FCC Commish Who Blamed WoW for College Dropouts Resigns

January 6, 2009

Last month GamePolitics broke the news that FCC commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate blamed World of Warcraft as a leading cause of college dropouts: 

You might find it alarming that one of the top reasons for college drop-outs in the U.S. is online gaming addiction - such as World of Warcraft - which is played by 11 million individuals worldwide.

Spong now reports that Tate, an appointee of President George W. Bush, has resigned her post.

Although Tate's World of Warcraft remarks riled many in the game community, the move would seem to have more to do with the changing of the guard at the White House and less with her views on WoW.

UPDATE: We've learned from a reliable source that Tate did not resign. Actually, she was nominated by President George W. Bush for a new term but was not confirmed by the Senate, which opted not to act on her nomination. 

Comments

Re: FCC Commish Who Blamed WoW for College Dropouts Resigns

Submitted by Manuel deBettencourt on Wed, 01/07/2009 - 22:38.

Wake me up when the FCC is dismantled.

Re: FCC Commish Who Blamed WoW for College Dropouts Resigns

Submitted by DeepThorn on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 18:17.

To the update:  So is this before Bush pardons Chaney for his crimes, then hands his position to Dick to pardon him for his?  (This would be a big middle finger to the US, and make a lot of people be like, they seriously screwed us, and knew that they were doing it...)

I like the senate now though...  Lets get more of this kind of action going on.

Nido Web Flash Tutorials AS2 and AS3 Tutorials for anyone interested.
How to set Xbox 360 Parental Controls

Nido Web Flash Tutorials AS2 and AS3 Tutorials for anyone interested.
How to set Xbox 360 Parental Controls

Re: FCC Commish Who Blamed WoW for College Dropouts Resigns

Submitted by thefremen on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 17:44.

 I still don't understand why a body which is just supposed to regulate radio broadcast has been able to expand its power so aggresively.

Re: FCC Commish Who Blamed WoW for College Dropouts Resigns

Submitted by TK n Happy Ness on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 15:09.

WoW teaches teamwork since most players are in guilds, so that makes it easier for players in real life to get along and help each other.

 

When Jack Thompson runs his mouth, does anyone really care what he has to say anymore?

Re: FCC Commish Who Blamed WoW for College Dropouts Resigns

Submitted by hellfire7885 on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 15:01.

Good, now let the rest of them resign and be done with the FCC.

Re: FCC Commish Who Blamed WoW for College Dropouts Resigns

Submitted by Bigman-K on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 16:50.

Agreed wholeheartedly.

 "No law means no law" - Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black on the First Amendment

"No law means no law" - Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black on the First Amendment

Re: FCC Commish Who Blamed WoW for College Dropouts Resigns

Submitted by Mr. Stodern on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 14:53.

Well, good riddance. Here's hoping she's replaced by someone with half a brain.

Re: FCC Commish Who Blamed WoW for College Dropouts Resigns

Submitted by Thomas McKenna on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 21:30.

Not likely, it's the FCC afterall.


Re: FCC Commish Who Blamed WoW for College Dropouts Resigns

Submitted by Mortium on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 12:49.

Okay, time for the political cheap shot. I've been resisting the urge all morning, but no I'm sorry this stupidity cannot go unremarked upon.

She's just yet another example of gross incompetance in the GOP. Now if the "leadership" of my party would grow a pair, we might be able to fix some of the mess that Bush and Co created over the last 8 years.

Re: FCC Commish Who Blamed WoW for College Dropouts Resigns

Submitted by Thomas McKenna on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 21:29.

Last I checked, both parties were run by idiots and people too old to grasp what's going on with technology in today's world.  You got her, JT, and a few others on the GOP side of things, while on the left leaning side of things you got Hillary Clinton, Leeland Yee, Joe Lieberman, etc.  Which side, exactly, is good for gaming? 

Both sides want to control you, and the sheer fact that the side you support has you thinking that they're on your side  in this argument is just....sad.  The only reason why Obama looked tech savvy was because he was being compared to a 70  year old, computer illeterate man (since you gave out hate to the GOP, I'm going to guess that you're a Dem).  The Dems want everything and everyone to be all lovey dovey, and they'll ignore the existence of violence and wrong doing in the world in any form, be it real or fake (movies, tv, games, etc) that they're honor bound to try and block out violent video games from the market.  Meanwhile, all this blood, gore and violence is great to put on terrorists and non americans in the view of the GOP, yet to show it in the house in front of children is somehow a great affront to their "morals" and "ethics," so they'll also try and get games banned.  And now I'm ranting, so I'll just end it here.

Again, neither side has your back in this fight.  They all want you to think they do, but really they just want another way to tax you or control you.

Re: FCC Commish Who Blamed WoW for College Dropouts Resigns

Submitted by insanejedi on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 11:02.

I don't wanna be the comment snob, but I belive this is old news.

Re: FCC Commish Who Blamed WoW for College Dropouts Resigns

Submitted by Vake Xeacons on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 10:35.
No, she's not "resigning." She's dropping out to play WoW! :}

Re: FCC Commish Who Blamed WoW for College Dropouts Resigns

Submitted by DeepThorn on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 09:42.

This dimwit not understanding correlation and causation alone disqualifies her of any job like she had.  Lets hope she doesn't get a job like it again.  Could you imagine GMC or Ford hiring this lady to try to understand their consumers more?  She would say that the drop in car sales is due to WoW.

Nido Web Flash Tutorials AS2 and AS3 Tutorials for anyone interested.
How to set Xbox 360 Parental Controls

Nido Web Flash Tutorials AS2 and AS3 Tutorials for anyone interested.
How to set Xbox 360 Parental Controls

Re: FCC Commish Who Blamed WoW for College Dropouts Resigns

Submitted by SimonBob on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 10:02.

No way, DeepThorn, it's gotta be Gran Turismo and GTA.  People aren't driving real cars any more because they have virtual vehicles!  Never mind the fact that driving in a video game doesn't actually get you where you're going -- according to every commercial I've seen in the last year, the mere experience of driving is the point of buying a car.

(Hmm, that's some quality logical disconnect.  I should run for office.)

---
The Mammon Industry

---
Fangamer

Re: FCC Commish Who Blamed WoW for College Dropouts Resigns

Submitted by DeepThorn on Tue, 01/06/2009 - 14:01.

Now getting people to pay Ford and GMC $30,000 of real money to buy a vehicle in Gran Turismo...  It can get dirty, but at least it is impossible to damage it, haha.

Jack was able to be a lawyer, so with that disconnected logic, I am sure you could become president.  I wonder how many people would believe that type of talk.  I guess Bush still has his followers, so more than a few hundred thousand.

Nido Web Flash Tutorials AS2 and AS3 Tutorials for anyone interested.
How to set Xbox 360 Parental Controls

Nido Web Flash Tutorials AS2 and AS3 Tutorials for anyone interested.
How to set Xbox 360 Parental Controls
 
Forgot your password?
Username :
Password :

Poll

Are you excited for the Xbox One?:

Shout box

You're not permitted to post shouts.
DorthLous: Anybody tried Hiversaire? Thoughts?05/22/2013 - 5:48pm
E. Zachary Knight: New Humble Bundle Weekly Sale. Alan Wake: https://www.humblebundle.com/weekly No Linux or Mac support. :(05/22/2013 - 1:46pm
E. Zachary Knight: Microsoft talks about the lack of backward compatability. You're backwards. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/192801/If_youre_backwards_compatible_youre_really_backwards.php05/22/2013 - 1:39pm
E. Zachary Knight: That is absolutely nuts there. As bad an experience XBox Indie Games was, the problems weren't with the self published side of things. Forcing a publisher onto independent studios is not going to help.05/22/2013 - 10:43am
MaskedPixelante: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-05-22-microsoft-wont-let-indies-self-publish-on-xbox-one And the hits just keep on coming.05/22/2013 - 9:20am
E. Zachary Knight: AE: You beat me to it. That's what I get for taking the night off.05/22/2013 - 7:40am
E. Zachary Knight: To continue the confused and convoluted messaging system present in EA, They are making Wii U games: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/192753/EA_is_working_on_Wii_U_games_after_all.php05/22/2013 - 7:33am
Imautobot: I gotta admit, I seriously believed Microsoft was going to "Bring It" with this new console. But they failed, and I think that failure might be Epic.05/22/2013 - 7:27am
Andrew Eisen: Well, the Xbox One reveal certainly had an interesting affect on the big 3's stock prices. https://twitter.com/AndrewEisen/status/33705126448977100805/21/2013 - 10:45pm
PHX Corp: http://kotaku.com/so-the-xbox-one-reveal-screwed-up-a-lot-of-peoples-kin-509179256 So The Xbox One Reveal Screwed With Some People's Kinects05/21/2013 - 10:36pm
Zen: On a funny side note...both of my boys have already voted NOT to get the Xbox One as soon as they found out Minecraft won't transfer lol. Some people have priorities damnit! ;)05/21/2013 - 9:27pm
Andrew Eisen: Here's the full quote on EA making Wii U games according to Neogaf: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56112105/21/2013 - 8:19pm
Andrew Eisen: Xbox One may not be always on but that doesn't mean you can use it without an internet connection. http://kotaku.com/xbox-one-does-require-internet-connection-cant-play-o-50916410905/21/2013 - 7:39pm
Andrew Eisen: Polygon says EA's CFO says it is developing games for Wii U but doesn't provide that quote. http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/21/4351844/ea-developing-wii-u-games05/21/2013 - 7:11pm
Andrew Eisen: Well, I was right. Both Sony and Microsoft's consoles will be out by the year's end and both will be significantly more powerful than the current gen.05/21/2013 - 5:06pm
james_fudge: thnx05/21/2013 - 4:47pm
Zen: Just to let ya know...you called it the "Xbox 260" in the backwards compatibility article lol.05/21/2013 - 4:26pm
Zen: @PHX Awesome, I will hit those up after class tonight. Going back to college finally! :) My kids have had a blast telling ME to do my homework now lol.05/21/2013 - 4:19pm
PHX Corp: @Zen I sent you a friend request on both PSN and XBL, just a heads up05/21/2013 - 4:16pm
Zen: I noticed it with the football players when EA showed off Madden as well.05/21/2013 - 4:11pm
All shouts
 

Be Heard - Contact Your Politician