Jack Thompson

John Bruce "Jack" Thompson is a Florida attorney famous in the media for attacking video games, among other forms of media, as responsible for inciting violence among children. Thompson is known for using personal attacks and inflammatory tactics, rather than hard data, to support his cause. Thompson is under investigation from the Florida Bar for inappropriate conduct. He resides in Coral Gables, Florida. Thompson is a Presbyterian and politically conservative.

Thompson is particularly well-known among the video game industry for his controversial "A Modest Video Game Proposal", where Jack wrote a letter to leaders of the video game industry; Jack stated that he would donate $10,000 to a charity of Paul Eibeler's (CEO of Take-Two Interactive) choosing, if any video game-creating entity would create and publish a video game based on his criteria; He wanted the main character of the game (a father whose son was killed by a boy who played violent video games) to kill several high-ranking video game industry executives at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). The game was soon released (titled I'm O.K - A Murder Simulator), though Thompson claimed his letter was satirical, and has not yet donated the promised $10,000. Mike Kralhulik and Jerry Holkins of the Penny Arcade webcomic, avid critics of Thompson and his methods, later donated a $10,000 check to the ESA, in Jack Thompson's name, believing that the ESA would have been Eibler's charity of choice. Thompson responded by attempting to file legal charges against Kralhulik and Holkins for harrasment after Thompson had received death threats from people inspired by Kralhulik and Holkins.