The anti-game attorney cites reader comments on the Gawker site Kotaku that he considers personally threatening. (GamePolitics.com, Apr. 25; Kotaku, Apr. 23; earlier Kotaku post). Mark Methinitis at Law of the Game says that in his view the complaint “falls well beyond the norm of complaint drafting and more into the realm of a self-promoting tirade” (Apr. 25).
3 Comments
Wow, this complaint really is worth reading. I definitely reiterate my earlier claim that Jack Thompson is a nutjob… but I’m now worried he’s going to sue me for saying that. Let’s hope he’s eventually disbarred for the sake of the profession.
I read the complaint. It seems that he couldn’t figure out whether it was a boast-fest, a lawsuit to sue the Florida Bar and Judges, or a lawsuit to sue Kotaku. It was a totally unprofessional piece of work. Which, of course, is par for the course for him…
I wouldn’t worry too much, Justinian. I read recently (although I can’t for the life of me where – I think it was in Wired but I can’t prove it) that precedent protects websites from lawsuits over user content almost categorically, which includes reader comments. It’s one of the big things that keeps sites like MySpace and YouTube safe. As far as I can see, he has no case at all. I’ll post back if I can find that precedent.