In January when Hasbro first began to fuss about Scrabulous, many were perplexed — wasn't the prolific Facebook board game an homage to the original, arguably even a sort of viral marketing? But today's infringement suit announcement comes just after Electronic Arts, through its partnership with Hasbro, launched its own official Scrabble game on Facebook, a launch no doubt complicated by the existence of an unlicensed, competing game.

Hasbro says Scrabulous infringes on its intellectual property rights, and is suing creators Rajat Agarwalla and Jayant Agarwalla, while requesting that Facebook pull the application immediately.

Full announcement follows the jump.

Hasbro, Inc. Files Infringement Suit Against Creators of Scrabulous Game Application
Suit Filed in Southern District of New York Centers on Application’s Infringement of Hasbro’s SCRABBLE Intellectual Property Rights in the U.S. and Canada

PAWTUCKET, R.I.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS) today filed suit against the creators of the Scrabulous game application, which infringes on the Company’s SCRABBLE intellectual property rights.

In addition, Hasbro has delivered to Facebook, which hosts the Scrabulous game, a notification of copyright infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (or the “DMCA”) requesting that they remove the Scrabulous application in the U.S. and Canada as soon as possible.

“Hasbro has an obligation to act appropriately against infringement of our intellectual properties,” said Barry Nagler, Hasbro’s General Counsel. “We view the Scrabulous application as clear and blatant infringement of our SCRABBLE intellectual property, and we are pursuing this legal action in accordance with the interests of our shareholders, and the integrity of the SCRABBLE brand.”

The suit, which was filed in the Southern District of New York earlier today, names Scrabulous creators, Rajat Agarwalla and Jayant Agarwalla, and RJ Softwares as the defendants.

Hasbro has a strategic alliance with Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) to create digital games based on a huge array of Hasbro’s intellectual properties. As part of this alliance, Electronic Arts launched a legitimate version of SCRABBLE for Facebook earlier this month. This represents the first of many Hasbro game properties slated to launch on social networking sites later this year.

“Hasbro and Electronic Arts are very pleased to offer fans an authentic SCRABBLE experience on Facebook, which is complementary to EA’s full-range of SCRABBLE offerings — from the cell phone, to the iPod, and now, social networking,” said Mark Blecher, General Manager, Hasbro Digital Media and Gaming. “Hasbro and EA have worked diligently to provide a great game play experience on Facebook, and we are confident that fans of the game will welcome a genuine experience highlighted by top of the line graphics, strong technical support, and of course, classic SCRABBLE game play.”

“After playing with EA's version of SCRABBLE on Facebook, I have no doubt that SCRABBLE players in the U.S. and Canada will absolutely love the authentic game play and overall experience,” said John D. Williams Jr., Executive Director of the National SCRABBLE Association (NSA). “I am particularly pleased that EA's version of SCRABBLE offers such a simple and intuitive interface which will allow players to jump right in and start playing. Between the classic board game, Facebook, Pogo, the iPod and the iPhone, our members can now play their favorite game virtually anytime, anywhere.”

Hasbro, Inc. is a worldwide leader in children’s and family leisure time products and services with a rich portfolio of brands and entertainment properties that provides some of the highest quality and most recognizable play and recreational experiences in the world. As a brand-driven, consumer-focused global company, Hasbro brings to market a range of toys, games and licensed products, from traditional to high-tech and digital, under such powerful brand names as TRANSFORMERS, PLAYSKOOL, TONKA, MILTON BRADLEY, PARKER BROTHERS, TIGER, CRANIUM and WIZARDS OF THE COAST. Come see how we inspire play through our brands at www.hasbro.com. (C)2008 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

We've posted all the documentation Tomonobu Itagaki submitted into evidence during the second round of arguments. Itagaki claims he has even more evidence, going as far as stating: "I am prepared to reveal this evidence as the need arises for the sake of greater justice." The evidence submitted earlier today after the jump. Heads up as there's lots of big images ready to suck up your bandwidth — and they're all in Japanese.

This contract, dated March 4th 2005, covers "special incentives" for Dead or Alive 4. The "special incentives" program was proposed by the former president of Tecmo (the president before current president Yoshimi Yasuda) where all employees would receive a certain percentage of the profits from a big-selling game. The profit points would be distributed among members of the team with the highest share going to the senior employees. In the DoA4 contract Itagaki submitted, it clearly states that he is entitled to 6.66 percent of the earned profits from the project.

In the statement Itagaki released today, he has now increased his claim for damages against Tecmo from the previously announced figure of 148,000,000 yen to 164,000,095 yen. In American money, that's an increase from $1.38 million to $1.53 million. The claim increase Itagaki is asking for simply reflects the wages he should have earned at the end of this June had he not been fired by the company.

This is the document Tecmo submitted to withdrawal its four-point gag order submission. As Itagaki says in his statement, "From the outset, the claims made in this petition had changed repeatedly in a short period of time, causing me to wonder what they would claim next; apparently Tecmo and its president Yoshimi Yasuda finally realized that their petition would most likely be denied, and before the fourth round of debates regarding its merit were held the claim was withdrawn unexpectedly." Continuing "it is clear that this self-centered behavior by Tecmo Co. Ltd. and its president Yoshimi Yasuda, from the filing of the petition to its subsequent withdrawal, was an attempt to increase my own personal burden in both time and funds needed to combat the petition."

This is the signed affidavit from Ninja Gaiden II producer Yoshifuru Okamoto. Okamoto explains that he recorded a conversation with Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda on January 22nd of this year. The reason for this, Okamoto explains, is that Yasuda had harassed him, calling him names.

Above is the audio transcript of the conversation between President Yasuda and Okamoto. In the transcript, Yasuda admits that the special bonus incentive had in fact been submitted and approved by the board of directors before he became president and while he was still section director. Yasuda says that the special incentive scheme had been discussed and a ringi (a type of Japanese corporate approval form) had been signed by the board of directors.

On page 2 of this transcript, when Okamoto says the special incentive wasn't voted on (like Yasuda now claims), Yasuda then replied, 取締役会決議と稟議が起きているんだよ. That literally translates to "The board of directors did vote on it and a ringi was signed." This is in direct conflict with Yasuda's court claim that this "special incentives" proposal was made single-handedly by the former president and not approved by the Tecmo board. Therefore, it is invalid, states Yasuda. The recording helps support Itagaki's claim that this special incentive bonus was approved by Tecmo's former president and the board of directors, and that the current president knows this.

Also, during the conversation, Yasuda called Itagaki a "money grubber" because of the developer's desire to be paid incentives that had been approved by Tecmo. Yet in court, Yasuda has denied calling Itagaki a "money grubber." In Itagaki's statement, the game designer says that this audio recording is only a small part of concrete evidence he has. "I am prepared to reveal this evidence as the need arises for the sake of greater justice," Itagaki states.

In the second round of oral arguments for the Itagaki vs. Tecmo suit, Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki submitted evidence that included an affidavit from Ninja Gaiden II producer Yoshifuru Okamoto, a contract from 2005 that seems to clearly state terms of the Dead or Alive 4 bonus and a voice recording of Tecmo president Yoshimi Yasuda. Itagaki is suing Tecmo over unpaid DoA4 wages.

Kotaku obtained copies of both the secret recording and the contract and translated both for this story.

The contract, dated March 4th 2005, covers "special incentives" for Dead or Alive 4. The "special incentives" program was proposed by the former president of Tecmo (the president before current president Yoshimi Yasuda) where all employees would receive a certain percentage of the profits from a big-selling game. The profit points would be distributed among members of the team with the highest share going to the senior employees. In the DoA4 contract Itagaki submitted, it clearly states that he is entitled to 6.66 percent of the earned profits from the project.

On January 22nd of this year, Ninja Gaiden II producer Yoshifuru Okamoto taped a conversation with president Yasuda. Why was the producer of Ninja Gaiden II recording conversations with the president of Tecmo? According to Okamoto's affidavit, Yasuda had continually harassed him, calling him an "idiot", stating he was "no good" and saying that Okamoto "had no class." Okamoto claims that he asked for a meeting with Yasuda so that he could understand why he was so negative towards him. During this meeting, Okamoto secretly recorded their conversation. (Note: Okamoto has since left the company and had been contemplating doing so for some time.)

And during this meeting, current president Yasuda admits that the special bonus incentive had in fact been submitted and approved by the board of directors before he became president and while he was still section director. Yasuda says that the special incentive scheme had been discussed and a ringi (a type of Japanese corporate approval form) had been signed by the board of directors. This is in direct conflict with Yasuda's court claim that this "special incentives" proposal was made single-handedly by the former president and not approved by the Tecmo board. Therefore, it is invalid. The recording helps support Itagaki's claim that this special incentive bonus was approved by Tecmo's former president and the board of directors, and that the current president knows this.

Also, during the conversation, Yasuda called Itagaki a "money grubber" because of the developer's desire to be paid incentives that had been approved by Tecmo. Yet in court, Yasuda has denied calling Itagaki a "money grubber." In Itagaki's statement, the game designer says that this audio recording is only a small part of concrete evidence he has. "I am prepared to reveal this evidence as the need arises for the sake of greater justice," Itagaki states.

We have contacted both Itagaki's representatives and Tecmo for comment on the story.

This morning about 10:00 a.m. Tokyo Time, the second round of oral arguments for the Itagaki vs. Tecmo case commenced. As we broke early last month, Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki left Tecmo and filed suit for unpaid bonuses. As Itagaki stated then, "President Yoshimi Yasuda chose not only to violate this agreement, but also turned defiant, telling me 'if you are dissatisfied with the decision not to pay the bonuses, either quit the company or sue it.'"

In a statement Itagaki released today, he has now increased his claim for damages against Tecmo from the previously announced figure of 148,000,000 yen to 164,000,095 yen. In American money, that's an increase from $1.38 million to $1.53 million. The reason for the increase is due to new developments in the case Itagaki revealed today.

In the statement Itagaki released in early June, he announced that he would be leaving Tecmo on July 1st. However, today it came to light that Itagaki was actually fired from Tecmo on June 18th — only weeks after he announced the suit. It's obviously possible to assume this termination was in retaliation to the lawsuit over bonuses he claimed he deserved. What's more, this preemptive act on Tecmo's part could also be seen as a way for the company to get out of paying Itagaki his fixed summer bonus and yearly incentives. According to Itagaki's statement released today, those were to be paid on June 30th. They of course were not.

Apparently, no reason was given for Itagaki's termination, and according to him, he was "terminated without reasonable cause." The claim increase Itagaki is asking for simply reflects the wages he should have earned at the end of this June had he not been fired by the company. Under Japanese law, Itagaki can also claim 14.6 percent per year back interest for the Dead or Alive 4 unpaid wages and bonuses. Itagaki has said he plans to do so.

Remember that four point gag-order Tecmo tried to slap Itagaki with? The company had simply filed for a gag-order, and it wasn't yet granted and didn't actually go into effect. Today as the second round of oral arguments for the Itagaki vs. Tecmo case commenced in which Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki is suing over supposed unpaid wages, it was revealed that Tecmo had already rescinded the gag-order on July 7th. But, did Tecmo publicly announce that it was withdrawing the gag-order filing?

Under Japanese law, the plaintiff does have the right to withdraw filing for a gag-order at anytime. In a statement released today, Itagaki said he wanted to give Tecmo a chance to announce that it had in fact withdrawn the gag-order. Two weeks passed, and Itagaki included Tecmo's gag-order withdrawal in the evidence he submitted for today's arguments. According to Itagaki, he regrets that it was he (and not Tecmo) who had to make this publicly known, but he states he did that so all the facts were known publicly.

Itagaki speculates that Tecmo withdrew the petition because the company knew it would be shot down and wanted to avoid the bad publicity. As Itagaki says in his statement:

From the outset, the claims made in this petition had changed repeatedly in a short period of time, causing me to wonder what they would claim next; apparently Tecmo and its president Yoshimi Yasuda finally realized that their petition would most likely be denied, and before the fourth round of debates regarding its merit were held the claim was withdrawn unexpectedly.

Continuing "it is clear that this self-centered behavior by Tecmo Co. Ltd. and its president Yoshimi Yasuda, from the filing of the petition to its subsequent withdrawal, was an attempt to increase my own personal burden in both time and funds needed to combat the petition."

Stay tuned as we break down the rest of today's Itagaki V. Tecmo news this morning.

MTV News received a response from an MTV spokesperson on the matter — which, in my mind, was shouted across cubicles — who said the lawsuit was "extremely surprising." The rep further noted that "successful products such as 'Rock Band' can often become targets for baseless litigation." We agree, especially when the entity filing suit is showing up extremely late to the party with its own stillborn excuse for a rock game. At least those poor unfortunate litigation lawyers will finally get a few bucks coming to 'em.

Further details on the suit at MTV News.

'Rock Band' Creators Sued By 'Rock Revolution' Publisher Konami [MTV News]

Konami Sues Viacom Over `Rock Band' Music Video Game [Bloomberg] [Pic]

DS: The Shocking Truth [MCV]

Judge Tunis, Referee in the case, noted in her 169-page report that she considered some 5,900 pages of evidence, "hundreds, maybe more" documents submitted over the past eighteen months of litigation.

Among these, according to Tunis:

Therein were page-sized photos of men, portraying full frontal nudity, including photos depicting men engaging in oral sex. This fax was accompanied by at least twenty websites, whose names suggested they were websites containing pornographic material.

The report also details Thompson's many legal maneuverings in the case, including a request for a continuation citing unfair treatment of his case in light of his wife's poor health. Attached to the report in support of several claims of misconduct against Thompson were letters he wrote to numerous attorneys, governors, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, actor Joe Pesci and even President Bush.

Finally the report included Thompson's history of anti-game litigation, notably a case titled Steve Strickland et. al. v. Sony Corporation of America, et. al, in which Thompson led a suit alleging Sony, Take-Two and Rockstar were responsible for the "Grand Theft Auto" killings of two police officers and a radio dispatcher by Devin Moore. The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed due to Thompson's failure to file several key documents correctly. In Moore's criminal trial, his 'GTA defense' was rejected.

The judge in that case, Judge Moore, filed a complaint against Thompson that asked he use third parties to distribute communication of any kind regarding the case rather than submit it himself. When asked why he filed the complaint, the judge said:

Because he was continuously sending documents to my office; three, four, five times a day, easy. Every day, it seemed like, a lot; plus when he would send his media alerts out that he composed and sent out, when he sends them to these media people, then they call my office. We got calls from all over the world about this, and it was extremely disruptive.

Thompson ignored the complaint and, according to the full report, "conducted himself in complete contravention to the court’s order."

During Thompson's June sanctions hearing, Judge Tunis found Thompson guilty of 27 out of 31 incidents of such misconduct, and the Florida Bar asked Judge Tunis to recommend disbarment for him. Her report, released today, recommends a permanent disbarment for Thompson, though the final ruling is up to the Florida Supreme Court.

The Judge recommended the disbarment based on Thompson's "abuse of the legal process, violations of other duties owed as a professional, and prior discipline orders." Additionally, the report found that Thompson's case had such mitigating factors as:

9.22(a) prior disciplinary offenses;
9.22(b) dishonest or selfish motive;
9.22(c) a pattern of 162 misconduct involving repeated or similar misconduct;
9.22(d) multiple offenses;
9.22(e) bad faith obstruction of the disciplinary proceeding by intentionally failing to comply with rules or orders of the disciplinary agency;
9.22(f) submission of false evidence, false statements, or other deceptive practices during the disciplinary process;
9.22(g) refusal to acknowledge wrongful nature of conduct; and,
9.22(i) substantial experience in the practice of law.

Read the full 169-page PDF here.

In a letter to the Judicial Qualifications Commission, Thompson questions Judge Tunis' mental stability and asks that she undergo a mental health exam. He also calls her a raving wild woman and suggests that she might be mentally impaired.

In a separate motion filed to strike Tunis' findings, Thompson calls into question the hearing and, once more, Judge Tunis saying she is "out of her judisprudential mind" and referring to her as Dava in Wonderland.

Dear JQC:

Please look at the enclosed Motion to Strike regarding Dava Tunis’ “Findings” as to my guilt and innocence. First of all, she is prohibited from even issuing such a document without its containing specific findings of fact.

She leaked it to the media to do me harm prior to the issuance of her Final Referee’s Report, and she didn’t have “specific findings of fact” as required by Bar Rules, because she didn’t have those “facts” in place.

Then, please note she finds me both guilty and not guilty of a violation of the same Bar Rule 4-8.2(a) as to the same judge and the same set of facts. She is just making this stuff up as she goes, and she is too sloppy to keep track of what she is making up.

But, hey, it’s only my 31-year law career that is at stake here, and her Republican buddy Jeb Bush who put her on the bench has his buddies’ Bar complaints in front of her, so you can’t really expect her to rise above her entanglements and act like a real judge.

Finally, maybe there is another explanation here: Maybe Dava Tunis is mentally impaired. The raving wild woman I saw in the last minutes of our trial in December 2007 in which she stood up behind her bench and was shouting and waving her arms was someone who had become unhinged. Is she still unhinged?

The Bar keeps insisting that I must serially have my head examined, even though every such exam has resulted in a clean bill of health. Here’s a suggestion, in light of her odd behavior and her now executing a document that rebuts itself on its face: Have this Dava Tunis undergo a battery of psychiatric and psychological tests. I underwent them and came through with flying colors. Will she? Find out. Regards, Jack Thompson

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA

Respondent.

RESPONDENT’S MOTION TO STRIKE TUNIS’ “FINDINGS”
COMES NOW respondent Thompson, moving the referee to strike her “Findings” of guilt and innocence in their entirety at to Thompson herein. Not only is such a document not allowed, without specific findings of fact, as required by Florida Bar Rules, as already pointed out, but now there is evidence on the face of the “Findings” document itself a) why the referee must submit findings of fact to support such “Findings,” b) that Tunis is hopelessly befuddled, or c) couldn’t care less if she makes a fool of herself in her headlong pursuit of Thompson as if she were a prosecutor. Note:

Tunis, in her May 15 “Findings,” finds Thompson “GUILTY” in Count II of disparaging Alabama Judge Moore as to his integrity and qualifications, in violation of Bar Rule 4-8.2(a). Forget the fact that Thompson never did that but rather pointed out, as he is required by Alabama and Florida Bar Rules, to inform authorities that Clatus Junkin said he could fix the case. Merely look now at the fact that Tunis has found Thompson guilty of disparaging Judge Moore.

Then look at Count III’s findings: Tunis finds Thompson “NOT GUILTY” of disparaging Judge Moore under the same Rule 4-8.2(a). Earth to Tunis: Read your own “Findings” before you sign them next time, if there is a next time.

This Referee, this oathless Tunis, is so out of her judisprudential mind that she can’t even keep her fabrications straight. Lincoln said it well: “No man has a good enough memory to be a consistently good liar.” Thompson disparaged Judge Moore and he didn’t disparage Judge Moore. Welcome to Dava in Wonderland.

I HEREBY CERTIFY that I have provided this to The Florida Bar, 1200 Edgewater Drive, Orlando, Florida, July 8, 2008.

John B. Thompson, Attorney, Florida Bar #231665

Nintendo Faces Patent Lawsuit, Apparently Over DS Touch Screen [GamePolitics]

UPDATE - While this particular patent is more recent, it's actually the continuation of a series of patents first filed all the way back in 1995.

Lethal weapon indeed.

I went to a horror movie convention here in Chicago on Sunday because George Romero was due to show up for autograph signing and I was hoping he would grace my copy of Dead Rising with his signature (not expecting that he would at all). Lo and behold he actually did, and on top of that, he was not even aware of Dead Rising...i had to explain to him what it was and he was happy to sign it. Makes me wonder if he is even aware of the legal battles Capcom has had to endure.

Makes us wonder, too. If you can't read what Romero wrote, it is: "Tyler Stay Scared George Romero."

Anascape sued back in 2006 and went for the kitchen sink, claiming Nintendo and Microsoft both infringed on controller designs they had patented. Microsoft settled with Anascape. The original suit against Nintendo covered everything from the Gamecube forward — the Wavebird and the Classic, plus the Wiimote and Nunchuk. The case decided in May found infringements only on the former two not the motion-sensing controls in the Wii. Still, $21 million is not pocket change.

Nintendo's Appeal on Reduced $21M Verdict Denied [QJ.net]

The suit was quickly withdrawn by Morgan Creek... mysteriously!

It's really not that mysterious. According to a statement from Nintendo, the whole thing has been settled, with ad agency Leo Burnett reminding Morgan Creek that it had already entered into a music licensing agreement with the production company. Looks like all that was required was a "Sorry 'bout that!" The full statement follows.

A lawsuit filed by Morgan Creek Productions, Inc. against Nintendo of America was recently dismissed. The lawsuit alleged copyright infringement by Nintendo for its use of the song "You're So Cool" in a Nintendo GameCube television commercial produced by advertising agency Leo Burnett USA, Inc. In response to the lawsuit, Leo Burnett provided Morgan Creek Productions with a copy of a music license entered into between Leo Burnett USA, on behalf of Nintendo of America and Morgan Creek, for licensing of the song. The lawsuit was dismissed by Morgan Creek Productions the following day.

Excellent. Looks like nobody got hurt and the Nintendo war chest looking like it didn't lose a dime.

NY Senate Passes Video Game Bill 61-1 [GamePolitics]

Nintendo Sued Over Use of Music from 1993 Film [GamePolitics]

Take-Two must cover over a million dollars in legal fees and has agreed to a hefty charitable donation as part of the settlement, but they'll pay out just $30,000 in resolving claims with consumers. The "benefits" to consumers ranged from $5 to $35 US, with some claimants getting a decaffeinated copy of San Andreas.

Unsurprisingly, another lawyer has poked his nose into the settlement, claiming that the lawsuit has no merit. That claim is partly based on the fact that so few offended parties wanted to experience the "Hot Coffee" healing power of cash.

Adding weight to the argument that the suit has no merit, is that it appears that some of those deposed were clueless about the game's content to begin with. Killing? Well known. But stealing? In Grand Theft Auto? Who knew?!

Anyone out there file a claim? We'd like to know!

Hidden Sex Scenes Draw Ho-Hum, Except From Lawyers [New York Times - thanks, Michael!]

Something else to keep in mind: Earlier we reported that Tecmo slapped Itagaki with a gag-order, meaning that one had been filed — as of course there are no Japanese laws to prevent Tecmo from filing for that! However, a judge has yet to sign off on this gag-order for it to actually be in effect. Since this hasn't yet happened, the gag-order is, well, not in effect. What's more, that gag-order motion may very well be tossed out of court.

Itagaki vs Tecmo [IT Media]

Ozawa and Tsunoda both filed their suit this past Monday. According to the suit, the workers were illegally placed on a "flexible hours" work scheme where overtime was not paid. Because of this dubious employment structure, overtime for the employees exceeded over 100 hours per month in unpaid overtime. Along with the lawsuit, they provided hard evidence to prove that Tecmo's actions were unethical and illegal.

The following day, Ozawa clarified their lawsuit with Japanese website IT Media, explaining what it means for the entire company: "There are only two employees bringing this suit, but our accusations encompass all 300 employees, and if Tecmo doesn't immediately address the issue and correct the problem, we are ready to start a second and a third class action suit." Hiroaki Ozawa is an official representative of the labor union, having been elected with a majority vote from amongst the 300 employees. That's why, when he says that he is prepared for a 2nd or 3rd wave of class-action suits, you can take him seriously — he has been voted in by a majority of Tecmo employees.

If the claims made in this suit are indeed fact, how much has Tecmo exploited its 300 employees for over these two years. After Team Ninja member Ozawa was fairly elected as the head of the Tecmo Labor Union this past February, made it his first priority to right these wrongs, thus the reason why the employees' lawsuit was filed. (The previous Tecmo Union Head was never elected and in management — despite the majority of Tecmo's employees being in R&D.)

The evidence the plaintiffs submitted in their suit seems to indicate that Yoshimi Yasuda, president of Tecmo Co. Ltd., falsified contracts relating to overtime work, illegally withholding payment of wages to 300 employees over the course of the past 2 years. Before Ozawa was elected democratically by Tecmo employees, a figurehead Tecmo Union leader was in place, pushing through measures that employees did not agree to and did not have a voice in. Measures like the overtime and flex time "agreements". Despite Yasuda’s direct involvement with this deception, he attempted to shift responsibility by claiming that this was the fault of the founder and former chairman of Tecmo, now deceased, stating he was told not to hold an election and just pick someone to head the Tecmo Labor Union. The leaders of the labor union who discovered this impropriety have filed suit. They are seeking damages of approximately 4,160,000 yen each.But what is the crux of their argument? How much water does it hold? The answer: A lot, it seems. And this case might be more open-and-closed that Tecmo is ready to admit.

Let's have a look at the actual evidence submitted by plaintiffs Ozawa and Tsunoda:

Above, is a document from last year where the figurehead Tecmo Union leader signed an overtime work "agreement" claiming to represent all employees. It even says "chosen by popular vote" at the bottom in Japanese, which is circled. (There was no vote, apparently.) This figurehead exec's name hasn't been make public, and it is grayed out in the document. It does say his position though in Japanese: 経営管理部　経理課　係長, which basically means a low-level management exec. Not exactly the kind of guy 250+ R&D employees would choose to represent them. Link here.

Here is another document is similar, but for the so-called "flex-time" agreement. The aim in Japanese employment law for the "flex-time" rule it to allow employees to work non-standard hours freely. However, Tecmo stands accused of using it as an excuse not to pay overtime to workers. It was signed by the same figurehead, therefore the suit claims it is invalid. Link here.

This document is from this spring, after Ozawa had finally be elected by a democratic Tecmo staff vote, replacing the figurehead. This is a statement from Tecmo's president, Yoshimi Yasuda, in response to several queries made by Ozawa and the Tecmo Labor Union and is in response to the labor unions request for information on why a low-level management guy was made labor union head without an election. Yasuda claims that the owner of the company, now deceased, told him before his death that he should "just pick someone in management and make him the labor representative."

This document is important in two ways:

1. It backs up the claim that there was no election.
2. It shows that Yasuda is trying to dodge responsibility by blaming the beloved founder of Tecmo, now deceased.

Note: Tecmo released an English language press release yesterday which reads: "There are several inaccurate reports stating that all 300 company employees are named in the lawsuit and the company would like to clarify that only two employees are involved in the suit." Tecmo is correct, only two employees are actually named as plaintiffs in the suit, but how many do they represent. As Kotaku originally posted, "The plaintiffs represent all 300 Tecmo employees and contest that because of this dubious employment structure, overtime for the employees exceeded over 100 hours per month in unpaid overtime."

The documents submitted as evidence can also be found here. There are also, of course, part of public record.

Game developer Tecmo has a request for journalists.

Sections of the Western media are running a rumor that large numbers of our staff plan on leaving the company over salary issues, and it is regrettable that this inaccurate news is being propagated, fueling uneasiness among our developers.

We Tecmo are currently focused on bringing high quality products to our customers. Doing our best to concentrate under the circumstances, we hope to bring more enjoyable products to the marketplace.

We have exciting announcements regarding game launches planned for the future. Understanding of the work we are doing and consideration of fairness is asked regarding the treatment of unconfirmed information, as well as how it affects the actual staff. We thank everyone for their understanding.

Recent Press Releases [Tecmo]

• Disclosing or leaking information regarding Tecmo's game software, sales, development or any other company secrets

• Using newspapers, magazines and the internet to criticize company software and company employees

• Obstructing the company's business through slanderous remarks to third parties

• Do not accept interviews regarding Tecmo or talk to the press about the company

This gag-order certainly seems in response to the statement Itagaki released to Kotaku and other outlets.

テクモ、板垣氏に対して仮処分を申請 [IT Media] [Pic]

テクモ社員、残業代求め提訴 [jiji via my game news flash]
テクモ労働組合の執行役員2名が未払賃金を求めて提訴 [Game Watch Impress]

Guess the killing 3000 people thing didn'go down very well with the Judge. While Thompson stresses the Marshals were "nice gentlemen" sent only to warn him about sending those kind of letters, he's less kind to Moreno, who he accuses of trying to intimidate him by sending the pair. As such, he's going to complain to the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, accusing the Justice Department of harassing him. Oh dear.

BREAKING: U.S. Marshals Pay Jack Thompson "a Visit" [GamePolitics]

Nintendo Sues Nyko Over Copies of Wii Nunchuk Remote [Bloomberg]

Gamers sue EA over football exclusivity [GameSpot]

JT: May I move the podium?
JUDGE: No. Just everybody leave it in one spot. That's the way we usually do it in the courtroom.
JT: Can we change that one spot? No?
JUDGE: I'd prefer that you leave it right there.
JT: Nice. Can I pivot it?
JUDGE: Is that what you'd like, sir?
JT: I'm asking you.
JUDGE: Okay. That's fine.

Jack Thompson: GTA hater, podium pivoter.

Read JT Transcript [GamePolitics]

The tech company was seeking $419 million in damages and Microsoft was counter-suing for $11.5 million.

Last February, a federal jury ordered that Microsoft pay $1.5 billion in damages to the telcom equipment maker for violating two patents related to digital music, specifically MP3 encoding and decoding via Windows Media Player. That award was later overturned, and Alcatel is expected to appeal later this year.

That finding and the most recent finding are part of a larger suite of suits that also involve speech coding and the video coding used in the Xbox 360.

Microsoft didn't infringe on video patent, jury finds [San Diego Tribune]

Thompson's disciplinary hearing apparently ended in the attorney walking out of the courtroom after saying the judge did not have the authority to hear his case, a reader who sat in on the hearing told us.

The case proceeded without Thompson's presence and the Florida Bar issued its recommendation for the enhanced disbarment. Judge Dava Tunis' specific recommendations for sanctions will be included in her official report, to be due to the Florida Supreme Court by September 2nd.

Before walking out of the courtroom, Thompson filed what he called "Thompson's Formal Objection to June 4 Sanctions Hearing." In the rambling, 4,500-word objection, Thompson questioned Tunis' ability to preside at his hearing, calling her incompetent and arrogant and threatening to have her removed from office "in the days and weeks ahead." He also went on to call the people run The Florida Bar fascists and denied that he was involved some sort of "petty culture war."

Thompson wrapped up his 14-page objection by quoting from the bible, and saying that he and Senators Clinton and Obama understand the dangers posed by the Grand Theft Auto games.

"I am “guilty” of being right and ahead of the curve when it came to Howard Stern and as to Grand Theft Auto. Because I took on Bar complainant, Al Cardenas, the Howard Stern Show is off terrestrial radio and his influence diminished.

Because I took on this cop-killing, woman-bashing video game, the Presidential race is now addressing the issue and this particular video game.

Try to get me disbarred. Go ahead, do your worst, Referee Tunis. I will continue to do my best. "

We've contacted Thompson for a reaction to the recommended disbarment recommendations and will update you if and when he responds. In the meantime, hit the jump for the full letter.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA

THOMPSON’S FORMAL OBJECTION TO JUNE 4 SANCTIONS “HEARING”

This document is hereby submitted to the referee at the commencement of this non-hearing sanctions “hearing” and read into the record as well, and thus I depart from the traditional identification of myself, a party herein, in the third person and instead speak in my own voice in the first person directly to the referee.

I object, strenuously, as I have in the past on the record, to the very notion that this proceeding can even occur, on various grounds any single one of which is fatal to its legitimacy, including but not limited to the following grounds:
You, the referee, are not even a judge. The law in Florida on that is clear, and it is found in Florida’s Loyalty Oath Statute 876.05, et sequitur, held constitutional and binding by the United States Supreme Court in Connell v. Higginbotham.

We know now from a recently concluded State Attorney’s investigation and Report that your first state loyalty oath was forged. We also know that your next two oaths, which you signed, did not conform to that statute in that the language deviated from what is required and they were not even notarized. A number of formal opinions by Florida’s Attorney General state that such flaws are fatal regardless of intent.

The statute itself states that if any state official, including a judge, fails to comply strictly with the loyalty oath statute, then that judge is without legal authority to serve and must immediately be removed from office. I will accomplish your removal from office in the days and weeks ahead, as the litigation that will achieve that has already been filed by me in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. The Supreme Court of Florida, which you, the referee think is your ally in what you are doing here has ruled that your loyalty oath screw-up is fatal.

As Richard Nixon found, the cover-up is worse than the initial law breaking. When I found out about your forged loyalty oath and then about your two subsequent inadequate loyalty oaths, I moved for your recusal. You then immediately commenced a cover-up, refusing by a false, formal order to acknowledge the loyalty oath problem, pretending it did not exist. Proving the cover-up, you even more foolishly executed on February 4, 2008, finally, a loyalty oath, which I attach hereto, that complies with the state statute, but you did so too late to keep you in office, as the oath must be timely executed, and yours is years too late.

The law is clear; your post facto oath is invalid. This panicked oath is an irrefutable admission that you never had a valid oath in the first place. How could you do something so dumb? Easy; desperate people do desperate things. You will be removed from office, and all of what you have done in this Bar matter will be voided as a result.

Secondly, we know now that six of the seven Florida Supreme Court Justices never executed valid state loyalty oaths. I have proven that, as has Florida and Washington, D.C. lawyer Montgomery Blair Sibley, whose own Bar referee, Judge Prescott, had his oath forged by the same person, Sayed A. Shah, who forged yours. What a coincidence.

The Florida Supreme Court entered its order seeking to deny me my right to represent myself before it on this disciplinary matter when I alerted the Court to its loyalty oath problem. They, too, in a panic, executed too-late, post facto, wholly ineffectual loyalty oaths after the whistle was blown on them. This just proves that sitting on the highest court in the state neither make you clever. The consequence of all of this post facto oath taking is that all that the Florida Supreme Court has done in this case is invalid and will be voided, and if you think I will not accomplish that end then a) you do not understand the lawsuit already filed, and b) you don’t know Jack.

Thirdly, we are here today because you issued a written document you called “Recommendations” by which you announced to the world with this document you leaked to the press, that I am guilty on 27 of 31 counts brought by The Bar. In issuing and leaking this document called “Recommendations,” you have clearly violated Florida Bar Rule 3-7.6 (m) which states in pertinent part:

The referee’s report shall include:

(A) a finding of fact as to each item of misconduct of which the respondent is charged, which findings of fact shall enjoy the same presumption of correctness as the judgment of the trier of fact in a civil proceeding;

(B) recommendations as to whether the respondent should be found guilty of misconduct justifying disciplinary measures;

(C) recommendations as to the disciplinary measures to be applied;

English is the greatest of all languages. It allows its users to be very precise. Any rational person conversant in English understands, upon reading Rule 3-7.6, that the document containing findings of guilt must also contain “findings of fact” as to what I am guilty of. Your “Recommendations” have absolutely no findings of fact, and yet we are here today on that invalid document. There is absolutely no provision in our Bar Rules for a document called “Recommendations” devoid of such findings of fact. You and The Bar have made it up. You and The Bar have made a lot of things up in the last four years, and this is just your latest.

From the day this Bar effort began four years ago and in which you, the referee have become ensnared, although you have certainly warmed to the recruitment, I have been asking for a document that informs me what I have done to violate the Rules. Four years later, I still have no such document and no notice and thus no due process by virtue of that failure. You couldn’t even come up with it in your “Recommendations.” This is a game of “hide and seek,” Referee Tunis, which you cannot win.

I have said it before, and I will say it again to you, and of course you will not listen, but the record must be made clear: You can’t charge a lawyer and you can’t charge a rapist with anything unless you tell him in the charging document with specificity—with facts alleged—what he has done.

We went into the trial here in November 2007 with no specific charges. The Bar said, “Here are the Rules you have violated, here are the documents, you figure it out.” At the trial, there was absolutely no evidence—no facts—put forth that I violated any of these Bar Rules. My favorite “testimony,” if you want to call it that, which highlights the problem of not telling an accused what he has done wrong, was from Alabama Judge James Moore, who admitted under oath, that I did not withhold any of my colorful disciplinary history from him, as Blank Rome alleged, but that in fact I gave him more facts than I was required to give. My sin was that I did not tell him how “serious” were my Bar sins.

I didn’t even have to tell him I was merely reprimanded by The Bar in 1992 for trying to protect my family from death threats, but because I did not characterize my sins as more serious than The Florida Bar itself did, when I provided him all the facts, he said I had not “see the whole picture.” Believe me, I see the whole picture. I am to be punished for telling the truth because I pose a threat to this white judge who put this black teen on death row in Alabama. That’s the “whole picture.” I am also to be punished, you have concluded, for going on 60 Minutes and warning the American people, like Paul Revere, that, inspired by video games, “the murders are coming.” And they have come.

I am to be punished for trying to save lives, over the objection of Blank Rome, which gives more money to the Bush family than any other law firm in the world. This is the Bush family that put you on this bench and whom you have protected by refusing to give me a subpoena that puts Jeb Bush under oath about his personal, financial relationship with the two law firms that are behind all of these Bar complaints, Tew Cardenas and Blank Rome. You are Jeb Bush’s protector and shield from Jack Thompson, and you have discharged your sordid task in that regard effectively.

Fourthly, most of what I am charged with I did not do on behalf of any client but in pursuit of efforts to secure enforcement of laws for the common good. The Florida Supreme Court ruled, again in English so that any rational person can understand, in Florida Bar v. Brake, that a lawyer cannot violate Rule 4-8.4(d) unless he is “engaged in the practice of law on behalf of a client.” I had no client, Referee Tunis, in almost all of this, and thus you have had no jurisdiction over any of that. You have ignored this clear Florida Supreme Court ruling, and you will be undone by this cavalier disregard for the law in this regard as well.

Fifthly, you have received numerous motions to recuse, all of which have been facially and legally sufficient. The law in Florida in state court is clear as to recusal. Once you receive a motion to recuse which on its face conforms to the requirements of Florida Statute 38.10 and Rule 2.330, Florida Rules of Judicial Administration, you must withdraw from a case. You are not allowed to assess the validity of the facts in the motion. The filing of a motion that conforms to the statute mandates recusal, period.

There is no wiggle room on this. You have wiggled, repeatedly, like a nightcrawler on a hook. You have thumbed your nose at this Florida recusal law as well, and this alone will undo you and which renders whatever you do today and after null and void.

Sixthly, we come to an issue about which The Florida Bar’s Board of Governors and I are in total agreement. The Governors have come up with a new Rule that before Judges can serve as referees in Bar matters they must be trained as to how to discharge these specialized duties of a referee. In the other Bar case you had Arthur Teele was the respondent, and he solved your problem by killing himself in the lobby of the Miami Herald. I’m not giving you that out.

The Bar Governors have decided: No training, you can’t be a referee. Leaving aside your bias against me, which you have never missed an opportunity to express, proof of your incompetence and total lack of training as a referee has been legion. You did whatever The Bar told you to do, even to the point of refusing to give me hearings, refusing to issue subpoenas, and refusing to afford me any semblance of due process. Smiling and saying “Have a nice day,” after you have just informed me that I can’t get a continuance for my wife’s cancer surgery and chemotherapy is not due process, Referee Tunis. It is incompetence wedded to arrogance, poorly masked by a happy face.

Going into this complex “disciplinary” matter with no training on what a referee should do and how you should act undoes all of what you have done and will yet do to me, as the new Bar Rule—let’s call it the Tunis Rule—will alone be a basis for reversal.

There is more that I could say and frankly want to say at this Star Chamber, kangaroo court “hearing,” but the record has probably been sufficiently made to date to make it easy enough to undo this mess, but I note here, as I conclude my objection to these proceedings:

You have been so cruel and at the same time so foolish as to call my pleadings herein “propaganda.” That word means something, given how propaganda was used in the last century by the Third Reich in Nazi Germany to justify the placement of people of faith in “relocation centers” where they were starved and gassed as the “final solution” to the problem they posed. A human spirit that could do that is more than capable of doing to me what you have done. Clarence Thomas, at his Senate confirmation hearings, spoke of those proceedings as “a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks who in any way deign to think for themselves, to do for themselves, to have different ideas, and it is a message that unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you. You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate rather than hung from a tree."

The US Senate, Referee Tunis, has nothing on you and your high-tech lynching of the uppity Christian who stands before you.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas warned in Lathrop v. Donohue that integrated state bars, like Florida’s, if they were left unchecked as to their ideologies, would turn into, his phrase “goose-stepping brigades” for nonconforming lawyers who did not fit the majority’s mold. There is a reason my e-mail address is amendmentone@comcast.net. It is because of the fascists who run The Florida Bar identified as such by a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

You also smeared me with the epithet that I am involved in some petty “culture war” into which I have tried, you allege, to recruit you. Some of us, Referee Tunis, simply know and dare act upon the fact that children should be protected from corporate predation, whether it be the violent pornography in Grand Theft Auto IV, sold to my 15-year-old son in a sting he did at Best Buy in Dadeland, in which women proclaim “I’ll suck your cock real nice” then do so, only to be killed by the hero in the game. We actually do something about the sale of simulators to underage teens on how to kill policemen in ways you would not even imagine, which is precisely what Devin Moore did in a police station in Fayette, Alabama. We come against radio broadcast descriptions, in our hometown on WQAM-AM, by Howard Stern as kids are going to school at 8 am by female amputees on how to lubricate their stumps and place them into the anuses of men to achieve orgasm.

Those of us who have done something about this do not want you in what you derisively call a “culture war” anymore than we would want Frank Fuster to run a day care center. I represented Ileana Fuster in her divorce from Frank Fuster, and she knows more about what I have been trying to do and why I have been trying to do it over the past twenty years than you even care to know and yet which you mock. It’s your and The Bar’s culture war on me and upon people of faith that indicts you, not me.

The Preamble to your and my Bar Rules, Referee Tunis, prohibits the bringing of Bar complaints by opposing parties and counsel as a means of collateral attack. Such SLAPP Bar complaints are illegal and they are void. When I provided you a letter from The Bar’s own prosecutor in Ft. Lauderdale saying just that, you refused to have a hearing on the matter. You refuse to have a hearing on any matter that threatens to derail this locomotive in whose engine you oh-so-primly sit, as it careens toward the bridge that is already washed out.

Just this past week you entered an order asserting that The Bar has never demanded a mental health assessment of me. I have the letters from The Bar that prove you a liar. It was in response to those repeated demands that I went to one of The Bar’s own favored forensic psychologists, Oren Wunderman, Executive Director of the Family Resource Center of South Florida, who spent hours examining me, administering tests, and he found me a) wonderfully sane, and b) a person whose Christian faith has enhanced his activities as a lawyer. The Bar has a real problem in that Dr. Wunderman simply echoes what The Bar itself had to formally admit in 1991 when its insurer paid me damages for forcing me to undergo forced psych evaluations, on the order of the oathless Florida Supreme Court.

The Bar then formally found my actions stemmed from my religious faith, and it has never gotten over being bested at its own game. This latest installment of this anti-Christian persecution is simply payback by The Bar, and you have allowed yourself to become part of it.

You have chosen to ignore Dr. Wunderman’s findings and The Bar’s own previous findings as to why Jack Thompson does what he does, because you must: To do otherwise would have given me a hearing to which I am entitled under Florida Statute 761, called the Florida Religious Freedom Restoration Act, held constitutional by the United States Supreme Court, which provides me a total defense in these Bar proceedings and which also, when they are over, gives me a cause of action against you personally and against the State of Florida. This act provides that if my actions stem from a religious impulse, then The Bar cannot discipline me for acting upon my religious impulse. Good luck to a Bar whose own formal findings establish why I do what I do.

When I wrote a letter to Al Cardenas, calling him to be ashamed of what he and his law firm have done to harm children by fronting for the Howard Stern Show, I was acting upon the Scriptural template of John the Baptist confronting Herod about marrying his brother’s wife and the example of Jesus confronting the Pharisees, who called them “hypocrites, whited sepulchers, and vipers.” Jesus was not a silent doormat and neither am I.

This Florida Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which you arrogantly chose to pretend does not exist and on which you would not give me a hearing as to my defense thereunder, has been found to protect as a religious practice the consumption of peyote because there is a religious sect that makes doing so a sacrament. You cannot be serious, Referee Tunis, if you think that a jury will not look at what you have done to me for what I have done, in the name of Jesus Christ, and not be appalled at your discrimination against this uppity Christian “propagandist” whom you smear as a mere “culture warrior.”

Finally, and then I am done with this formal objection to these proceedings, over a year ago I taught an evening class at Miami-Dade Community College on the campus a few minutes from here. When I was introduced by the professor as the man who got Howard Stern off terrestrial radio, which Stern himself admits, and despite the Bar complaints of Tew Cardenas and other porn lawyers made at the time, all of the African American women in that classroom gave me an ovation. They get it. They understand the racism and the misogyny by Stern targeting them. You, a white woman of privilege living on Key Biscayne, obviously don’t “get it.”

Those black female students are the people who will be on my jury in the trial in which you and The Bar will be a defendant. I do what I do for them, and not for you, not for the ultra-liberal extremists on the Board of Governors like Steve Chaykin, my actual designated reviewer who publicly states that lawyers like Jack Thompson who oppose gay adoption are “enemies of The Bar and outside the core values of The Bar.” My other designated reviewer was Ben Kuehne, to the left of Stalin ideologically who is an operative for the ACLU, which national organization has targeted me for years. Kuehne is now under federal indictment for money-laundering and you, you obstructionist sitting illegally on that bench, would not issue a subpoena to allow me to depose him. In that single act of ministerial arrogance you violated any conceivable notion of due process under our Constitution. In doing so, you embarrass the bench more than any words I could write about Judge Ron Friedman.

The Steve Chaykins and the Ben Kuehnes who have hijacked this Bar, and who have hijacked you, the referee, are the ones who have fashioned Justice Douglas’ “goose-stepping brigades” that will undo both you and The Bar. I have put up with your serial breaches of Florida laws, of the Canons of Judicial Conduct, of the Constitution, and of common decency for a year and a half now. When this is done, and when you recommend my disbarment, and when the Supreme Court does disbar me, as I am presently bound and gagged and unable to represent myself before them in this matter, even though I now have a client whom I represent before them in that very same court, the tables will be turned. It will then be my time at bat, and a jury of normal people in this County will undo all that you have done.

Even now, this day, I thank God that I am who I am, in the situation in which I now find myself, rather than the one in which you brazenly put yourself. From the Gospel of John 15: 18-25 I end with the words of Jesus of Nazareth, which you, Referee Tunis, have proven true:

18"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. 22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin. 23He who hates me hates my Father as well. 24If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.'”

Having only scratched the surface with what is wrong about these lawless proceedings and why they are illegitimate under the laws and Constitution that you were supposed to take an oath to uphold, I have no choice, as a matter of law, but to depart from these proceedings now and not participate in them other than to object to them, which I have now done.

To do otherwise, to participate in any fashion in these invalid, unauthorized, unconstitutional, vicious proceedings, waives my objection to them and in fact validates them. I will not do that because I am too good a lawyer to do that, having practiced law, Referee Tunis, in continuous good standing for 31 years, despite the efforts of the anti-Christian Florida Bar that recruited you to do exactly what you have done like a good little soldier in your own little culture war on a man who protects the children you should be protecting.

Jesus said, “If any of you should cause one of these little ones to stumble, then it would be better for you that a millstone be tied around your neck and that you be cast into the uttermost depths of the sea.”

By perseverance and by God’s grace, I have fashioned a legal millstone that I will place around your neck and the neck of The Bar. Don’t blame me, Referee Tunis, when you feel the water rising.

I have been invited to be one of four honorees this year in Utah at what is called America’s Freedom Festival. I will ride with the other four honorees in a parade attended in the past by 250,000 folks lining the streets of Provo. The petty hypocrisy by which you, a referee, seek to harm me cannot undo the blessing that awaits me, by God’s mercy and grace, in middle America a month from this day. I attach the news release from the Freedom Festival so that you can see that I am being blessed because I have stood against The Bar, not in spite of that stand. I have put myself in harm’s way, at the hands of harmful people like you, Referee Tunis, and in doing so I have “fought the good fight” to protect little ones who mean more to me than anything you think you can do to me.

You are the one who is out of touch, Ms. Tunis. Senators Clinton and Obama have both warned the American people, specifically, of the danger posed by the Grand Theft Auto games. The Blank Rome lawyers who protect this game want me disbarred because I dared to sound the alarm about Grand Theft Auto on CBS’ 60 Minutes before Senators Clinton and Obama followed my lead. Now, in part because of my efforts, a recent poll shows that 65% of the American people want a federal law to prohibit the sale of games like GTA to kids. I am “guilty” of being right and ahead of the curve when it came to Howard Stern and as to Grand Theft Auto. Because I took on Bar complainant, Al Cardenas, the Howard Stern Show is off terrestrial radio and his influence diminished. Because I took on this cop-killing, woman-bashing video game, the Presidential race is now addressing the issue and this particular video game.

Try to get me disbarred. Go ahead, do your worst, Referee Tunis. I will continue to do my best.

I HEREBY CERTIFY that this has likely been hand-delivered this June 4, 2008, to Bar staff counsel Sheila Tuma in the courtroom.

As we reported on May 20th, Judge Tunis recommended to the Florida Supreme Court that Thompson be found guilty on 27 of 31 charges of professional misconduct. Of the 27 recommendations of guilt, twenty-one are from a suit related to Grand Theft Auto and four are from an attempt by Thompson to have Rockstar's Bully declared a public nuisance.

Judge Tunis will consider penalties for Thompson, among them his possible disbarment. The Florida Supreme Court will rule on Judge Tunis' recommendations of guilt and of disciplinary actions later this year. Though the Court told us it doesn't issue estimations on when rulings will be handed down, Judge Tunis' full report is due in September.

At the closing of the Bar trial, Thompson had argued he's being unfairly persecuted for his religion, and he issued several statements to the press claiming that Judge Tunis is not legally a judge because she "failed to execute valid state loyalty oaths," and stating action taken against him is a "legal nullity."

Our company getting sued by this employee is huge problem... the reasons for making this lawsuit public are self-centered. What's more, this employee is filing this suit for himself and making it seem like he alone is responsible for the development of the game titles the rest of the Team Ninja staff had poured its heart into.

Team NINJA is currently working on a line-up of new titles. All of Team NINJA is starting to work together on interesting new game titles.

This could get very messy folks.

Tecmo's Response [Tecmo.co.jp] [Pic]

スカート内盗撮で59歳副校長を逮捕 [nikkansports via my game news flash]

The Florida Supreme Court will hold a hearing June 4 to consider possible disciplinary action against Miami attorney Jack Thompson, including sanctions. The Florida Bar is seeking to disbar Thompson, removing his ability to practice law in the state of Florida.

As we reported on May 20th, Judge Dava Tunis, who presided over Miami attorney Jack Thompson's Bar trial, recently recommended to the Florida Supreme Court that he be found guilty on 27 of 31 charges of professional misconduct. Of the 27 recommendations of guilt, twenty-one are from a suit related to Grand Theft Auto and four are from an attempt by Thompson to have Rockstar's Bully declared a public nuisance.

The next step is for the Florida Supreme Court to rule on Judge Tunis' recommendations, though the Court told us it doesn't issue estimations on when rulings will be handed down.

At the closing of the Bar trial, Thompson had argued he's being unfairly persecuted for his religion:

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