Howdy to all:

First a little background for my question:

We are a subsidiary of Time Warner.
Time Warner owns Warner Communications.
Warner Communications sells lots and lots of music tapes & CDs.
Warner Communications owns Ice-T, the popular rap artist/musician.
Ice-T has cut a record called "Cop Killer", which advocates killing cops.

So here's an interesting question that's come up for simulation products:

What do we do when we are demonstrating our new advanced driving simulators at
major public functions, and are suddenly deluged with picketers protesting
Time-Warner's sponsorship of Ice-T and his Cop Killer song?

This is real: it happened yesterday at the National Sheriffs' Convention in
San Diego.

It may happen next week at the International Association of Chiefs
of Police convention in San Antonio Texas. It may continue for a long time,
during which we will be trying to introduce our product into the law enforcement
community.

(Actually, this question may soon be faced by all of us in coin-op, as soon as
the offended people discover that Atari Games is owned by Time Warner. T/W-owned
businesses everywhere have been targeted for protests & boycotts.)

How do we balance our need to protect free speech with our desire to do
business?

It was suggested by the protesters that we lobby Time-Warner and Warner Com-
munications to moderate voices like those of Ice-T.

What do you think?  Please respond with your ideas for handling this very
real and perhaps soon-to-arrive-on-your-doorstep question...

MORE ABOUT 'COP KILLER' ON PAGE 5A IN TODAYS MERCURY.

Does anyone have the record?   Does anyone know the lyrics?  It might be
useful to post them here.

Does ICE T's song "ADVOCATE" Cop killing? I think not.  Does "Murder, She
Wrote" ADVOCATE murder? Does the Murphy Brown having a child outside of
legal marriage ADVOCATE doing so?

	This is all a bunch of sh*t and I'm tired of it.

	This is and always has been the Reagan/Bush/Quayle way to avoid
real issues. Get everybody all excited about a ficticious TV character,
blame an artist, wrap yourself in the flag, blame the cultural elite,
(who is that anyway?). All this stuff does is steer people away from
concern for concrete, everyday problems that are no where near a solution.
What about jobs, education, health care, social security, the deficet?
It just makes me sick that people fall for this stuff like herds of cattle.
If this doesn't show the breakdown of the educational systems, I don't know
what does. People have gotten just plain stupid and have lost the ability
to think for themselves. It makes me wanna puke.

	What can we do about it? How does it affect Atari Games?
 
Don't worry about it. People's attention span is so short that everyone
will forget about it in a month or two. They will be on to the next 
non-issue fed to them.


Ban an artist, poet, or novelist. Who knows what they might say.
Long live America and the constitution.

Right Carole.  Along those lines, one might say that Cop Killer is a 
response to an event much the same way that the old CSNY tune "Ohio"
was a response to National Guard presence on college campuses and in
the streets.  

Political games aside, the public reaction seems to be real.  The question
is whether or not the fact TW owns a majority of Atari will effect our 
ability to sell simulators.  This question needs to be evaluated first.

I think it may be a bit premature to consider lobbying TW, not to mention
whether this is morally and ethically what we want our company doing.

From:	KIM::JMOORE       23-JUN-1992 14:45:25.92
To:	BERT::CAMERON
CC:	
Subj:	RE: ICE T


	That's about the clearest expression of the media- sponsored
idiocy plague I've ever seen.  It's what thinking people across the 
country murmor to themselves every time they watch news coverage of
just about any political "story" these days.  Their being told they're
not smart enough to hold an opinion on the real problems;  these can 
only be addressed by the political elite.  And what's worse is I can't
tell if the politicians are scheming to make this happen or if they're
really as stupid as they look on TV.

Have some levity,

1 > Ice-T has cut a record called "Cop Killer", which advocates killing cops.
  
  ..so we can come up with a video game that advocates police brutality.
There's even a 15min documentary video on this topic, maybe we could
beat our competitors and buy the license to it.  You game designers believe
me now and hear me later, THERE'S A GAME IN THIS.  We could call it "Beat a
KING" (no relation to BEAT-HEAD I mind you).
Let's give the demonstrators a legitimate reason to be mad at us, instead
of being mad at us for something TW does.!
Besides think of what the publicity would do to the earnings of the game.



2 > So here's an interesting question that's come up for simulation products:
  > What do we do when we are demonstrating our new advanced driving simulators
  > at major public functions, and are suddenly deluged with picketers 
  > protesting Time-Warner's sponsorship of Ice-T and his Cop Killer song?

  Let's take a serious(not) look at the "Beat a KING" game idea again.
Heck, If we make the game realistic enough, LAPD/LARRY GATES might like
it enough to utilize it in their training program.  Let's give the cops 
something they can relate to. Is there a new police trainer theme here?  
I don't know, you tell me.  I know we could definitely count on the 
approval of the 12 jurors in Simivalley and let me tell you folks it isn't 
often that a game company finds the courts on its side!
Ok, so a whole new game would be too much work and we didn't do so hot with
our last fighting game so maybe we should stay away from another mindless
,violent, disgusting gory looser and stick to something we know we can do
well.  What's that you asked?
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm




Ok Ok, I got it.  We make great driving games.  We could do a game where
you drive a car (maybe a black & white one) equipped with radar, computer
and guns.  Yeah GUNS GUNS GUNS!  Don't forget you must be able to shoot
obstacles and opponents.  Boy I think I've got something big here, for 
opponents we could use a tricked-out Beemer or Benze or what ever the 
negative stereotype car is these days and get this, are you ready,  are
you ready for this?  We could put Ice-T behind the wheels of that car
and the player (first person, driver of the black & white car) could 
tell Ice-T. to pull over, drag him out of his car and beat him senseless 
for 15 minutes out of fear for his life.
But wait, 15 minutes is a bit too long.  We'd have to do something about 
that,  can't have long game times cause we wouldn't make any money$$$$$
NO, COULDN'T DO IT, WOULDN'T DO IT, IT WOULDN'T BE PRUDENT. READ MY LIPS...



  
> It was suggested by the protesters that we lobby Time-Warner and Warner Com-
  munications to moderate voices like those of Ice-T.

  On a more serious note, if it's not too late to steer in that direction.
Above suggestion shows a clear lack of appreciation on the demonstrators part
for one of the most valued freedoms which makes the US. OF A. the great 
country that it is today.  We may not have a perfect society, and then again
the world isn't so perfect either.  But we do live in a country that
guarantees us many freedoms that are protected by our constitutional rights.
Freedoms which are coveted by people of other nations where they lack the 
essence of freedom.  
  Therefore we should act responsibly and not let certain elements within our
society sway our beliefs and principle towards their personal goals.  
Let's not cut Ice-T's vocal chords just because he offends the cops.
Our legal system failed to punish those whose actions offended a nation.
Ice-T is entitles to his opinion and we as a society have a responsibility
to protect his right to his opinion and his freedom of expression through his
music (if you can call it that) even if we don't agree with him.  I don't.
Censorship won't resolve the idealistic differences in any society, it just
sweeps our problems under a rug.  Today they want you not to by a record, 
next they'll tell you which book to burn, and before you know it they'll be
telling you how to think. 

Just think what that would do to creativity.

PS. I was kidding about the "BEAT A KING" game idea and I hope that this hasn't
offended anyone except maybe to foster some creative ideas among those who 
feel free to express their view in this forum.  Who knows there might be a game
in this after all. 
-Farrokh-

Hello,

I have the New Body Count CD if anyone wants to borrow it.
Body Count is the name of the band Ice-T created to do Heavy Metal.

We in the Heavy Metal scene think it's good, even though the style is a bit 
dated.

I'll have a sign-up sheet on the outside of my cube if your interested.


-Victor

The Album is not called COP KILLER it's called BODY COUNT, Cop Killer is the 
last song on the album! If you're going to write a 10 page document about 
something you would think that you could get your facts straight.


By the way if you just stepped off the boat,


			Welcome to Amerika!

-Victor

To be realistic, I always thought the Police Trainer should have a
KICK/PUNCH button.

For those of you who haven't yet heard the song, I've posted the lyrics
outside my office, if you're interested.

Chris McComb
Tengen

For those at the other end of the building, I zeroxed Chris' lyric sheet.
It's on the wall outside my office.

Howdy again.

Thanks for all the responses to my question about balancing the need to
protect free speech and the desire to do business.

I hope that everyone who read my question understood that we in simulation
products were not cowering over in the corner wondering what to do about
protesters trying to disrupt our business because of someone else's totally
unrelated activities.

Rather, we were interested in getting a discussion going about a bigger issue.
It's a political campaign year, special interest groups are all out there
being very proactive and in some cases disruptive to those who do not support
them, and we may occasionally get caught in the crossfire.  You may face it at
the local grocery next time there's a clerks' strike, or when you try to take
your kids to the zoo and an animal rights activist throws a red liquid at you
as you walk in, for instance. Just thought it would be interesting to toss it
out to you and see what happened. Waahooo!

Anyway, thanks for the comments.

Re: Ice Tea Protests:

I love protesters. They make life interesting, and they
make me think about political issues that I would not
otherwise think about.

In this instance why are the protesters protesting?
What is thier issue? I do not know, does anyone?

Are they just opposed to killing police or is the music
really bad? Are they opposed to killing in general or
all music that advocates killing. Perhaps they are really
far right wingers that think killing is OK as long as it
is the "establishment" doing the killing. Are the protesters
just against any and all ideas that upset the status quo?

And what about the Ice T group? Could they be justified in
thier calls for action including violance? Have they ever 
been seriously violated by the "establishment" by way of
the police and court system? In many countries on earth
rising up against the government and the police is justified
and reasonable. It may be so in subsectors of our own country.

Yes protests are good. Please listen to what all protesters
have to say. There are often many issues involved, and many
points of view. Almost all protests are justified and the 
opposition (protested) have good reasons for what they are doing.

Eric.

Lover of freedom and protests.

	Could someone please post the words from "Louie, Louie" outside their
office.  I think they're bad but I could never tell for sure.
 -- Don

I believe "Puff, the Magic Dragon" taught small children to smoke dope
and live in a fantasy land forever.........................

To give in to a pressure group for PURELY financial reasons is (IMHO) to
condone terrorism. 

More observations about the ICEman...

1) Yes - Ice-T has the right to rap about anything that he wants to... but
I dont particulary enjoy being associated with his message.

2) If a corporation sponsered a group that traveled around the country
burning crosses and advocating killing blacks, what would the fallout be?

3) If past experience is any indication, the more that people protest and
boycott because of this song, the bigger a hit it will be. Witness "The
Last Temtation of Christ", a mediocre, low budget movie that became a mega-
hit after the Pope propelled it into the headlines. In fact, I'll bet that
Mr. T deliberately made his lyrics as provocative as possible for just this
reason, and that every group that calls more attention to his music adds
another digit to his bank account.