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Jack Thompson. If you know anything about the world of gaming, you know that name. And if you've been paying attention, not just to Gamervision news, but also to mainstream news, you are as sick of hearing his name as I am.

And the fact that he has been proven wrong on so many issues so many times has not slowed his mad campaign against violence in video games one iota. He has gone after Doom, Counter Strike, and Grand Theft Auto. With his latest effort, he may be going after a target that even the monstrous Covenant couldn't bring down: Master Chief.

In a letter sent to Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and forwarded to GameAlmighty, Thompson is threatening to give Microsoft his patented shake-down treatment unless Microsoft agrees to Jack Thompson's conditions for selling the game.

Personally, I think Microsoft should tell Thompson to shove his threats and his lack of credibility right up his frag-hole. But since men like Thompson are allowed to speak as "experts" on gaming despite overwhelming evidence proving him wrong, chances are Microsoft's legal department will tell them to jump through his little hoops.

Anyway, here's the letter he sent to Bill Gates:

Bill Gates Microsoft Corporation Redmond, Washington Re: Halo 3 Dear Mr. Gates: As you know, the Federal Trade Commission has repeatedly found that games rated “Mature” by the video game industry-captured Entertainment Software Rating Board are routinely sold to kids under the age of 17 despite the age rating. The most recent failure rate of the ratings on “Mature” games, according to the FTC, is 42%. The entire rating system is a fraud, and “broken,” the latter description aptly provided by Senator Hillary Clinton. As you also know, Lee Boyd Malvo trained on Microsoft’s Halo to further enable him to become the remarkably efficient “DC Beltway Sniper.” That was reported by NBC News at the time and was noted in Malvo’s criminal trial. You appeared on CBS’ 60 Minutes II and rather revealing and usefully noted that “the cool thing about these games is that they transport you to a world you think is real.” Precisely. Capcom has recently disclosed to investors that your video game industry’s violent games, sold to children, pose a real hazard to the health of the industry. Right on. The hyperviolent Microsoft Xbox 360 game Halo 3 is scheduled by your company for commercial release in September of this year. The Beta version that was released last week shows us all just how violent the game is and how inappropriate it is for play by anyone under 17, as the “Mature” rating it will surely receive indicates. Here’s the deal, Mr. Gates: Either Microsoft undertakes dramatic, real steps, through its marketing, wholesale, and retail operations to assure that Halo 3 is not sold, via the Internet and in stores, directly to anyone under 17, or I shall proceed to make sure that Microsoft is held to that standard by appropriate legal means. I have done that before successfully as to Best Buy, and I shall do so again as to Microsoft and all retailers of Halo 3. Regards, Jack Thompson

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