In 1990, the United States Secret Service raided the Austin headquarters of Steve Jackson Games. In 1993, Steve Jackson Games vs. The Secret Service finally came to trial. SJGames won two out of the three counts and was awarded $50,000 in damages and $250,000 in attorney's fees. The judge reprimanded the Secret Service, calling their warrant preparation "sloppy", suggesting that they needed "better education" regarding relevant statutes, and finding that they had no basis to suspect SJGames of any wrongdoing. Ironically, the raid was in response to the production of a pen-and-paper game, based in the "cyberpunk" genre... where intrusive surveillance and police oppression create a dystopian future. A formal apology for such paranoid thuggishness is overdue.
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