GamePolitics.com
GamePolitics.com is a LiveJournal powered blog about the politics of computer and video games started by Dennis McCauley. It is frequently referenced to from many other videogame sites.
Frequent topics include covering proposed and enacted video game legislations, and reporting on people and groups who make critical attacks on video games or video game community.
Jack Thompson and Gamepolitics
- Main article: Jack Thompson
Jack Thompson, frequently visits and comments on the site. In the beginning he posted anonymously and made many press releases and insults directed towards the owner and the gamers that visited the site. Dennis decided to ban anonymous posting after Jack made inappropriate comments regarding a gamer's suicide. In response to GamePolitics requiring that all persons commenting on stories have LiveJournal accounts, Jack Thompson signed up the service using the screen name johnbthompson, although he initially deleted this account himself, and later restored it. He then created jackthompson888. What Thompson did not realize however, was that when people responded to comments that he made, he would receive an email in his inbox notifying him that he had received a comment from a user, and what that comment was. Mr. Thompson perceived it to be threats sent via LJ:
- The Congress has passed and the President has signed into law a statute that makes it a crime to send harassing emails to anyone, if it is done anonymously. That means, all you little pixelantes who are sending me emails through LiveJournal and who are not also providing your names, addresses, and phone numbers are violating this criminal statute.
- If you want Dennis McCauley sued for this, in order that I will then discover your true identities in order to put some of you into jail like the kid in Houston I got arrested, keep it up.
In an effort to point Mr. Thompson in the right direction, a LiveJournal user by the name of startropics replied to this post in a helpful manner.
- Mr. Thompson sir, perhaps I should enlignten you as to how LiveJournal comments work, just as a courtesy. It's alright to be a little clueless, as I'm sure this is the first blog you've ever had.
- When someone leaves a "comment" or reply to a statement that you have made on LiveJournal, whether as a post or a reply to a post, the user in question that is being replied to is sent an email as a courtesy to let them know that they have received a comment. The email also contains the comment in question, and an option to reply to it using the email.
- Now when you were replying anonymously, you weren't receiving these emails because LiveJournal had no idea where to send the notification emails. Now it does.
- If you wish to disable this function and search for replied manually, I would suggest turning off email notification. It should be in the Personal Info section. Simply uncheck Receive comment notification e-mails and you should be all set.
- Don't worry, I do this sort of thing all the time for my grandfather. I help him all the time with his computer.
- The gamer that cares. David Cochrane.
jackthompson888 has since been banned from posting at GamePolitics for undisclosed reasons.
Thompson has since created a new account whittakerchambe, apparently alluding to Whittaker Chambers, who was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for his contribution to "the century's epic struggle between freedom and totalitarianism". Thompson claimed that he had endowed a scholarship in Chambers' name, with John Chambers' blessing. (Whittaker's son) This account has since been banned as well after Jack Thompson continued to mock the passing of Mitchell S., and made several derogatory comments comparing readers of GamePolitics to Nazis. Quote, Gamers are akin to the Hitler Youth. Pixelantes are vigilantes. You put threats ahead of arguments, extortion ahead of enlightenment... You all are the new book burners. Heil PS2! Heil Halo! Heil GTA! Put down the controllers and get a life, you lost souls. Jack Thompson.
Dennis McCauley interpreted this as clearly being unacceptably offensive, and banned Thompson's account, stating Glad to hear you're getting your own blog, Jack... You can spout all of this crap there to your heart's content. (In the same general area, Jack plugged his soon-to-be new website, Jack and Goliath).
Refusing to be silenced, Jack Thompson created yet another LiveJournal account, dubbed dennismcawfully, a cheap attempt to mock Dennis McCauley, the maintainer of GamePolitics. This account was banned almost instantly.
Ironically in a post titled Jack Thompson with Some Facts, Not GP Fiction, he wrote (Dennis)recommended a blog, which is a terrible idea. I don't need a blog. A blog is for people who have nothing to do with their lives. Kind of like the pixelantes who post here with cowardly, anonymous avatars, all three of you. No, when you're on nationl teevee since 1990, folks, you don't need a blog. You just ring up Anderson Cooper. Anderson doesn't need a blog either.
It didn't take GP readers long to point out that Anderson Cooper does in fact, have a blog at CNN.
Recently, the account JackandGoliath has been banned from the website, persumably for his posting of a user's phone number.
Jacks Latest account is firstamendment6, after his jackjackjac account got banned after posting Dennis McCauley's phone number.
Jacks current account is byebyerockstar
On February 23, 2006, Thompson sent an email to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, which prints many of Dennis' gaming columns. Thompson claimed Dennis was misrepresenting himself on his voicemail as a columnist for the Pioneer Press. An editor from the Press called Dennis and asked him to change the message from "columnist" to "frequent contributor". Thompson had previously complained to the Press about the voicemail message, but the Press had declined to take any action at the time. Thompson later spammed the GP comment section with copies of the email, apparently in an attempt to prevent Dennis from deleting all the posts before they could be read.
Due to apparent violations of LiveJournal's Terms of Service (ban-evading), and the fact that Thompson posted a private phone number, Dennis filed an "Abuse" complaint for Thompson's IP.