Grand Theft Auto sex scene settlement: No one cares

Remember the big dust-up when clever hackers dug up a hidden sex scene in the PC version of Grand Theft Auto San Andreas? The so-called "Hot Coffee" mod showed graphic sex in the style of the video game, but in order to see it, you had to explicitly hack the game in order to see the naughty bits. Still, the code was on the disc, and anyone with a modicum of reading ability could get to the scenes. The resulting dust-up led to increased scrutiny of the video game industry, an Adults Only re-rating for the game, a product recall, and a legal firestorm that included the introduction of federal legislation.

Finally, the class action civil cases over the issue have reached a conclusion, which entitled anyone who felt offended by the scene to receive between $35 (if you still have your receipt) to $5 (if you have no proof of purchase but simply swear that you bought the game), cash, in compensation.

21.5 million copies of the game have been sold. So, try to guess: How many of those people have claimed their cash? Remember: This is free money.

If you said 2,676, you're right on. That's a minuscule 0.012 percent of purchasers who actually filled out the form to demand cash for being exposed to potential scenes of animated sex. Asks plaintiffs' lawyer Seth R. Lesser, "Am I disappointed? Sure. We can't guess as to why now, several years later, people care or don't care. The merits of the case were clear."

Some are now beginning to wonder if those merits are as clear as Lesser might believe. While Take-Two will pay out only about $30,000 to plaintiffs, it will pay over $1 million to lawyers involved with the proceedings. (Take-Two is also making a donation of several hundred thousand dollars to educational charities as part of the settlement.) Now the pendulum swings the other way as advocates on both sides of the issue wonder whether the ends have justified the means, and whether the interests of justice have truly been served here.

What do you think? Has the public been served by this settlement, or have the lawyers pulled a fast one on us all?

Via: Surprisingly Few People Collect on GTA Hot Coffee Settlement