Amazing isn't it? Those who recall who they guy really was, anyway. It has been a year or two. However, Noriega still carries his fight against the nasty Norte Americanos and the never ending push to capitalize on him.
(-smirk- Okay..that opening was damn hard to write with a straight face. :) )
This story caught my eye and I thought I would share it. The guy has nerve. I'll give him that. This is all about Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2, by the way.
QuoteThe former Panamanian military dictator, ousted by a U.S. invasion in 1989, claims the game portrays him as a "kidnapper, murderer and enemy of the state," and "as the culprit of numerous fictional heinous crimes."
Noriega says that Activision misappropriated his likeness to increase profits and royalties.
In an Oct. 1 declaration, Noriega, 80, said he had learned of his inclusion in "Call of Duty" after his grandchildren played the game and "asked why, in the video game the target was to capture my character."
Its interesting who one comes to agree with at times. In this case, Giuliani is the guy who seems to have a little common sense, and brings it to headlines again now.
QuoteGiuliani called Noriega's lawsuit an "outrage."
"I'm morally outraged that a man like Noriega is seeking to inhibit our creative rights in the United States," Giuliani said. "They shouldn't be sacrificed for a person like Noriega. Nor should anyone have to send millions of dollars to a Panamanian jail.
"Maybe the next thing that will happen is that Bin Laden's heirs start suing," Giuliani said.
Source (http://www.courthousenews.com/2014/10/17/72523.htm)
You know the biggest problem about this whole thing, from my perspective? I think 'ol Rudy meant that last line as a bit of hyperbole. However, it just won't surprise me at this stage. That one actually does have a
large family, by any standard...and come to think of it...that likeness is used all over, huh? Common sense has to figure in somewhere, it seems to me.
Whew... I'm happy to update this by saying the Courts say common sense for a change and the right side prevailed. Noriega lost....yet again. (A life habit for that guy, it seems)
Quote(CNN) -- A California judge has dismissed former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega's lawsuit against the creators of the "Call of Duty" video game franchise.
"This court concludes that Noriega's right of publicity is outweighed by defendants' First Amendment right to free expression," Judge William H. Fahey of the Los Angeles Superior Court said in an order Monday.
This one concerned me a bit because if he got status to sue, then how many other figures of pure public interest would follow suit? Of course, he reasoning still makes me laugh outright.
QuoteNoriega, 80, filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court in July, arguing that his portrayal "as a kidnapper, murderer and enemy of the state" in the video game harmed his reputation. Since the company used his image and name, the lawsuit said Noriega was entitled to a share of the profits from the video game.
Source (http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/28/tech/gaming-gadgets/manuel-noriega-call-of-duty-lawsuit/index.html?hpt=hp_t4)
Reputation? Harmed? Okay....When he gets off the cell block in Panama, after serving time in the United States and France already? He can worry about such things. At the moment tho...just what reputation does he have left to lose, while an inmate within his own nation? I think his own actions have sealed that deal for him.
When Noriega was in charge of the J2 of Guarda Nacional, which was basically the head of intelligence for Panama, Torrijos allowed him some benifits, i.e. he controlled all the prostituion in all the bars in Panama and a portion of the profits from the casinos...among other things...
We used to watch him all the time and even at one point when the demonstrations were getting out of hand, Col. Walker, head of J2 at Southern Command, actually let Noriega into the J2 Watch control room to let him see all our cameras and to let him know we were watching him..