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AOC, Marco Rubio send bi-partisan letter to Activision-Blizzard CEO over Hong Kong.

Sub_Level

Sub_Level

wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Gaming x Politics bipartisan crossover.


Its addressed directly to Bobby Kotick.

Worth mentioning that Blizzard eased up on Chung's punishment (6 month ban + prize money received instead of 1 year ban + no money). The letter is still incorrectly referencing the original punishment.

For those younger folks here, Bobby Kotick is best known for being a stereotypical tough-as-nails CEO, facilitating the merger of Activision with Vivendi (holding company for Blizzard), and for fucking Facebook Chief of Operations Sarah Sandberg before breaking up with her earlier this year because he's cold like that. He has also been linked to Jeffery Epstein, tho details surrounding that are scarce with little concrete information.
 
Whitesnake

Whitesnake

Banned
Blizzard’s mistake has created more support for Hong Kong protests than anything, has woken people up to Tencent’s takeover, and has now united both sides of the political isle against them.

Could this a be deep-cover op to sacrifice their brand for the sake of peace?
 
DynamiteCop!

DynamiteCop!

Banned
They have the rights and freedoms to expel this player at will. I mean it seems pretty cut and dry, they don't want anyone representing their product or company whether directly or indirectly to tout political views. As noted with freedom of speech and thought by these senators; Act/Blz acted with both of those rights in mind when they made this decision.

It's pretty simple, and it's a neutral stance. Politicians have no business involving themselves in this, and they shouldn't be wasting our tax payer dollars meddling in it.
 
S

Slings and Arrows

Banned
Whitesnake said:
Blizzard’s mistake has created more support for Hong Kong protests than anything, has woken people up to Tencent’s takeover, and has now united both sides of the political isle against them.

Could this a be deep-cover op to sacrifice their brand for the sake of peace?
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More like an attempt to devalue tencent so activision can swoop in and buy western devs and publishers at rock bottom prices.

Ignore the politics, follow the money.
 
Sub_Level

Sub_Level

wants to fuck an Asian grill.
Call of Duty > US Congress

What a time to be alive. We robocop corporate dystopia now.
 
brian0057

brian0057

Banned
DynamiteCop! said:
They have the rights and freedoms to expel this player at will. I mean it seems pretty cut and dry, they don't want anyone representing their product or company whether directly or indirectly to tout political views. As noted with freedom of speech and thought by these senators; Act/Blz acted with both of those rights in mind when they made this decision.

It's pretty simple, and it's a neutral stance. Politicians have no business involving themselves in this, and they shouldn't be wasting our tax payer dollars meddling in it.
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Completely agree.
But I think the problem isn't that they banned the player since they have the right to do that. It's why and how they banned him that's causing all this circus.
For a company that doesn't waste time telling you that Tracer likes to shop at Home Depot and Soldier 76 is a catcher, they suddenly become a lot more conservative when it comes to those same characters when taken to China.

Blizzard doesn't want their platform to be used for political purposes? That's Ok. And I think a stern warning or maybe a month suspension would have been better and a lot less controversial than the overly harsh punishment they ultimately levied on blitzchung, let alone the casters. It took them more than a week to enforce the same rules on American players and only because they were asking for it.

They didn't ban blitzchung out of some apolitical reason. China is neck and neck with the US on who's the biggest gaming market.
Just look at the whole shitshow with the NBA and that cunt LeBron James.
 
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Bkdk

Bkdk

Member
The biggest winner is by far riot games, can’t find a better moment to celebrate their 10th anniversary and announcing new games. As for gamers boycott, they boycott blizzard to play riot’s games :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 
V4skunk

V4skunk

Banned
DynamiteCop! said:
They have the rights and freedoms to expel this player at will. I mean it seems pretty cut and dry, they don't want anyone representing their product or company whether directly or indirectly to tout political views. As noted with freedom of speech and thought by these senators; Act/Blz acted with both of those rights in mind when they made this decision.

It's pretty simple, and it's a neutral stance. Politicians have no business involving themselves in this, and they shouldn't be wasting our tax payer dollars meddling in it.
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Rubbish! If he said fuck Trump this debacle wouldn't have happened.
 
D

Digital Gex

Banned
Enjay said:
So he's a big powerful man with big powerful friends who can most likely arrange for someone to be killed... Sounds like the kind of CEO the video game industry has earned itself.
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The industry had guys like that at the start, the Fairchild, Coleco, Atari, Mattel, Bally era was crazy with the type of guys in high positions.
 
S

SLoWMoTIoN

Unconfirmed Member
Whitesnake said:
Blizzard’s mistake has created more support for Hong Kong protests than anything, has woken people up to Tencent’s takeover, and has now united both sides of the political isle against them.

Could this a be deep-cover op to sacrifice their brand for the sake of peace?
Click to expand...
lol no
 
DynamiteCop!

DynamiteCop!

Banned
Abriael_GN said:
And people have the right and freedom to criticize and boycott them for that free choice. Having the right of doing something does not give you immunity from the consequences of your actions.
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Not from a governmental position, it's abuse of tax payer dollars.
 
Abriael_GN

Abriael_GN

RSI Employee of the Year
DynamiteCop! said:
Not from a governmental position, it's abuse of tax payer dollars.
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Bringing "taxpayer dollars" into the question of a letter is literally ridiculous. I'm pretty sure not many "taxpayer dollars" have been spent for a letter that isn't even on paper to happen. It's likely that more "taxpayer dollars" are spent for those same politicians to go to the grocery store. You simply don't like the content of this letter, so you're using "taxpayer dollars" as a petty excuse to attack it.

I can't care the less about what a bunch of politicians has to say. They are simply doing what they usually do, attaching themselves to a cause to grab some votes.

What matters is what the gamers think. And looks like gamers want Blizzard to fully capitulate, apologize, and show the finger to the Chinese regime. If they choose not to do it, fully knowing what is at stake, customers are fully in their right to show Blizzard the finger. Whatever politician jumps on the bandwagon is irrelevant.

Technically, mind you, a politician's job is to represent the citizens, and by sending this letter they're doing exactly that. So it's not even an "abuse of taxpayer dollars." A politician's job isn't (or shouldn't be) doing what is "right" by some arbitrary standard, nor upholding a company's "rights and freedom." It's pressing whatever issue their constituents want them to. So your excuse isn't just an excuse. It's also simply wrong.
 
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W

Wolfgang Jr

Banned
Sub_Level said:
Gaming x Politics bipartisan crossover.


Its addressed directly to Bobby Kotick.

Worth mentioning that Blizzard eased up on Chung's punishment (6 month ban + prize money received instead of 1 year ban + no money). The letter is still incorrectly referencing the original punishment.

For those younger folks here, Bobby Kotick is best known for being a stereotypical tough-as-nails CEO, facilitating the merger of Activision with Vivendi (holding company for Blizzard), and for fucking Facebook Chief of Operations Sarah Sandberg before breaking up with her earlier this year because he's cold like that. He has also been linked to Jeffery Epstein, tho details surrounding that are scarce with little concrete information.
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Breaking up with a girl is cold? WTF does that even mean? What if this Sarah girl was a fucking idiot?
 
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mitch1971

mitch1971

Member
Sub_Level said:
Its a joke.
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Seems like a misplaced joke then, as it has no bearing on the situation at hand. The fact you link to an article that said the relationships breakdown was to due to distance and they are still good freinds makes it even more out of place. Sounds like a comment with an agenda even though you may not have ment it that way.
 
F

FMXVII

Member
Freedom of expression is a grand thing.

Fuck China and the CCP, fuck Blizzard and Bobby K, and fuck the ungodly chimera hat is Tencent Weenie Todd.

+1, U.S. Congress... still knee deep in the red, 'doe.
 
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s34ab

s34ab

Banned
Politicians doing politician things. See a controversy? Figure out how you can benefit. Their letter holds no weight and will likely get tossed in the trash immediately. And isn't Cortez being sued for blocking people on twitter?
 
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lyan

lyan

Member
DynamiteCop! said:
Not from a governmental position, it's abuse of tax payer dollars.
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If enough citizens and tax payers voiced their views and concern of the situation, the senates should bring forth the issue and express their concern. It is by not exercising their influence and representation when needed they become a was of tax payer dollars.
 
DynamiteCop!

DynamiteCop!

Banned
lyan said:
If enough citizens and tax payers voiced their views and concern of the situation, the senates should bring forth the issue and express their concern. It is by not exercising their influence and representation when needed they become a was of tax payer dollars.
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It's a constitutional issue meaning they have no say one way or the other therefore any effort poured into it is irresponsible. It's not their place, there's no two ways about it.
 
BigBooper

BigBooper

Member
DynamiteCop! said:
It's a constitutional issue meaning they have no say one way or the other therefore any effort poured into it is irresponsible. It's not their place, there's no two ways about it.
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Ok you are right, but it doesn't matter because they are going to do it anyways, just like they have forever. Politicians gonna politic.

I don't really see it having much effect because if the stockholders didn't like it, they'd already be letting them know.
 
Generic

Generic

Member
theweek.com

Marco Rubio's Israel anti-boycott law is an attack on free speech

Politicians shouldn't be able to tell Americans what they can and cannot boycott
theweek.com

"Opposition to our bill isn't about free speech," Rubio tweeted Tuesday.
"Companies are FREE to boycott Israel. But local & state governments should be FREE to end contracts with companies that do."
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"Opposition to Blizzard isn't about free speech. People are FREE to say whatever they want in Blizzard's events. But Blizzard & China government should be FREE to ban people that do."

:messenger_8ball:
 
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iconmaster

iconmaster

Banned
DynamiteCop! said:
It's a constitutional issue meaning they have no say one way or the other therefore any effort poured into it is irresponsible. It's not their place, there's no two ways about it.
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I’m not sure what you think Congresspeople do. Corporate heads are called before Congress all the time to answer for their actions – Facebook and Equifax come immediately to mind, and Boeing is about to have its day of reckoning as well. This letter is just a polite warning shot to Activision-Blizzard before it has to come to that.

Personally I’d love it to come to that
 
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D

Dontspeakforme

Banned
DynamiteCop! said:
Not from a governmental position, it's abuse of tax payer dollars.
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Maybe I can paypal you $1 to cover the cost of postage? I'll even toss you an extra $4 so you can buy yourself some food from the 99 cents menu.

I don't need to hear minimum-wage people complaining about their tax dollars, you hardly pay any taxes. I'm the one with the six-figure job who loses 40% of his income in taxes. I get to complain about that, not you.
 
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Phase

Phase

Member
iconmaster said:
I’m not sure what you think Congresspeople do. Corporate heads are called before Congress all the time to answer for their actions – Facebook and Equifax come immediately to mind, and Boeing is about to have its day of reckoning as well. This letter is just a polite warning shot to Activision-Blizzard before it has to come to that.

Personally I’d love it to come to that
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Those slaps on the wrist really hurt them for sure.
 
DynamiteCop!

DynamiteCop!

Banned
iconmaster said:
I’m not sure what you think Congresspeople do. Corporate heads are called before Congress all the time to answer for their actions – Facebook and Equifax come immediately to mind, and Boeing is about to have its day of reckoning as well. This letter is just a polite warning shot to Activision-Blizzard before it has to come to that.

Personally I’d love it to come to that
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Again it doesn't matter, this is no different than an employee being fired for openly expressing political views which could damage business.

It's not a protected category and politicians know this, so even hearing about them addressing it in any capacity tells me money is being pissed away.

This is a constitutionally protected action. None of this should be on any of their dockets.

Dontspeakforme said:
Maybe I can paypal you $1 to cover the cost of postage? I'll even toss you an extra $4 so you can buy yourself some food from the 99 cents menu.

I don't need to hear minimum-wage people complaining about their tax dollars, you hardly pay any taxes. I'm the one with the six-figure job who loses 40% of his income in taxes. I get to complain about that, not you.
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What on Earth...
 
iconmaster

iconmaster

Banned
Phase said:
Those slaps on the wrist really hurt them for sure.
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The penalties levied against Microsoft were also considered a slap on the wrist, but they had a decade-long chilling effect on its ability to compete in the marketplace. We haven't yet seen the long-term effects on, say, Facebook; but there are signs it is taking steps toward reform.

Don't underestimate the gravity of being dragged before Congress and forced to open up your business practices on the world stage.

DynamiteCop! said:
even hearing about them addressing it in any capacity tells me money is being pissed away.
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I have to echo those who find this line of argument spurious. I doubt collaborating on the statement required much money at all.
 
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Rolling_Start

Rolling_Start

Banned
DynamiteCop! said:
They have the rights and freedoms to expel this player at will. I mean it seems pretty cut and dry, they don't want anyone representing their product or company whether directly or indirectly to tout political views. As noted with freedom of speech and thought by these senators; Act/Blz acted with both of those rights in mind when they made this decision.

It's pretty simple, and it's a neutral stance. Politicians have no business involving themselves in this, and they shouldn't be wasting our tax payer dollars meddling in it.
Click to expand...

The spaces in which humans interact are increasingly privately owned. Be it "semi public" parks in London, or facebook, or Youtube, or even video games.

We need to decide the extent to which we welcome authoritarian and nationalist governments deciding how humans are allowed to interact across the planet.

There is something quite vomit inducing about companies that have built their fortunes in liberal countries, now attempting to enforce global proxy censorship on behalf of an undemocratic national money teet that literally runs concentration "re-education" camps.

Whatever the Epic Store has done, it's not half as disappointing as you, DynamiteCop! DynamiteCop!
 
SurprisedPikachu

SurprisedPikachu

Member
brian0057 said:
Blizzard accomplished the impossible.
They made both sides of the Senate agree on something.
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A lot of people regard Marco Rubio as a RINO. I don't know of the others.. but I just know that most Republican's say that about Rubio. He seems slimy as fuck. Probably polling like shit so he's trying to win some votes for reelection. I don't know, don't care right now.
 
alabtrosMyster

alabtrosMyster

Banned
We are far from the cold war Era, back then American businesses were actively participating in the American propaganda efforts (look at movies from the time).

Now a days they peddle Chinese propaganda in your own games and movies, they are all made to please the censors and audience over there.

America has lost its mojo, all you have is a couple of politicians begging the businesses not to do this... While their opponent owns the businesses, they have stolen all the relevant IPs (tech and knowledge) from occidental businesses over the last 30 years, most production has been moved there, you owe them so much money there is no number big enough to represent it.... What's your move?
 
lyan

lyan

Member
DynamiteCop! said:
It's a constitutional issue meaning they have no say one way or the other therefore any effort poured into it is irresponsible. It's not their place, there's no two ways about it.
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I fail to see how it is irresponsible to express concern on the incident, regardless of its nature.
 
Pagusas

Pagusas

Elden Member
DynamiteCop! said:
They have the rights and freedoms to expel this player at will. I mean it seems pretty cut and dry, they don't want anyone representing their product or company whether directly or indirectly to tout political views. As noted with freedom of speech and thought by these senators; Act/Blz acted with both of those rights in mind when they made this decision.

It's pretty simple, and it's a neutral stance. Politicians have no business involving themselves in this, and they shouldn't be wasting our tax payer dollars meddling in it.
Click to expand...

They absolutely have that right, but just because you have the right to do something doesn’t mean you should do it, because your customers and the general population also have a right to call you out for your lawful choices and create a PR fire storm.

That’s the fun part of rights, just because you can legally do something, it doesn’t mean you should.
 
DynamiteCop!

DynamiteCop!

Banned
Pagusas said:
They absolutely have that right, but just because you have the right to do something doesn’t mean you should do it, because your customers and the general population also have a right to call you out for your lawful choices and create a PR fire storm.

That’s the fun part of rights, just because you can legally do something, it doesn’t mean you should.
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Sorry but you're wrong, unequivocally wrong.

Those people have a right to express something in a personal capacity on their own time, they do not however have a right to address the execution of a constitutional right in a questionable manner on government borrowed time in an official capacity.

Does that look like a personal letter to you or one written under congressional letterhead? We don't elect congressional officials to question our rights and execution of them, it's not their place, it's not their business, they have no right to ever question them and any act of doing so is frivolous waste of tax payer interests.

JLOJnkr.png
 
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