Florida Court Orders Bully Preview

[Adam LaMosca]

Florida Court Orders Bully Preview

Beginning today, a Florida judge will begin a lengthy in-chambers preview of the yet-to-be-released Bully in order to determine whether the game is a "public nuisance."

In an unprecedented ruling yesterday, Judge Ronald Friedman of Florida's Miami-Dade County Circuit Court ordered Bully publisher Take-Two and developer Rockstar Games to produce a playable copy of the unreleased title for his review. Judge Friedman is expected to begin examining the game in his chambers this afternoon, with the assistance of a representative from Rockstar capable of playing the game to completion.

Bully, which is scheduled to hit store shelves for the PlayStation 2 next Tuesday, is the subject of a recent lawsuit filed by well-known game regulation proponent and attorney Jack Thompson. The game's protagonist is a 15-year-old boy at a fictional U.S. private school who confronts bullies and other schoolyard challenges. In a petition filed last August, Thompson alleged that Bully is a "Columbine simulator" and a public nuisance under Florida statutes. Judge Freidman is now prepared to spend "several days" examining Bully's content.

Gaming blog Destructoid was present at the hearing, and reported that at one point during the proceedings Thompson surprised the judge and attendees by producing a large, homemade, "industrial strength" wood and rubber slingshot he had managed to get through courthouse security. Thompson was apparently attempting to demonstrate that slingshots, which are featured in Bully, could indeed be dangerous.

The judge's preview is closed to the public and press. Both Thompson and counsel for Take-Two will be able to observe the game, but will not be permitted to interrupt or comment during the preview. Bully has been rated "T" for Teen by the Entertainment Software Review Board, but if the judge determines that Bully is a "public nuisance," the Court will most likely issue a temporary restraining order prohibiting sales to minors.

Sources: GamePolitics [http://gamepolitics.com/2006/10/11/breaking-miami-court-orders-take-two-to-turn-over-bully/#more-243], Destructoid [http://www.destructoid.com/judge-to-take-two-produce-bully-at-3pm-and-ill-decide-how-bad-it-is.htm]

Permalink

 

[TomBeraha]

"Judge Friedman is expected to begin examining the game in his chambers this afternoon, with the assistance of a representative from Rockstar capable of playing the game to completion."..."Judge Freidman is now prepared to spend "several days" examining Bully's content."

Oh thats good.. "Sir I need to see that in my chambers... for further examination.."


Humor aside. I think we all know how stupid this is.

 

[Virgil]

Stupid as though it may be, there is a positive side to having a judge examine Thompson's current poster child for inappropriate games and determine that it is not "public nuisance." If reports about the game are to be believed, then it shouldn't be an issue - the ESRB did give the game a Teen rating, and you have to imagine that they're being tough on Rockstar after GTA:SA.

We can also hope that the ruling comes down sharply on the side of "games are protected by free speech" as well. Because legal rulings are often heavily influenced by precedent, that would really be a good thing.

 

[TomBeraha]

We can also hope that the ruling comes down sharply on the side of "games are protected by free speech" as well. Because legal rulings are often heavily influenced by precedent, that would really be a good thing.

A good point - Here's hoping as well Some common sense is long overdue.

 

[Gpig [deprecated]]

I've actually been excited about this when I've never been excited about these court shenanigans before. If he was requesting to play San Andreas I'd be more concerned, but Bully I don't think will seem that ridiculous to the judge. The only thing of concern is that if the judge finds that he thinks it should be for a mature audience, Walmart won't carry the game. I don't think the judge will find that since the game doesn't have killing or much swearing and isn't supposed to be that bad of a game, but you never know.

My local paper, the St. Pete Times, about a year ago had an article in the Floridian section about games as free speech and all the judge rulings about it. That's one thing that I think is missing when news collection websites (besides games politics) report on a court decision. Reading the excerpts from all of the judge's rulings really put the defense for video games as protected free speech better than I have ever seen any person involved with the game industry put it. They should really put excerpts from the rulings in the news stories. The excerpts from the past rulings are why I have some faith in this, but who knows what this judge is like. Still, there's no way he'll agree that this is a "Columbine simulator."

 

[Gpig [deprecated]]

It turned out as I expected pretty much except I didn't expect Jack Thompson to respond THAT crazily to the judge. Gamespot has really good excerpts from the letter and you can get the full letter from games politics.