News of the Week; October 26, 2016

GAMES

1. Game studio hits Hasbro with cloning lawsuit
2. Rockstar clears out “illegitimately gained” GTA Online cash: Developer also tightens up ban and suspension policy for the hack-addled game.
3. Rockstar beefs up suspension policy, takes in-game cash from cheaters
4. Everything We Know About Nintendo Switch
5. Nintendo Switch officially revealed
6. Nintendo Switch heralds the end of the handheld era
7. “Who else but die-hard Nintendo fans will buy the Switch?”
8. Switch marks the end of Nintendo’s mainstream console aspirations (and that’s ok)
9. Nintendo: Switch video does not represent actual game footage
10. Nintendo: Switch trailer may not show “actual game footage” – Proof-of-concept gameplay was added over dummy units in post-production.
11. Nintendo pins financial hopes on selling 2 million Switch consoles at launch
12. Nintendo shares tumble following Switch reveal
13. Sale of Seattle Mariners stake keeps Nintendo in the black: Six month figures show company shortening sales forecasts for full year
14. Xbox sales continue to pull down Microsoft’s games biz revenue
15. PlayStation VR sells 50,000 units in Japan during launch week
16. PlayStation VR Search Interest Blows Past Rift and Vive Amid Launch
17. Oculus on Platform-exclusive VR Content: ‘it’s the only viable way to jumpstart the market’
18. “Making your games inclusive is complicated and fraught with frustration”: Beamdog creative director David Gaider on the importance, and pitfalls, of promoting diversity
19. Shadow Warrior 2 Developers: We’d Rather Spend Our Time Making A Great Game Than Worrying About Piracy
20. Pokémon Go highlights legal challenges ahead for gaming: Amendments to data protection law may be needed, re:publica conference told
21. “No reviews means no possibility of negativity”: Games critics weigh in on Bethesda’s decision to withhold review codes for upcoming games
22. It’s official: Unionized video game voice actors are on strike – Members go professionally silent in effort to negotiate for long-term royalties.
23. SAG-AFTRA now on strike against EA, Activision, Warner Bros., more: Final negotiations stalled on pay, picket line will form outside EA’s offices on Monday October 24
24. French Soccer Club Paris Saint-Germain Dives Head First Into eSports
25. The News Is Now Literally a Video Game: The GOP Arcade is producing tiny, raw, irreverent games based on the news.

DIGITAL

1. Content Industry Gets Favored Interpretation of “Repeat Infringers” in MP3Tunes Appeal: MP3Tunes and its founder Michael Robertson can’t escape a determination of owing tens of millions of dollars to record labels and music publishers.
2. Affinity Labs of Texas, LLC v. DIRECTV, LLC, 2015-1845 (Fed. Cir., Sept. 23, 2016): Conventional business practices implemented by a generic computer are patent-ineligible under § 101
3. Newly formed patent troll makes vast claim to Web video, sues 14 big media companies: Mystery company owns a patent created by an IP lawyer and a serial litigant.
4. Lawyers file fake lawsuits to de-index online negative reviews, suit says: “The scam is not all that complicated,” using court orders to get search results removed.
5. Yelp Cannot Be Held Liable for Negative Review
6. Actor James Woods Gloats Over Death Of Random Twitter Troll He Sued To Unmask
7. No, Facebook, ‘Diversity’ Doesn’t Explain Your Support of Thiel
8. Facebook faces allegations of rule-bending for Trump, announces guideline changes: Report alleges that Zuckerberg stepped in to un-censor Trump posts.
9. Unauthorised communication to the public in an online environment as a criminal offence in the UK
10. FTC complaint blasts Disney, Google over child influencer videos: Watchdogs say they’re profiting from freebie-laden videos targeting young viewers.
11. NY governor approves fines for some rental ads—hours later, Airbnb sues: New York will levy fines up to $7,500 for illegal Airbnb ads.
12. The new French law targeting “automated image referencing services”: does EU law allow it?
13. NBA to offer virtual reality games in upcoming season
14. Online gambling probed by UK competition watchdog: Firms that fail to comply with consumer rights law face court, warns CMA.
15. Backpage.com CEO fights pimping charges, says 1st Amendment protects him: Requiring online publishers to vet third-party posts would “chill free expression.”
16. Cisco Develops System To Automatically Cut-Off Pirate Video Streams
17. When Algorithms Work Against Us
18. The darker side of machine learning
19. AI judge created by British scientists can predict human rights rulings: Artificial intelligence accurate 79% of the time—no plans to bench judges just yet.
20. Teenagers watch more YouTube than Cable TV – Piper Jaffray Teens Survey Fall 2016
21. Pediatricians revise thinking on screen time; ditch ban for kids under 2: New recommendations try to adjust to shifting media landscape and usage.
22. A.I. Computers Should Be Named as Inventors on Patents: A lawyer proposes that creative computers be elevated from the role of sophisticated tools to that of inventors.
23. AI & Ethical Determinism
24. Microsoft’s Speech Recognition Tech Is Officially as Accurate as Humans
25. Experts Assert That “Mind-Reading” Computers Are Just A Decade Away
26. Microsoft releases open source toolkit used to build human-level speech recognition: Microsoft wants to put machine learning everywhere.
27. Zuckerberg Momentarily Curbs ‘Hate Speech’ Moderation Stupidity At Facebook To Reinstate Posts By Donald Trump
28. Exclusive Leak! The German decision against Facebook/WhatsApp

CREATIVITY

1. Harris Faulkner Suit Against Hasbro Over A Toy Hamster Ends In Settlement, Hasbro To Discontinue The Toy
2. The Beatles Move to Dismiss Copyright Suit Over Footage of Famous Concert: The heirs of concert promoter Sid Bernstein assert ownership over master tapes from The Beatles’ 1965 performance at Shea Stadium.
3. Skittles Photographer Actually Sues Trump Campaign Over Infringement
4. Shameful: Perfectly Reasonable Academic Book On Gene Kelly Killed By Bogus Copyright Claims
5. How Will Courts Handle A “Poor Man’s Copyright”? (Eric Goldman)
6. Shake Up At The Copyright Office A Possible Preview To Fight Over Copyright Reform
7. The Reason The Copyright Office Misrepresented Copyright Law To The FCC: Hollywood Told It To
8. A Hungarian newspaper embarrasses the government. Days later, it is shut down.
9. Your brilliant Kickstarter idea could be on sale in China before you’ve even finished funding it
10. Jeffrey Rosen – The Deciders: The Future of Free Speech in a Digital World: 2016 Richard S. Salant Lecture on Freedom of the Press
11. The GOP must do something about the conservative media industrial complex if it wants to survive
12. Want to save the Republican Party? Drain the right-wing media swamp.
13. Republicans Threaten Lawsuits Over TV Ads Linking Them To Donald Trump: Saying a candidate supports Trump is basically defamation, they argue.
14. How police censorship shaped Hollywood
15. Killer Riffs: A Guide to Parody in Popular Music – From the Residents’ freakish Beatles sendups, to Spinal Tap’s meta-metal escapades, to the gastronomic goofs of “Weird Al,” a chronicle of those who have turned pastiche and mimicry into an art form across the last 50 years.
16. Mississippi county bans clown costumes as Internet meme comes to life: Local officials say the clown meme “has really gotten out of hand.”
17. Argument preview: Court to consider copyright protection for cheerleading uniforms 

COMMUNICATIONS & BROADCASTING

1. Beyond a Netflix Tax: Why Melanie Joly’s Comments Point to Regulation of Internet Services (Michael Geist)
2. AT&T has $80 billion deal to purchase Time Warner Inc. (and with it, HBO)
3. Owning Time Warner would boost AT&T media ambitions, raise competition concerns.
4. AT&T and Time Warner reveal merger to create ISP, TV, and media giant: $85 billion merger may face intense regulatory scrutiny at FCC and Justice Dept.
5. AT&T Is Buying Time Warner Because the Future is Google
6. Does the AT&T Deal with Time Warner Equal A Dead Deal for Machinima?
7. Netflix CEO Wary That AT&T’s Latest Merger Could Hurt Streaming Competitors
8. Time Warner ruined AOL, says ex-AOL exec Ted Leonsis
9. AT&T/Time Warner deal could be approved without any FCC merger review: For merger opponents, Justice Department may be the only hope.
10. AT&T/Time Warner seems headed for FCC review, whether AT&T likes it or not: Time Warner has dozens of licenses that could trigger a public interest review.
11. After setback, FCC Chairman keeps pushing set-top box and privacy rules: But it’s not clear when the FCC will take final action on cable TV apps.
12. FCC Fines T-Mobile For Abusing The Definition Of ‘Unlimited’ Data
13. Comcast sues Nashville to halt rules that help Google Fiber: Both Comcast and AT&T seek invalidation of Nashville’s utility pole rules.
14. TV viewing in hotel rooms doesn’t need copyright licence fee—top EU legal eagle: CJEU advocate general says TV is an essential part of a hotel’s activity.
15. The Strange Story of Why Belize is Full of Chicago Cubs Fans: Thanks to pirated TV in the ’80s, the tiny nation is now in the grips of World Series fever.

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

1. Toronto’s Public Hearing on Bill C-51 Was Utterly Demoralizing
2. A court will decide whether Facebook used you to violate the privacy of all your friends
3. New Docs Detail How AT&T Planned To Profit Massively By Helping Law Enforcement Spy On The Public
4. Why people are freaking out about ‘AT&T spying on Americans for profit’
5. Yahoo Asks James Clapper To Please Let It Talk About The Email Scanning It Did For The Government
6. Liberals’ slow movement on Access to Information reform concerns commissioner: Information watchdog Suzanne Legault says changes so far are just ‘easy wins’
7. Google Has Quietly Dropped Ban on Personally Identifiable Web Tracking: Google is the latest tech company to drop the longstanding wall between anonymous online ad tracking and user’s names.
8. Russia-linked phishing campaign behind the DNC breach also hit Podesta, Powell: Bit.ly-based phishing links targeted former Sec. of State, Clinton campaign chair.
9. How Russia Pulled Off the Biggest Election Hack in U.S. History: Putin, Wikileaks, The NSA And The DNC Email Fiasco That Gave Trump And Clinton Another Reason To Be At Odds.
10. Meet Fancy Bear, The Russian Group Hacking The US Election
11. Some hacked e-mails, documents from Putin advisor confirmed as genuine: Ukrainian hacking group’s haul shows Russian plans to destabilize Kiev…maybe.
12. Agents of influence: How reporters have been “weaponized” by leaks – What obligations does a journalist have when he knows he’s being used by a “state actor”?
13. To beat crypto, feds have tried to force fingerprint unlocking in 2 cases: Is being forced to press a finger on a phone in violation of the Fifth Amendment?
14. DoS attack on major DNS provider brings Internet to morning crawl: Dyn’s US East region hit hardest in attack that affected Twitter, Reddit.
15. This Is Why Half the Internet Shut Down Today
16. How one rent-a-botnet army of cameras, DVRs caused Internet chaos: Attacks that took down Dyn appear to have been “rented” from multiple botnets.
17. Yesterday’s Internet Takedown Was Powered by Chinese-made Webcams and DVRs
18. Chinese Company Recalls Cameras, DVRs Used In Last Week’s Massive DDoS Attack
19. Inside the Cyberattack That Shocked the US Government
20. Dumb & Dumber Claims About Last Week’s Internet Attack (SOPA?!? Really?)
21. Future of Privacy Forum and Carnegie Mellon University Research Leads to New Tool from California Attorney General
22. Kuwait Backtracks On Mandatory DNA Database Of All Citizens And Visitors
23. Privacy Is About Tradeoffs… And Things Go Wrong When Those Tradeoffs Are Not Clear
24. WikiLeaks is exposing Clinton’s duplicity, but it’s no hero
25. PINAC Director Sues Miami Beach Mayor Over Refusal To Release Social Media Blocklists
26. New Strategies for Securing Our Private Lives (Jonathan Zittrain)

jon