Last week, Take-Two Interactive filed suit against Florida lawyer Jack Thompson in a preemptive move to keep him from filing his own suits against the publisher to prevent the upcoming releases of its Grand Theft Auto IV and Manhunt 2 games.
Thompson promised to strike back, and today he filed his response to the Take-Two suit, along with a countersuit accusing the publisher of multiple violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), specifically a continued effort to violate his constitutional rights since July of 2005.
As for his defense in the initial suit, Thompson said it is an attempt by Take-Two to violate his First Amendment right "to petition the government for a redress of grievances." The Take-Two suit seeks to have Thompson barred from filing suit to have its games (or any games) declared a public nuisance in Florida. It would be a crime to sell any game declared to be a public nuisance, effectively banning such games in the state. Thompson said the publisher's suit is unnecessary because the law already has protections built into it.
According to Thompson's defense, "Should Thompson improperly bring such an action against the nuisance of selling adult material to children under 17 years of age, there is an adequate remedy available to Take-Two to defeat such an action and to assess costs against Thompson, as provided by the statute itself. Thus, the attempt in this federal action to preempt the state approach which adequately protects both the public and the defendant in such an action if it has been improperly brought."
