In the background and while Jack Thompson has been making his views on the V-Tech incident well-known, Take 2 and the infamous Florida lawyer have settled their legal dispute in a way which suggests that Mr. Thompson needs to hang his head in shame.
The two parties have been locked in legal battles for some time now, mainly revolving around Rockstar's GTA franchise and Bully. The settlement comes as a Florida court was about to hear Take Two's claim that Thompson was in contempt of court regarding a recent Bully case. This move appears to have been the check mate Take Two needed as it is widely believed Thompson was in danger of facing Jail time had it gone to trial.
The settlement is pretty final in its terms and states:
In the settlement, filed with Federal District Court Judge Cecilia Altonaga, Thompson has agreed that he:
1.) will not sue or threaten to sue to block sale or distribution of any game published by Take Two or its subsidiaries (such as Rockstar).
2.) will not communicate to Take Two or anyone doing business with T2 (Wal-Mart?) any accusation that the company committed any wrongdoing by selling its games. Thompson is not restricted from criticizing the content of T2 games, nor is he prevented from acting as counsel in lawsuits brought against Take Two by other parties
3.) will make any future contacts with T2 through its attorneys.
Take Two has agreed to dismiss its federal lawsuit and Thompson will drop his counterclaim. T2 will also cease pursuit of its contempt of court case against Thompson.
In that light it will be interesting to see which developer Thompson will set his sights on next.