News of the Week; August 14, 2019

GAMES

1. Ubisoft loses Rocksmith patent suit: Judge dismisses publisher’s claim against music tutorial software maker Yousician with prejudice
2. Twitter Data Shows Major Increase in Gaming Engagement on Platform 
3. US tariffs on video game consoles imported from China delayed to December
4. US delays tariff on game consoles: Trump says extra tax on some electronic products made in China won’t go into effect until December 15 to lessen impact on holiday shopping
5. Game revenues rise as Tencent enjoys end of China’s approvals freeze: Chinese publisher released ten mobile games in Q2 2019, compared to just one last year
6. Tencent doubling down on season passes as mobile titles drive revenue
7. Trump’s video game scapegoating feels downright nostalgic | Opinion: In an era when the industry’s real problems are internal and divisive, a flashback to being united against an external foe feels deceptively good
8. Walmart pulls video game ads — but not guns — after El Paso shooting
9. Walmart tells staff to pull violent game ads and demos, but guns still for sale
10. Walmart Reportedly Removing Violent Game Ads, Will Still Sell Guns: Despite the lack of evidence video games cause violence.
11. Walmart, ESPN pull violent game marketing following shootings
12. Walmart taking down violent video game demos, displays: Signs, displays containing “violent images or aggressive behavior” removed in wake of shootings; retailer still sells guns
13. ESPN, ABC delay Apex Legends tournament broadcast in wake of shootings
14. ESPN, ABC pull Apex Legends tournament show in wake of mass shootings: Broadcasters say decision was made “out of respect for the victims”
15. You’re Not Helping: ESPN Delays ‘Apex Legends’ Broadcast After 2 Mass Shootings
16. Strauss Zelnick says if violent games caused gun violence, he wouldn’t sell them – Take-Two CEO: “I wouldn’t choose to market substances that would cause people to get sick”
17. G2A responds to Unknown Worlds’ accusations, calling them slander
18. G2A fudges own history in response to developer complaint: Developer retracts accusations against marketplace, but remains frustrated with key reseller
19. Subnautica dev demands G2A pay $300,000 to cover lost chargebacks: Studio calls for controversial marketplace to honour its offer of 10x compensation
20. Twitch links to ‘porn account’, other Fortnite streamers via Ninja’s abandoned channel
21. Twitch backtracks after accidentally showing porn on Ninja’s old page
22. Twitch CEO apologizes after lengthy porn stream promoted on Ninja’s old page
23. Twitch CEO Apologizes To Ninja After His Defunct Account Was Used To Promote A Porn Stream
24. Ninja’s New Cross-Platform Video Strategy Since Leaving Twitch For Mixer
25. Insights: With Ninja’s Nifty Mixer Move, Live Streaming Leaps To Its Next Era
26. Newzoo: Fans watched 81.8m hours of the Fortnite World Cup across Twitch, YouTube – Official YouTube channel beat out official Twitch channel for viewership hours during finals
27. $3 million Fortnite winner—and his parents—become latest swatting targets
28. UTA Signs 21-Year-Old Twitch Newcomer BrookeAB
29. eFootball transfers: Juve and Man U snub FIFA to sign for PES 
30. UMG Media to acquire esports event company, Activate Entertainment
31. Statespace raises $2.5 million for esports training platform: Seed round was led by First Mark Capital, with participation from Expa, Lux Capital and WndrCo
32. Industry veterans launch payment platform for esport tournament winnings: “We want to help publishers…be more efficient by removing their hands-on time expediting the payments,” says Prize Payments CEO
33. Riot’s League Championship Series announces partnership with Honda
34. Epic is being sued over a security issue that left Fortniteplayer data exposed
35. Epic Games hit with class action suit over Fortnite security breach
36. Australian ratings board working to completely ban DayZfor promoting cannabis
37. DayZ refused classification in Australia after Five Star Games submission: Five Star Games has confirmed it was denied classification for DayZ’s retail release in Australia — the game is still available digitally
38. Bohemia Interactive will modify all versions of DayZ to avoid Australia ban
39. DayZ will be modified worldwide to lift Australian ban: Bohemia Interactive confirms it will be tweaking zombie hit to avoid isolating Australian players
40. FTC Gathers Video Game Industry to Talk Loot Boxes 
41. Loot boxes a matter of “life or death,” says researcher: Academics discuss their studies and concerns surrounding game monetization at FTC workshop
42. Epic Games commits to loot box transparency across portfolio: THQ Nordic also weighs in on ESA pledges: “We do not plan to implement casino-styled mechanics in our games”
43. Animoca Brands acquires digital collectibles marketplace Quidd for $5 million
44. Loots details new live streaming platform for the “TikTok generation”: Monetisation firm says its Twitch rival will open up new commercial opportunities for younger streamers
45. Valve turns to hands-on moderation to solve Steam Workshop woes
46. Devs are now required to contact Valve for release date changes on Steam
47. Valve addresses release date exploit for Steam’s Popular Upcoming List
48. Valve now requires moderator approval for some Steam Workshop submissions
49. THQ Nordic confirms new Saints Row title after strong Q1: The publisher also said that development of Dead Island 2 is now being led by Dambuster Studios
50. THQ Nordic acquires Darksiders dev Gunfire and racing studio Milestone
51. THQ Nordic buys Milestone Interactive for €44.9m in cash: Acquisition of Italian racing studio could almost double in value based on earnouts
52. THQ Nordic acquires Darksiders developer Gunfire Games: Value of the deal for Gunfire’s 63 staff and IP catalogue was not disclosed
53. THQ Nordic strengthens portfolio with Goodbye Kansas Game Invest acquisition: Goodbye Kansas Game Invest has five investments in early stage games companies, deal includes royalty rights to Biomutant
54. Managing the evolving state of Destiny 2: ‘the game cannot grow infinitely forever’
55. Bungie: Working on Destiny 2 “starting to wear people down” – Working practices for Annual Pass will be changed in third year to break out of “unsustainable development cycle”
56. Report: Riot Games workforce divided on diversity and inclusion push
57. One year later, Riot leadership, employees, say things are improving: Chief diversity officer Angela Roseboro reflects on a year of change as current and recent employees confirm efforts
58. Ustwo: Giving creativity the attention it deserves – Ustwo Games’ CCO and CEO discuss how to not lose creative people to business meetings
59. 2K confirms sending private investigators to Borderlands streamer’s house: A rep said the company has been investigating SupMatto for nearly a year.
60. Take-Two investigating streamer over Borderlands 3 leaks: Publisher says Twitch and YouTube user SupMatto has “a history of profiting from infringing our copyright”
61. Kawhi Leonard dunking on the Raptors was the only screen time they got in new NBA 2K trailer
62. Sharkmob on balancing social responsibility against revenue: “It’s not only about taking social responsibility, it’s also about the team being proud of what they make,” says CEO
63. Infinity Ward says Modern Warfare isn’t political, debates how it ever could be: Game’s directors stress that upcoming Call of Duty reboot focuses on “thematic things” not current politics
64. Activision Blizzard’s Q2 net revenue falls year-over-year to $1.4 billion
65. Activision Blizzard sees sagging sales, profit, engagement
66. Key metrics dip for publisher in second quarter as it prioritizes investments it expects to pay off in back half of the year
67. Activision Blizzard’s net-revenue down year-over-year in Q2 2019
68. Imperator: Rome plus multiple game expansions lift Paradox’s Q2 – Swedish publisher posts record Q2 revenues as long-term investments begin to pay off
69. Swedish studio Isbit Games shuts down after running out of funds
70. Isbit Games shut down: Former CEO Ben Cousins confirms Zlatan Legends studio closed its doors in June after running out of money
71. Fig to pay Wasteland 3, Psychonauts 2 investors lump sum following Microsoft purchase
72. Xbox head: Cloud gaming is inevitable but ‘years and years’ away from mainstream
73. Multi-platform games from Xbox-owned studios must ‘make sense for the franchise’
74. Xbox considers multi-platform options for some first-party studios
75. Microsoft: Cloud gaming is “inevitable” but “years” from mainstream
76. Mojang cancels Minecraft’s big graphics overhaul after performance struggles
77. Mojang ends development on Minecraft’s Super Duper Graphics Pack: Feature announced at E3 2017 “proved too technically demanding to implement as planned”
78. After two years of delays, Minecraft’s visual upgrade has been canceled
79. Singularity 6 secures $16.5 million to fund tech and game development
80. Square Enix shutting down Star Ocean: Anamnesis in the West after little over a year
81. Report: Parent company of publisher Annapurna Interactive is exploring bankruptcy 
82. Singularity 6 lands $16.5m investment: Former Riot devs’ social simulation studio scores Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz
83. Industry veterans launch hyper casual development outfit JaffaJam: New Zealand-based studio looks to “perfect the way free-to-play games are made and monetised”
84. Madden 20 just about squeezes into EMEAA Charts’ Top 10: Yes, Grand Theft Auto V is still No.1
85. EA SPORTS Madden NFL 20 Scores Early With Biggest Ever Digital Launch in Its First Week on Sale
86. FIFA 19 and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe are best-selling games in Europe this year: Physical sales data paints uniform picture of European consumers
87. UK spent £1.6bn on video games in the first half of 2019
88. NetEase revenue and profit up in Q2 following strong international performance: “We will continue exploring overseas market opportunities and growing our games business on a global scale,” says CEO
89. Nexon profits tumble in Q2 despite rising revenues: FIFA Online 4 drove Korean market, but China was the publisher’s single biggest region
90. Spilt Milk Studios cancels upcoming sci-fi MMO, Lazarus
91. The Final Fantasy XIV team is reworking base game content to be ‘more compact’
92. What Sharp’s IGZO display technology will mean for the Nintendo Switch
93. Dr. Mario World continues to lag after first month: Mobile puzzler falls well-below bar set by previous Nintendo titles
94. “Blast processing” in 2019: How an SNES emulator solved overclocking
95. Discord is launching in-server streaming later this month with new ‘Go Live’ feature
96. No More Robots: “I’m just doing D&D, but in a Discord server” – Mike Rose on the marketing tactics that drove the small publisher to $3m revenue, and why Xbox Game Pass is good for sales (for now)
97. Growing the industry with evening-sized games: Former Chinese Room lead Andrew Crawshaw on his romantic metal-detecting adventure that explores how people define success
98. Sean Murray calls No Man’s Sky Beyond the game’s “2.0” version—we believe it
99. Virtual reality streaming company Vreal has closed its doors
100. VR streaming platform Vreal shuts down and lays off staff: “We were definitely ahead of our time,” says virtual reality startup
101. Video: Designing great room-scale VR interactions theVacation Simulator way
102. Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell departs Facebook
103. Nate Mitchell leaves Oculus: Mitchell becomes the last of the VR outfit’s original co-founders to leave Facebook
104. Blow out your knee? Hope your surgeon’s got a VR headset
105. UCLA Surgical Training Study Shows VR Beats Traditional Training by 130%
106. British Airways testing VR headsets for first-class passengers this year
107. XRDC Innovation Report reveals games remain the top focus for AR/VR/MR devs
108. Unity brings Create with Code, Unity Teach programs out of beta: Educational initiatives enter classrooms to teach coding, offer sharing platform for educators
109. Discoverability: A ‘hot or not?’ genre guide
110. Video: A decade of improving the approachability of fighting games
111. Blog: Understanding the reality of game development
112. Blog: Avoiding helplessness – The worst feeling in games
113. Blog: The big game branding 101
114. Blog: Lessons learned from the development of Vicious Circle
115. Blog: 7 must-read books for game designers
116. Blog: Ancient Greek punishments as hypertexts
117. Blog: How music enhances virtual presence – Part 2
118. Blog: How to make a casual mobile game
119. Watch Age of Wonders: Planetfall’s lead dev discuss updating the series for a new age
120. Like a boss: The secrets behind great boss design
121. How moving from 2D to 3D shaped the design of Risk of Rain 2
122. Creature in the Well’s limiting, limitless unknown: Flight School Studios creative director Adam Volker shares how a two-person team turned constraints into creativity
123. How Astroneer creates an enjoyably unsafe space – Why I Love: Student game developer Aden Webb explores the mood-building design decisions of System Era’s survival sandbox
124. Don’t Miss: How data miners shed light on P.T.’s ghost story
125. Don’t Miss: Training players right, so they don’t hate learning to play
126. Don’t Miss: Exploring the secret depths of Bubble Bobble’s design
127. After 24 years at id, Tim Willits is now Saber Interactive’s chief creative officer
128. The hottest new board games from Gen Con 2019
129. Are We Living in a Computer Simulation? Let’s Not Find Out: Experimental findings will be either boring or extremely dangerous.
130. U.S. Patent No. 9,259,652: Time-shifted multiplayer game 
131. U.S. Patent No. 9,616,329: Adaptive learning system for video game enhancement 

DIGITAL

1. White House proposal would have FCC and FTC police alleged social media censorship
2. White House Once Again Circulating A Draft Executive Order On Social Media Bias
3. Be Careful What You Wish For In Asking Silicon Valley To Police Speech Online
4. Four Democratic Candidates Call on Walmart to Stop Selling Guns
5. TikTok is fuelling India’s deadly hate speech epidemic: In small-town India, TikTok videos are a new hate speech minefield. Thousands of videos are being removed as users exploit the wild growth of the social network
6. New Report Further Clarifies Foxconn’s Wisconsin Deal Was An Unsustainable Joke
7. Fox News Commentator Calls For A ‘Backlash’ Against Big Tech… Because Wikileaks Released His Phone Number
8. UK Moves To Give Regulators Power To Fine Internet Companies 5% Of Revenue If They Can’t Wave A Magic Wand And Make Bad Content Disappear
9. If You Lament The State Of Politics Today, Lament The Loss Of Aereo
10. Republicans suspend Twitter ad spending after boneheaded video takedown
11. Twitter backs down, allows McConnell to post video of protestor threats
12. What’s in a Tweet? Employer does not have to pay Settlement Funds After Grievor takes to Twitter
13. Twitter’s latest test lets users subscribe to a tweet’s replies
14. Has Twitter Declared You Dead?
15. Giant Copyright Troll, Malibu Media, Sued By Investors
16. Elsevier Says It’s Infringing To Link To Sci-Hub; Hypocrite Elsevier Links To Sci-Hub All The Time
17. Elsevier Tries To Lie About University Of California’s Contract Negotiation; UC Shows Its Receipts
18. Top University Of California Scientists Tell Elsevier They’ll No Longer Work On Elsevier Journals
19. Amazon workers in Minnesota walk off the job over parking issues
20. Schoolchildren in China work overnight to produce Amazon Alexa devices: Leaked documents show children as young as 16 recruited by Amazon supplier Foxconn work gruelling and illegal hours
21. Senators demand Amazon explain how junk winds up in “Choice” listings
22. Amazon says its facial recognition can now identify fear
23. Amazon unveils first batch of casting for The Wheel of Timeadaptation
24. ESRP Rebukes Yoga Company for Stretching the Truth About Influencers
25. Russian State Watchdog Tells YouTube To Stop Sending Push Notifications About Mass Protests
26. New Study Demonstrates YouTube’s Role In Far-Right Radicalization, Spread Of Conspiracies In Brazil
27. ‘We can’t reach the women who need us’: the LGBT YouTubers suing the tech giant for discrimination
28. YouTube should stop recommending garbage videos to users
29. Ex-Googler Recently Held Up As A ‘Whistleblower’ And ‘Proof’ Of Anti-Conservative Bias At Google, Actually Supported Richard Spencer, Racist Skinheads
30. Dennis Prager Peddles Complete Nonsense About ‘Google Censorship’ In The WSJ
31. LGBTQ YouTubers Hit Google With Lawsuit For Alleged Discrimination: Eight video creators say that have been unfairly targeted and demonetized by YouTube.
32. LGBTQ YouTubers are suing YouTube over alleged discrimination: Including suppressing video recommendations and demonetization
33. YouTube Unequally Applies Policies, Giving Favor To Creators Who Bring In Big View Counts, Content Moderators Say
34. YouTube lets biggest stars off the hook for breaking rules, moderators say
35. YouTube Testing Program That Lets Certain Demonetized Channels File Immediate Appeals Via YouTube Videos
36. LAPD Investigating YouTuber Brooke Houts For Hitting Her Dog On Camera
37. In Wake Of Brooke Houts Incident, PETA Asks Platforms To Enact Zero-Tolerance Animal Abuse Policy
38. YouTube Rolls Out ‘Super Chat’ Feature To 19 Additional Countries
39. Tech firms face fines for harmful videos from regulator Ofcom
40. Half Of Teens Turn To YouTube For News, Preferring Influencers Over Traditional News Organizations (Study)
41. YouTube Debuts First Shoppable AR Ad With Beauty Vlogger Roxette Arisa And MAC Cosmetics
42. YouTube tests letting ad bans be appealed by filming a YouTube video: Making it easier for creators to earn money
43. New Jersey Attorney Ethics Opinion Blesses Competitive Keyword Advertising (…or Does It?) (Eric Goldman)
44. Apple locks new iPhone batteries to prevent third-party repair, report says
45. The Apple Card is launching soon – here’s how to apply for one directly from your iPhone
46. Goldman Sachs, bank of the rich and powerful, is dipping into subprime lending with Apple Card
47. Apple’s new credit card comes with forced arbitration—here’s how to opt out
48. Apple Music For Artists Launches, Rivalling Spotify’s Analytics Tools
49. Apple TV+ Gives First Glimpse At Billion-Dollar Originals Slate With ‘Morning Show’ Teaser, Starring Jennifer Aniston
50. FAA Bans Recalled MacBook Pros From Flights
51. FAA tells airlines MacBook Pros with defective batteries can’t fly
52. Microsoft cuts Office 2019 one-time licenses through Home Use Program
53. Spotify’s pitch to podcasters: valuable listener data: Spotify for Podcasters comes out of beta today
54. Facebook Shielded by CDA Immunity against Federal Claims for Allowing Use of Its Platform by Terrorists 
55. Biometric Class Action Against Facebook Greenlit by Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
56. Finding Article III Standing, Ninth Circuit Declines to Do an About-Face in Illinois Biometric Privacy Class Action against Facebook 
57. Ninth Circuit finds Article III standing in case alleging Facebook violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act
58. Ninth Circuit Allows Class Action Challenging Facebook’s Facial Recognition Technology Under Illinois BIPA
59. Senate Members Ask DOJ to Take Action as Number of Website Accessibility Lawsuits Continues to Rise
60. Facebook Tests Selling Subscriptions To Tastemade Plus, CollegeHumor’s Dropout, BritBox
61. In strategy shift, Facebook seeks to pay millions to license news
62. Facebook wants to be relevant in news again, and it’s willing to pay millions to bring back publishers: The company is building a new news effort
63. Instagram Is Rolling Out The Ability To Natively Pre-Schedule Grid Posts, IGTV Videos
64. Snapchat to Raise $1 Billion to Further Build Content, Gaming, and AR
65. Snapchat Decides to Raise $1bn for Filters, Content, Acquisitions: The company owes its financial escalation to some of its AR lenses like the baby lens and gender-change filters which had gone viral.
66. Snap announces Spectacles 3 with an updated design and a second HD camera: They’re $380 and go on sale in November
67. Snap Unveils Third Generation Of $380 Spectacles, With Two Cameras To Create AR Effects
68. Revealed: how Monsanto’s ‘intelligence center’ targeted journalists and activists – Internal documents show how the company worked to discredit critics and investigated singer Neil Young
69. Google Maps AR Navigation comes to iPhones and Android devices
70. Owners of defective 2016 Google Pixels can now claim up to $500
71. Google is giving students three months of YouTube Premium for free: Or YouTube Music Premium, which is a less good deal
72. Students Can Now Snag Three Free Months Of YouTube Premium And YouTube Music
73. YouTube Rolls Out ‘Super Chat’ Feature To 19 Additional Countries
74. Google, Cookies, and Cy-Pres-Only Settlements 
75. Now you can use Android phones, rather than passwords, to log in to Google*
76. Vice Appoints Former Munchies Exec Cliff Gulibert To Oversee All Digital Video Production
77. Liza Koshy Gets Glam As Beauty Brand C’est Moi’s Very First Ambassador
78. U.K. Vlogger Marina Joyce Found Safe By Police After Going Missing For 10 Days
79. U.S. Navy Taps Kevin ‘VSauce2’ Lieber, Jake Koehler, William Osman For Inaugural Influencer Campaign
80. Social Good Creators: Ashley Villa Is Changing The World For Female Entrepreneurs
81. Did a trainee social worker’s offensive social media postings render him unfit to practice?
82. Police say there is no danger after Twitch HQ threatened
83. Twitch launches beta for all-in-one streaming app Twitch Studio
84. Twitch has released its own broadcasting software: This is the company’s first broadcast offering
85. Netflix Signs Reported $300 Million Overall Film, TV Deal With ‘Game Of Thrones’ Creators
86. Game of Thrones creators sign $200 million Netflix deal to make exclusive shows and films: They’re also still helming Star Wars films for Disney
87. HBO Max Adds Millennial Comedy to Lineup of Originals
88. HBO Orders Female-Led Skateboarding Comedy From Crystal Moselle, Lesley Arfin
89. HBO Is About to Spend $1.5 Billion on…Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men?: Fledgling streamer casting a wide sitcom net—but will this leave it unable to secure another big hit, as Seinfeld invites a bidding war?
90. Blogger says she got an injunction for a post published five days earlier
91. Uber’s no-good, terrible-rotten bad Q2 loses more than $5 billion
92. Uber, losing billions, freezes engineering hires
93. At Defense Distributed, few glimpses of life after Cody Wilson: Court cases and social media spats continue over 3D-printed guns.
94. What a future without social media ‘likes’ could mean for the industry
95. The Hidden Risks Associated with Social Media Background Checks 
96. Companies Are Not Complying With the Safe Harbor Provision of the DMCA 
97. Regulation of Digital Platforms in Australia and UK
98. The Endless, Invisible Persuasion Tactics of the Internet: Online shopping turns your brain against you, but you can fight back.
99. UK consumers switch to online streaming en masse
100. Cody Wilson pleads guilty to lesser charge, will register as sex offender
101. NY Times Publishes A Second, Blatantly Incorrect, Trashing Of Section 230, A Day After Its First Incorrect Article
102. Cyber restraints of trade in the new era of digital markets 
103. To Cajole to Threaten: How Best to Curb Online Counterfeiting 
104. Transferring or cancelling a domain in USA
105. EU Court Determines Responsibility for Social Plug-ins on Website
106. Embedded EthiCS: Integrating Ethics Across CS Education
107. The guy behind the ‘Storm Area 51’ Facebook event is hosting an alien-themed festival
108. Geeky license plate earns hacker $12,000 in parking tickets

A.I.

1. AI researchers have a plan to pay patients for data
2. Artificial Intelligence and Bias: Social Impacts of a Technical Solution
3. Why AI needs more social workers, with Columbia University’s Desmond Patton
4. Video: Using AI to build a better future for game art production
5. All watched over by machines of loving grace: A critical look at smart contracts (Andres Guadamuz)
6. Putin’s robo-nauts prepare for lift-off: Russia’s space agency releases eerie footage of human-like android Fedor as he gets ready to join the International Space Station crew next week
7. A Tesla owner implanted the RFID chip from her Model 3’s keycard into her arm: Keyless entry
8. Elon Musk’s Neuralink: Both an evolution and a plan for radical change
9. Law in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
10. Intellectual Property and Artificial Intelligence in the UK
11. Breaking down the rich and complex AI of Hitman

COMMUNICATIONS

1. CRTC Establishes New Internet Code For Consumers
2. CRTC’s latest report shows price decline in communications services
3. CBC News: High cost of internet access leaving low-income families behind, report finds
4. Competition Bureau Study on the Broadband Industry Paints a “Largely Positive Picture”
5. It’s Back: The Netflix Tax Debate Returns for the 2019 Election (Michael Geist)
6. Postmedia Announces Refinancing Transaction
7. AT&T Employees Took Bribes To Plant Malware On Company’s Network
8. CBS and Viacom merger: ‘It’s not a surprise, but it is a big deal’
9. Courts Again Shoot Down FCC For Ignoring The Law, Making Up Stuff
10. Ajit Pai loses another court case as judges overturn 5G deregulation 
11. FCC Opens the 2.5 GHz Band for 5G Wireless Services
12. Trump admin reportedly drafting order to counter social media “bias”: The proposal would reportedly put the onus of content regulation on the FCC.
13. Texas AG Joins Lawsuit Against T-Mobile, Showing Bipartisan Opposition To Mindless M&As
14. Frontier network outages get worse in NY, triggering state investigation
15. Verizon: 5G speeds on low-spectrum bands will be more like “good 4G”
16. Verizon demands $880 from rural library for just 0.44GB of roaming data
17. Comcast Wireless Joins Verizon In Charging You More For HD Video
18. Verizon selling Tumblr to WordPress.com owner, but porn ban won’t go away
19. Verizon Selling Tumblr to Company That Owns WordPress
20. With Tumblr Sale, Verizon Continues To Stumble In Bungled Pivot Away From Telecom
21. Verizon sues city to avoid paying 5G fees, says the FCC has its back 
22. Utility Provider Settles Call Recording Lawsuit for $3.7 Million 
23. Trump Administration Issues Interim Rule Banning Agencies’ Procurement of Telecom Equipment and Services from Huawei, ZTE and Other Designated Chinese Companies 
24. Federal Government Further Banned from Using Huawei 
25. Huawei announces its first operating system, HarmonyOS 
26. Ofcom Consultation on the protection of TV and radio programme participants

PRIVACY

1. Class Action Lawsuit Hopes To Hold GitHub Responsible For Hosting Data From Capital One Breach
2. Whitney Cummings shares NSFW pic on Twitter after ‘foolish dorks’ attempt to extort her
3. Airline tracks Twitter user’s real-world ID, publishes her flight number: Southwest Airlines finally relents, after first insisting flight numbers aren’t PII.
4. Ring Is Teaching Cops How To Obtain Doorbell Camera Footage Without A Warrant
5. California Judges Nuke Two More SFPD Warrants Used To Search A Journalist’s Home And Office
6. Unsealed Warrants Show SFPD Officer Told Judges He Was Targeting A Journalist, But Judges Approved Them Anyway
7. Personal Email Management Service Settles FTC Charges over Allegedly Deceptive Statements to Consumers over Its Access and Use of Subscribers’ Email Accounts 
8. Makers of Head Impact Sensors Avoid FTC Enforcement Headache
9. Warren: FTC’s $125 cash option in Equifax settlement “misled” customers
10. I Tried Hiding From Silicon Valley in a Pile of Privacy Gadgets: Avoiding digital snoops takes more than throwing money at the problem, but that part can be really fun.
11. Google “Street View” Wiretap Allegations Settled for a “Modest” $13 Million 
12. Microsoft contractors hear phone sex and more while reviewing Cortana, Skype audio
13. They Grow Up So Fast These Days: Facial Recognition Tech Edition
14. Consumer Reports Finds Numerous Home Routers Lack Even Basic Security Protections
15. Found: World-readable database used to secure buildings around the globe
16. These companies claim to provide “fair-trade” data work. Do they?: Companies like CloudFactory, iMerit, and Samasource promise data sets provided by workers who are well paid and cared for. It’s not an easy business.
17. You’ve Been Hacked: Board Cybersecurity Liability and Risk Management
18. Woman accused of Capital One hack had stolen data from 30 companies, authorities say
19. Hack in the box: Hacking into companies with “warshipping”
20. Will technology return shame to our society?
21. Enforcement under the GDPR – the new paradigm
22. Indian Counseling Company Files Criminal Complaint Against Blogger Who Informed It About A Sensitive Data Leak
23. Hacker site’s incriminating database published online by rival group

CREATIVITY

1. A long and winding road: Canada nears the end of an ambitious project to modernize patent, trademark and industrial design laws
2. Blacklock’s Tendentious and Tenacious Litany of Litigation – the Latest (Lack of) Developments (Howard Knopf)
3. Judge Dismisses Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Defamation Lawsuit Against The New York Times
4. Combating Hate Speech Through Counterspeech
5. Universal pulls The Huntafter most recent deadly mass shootings [Updated]
6. Appeals Court Says Banana Costume Is Infringing
7. City of Phanatic Love: Phillies Face Lawsuit Over Beloved Mascot
8. Chequered flag to Ferrari: Competitors back to the drawing boards after Ferrari copyright ruling 
9. Reaping What They Sowed: Recording Industry Now Quite Upset About Copyright Run Amok
10. DC Opposes Trademark Application For ‘Algorithmic Justice League’ For Some Reason
11. Brewery In Wales Changes Name Of 2 Beers After Fight With Hugo Boss
12. North Carolina Court Says Retaliatory Arrests Over Protected Speech Are Cool And Legal
13. NAAG Asks VOD Providers to Shield Kids From Tobacco Imagery
14. Oops: Japan Anti-Piracy Proposals Probably Violate Its Constitution
15. Keep Shining Upon Us, Our Guiding Star – Prof. (Dr.) Shamnad Basheer (1976 – 2019)
16. IP rights in art in United Kingdom – England & Wales (England & Wales)
17. IP Top 10 July: Copyright Infringement is a… Dark Horse

Jon