By now, most of you have heard that Thompson is suing Facebook. You can read his complaint
here.
Thompson sent me his "I'm suing Facebook" press release the other day. I asked if he'd tried simply pressing the Report Group button found at the bottom of every group's page. He responded by calling me a "total moron." So, I found the first offensive group cited in his complaint and hit the Report Group button myself. It was removed in less than 24 hours.
Here's his latest press release.
Quote:
Immediate News Release – Oct. 1, 2009
Instant Confirmation from Around the Globe that Jack Thompson’s Suit against Facebook Is a Winner
“If you don’t agree with me on the meaning of the First Amendment, I’ll kill you”
Reputable news organizations, as well as video game enthusiast attack “news” sites, are reporting around the world anti-violent video game activist Jack Thompson’s lawsuit against Facebook.
The reaction from the video game industry and its millions of vigilantes (whom Thompson calls pixelantes), as well as the idiotic and foolish response from Facebook, proves not only why the lawsuit had to be brought but why it will succeed.
First, as to Facebook’s response: Facebook officials have now told Bloomberg News that it received Thompson’s written pleas over a month ago to remove from its site “Jack Thompson Groups” a) offering money, via PayPal, to individuals who would videotape physical attacks upon Thompson, b) calls for Thompson to be killed, and c) depictions of Thompson being hanged, and so on. So we know Facebook got the urgent pleas. They were sent directly to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Facebook said it was uncertain which of the above to remove. Pause. Presumably officials at tech-savvy Facebook know how to use a phone and also know how to respond to an urgent email. They did neither, ignoring four written pleas.
Secondly, Facebook is claiming that the First Amendment protects such solicitations of violence. Not so. Case law says otherwise, as does Facebook’s own admission that it has removed a poll entitled “Should President Obama be killed?” and other dangerous material. This, in legal terms, establishes a duty by Facebook to respond once it knows of the dangerous material.
Finally, Facebook responded to Bloomberg’s queries about the suit by providing a copy of Thompson’s disbarment order, indicating that Thompson deserves this criminal targeting. Forget that the disbarment will be vacated soon. Facebook’s notion that Thompson asked to have his life threatened tells a jury all it needs to know about Facebook and its “standard of care.”
That is precisely why this lawsuit had to be brought and why it will succeed: The liberal mindset in America is that unless one subscribes to the leftwing orthodoxy that “Anything Goes,” then the conservative nonconformists who call for common senseare to be driven from the public square. Just ask Sarah Palin. Just ask those who oppose the federal take-over of the health care industry who are branded “terrorists.”
Video game “news” sites are this morning reporting that Jack Thompson deserved such murderous targeting because he was the “dumb motherf—ker” who dared suggest on 60 Minutes that adult-rated video games should not be sold to children. 90% of the American people agree with Thompson on that one. They’re the kind of people that sit on juries in federal personal injury actions, by the way.
This “shoot the messenger” methodology that is now the standard modus operandi of liberals, video gamers, and the fascists who run The Florida Bar, has got to be halted, which is why Thompson’s suit has been brought. Anonymous Internet goons are increasingly running America . They are cowards, and Thompson plans to put them back in their cages. The First Amendment protects legitimate speech in the public square. It does not protect solicitations of violence, as anyone with a rudimentary understand of the Constitution knows. This importance of this lawsuit, then, goes way beyond merely Thompson v. Facebook. It goes to whom the First Amendment protects and why.
The federal judge assigned to Thompson’s $120 million lawsuit is The Honorable Kevin Michael Moore, born in Coral Gables, Florida, a suburb of Miami in which Thompson has lived for 28 years. Judge Moore was appointed to the bench by President George H.W. Bush.
Contact Jack Thompson at xxxx, cell xxx-xxx-xxxx, xxx@xxx.xxx .
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-Number of communications to Facebook changed from 3 to 4
-Indicates that he now emailed Facebook at one point
-Dollar value of lawsuit tripled (
Tim Bickley points out that it was always $120 million, $40 million for each of the three counts in the complaint. Thanks Tim!)
-Bloomberg references not true. Here's the
Bloomberg story (To be fair, it's been updated. Maybe that content was removed. I'll check an archive later.)
-No video game news site is reporting that JT deserved this. In fact, I haven't seen this on a video game news site yet. Only
IGN boards and the
GAF.
Andrew Eisen