this and you know it. If anything, this contest actually keeps people from forgetting that you exist. If anything, you should be thanking Scott Johnson for the additional attention being given to you, since you haven't been able to generate any for yourself lately.
This is getting really pathetic. Its almost 8PM Eastern Time (Miami) and not a single response from him. Seems odd, considering how active he has been lately: The GTA4 "deadline", the Halo 3 public nusiance suit, and this Extra Life issue.

This is gonna be tough to live down, JT...
lol doesnt thompson realize that he actually gets more negative attention when he pulls off stunts like this?
@Quad9Damage:

Wasn't that movie based on the PS2 game that came out not too long ago? :P

@Meggie:

Well didn't you know? Countdowns are the new black!

@zerodash:

Calm before the storm? *shrug* well the less we hear of him, the better I say.
*from, not of...
Hmm...I think I'll stop commenting on Jack Thompson articles unless Jack does something really valid this time. His move against GTA IV's attorney mission was a lost cause in the first place and now, this. Unless he does someth