Lawsuit filed against Sony, Wal-Mart over game (GTA) linked to shootings

[Wonk]

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (AP) -- A $246 million lawsuit was filed against the designer, marketer and a retailer of the video game 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 $46 million in compensatory damages and $200 million 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 video game "Grand Theft Auto III."

more...

LBN thread

on edit: added bold

[Superfly]

1. Blame everybody, in addition to

the actual shooter...(who was a victim of society and he can't be blamed...)

[Wonk]

2. Blame the shooters, AND try to understand how they could think that would

be a good way to entertain themselves.

my 2¢

[CarinKaryn]

4. Well of course they were influenced

If video games, movies, videos, etc. did not influence people why would the advertising industry be a multi billion dollar industry.
The game makers may not have placed the bomb, but they built it.

[Superfly]

11. Yeah, right...

I've played GTA III and Vice City, and to date, I have yet to use the "bomb" the makers of that game have given me to kill anybody.

[1a2b3c]

16. This gets an honorable mention

for being the funniest post ive read so far to day.

[juancarlos]

17. Way to shift blame.

I'm very impressed, CarinKaryn. The blame rests squarely on the shoulders of the criminals. Unless they are so stupid that they don't know right from wrong, they are responsible. If the game makers truly made games that caused people to go out and murder, don't you'd think that this would be happening hundreds of times a day? NO! Those punk murdering kids bear the responsibilty for ending the lives of others. No game forced them to go commit murder.

[a2birdcage]

18. and you call yourself a liberal.

[MrBenchley]

19. What do you call yourself?

It sure doesn't seem to be liberal...

[a2birdcage]

22. Responsible for.......

my own actions. Oh yeah, and I also consider myself to be independent. Not liberal or conservative.

[CarinKaryn]

27. How Dare You!

Are you accusing me of not being a liberal? Mr. INDEPENDENT.
Have you checked the name of the board you are posting on?
Do you know where you are?

[Valarauko]

30. IIRC

it was supposed to be a forum for Democrats "and ALL other progressives".

[CarinKaryn]

28. So you all have ignored my statement

Try to answer these questions:
What is the point of the advertising industry?
What kind of behaivor do they try to influence?
What are the differences between a 30 second advertisment for a product and an advertisiment for a lifestyle?
Why do businesses pay product placement fees to have their products inserted into video games, movies and videos.
What products are being used in Grand Theft Auto?

Or, if the questions are too difficult for you, just continue to ridicule me for being a liberal Dem.

[juancarlos]

29. Nobody is ridiculing you "for being a liberal Dem"

People are disagreeing with you vehemently because they believe in personal responsibility, not some "the media made me do it" theory. I join them in condemning the postulation that the boys' actions were the fault of anybody but themselves. It is wholly illogical to think that video games cause people to go become murderers. If that were the case, actions similar to what those two criminals did would happen hundreds of times daily. They bear responsibilty for themselves. It's like filing suit against Ben & Jerry's because Chunky Monkey is sooooooooo addictive and it has "like totally made my ass too big". Maybe the individual stuffing his piehole with a half-gallon daily is a fault. Maybe the punk criminals who pulled the damn trigger are at fault, not the goddamn game they played.

[demsrule4life]

31. I will give it a shot

What is the point of the advertising industry? Sell shit
What kind of behaivor do they try to influence? have to have it
What are the differences between a 30 second advertisment for a product and an advertisiment for a lifestyle? buy it, it will change your life
Why do businesses pay product placement fees to have their products inserted into video games, movies and videos? sell shit
What products are being used in Grand Theft Auto? Beats me, never seen it.

[MrBenchley]

3. Worth noting

that thanks to the GOP and the corrupt gun industry, there's absolutely no way under Tennessee law to prosecute the parents for letting their kids get their hands on these guns...

[Withergyld]

5. you missed the last paragraph of the first post

"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 video game "Grand Theft Auto III." (I added the bold)
How were the parents negligent of the weapon is question was "locked up"?

[MrBenchley]

7. Gee,, with, before you bend over backwards to spin away blame

read my post again...

Even if the parents had put the guns in the boys' beds there's no way to hold them responsible...Tennessee doesn't have a child access prevention law.

Must have been a helluva lock, huh?

[Wcross]

15. There is a way to punish the parents

Why were they not named in the lawsuit? They are liable for the actions of their minor children. I guess they aren't "deep" pockets.

[demsrule4life]

6. Before you speak you might want to find out

how they gained entry into the "locked room". If parents left key laying around they are partially to blame, if the room was broken into, then?

[Withergyld]

8. tell it to Mr B too!

I am aware that the article does not state how access was gained to the firearm.
I keep an extra set of car keys in my desk. If one of my children were to find the keys and take my car for a joy ride and kill someone would I be negligent?

[slackmaster]

10. B-B-B-But, that's different

Allow me to fast-forward the standard "anti" reply:

Your car wasn't DESIGNED to KILL!

:freak:

[MrBenchley]

9. Gee, dems...

which was it?

And why does it matter, since Tennessee has no child access prevention law, thanks to the corrupt gun industry and the GOP?

[demsrule4life]

12. Matters alot

If the parents were keeping the guns locked up they were doing there part.

[MrBenchley]

13. Doesn't matter a bit

[demsrule4life]

14. You do have a strange sense

on what matters or not.

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

20. Go ahead and extend this logic out

Can we extend the child access law to include other dangerous items?

- Gasoline
- Matches
- Bleach
- Motor Oil
- Sharp Scissors
- Knitting Needles
- Kitchen Knives
- <your potentially hazardous item here>

I grew up with guns in the house, unsecured. I knew what they were, what they did and didn't need to have them locked away from me to know not to play with the damn things. Or you could hide kids from guns and then wonder why they are so curious about them when they see one.

Is it so hard to intill just a tad, nay, a SMIDGEON of responsibility into kids?

[MrBenchley]

21. Gee...

If I had my way, the parents would be serving hard time and there would be a child access law...

Wonder why there isn't? Oh yeah, the corrupt gun industry and the GOP opposed it.,

"Is it so hard to intill just a tad, nay, a SMIDGEON of responsibility into kids?"
Don't ask me...ask the "responsible" gun-owning parents. They're the group you're saying we should be pandering to...

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

23. I was raised by responsible gun-owning parents

I turned out fine.

I remember hating going to the range with my dad, because I would be under such scrutiny from him; one little mistake and I would know about it, but hey I was 5 years old. After enough trips, I didn't get into trouble because I knew how I was supposed to be behaving with a gun in my hand. What to do and what not to do had been ingrained in my head.

Now I easily see where he was going with it, he taught me gun safety and it persists to this day. I didn't have to be curoius about guns, I shot them and enjoyed them.

He was unrelenting about safety. I'll be sure to thank him and my mom for you when I see them later tonight.

[MrBenchley]

24. So What?

I'm never going to swindle billions of dollars on Wall Street...do you think that means we don't need the SEC, or tighter securities regulation?

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot]

25. It wasn't the average trader

that caused the meltdowns in Wall Street that we have seen recently, was it? No, it was the pencil pushers in a 30th floor suite that caused that trouble. Should the average trader be put under heavier restrictions, because a CEO or CFO broke the law?

Should we put half a million traders under a microscope because a few corporate jockies forced the accountants to pencil whip the financials? It was already illegal, how will tighter restrictions help? Make it MORE illegal?

It's the same with guns; a few jackasses make the news because they decided to shoot up a convenience store, now everyone with a gun is a potential criminal.

[MrBenchley]

26. Hahahahahahahaha....

"Should we put half a million traders under a microscope because a few corporate jockies forced the accountants to pencil whip the financials?"
In a word, yeah.