News of the Week; January 25, 2017

By Jon Festinger on January 29, 2017

GAMES

  1. Controversial video game gun study gets retracted
  2. “Boom, headshot!” Disputed video game paper retracted
  3. Ohio State U Retracts Paper that Claimed Violent Video Games Gave Players Better Aim with Real Guns
  4. Study Claiming Video Games Make Players Better Real-Life Shooters Gets Shot Down
  5. Ark: Survival Mod That Replaces Dinos With Pokemon DMCA’d, Possibly By Another Rival Modding Group
  6. Milwaukee is still talking about Pokemon Go, and still trying to make it (and future games) pay up
  7. Game Developer Tried Threatening Game Reviewer And Posting Fake Steam Reviews To Be Successful; It Didn’t Work
  8. Skin in the Game: Counter-Strike has spawned a wild multibillion-dollar world of online casino gambling; it’s barely regulated and open to any kid who wants in.
  9. Robot Tales: Malicious game clones
  10. Disney Infinity dev revived and re-opened by Warner Bros.
  11. Leslie Benzies incorporates five new studios amid Rockstar legal dispute: Former GTA developer also trademarks potential title Time For A New World under Royal Circus Games
  12. The U.S. video game industry pulled $30.4B in revenue last year
  13. Revaluing Zynga’s $527 Million Acquisition Of NaturalMotion
  14. Beyond 50/50: Breaking Down The Percentage of Female Gamers by Genre
  15. Around $5B in Counter-Strikeskins were wagered in 2016
  16. Fox opens full-fledged video game division, FoxNext
  17. Fox creates new video games division: FoxNext: New division will also handle location-based entertainment, VR and AR
  18. Outfit7 purchased by Asian consortium for $1 billion
  19. The horror, the horror: Coppola announces Apocalypse Now video game 
  20. PlayStation VR owners can now watch 360-degree YouTube videos
  21. Experts Share 6 Legal Considerations to Know Before Jumping into the VR/AR Industry
  22. “Notorious $5000 deals with YouTubers and streamers will fade. It’s a matter of honesty”: Loots co-founder Marc Fuehnen discusses the increasing need for transparency when marketing through influencers
  23. Assetto Corsa developer Kunos Simulazioni acquired by Digital Bros
  24. “Teabagging” will get you banned from a major Killer Instinct tournament: Is the in-game taunt “unprofessional” or an important “psychological play”?
  25. Big Ten Universities Entering a New Realm: E-Sports
  26. Big Ten Network, Riot Games Launch League Of Legends College Season
  27. Brazilian Football Legend Ronaldo Invests In eSports Organization
  28. Eredivisie The Latest Football League To Create eSports Competition With FOX Sports Backing
  29. Why ESPN, the NBA, and Big Brands All Want a Piece of the $900-Million E-Sports Industry: That’s right–video games are now a sport.
  30. National Rugby League Referees Work Out Mentally With Brain Training Games, STRIVR
  31. “The Global Game Jam is a counter-movement to increased nationalistic tendencies”: President and co-founder Gorm Lai discusses through the rise of GGJ, the benefits for participants and the need for better worldwide collaboration
  32. South Korea Joins The Club That Uses Video Game Footage To Proclaim Themselves Awesome At War
  33. Classic FM launching UK’s first game music radio show
  34. Here’s why the UN is getting interested in video games: New report praises games that build understanding
  35. Why games are a key focus in UNESCO’s efforts to promote world peace: “If you read the literature on conflict resolution, perspective-taking is very important in order to reconcile opposing points of view. It’s difficult to have empathy if you can’t put yourself into somebody else’s perspective. Video games allow you to assume perspectives in an embodied form.”

DIGITAL

  1. Struggling Canadian News Agencies Ask Government For A ‘Google Tax’
  2. Canadian retailers will be able to offer discounts on ebooks by three major publishers: Competition Bureau takes fourth publisher HarperCollins to the Competition Tribunal
  3. Ex-Goldman Sachs programmer found guilty, again, of source code theft – Court: It’s silly to let Sergey Aleynikov go free just because he stole digital files.
  4. Apple sues Qualcomm, saying chipmaker withheld $1B as “extortion”: Suit claims payment was withheld after Apple talked to Korean regulators.
  5. Apple sues Qualcomm in China, expanding fight over patent licensing: Qualcomm is under legal attack, now in two of the world’s biggest markets.
  6. Section 230 Helps Snapchat Defeat Personal Injury Claim Due to ‘Speed Filter’–Maynard v. McGee
  7. Samsung chief avoids arrest in South Korean corruption scandal: The bribery investigation continues, but for now Lee Jae-yong remains free.
  8. California Man Brings Class Action Lawsuit Against Apple For Not Preventing Drivers From Doing Stupid Stuff
  9. Perfect 10 Loses Once Again, Sets More Good Copyright Precedent
  10. Amazon wants to skip to the end of EU’s e-book antitrust case: “We disagree with some of Vestager’s ideas,” says Amazon as it tables settlement offer.
  11. Snapchat To Enable Ad Targeting Using Third Party Data
  12. Netflix added over 7 million new subscribers last quarter
  13. How Social Cash Made WeChat The App For Everything: A centuries-old tradition gave rise to China’s most valuable company and captured the attention of everyone from teens to Silicon Valley.
  14. Facebook Journalism Project is Nothing But A Much-Needed PR stunt
  15. Source: Facebook encouraged Antonio Brown to do locker-room live broadcast
  16. Beyoncé, Jay-Z and Obama stock photo draws backlash
  17. Welcome to the world of trolling in virtual reality: Imagine being surrounded by hundreds of faceless avatars screaming at you.
  18. As PC sales shrink, the gaming PC market grows faster than expected: Report shows PC gaming hardware worth over $30 billion, well ahead of schedule.
  19. What the Five Year Anniversary of the SOPA/PIPA Blackout Can Teach Congress About Tech
  20. Copyright Office Says Current Law Addresses Concerns about Software-Enabled Consumer Products
  21. EU MEPs Call Again For ‘Robot Rules’ To Get Ahead Of The AI Revolution
  22. How artificial intelligence can be corrupted to repress free speech: It’s easier than you think, even here in America.
  23. Can We Balance Human Ethics With Artificial Intelligence?
  24. The Ethics and Governance of AI: On the Role of Universities (Urs Gasser)
  25. The Real Story Of 2016: What reporters — and lots of data geeks, too — missed about the election, and what they’re still getting wrong. (Nate Silver)

CREATIVITY

  1. Supreme Court Delves Into Question Of Whether Or Not You Can Trademark ‘Disparaging’ Terms
  2. Transcript of Oral Argument in In Re Tam
  3. Lee v. Tam post-argument (Rebecca Tushnet)
  4. Tiffany & Co. Successfully Asserts Trademark Infringement Claims Against Costco
  5. Trump Campaign Wants To Trademark ‘Keep America Great’
  6. CBS, Paramount Settle Lawsuit Over ‘Star Trek’ Fan Film
  7. CBS & Paramount Finally Settle With Fan Film Axanar
  8. Axanar Productions, Paramount, and CBS settle Star Trek copyright lawsuit: Axanar says it’s “not paying anything,” will turn its feature into two 15-minute shorts.
  9. CJEU rules that EU law does NOT prevent punitive damages in IP cases
  10. France: Any Alteration/Modification of a Work in Public Domain is Infringement of Moral Rights
  11. Sir Paul Will Not Let It Be: McCartney Makes Preemptive Strike Against Music Publishers to Reclaim His Copyrights 
  12. Apple Sued Over Use of Jamie XX Song in iPhone Advertisement
  13. Is A ‘Fattened’ Version Of A Famous Jorge Luis Borges Story Artistic Re-Creation, Or Copyright Infringement?
  14. Author Sued for “Children’s Versions” of ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s,’ ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’
  15. Copyright Has A Real & Serious Free Speech Problem
  16. Want to double-down on fixing the Copyright Law? Fix ELUAs.
  17. Producers Pressured to Disavow
  18. Arrested Flag Burner Sues Arresting Officers
  19. Original “patent troll” law firm is shutting down: The Niro firm made tech companies shudder and made a few inventors wealthy.
  20. What does post-truth mean for a philosopher?
  21. What Do You Mean by ‘The Media?’: The term has been weaponized.
  22. Publisher printing more copies of George Orwell’s ‘1984’ after spike in demand
  23. The Top Ten TTAB Decisions of 2016 [Part 1]

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. Chairperson, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, Appointment Opportunity
  2. 18 bogus arguments about the CRTC and Super Bowl ads
  3. Outgoing Obama trade chief urges Canada to reverse Super Bowl ad decision
  4. Super Bowl Commercials Set to Air North of the Border
  5. NFL Gets Involved In Plan To Keep American Super Bowl Commercials Out Of Canada
  6. Report: President Trump Picks Former Verizon Lawyer Ajit Pai To Head FCC
  7. FCC Chairman Pai vows to close broadband “digital divide”: Pai voted against previous broadband expansion orders, but has plans of his own.
  8. FCC to be led by Ajit Pai, staunch opponent of consumer protection rules: Ex-Verizon lawyer Pai will take “weed whacker” to net neutrality under Trump.
  9. Comcast, AT&T, and ISP lobbyists are excited about Trump’s FCC chair: Ajit Pai repeatedly sided with ISPs on FCC rules, will be “formidable opponent.”
  10. GOP asks Ajit Pai to kill plan for helping customers avoid cable box rentals: Wheeler’s attempt to remake cable box market nears official demise.
  11. The U.S. Without Net Neutrality: How An Internet Nightmare Unfolds: Today, we take the freedom of the web for granted. Under Trump, maybe we shouldn’t
  12. Google and Netflix join fight against municipal broadband restrictions: Internet companies and advocacy groups battle Virginia anti-muni broadband bill.
  13. Google, Ting, Netflix Dare To Suggest That Maybe Giant, Anti-Competitive ISPs Shouldn’t Be Writing State Telecom Laws
  14. Netflix is so big that it doesn’t need net neutrality rules anymore: But small video providers still need network neutrality, Netflix says.
  15. Netflix May Not Be Worried About The Looming Death Of Net Neutrality, But Startups Should Be Terrified
  16. Netflix calls out HBO for not letting subscribers binge on new shows
  17. Trump voters need fast broadband and net neutrality too, Tom Wheeler says: Wheeler talks to Ars about “Cablewood,” competition, regulation on last day at FCC.
  18. Outgoing FCC Boss Reminds Trump Supporters That Net Neutrality Is Good For Them, Too
  19. When home Internet service costs $5,000—or even $15,000: We talked to two homeowners who grudgingly paid thousands to RCN and Comcast.
  20. AT&T raises phone activation fee another $5, now charges $25: $25 fee for AT&T users who bring own device or buy phone on installment plan.
  21. Through Price Hikes And Annoyance, AT&T Still Waging War On Unlimited Data Users
  22. The FCC Fines Straight Path $100 Million for Failing to Meet License Obligations 
  23. The trouble for Canadian digital policy in an ‘America first’ world (Michael Geist)
  24. What’s in the box? Not a valid agreement to arbitrate! (Rebecca Tushnet)

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Court ruling stands: US has no right to seize data from world’s servers – Outcome means hot-button privacy topic could reach US Supreme Court.
  2. State Appeals Court Says Unlocking A Phone With A Fingerprint Doesn’t Violate The Fifth Amendment
  3. China announces mass shutdown of VPNs that bypass Great Firewall: China says all VPN providers must get permission from government to operate.
  4. China Bolsters The Great Firewall, Cracks Down Harder On VPN Use
  5. Megaviral Meitu “beauty” app’s data grab is anything but skin-deep: Android version seeks intrusive permissions, sends lots of data to servers in China.
  6. Kaspersky Lab’s top investigator reportedly arrested in treason probe: Charges ignite concern that other researchers could be prosecuted as well.
  7. Chicago Mayor Promises To Turn Over Emails From His Private Accounts Following Courtroom Losses
  8. Snowden’s Favorite Email Service Returns, With ‘Trustful,’ ‘Cautious,’ And ‘Paranoid’ Modes
  9. CIA Slightly Scales Back Its Domestic Surveillance Powers In First Major Policy Update In Over 30 Years
  10. Proposed CIA Chief Seems Happy To Spy On Americans, Even If Using Info Hacked By Russians
  11. Ransomware app hosted in Google Play infects unsuspecting Android user: “All Your Data Is Already Stored On Our Servers!” malicious app warned.
  12. UK Government Refuses To Impose Privacy Rules On Surveillance Cameras In Hospitals
  13. Should Celebrities Be Able to Stop Fake News Sites Using Their Faces?

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