News of the Week; April 26, 2017

GAMES

1. Two-year jail sentence for teen who hacked Xbox: Convict carried out more than 1.7m cyber attacks and enabled further crimes globally
2. Teenager behind Microsoft and Sony hacks jailed for two years: “I have a duty to the public who are worried about this,” says judge.
3. Creator of DDoS program used against Minecraft and RuneScape sentenced to prison
4. Game over for Canadian game copier and Mod chip seller
5. UK Crime Agency’s Latest Moral Panic: Kids Modding Videogames May Be A Gateway To Becoming Criminal Hackers
6. Game localization shenanigans in the Chinese-speaking world
7. Overwatch Pro’s Racist Tirade Ends His Career
8. Pro Overwatch player dropped for racial slurs: Toronto Esports cuts ties with Matt “Dellor” Vaughn for prolonged outburst during Twitch stream; Vaughn says he’s quitting competitive gaming
9. Stephens College is now the first all-women’s school to offer eSports scholarships
10. To create a quality Final Fantasy V translation, fans reworked the game’s code
11. NPD has been underestimating digital game sales since at least 2010
12. We’ve been missing a big part of game industry’s digital revolution: NPD “restatement” shows consistent spending growth as digital sales dominate.
13. Report: Vivendi’s takeover of Ubisoft planned for this year
14. Vivendi to attempt hostile bid for Ubisoft this year: Reuters’ sources claim that this is the year that the French media giant will accelerate its expansion into video games
15. Palmer Luckey funds Trump through Chrono Trigger shell companies: Oculus co-founder continues his support for US President, despite controversy over involvement with “s***posting” group
16. Valve asks for phone numbers to confirm Dota 2 player identities: Move should cut down on expert players intentionally smurfing noobs.
17. Bleszinski: “AAA is a nearly unsustainable model” – The Gears of War creator discusses why blockbuster games often feel repetitive, and looks ahead to VR
18. The ESA figures 67% of U.S. households play games
19. Esports Will Join Real Sports At 2022 Asian Games
20. Number of college varsity e-sports programs quadruple in 9 months
21. Stephens College is now the first all-women’s school to offer eSports scholarships
22. Nintendo Switch drives March games sales to $1.36B in US – NPD: The hardware category nearly doubled year-over-year thanks to Nintendo’s record-breaking Switch launch
23. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: Critical Consensus: Switch software lineup gets a turbo boost with Nintendo racer’s victory lap
24. A major Nintendo policy change has saved at least one Switch game: Third major patch for Nintendo Switch exclusive Bomberman does the unexpected.
25. Nintendo, Ever the Toy Company: The fate of NES Classic is a reminder that while Nintendo may be a console firm, its DNA remains that of a toy maker
26. This Zelda fan game takes the fun of Breath of the Wild to 2D: Forget emulating, you can experience a small sliver of Breath of the Wild right now.
27. FTC Warns: That Nintendo Switch Emulator Is A Scam: Play ‘Breath of the Wild’ on your computer for free? That download is probably malware
28. G2A’s reputation can still be fixed, indies say – “Just stop being s***”: Rami Ismail, Mike Bithell and Dan Da Rocha on the art of managing reputation in the games business
29. G2A: “We’re not a grey marketplace, people just don’t understand our business” – It is the video games industry vs G2A at Reboot Develop
30. Shopify enables devs to sell physical merchandise in-game: SDK opens potential revenue source for developers, Alto’s Adventure the first to use new tool
31. Disabled Streamer Receives Hundreds In Donations After Bullies Kick Him From Match
32. We need game design tools that work for everyone
33. Early Nintendo programmer worked without a keyboard: Sakurai programmed a Game Boy classic with a trackball and a Famicom Twin.
34. Unity devs can now sell actual hats (and other merch) in-game via new Shopify SDK
35. Video Games Help Model Brain’s Neurons
36. Transactions of the Digital Games Research Association Volume 3, issue 1

a. Introduction (Christy Dena, Brendan Keogh)

b. Ways of Being: Pervasive Game Design Ethos in Urban Codemakers (Steven Conway, Troy Innocent)

c. Finding a Way: Techniques to Avoid Schema Tension in Narrative Design (Christy Dena)

d. Scarcity and Survival Horror: Trade as an Instrument of Terror in Pathologic (Julian Novitz)

e. Adolescents as Game Designers: Developing New Literacies (Pilar Lacasa, Sara Cortés, María Ruth García-Pernía)

DIGITAL

1. Can Facebook Fix Its Own Worst Bug?
2. Father in Thailand Kills 11-Month-Old Daughter Live on Facebook
3. Facebook shows Related Articles and fact checkers before you open links
4. Facebook To Reportedly Pay Publishers To Create Videos That Feature New Mid-Roll Ads
5. The Weird Antitrust Questions Of A Google Chrome Ad Blocker
6. Torching the Modern-Day Library of Alexandria: “Somewhere at Google there is a database containing 25 million books and nobody is allowed to read them.”
7. Google pushes fake news, hate-speech workshops (and YouTube) on UK teens: After backlash over censored LGBTQ+ content, Google debuts “Internet Citizens” project.
8. Wikitribune is Jimmy Wales’ attempt to wage war on fake news: Wikipedia cofounder says pages won’t go live until trusted volunteers verify stories.
9. Palantir settles US charges that it discriminated against Asian engineers
10. The Surprising Speed with Which We Become Polarized Online: Users isolate themselves in social media echo chambers, even when they start out looking at a variety of posts.
11. Instagram Now Has 700 Million Users
12. Khloe Kardashian Sued for Posting a Photo of Khloe Kardashian on Instagram: This follows a lawsuit focused on Tom Holland republishing an image of Tom Holland on Instagram.
13. More Shady Libel Lawsuits Resulting In Dubious Delisting Court Orders Uncovered
14. Feds Say Jewelry Company CEO Scrubbed Google Results With Fake Court Orders And Forged Judge’s Signatures
15. Five years later, legal Megaupload data is still trapped on dead servers: EFF lawyers head to appeals court to demand one man’s data.
16. Dutch Court Rules That Freely Given Fan-Subtitles Are Copyright Infringement
17. Fansubs for TV shows and movies are illegal, court rules: Anti-piracy group tells Dutch court they damage the industry.
18. CJEU in Filmspeler rules that the sale of a multimedia player is a ‘communication to the public’
19. Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf applies CJEU McFadden decision
20. Car Ad Websites Slightly “Scraped” in Copyright Case, Court Puts Brakes on Statutory Damages Minimums
21. After Bill Gates Backs Open Access, Steve Ballmer Discovers The Joys Of Open Data
22. Silicon Valley Losing Ground in Washington
23. Oh Yes They Did! – Ninth Circuit Holds that Use of Moderators May Impact DMCA Safe Harbor Shield
24. Dozen Amicus Briefs Oppose the Worst Section 230 Ruling of 2016 (and One Supports It)–Hassell v. Bird (Eric Goldman)
25. Can Your Employer Fire You For Posting Vacation Photos to Facebook?-Jones v. Accentia (Eric Goldman)
26. Faulty Mobile Device User Interface Jeopardizes Uber’s Contract Formation–Metter v. Uber (Eric Goldman)
27. Uber’s app fingerprinted iPhone hardware, breaking App Store rules 
28. Man sues Confide: I wouldn’t have spent $7/month if I’d known it was flawed
29. Patent-holding company uses ex-Nokia patents to sue Apple, phone carriers: Nokia has spread its patents around widely, and they keep popping up in lawsuits.
30. Singapore Court Tosses Copyright Troll Cases Because IP Addresses Aren’t Good Enough Evidence
31. He Tweeted About Chinese Government Corruption. Twitter Suspended His Account.
32. Russia Is Trying to Copy China’s Approach to Internet Censorship
33. Russian man gets longest-ever US hacking sentence, 27 years in prison: Roman Seleznev bankrupted businesses, did $170 million in damage.
34. Internet Censorship Is Advancing Under Trump: We expect attacks on internet speech in Zimbabwe and Russia. Under Trump, it’s hitting home.
35. Russian DNC Hackers Are Now Targeting Germany’s Merkel — Report
36. Russia’s Fake News Crusade Is Still Pushing For Le Pen: Kremlin-backed news sites at home and abroad have long favored the pro-Russia French presidential candidate
37. NY Judge Says Prior Restraint Is America’s Best Defense Against Internet ‘Chaos’
38. North Korean Media: A Story of Language, Censorship, and Tech
39. Governing body declares: No IP addresses for governments that shut down internet access
40. Netflix Hits 100 Million Subscribers, Vows To Raise Another Billion Dollars Of Debt
41. Cord Cutting Is Very Real, And 25% Of Americans Won’t Subscribe To Traditional Cable By Next Year
42. Here Comes The Attempt To Reframe Silicon Valley As Modern Robber Barons
43. Here’s Everything You Need to Know about Elon Musk’s Human/AI Brain Merge
44. With Neuralink, Elon Musk Promises Human-to-Human Telepathy. Don’t Believe It.: Why the billionaire is wrong that telepathy technology will be available in a few short years.
45. How Garry Kasparov Learned To Stop Worrying & Love The Machines That Beat Him At His Job
46. YouTube TV review: Not a game-changer out of the gate, but it could be soon – Using it is easy, but it doesn’t offer multiple tiers or apps for many platforms.
47. Twitter: PGA TOUR LIVE Averages Almost 500,000 Unique Viewers Daily
48. Regulation of Fintech in Canada
49. 162 Tech Companies Tell Appeals Court That Trump’s 2nd Travel Ban Is Illegal
50. Make America Troll Again (James Grimmelmann)
51. Programming is Forgetting: Toward a New Hacker Ethic
52. Picture this: Senate staffers’ ID cards have photo of smart chip, no security: Senate employees just use passwords, and their badges sport a picture of an alternative.
53. Senate ID Cards Use A Photo Of A Chip Rather Than An Actual Smart Chip
54. How Should a Lawyer Respond to a Yelp Review Calling Him “Worst. Ever.”?–Spencer v. Glover (Eric Goldman)
55. Rubbing Elbows and Blowing Smoke: Gender, Class, and Science in the Nineteenth-Century Patent Office (Kara Swanson)
56. An AI wrote all of David Hasselhoff’s lines in this bizarre short film – Ars film debut: Watch It’s No Game and meet the Hoffbot, written by an algorithm.

CREATIVITY

1. This Lawsuit Goes to 11: The creators of This is Spinal Tap, the most influential mockumentary ever made, have been paid almost nothing. The rock gods are angry.
2. Beyoncé Aims to End Copyright Suit Against “Formation”: The singer says the claims against her are “grossly overstated.”
3. Copyright Law Precludes Athletes’ Publicity Rights Suit, Ninth Circuit Rules
4. Artist Sues Church For Moving His 9/11 Memorial Sculpture
5. Texas Lawmaker Wants To Decide Who’s A Real Journalist, Make It Easier To Sue Them
6. Charging Bull, Fearless Girl and comparative moral rights
7. Horizon’s Copyright Claim Against Marvel’s Iron Man Promotional Poster Survives Motion to Dismiss 
8. Sixth Circuit has nominative fair use sans la letter: Oaklawn Jockey Club, Inc. v. Kentucky Downs, LLC, No. 16-5582 (6th Cir. Apr. 19, 2017)
9. Is France Right To Criminalize Online Hate Speech?: Facebook says it’s wary of crossing the boundary into censorship but minorities say France’s muscular approach on the ground is the bigger problem
10. The Reel Story: Why Changing How We Measure a “Canadian Film” is Long Overdue (Michael Geist)
11. A Chicago Artist is Under Fire For Plagiarizing a Black Woman’s Artwork For His Michelle Obama Mural
12. Australian Copyright Scandal Points to the Need for Greater Oversight of Copyright Collectives (Michael Geist)
13. Duke Ellington And Copyright: Five Things You Should Know

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

1. As US prepares to gut net neutrality rules, Canada strengthens them: Canada cracks down on zero-rating while FCC allows paid data cap exemptions.
2. Canada Rushes To Defend Net Neutrality As The U.S. Moves To Dismantle It
3. As U.S. gears up for Internet fight, Canada sees an opportunity
4. A very Canadian approach: How net neutrality rules reflect a country’s true nature: Reasonable, fair, no-nonsense. Typical Canucks
5. Canada Just Took a Major Stand for Net Neutrality
6. Win for citizens as CRTC framework will help prevent telecoms from engaging in differential pricing practices: Today’s ruling strengthens Net Neutrality protections by discouraging telecom providers from zero-rating certain apps and services and not others
7. Net Neutrality is alive and well in Canada (Scott Prescott)
8. Net Neutrality Alive and Well in Canada: CRTC Crafts Full Code With Zero Rating Decision (Michael Geist)
9. CRTC’s Zero Rating Ruling Kills Proposals for Preferential Treatment for Cancon Online (Michael Geist)
10. Dispelling the net neutrality and zero rating FUD (Peter Nowak)
11. CRTC Chair Blais Calls Out Telcos For Double-Talk on Internet Fibre Investment (Michael Geist)
12. Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2017-104: Framework for assessing the differential pricing practices of Internet service providers
13. Ajit Pai announces plan to eliminate Title II net neutrality rules: Vote to begin net neutrality rollback scheduled for May 18.
14. FCC Chair Ajit Pai Announces Plan to Destroy Net Neutrality
15. FCC Boss Unveils Ingenious Plan To Replace Net Neutrality Rules With Fluff & Nonsense
16. Comcast and other ISPs celebrate imminent death of net neutrality rules: ISPs say they support net neutrality—but oppose FCC’s authority to enforce it.
17. FCC helps AT&T and Verizon charge more by ending broadband price caps: Business Internet price caps eliminated even when customers have only one choice.
18. FCC Moves To Make Life Easier For Business Broadband Monopolies
19. Mobile industry loses its bid to stop Berkeley’s cellphone warning law – 9th Circuit: Local law actually “complements and reinforces” federal law, policy.
20. Verizon lost 400,000 customers in the 6 weeks before it launched unlimited data: Verizon turned things around but still lost 289,000 phone subscribers.
21. FCC Changes in Rules on Computation of Foreign Ownership of Broadcast Stations Now Effective 
22. In Trump era, Rachel Maddow starts beating Fox News
23. CTV Toronto (CFTO-DT) & CP24 re promos for CHUM-FM (CBSC decision)
24. Another Reminder to Comply with CASL: The CRTC Imposes $15,000 Penalty for Non-Compliance 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

1. Search Warrant Gag Order Successfully Challenged In Court
2. The U.S. government’s ‘witch hunt’ to root out a Trump critic has now sparked an investigation
3. Man suspected in wife’s murder after her Fitbit data doesn’t match his alibi: Officials say the timeline given by Richard Dabate, accused of killing his wife in their Connecticut home, is at odds with data collected by her wearable device
4. IoT Privacy Lawsuit- Bose sued for taking headphone data without consent!
5. Silicon Valley security robot beat up in parking lot, police say: The droid can scan 300 license plates a minute.
6. A vigilante is putting a huge amount of work into infecting IoT devices: When it comes to features and robustness, Hajime surpasses its blackhat rivals.
7. Malware Hunts And Kills Poorly Secured Internet Of Things Devices Before They Can Be Integrated Into Botnets
8. Lessons from the FTC’s First Enforcement Action Against an IoT Company 
9. Amazon’s Echo Look takes outfit photos and suggests the best styles for you: Is the mirror-selfie dead?
10. Amazon Wants To Put A Camera In Your Bedroom To Watch You Dress: The Echo Look will mine your mirror selfies and judge your style. What’s unclear is how else this data will be used
11. Amazon Wants to Put a Camera and Microphone in Your Bedroom: Echo Look will use machine learning to decide if you look fat in that shirt.
12. Activist’s protest against practice of ‘carding’ derails Toronto police board meeting: Meeting adjourned after journalist Desmond Cole refuses to leave following deputation. Of data collected on citizens by police, Cole said: “It was never your information to take in the first place.”
13. >10,000 Windows computers may be infected by advanced NSA backdoor: Did script kiddies use DoublePulsar code released by NSA-leaking Shadow Brokers?
14. NSA backdoor detected on >55,000 Windows boxes can now be remotely removed: Microsoft dismisses DoublePulsar infection estimates, but otherwise remains silent.
15. Tanium CEO admits using real hospital data in sales demos
16. Windows bug used to spread Stuxnet remains world’s most exploited: Code-execution flaw is triggered by plugging a booby-trapped USB into vulnerable PCs.
17. Taking Trust Seriously In Privacy Law (Neil Richards & Woodrow Hartzog)

Jon