GameStop Employee Gives RapeLay Interview, Gets Fired

[Therumancer]

Hmmm, well I can see both sides of this equasion.

In general despite his profession giving him alleged expertise, he didn't seem to be making any comments on behalf of the company. What's more he was being honest, and the information he relayed about torrents and such is general knowlege at least within the gaming community since game companies complaining about piracy themselves mention torrents and the like (Pirate's Bay, etc...). The point being that anyone who wants to pirate could just search for a torrent and find sites like that which are contreversial for a reason. You don't have to be a pirate to know this since at least within the game community people have more or less been screaming it from the rooftops whether they agree or disagree with piracy.


I tend to think that if he was fired for this it was wrong, free speech and all that, since he was not speaking FOR the company, or attempting to slander them. If he had a union behind him or whatever, chances are it wouldn't have happened (at least not for this).

I can see things from the company's perspective though, and not wanting to encourage their people to speak to the media so they can control as much information as possible, especially if people are calling them "experts". After all Gamestop could in theory charge money to send a rep to the media to provide expert testimony... IF people are willing to accept Gamestop as an expert source (which apparently at least someone in the media is). A point I think is not being considered.

Also I suppose simply having an employee associated with a rape game might panic their PR people.

 

[Low Key]

The guy is an idiot, no doubt about that. I guess that's why he was working at Gamestop in the first place. I kid, I kid. The Gamestops around me aren't too bad, but even I know when you represent a company and you aren't the manager, you make damn sure you go on the record anonymously. The interview would have been just as valid except no one would have gotten fired.

 

[Lucane]

Man Gamestop should just get rid of that location it's generating a lot of bad press over the years.
(Kidding!, I know it's a stock photo.)

I don't get why everyone harps on Gamestop Employees it's a paying job no videogame background or interest required just a little more than a pulse and not being a jerk.

Though yeah lesson of the day is never speak your mind to the media while in uniform and/or saying your from (X)place of work. Oh and doing illegal thing with the above can probally get you fired too.

 

[otacon]

For this guy the process where you think about what your going to say before causing a ballsup like this when you open your mouth seems to have dislodged itself somewhere. Maybe down the back of the sofa.

 

[chenry]

Yeah, that was probably a dumb move on his part.

 

[sunami88]

This recalls a Slashdot comment [http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1189313&cid=27476127] I read.

Isn't his pirating this game only of questionable legality, and not necessarily outright illegal? Don't get me wrong, it was a dumb ass thing to do, but what are others thoughts?

As for whether I think it was right for him to be fired or not? Meeehhhh, once he said he was specifically an employee at Gamestop he opened himself up to getting canned.

 

[The Zango]

Well done arse. You NEVER admit to piracy when you work in the games industry, its just like painting a crosshair on your forehead.

 

[Dogstile]

Must've been the kinda person that would go get wasted while underage in college, have pictures taken of him at the bar by his friends, then post the pics on his Facebook page the following morning. Shmuck.

I see nothing wrong with this.

Anyway, his own fault I guess. He shouldn't have talked about it.

 

[Calamity]

All in all, I still find the fact he was fired idiotic, he is a resident in the USA, which values their so-called Freedom of Speech alot. Apparently, they do not. His opinion is hurting Gamestop or promoting whatever kind of behaviour.

He still had his freedom of speech. He freely spoke to a member of the press representing the company he works for, where he freely told his employers and the world that he's a pirate.

 

[sunpop]

He never said he pirated, I know how to pirate games but I don't actually pirate games. The few times I was gonna I saw it would take a few days to download and said screw it. If he got fired for saying how to pirate games it's just crazy because most people already know how to and if you don't you can find out on the internet anyway.

That aside saying he worked at game stop and therefore can be considered somewhat of an expert is a load of crap. That logic would mean the CEO's of game stop are the ultimate source for gaming knowledge when odds are they don't even play games.

 

[Lucane]

He was fired from Gamestop because he didn't harrass the interviewer about putting $5 down to reserve another game.

Ha good one. Maybe he was gonna till he heard he could just pirate them.

 

[Superasil]

I don't see anything wrong with what he did, other then say he worked for game stop. he DID NOT admit to pirating that game, or any game.

 

[lijenstina]

Well his career at Game Stop stopped when he didn't stopped talking about stuff that Game Stop as a company would like to stop.

Stop me if I'm wrong, but did this stoppage has to do with recognizing the truth about the possibility of stopping something that isn't stoppable?

Pun overload. I'll stop now.

 

[Robby Foxfur]

Well this is why you don't talk to the press, bad shit always happens when you do, if he had not been fire his house would have burned down, or as a huge twist of irony he would have been, well you can guess.

 

[Corohan]

I admit that this was a very stupid move on his account, but I respect that he gave his opinion out like that.

 

[Matt_LRR]

That aside saying he worked at game stop and therefore can be considered somewhat of an expert is a load of crap. That logic would mean the CEO's of game stop are the ultimate source for gaming knowledge when odds are they don't even play games.

That he, as a person who works with videogames on a daily basis, is somewhat more knowledgable on consumer behavior, game content, and the industry at large than a lay person or average news viewer is in no way a load of crap.

-m

 

[ThreeKneeNick]

Next up in the news:
"An Escapist Magazine employee was fired recently for explaining how GameStop employee explained how to pirate Rapelay..."


Im kidding of course but the question does come to mind, if quoting what he said in a news article isn't grounds for losing a job, why the hell did he lose his job? This world confuses me.

 

[ZephrC]

All in all, I still find the fact he was fired idiotic, he is a resident in the USA, which values their so-called Freedom of Speech alot. Apparently, they do not. His opinion is hurting Gamestop or promoting whatever kind of behaviour.

Freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences. The government won't and can't stop him from saying whatever he wants, but his employer is free to tell him to go home and never come back.

And they should. He stated he worked for them, then gave instructions on how to break the law. That's just stupid.

 

[GodKlown]

I suppose the question that came to my mind was: "why the hell would you ask anyone who works at a Game Stop anything about video games?!" No one interviews movie theater ushers about what is a good movie, so why ask a register jockey about video games? For all anyone knows, that guy could have been just someone who worked at a store and didn't give a care what they were selling.
I have worked in computer repair/retail, internet security, a paper mill, and injection-molded plastics. Does this qualify me now as an expert in any of these fields? If so, I think I am due some recognition!

 

[fenrizz]

I'm so glad employers can't pull this kind of shit here in Norway!

Hozzah for workers rights!