News of the Week; May 13, 2015

Games

1. ‘Killzone: Shadow Fall’ lawsuit dismissed

+ Killzone:Shadow Fall’s 1080p class action lawsuit dismissed

2. Rockstar addresses GTA5’s mod policy: “No one has been banned for using single-player modifications.”

+ Rockstar to GTA V PC players: We don’t issue bans for single-player mods – Official response doesn’t address how online mode’s current P2P mesh enables cheats.

3. ArenaNet publicly shames ‘Guild Wars 2’ cheater

4. ‘Reclaim Your Game’ shutting down, going offline

5. ASA spanks Sony and GAME over 20th Anniversary Edition PS4 competition

6. Konami Gets YouTube To Take Down Video It Doesn’t Like; Streisand Effect Ensures Neverending Discussion Of Video

7. Missoula, Montana ‘Minecraft’ player swatted

8. Warning: PS4s with PT demo could lock down your entire library

9. Head Transplant Doctor Ponders Likeness Lawsuit Over Supposed Appearance In Metal Gear Solid 5

10. New book claims video games and porn are causing a ‘crisis of masculinity’ among young men

11. The great GamerGate debate: Mercedes Carrera v. Chris Kluwe

12. Rhode Island Secretary of State drops 38 Studios-related lobbying cases

13. The Charlie Hebdo Debate Arrives In The Videogame World

14. Game explores impact of dementia

15. How two games helped resurrect Wii U sales

16. Nintendo to launch five smartphone games by March 2017

17. Your ‘Candy Crush’ Obsession Is Worth Billions: Game makers mint a fortune off of a tiny sliver of gamers who spend upwards of $100 a month on in-app purchases

18. A Red Flag for Greenlight: Valve was laudably quick to deal with homophobia, but Greenlight is still failing devs and consumers alike

19. What’s So Great About Esports?

20. Zynga beats estimates with $183M in revenues — but it’s cutting 364 jobs

21. Video Game Trend: The Decline Of The ‘Game’ And The Emergence Of The ‘Living Game World’

22. Eve Online exhibit to become a permanent fixture at New York’s Museum of Modern Art

23. With Existenz, Cronenberg Created The Only Videogame Movie We’ll Ever Need

24. Your cyberpunk games are dangerous: How roleplaying games and fantasy fiction confounded the FBI, confronted the law, and led to a more open web

25. Who Invented Let’s Play Videos?

Digital

26. Court of Appeals rules that NSA data collection was not authorized by Congress

+ NSA phone dragnet is illegal, appeals court rules: The snooping program “exceeds the scope of what Congress has authorized.”

27. Exposure to ideologically diverse news and opinion on Facebook (Eytan Bakshy, Solomon Messing, Lada Adamic)

+ The Facebook “It’s Not Our Fault” Study (Christian Sandvig)

+ How Facebook’s Algorithm Suppresses Content Diversity (Modestly) and How the Newsfeed Rules Your Clicks (Zeynep Tufekci)

+ Why doesn’t Science publish important methods info prominently? (Eszter Hargittai)

+ Opinion: Facebook’s Internet.org Isn’t the Internet, It’s Facebooknet

28. Youtuber Sues Google, Viacom Over Content Id Takedowns

29. Sound of Silence: Why the Government’s Copyright Extension for Sound Recordings Will Reduce Access to Canada’s Musical Heritage (Michael Geist)

30. Prison ‘Enforces’ Messaging Company’s ‘IP’ Rights By Sending Prisoner To Solitary

31. And Then… Court Rejects Rightscorp’s Bogus DMCA Subpoena Argument

+ Small ISP stands up to Rightscorp’s “piracy fishing expedition” and wins: A Rightscorp DMCA subpoena, asking for 71 subscriber identities, is thrown out.

32. TTIP explained: The secretive US-EU treaty that undermines democracy – A boost for national economies, or a Trojan Horse for corporations?

33. Rightscorp loses more cash than ever, tells investors all is well: Sending thousands of alleged pirates a bill for $20 per song isn’t working out.

34. Appeals court upholds Pandora’s victory over songwriters: ASCAP says 1.85% royalty isn’t enough; 2nd Circuit feels otherwise.

+ Appeals Court Rejects Labels’ Collusion Scheme To Try To Force Pandora To Pay Higher Rates

35. Will the tort of misuse of private information disappear if the Human Rights Act is repealed? 

36. How marketers are plotting to use neuroscience to control what you buy

37. Warrantless airport seizure of laptop “cannot be justified,” judge rules

38. The philosophy of privacy: why surveillance reduces us to objects

39. Philippines Deports Thai Worker for Insulting Filipinos on Facebook

40. How secure will our data be in the post-quantum era?

41. UN Experts Say TPP and Fast Track Threaten Human Rights

42. Super-scholars: MPAA offers $20,000 for academic research in copyright battle – Leaked email describes programme ‘to solicit pro-copyright academic research papers’, but group says it won’t influence experts’ findings

43. The First Amendment, The Second Amendment And The 3D-Printed Gun

44. Why I’m Excited for Medium’s Partnership With Creative Commons (Lawrence Lessig)

45. PGA Joins NHL In Yanking Reporter Credentials Over Use Of Periscope On Golfers Practicing

46. The CRTC Knows Best: Why the Wireless Decision Doesn’t Go Far Enough (Michael Geist)

47. Verizon Buys AOL, Because Two Lumbering Dinosaurs Who Can’t Figure Out The Modern Internet Must Be Better Together

48. AT&T finally ramps down throttling of unlimited LTE customers: Facing lawsuit, AT&T now throttles 4G customers only when network is congested.

49. FCC: stop complaining about net neutrality and start competing

50. EU court rules “Skype” is too similar to “Sky,” blocks trademark application: Apparently Skype’s logo resembles “that of a cloud,” which can be “in the sky.”

51. Keurig CEO Sort Of (But Not Really) Apologizes For Company’s Ridiculous Foray Into Obnoxious Coffee DRM

52. Hostage saves herself via Pizza Hut app: “Please help. Get 911 to me.”

53. The Short Life and Speedy Death of Russia’s Silicon Valley

54. Engineers of Addiction: Slot machines perfected addictive gaming. Now, tech wants their tricks 

Creativity

55. Indie cinemas fight back against bullying by corporate movie chains: 3 chains own half of American theaters. Is the DoJ finally waking up from its long Reagan-induced slumber?

56. Retired Music Promoter Claims Trademark Infringement On Trademark He Admits To Abandoning

57. Cable Industry Tries To Distance Itself From Decades Of Poor Service By Eliminating The Word ‘Cable’

58. Hall and Oates Suing Granola Company Over ‘Haulin’ Oats’

59. FBI Spent Years ‘Researching’ The Lyrics To ‘Louie, Louie’ Before Realizing The Copyright Office Must Have Them

jon