News of the Week; September 17, 2014

GAMES

1. Bomb Threat Targeted Anita Sarkeesian, Gaming Awards Last March

+ FBI investigating death threats against Feminist Frequency creator Sarkeesian

2. Georgia Man Murdered for PS4

3. King Settles Lawsuit with 6Waves Over Game Clones

4. Davis v. EA Argued Before Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

+ Legal Scholar: ‘Davis v. Electronic Arts’ Perfect for Supreme Court Review

5. Xbox Live Privacy Case Dismissed by U.S. District Court in Seattle

6. Video Games: Computer Programs or Creative Works?

7. The Gray Market of Game Emulators

8. SimBin declares bankruptcy and reforms as Sector 3 Studios

9. Real Jail For Wow-Crimes?

10. Microsoft Buys ‘Minecraft’ Maker for $2.5 Billion

+ Microsoft to break even on Mojang this fiscal year

+ Hey Microsoft, Acquiring A Hit Game Is Stupid

+ Microsoft-Mojang is about the future not the money

11. ‘Minecraft’ CraftBukkit Mod Developer Becomes Victim of Swatting

12. Nintendo of Japan Apologizes for Banning ‘Super Smash Bros.’ 3DS Players

13. EA kept quiet on Real Racing dev’s forum hack

14. EA Prototyping Game Concepts for Apple Watch: Exec explains how iPhone games can expand onto Apple’s new smartwatch; Talks up potential of wearables.

15. How ‘Planetary Annihilation’ Made Money for Some Backers

16. Seizing Destiny: A great launch for Bungie’s latest will please Activision investors – but Sony is the real winner, with PS4 positioned to reap the rewards.

+ Destiny Review Scores May Cost Bungie A $2.5 Million Bonus

+ Eight days later, Bungie leaving disconnected Destiny players stranded: Customer service is currently limited to a forum with few official responses.

17. Licensed to thrill?: Roadhouse Interactive COO Ian Verchere explains what brands can–and can’t–do to ensure success in the mobile market

18. Garry’s Mod has sold 6 million copies

19. Steam adds 11 new currencies

20. Video game degrees in the US increase by 50% in five years

21. How Pong changed the world

22. Racking Focus: The Collision Of Cinema, Video Games And Virtual Reality

23. Fact or Fiction?: Video Games Are the Future of Education

24. If The NFL Has Become So Inhuman, Then Let’s Get Rid Of The Humans: Could the future of the NFL be as a video game league?

25. City of Alamogordo votes to auction off 800 Atari cartridges

26. Marin County, Calif. DA’s Office Co-Sponsors Toy Gun and Video Game Trade-In Program in Oct.

27. The ESRB: Twenty Years of Sex and Violence

+ 20 years, 20 questionable game ratings: A timeline of ESRB oddities

28. Watch The Director Of Id@Xbox Deliver An Exuberant Love-Letter To Modern Videogames 

DIGITAL

29. Yahoo Threatened With A Secret $250,000 Per Day Fine If It Didn’t Comply With NSA PRISM Demands

+ More Yahoo vs. The NSA: Government Tried To Deny Standing, Filed Supporting Documents Yahoo Never Got To See

30. Google Report Shows Governments’ Increasing Demands for Users’ Data

31. Twitter, Reddit, Netflix join in net neutrality protest

32. These companies spend the most money to kill net neutrality

33. Software patents are crumbling, thanks to the Supreme Court

+ SCOTUS Decision in ‘Alice v. CLS Bank’ Having Profound Effect on Computer-Related Patents

+ Patent trolls reel as court smackdowns lead to collapse in share price

34. Jury finds CBS infringes podcasting patent, awards $1.3 million

35. The regulation of virtual currencies in Canada

36. Innovations in payment technologies and the emergence of digital currencies

37. Amazon, Publishers, and Readers (Clay Shirky)

38. MCNs—why they matter (and what they represent … the fundamental digital media transformation)

39. The rise of the anti-facial recognition movement

40. Privacy in Public (by Joel Reidenberg)

41. google it: verb status doesn’t mean Google is generic (Rebecca Tushnet)

42. In a Study, Text Messages Add Up to a Balance Sheet of Everyday Morality

43. Meet the McGill professor who got inside Anonymous

44. Glossary of Canadian provincial and federal Canadian statutes and codes may apply to social media issues   

CONSTRAINTS

45. TV monitoring service is fair use, judge rules: Fox News sued TVEyes, which records television 24/7/365—but it’s fair use.

46. Conan Doyle Estate Asks Supreme Court To Put Sherlock Holmes Back Under Copyright

47. In Latest Volley Against Amazon, Hachette’s Writers Target Its Board

48. Just Kidding? Celebrity Hacked Photograph Exhibition Scuttled

49. The Music Piracy Complex – Part 1

+ The Music Piracy Complex – Part 2

50. Since Copyright Is So Handy For Censorship, It’s Tempting To Use It To Censor Lots Of Content

+ IP’s “Immigration” Policy

51. The Law Society of Upper Canada expresses grave concerns about the ongoing detention of Tang Jingling and his colleagues in China

52. California Tells Businesses: Stop Trying To Ban Consumer Reviews

53. Jay Z Steps Up To The Plate To Argue That Tiny Music Samples Are Unprotected By Copyright

54. Public Enemy’s Former Lawyer Talks Cultural Appropriation And Copyrights In Hip-Hop

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