News of the Week; February 5, 2020

GAMES

1. Nintendo switches it up with website blocking injunction
2. FBI catches hacker that stole Nintendo’s secrets for years
3. Appeals Court Tells Serial Litigant Runescape Didn’t Violate His Constitutional Rights By Muting His Account
4. Federal court: Getting muted in RuneScape doesn’t violate your civil rights: Serial litigator in Pennsylvania loses latest appeal
5. First ever UK Games Industry Census highlights need for more diversity
6. GDC State of the Industry: Nearly half of game makers still work over 40 hours/week
7. Bleszinski regrets being too political with LawBreakers: In reflecting on Boss Key’s demise, studio co-founder says it was a mistake to push his personal beliefs in a divided world
8. Fable Fortune is being shut down two years after launch
9. Creators Going Pro: ImSuda And Friends Put The “Fun” In ‘Fortnite’ With Their Content Goldmine Group Gaming Sessions
10. Kentucky officials trying to ban Fortnite from varsity esports: “There is no place for shooter games in our schools,” says Kentucky High School Athletic Association commissioner
11. For the love of the (video) game: Canadian law firms are rising to the challenge as the esports industry spreads like wildfire
12. FaZe Clan Seeking To Sign Newest Member In Upcoming Quibi Competition Series
13. The UK games industry is still overwhelmingly young, white, and male: But on the heels of its first UK Games Industry Census, UKIE launches initiative to improve diversity
14. How to identify and avoid unconscious bias: The GamesIndustry.biz Academy explores the effect of unconscious biases on the workplace, and how you can steer away from them and towards diversity
15. ESA launches Game Generation campaign to highlight positive impact of gaming: “Game Generation is about celebrating the more than 164 million Americans who love video games and the positive impact,” says ESA
16. Taipei Game Show postponed in response to coronavirus outbreak: With 320,000 people set to attend, organisers take action to avoid “unthinkable risks” of cluster infection
17. STJV issues call for testimonials from those in video game education: French game workers union concerned about reports of dysfunction in academic settings, hopes to implement action plan
18. Cheat software: Can publishers level the playing field? – Legal expert Dr Andreas Lober offers practical advice to publishers battling the rise of cheat software in online games
19. Only 23% of EA’s $5.4 billion net bookings in the last year came from non-digital sources
20. Digital net revenue was 70% of EA’s total revenue in Q3: And The Sims 4 has now passed 20m unique players worldwide
21. EA beats expectations with $1.98 billion in Q3 revenue as live operations grow
22. EA planning to publish 14 games next fiscal year: Publisher wants to rely on a “broad-based model,” avoid dependence on any one title
23. Jedi: Fallen Order sells almost 8 million copies to beat EA expectations
24. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order has sold around 8m units: EA says single-player adventure hit the “high-end” of its expectations, projects 10m units by end of fiscal year
25. EA wants to stop including daily and monthly active user data in earnings reports
26. EA still lukewarm on bringing its portfolio to Switch: Blake Jorgensen – “We’re conscious of the fact that the top selling titles are all Nintendo software”
27. Nintendo Switch overtook the SNES’ lifetime sales over the holidays: The Switch Lite’s launch pushed the hybrid console’s sales over 52 million, while Pokemon Sword and Shield sold more than 16 million copies.
28. Profits and sales up at Nintendo as Switch continues momentum
29. The Nintendo Switch has surpassed 52 million lifetime sales
30. Nintendo raises Switch forecast as console shipments pass 52 million: Switch software sales now expected to hit 140 million for the year
31. Nintendo: No new Switch model planned for 2020
32. Nintendo’s 2020 plans don’t include a new Switch model
33. The Outer Worlds will be digital-only on Switch: Launches March 6, retail version will contain a download code
34. Free-to-play Fire Emblem Heroes is adding a $9.49 monthly subscription pass
35. Nintendo’s latest subscription model is attached to Fire Emblem Heroes: $10/month Feh Pass offers free heroes and gameplay augments
36. UK Charts: Nintendo Switch games dominate as stock shortages end – Call of Duty Modern Warfare is at No.1
37. PlatinumGames turns to Kickstarter to self-publish The Wonderful 101 on Switch
38. PlayStation game sales pass one billion units: More than 1.18 billion first- and third-party PlayStation games had been sold as of January 31, 2020
39. PlayStation Vue Officially Shuts Down
40. PS4 hardware and software sales down as next-gen looms large
41. Sony gaming revenue and profit on the decline as new console generation looms: Network service revenue rises, while software and hardware take considerable hit
42. Take Two stock dips as Rockstar scribe Dan Houser announces departure
43. Capcom credits jump in profit to increasing interest in digital sales
44. Monster Hunter World Iceborne boosts profits at Capcom: Strong digital sales lead to best ever nine-month “profit levels” at the Japanese publisher
45. Koei Tecmo games profits slide in slow Q3: A single retail release kept revenue at a standstill, but a busier quarter lies ahead
46. Dena shuts down two of its Japanese mobile titles: Fantasy Earth Genesis and Torikago Scrap March servers to shutter in March
47. DeNA’s existing titles out-performed new games during the last nine months
48. DeNA reassessing games strategy as older titles fail to deliver: Mobile games firm posts hefty operating losses in Q3, thanks to games business impairment loss
49. Mobile Yu-Gi-Oh! and PES titles are Konami’s top revenue earning games this year
50. Code Vein passes 1 million sales in under five months
51. Zynga posts record full-year revenues: Q4 revenues up 63% year-over-year but Words With Friends publisher still posts modest net loss
52. The mobile games market is getting bigger — and not just for the top ten: Battle passes made money for the major publishers in 2019, but there was growth outside of the top ten
53. Microsoft’s gaming revenue down 21% in Q2, but subscriptions are still up: Holiday hardware sales were predictably low as current console generation comes to a close
54. Phil Spencer claims Amazon and Google are ‘main competitors’ to Xbox
55. Phil Spencer: “We see Amazon and Google as the main competitors”: Sony and Nintendo are out of position to keep up with “tens of billions” Microsoft has invested in cloud tech, says Spencer
56. GeForce Now: Nvidia implements aggressive pricing to consolidate cloud gaming position
57. Nvidia launches GeForce Now cloud gaming service at $4.99/month: Paid subscription gives priority server access and six-hour sessions, but there’s a free version too
58. Now out of beta, GeForce Now offers cloud-based streaming of owned Steam and EGS games
59. RIP Stadia? Nvidia’s newly launched cloud-gaming service is (mostly) a stunner
60. Google Stadia’s latest free game only has a few thousand total players
61. Google responds to Stadia complaints over lack of announcements
62. Google responds to complaints of slow Stadia announcements: Internet giant tells GamesIndustry.biz there will be more news on streaming service exclusives “soon”
63. Stadia Isn’t Starting Off Well, Even Judging By Player Counts On Free Games
64. Android app developers have earned over $80 billion through Google Play
65. In Europe, Google Play users spent more on mobile gaming in 2019 than App Store users: Sensor Tower High Google Play spending of $1 billion in Germany helped buck the global trend
66. Fate/Grand Order just passed $4 billion in revenue: It was the most talked-about game on Twitter and the No.8 free-to-play game by revenue in 2019
67. Discord no longer doubles as a game launcher as two non-core features get the axe
68. Improbable has purchased online game hosting company Zeuz
69. Improbable acquires game hosting service company Zeuz: Deal marks Improbable’s third acquisition in six months
70. What I learned about community management from my immigrant parents
71. Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser is leaving the studio
72. Dan Houser departs Rockstar Games: Co-founder to leave company in March after year-long hiatus
73. UK trade bodies respond to points-based immigration proposal: UKIE suggests “little impact” on games industry, while TIGA welcomes attention given to creative and STEM sectors
74. Facebook Seeks To Arm Gaming Creators With Preset Tools To Encourage Inclusion
75. Digital games driving growth at Sega as packaged titles underperform
76. Sega Europe announces fully recyclable packaging for all PC titles: Building on work from Sports Interactive last year, Sega Europe introduces blanket policy for PC titles
77. Sega lowers full-year forecast on soft Q3 packaged sales: Mario & Sonic, Persona 5 Royal, and New Sakura Wars all launched in the quarter, but packaged sales did not meet expectations
78. Creative Chronicles: Designing for colour blindness in games
79. Barclays introduces video games tax relief loans: Developers able to claim 90% of their tax credit before it is fully processed
80. Bigben Group forms new entity ahead of planned IPO: Nacon will unite accessories and games publishing assets in a proposed listing on the Euronext exchange
81. Nacon buys Rig headset brand from Plantronics: Bigben gaming business preparing for IPO picks up communications company’s gaming line
82. Amplifier Game Invest opens new Seattle studio CC7 Entertainment
83. Supercell sinks $1.1 million into fledgling Swedish studio Wild Games
84. Supercell backs new mobile studio formed by EA DICE veterans: Stockholm-based Wild Games breaks cover to announce $1.1m investment
85. In Elsinore, more matter is more art: Golden Glitch’s Katie Chironis and Connor Fallon on the nearly decade-long challenge of making Shakespeare’s Hamlet into a time loop video game
86. Scopely scores partnership with Mattel and Hasbro for new Scrabble mobile game
87. Ubisoft acquires mobile studio Kolibri Games to expand into ‘idle’ genre
88. Ubisoft acquires free-to-play mobile dev Kolibri Games: Idle Miner Tycoon to strengthen Ubisoft’s idle game portfolio
89. GameRefinery acquires Reflection.io: UK market data firm adds to new parent’s services for mobile developers
90. WarCraft III Reforged: Not the flavor of chaos we were hoping for
91. Can a solo indie developer use ray tracing in their game?: Zeng Xiancheng on why the realistic lighting technique is not solely the realm of AAA developers
92. Who saved Rare?: “We were so worried about challenging ourselves technically, that we paused a little bit with worrying about people”
93. PlayStation to close Manchester VR studio: VR outfit to close its doors after five years
94. Sony Interactive Entertainment’s VR-focused Manchester Studio to close down
95. Can Alyx pull VR out of its niche? | Opinion: Half-Life Alyx is driving headset sales before it’s even released — but it’s going to take a lot more to make VR into a viable market for AAA games
96. The Oculus Store made almost $5 million on Christmas Day2
97. Mark Zuckerberg: ‘people bought nearly $5M in Oculus Store content on Christmas Day’
98. More than $5m worth of Oculus content was sold on Christmas Day: Mark Zuckerberg points to holiday surge as sign of progress for the VR ecosystem
99. Exploring new frontiers of color with The Outer Worlds: Art director Daniel Alpert discusses the visually striking approach to Obsidian’s latest RPG
100. 38,000 Flash games will live on after Flash support dies this year thanks to Flashpoint
101. Video: A game artist’s guide to escaping your comfort zone 
102. Video: Cursed problems in game design
103. Video: Using chance to enhance fun
104. Video: Why forums can be great for indie discoverability and community
105. Don’t Miss: A Classic Postmortem on how Maxis avoided sequel-itis on The Sims 2
106. Blog: Organizing engaging and dynamic forces
107. Blog: Utilizing 3D cameras in 2D games
108. Blog: How Tencent’s global mobile games biz took the crown in 2019
109. Blog: Lessons and statistics after four years as an indie developer
110. Blog: Pack-ratting in games – Do players need to have it all?
111. Are gamers scarier than biker gangs?: 10 Years Ago This Month: South Australian attorney general compares the threats he receives while Activision Blizzard starts a new layoff tradition
112. What ‘Dragons Love Tacos’ taught me about game discoverability
113. The Coalition’s Rod Fergusson leaves Gears of War for Diablo: Former Xbox studios leader departs for Blizzard
114. Where now for Gears of War?: As franchise lead Rod Fergusson departs, Xbox commits to the IP and its studio
115. Call of Duty raises $1.6 million for Australian fire relief through in-game campaign
116. The games industry continues to rally behind Australian bushfire relief: Activision led widespread efforts with $1.6m raised through the sale of a special COD pack
117. U.S. Patent no. 10,279,260: Cut-scene gameplay

DIGITAL

1. Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault on Regulating Foreign News Sites: “What’s the Big Deal?” (Michael Geist)
2. Weak Walk-Back: Why Steven Guilbeault’s Reversal on Government Licensing News Sites Still Leaves a Huge Regulatory Structure in Place (Michael Geist)
3. Video Excerpts Qualify as Fair Use (and Another 512(f) Claim Fails)–Hughes v. Benjamin (Eric Goldman)
4. Twitter Suspends Reporter For ‘Posting Private Info’ That Is Merely Internal Deutsche Bank Email That Could Implicate Trump
5. Twitter Moves To Quash Fishing Expedition Subpoena For Info On Devin Nunes Cow By Devin Nunes’ Lawyer In Unrelated Case
6. YouTube Sends Cease-And-Desist To Facial Recognition Company That Scrapes Social Media Images For Law Enforcement
7. YouTube Emphasizes Its Ban On Birtherism, Deepfakes As 2020 Election Gets Underway
8. YouTube Says It Will Ban Misleading Election-Related Content: On the day of the Iowa caucuses, the video platform rolled out a complete policy of how it planned to handle false election content.
9. Email release reveals chaos sowed by President Trump’s hurricane tweets
10. ‘Fake news’ – the perfect storm: historical perspectives
11. An Artist Used 99 Phones to Fake a Google Maps Traffic Jam: With his “Google Maps Hack,” artist Simon Weckert draws attention to the systems we take for granted—and how we let them shape us.
12. Google Fiber kills TV service, focuses on broadband and YouTube TV
13. Nightmare Google Photos bug sent private videos to the wrong people
14. Nextdoor Post Isn’t Protected by Anti-SLAPP Law–Jeppson v. Ley (Eric Goldman)
15. Can a “Fire” Emoji Support a Manslaughter Conviction?–Johnson v. State (Eric Goldman)
16. Amazon Tells Ukraine Publication To Alter Its Article After It Links The Company To Ring’s Problematic Ukraine Branch
17. Amazon Value Tops $1 Trillion After Results Beat Expectations
18. Amazon reports big earnings, crosses $1 trillion in value
19. What can Amazon do for you?
20. Record labels want to ask potential jurors: Do you read Ars Technica?
21. Microsoft’s failures to renew: Teams, Hotmail, and Hotmail.co.uk
22. Microsoft now sees Amazon and Google as its main gaming threats
23. Lindsey Graham’s Sneak Attack On Section 230 And Encryption: A Backdoor To A Backdoor?
24. The Plot Against Section 230 Is Being Run By Big Legacy Companies Who Failed To Adapt To The Internet
25. Google Search Qualifies For Section 230, Whether or Not It’s a “Platform”–Chukwurah v. Google (Eric Goldman)
26. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act: Protections for Copyright Owners and Online Service Providers
27. RIAA, Stream-Ripping Sites Engaged In Dumb Game Of Whac-A-Mole With Search Engines
28. Dune’s New Logo Started Disappearing From Twitter Due To Copyright Claims, But No One Is Quite Sure Why
29. What is a porn website’s duty to accommodate?
30. New FTC Settlement Targets Fake Ratings and Reviews
31. Cheap rooms? Probably not? Trivago’s top deals are hotels which pay the most
32. How lawyers brought down internet trolls – without ever uncovering their identities
33. How to virtually block a road: Take a walk with 99 phones
34. YouTuber JayStation Concedes He Faked Girlfriend’s Death To Drive Subscriptions
35. YouTube Takes Down Live Stream Over Copyright Claim…Before Stream Even Starts
36. YouTube Shares Insights Into How It Will Deploy $100 Million Kids Content Fund
37. YouTube Millionaires: Meet Steph Pappas, YouTube’s Up-And-Coming Queen Of Mukbang
38. YouTube Finally Reveals Exactly How Much It Makes From Ads: $34.4 Billion In Last 3 Years
39. Alphabet finally reveals YouTube revenue—$15 billion in 2019
40. Alphabet discloses YouTube ad revenues of $15.15 billion, cloud revenues of $8.92 billion for 2019
41. YouTube Finally Reveals Exactly How Much It Makes From Ads: $34.4 Billion In Last 3 Years
42. CBS makes Star Trek: Picard pilot free on YouTube for a limited time
43. Linux Star Trek fans, rejoice: CBS All Access now works in your OS [Updated]
44. ViacomCBS-Owned Pluto TV To Enter Latin American Market Next Month
45. Amid Push To Build Platform, Editor ‘VSCO’ Will Now Let Members Publish Videos
46. Disney’s Licensing Dogs Charge Underserved School District A Third Of Fundraiser Money For Playing ‘Lion King’ DVD
47. Verizon Says Disney+ Deal Helped It Bring In 790K New Wireless Customers Last Quarter
48. Disney expected to announce up to 30 million subs for Disney+
49. Hulu CEO Randy Freer Exits Amid Streamer’s Ongoing Integration Into Disney
50. Netflix Signs 4-Film Deal With Adam Sandler, After Banking 6 Features To Date
51. Sony, Wattpad Unveil First Original Shows In Development After First-Look Deal
52. Insights: Frumpy Hulu Sharpens Its Edge With Reorg, Big Sundance Deals
53. Spotify needed a huge podcast, and it just bought one of the biggest: Why it matters that Spotify bought The Ringer and Bill Simmons’ podcast
54. China’s New Digital Stars Are Construction Vehicles–And They Have 40 Million Viewers
55. Competition Bureau’s Marketing and Advertising Priorities: Influencer Marketing
56. The FDA Is Studying Influencers Who Endorse Healthcare Products
57. Competition Bureau’s Marketing and Advertising Priorities: Influencer Marketing
58. Casey Neistat Invests In $4.5 Million Seed Round For Aperitif Startup ‘Haus’
59. Chipotle Taps David Dobrik, Zach King, Avani Gregg For TikTok Super Bowl Campaign
60. TikTok Testing New Profile Layouts That Look Strikingly Similar To Instagram
61. James Charles To Attend VidCon 2020 For The First Time As A Featured Creator
62. Jake Paul Defeats AnEsonGib In First Round, Setting Stage For KSI Showdown
63. Messenger Kids adds expanded parental controls, details how much kids’ data Facebook collects
64. Instagram Brings In More Than a Quarter of Facebook Sales
65. Instagram Reportedly Clocked $20 Billion In Ad Revs Last Year, Toppling YouTube’s Tally
66. Teens have figured out how to mess with Instagram’s tracking algorithm: Teenagers are using group accounts to flood Instagram with random user data that can’t be tied to a single person.
67. Snapchat launches Bitmoji TV: zany 4-min cartoons of your avatar: Facebook’t can’t copy this one
68. Snapchat hits 218M users but big Q4 losses sink share price
69. Snapchat Triples Video Ad Earnings And Snags 8 Million New Users, But Misses Q4 Revenue Target
70. Here are the 62 brand-new emoji for 2020
71. OneWeb joins the satellite Internet gold rush this week
72. Tracking the future of remote workplaces: Apps, communication, and liability
73. Social AR/VR Workspace ‘Spatial’ Secures $14M Series A Financing
74. Maryland State Senate’s Budget and Taxation Committee Hears Testimony on Proposed Digital Advertising Tax
75. “Of Ransoms, Bitcoin, and Injunctions”: English High Court grants subrogee insurer proprietary injunction over ransomed Bitcoin
76. SaaS, cashless and convergence drive tech to the top
77. “OK, Boomer”: From Social Media to the Supreme Court
78. Internet Law and Regulation

A.I.

1. Patent law’s approach to AI: finding the way forward
2. Could Star Trek’s DATA Be a Patent Inventor?
3. UK Intellectual Property Office finds that patent law does not cater for inventions created by AI machines and calls for debate
4. Patenting Considerations for Artificial Intelligence in Biotech and Synthetic Biology – Part 2: Key Issues in Patent Subject Matter Eligibility
5. Someone used neural networks to upscale a famous 1896 video to 4k quality (Updated)
6. Modl.ai closes $1.7m seed funding round: Startup uses AI-driven player archetypes to drastically reduce playtest times
7. Machine behaviour
8. Oyez! Robot
9. Closing the AI accountability gap: defining an end-to-end framework for internal algorithmic auditing
10. Transhumanism, Moral Perfection, and Those 76 Trombones (Tom Koch)

COMMUNICATIONS

1.  The CRTC Knows Best: Panel Report Recommends Costly Overhaul of Canadian Communications Law to Regulate Internet Sites and Services Worldwide (Michael Geist)
2. Not Neutral: Why the Broadcast Panel Report Weakens Net Neutrality in Canada (Michael Geist)
3. Broadcasting report constitutes a stunning overreach
4. Jonathan Kay: The federal government’s unsettling communications power grab – No one should trust any agency of government to regulate speech. I’m no fan of the Rebel. But free countries don’t ban book sales. Ever.
5. No Netflix Tax? (Sort Of…): The Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel Releases Its Final Report
6. Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel Releases its Final Report to the Federal Government
7. Broadcaster to Pay $50,000 for Failing to Announce That “Live” Program Was Prerecorded
8. 1 Year Later, FCC Finally Admits Wireless Carriers Broke The Law On Location Data
9. FCC accuses carriers of being “gateways” for foreign robocallers
10. Sinclair Pays Tribune $60 Million To Settle Lawsuit Over Dodgy Merger
11. Did You Know that There is a Rule that Broadcasters Have to Tell Their Audience that a Program Is Recorded When It Seems to Be Live? – FCC Sends a $50,000 Reminder
12. AT&T is doing exactly what it told Congress it wouldn’t do with Time Warner
13. AT&T’s Attempt To Dominate The Pay TV Sector Continues To Go…Poorly
14. AT&T Keeps On Firing Employees Despite Claims The Trump Tax Cut Would Boost Job Growth
15. AT&T slashed billions from network spending, cut tens of thousands of jobs
16. AT&T, Comcast Dramatically Cut Network Spending Despite Net Neutrality Repeal
17. FCC proposes to fine racist troll $13 million for robocalling spree
18. Quick Thoughts on a Few Political Broadcasting Legal Issues to Survive the Primary Season
19. The United States vs. Robocalls
20. Federal robocall watchdogs flex enforcement muscles
21. Eleventh Cir. Rejects Broad Reading of “Autodialer”
22. FCC Makes Permanent At-Home Call Handling by Sign Language Interpreters for VRS
23. Ajit Pai’s “surprise” change makes it harder to get FCC broadband funding
24. Ajit Pai: Carrier sales of phone-location data is illegal, FCC plans punishment
25. Smaller Cable Companies Are Giving Up On Cable TV Altogether
26. DoD’s Squeeze of Chinese Telecom Equipment Continues
27. The electronic communications code: a new year, a new approach?
28. The end of BlackBerry phones: TCL will cease sales in August 2020
29. Telecom pioneer and convicted fraudster Bernard Ebbers has died

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Conservative MP Dan Albas on Copyright Term Extension in USMCA: Government Needs to Mitigate Damage to Copyright Law (Michael Geist)
2. Woman Threatens Rep. Steve King With A Lawsuit For Using A 12-Year-Old Meme On His Facebook Page
3. Success kid’s mom won’t stand for Steve King’s “meme” ad: Laney Griner, mother behind the meme, sent cease-and-desist to the Iowa congressman.
4. The EPO’s fourth law of robotics: a robot must not be the inventor of a patent
5. EPO publishes reasons for rejecting AI as inventor on patent application
6. Can your AI machine be an inventor? The EPO says no….
7. Caltech wins $1.1 billion patent award against Apple and Broadcom
8. Patent Re-examination in Canada: Court Takes Truck Argument Off the Road
9. Seedlings Clarifies Key Patent Litigation Issues
10. Federal Circuit Alters Landscape for Design Patent Litigation
11. Kendall and Kylie Jenner “Klauber-ed” for Allegedly Infringing Lace Designs
12. Blockchain and intellectual property – the de-centralised alliance
13. Creative Interpretations of a Creative Commons License
14. Do you want to build a snowman? No, but I’d like to protect one! IP for animated characters.
15. BMI Settlement of Royalty Battle with RMLC to Include Music in Podcasts? – Not So Fast….
16. Schrödinger’s Shades of Grey: the CJEU’s landmark paroxetine ruling – antitrust market definition and patent settlement agreements
17. The United Kingdom will not implement the European Union Copyright Directive
18. Will rejecting the EU’s new copyright directive #savetheinternet?
19. It’s That Time Of Year: No, The NFL Can’t Stop Every Business From Using ‘Super Bowl’ In Every Instance
20. Update to Trademark Practice in Canada
21. How the New U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Deal (Mostly) Expands Intellectual Property Protections
22. Brexit: Implications for IP
23. Brexit & IP – status quo for the transition period; changes to come post-transition
24. Brexit is a Done Deal: What Are the Implications for Your IP?
25. Cofemel’s first UK outing – The wooly world of copyright and designs
26. Risk of Electronic Device Search For Patent Attorneys and Inventors Crossing the US-Canada Border with Confidential Information
27. File When Ready! Criteria for Determining if an Invention Should Be Patented
28. Fifth Circuit Holds that Mitigation is Not an Absolute Defense to Statutory Damages for Copyright Infringement and DMCA Violations
29. Ninth Circuit Affirms $3.9 Million Attorney’s Fees Award in Ultraman Copyright Dispute
30. Competition between generics and originators – what’s the relevance of a patent? (Part II)
31. Intellectual Property Outlook: Cases and Trends to Follow in 2020 – Part 2 

PRIVACY

1. Facebook Agrees to Landmark 550 Million Dollar Settlement in BIPA Class Action
2. Ring LLC Faces a Proposed Class Action Alleging Camera Doorbells Should Incorporate Enhanced Cybersecurity Features
3. Amazon Ring now lets users opt out of receiving police video requests
4. Ring Updates Privacy Dashboard Again, Allows Users To Preemptively Block All Law Enforcement Requests For Footage
5. Facial Recognition Developer Told Cops To Test Out The Software By Running Searches On Friends And Family
6. Avast shutters data-selling subsidiary amid user outrage
7. YouTube demands Clearview AI stop scraping its videos for facial recognition database
8. Lawsuit Says Clearview’s Facial Recognition App Violates Illinois Privacy Laws
9. NJ AG Bans Clearview AI – Preventing a Chain of Privacy Violations or Interfering with Clearview’s Intellectual Property?
10. Facebook Pays $550 Million Settlement In Illinois Facial Recognition Lawsuit, Which Could Pose Problems For Clearview
11. New ransomware doesn’t just encrypt data. It also meddles with critical infrastructure
12. Flaws in WhatsApp’s desktop app allowed remote access to files
13. Court Order Shows DEA Demanding Tons Of Data From WhatsApp And Bunch Of Other Service Providers
14. ‘Wake-up call’: Iowa caucus disinformation serves as warning about 2020 election – On Monday night, it didn’t take foreign interference to highlight the persistent vulnerabilities that Russia exploited in 2016.
15. Who Needs the Russians?: Don’t blame shadowy foreign hackers for the chaos in Iowa. Blame Shadow’s caucus app. (Zeynep Tufekci)
16. “Untagging” From Photo Privacy Lawsuit: Facebook Settles Its Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Litigation For $550 Million
17. Big News in Biometrics – Supreme Court Declines to Weigh in on What Plaintiffs Must Show to Bring Biometric Privacy Suit
18. Cyber Criminals Using Coronavirus Concern to Assist with Intrusions
19. If You Give a User a Cookie (Notice)
20. A Comprehensive Review of the new Washington Privacy Act
21. Cambridge, Massachusetts Passes Ban On Facial Recognition Tech Use By Government Agencies
22. London Police Move Forward With Full-Time Deployment Of Facial Recognition Tech That Can’t Accurately Recognize Faces
23. Criminal Charges Finally Dropped Against Security Researchers Who Broke Into An Iowa Courthouse
24. Why we don’t know as much as we should about police surveillance technology: Despite a growing number of high-tech tools, law enforcement agencies don’t seem to want to disclose what they’re using.
25. Should Your Antivirus Software Be Spying On You?
26. Dear Ashley Madison user, I know everything about you. Pay up or else
27. Britain Cracks Down on Child Data Privacy
28. Blurred Lines: Navigating The Modern Day Data Privacy And Security Labyrinth
29. The fractured future of browser privacy
30. More than 200 browser extensions ejected from Firefox and Chrome stores

CREATIVITY   

1. Prince Harry loses IPSO complaint against Mail on Sunday over criticism of his Instagram wildlife photography
2. Bachelor Contestants Embroiled in Fantasy Sports Law Controversy
3. The Guardian to Ban Advertising for Fossil Fuels
4. What we learned from studying makerspaces – implications for policy

Jon