13th October 2004, 10:48 AM
Source: http://star-techcentral.com/tech/story.a...technology
I'd put in my two cents, but I've been over the topic of "video game violence being the cause of all of the world's problems" so many times, it's nauseating. Anyway, discuss. Or don't, it's up to you; I'm going to assume that you all have wills of your own and can take responsibility for your own actions.
Quote:Sony, Wal-Mart sued over game linked to shootings
KNOXVILLE (Tennessee): A US$246mil (RM934mil) lawsuit was filed against the designer, marketer and a retailer of the videogame series Grand Theft Auto by the families of two people shot by teenagers apparently inspired by the game.
The suit claims marketer Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc, designers Take-Two Interactive Software and Rockstar Games, and Wal-Mart, are liable for US$46mil (RM174mil) in compensatory damages and US$200mil (RM760mil) in punitive damages.
Aaron Hamel, 45, a registered nurse, was killed and Kimberly Bede, 19, of Moneta, Virginia, was seriously wounded when their cars were hit June 25 by .22-caliber bullets as they passed through the Great Smoky Mountains.
Stepbrothers William Buckner, 16, and Joshua Buckner, 14, of Newport, were sentenced in August to an indefinite term in state custody after pleading guilty in juvenile court to reckless homicide, endangerment and assault.
The boys told investigators they got the rifles from a locked room in their home and decided to randomly shoot at tractor-trailer rigs, just like in the videogame Grand Theft Auto III.
In a suit filed last Monday in Cocke County Circuit Court on behalf of the victims, Miami lawyer Jack Thompson and local lawyer Richard Talley alleged the game "inspires and trains players to shoot at vehicles and persons.”
"These kids simply decided to take the thrill of that game out to Interstate 40 and started pointing at cars,” Thompson said in a telephone interview on Tuesday.
Thompson, who said he sent letters to Sony and Wal-Mart to drop the game before the shootings, said, "It's not like this is coming out of the blue, they chose to ignore this danger.”
Thompson said that since filing the suit he has been contacted by other victims of violent crimes interested in taking legal action over the game.
"We want to tell the videogame industry that if they're going to continue to market adult-rated games to children with these horrific consequences, then we're going to take their blood money," Thompson said in a statement.
"In the past few days I have been contacted by dozens of other people, and there may be hundreds more cases. This will send a message that they have to stop this practise, or there will be other suits on behalf of other people killed by these games."
San Mateo, California-based Sony and Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart did not return calls for comment Tuesday. The lawsuit alleges the retail giant sold the game to the Buckners about a year before the shootings.
Douglas Lowenstein, president of the industry Entertainment Software Association, called the shootings "an unspeakable tragedy” but said blaming a game played by millions for the boys' actions was "misguided and counterproductive.”
"There is no credible evidence that violent games lead to violent behaviour,” he said. "While videogames may provide a simple excuse for the teenagers involved in this incident, responsibility for violent acts belongs to those who commit them.”
Thompson has made similar claims in the past and lost, notably a US$33mil (RM125mil) lawsuit against videogame makers stemming from the 1997 school shooting near Paducah, Kentucky, by a 14-year-old boy.
The 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in the case last year that it was "simply to far a leap from shooting characters on a video screen to shooting people in a classroom.” – AP/dpa
I'd put in my two cents, but I've been over the topic of "video game violence being the cause of all of the world's problems" so many times, it's nauseating. Anyway, discuss. Or don't, it's up to you; I'm going to assume that you all have wills of your own and can take responsibility for your own actions.