GAMES
- Stephen K. Bannon once guided a global firm that made millions helping gamers cheat
- EA and Take-Two say Trump administration is harming the games industry: “There is a constant shortage of qualified, high-skilled labour within our industry”
- EA’s upcoming NBA Live will mark the video game debut of the WNBA
- Alleged misuse of children’s data lands Subway Surfers studio in court: New York and California lawsuits filed against Sybo and Kiloo
- Worldwide interactive media market tops $100 billion – Superdata: Research firm says global spend on games, eSports, game-related video content and VR/AR will be $104.6 billion this year, $168.8 billion by 2020
- eSports Could Be A Part Of The 2024 Olympics
- There’s a chance eSports could make an appearance at the 2024 Olympic Games
- Esports – one step closer to Olympic medal status?
- Esports platform Smash.gg raises $11m: Spark Capital, Accel and Horizon Ventures backs pro gaming venture
- How Rocket League is looking to shape the future of esports: Psyonix details its ambitious efforts to turn its car football game into a mainstream sport
- New ban system implemented as Rocket League surpasses 34m players: Abusive language and racial slurs will result in automatic ban, Psyonix asks players to report, mute and leave the rest to them
- It’s Dota 2 time: Y‘all should watch The International: The greatest tournament of all time for the greatest game of all time.
- The International 2017 starts with $24 million prize pool: Dota 2 tournament prize money is 16% up over last year, fourth consecutive year of setting a new record for esports
- Valve announces Artifact, a Dota-themed digital card game: Lay cards in three lanes (or however exactly the game works) sometime in 2018.
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds peak player count surpasses all non-Valve titles – Update: PUBG hits 500k concurrent users, behind only Dota 2 at the time the figure was recorded
- Titanfall 2 didn’t sell as well as it should have – Zampella: Despite that, Respawn CEO says studio is heavily invested in the franchise and has more on the way
- Rainbow Six Siege reaches 20m players, 2.3m DAUs: Ubisoft’s plan to “make a shooter that is here to stay” achieved through post-launch support
- With AI research in mind, Blizzard and DeepMind release StarCraft II API
- Digital sales dominate Activision Blizzard’s better-than-expected earnings
- Activision Blizzard posts gains for second quarter: Console sales dip despite strong launch for Crash Bandicoot collection; revenue from retail channels recedes
- Mobile revenue swing helps NCsoft offset tumbling profits
- Rising digital sales offsets physical decline at Square Enix
- Google’s AI Declares Galactic War On Starcraft
- Consumer scepticism drives Kickstarter decline: Videogames’ complex nature makes them perhaps the worst possible medium for crowdfunding – and consumers seem to be catching on
- Bandai Namco sees game revenue fall by 28%
- Over 200 games launched on Steam in the first week of August alone
- Steam attracts an average of 1.5M new customers a month
- Steam has attracted 27m new paying users in 18 months: Monthly active players now up to 67m, with daily average of 14m concurrent users
- The Nintendo Switch Is The Future Of Gadget Design
- Final Fantasy XV’s Multiplayer Has A Ridiculously Detailed Character Creator
- Final Fantasy XIV surpasses 10 million lifetime players
- Final Fantasy VII Retrospective: Great Because It’s Weird
- Jeff Minter and Atari reconcile for Tempest revival: Tempest 4000 in the works, just two years after designer and publisher were in dispute
- Bungie’s 13-year battle with crunch culture: At Casual Connect USA, Bungie’s Luke Timmins detailed how Halo 2’s “brutal” crunch led to a new way of thinking about people management
- Q&A: CEO Guillemot on Ubisoft’s origins, China expansion
- Devs reflect on 8 years spent making an episodic game meant to take 12 months
- The rise and fall of Flash games — A postmortem
- Video game remasters are a win-win for publishers: With low costs and strong interest from players, it’s easy to see why the remastering trend is catching on
- Hinterland: “There’s something a little bit broken about our internet culture” – Raphael van Lierop talks about a low point in dealing with The Long Dark’s Early Access community, and why he won’t go to Reddit any more
- New study sheds light on how playing games literally shapes the brain
DIGITAL
- Voltage Picture’s Lawyer Sues Copyright Trolling Participants, Calls Lawsuits Unethical
- “Podcasting patent” is totally dead, appeals court rules: Federal Circuit stands by 2015 ruling that knocked out Personal Audio’s patent.
- Five Ways NAFTA Talks Can Level the Innovation Playing Field: After years of ceding to US demands for tough anti-piracy rules, it’s time for Canada to fight for its interests (Michael Geist)
- Canada Can Stand Its Ground on Copyright in NAFTA Renegotiations: It’s all about knowing when to say no (Howard Knopf)
- Appeals Court Agrees: Awful Patent Used To Shake Down Podcasters Is Invalid
- Section 230 Helps Yahoo Defeat Lawsuit Over Online Harassment Campaign–Hall v. Yahoo (Eric Goldman)
- Section 230 Helps VRBO Defeat Claim Over Fraudulent Listing – Hiam v. Homeaway (Eric Goldman)
- Sen. Portman Says SESTA Doesn’t Affect the Good Samaritan Defense. He’s Wrong (Eric Goldman)
- Judge Rules Kickass Torrents Founder Properly Charged With Criminal Copyright Conspiracy
- Kickass Torrents Creator Can’t Get Criminal Case Tossed Out
- Douez v. Facebook: Are courts finally tuning into the reality of consumer contracts?
- ‘Blatant Sales Pitch’ on LinkedIn Likely Violates Non-solicitation Clause–Mobile Mini v. Vevea
- Why Apple and other tech companies are fighting to keep devices hard to repair: A new report says the tech industry is using its outsized influence to combat environmental product standards
- How Apple Is Putting Voices In Users’ Heads – Literally
- Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?: More comfortable online than out partying, post-Millennials are safer, physically, than adolescents have ever been. But they’re on the brink of a mental-health crisis.
- Turkish regime jails IT trainers in encryption clampdown: We discuss alarming move to target techies who help activists stay safe online.
- Facebook’s top global hires remain overwhelmingly white and male
- Inside The Partisan Fight For Your News Feed: How ideologues, opportunists, growth hackers, and internet marketers built a massive new universe of partisan news on the web and on Facebook.
- Facebook’s Latest Move to Fight Fake News Might Finally Be the Right One
- How Instagram Stories Have Changed Dating Forever
- Google Fires Engineer Who Wrote Memo Questioning Women in Tech
- Google fires engineer who “crossed the line” with diversity memo: Google says the post “advanced incorrect assumptions about gender.”
- Internal Messages Show Some Googlers Supported Fired Engineer’s Manifesto
- A Meme Shared on an Internal Google Meme Network Depicted a Leaker Being Beaten
- So, about this Googler’s manifesto.
- Memo to the Google memo writer: Women were foundational to the field of computing
- Susan Wojcicki Calls Google Anti-Diversity Memo A “Tragic” Display Of “Unfounded Bias”
- Segregated Valley: the ugly truth about Google and diversity in tech – Silicon Valley says it is committed to racial diversity in its workforce. But the numbers tell a different story
- How to End Google’s Monopoly
- Women Engineers On The Rampant Sexism Of Silicon Valley
- Elon Musk Once Fired His Assistant Of 12 Years For Wanting A Raise
- Inside the world of Silicon Valley’s ‘coasters’ — the millionaire engineers who get paid gobs of money and barely work
- After phishing attacks, Chrome extensions push adware to millions: Compromised accounts push fraudulent extension updates to unsuspecting users.
- The Mystery Of Nicole Mincey
- Microsoft Chatbot Trolls Shoppers For Online Sex
- London Mayor Urges YouTube To Remove Videos Espousing Gang Violence
- Google Preferred Advertisers Return To YouTube Months After ‘Adpocalypse’ (Study)
- New icons are YouTube’s latest way to alert creators of video demonetization: Plus, there’s now a quicker way to ask for a review of demonetized videos.
- YouTube Expands Appeals To Cover Videos That Lost Revenue After The Adpocalypse
- Native Video-Sharing And Chat Feature Rolls Out To YouTube App Globally
- Twitter Suspends Popehat For Writing About Violent Threats He Received From Another Twitter User
- Facebook, Twitter Consistently Fail At Distinguishing Abuse From Calling Out Abuse
- In Protest, Artist in Germany Re-Purposes Hate Speech From Twitter
- Exploring the Role of Algorithms in Online Harmful Speech
- Defendant who texted teen to commit suicide sentenced to 15 months in jail: Punishment stayed to allow appeals in a novel prosecution testing 1st Amendment.
- Facing libel lawsuit, Techdirt takes large donations to broaden coverage: Charles Koch Foundation and a charity from the Craigslist founder are among the donors.
- Psychiatrist Files Lawsuit Over Wordless One-Star Review
- China to Start Using Blockchain to Collect Taxes and Send Invoices
- Media scholar on Trump TV: “This is Orwellian, and it’s happening right now, right here” – The president has launched an online TV network. He’s calling it “real news.”
- Australian Public Servants Warned Against Liking Social Media Posts That Are Critical Of Government Policies
- Russia Wants Innovation, but It’s Arresting Its Innovators
- Stumbling “Blocks”: When Is Social Media Moderation a First Amendment Violation?
- The Long, Hot Summer Of Netflix’s Ever-Accelerating Expansion
- Netflix Buys Comics Publisher Behind Kingsman, Kick-Ass
- Disney Will Cease Distribution Deal With Netflix To Launch Its Own Streaming Service
- Disney Pulls Content From Netflix As Users Face An Annoying, Confusing Rise In Streaming Exclusivity Silos
- Inside Patreon, The Economic Engine Of Internet Culture
- Game of Thrones Star Says She Got Acting Role Because She Has Millions of Social Media Followers
- HBO Hackers Release Ransom Note And New Trove Of Stolen Data
- Game of Thrones script for “Spoils of War” leaks after HBO hack: No spoilers: Leak contains GoT info, unaired episodes of other shows, and internal docs.
- Augmented Reality Apps Could Pollute The Skies With Advertising
- Risks of Artificial Intelligence
- AI and music: will we be slaves to the algorithm? – Tech firms have developed AI that can learn how to write music. So will machines soon be composing symphonies, hit singles and bespoke soundtracks?
- New administrative notice-and-takedown procedure in Greece
- Inception Raises $15 Million Series A Funding Led By EU Media Conglomerate RTL Group
- VR-based Treatment for Vision Disorders Shows Positive Results in Peer-reviewed Study
- Researchers Induce Artificial Movement Sensation in VR Using Four-Pole Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation: Creators believe system could be “easily adapted to conventional VR systems”
- CBS is launching a streaming sports channel this year: It’s headed to internet-only TV providers.
- Radio navigation set to make global return as GPS backup, because cyber: GPS killed the radio nav in 2010, but a high-def version is set to return
- Mozilla’s new file-transfer service isn’t perfect, but it’s drop-dead easy: For less high-stakes uses, Send offers reasonable security and privacy assurances.
- Uber’s search for a female CEO has been narrowed down to 3 men
- Uber’s ex-CEO: Given reason for alleged Waymo data heist is “dumb”: Kalanick also said that Levandowski “should say what happened” rather than clam up.
- How one hot sauce seller hauled Uber into small-claims court and won $4,000: A driver took off with Dane Wilcox’s laptop, and Uber refused to pay him back.
- Amazon Halts Blu Phone Sales Amid Spyware Concerns
- SEC Warns That Digital Tokens May Be Securities
- An Oral History Of The DARPA Grand Challenge, The Grueling Robot Race That Launched The Self-Driving Car
- You’d Have To Click A Mouse 10 Million Times To Burn One Calorie
- From blockchain to drones, we need to stop obsessing about tech megatrends: If more men did the laundry, washing machines would be as hyped and alluring as drones
- The Guy Who Invented Those Annoying Password Rules Now Regrets Wasting Your Time
- 1H 2017 Quick Links, Part 9: Justice System, Social Media, Miscellaneous (Eric Goldman)
CREATIVITY
- Canadian Government Puts Copyright Board Overhaul on Fast Track With Consultation Launching Tomorrow (Michael Geist)
- Why fears about ‘fair use’ copyright law are unfounded
- Canada’s intellectual property strategy must play to the country’s strengths
- Canadian Man Somehow Gets Trademark On His Own County’s Name, Govt. Says Legal Action Is The Only Remedy
- Post-Axanar, CBS unveils first official fan filmmaking initiative in Trek history: Star Trek Film Academy grants fan filmmakers access to training, New Voyages facilities.
- Judge Rules MGM Must Face Lawsuit Over James Bond Box Set Missing Two Bond Films
- Citing Free Speech, A.C.L.U. Sues Washington Metro Over Rejected Ads
- Monkey selfie animal rights brouhaha devolves into a settlement: Every conceivable joke has been made of this Planet of the Apes-styled litigation.
- Monkey Selfie Case May Settle: PETA Knows It’ll Lose, And The Photographer Is Broke
- “Thinking Out Loud” About Copyright Infringement (Again)
- Word on the street: McDonald’s has been accused of cultural appropriation, using without permission the work of street artists in an advertising campaign in Europe.
- Film Director’s Op-Ed Ignores Reality To Push Hollywood Lobbying Talking Points
- The Grinch that stole fair use?
- Copyright Suit Requires Fair Use Analysis: A fair use analysis is required before a copyright suit against “appropriation artist” Richard Prince can be dismissed, a New York federal court judge decided this week, declining to grant a quick win.
- Commercial Photography in Public Parks–Is Police Presence Required?
- Commercial Brochure not Protected by Copyright in Spain
- Lookalike Case: Max Verstappen’s Management Unsuccessful for Now
- Peter and the Test Tube Babies singer refused entry to the USA for mocking Donald Tump
- How Hulk Hogan & Peter Thiel Almost Made Sure That The Story Of R. Kelly’s ‘Cult’ Stayed Unpublished
- How Peter Thiel’s Secretive Data Company Pushed Into Policing
- Jeff Sessions Suggests He’s Steering The DOJ Towards Prosecuting More Journalists
- Deputy Attorney General Walks Back Attorney General’s Threat To Journalists
- Professors as Targets of Internet Outrage: Death threats and protests as statements about race and politics go viral.
- North Carolina Passes An Entirely Misguided Restore Campus Free Speech Act
- Inside NFL Cheerleaders’ Legal Fight for Better Pay
- NY Mets Oppose Trademark For Medical Exam Tracking System (METS) Claiming Potential Customer Confusion
- Inside Trump’s Global Trademark Trove
- Former Professional Wrestler Sues Van Morrison for Using his Likeness without Authorization
- Billy Two Rivers, former pro wrestler, to settle lawsuit against Van Morrison: Settlement details are still being finalized, according to lawyer Michael Graif
- We’re in the early stages of a visual revolution in journalism: It’s more than a pivot to video — it’s an evolution of text.
- Peter Bart: Will Time Warner’s Creative Energy Survive AT&T Takeover?
- Is There A Right Way To Put Slavery Onscreen?
MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY
- Canadian Telcos Take Aim At Kodi Addon Site With Shocking Search: True Purpose to “Destroy Livelihood of the Defendant” (Michael Geist)
- Canadian Telcos Lose Their Minds Over TVAddons
- Canadian Telcos Want To Play Police In War On Piracy: They’ve already raided a Montreal man’s home.
- Secret court order that let telcos search a Montrealer’s home a growing trend
- The Diminishing Value of Simsub: CBS Streaming Service Coming to Canada Next Year (Michael Geist)
- CRTC and UK Agency to Fight Spam and Unwanted Telemarketing Calls
- Cable’s New Brilliant Idea: Charging You More Money To Skip Ads
- Charter has moved millions of customers to new – and often higher – pricing: Pricing changes accelerate as Charter tries to boost revenue per customer.
- Data cap analysis found almost 200 ISPs imposing data limits in the US: Examination of 2,500 home Internet providers finds sizable minority with caps.
- Journalist Sues FCC For Hiding Details About Its Alleged, Phantom DDOS Attack
- Ajit Pai’s anti-net neutrality plan gets the facts and law wrong, lawmakers say: FCC accused of prioritizing “raw dollars” over small businesses and consumers.
- Congress Gives The FCC An Earful On Its Despised Plan To Kill Net Neutrality
- As net neutrality dies, one man wants to make Verizon pay for its sins: Alex Nguyen filed the only formal net neutrality complaint, and he’s still waiting for an answer
- The Ghostly Radio Station That No One Claims To Run: “Mdzhb” Has Been Broadcasting Since 1982. No One Knows Why.
- These Lawmakers Are Speaking out Against the FCC’s Plan to Dismantle Net Neutrality
- The FCC is full again, with three Republicans and two Democrats: 3-2 Republican majority likely to overturn net neutrality rules.
- Maybe Americans don’t need fast home Internet service, FCC suggests: By saying mobile is good enough, FCC could find that deployment problem is solved.
- FCC Proposes $82 Million Fine for Illegally “Spoofed” Robocalls
- FCC To Hold Hearing to Determine Whether to Deny License Renewal of Radio Station that was Silent for Most of its License Term
- $17,500 Settlement by TV Broadcaster for Not Identifying Educational and Informational Children’s Programming – Reminder that the FCC is Still in the Enforcement Business
- AT&T Lies Again, Insists Net Neutrality Rules Will Hurt First Responders
- Comcast Tries, Fails To Kill Lawsuit Over Its Hidden, Bogus Fees
- We analyzed 17 months of Fox & Friends transcripts. It’s far weirder than state-run media.: How the Fox morning show evolved into Donald Trump’s posse.
- Fox Exec Says She Won’t Make Excuses for Lack of Diversity, Proceeds to Make Tons of Excuses
SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY
- Salesforce fires red team staffers who gave Defcon talk: “As soon as they got off the stage, they were fired.”
- Body Cam Footage Of A Cop Planting Evidence Leads To Dozens Of Dismissed Cases
- House Oversight Head Still Concerned Surveillance He Approves Of Is Being Used Against His Party
- US Senators Unveil Their Attempt To Secure The Internet Of Very Broken Things
- Man used DDoS attacks on media to extort them to remove stories, FBI says: “If you do not remove it immediately, more severe attacks will hit your website.”
- Suspected sextortionist hiding behind Tor is outed by booby-trapped video: “Brian Kil” terrorized minors for years. Last month, a hack gave agents a big break.
- Convicted Fraudster Uses DDoS Attack To Clean Up Search Results, Fails Spectacularly
- Slayer of WCry worm charged with creating unrelated banking malware: Marcus Hutchins was hailed as a hero. Federal prosecutors say he was a criminal.
- Hacker Who Stopped Wannacry Charged With Writing Banking Malware
- The Indictment Against Malware Researcher Marcus Hutchines Is Really Weird
- Security researcher who neutralized WCry to be released on $30,000 bond: Prosecutors say Marcus Hutchins admitted he wrote alleged malware. Defense disagrees.
- WannaCry operator empties Bitcoin wallets connected to ransomware: Bot set up by Quartz reporter Keith Collins catches linked wallets being emptied.
- Researchers say WannaCry operator moved bitcoins to “untraceable” Monero: Wallets’ BTC exchanged for XMR, anonymous cryptocash favored by Shadowbrokers.
- Meet Alex, The Russian Casino Hacker Who Makes Millions Targeting Slot Machines
- Federal prosecutor struggles to describe stingray use in attempted murder case: Questions remain as to how Oakland cops, FBI used stingrays after a 2013 shooting.
- ACLU: Absent warrant standard, police could monitor anyone via location data – Opening brief filed in Carpenter, an important privacy case pending at Supreme Court.
- Protect The White Hat Hackers Who Are Just Doing Their Jobs
- Once Again With Feeling: ‘Anonymized’ Data Isn’t Really Anonymous
- The Attack On Global Privacy Leaves Few Places To Turn
- FTC Asked to Investigate Google’s Matching of “Bricks to Clicks”
- The FTC’s Latest Bid to Blacklist Telemarketers
- FTC must scrutinize Hotspot Shield over alleged traffic interception, group says: VPN service “can intercept and redirect HTTP requests to partner websites.”
- Complaint Filed Over Sketchy VPN Service
- FTC Schools “Smart” Toys with Updated COPPA Compliance Guidance
- FTC Increases Focus on Smart Toys with COPPA Update
- FTC Regulation of Cybersecurity and Surveillance (Chris Jay Hoofnagle)
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