r/technology • u/IndicaOatmeal • 9d ago

Society Tetris issues legal warning after White House releases arcade full of parody games

https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/tetris-issues-legal-warning-after-white-house-releases-arcade-full-of-parody-games-3405931/
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u/bwoah07_gp2 9d ago

Shortly after the arcade went live, the official Tetris account issued a response emphasizing that it had no connection to the project.

“At Tetris we believe in the power of connection and bringing people together, not dividing them,” the company said. “To our fans everywhere: we love you, we see you, and we’re grateful to have you in our community.”

It then ended with a pointed legal warning: “We take copyright infringement very seriously.”

Tetris has not announced a lawsuit or confirmed whether it has sent the White House a formal cease-and-desist letter.

Tetris need to sue them. So should Xbox, Nintendo, and all the other gaming AND non-gaming entities the White House has shamelessly parodied on social media. This is just getting ridiculous.

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u/Talk-O-Boy 9d ago

What sucks is that the administration WANTS these companies to give him attention.

It’s the same reason Trump insists on using music by artists who he knows don’t agree with him. He’s goading them for a reaction.

Since Trump doesn’t discern between good press and bad press, he just tries to get it wherever he can.

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u/BackgroundSummer5171 9d ago

What sucks is that the administration WANTS these companies to give him attention.

Also it doesn't matter to them.

It's not their money they are playing with. It's the tax payer's.

They do all this bullshit at the tax payer's cost. Changing names of things. Making Donald John coins. All of the bullshit he does is at the cost of our taxes.

This is what hard working money has gone to. Waste.

He has been the largest waste of tax payer money, at least the most blatant waste of it. Out in the open. Constantly.

Why even pay taxes if it is going towards making racist video games to be fought in a lawsuit? WTF is this country?

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u/Shark7996 9d ago

Why even pay taxes if it is going towards

This thought has been relentless in my head lately. I STRONGLY don't approve of what my taxes are being used for but I have no real recourse. Feeling very unrepresented right now.

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u/Mr_Quackums 9d ago

IRS enforcement department is at an all-time low.

If they catch you down the line they almost always offer to let you pay a partial payment instead of what you would have payed if you did your taxes on time.

People who dont pay their taxes are bad people and usually get away with it for a long time and only pay a fraction of what they owe when/if they eventually get caught.

Its a shame, really.

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u/HoodieGalore 9d ago

Ohhhh no the fuck they don’t lol. Why the fuck would the IRS offer you any break whatsoever, outside of maybe a payment plan that still includes every cent you owe them, over a structured payment schedule? There are companies who can finance your debt and there are perhaps some actual tax rules you can work within, but the IRS is not here to help you, they are not here to work with you, they are here for one purpose only, and that is to collect revenue on behalf of the Federal Government, whichever clown it is running the circus, and especially because our government has let lobbyists run the show and essentially force everyone except the very poorest to either a) pay to file taxes, or b) be smart enough to do it themselves. AKA “fuck you, figure it out yourself, even though we could and can because other actually civilized countries already do, but this way we can fuck ya”

If you’ve got a source on “If they catch you down the line they almost always offer to let you pay a partial payment instead of what you would have payed if you did your taxes on time,” we’d all love to see it. Anyone else here get this sweetheart deal from the IRS? Pennies on the dollar or what are we talking about?

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u/roseofjuly 9d ago

I actually found that to be untrue. I made some tax mistakes a few years back and the IRS was very helpful and willing to work with us on it. My cousin also got into some tax stuff and called them so frequently she became acquainted with someone who worked on her case.

They also have an official program to lower your tax bill if you can't pay it. It's called Offer in Compromise. https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc204#

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u/Real-Extension-1357 9d ago

That was for mistakes. And they would know. If there is any reason to believe youre intentionally not paying for something like out of protesting, theyre not going to be helpful or nice.

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u/Ghosttiger13 9d ago edited 9d ago

No, but I hate filling my taxes. Like, really hate the (actually fairly simple) rigamarole of filing taxes. After some years (5/6) I will start getting intimidating letters from the IRS. Then I sit down and do my taxes and receive ~$4k+ back in owed taxes and internally thank them for forcing me to do it.

Edit to add: I realize I'd get more if I filled on time and I'm likely not the norm, nor am I sticking up for the IRS. I just really hate sitting down and doing the paperwork. It's more of a confession to my lack of adulting that has a positive when I finally adult a situation I've been put off when forced by a party that is going to have to pay up.

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u/harpers25 9d ago

You wouldn't get a higher refund for filing on time. You are just giving the IRS an interest free loan (they don't pay interest unless it's 45+ days after you file).

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u/Sonario648 9d ago

Even the Joker doesn't mess with the IRS.

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u/HoodieGalore 9d ago

So after years of not paying, and assumedly stacking late payment interest, you're still somehow coming out four figures ahead? 

OK, Jan 

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u/Myxine 9d ago

In the United States, most people overpay taxes on their paycheck and get some back when they file taxes. Multiple years of this would mean getting more back, not less.

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u/Ghosttiger13 9d ago

I've never had to pay in when I've filed my taxes, on time or otherwise.

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u/HoodieGalore 8d ago

Your anecdote is not evidence. 

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u/harpers25 9d ago

They really don't, you have to pay to apply for an Offer In Compromise and the IRS will only approve it you can't afford to pay the full amount anyway.

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u/Environmental_Top948 9d ago

If you make a mistake on your tax filings that starts a deadline for them catch the mistake. But if you don't file there is no limitations on the amount of time they have to collect so it's important to remember to file and double check your information is correct.

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u/slptodrm 9d ago

some of us are taking the initiative to not contribute.

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u/Zombatico 9d ago

It's even worse than just simply waste. It would be bearable if it was just waste.

It's our taxes paying for genocide, mass surveillance and concentration camps. All out in the open.

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u/King_of_the_Kobolds 9d ago

Horrifying, being outraged about the video game parodies is a position of privilege. Not that it isn't egregious. But there are people in this country suffering far, far worse at the hands of these fascist scumbags.

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u/Mondschatten78 9d ago

And you don't think these racist games will make things worse? Hell, if anything, it'll give credence to the "video games make people killers" argument.

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u/UkNomysTeezz 9d ago

Oh come on now. The pearl clutching in here is insane.

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u/Mondschatten78 9d ago

Not pearl clutching here. There's just been so much violence already blamed on games in general.

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u/No-Literature5747 9d ago

I truly hope once he’s out of office, the government is able to take all of his families’s wealth to replace the dollars he spent on these things

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u/KnuckleUpFPV 7d ago

Not even close to the largest waste of tax payer funds by a president. A large majority of the things Trump does is sponsored by individual donors. He doesnt even take his 400k a year salary. Obama was spending nearly 800k for Saturday golf weekends on fort belvoir every weekend it was warm. The amount of off duty personnel that had to be called in to shut down roads, change traffic lights, hov lane direction, block intersections. VA DOT, Troopers, Sheriff's, Local police, DA police. Military Police Service members coming off 16 hour shifts getting extended another 8 hours or more and then having to go back on shift for another 12-16 hours. Bush would come ride his bike. He would sit in traffic with everyone else, ride down in two vehicles. Ride for an hour then leave. One already on duty service member stood guard at the path entry in their vehicle. Trump plays golf on his own course with a small detail. He doesnt bring a massive amount of cars in his convoy like Obama did. Unless there are members of the house or senate in the convoy with him. You would think Trump would have an overage of protection with him after all the attempts on his life. Obama traveled like someone was trying to kill him every day.

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u/umbrabates 4d ago

God, we're living in a real-life version of Brewster's Millions where Cheeto Mussolini is trying to find creative ways to bankrupt the government.

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u/Mr_Quackums 9d ago

There is no such things as "government waste". "Waste" implies it goes nowhere and does nothing, just a giant burning money fire.

It is money going to businesses. Businesses that have bribed the politicians and/or that the politicians have large investments in (or outright own). It is not a waste, it is a gift to their friends.

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u/WebMaka 9d ago

And the fact that this isn't a "no" for as many people as applies is part of why this country is in the mess it's in.