Jack Thompson and cohorts help needed

[Ysm]

Basically I have to write a report on a media "event/controversy" and I'm going to do about the controversy surrounding video games and the controversy that surrounds titles like manhunt and GTA.

 

I'm kinda of hoping to keep it UK based however. Most stuff I have found has been US-centric however. Can anyone point me in the direction of a UK case of violence in video games and its surrounding controversy?

 

Thanks in advance guys...

[rokhed00]

Howabout the Manhunt killer?

[Charlie]

There hasn't really been anything that big like America have been doing. I did something similar to this and I chose the illegal downloading of music. A very good essay (even if I say so myself), there's a lot of stuff on it.

 

Check out http://www.debateabase.com to see if they have anything on your topic.

[Haver]

Keith 'cash-for-passports' Vaz addressed the Commons back in October 2005 regarding Rockstar's Bully.

 

Mr Vaz, MP for Leicester East, asked Commons leader Geoff Hoon: "Do you share my concern at the decision of Rockstar to publish a new game called Bully in which players use their on-screen persona to kick and punch other schoolchildren?

 

"Will you ask the prime minister to refer this video to the British Board of Film Classification? If they don't make any changes will the government use its powers to ban this video?"

 

Here's the Early Day Motion:

That this House denounces the recent rise in violent video games; condemns the forthcoming video game Bully, which allows players to adopt the persona of Jimmy Hopkins, a 15-year-old thug who has been incarcerated in a boys' boarding school, and in which points can be scored by terrorising other pupils with a range of physical and psychological abuse; notes with grave concern that last year more than 31,000 children and young people spoke to a ChildLine counsellor about bullying; and calls on the Government to urge the British Board for Classification to take a much more cautious approach with this game and to ban it from being sold in the United Kingdom.

 

He spoke to MCV about plans he had for a mandatory system of clarification that would be drawn up independently.

 

Vaz is not convinced the tight regulations that already govern the industry are sufficient. “I want to see a statutory system, not a voluntary code drawn up by the industry itself,” Mr Vaz explained. “I’m introducing my own Bill to make sure that happens. It’s not – and never has been – something that can be done by the industry itself.”

 

These demands come despite the current procedures that require any game depicting sexual activity or violence to be automatically submitted to the BBFC for classification. All other titles are rated by the pan-European PEGI system.

 

From the Leicester Mercury:

Mr Vaz has long campaigned against violent video games ever since Leicester 14-year-old Stefan Pakeerah was murdered by a man whom, his mother Giselle claimed, was obsessed with the game Manhunt, also made by Rockstar Games.

 

And as regards to Stefan Pakeerah:

The parents of a boy who was murdered with a claw hammer by a friend have blamed a violent video game which the teenage killer was "obsessed" with.

 

Following the hearing she said her son's killer had mimicked a game called Manhunt, developed by Edinburgh-based Rockstar North, in which the players score points for violent killings.

 

And quoting Wikipedia, how the whole media furore was founded on bullshit:

The police denied any such link between the game and the murder however [3], citing drug-related robbery as the motive. The presiding judge also placed sole responsibility with LeBlanc in his summing up after awarding him a life sentence [4]. GAME have since returned Manhunt to their shelves, after it transpired that the murderer did not own or play the game. It was the victim who owned a copy of Manhunt, even though he was under 18.

 

And here's Mr. Vaz talking bollocks in Parliament about the case:

Hon. Members may recall that I raised at Prime Minister's questions on 15 September 2004 the case of Stefan Pakeerah, a 14-year-old Leicester schoolboy who was brutally murdered. Stefan's parents believe that the perpetrator of that savage attack was influenced by the video game "Manhunt". Stefan's mother, Giselle Pakeerah, has been campaigning to ban the sale of the PlayStation2 game. Stefan's father, Patrick Pakeerah, said:

 

"The game was like an instruction manual".

 

Seventeen-year-old Warren Le Blanc pleaded guilty to Stefan's murder and will serve at least 13 years in prison before being considered for release.

 

Since the tragic attack, I have been sharing the concerns of the Pakeerah family and have received a growing number of letters from concerned parents on the issue. I am grateful for the support of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, my right hon. Friend the Member for Dewsbury (Ann Taylor) and other parliamentary colleagues.

 

Media clippings framed by conservative tosh:

http://www.mediawatchuk.org/news%20and%20views/Training%20to%20kill.htm

 

Also, MP Michael Foster puts his weight behind Vaz's anti-Bully campaign:

Michael Foster said: "I know from my constituents how harmful bullying is and what pain it causes young people. This game allows the person playing it to take on the persona of a bully, able for instance to kick and punch other pupils and spit in their food. I think that can only encourage young people to find pleasure and excitement in abusing others."