Jack Thompson Threatens Newell Over HL2 Mod
Fists are flying over the "School Shooter" mod for Half-Life 2.
The Escapist reports that notorious anti-gaming advocate Jack Thompson is personally going after Valve Software boss Gabe Newell over a controversial mod for Half-Life 2.
Although Thompson has been disbarred for life, it hasn't stopped him from sending Newell a threatening letter over the infamous School Shooter: North American Tour 2012 mod. He's also reportedly sent copies of the letter to the mod's developer Checkerboarded Studios, FHE-ASAP [the Florida Higher Education Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention], the United States Secretary of Education and "significant others."
According to Thompson, Newell bares a responsibility to nuke the "Columbine massacre simulator" because the mod can't function without its parent game and "murder simulator," Half-Life 2. The former lawyer has thus given Newell until five o'clock pm Eastern standard time (three hours from the time of this writing) to shut down "this public safety hazard." He didn't indicate what would happen if Newell failed to succumb to his demands, but the letter indicates that the FHE-ASAP and others won't let it go.
Here's the actual Thompson letter in full:
Dear Mr. Newell:
You either know or should know that the more moral midgets who run Checkerboarded Studios have created a mod for your company's Half-Life which they call School Shooter: North American Tour 2012. This mod is a full-blown Columbine massacre simulator which cannot function without your company's assistance and acquiescence.
Attached herewith is a letter from FHE-ASAP that expresses their, my, and others' concerns about this Columbine massacre mod. As you either know or should know, your Half-Life murder simulator was obsessively played, and thus became a training aid, for a) teenaged Robert Steinhauser, who authored at Erfurt, Germany, the worst school shooting massacre in European history, and b) Seung-Hi Cho, who authored at Virginia Tech University the worst school shooting massacre in world history. As to the latter, the sources of this information are the Washington Post and the New York Times. Now some sociopaths have made reprises of Erfurt and Virginia Tech far more likely.
Given the fact that your company has the technological ability to stop the operation of School Shooter, you must undertake steps immediately to do so.
Speaking for myself alone (for now), you have until five o'clock pm Eastern standard time this Friday, March 18, 2011, to shut down this public safety hazard I predicted years ago this school massacre game would arrive. I hate being right all the time.
GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY.
Regards, Jack Thompson
And so more Jack Thompson drama begins. We're not exactly sure what Gabe Newell can do about the Half-Life 2 mod other than preventing its listing on Steam. We're actually rather interested to see what the Valve boss has to say about the letter-- a retaliation should rear its head soon. Until then, return to your murder simulators and we'll keep you posted.
Someone get some popcorn...
Regards,
Banthracis
Regards,
Banthracis
Twat. The guy gives Christians a bad name.
I'm not sure where he got this information... if you buy HL2 legally and then install the mod without ever connecting to the internet, how in the world is Valve supposed to stop it? Even with an internet connection, Valve has no legal right to stop people from installing the mod.
This letter should have gone to the developers of the mod not the president of Valve, he's just a publicity hound that wants more minutes in the spotlight, probably doesn't even care.
By the "brilliant" logic of this malfunctioning brain i bet he also believes the isp's are evil too - providing a service much like halflife is providing a mod service that can be abused and henche its wrong dooing! Or many the electric company, they host the power service needed to run any violent games at all!
Tomshardware must be bothering to write about thoose lonies for the amusement factor. I bet alot of people are laughing their ass of just like me.
ahahahahah.
Well, that says it right there. Go after Checkerboard Studios Mr. Thompson, you know the ones that are responsible for the creation of this mod........
COULD YOU BE MORE FULL OF YOURSELF?
Man, someone get the popcorn is RIGHT.
Agreed, hope Valve sues this guy hard for slandering their reputation by pointing a finger at them and claim they support a massacre mod made by someone entierly else. Its like saying -GM, you are murdering people by making cars that can run people over when some drivers shouldn't been in the car at all!
Rage is against the rules on my server
-bans-
LOL