Speaking of GTA, more childish ing leads to more childish lawsuits

[75th]

Suit seeks to ban sales of por video game

Thursday, January 1, 2004 Posted: 9:24 AM EST (1424 GMT)


WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) -- A lawsuit by Haitian groups that asks for the top-selling video game "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" to be removed from store shelves will be decided in federal court.

Haitian civil rights groups filed the lawsuit because the game instructs players to "kill the Haitians" and awards points for each kill.

The suit was filed December 23 in state circuit court in Palm Beach County. Attorneys for Rockstar Games Inc. opted to move the case to federal court, and that motion was granted Tuesday. No hearing dates were immediately set.

New York-based Rockstar Games has agreed to remove the offensive line from future versions of the award-winning video that has sold 11 million copies.

But the Haitian organizations, led by the Haitian-American Coalition of Palm Beach County, have also asked for more than $15,000 in damages.

The lawsuit takes on heavyweights in the video game industry, including Rockstar Games, its parent company Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., Sony Computer Entertainment, the Microsoft Corp., and retailers Target, Wal-Mart and Best Buy.

The manufacturer of the game, in which an ex-convict is hired to recover stolen drug money in the streets of Miami, has been harshly criticized for its portrayal of Haitians.

Earlier this month, about 100 Haitian-Americans demonstrated outside a Wal-Mart Supercenter in nearby Boynton Beach chanting, "Stop Vice City."

Attorneys for the Haitian organizations and the video game manufacturer did not return phone calls late Wednesday.

[PIGEON-RAT]

i want to sue hbo to take the sopranos off the air because it reinforces a negative stereotype of italians

[Testosterone boy]

$15,000 in damages?

That is weird with 11,000,000 copies sold. Looks to me like they are not really after money. Most attorneys won't take a case unless damages are sought, perhaps that is the minimum that would interest an attorney with things to do.

[The Red Dragon]

Why sue now? That game has been out for awhile.

[EnderJE]

Because Haitians only play XBox?

[unclebully]

What about the cubans?

[dzulboy]

there sueing now cause haitians can't afford video games and they had to wait till 11 million copies were sold so they could find a house to steal them from lmaoo just jokeing people sometimes its not the money people want its the respect of others and maybe thats all the haitians want

[BO-DEN]

cencorship is unAMERICAN!!!


BO-DEN

[chrisoh]

This is ing stupid, this lawsuit only gives EVEN MORE publicity to the game, Rockstar will probably sell a million more copies cause this 's in the news.

Also, any group thats stupid enough to try to sue "Rockstar Games, its parent company Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., Sony Computer Entertainment, the Microsoft Corp., and retailers Target, Wal-Mart and Best Buy." are in way over their heads.

[ohashi]

RSG should sue everyone for damaging their sales.