News of the Week; November 9, 2016

GAMES

1. Fatal ‘Pokemon Go’ accident spurs police to ask Niantic for game-disabling function
2. New York Times publishes U.S. voter suppression op-ed in video game form
3. Football Manager 2017 review: Thanks to Brexit, it’s the deepest game yet – This is a game that doesn’t just entertain, but makes a political statement too.
4. CCP: Outlawing in-game gambling protects the EVE Online experience
5. First eSports arbitration court opened by WESA
6. An Analysis of Alternative Dispute Resolution in Esports (and WESA’s Arbitration Court)
7. Cleveland Cavaliers’ Dan Gilbert, Miami Dolphins’ Stephen Ross Continue Pursuit Of eSports Teams
8. Ted Leonsis on Team Liquid purchase and the future of esports: “I do believe this will be as mainstream as Hollywood and the NBA.”
9. Blizzard’s Overwatch eSports league to emphasise financial stability: Teams will be based in specific cities, with players guaranteed a minimum salary and benefits
10. Zynga CEO: I’ll never go back to console and PC
11. Vivendi increases Ubisoft stake to 24%: Media giant continues interest in Assassin’s Creed publisher
12. Vivendi now owns nearly 25% of Ubisoft as it continues to snap up shares
13. Profits falter at Square Enix despite rising game sales
14. Zynga reports a Q3 loss, with slots and poker games as top earners
15. Blizzard powers Activision Blizzard results: Revenues from Warcraft maker nearly double year-over-year as Call of Duty and Skylanders label sees business slip 36%
16. Kim Kardashian: Hollywood dev buys fashion game specialist for $45.5M
17. New York Times publishes U.S. voter suppression op-ed in video game form
18. PS4 Pro with HDR and 4K: “The biggest improvement since B&W went colour”: Devs talk PS4 Pro HDR and 4K upgrades for GT Sport, Nioh, and For Honor.
19. Google DeepMind’s next gaming challenge: can AI beat Starcraft II? – Blizzard and DeepMind are releasing an open research environment
20. 167 games received tax relief from UK Government last year: Number of games utilising UK tax support jumps 117 percent
21. Games Industry post-Brexit: Who Will Profit?: Cutting corporation tax to counter the effects of leaving the EU only helps the richest
22. Hook Turn: How the Aussie game industry turned a corner
23. Video Games Are Boring: Maybe everything we know is wrong, says Brie Code
24. NRA offers new versions of kids games, including ‘Target Land’ take on ‘Candy Land’ 
25. Virtual realty: can a computer game turn you into an ‘evil’ property developer? – Delaying repairs to save money and dehumanising your tenants … Adam Forrest becomes a virtual landlord and learns some interesting – and depressing – lessons

DIGITAL

1. EMI Christian Music Group, Inc. v. MP3tunes, LLC
2. What The Second Circuit Just Got Wrong About The DMCA In EMI v. MP3Tunes (Annemarie Bridy)
3. Court Orders Landmark Mass Blocking of 152 Pirate Sites
4. Adobe Asked Google To Censor Techdirt’s Story On How Adobe’s DRM Got Cracked
5. Google Loses Two Section 230(C)(2) Rulings–Spy Phone v. Google And Darnaa v. Google
6. TiVo’s “TV Guide” patents are DOA at appeals court: TiVo and Rovi made big bets on software patents. They haven’t worked out.
7. The cruelty of Facebook’s algorithmic newsfeed
8. Facebook is harming our democracy, and Mark Zuckerberg needs to do something about it
9. Facebook users sue over alleged racial discrimination in housing, job ads – Spokeswoman: “Multicultural marketing… helps brands reach audiences.”
10. HUD Has ‘Serious Concerns’ About Facebook’s Ethnic Targeting: Federal officials are taking a close look at a sales practice that allows advertisers on the social network to include or exclude people who have an “affinity” with specific ethnic groups.
11. Facebook leadership faces German lawsuit for failing to remove hate speech
12. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and WhatsApp blocked in Turkey: Internet access in Turkey restricted after political arrests, says monitoring group.
13. Google Rebuts Antitrust Claims in Europe
14. Google refutes EU antitrust charges on comparison shopping, AdSense: Original complainant Foundem counters Google’s claims on Amazon, eBay competition.
15. Why Is Your Bigoted, Luddite Uncle Crafting Internet Policy In Europe?
16. Court Upholds Airbnb’s Terms Of Service–Selden v. Airbnb (Eric Goldman)
17. Is hyperlinking copyright infringement? EU vs. US
18. Finally Come The Calls In Major Media To Rethink Canada’s ‘Notice And Notice’ Copyright System
19. Canadians are getting “blackmailed” by US copyright trolls
20. TPP at odds with Australian copyright law: Law Council – The intellectual property rights chapter of the TPP raises issues of complexity and inconsistency with domestic law and other treaties, with Open Source Australia saying it will stymie innovation.
21. The Copyright Law Behind a $600M Startup and Millennials’ Favorite Form of Expression
22. Adobe Asked Google To Censor Techdirt’s Story On How Adobe’s DRM Got Cracked
23. Judge Refuses To Block NY No-Selfie Ballot Law Because It Would ‘Create Havoc To Not Enforce It’
24. Judges in New York, California won’t halt ban on ballot selfies: Overturning law this close to Nov. 8 is a “recipe for delays and a disorderly election.”
25. Bank halts online transactions after money stolen from 20,000 accounts: Tesco Banks promises to issue refunds, track down culprits.
26. Stop junk food ads on kids’ apps – WHO
27. Japan: Bitcoin to Be Regulated
28. Facebook video pays off: Mark Zuckerberg’s drive to “put video first” is also putting money in Facebook’s pockets. The more organic videos Facebook users watch, the more high-priced video ads Facebook can slip into the feed. Now Facebook’s strategy around auto-play video, paying Live content producers and offering more creative tools is helping to propel its massive revenue growth.
29. Facebook’s “Free” Internet Will Harm Low-Income Consumers
30. Clicks vs. Satisfaction: How media went for the click and forgot about you
31. The “Facebook impact” on elections is real, and significant—just look at Hong Kong’s last vote
32. The age of vitriol: Edward Luce on US politics and social media – Social media is enabling prejudice to slip back into the mainstream. As the US goes to the polls, what does this mean for democracy?
33. Election Day CyberFest: Hackers, Hacking, ‘Journalism,’ The FBI, And Jiveass Baloney
34. Here’s The Truth: Shiva Ayyadurai Didn’t Invent Email
35. Actual Creators Of Email Not At All Happy The Fake Creator Of Email Got Paid For His Bogus Claim
36. Expert: When an AI Invents Something, It Should be Credited as the Inventor
37. Mark Cuban Pulls Credentials Of Two Human Reporters For Mavs Games To Stave Off Robot Journalist Apocalypse
38. Inside Magic Leap, The Secretive $4.5 Billion Startup Changing Computing Forever
39. Is The Internet Changing Democracy As We Know It? (Andres Guadamuz)
40. Utopia?: A Technologically Determined World of Frictionless Transactions, Optimized Production, and Maximal Happiness (Brett Frischmann & Evan Selinger)

CREATIVITY

1. Rolling Stone gets just what it deserves
2. The German Bundesgerichtshof changes its concept of parody following CJEU Deckmyn v. Vrijheidsfonds/ Vandersteen
3. Firing journalists won’t save the media: Media in the Age of Trump
4. New pro-Donald Trump ad appeals to NFL fans who favor keeping Redskins name
5. Wall Street Journal Error Filled Editorial Buys Into Ridiculous Copyright Office Conspiracy Theory
6. U.S.-China Hollywood Panel: Without Chinese Elements “It Does Not Meet Our Standards”
7. Drone Journalism: Cleared for Take-off
8. Jury Balks At Trademark Claim Against Ex-Member Of Rock Group Boston
9. Tattoo Copyright Cases Give an Inkling of What’s to Come 
10. The Missing Public Voice: My Comments on the Copyright Board at the Senate Banking Committee (Michael Geist)
11. The Copyright Board of Canada: A Regulator Lacking a Theory of Regulation (Ariel Katz)

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

1. Bombshell from Megyn Kelly: Ex-Fox News boss Roger Ailes offered career boosts for ‘sexual favors’
2. DOJ Sues DirecTV, Calling It A ‘Ringleader’ of Collusion Over Regional Sports Programming
3. Trump, our next president, promised to block AT&T/Time Warner merger: But Trump’s promise to block the merger won’t necessarily be fulfilled.
4. Court blocks FCC attempt to cap prison phone rates
5. The NFL Was a Sure Thing for TV Networks. Until Now: Why are football ratings down? Cord cutters. And smartphones. And the election, concussions, Kaepernick, global warming …
6. Despite ESPN Whining, Nielsen Confirms Historic Subscriber Losses For Channel
7. Netflix arrives on Comcast TV boxes, won’t be exempt from data cap: Comcast brings Netflix video to X1 boxes nationwide this week.
8. In Wake Of Trump Win, ISPs Are Already Laying The Groundwork For Gutting Net Neutrality
9. Colorado Voters Continue To Shoot Down Awful Comcast-Written Protectionist State Law
10. What is Canadian content?
11. CBC Threatens Podcast Apps For Letting People Listen To CBC Podcasts
12. Viacom’s Earnings Plunge After Battle for Control
13. The World’s Telecoms Are Under Threat From All Sides

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

1. Chinese Government Implements Cybersecurity Law Designed To Spy On Citizens, Quell Dissent
2. In scathing ruling, Federal Court says CSIS bulk data collection illegal
3. Court Finds Canadian Spy Agency Illegally Collected Data In Bulk For More Than A Decade
4. Lost Confidence: Why Trust in Canadian Surveillance Agencies Has Been Irreparably Harmed (Michael Geist)
5. What CSIS Did Wrong With Your Data: Canadians can no longer be confident that security intelligence agencies are respecting our rights and freedoms (Michael Geist)
6. Media surveillance highlights privacy risk to all Canadians (Daniel Therrien, Privacy Commissioner of Canada)
7. CSIS And The Metadata Muddle Pt 1: What Is This Case Really About? (Craig Forcese)
8. CSIS And The Metadata Muddle Pt 2: On Secret Law, Courts And The Rule Of Law (Craig Forcese)
9. Dissecting CSIS’ Statement Concerning Indefinite Metadata Retention
10. How the Seattle Police Secretly—and Illegally—Purchased a Tool for Tracking Your Social Media Posts
11. Geofeedia, In Damage Control Mode, Issues Bogus DMCA Over Brochure Posted By Reporter
12. Firm linked to social media surveillance loses data access
13. France to create ID database holding biometric data of 60 million citizens: Pushed through by decree on a national holiday, no democratic debate needed…
14. A year of fragmented censorship across Chinese live streaming applications
15. Chinese Police Dub Censorship Circumvention Tools As ‘Terrorist Software’
16. US Officials ‘Strategically Leak’ That US Is Ready To Hack Russia If It Interferes With Election
17. If The FBI Can’t Stop All These Leaks About An Investigation, Why Would it Be Able To Keep Encryption Backdoor Secret?
18. Fitbit, Jawbone, Garmin and Mio fitness bands criticized for privacy failings
19. Hacker sentenced to 29 months in devious Photobucket image plot: “Yes, seduced by money. I will not lie,” defendant tells judge.
20. Confused Reporter Doubles Down On Bogus Trump/Russian Server Story With ‘I’m Just Asking Questions’ Non-Apology
21. Rogue FBI Twitter Bot dumps months of FOIAs, causing controversy: Software update flooded feed with already-released Clinton e-mail, Foundation doc links.
22. Man names Wi-Fi network “Daesh 21,” prosecuted under French anti-terror law: New law forbids “public praise” of terrorism, punishable by up to 7 years in prison.
23. How to block the ultrasonic signals you didn’t know were tracking you: Your phone can talk to advertisers beyond your back, beyond your audible spectrum.
24. This evil office printer hijacks your cellphone connection: It could eavesdrop on both voice calls and SMS messages.
25. Why the Privacy Shield may survive (for now)
26. Ex-Playmate faces charges for posting secret nude photo of woman on Snapchat: Dani Mathers allegedly wrote: “If I can’t unsee this then you can’t either.”

jon