News of the Week; September 6, 2017

GAMES

  1. Nintendo ordered to pay $10M following Wii patent infringement suit
  2. Jury finds Nintendo Wii infringes Dallas inventor’s patent
  3. Nintendo “disagrees” with $10m lawsuit verdict: Texas jury rules that platform holder’s best-selling Wii console infringes on iLife’s patents
  4. Killing Nazis, fighting religious fanaticism the focus of upcoming video games: Games take on new relevance in the current political climate
  5. No Violent Video Games In The Olympics, Says IOC President
  6. IOC President Tosses Shade At Including eSports In Olympics Over Concerns About Violence And Doping
  7. “The fact is that most League of Legends teams lose money”: H2K says Riot is “subsidized” by European LoL teams’ losses in a financial system that is “neither rational nor fair”
  8. Drone Racing League Expands Coverage To Asia For 2017 Season
  9. Nominees revealed for the inaugural Women In Games Mobile Awards
  10. Nominees revealed for first ever Women In Games Mobile Awards: South Park Phone Destroyer, A Normal Lost Phone and more in the running for September 6th event
  11. Gamegate Target Zoe Quinn Can Teach Us How to Fight Online Hate
  12. PUBG: “When you ask about growth on PC, I just look at League of Legends” – Brendan Green on PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds’ growth, raising price-points, and the fringe benefits of working with Microsoft
  13. Battlegrounds breaks 10M sales less than 6 months into Early Access
  14. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds tops 10 million sold: Bluehole hit shooter racks up another milestone after less than six months in Early Access
  15. Mixed Reality is Microsoft’s biggest 2017 launch: With strong partnerships and control of the Windows ecosystem, is Microsoft positioned to win the VR/AR race in the long run?
  16. PuttView Shows Pros What Augmented Reality Golf Outdoors Looks Like
  17. Minecraft Marketplace creators have earned $1M by selling user-made content
  18. As far as console launches go, the Switch has out-paced the PS4 in Japan
  19. Nintendo: Switch games may require external storage
  20. Nintendo meets need for external Switch storage with official cards: “A microSD card will be needed for certain Nintendo Switch games that contain an especially large amount of content”
  21. The Pokemon Company CEO Thought Switch Would Fail, Hints At Pokemon Switch Ideas
  22. Pokemon Company CEO sees a bright, rumbly future for AR games post-Pokemon Go
  23. Pokémon Go will get monster trading, one-on-one battles: Long-promised features are still coming to fix the “local spawn issue”
  24. GameStop: Forced bundles are for customer convenience – Retailer defends practice of requiring online purchasers of high-demand items to pay for additional merchandise
  25. Making Games in Tehran: A massive market, disconnected: The first Tehran Game Convention gave Brie Code insight into an emerging industry hobbled by sanctions and restrictions
  26. Amazon Associates lets Twitch viewers buy while streaming: Meanwhile Twitch Extensions enables developers to build interactive overlays for streamers
  27. Channel 4’s games publishing arm breaks out, goes independent: All 4 Games will be spun out as an independent publisher, although still retain ties with UK broadcaster
  28. Minecraft Marketplace creators have earned over $1m: Community-driven marketplace has been a success for the Minecraft ecosystem
  29. Ubisoft opens new studio to kick-start Quebec expansion
  30. Ubisoft creating 1,000 new jobs with two new Quebec studios: Publishing will invest $780m in growing its presence within the region by 2027, Saguenay studio opens early 2018
  31. Angry Birds maker Rovio confirms it’s planning an IPO
  32. Rovio details plans for $36m IPO: CEO says share sale will be “an important milestone” for Angry Birds developer
  33. Rovio launches ‘MumJam’ to help mothers get into the games industry
  34. Twitch introduces ‘Extensions’ suite to help foster engagement
  35. Super Mario Kart at 25: Dissecting a revolutionary game design
  36. Retro revival: Capcom re-releasing Street Fighter II on the SNES
  37. Masterpiece: Street Fighter II – Street Fighter II is an arcade monster that has stood the test of time.
  38. PAX West: At least eight of UFO 50’s games are instant retro classics – Preview – NES-styled game anthology is off to an amazing start.
  39. How Can Gameplay Allow Players to Get Creative?
  40. Choices in games should be deeper than good vs. evil, argues Obsidian co-founder: “It can’t just be do you shoot grandma or do you help her across the street.”
  41. Game Developers Explain Some Of Their Favorite Ways To Trick The Player 
  42. How Neversoft twisted Tony Hawk to let players step off the board
  43. How Japanese and Western game dev differ, from a dev that has experienced both
  44. Urban Design and the Creation of Videogame Cities
  45. The PC issues that need fixing before Final Fantasy XV launches on Windows: PAX West demo may not be indicative of final PC product. We sure hope not.
  46. Could A Videogame Strengthen Your Aging Brain?
  47. 5 key lessons from the candid game dev book, Blood, Sweat, and Pixels
  48. Warner Bros donating Shadow of War DLC revenue to family of late producer: Mike ‘Forthog’ Fogey passed away during development of original, will be honoured as orc
  49. All proceeds from Shadow of War DLC will go to Michael Forgey’s family: Warner Bros. has clarified that it will make no profit from the DLC, regardless of where it is sold
  50. Earnings report roundup: Game industry winners and losers in Q2 2017

DIGITAL

  1. Case Dismissed: Judge Throws Out Shiva Ayyadurai’s Defamation Lawsuit Against Techdirt
  2. Judge dismisses Shiva “I Invented EMAIL” Ayyadurai’s libel lawsuit against Techdirt
  3. Court Dumps Lawsuit Against Zillow Over Its Inaccurate ‘Zestimates’
  4. Blogger Isn’t Liable for Anonymous Comments–Griffith v. Wall (Eric Goldman)
  5. Lawsuit: Amazon sold eclipse glasses that cause “permanent blindness”: “Eye injury ranging from temporary discomfort to permanent blindness.”
  6. Spotify: Don’t Compare Us to Napster – The company has responded to a copyright lawsuit by challenging what rights are truly implicated by streaming.
  7. Spotify Finally Realizes That Streaming Isn’t Reproduction Or Distribution
  8. Steve Jobs gave us President Trump
  9. The ‘internet of things’ is sending us back to the Middle Ages (Joshua Fairfield)
  10. CBS Welcomes Amazon’s NFL Streaming But Sees ‘Competitors’ In Future
  11. Apple, Amazon bid for James Bond film rights- Hollywood Reporter 
  12. Kaspersky Gets Awful Patent Troll To Pay Up To Drop Its Own Case
  13. Reports of Russia’s Election Hack Keep Getting Scarier
  14. Thousands Of Facebook Ads Tied To Bogus Russian Accounts
  15. Facebook says it sold political ads to Russian company during 2016 election
  16. Facebook sold 2016 election-related ads to “shadowy Russian company”: 470 “suspicious and likely fraudulent” FB accounts all tied to same Russian firm.
  17. The Devil’s Pact: Putin, the “Alt-Right” and the Long Shadow of History – The Russian president’s claims of “historical victimhood” in World War II try to justify his country’s present-day destructive behavior.
  18. Twitter Suspends Reporter’s Account… After He Gets Targeted By Russian Twitter Bots
  19. How Russian & Alt-Right Twitter Accounts Worked Together to Skew the Narrative About Berkeley: #Antifa and #Berkeley were hot topics last weekend in America — and in Russia
  20. Fear And Loathing On Social Media
  21. Digital property rights debate heats up in NAFTA renegotiation
  22. Leaked Plans Shows Top EU Body Backing: Copyright Industry Against The Public, The Internet, And Innovation
  23. Tech companies declare war on hate speech—and conservatives are worried: In light of Charlottesville, Silicon Valley revisits its absolute approach to free speech.
  24. AI is Developing Faster than Experts Imagined. Do We Need a Speed Limit?
  25. Google And Microsoft Can Use AI To Extract Many More Ad Dollars From Our Clicks
  26. How to Regulate Artificial Intelligence
  27. A Serf on Google’s Farm
  28. Reporter: Google successfully pressured me to take down critical story – Google allegedly told Forbes “the article was problematic and had to come down.”
  29. Google is losing allies across the political spectrum: Antitrust sentiment grows, so does skepticism about Google on both the left and the right.
  30. Google promised not to scan Gmail for targeted ads—but for how long?: Google tells judge it might resume targeted advertising “to meet changing demands.”
  31. Third-party Google Assistant speakers put “OK Google” in tons of form factors: The Google Assistant comes to speakers from Sony, JBL, Onkyo, Panasonic, and others.
  32. Say Goodbye To The Blob. Google’s New Emoji Have Arrived
  33. The YouTube Generation And 6-Second TV Ads
  34. Facebook’s YouTube Competitor, ‘Watch’, Rolls Out Nationwide
  35. Facebook launches Watch video service in U.S. to take on YouTube for ad dollars: The move comes as advertisers are shifting budgets from television to online as more viewers prefer to watch their favourite shows on smartphones and tablets
  36. Facebook is offering the music industry millions to let its users upload songs in videos
  37. Inside the black market where people pay thousands of dollars for Instagram verification
  38. Internet’s Most Popular “Stream Ripping Site” Shuts Down As Result Of Legal Settlement
  39. A Popular Third-Party YouTube Video Player Has Been Removed From The App Store
  40. Music Industry Halts Popular YouTube Piracy Service
  41. YouTube Live Now Supports Ultra-Low Latency, More: YouTube launched a series of updates for its livestreaming service
  42. The ‘demonetized’: YouTube’s brand-safety crackdown has collateral damage
  43. Why Alphabet’s Shares Are Soaring in 2017
  44. Bitcoin falls as China bans initial coin offerings
  45. How Netflix’s Content Strategy Is Reshaping Movie Culture
  46. Time Inc shifts toward video as eyeballs move online
  47. Time Inc, publisher of magazines including People and Sports Illustrated, is turning to the internet to distribute its growing cache of video material and television shows, part of a plan to counter fast-declining print advertising revenue.
  48. The Agony and Ecstasy of Building an Online Music Business 
  49. In a blast from the past, Logitech releases a new trackball: It’s the company’s first new trackball in nearly a decade.
  50. As Uber struggles, Lyft expands into 32 more states: 94 percent of the US population will now be able to access Uber’s top competitor.
  51. Squeezed for profits, maker of $400 connected juice press closes up shop
  52. The Risks Of Demonizing Silicon Valley
  53. From Apple to Y Combinator—tech sector denounces new “Dreamers” plan: “It’s against our values to turn our backs on #DREAMers,” Uber’s new CEO tweeted
  54. Boston Red Sox caught red-handed using Apple Watch to steal signs: Boston was apparently stealing signs from opposing teams’ catchers and pitchers.
  55. Apple bids farewell to Apple Music Festival after 10 years: As Apple’s focus shifts to original video content for its services business.
  56. Samsung is Developing VR Tools to Help Diagnose Mental Health
  57. One of the biggest challenges of self-driving cars: The humans inside them.
  58. Stupid Patent Of The Month: JP Morgan Patents Interapp Permissions
  59. Surviving This Summer On The Internet
  60. Catching Up on Ninth Circuit CFAA Jurisprudence: Internet Law Casebook Excerpt (Eric Goldman)
  61. Global Content Removals Based on Local Legal Violations: Internet Law Casebook Excerpt (Eric Goldman) 

CREATIVITY

  1. “Monkey Business” settled
  2. Awful Court Decision Says Dr. Phil Producer’s Video Not ‘Fair Use’
  3. Mickey singer Toni Basil sues Disney and South Park
  4. Why Notoriously Litigious Disney Is Letting Fan Stores Thrive: The Mouse isn’t bringing cease-and-desists down on Instagram darlings like Cakeworthy or The Lost Bros.
  5. Insurer Attempts To Fight Back Against Kanye West’s Touring Company’s Lawsuit 
  6. New York Times 1; Sarah Palin 0 
  7. Court battle over one driver’s pay could have big impact on “gig economy”: Was Raef Lawson an employee or a business owner when he drove for GrubHub?
  8. High-profile “gig economy” trial turns on a part-time actor’s job woes: A surprising plaintiff is challenging worker classifications in the gig economy.
  9. Judge Sweet: Lynyrd Skynyrd Movie Cannot Proceed 
  10. Coachella Sues “Filmchella” for Trademark Infringement 
  11. Terry Pratchett and protecting artistic legacy
  12. Can Rotten Tomatoes Crush a Movie at the Box Office?: Moviegoers, critics, and filmmakers weigh in on the website that is torturing major studios and redefining how we decide whether to go to the theater
  13. Theater of War: He traveled to some of the world’s most dangerous places to disarm militias, negotiate with gangs, and defy terrorists. But Bill Brookman was just a clown.
  14. Activists want to fight sex trafficking by changing a key Internet law: The 1996 law Section 230 is widely seen as a foundation of the Internet economy.
  15. Al Jazeera Gives A ‘Voice To The Voiceless’ By Killing News Comments
  16. What Makes Information Valuable? Information Quality, Revisited (Urs Gasser) 

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. Senate Democrats fight FCC plan to lower America’s broadband standards: You can’t fix the US broadband problem by redefining it, senators tell FCC.
  2. FCC’s Broken Comments System Could Help Doom Net Neutrality
  3. FCC “apology” shows anything can be posted to agency site using insecure API: FCC API could be misused to host malware on FCC’s domain.
  4. FCC makes net neutrality complaints public, but too late to stop repeal: 13,000 pages of net neutrality complaints released, but comment deadline passed.
  5. Apple Throws Its Support Behind Net Neutrality. Sort Of.
  6. Apple’s Real Reason For Finally Joining The Net Neutrality Fight
  7. AT&T Blatantly Lies, Claims Most Consumers Want Net Neutrality Killed
  8. Large ISP & Silicon Valley CEOs Were Too Afraid To Publicly Testify On Net Neutrality
  9. Comcast sues Vermont to avoid building 550 miles of new cable lines: Vermont is trying to make Comcast bring TV and Internet to unserved areas.
  10. FTC slaps Lenovo on the wrist for selling computers with secret adware: Companies need user “affirmative consent” to preinstall MITM adware, FTC says.
  11. Video Chat Price-Gouging Costs Inmates More Than Money
  12. More and More Actions on Pirate Radio – What is Next? 
  13. Bouyant RTL fully acquires SpotX
  14. BMG Continues Growth Spurt as Revenues Top $276 Million
  15. Antitrust Is Back — But The Media Industry Doesn’t Need It 
  16. How I Became Fake News: I witnessed a terrorist attack in Charlottesville. Then the conspiracy theories began.

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Instagram Done Got Hacked
  2. Site sells Instagram users’ phone and e-mail details, $10 a search: Leak suggests this week’s Instagram breach was bigger than first thought.
  3. Celebs’ phone numbers and e-mail addresses exposed in active Instagram hack: Hackers exploited app bug, then advertised data in underground forums, researchers say.
  4. FDA, Homeland Security Issue First Ever Recall, Warnings About Flimsy Pacemaker Security
  5. Military Appeals Court Says Demands To Unlock Phones May Violate The Fifth Amendment
  6. The Epic Crime Spree Unleashed By Onity’s Ambivalence To Its Easily Hacked Hotel Locks
  7. Court Finds FBI’s ‘Malware’ Deployment To Be Perfectly Constitutional
  8. UK’s Terrorism Law Reviewer Says Tech Companies Shouldn’t Offer Encryption To Anonymous Users
  9. Officers With Personal Body Cams Taking The ‘Public’ Out Of ‘Public Accountability’
  10. As a general rule, body cam footage across US is not a public record: “The patchwork releases of body camera footage only sow further public distrust.”
  11. UK Police Test Facial Recognition Tech At Carnival, Rack Up 35 Bogus ‘Hits’ And One Wrongful Arrest
  12. Data Breach Exposes Thousands of Job Seekers Citing Top Secret Government Work
  13. Exploit goes public for severe bug affecting high-impact sites: Apache Struts bug opens banks, insurance cos., and Fortune 500s to code-execution hacks.
  14. Taking Stock Of Trump’s Cybersecurity Executive Order So Far
  15. Companies should treat cybersecurity as a matter of ethics
  16. The Feds Promised To Protect Dreamer Data. Now What?
  17. Canadian Cops Belatedly Asking For Authorization To Deploy Stingray Devices They’ve Been Using For Years
  18. The Privacy Battle Over the World’s Largest Biometric Database: A new ruling could jeopardize India’s controversial collection of citizens’ fingerprints, photographs, and iris scans.
  19. Hacker Lexicon: What Is DNS Hijacking?
  20. Above Devastated Houston, Armies Of Drones Prove Their Worth

Jon