I would like you to tell me exactly what I said that doesn't make sense. It seems to make sense just fine to a majority of people in this thread who share my opinion on the matter.nipsen said:
GameStop Employee Gives RapeLay Interview, Gets Fired
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
Well from the article: Littlejohn's opinions were a focal point of the article because he'd been an employee at GameStop for two years and was thus presumably something of an authority on videogames.nipsen said:
I can easily picture articles saying something in line of "GameStop Employee says..." even if he was just a store clerk. The news papers want to sell their news and will often choose wording and information that makes the news dramatic and important seeming rather than accurate. This is unlikely to get a dedicated gamer to stop buying games from GameStop, but I can easily picture a mother taking her children to another store instead if she feels even slightly uneasy about it. Investors may also get paranoid over the reputation of the company they invest in.
When I read that part, I said to myself "That's probably what they fired him for. Not his thoughts on RapeLay. If I was a games retailer, I wouldn't want my employees telling people how to get games for free instead of coming to my stores."Andy Chalk said:
Glad to see I'm not the only one thinking that. I was expecting a lot of "OMG YES HE SHOULD BE FIRED BECAUSE RAPELAY IS BAD AND IF YOU DON'T HATE RAPELAY YOU ARE EVIL" type comments. I guess this community is much smarter than some others I've visited.
Hold on there man. GameStop =/= America. One company firing one employee doesn't mean that an entire country doesn't value Freedom of Speech anymore. And this isn't about Freedom of Speech anyway. You can't cry "Freedom of Speech!" to say whatever you want on this forum and not get banned, right?Straying Bullet said:
And that bit in parenthesis is exactly the point. We wouldn't have said the bit about how to pirate games and that we work for GameStop. We also wouldn't have been fired.funkzillabot said:
However, he did and he was.
And that bit in parenthesis is exactly the point. We wouldn't have said the bit about how to pirate games and that we work for GameStop. We also wouldn't have been fired.funkzillabot said:
However, he did and he was.
EDIT: Oh sure, NOW my other post shows up. Now I look like a double posting idiot.
Sorry about that everyone. My first one didn't show up after I hit post, so I couldn't edit. Hopefully this can be deleted...
Hate to be a spelling Nazi but its deserve not deserved. Hey it's my birthday today, let me live a little! =DPhoenixlight said:
I do not agree with your use of the word reasonable here, and this is just a repetition of the actual disagreement. You don't give anything to back your assertion that any use of the word reasonable is, in fact, reasonable. If I say I work at GameStop but that my views do not represent GameStop and the journalist fails to relay that, am I still on the hook? Would GS have any cause to see whose version was in fact true? And, I'm sorry, but the fact of GS employment does NOT confer some sort of expert status in gaming on a person; that you are suggesting this gives the whole thing an extra tint of ludicrous.Matt_LRR said:
I DO NOT accept that any opinion given by a GameStop employee, whether overheard in the store or printed in a magazine, is reasonably interpreted as GameStop's policy. To accept this gives too much power to GameStop in determining intent of speech, with consequences that are far more tangible than potential damage due to possible (but not proven) damage to a brand. Everything printed in the article is something I have specifically heard uttered in a GS by a GS employee (including a manager) and I don't recall policy or agreements being whipped out there. This isn't corporate secrets or methods of business; this is a person's opinion that is perfectly reasonable to assume is their own no matter where it's mentioned they work.
And, again, where is the journalist's responsibility in all this?
So basically:
"Hey, I work for a video game store, and here's how you don't have to pay for any games!"
<,< ...Smart indeed.
"Hey, I work for a video game store, and here's how you don't have to pay for any games!"
<,< ...Smart indeed.
He pretty much deserved it, he's entitled to his opinion and everything, but what he did was stupid & foolish, using any commonsense would mean that when you work for a legal, law-abiding games company, going and talking about piracy and a highly controversial game, and talking about how easy and normal it is, its a pretty stupid move.
I know that there is no law against me speaking to the press about my workplace, but I sure as hell wouldn't go and do it. I wouldn't even speak about it, probably no comment, just wouldn't want to risk it, unless I was deliberately trying to screw stuff up.
I know that there is no law against me speaking to the press about my workplace, but I sure as hell wouldn't go and do it. I wouldn't even speak about it, probably no comment, just wouldn't want to risk it, unless I was deliberately trying to screw stuff up.
Anyone who quotes "Freedom of Speech" as a reason why he should have been fired is an idiot, or at least knows nothing about the US constitution. Get this: "Freedom of Speech" does not make you legally immune to the consequences of anything you feel like saying at any time. It simply means the American government is not allowed to make it illegal for anyone to express an opinion. If you loudly abuse a cop in a public place you will be arrested and if you give a public interview where you basically (if unintentionally) encourage kids to download a violent rape simulator while appearing to speak as a representative for a major video game distributor then you should expect to be immediately sacked for misconduct.
There is no "other side" to this argument, the fool got himself fired because of his stupidity and completely deserved it.
On the actual issue itself, he's right in pointing out that it's futile to attempt to ban Rapelay as once it's out on the net it'll be there forever, but that doesn't mean you should talk casually about how easy it is to get, or you'll only be inspiring people who HAVEN'T heard of it or don't know about torrent piracy to get it. These statements do no good and potentially considerable harm.
There is no "other side" to this argument, the fool got himself fired because of his stupidity and completely deserved it.
On the actual issue itself, he's right in pointing out that it's futile to attempt to ban Rapelay as once it's out on the net it'll be there forever, but that doesn't mean you should talk casually about how easy it is to get, or you'll only be inspiring people who HAVEN'T heard of it or don't know about torrent piracy to get it. These statements do no good and potentially considerable harm.
Tbf, it doesn't take a genius to type the name of what you want + free download in google, I'm sure every teen with a computer knows how to use googleStraying Bullet said:
didn't you work at a Gamestop or something like that?Matt_LRR said:
I don't see why he was fired. The interviewer ask the opinion of Derek Littlejohn and not Gamestop. I don't believe he did this interview as to represent gamestop but when ask what he know, he must have told that he was a employee from gamestop. It wouldn't be the first time that media screw someone over. I'll reserve my judgment when i heard or see the exact interview (and not a edited one) he did. That the only piece of info that we really need to blame someone. In the meantime posters, just slander his name without a care like if news always told 100% of the truth!
I'd feel bad for the guy if he wasn't blatantly an idiot and openly discussed pirating.
It'd have been just as easy (and not entirely inaccurate) for him to have said "I imported it".
It'd have been just as easy (and not entirely inaccurate) for him to have said "I imported it".
Even if he didn't break a store policy on speaking to the media (which is entirely reasonable and a policy of 9 out of 10 employers), the fact that he works for a video game store and blatantly spoke about procuring a video game ILLEGALLY is a VERY good reason for him to be fired (I have no idea wot GS's hiring policies are). It'd be like working for a major record-store chain or label and talking to the press about getting a pirated copy of, say, the next Metallica cd months in advance off of a torrent.Akalistos said:
Sven und EIN HUND said:
This is getting repetitive, but no, he didn't admit to piracy. He admitted to knowledge of "how to pirate a game."Arawn.Chernobog said:
Analogous to how knowing how to kill somebody, and actually killing them are different things.
It can be inferred that he pirated the game, since it is difficult to buy, but he did not say that.
It's not exactly instructions on how to pirate either. If it was, those are pretty terrible instructions. Analogous to giving instructions on how to make a bomb by saying: put explosives and a detonator together. Sure, it's technically true, but it's such common and unspecific information I certainly wouldn't qualify that as a tutorial.
Should retail employees also be forbidden from discussing shoplifting?Nemu said:
I can see why GameStop fired him for this, but I don't like it either. Never seems right to me when somebody is punished for being honest about reality.
Thank God he was fired! I mean, he didn't actualy tell anyone anything they didn't already know, and the sheer vagueness of his 'crash course in piracy' simply highlighted how common the practice is, but still, the man's a menace. I bet he cost them literally, er some small number of potential sales. Thank God this fringe lunatic is out of our stores and in the dole queue where he can never harm the corporate image of our beloved shops again. Phew!
I am quoting this to get it through to many peoples skulls.Calatar said:
Also, yes, a lot of you are pretty much forgetting about freedom of speech. He was stating how easy it is to actually do it - this is FACT and GameStop are retarded for thinking firing him is sorting this problem.
From what I can see he was stating how stupid it is to ban the game, because that's all it is - a game, when it can be easily retrievable by pirating it.
What is it about then? Because all I see is a guy stating the truth about something. I doubt GameStop have a contract saying "Do not EVER mention piracy to ANYONE!"
I agree with everything else you said, but where did he encourage the kids to get the game? I don't see any glowing recommendations of the game in the article, or even anything remotely positive about it. Just the neutral "it's just a game" .Arcane Azmadi said:
I can't speak for the man myself, but I think I understand. I currently work at a store that sells video games (not a video game store)that sells Iron Man 2. If someone asks about the game, I have options:
1. Sell the game as if it was the best ever.
2. Pretend to know nothing about the game.
3. Tell the truth: I've seen a review stating that the game is about four hours long and not worth 60 dollars (twas AngryJoe).
I don't buy games at GameStop because they fire people unless they do a number one or a number two on me.
Yes, saying what he said was bad for the corporation that he worked for.
Yes, I hope he starts a website stating his opinion on games because I know that his honesty cost him something.
No, I don't need any batteries today. lol
He had integrity.
1. Sell the game as if it was the best ever.
2. Pretend to know nothing about the game.
3. Tell the truth: I've seen a review stating that the game is about four hours long and not worth 60 dollars (twas AngryJoe).
I don't buy games at GameStop because they fire people unless they do a number one or a number two on me.
Yes, saying what he said was bad for the corporation that he worked for.
Yes, I hope he starts a website stating his opinion on games because I know that his honesty cost him something.
No, I don't need any batteries today. lol
He had integrity.