News of the Week; January 29, 2020

GAMES

1. Japanese court ups punishment for unlicensed Mario Kart-themed go-karts: Maricar must change its name, pay out $458k instead of $92k to Nintendo
2. Blizzard automatically owns any and all Warcraft 3: Reforged custom games
3. Blizzard now claims full copyright for player-made “custom game” mods
4. Warcraft 3 Reforged EULA gives Blizzard total ownership of all custom games: With the remake, Blizzard appears to be trying to avoid another Dota situation
5. How Warcraft III birthed a genre, changed a franchise, and earned a Reforge-ing
6. Riot Games denies collusion in gender discrimination lawsuit: 2 US government agencies attempt to discredit Riot Games and plaintiffs’ legal counsel in bid for $400 million compensation for current and former employees
7. Game companies fall short on Bloomberg Gender Equality Index: Just five publicly-owned gaming or gaming-related companies appear on 2020 index measuring gender equality in the workplace
8. Over one-fourth of developers say their studio has no diversity or inclusion initiatives – State of the Industry: Over half of developers are in favor of unionization; meanwhile, needle hasn’t moved on accessibility
9. The industry is becoming more diverse, and more developers support inclusion efforts: IGDA developer survey: 85% of developers said that diversity in the games industry was important
10. Crunch and ‘extended hours’ both down in latest IGDA dev satisfaction survey
11. Bethesda restores characters who lost their clothes in Fallout 76 hack
12. Industry faces “significant” regulatory risk following 2019 government inquiry: Concerns around bullying and gaming disorder could lead to “badly-informed regulation that damages the functioning of the industry”
13. FTC Public Workshop on Loot Boxes – So What Now?
14. When do deceptive playable ads help, and when do they hurt?: Dan Greenberg of ironSource says misleading interactive mobile ads were huge in 2019, but likely to be reined in this year
15. Rockstar defends the $49m it received in UK tax relief last year
16. Court rules Nintendo’s strict digital pre-order policies don’t violate EU laws
17. The story of how Nintendo’s iconic logo escaped an “age-up” remake
18. Analyst: Nintendo passes $1 billion revenue on mobile, largely thanks to Fire Emblem
19. Plague Inc. maker: Don’t use our game for coronavirus modeling
20. There are better ways to learn about coronavirus, says Plague Inc. developer
21. Plague Inc dev: Game is “not a scientific model” for coronavirus outbreak – Ndemic Creations compelled to release statement as sales spike in China
22. Blitzchung on Hong Kong protest: “Even if I had a chance to go back, I would still do it” – Hearthstone pro still “disappointed” in Blizzard but doesn’t hate the company
23. Game revenue down 21% at Microsoft as Xbox hardware sales slow
24. Microsoft’s Azure is still growing fast to take on AWS, but Xbox is still struggling: The tech giant reported impressive revenue in everything but gaming.
25. Console tariff off the table as tensions ease between US and China: Tariff backtrack is well-timed as PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X prepare for launch
26. U.S.-China trade deal clears way for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X
27. Don’t Miss: How a ragtag band of modders restored Star Wars KOTOR II
28. Don’t Miss: What went right (and wrong) during the development of BioShock
29. Gabby DaRienzo wants to talk about burnout
30. Rocket League ending MacOS and Linux support in March
31. Rocket League left behind on macOS and Linux due to DirectX 11 shift
32. Rocket League will drop support for Mac, Linux versions in March: Change comes eight months after Epic Games acquired the game’s creators.
33. Rocket League is dropping Mac, Linux because of crazy-low player counts [Updated]
34. Rocket League support ending on Mac and Linux, offers refunds: Psyonix woking with Valve to expand refunds beyond normal two-week policy but requires manual request
35. Project xCloud is coming to Canada at the end of January
36. Counterplay Games’ Duelyst is going offline for good in February
37. Paradox has been quietly testing a DLC subscription service 
38. Paradox trialling subscription model to address DLC criticism: But strategy publisher assures long-running fans that no future expansions will be exclusive to subscribers
39. EA ends support for mobile Tetris, Tetris Blitz
40. You Don’t Own What You Buy: The Tetris Edition
41. US game content revenues hit $35.4 billion in 2019, say NPD and ESA: Overall spending on gaming similar to last year when omitting hardware revenues from the equation
42. GDC State of the Industry: Devs torn on whether subscription services devalue games
43. Developers are divided on how subscription services will affect game values – GDC State of the Industry: One-fourth of devs are concerned such services will devalue games, another fourth aren’t worried at all
44. Game consoles excluded from tariffs on Chinese imports ‘until further notice’
45. GDC State of the Industry: Game devs shifting focus to next-gen consoles
46. UK Charts: The Witcher 3 rises as Dragon Ball holds No.1 – Meanwhile, Rugby 20 makes the Top 20
47. Minecraft was the UK’s best-selling new IP of the decade: Mojang’s hit sold more retail units than any other new games property, but Destiny led the way in revenue generated
48. Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2 have sold a combined 150m units: Red Dead Redemption 2 is the best-selling game of the last four years in the US, by dollar sales
49. Red Dead Redemption 2 digital unit sales doubled in December, thanks to Steam launch
50. GDC State of the Industry: Most devs feel Steam’s 30% cut isn’t justified; many prefer 10-15%
51. The State Of Game Discoverability: January 2020
52. Mobile publishing platform Coda secures $4 million to expand operations
53. Stardew Valley has sold 10 million copies in 4 years
54. Nintendo mobile games have brought in $1b in lifetime revenue: Sensor Tower Fire Emblem Heroes accounted for 61% of the total; Dr. Mario World brought in less than 1%
55. Nintendo is halting Wii repairs in Japan due to parts shortage
56. Digital Bros moves to acquire all Starbreeze assets from Smilegate
57. Torchlight successor pivots away from free-to-play following alpha feedback
58. THQ-owned Amplifier Game Invest opens new studio in Sweden
59. Amplifier Game Invest opens new development studio in Sweden: River End Games is funded by recently rebranded investment arm of THQ Nordic parent Embracer Group
60. The Witcher heralds an era of game IPs on TV | Opinion: As media giants prepare to do battle over streaming, well-known IPs are a potent weapon — and videogames remain the last great untapped source
61. Netflix is also developing a standalone The Witcher anime film: “Nightmare of the Wolf” to be led by The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, animated by Legend of Korra and Voltron studio
62. What new console features are important to gamers?: ISFE and Ipsos Mori’s GameTrack consumer survey find shorter load times a close second to better graphics; VR and handheld modes less crucial
63. Facebook Withdrew Oculus Go From Enterprise Platform, Now Offers Quest Only
64. Pokemon Home keeps cross-platform cloud storage in the mix with free, paid tiers
65. Pokémon Home cloud service detailed and priced: Launches on mobile and Switch next month, will cost up to £15.99 per year
66. Chrono.gg secures $5.5m to build its answer to the discoverability problem: CEO Justin Sacks explains why tackling the issues with PC storefronts means letting content creators make a whole lot more of them
67. Atari to Open Game-themed Hotels Across the US with “the latest in VR and AR”
68. Atari wants to open gaming hotels in at least eight US cities: Planned locations to include VR and AR experiences, esports venues
69. Hero bans work for some games but aren’t a fit for Overwatch, argues Jeff Kaplan
70. Activision Blizzard And YouTube Execs Say Rewards Are Coming For Viewers Of Overwatch, Call Of Duty Leagues
71. Esports events delayed, cancelled as coronavirus spreads: Competitions for League of Legends, Pokemon, CS GO already affected, Overwatch League currently in discussions
72. Lifting the veil on antitrust questions arising in the distribution of esports: mandatory commissions
73. Creators Going Pro: How 23-Year-Old Formula Went From Esports Team Manager To ‘Fortnite’ Maven
74. YouTube’s Call Of Duty League Livestream Peaks At 102K Viewers, With Related Videos Bringing 4+ Million Views
75. Ninja was reportedly paid between $20m and $30m for Mixer exclusivity deal: Other top streamers above certain viewership thresholds may have been offered as much as $10m
76. Esports Organization 100 Thieves Unveils New Facility in Los Angeles
77. Gaming Org ‘100 Thieves’ Opens Massive Compound For Player Training, Streaming, Retail, More
78. Stadia owners on Reddit are blasting Google over radio silence and lack of support
79. Google deal lands Activision Blizzard esports events exclusively on YouTube Gaming
80. Activision Blizzard and Google sign esports, cloud deals: Overwatch League and others will air exclusively on YouTube and Google Cloud becomes preferred cloud service for game hosting
81. Esports player contracts – knowing your worth and ‘equalising’ the contractual playing field
82. Patrick Johnston: Esports’ gaming gladiators starring in digital – and real – arenas
83. YouTube Scores Exclusive Streaming for Activision Blizzard’s E-Sports, Including Overwatch and Call of Duty Leagues
84. YouTube Gaming To Exclusively Livestream Overwatch, Call Of Duty Leagues As Part Of Multiyear Activision Blizzard/Google Partnership
85. Doom Eternal hands-on: It’s more, more, more—and maybe just a little bit less, too
86. Doom Eternal dev team were ‘crunching pretty hard’ during 2019
87. Id Software was “crunching pretty hard most of last year” on Doom Eternal: But studio confident that four-month delay has made upcoming shooter the “best game we’ve ever made”
88. Disney to Sell Fox Video Game Division to Scopely
89. Report: Disney is shutting down Storyscape developer Fogbank Entertainment
90. Disney reportedly closing down Fogbank Entertainment: FoxNext’s San Francisco studio was not part of recent sale to Scopely
91. Tencent wants to buy ‘full ownership’ of Conan Exiles developer Funcom
92. Com2us and Skybound will partner on new The Walking Dead mobile game
93. Com2uS leads new investment round in Skybound Entertainment: C Ventures and Third Wave Digital were also involved in the round, new The Walking Dead mobile game confirmed
94. Housemarque puts all other projects on hold to focus on “most ambitious game to date”: Stormdivers, other upcoming titles paused for unannounced project now three years in development
95. Riot takes its licensing game up a league: Hire of Disney and Nickelodeon vet Ron Johnson coincides with increased focus on external partners for consumer products
96. Bare-bones Tetris mobile game arrives to replace EA’s departing ones: Tetris 2011 and Tetris Blitz will go offline in April
97. No plans for a full Source 2 SDK, and other tidbits from Valve’s Half-Life: Alyx AMA
98. Report: Valve Index sales more than doubled amid Half-Life Alyx reveal
99. Valve Index sales more than doubled following Half-Life Alyx announcement – SuperData: The Index sold 149k units in 2019, 103k of which were sold in Q4
100. “The devil is in the details” when creating a metaverse: Novaquark’s user-generated MMO Dual Universe is clear on its grand ambition, but has lots of specifics to nail down
101. This amazing glitch puts Star Fox 64 ships in an unmodified Zelda cartridge
102. Blog: Designing fun movement in games (with video)
103. Blog: Analyzing the storytelling of Kingdom Hearts III
104. Video: A game dev’s guide to the UX of engagement and immersion
105. Video: How Myst’s designers stuffed an entire universe onto a single CD-ROM
106. Video: What a decade with Thoreau can teach you about game design
107. Video: How Bungie crafted the music of Destiny 2’s open world
108. Designing the simulation of the wild and wonderful Planet Zoo
109. A fleet of Arwings were just spawned in vanilla Ocarina of Time for the first time ever
110. State of The Game Industry 2020
111. Ustwo earns B Corp status, plans to further reduce environmental impact: Parent of Monument Valley developer joins movement of companies working to “balance purpose and profit”
112. Untitled Goose Game dev will donate 1 percent of income to Indigenous Australians
113. Untitled Goose Game dev promises at least 1% of future revenues to Australian Indigenous groups: “Our games are made on stolen land,” says House House as it joins Pay The Rent movement
114. One single EVE Online ship sale raises over $30,000 for Australian fire relief

DIGITAL

1. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter Try To Crack Down On Coronavirus Conspiracies
2. Here’s how Facebook plans to make final decisions about controversial content it’s taken down: The company announced details Tuesday about how what’s been called its “Supreme Court” for content moderation will work.
3. Feds, states consider tag-teaming massive Google investigation
4. Congressional Committee Pens Letter Urging YouTube To Stop “Incentivizing Climate Misinformation”
5. YouTube Streamer Hit With Demonetization Over Copyright Claims To Numbers ’36’ And ’50’
6. This Is Why Researchers Studying Radicalization On YouTube Need To Be Logged In
7. Oscar De La Hoya Slams YouTuber Boxing Matches: “Just Stick In Your Own Lane”
8. YouTube Moderators Reportedly Ordered To Sign Document Acknowledging Their Job Could Cause Long-Term Mental Health Issues
9. As Tulsi Gabbard’s Silly Attention Seeking Lawsuit Against Google Falters, She Files Equally Silly Lawsuit Against Hillary Clinton
10. Google’s tenth messaging service will “unify” Gmail, Drive, Hangouts Chat
11. Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Video Views Balloon After Royal Exit
12. Influencer Post Lacked Necessary Disclosure, Says British Ad Authority
13. Germany Wants To Limit Memes And Mashups Derived From Press Publishers’ Material To 128-by-128 Pixels In Resolution, And Three Seconds In Length
14. Dolly Parton’s Meme Exposes Social Media’s Masquerade: The country star’s “LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Tinder” post speaks to people’s desire to be what any platform needs them to be. 
15. My Instagram: We all die immediately of a Brazilian butt lift
16. Welcome News: DC Circuit Revives The Constitutional Challenge Of FOSTA
17. FOSTA Constitutional Challenge Revived–Woodhull Freedom Foundation v. US (Eric Goldman)
18. BuzzFeed Wins Libel Suit Regarding “King of Bullsh*t News” Article
19. BuzzFeed Editor Ben Smith To Depart, Named ‘New York Times’ Media Columnist
20. Massachusetts Fire Marshal Warns Against TikTok ‘Outlet Challenge’, Says Student Participants Will Face Charges
21. Linus Torvalds pulled WireGuard VPN into the 5.6 kernel source tree
22. Former Microsoft IP counsel joins social video firm TikTok as GC
23. StreamElements Opens New Creator Vending Platform SE.Merch To All Twitch Streamers
24. As We Get Closer And Closer To The EU Requiring ContentID Everywhere, More Abuses Of ContentID Exposed
25. Copyright As Censorship: Gun Rights Advocate Gets Video Taken Down With Bogus Copyright Claim
26. The Grim Conclusions of the Largest-Ever Study of Fake News: Falsehoods almost always beat out the truth on Twitter, penetrating further, faster, and deeper into the social network than accurate information.
27. ‘Fake news’ as infrastructural uncanny (Jonathan Gray, Liliana Bounegru, Tommaso Venturini)
28. Do Not Gamble with Browsewrap Terms of Use
29. Employers Get their Email Systems Back: NLRB Overrules Purple Communications
30. Academic Consensus Growing: Phones And Social Media Aren’t Damaging Your Kids
31. Will 2020 be the year of reckoning for social media regulation?
32. Canada ready to ‘impose costs’ on malicious cyberactors, advisers tell Trudeau: Canada will work with allies to strike back at foreign cyberattackers
33. 11th Circ. Insurance Ruling Views Cybercrime Realistically
34. SmileDirectClub Is Trying To Silence Criticism By Tying Refunds To Non-Disparagement Agreements
35. Aspirant Host David Dobrik Makes Late-Night Debut On Fallon, Nabbing 9 Million Views
36. CBS Gets Angry Joe’s YouTube Review Of ‘Picard’ Taken Down For Using 26 Seconds Of The Show’s Trailer
37. Attorney General Barr’s Anti-Encryption Efforts Aren’t Supported By Many FBI Officials
38. Is William Barr’s Latest Attack On Section 230 Simply An Effort To Harm Tech Companies For Blocking His Desire To Kill Encryption?
39. Time Magazine Explains Why Section 230 Is So Vital To Protecting Free Speech
40. Twitter Asks Judge To Dismiss Devin Nunes’ Frivolous Lawsuit Via Section 230
41. Is Devin Nunes’ Lawyer Using Questionable Subpoenas In An Unrelated Case To Seek Info On Satirical @DevinCow Account?
42. Emoji reactions are sliding into Twitter’s DMs
43. Netflix Inks Overall Deal With ‘Big Mouth’ Animation Studio Titmouse
44. Netflix And ‘Big Mouth’ Studio Titmouse Hook Up For Multiyear Adult Animation Deal
45. Netflix to Lay Off Roughly 15 in Marketing Department Shift
46. Netflix to Lay Off Employees as It Shifts Marketing Strategy:  Sources say at least 15 people are expected to exit this week as the company moves to better advertise the service rather than its individual shows.
47. WarnerMedia takes $1.2 billion revenue hit in hopes that HBO Max pays off in the long run: Most of that $1.2 billion hit is because of HBO Max investment
48. Vox Media aims for $20m-plus podcast business in 2020
49. Samsung Galaxy Fold review: The future is an ugly disappointment
50. After a decade of drama, Apple is ready to kill Flash in Safari once and for all
51. Microsoft’s sneaky plan to switch Chrome searches from Google to Bing
52. Amazon faces employee revolt over slow climate action
53. Amazon Music passes 55M customers, still lags behind Spotify and Apple
54. Get ready to see Spotify’s looping videos on Instagram
55. Instagram Allows Businesses to See and Share Stories that Mention Them
56. Sonos sunsets several smart speakers’ software support, spurring storm [Updated]
57. You Don’t Own What You’ve Bought: Under Armour Smart Hardware Gets Lobotomized
58. Apple reports a blowout Q1 2020, but names coronavirus as a worry for the next quarter
59. Apple TV+ Has Reportedly Amassed A Formidable 33.6 Million Subscribers In The U.S.
60. Insights: Will Peacock’s Throwback Approach Take Flight For Comcast?
61. Snapchat And NBC Expand Olympics Content Pact Around 2020 Tokyo Games
62. NBC partners with Snapchat on four daily shows for 2020 Tokyo Olympics
63. Vine Successor ‘Byte’ Now Live On iOS And Android — With Monetization Soon To Follow
64. Byte Ascends U.S. App Store Charts In Debut, Vows To Fix Comment Spam Issue
65. The tools and tricks that let Ars Technica function without a physical office
66. Home Owners Association Threatens Residents With Lawsuit For Online Criticism
67. FTC and State AGs Continue Focus on Deceptive Social Media Marketing
68. Competition Bureau’s Marketing and Advertising Priorities
69. The dangers of electronic signatures – can you prove who signed?
70. (We)Work is a Scam: What the fall of WeWork tells us about the unicorn economy and worker exploitation.
71. 2019 Emoji Law Year-in-Review (Eric Goldman)
72. Top Issues in 2020: Digital Technology
73. Tax Wars: How to End the Conflict over Taxing Global Digital Commerce
74. Proliferating Predation: Reverse Redlining, the Digital Proliferation of Inferior Social Welfare Products, and How to Stop it (Sam Gilman)

A.I.

1. EPO refuses to name machine as legal inventor
2. Google and Microsoft shouldn’t decide how technology is regulated: A researcher who studies AI principles warns that giving too much credence to Big Tech is like “asking the fox for guidance on henhouse security procedures.”
3. Stop Blaming Algorithms For Misinformation And Threats To Democracy; The Real Problem Is Societal
4. Privacy Tip #223 – Navigating Individual Data Privacy in a World with AI
5. AI and drug discovery
6. How a $300 projector can fool Tesla’s Autopilot
7. Facial Recognition Is Only The Beginning
8. The EU is funding dystopian Artificial Intelligence projects
9. Black-Boxed Politics: Opacity is a Choice in AI Systems
10. Algorithmic Experts: Selling Algorithmic Lore on YouTube (Sophie Bishop)
11. Automation in Moderation (Hannah Bloch-Wehba)
12. Explainable AI under contract and tort law: legal incentives and technical challenges (Philipp Hacker, Ralf Krestel, Stefan Grundmann, Felix Naumann)
13. Algorithmic Realism: Expanding the Boundaries of Algorithmic Thought (Ben Green, Salomé Viljoen)

COMMUNICATIONS

1.  Canada’s Communication Future: Time to Act (Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel)
2. Independent panel report calls for more Canadian streaming content and an ad-free CBC
3. A Demonstrably False Premise: Why “Inevitable” Canadian Internet and Cancon Regulations Won’t Level the Playing Field, Support Canadian Stories or Save a Thriving Industry (Michael Geist)
4. Conservative critic says broadcast review report doesn’t address inequalities in media market 
5. Telecommunications review includes ‘extreme’ recommendations, warns expert
6. Telecommunications Industry and Regulators Work Together to Thwart Fraudsters and Scam Artists
7. Update on Allarco’s “Unusual” Litigation (Howard Knopf)
8. DOJ sues US telecom providers for connecting Indian robocall scammers
9. AT&T loses another 1.2 million TV subscribers as DirecTV keeps tanking
10. DirecTV races to decommission broken Boeing satellite before it explodes
11. CenturyLink, Frontier took FCC cash, failed to deploy all required broadband
12. Oh Look, More Giant ISPs Taking Taxpayer Money For Unfinished Networks
13. FCC Commissioner Asks Record Labels for Information About Payola Practices – What are the FCC Rules? How Do These Practices Compare to Online Music Providers?
14. FCC Fines Broadcaster $1.13 Million for Improper Monitoring of Tower Lighting
15. FCC Taps Four “Spectrum Administrators” for 3.5 GHz, Including Sony and Google
16. Ajit Pai promised faster broadband expansion—Comcast cut spending instead
17. Comcast Says It Will Respond To Cord Cutting In 2020 With…More Price Hikes
18. Traditional TV Enters Its Final Death Spiral
19. Verizon’s 5G Superbowl Ads Will Hype Nonexistent Firefighter Tech And A Barely Available Network
20. Verizon brings 5G to the Super Bowl—for part of the stadium, anyway
21. The ‘Race To 5G’ Is A Giant Pile Of Lobbyist Nonsense
22. Telus’ CLO discusses growth plans 

PRIVACY

1. Stopping the Press: New York Times Journalist Targeted by Saudi-linked Pegasus Spyware Operator
2. “Totally Clueless”: Dating apps Grindr and OkCupid reported for breach of privacy rules
3. Italian Spyware Company Execs Arrested After Company Employees Spied On Innocent Citizens
4. China fears lead Interior Department to limit use of foreign drones
5. UK Ignores US, Won’t Fully Ban Huawei Gear From Its Networks
6. FISA Court Orders FBI To Start Cleaning Up Its Carter Page Surveillance Mess
7. Amazon’s Ring app shares loads of your personal info, report finds
8. Letter To Judge Details Vault 7 Leaker’s Post-Incarceration Leaking
9. Dozens of companies have data dumped online by ransomware ring seeking leverage
10. Keepin’ It “Real”: OPC Finds that PIPEDA Applies to Foreign-Incorporated Business
11. Canada’s Piece Of The Regulatory Pie: Application Of Canadian Data Privacy Laws To A Local Data Processor With A Global Reach
12. New “Off-Facebook Activity” portal lets you know where you’re being followed
13. Puerto Rico’s Justice Department Demanded Info From Facebook About Journalists Who Livestreamed Protests
14. Skimming heist that hit convenience chain may have compromised 30 million cards
15. ICO Code: Think of the Children
16. Do retailers drop more cookies on Americans or Europeans?
17. What percentage of United States retailers configure their cookie notice to respond differently to visitors with European IP addresses?
18. Why it’s time to stop force-feeding cookies to users
19. Protecting the ‘Smart World’ Around Us: California’s ‘Internet of Things’ Law
20. Maryland bill would outlaw ransomware, keep researchers from reporting bugs
21. London to deploy live facial recognition to find wanted faces in a crowd
22. Law Enforcement’s New Facial Recognition Toy Scrapes Photos From Websites, Serves Up ‘Matches’ In Seconds
23. Facial Recognition Company Clearview Lied About Its Crime-Solving Power In Pitches To Law Enforcement Agencies
24. Leaked Document Suggests Possible Facial Recognition Ban In Europe
25. Cy Vance Is So Sure Encryption Is Pure Evil He Thinks Over-The-Air Software Updates Are Just Encryption Backdoors Apple Won’t Tell Him About
26. Two-Factor Authentication—Not Broken Yet, But the Bad Guys Are Doing Their Worst
27. New document-tracking technology created for legal departments to protect data privacy: Usage controls will be applied to confidential legal documents to enable in-house counsel to track files
28. Lawmakers Propose COPPA Expansion
29. Google researchers find serious privacy risks in Safari’s anti-tracking protections
30. Yelp Disclosures Cost Mortgage Broker $120K in FTC Deal
31. Advertising technology: A short introduction to the relationship between adtech, privacy and data protection
32. Ransomware Attacks Reached Unprecedented Numbers in 2019
33. Identity Theft and Imposter Scams Were the Most Common Complaints That the FTC Received in 2019
34. FTC Fines Five Companies for Falsely Claiming Privacy Shield Certification
35. Emerging Cyber-Security Threats for 2020: The Rise of Disruptionware and High-Impact Ransomware Attacks
36. International Data Privacy Day: Privacy, Technology, and Cybersecurity Trends to Watch in 2020
37. The Limitations of European Data Protection As A Model for Global Privacy Regulation (Shannon Mercer)
38. The Wiretapping of Things (Eldar Haber)

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. How the Supreme Court’s New Standard of Review Will Impact IP
2. USMCA amendments: implications for Canadian IP law
3. Article 13: UK will not implement EU copyright law
4. Tom Kabinet: CJEU rules resale of e-books requires permission of copyright holder
5. CJEU judgement in Sky v Skykick (case C-371/18)
6. UK Government “has no plans” to implement the Copyright Directive
7. UK Says It Won’t Implement The EU Copyright Directive, Which Wouldn’t Have Passed Without Its Support During A Crucial Vote
8. Here’s why the UK is (finally) dumping Article 13 for good: The UK had plenty of opportunities to veto the controversial EU copyright legislation, so why did it wait so long to torpedo Article 13?
9. An IP Roadmap for Phase-One Sino-US Economic and Trade Agreement
10. Phase 1 U.S. China Trade Deal: Patent Provisions
11. PMPRB Publishes Draft Guidelines to Operationalize Amendments to the Patented Medicines Regulations
12. Court of Appeal clarifies rules for joint authorship of copyright
13. Fair Use and Fanatic Fans
14. Lego A/S v. Zuru, Inc.
15. Structured Asset Sales, LLC v. Sheeran
16. Two Cases Raise New Copyright Infringement Concerns for Internet Linking
17. #CopyrightInfringement: The Sequel
18. IP Insight: Is Linking to Radio Streams Online Copyright Infringement?
19. In ‘N Out Burger Continues Its BS Pop-Up Technique To Keep Trademarks It Isn’t Actually Using
20. SDNY: Collateral Estoppel Halts Social Media Patent Case
21. Conversant Wireless v Huawei: patents valid & essential
22. Competition between generics and originators – what’s the relevance of a patent?
23. Cannabis patent litigation update: construing cannabis claims
24. Recent Suit By US Olympic Committee Is Excellent Reminder Of Special Protection Afforded To The Words “Olympic” and “Paralympic”
25. Life sciences intellectual property: 2019 highlights
26. 2020 Intellectual Property Primer: Cases to Watch this Year
27. Tricks of the trade: Can you just do a quick search on …?

CREATIVITY   

1. Goop’s Netflix series: It’s so much worse than I expected and I can’t unsee it
2. JLo Character Hustles Into Court Over Publicity Rights
3. Deaf man demands closed captioning for porn videos in federal lawsuit
4. Patreon can’t solve its porn pirate problem
5. In the ’60s, America’s wearable art movement reflected true counterculture
6. Guardian to ban advertising from fossil fuel firms: Move follows efforts to reduce carbon footprint and increase reporting on climate crisis
7. Class Action Alleges MLB Cheating Scandal Tainted Fantasy League
8. Tied Up in Knots? Tied House Laws and the First Amendment
9. Planning a Super Bowl-themed Marketing Campaign? 5 Tips for Staying In Bounds

Jon