GTA settlement
 

settlement website
Seems there was a settlement due to the "hot coffee" mod, which allowed you to have sex. So basically anyone can seem to get free money of $5 (well might be pro-rated depending on the number of claims) by just claiming to have the game.

Thanks for the heads up. I can get a couple hot coffees for five bucks.

I'm glad my two boys 11 & 12yo haven't discovered that mod yet ...at least as far as I know they haven't. It seems for my kids and their friends, by now the novelty of GTA has worn off and they moved on to Xbox360 games like Halo, Assassin's Creed, Guitar Hero, Gears of War. If I see them back on GTA I'll get suspicious why.

I bought one of the GTA games and never saw the attraction. I was thinking it would be more 'true crime' like when instead it was more like NARC just playing as the drug dealer.

Maybe I can get $5 back :P

Of course, instead of thinking of the free money, you could consider who you're taking it from. Video games need to be protected as free speech. There are thousands of porn games out there. GTA is fucking peanuts. And its a good game.

i wonder how much the lawyers made off this one...

What a dangerous fucking precedent. I'm scared.

nothing precedent setting that i can see.
the content wasnt the issue, just the rating. the lawyers found a hole and exploited it.

Did you follow the Hot Coffee issue at all? The "content" wasn't available to anyone actually playing the game normally. You had to download a separate mod off the internet to unlock the area. While it might've been on the CD, it certainly wasn't available without external modification.

You're right, the censorship aspect of this is very troublesome, totally unacceptable. What to do? ...take the money and return it to the GTA people with a note "keep up the good work"? Send nasty letters to the lawyers?


From the online documents:

THE LAWYERS REPRESENTING YOU
11. Do I have a lawyer in this case?
The Court ordered that the Lead Class Counsel, Seth R. Lesser, Esq., and Locks Law Firm, PLLC, together with the
following law firms will represent you and the other Settlement Class Members: Harke & Clasby LLP; Bromberg Law
Offices, P.C.; Burstein Law Firm, P.C.; Glancy Binkow & Goldberg, LLP; Nestor & Constance; Reinhardt Wendorf &
Blanchfield and Williams Cuker & Berezofsky. These lawyers and law firms are called Class Counsel.
If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.
12. How will Class Counsel be paid?
Class Counsel will ask the Court for an award of attorneys’ fees and reimbursement of expenses in the total amount of
$1,000,000.00. This amount include approximately $955,000 in attorneys’ fees and approximately $45,000 for
reimbursement of expenses. Defendants has agreed to and will not oppose this request. A copy of the request, after it is
filed with the Court, will be available at www.gtasettlement.com. The Court may consider the request at a Settlement
Fairness Hearing on June 25, 2008. The amount of fees and expenses awarded to Plaintiffs’ Counsel by the Court are
separate and apart from any money and/or benefits made available to the Class or the Class Representatives and will not
affect in any way the settlement benefits to which you are entitled.

they can keep the 5$

It was a good game.

A million fucking dollars?

Cocksuckers..

Where, exactly, is the censorship? The case wasn't about the Hot Coffee mod itself, but that the rating wasn't appropriate for the content on the disc.

Misleading consumers is a big no-no.

The cynic in me says Rockstar Games did it intentionally. They put locked content in the game then leaked the mod to spur sales and it backfired on them.

Dig this,
You can get up to $35 back if you still have the receipt. But honestly, who still owns a receipt from any game they purchased past a couple weeks ago.

I gather this is a game? I'm not certain, around here GTA is our government region (greater Toronto area).


***edit

shit okay, so I had to click a link, and my suspicions are on the money GTA - Grand Theft Auto. Now, to investigate this hot coffee stuff.

The lawyers are the only ones who profit in the end. It's limiting free speech. If you, as a parent, allow your 10 year old to buy GTA then you are at fault, not the game company.

Whenever I think about a class action suit I always am reminded of "The Jerk".

Which then reminds me of one of my favorite lines in that movie (and there are so many good ones).

"He hates these cans!"

The whole thing was stupid. It was stupid for them to have that on the GTA disk, and a $5 pay out is stupid too.