News of the Week; December 9, 2020

By Jon Festinger on December 14, 2020

GAMES

  1. Activision lawsuit accuses Netflix of poaching CFO 
  2. Activision sues Netflix for poaching former CFO: Suit alleges Netflix incited Spencer Neumann to break his contract to become CFO of Netflix
  3. Consumer rights groups launch joint investigation into Nintendo Switch Joy-Con drift
  4. Nintendo Plays ‘Control Inception’, Cancelling Splatoon Broadcast After Teams Protest Canceling Smash Bros. Tourney
  5. Ubisoft names VP of global diversity and inclusion to improve workplace culture
  6. Bale and Ibrahimovic’s responses to FIFA 21 echoes the complications of sports person’s image rights
  7. Cyberpunk 2077 features epileptic triggers
  8. Cyberpunk 2077 under fire for epileptic triggers
  9. Cyberpunk 2077 could trigger seizures in photosensitive players
  10. CD Projekt adding seizure warning to Cyberpunk after reporter finds multiple triggers
  11. Cyberpunk 2077 is equal parts beautiful and messy
  12. Highlights from the Foreign Investment Review Committee’s Town Hall with the Investment Review Division and Cultural Sector Investment Review
  13. Newsflash: Update on Epic Games’ dispute with Apple
  14. Epic Games is ditching in-person Fortnite events in 2021
  15. Twitch harassment policy update aims to focus less on intent, more on impact
  16. Twitch revises hateful conduct and harassment policy
  17. Twitch Institutes Sweeping Changes To ‘Harassment And Hateful Conduct’ Policies, Beginning Jan. 22
  18. Twitch removes ‘blind playthrough’ tag after feedback over ableist language
  19. BioWare studio GM and Dragon Age lead are both leaving company
  20. GM Casey Hudson, Dragon Age executive producer Mark Darrah depart BioWare
  21. Next-gen consoles helped raise GameStop’s November store sales by 16.5%
  22. GameStop has closed 462 stores so far this year, 783 in last two years
  23. Did Genshin Impact swipe an opportunity from under Nintendo’s nose? | Opinion
  24. Small developers and creators can now use FMOD Studio for free
  25. Modio raises $4 million to grow its cross-platform modding service
  26. Destiny 2 will open up cross-platform play in 2021
  27. Platform share, platform share, platform share!
  28. SIE head pushes back against claims that PlayStation is deprioritizing Japan
  29. How Young Horses leveraged PS5’s unique features in Bugsnax
  30. Xbox to expand cloud gaming beta to iOS and PC in 2021
  31. Xbox cloud gaming service hits iOS, Windows PCs in spring 2021
  32. Xbox Game Pass cloud streaming arrives for iOS, PC next spring
  33. Stadia expands to 8 more European countries
  34. Analyst: Research reveals 4 in 5 consumers don’t know what cloud gaming can offer
  35. Facebook launches Black Gaming Creator Program
  36. Ubisoft appoints former Uber D&I head as VP of global diversity and inclusion
  37. 72% of all 2020 mobile revenue generated by games at $81bn
  38. Digital Black Friday sales jump almost 50% over 2019 l UK Download Charts
  39. Honor of Kings once again tops mobile game spending charts in November
  40. World of Warcraft: Shadowlands sells 3.7 million copies in 24 hours
  41. Call of Duty has brought in $3 billion in past year
  42. Call of Duty made $3 billion for Activision in 12 months
  43. Fashion x Gaming: Fashion Catches the Gaming Bug
  44. Lumikai invests $1m in Bombay Play
  45. MTG acquires Hutch for an expected $375 million
  46. MTG acquires UK mobile studio Hutch Games for initial $275 million
  47. Kalypso Media fully acquires Realmforge Studios
  48. MyGames grabs minority stakes in three mobile studios
  49. Control has sold more than 2m units
  50. Aglet raises $4.5m for location-based sneaker game
  51. Tencent invests in Wizard Games
  52. ZeniMax Online Studios forms new satellite studio in San Diego
  53. Gfinity acquires Epicstream as it seeks growth amid financial troubles
  54. Starbreeze has paid off most of its creditors
  55. Payday maker Starbreeze settles debts with majority of creditors
  56. A word from a Destiny 2 acolyte | Why I Love
  57. A look back at the storied history of action RPG Torchlight
  58. Metal Gear Solid film reportedly will star Oscar Isaac
  59. FIFA 21 holds No.1 during Cyber Monday sales week | UK Boxed Charts
  60. Halo Infinite delayed to Fall of 2021
  61. Halo Infinite gets new fall 2021 release date
  62. Minecraft tops YouTube’s list of most watched games of 2020
  63. Not all Steam wishlists are created equal: GameDiscoverCo’s Simon Carless explores why developers are seeing wildly different conversion rates of wishlists after launch
  64. Manticore bolsters Core platform with ‘creator-friendly’ Perks monetization
  65. Manticore announces a 50% revenue share for users of its Core game creation platform
  66. Facebook Launches ‘Black Gaming Creator Program’ With Monthly Pay, Other Perks
  67. More Than 350 Gaming Creators Hit 10 Million Subscribers In 2020, YouTube Says
  68. Wendy’s Teams With Tfue, Myth, Flight23white, itsHafu, And xChocoBars For ‘Never Stop Gaming’ Menu
  69. Epic won’t hold in-person Fortnite events in 2021
  70. FaZe Clan Launches ‘FaZe Academy’ Talent Incubator, Through Which All Future Recruits Must Pass
  71. FTC Sues Facebook Over Alleged Monopolization – What it Could Mean for Oculus
  72. Wacom Unveils VR Pen Built for “the next creative future”
  73. A deep dive into the making of King of Cards’ Joustus mini-game
  74. Case study: making Core Defense a solo dev success
  75. Blog: Six mistakes that’ll drain the ‘Juice’ out of your game
  76. Blog: Understanding pain points in game design
  77. Blog: Using luck to your advantage in marketing
  78. Blog: Building a mono profiler for Unity
  79. Video: The cost of doing nothing about trolls
  80. Video: The efficient art direction of Tooth and Tail
  81. Best of 2020: How a new wave of developers are using voxels to create jaw-dropping worlds
  82. Best of 2020: Iran video games timeline – from 1970 to 2019
  83. Best of 2020: Leveraging physical animation to sell Force powers in Jedi: Fallen Order
  84. Best of 2020: How deeply personal RPG The Wagadu Chronicles explores new realms of Afrofantasy

DIGITAL

  1. The FTC, 48 Attorneys General File Antitrust Lawsuits Against Facebook
  2. FTC, 47 states file suits to break up Instagram and WhatsApp from Facebook
  3. Feds say Facebook broke US law offering permanent jobs to H-1B workers
  4. Open Season: FTC & 48 Attorneys General File Separate Antitrust Lawsuits Against Facebook
  5. The tech industry needs regulation for its systemically important companies
  6. Trump Doubles Down On Threat To Defund Military Because People Are Mean To Him Online; Republicans Threaten To Override His Veto
  7. Trump Makes It Official: He’s Going To Pull Military Funding, Because Congress Won’t Kill The Open Internet
  8. Senator Tillis Is Mad That Twitter Won’t Testify About Copyright Infringement; Since When Is Twitter A Piracy Problem?
  9. Dead Celebrities and Digital Doppelgangers: New York Expands Its Right of Publicity Statute and Tackles Sexually Explicit Deepfakes
  10. Rebekah Vardy v Coleen Rooney: What next in the war of the WAGs?
  11. Court Again Enjoins Anti-TikTok Executive Order–TikTok v. US (Eric Goldman)
  12. Google parts with top AI researcher after blocking paper, faces blowback
  13. Google illegally spied on and retaliated against workers, feds say
  14. YouTube bans videos claiming Trump won
  15. Google and YouTube Aren’t “Censoring” Breitbart Comments–Belknap v. Alphabet (Eric Goldman)
  16. It’s Meshugenah to Operate a Streaming Mixtape Site–Atlantic v. Spinrilla (Eric Goldman)
  17. Section 230 Protects Amazon from Manufacturer’s Ad Copy–Brodie v. Amazon (Eric Goldman)
  18. CRM Software Vendor Didn’t Qualify for Section 230–Tan v. Konnektive (Eric Goldman)
  19. Biden’s Top Tech Advisor Trots Out Dangerous Ideas For ‘Reforming’ Section 230
  20. Content Moderation Case Study: Google’s Photo App Tags Photos Of Black People As ‘Gorillas’ (2015)
  21. Content Moderation Case Study: Scammers Targeting Scrabble Chat (2020)
  22. Reform The DMCA? OK, But Only If It’s Done Really, Really Carefully
  23. Pornhub under investigation by Visa, MasterCard amid abuse allegations
  24. Pornhub blocks uploads and downloads in crackdown on child-sexual-abuse videos
  25. Social media bet on labels to combat election misinformation. Trump proved it’s not enough
  26. Tackling misinformation: What researchers could do with social media data
  27. Toward a Digital Economy That’s Truly Collaborative, Not Exploitative
  28. 2021 predictions: increased regulation of online platforms
  29. Debate: Is open scholarship even possible with Zoom?
  30. After years of fighting it, Nest will work with Samsung’s SmartThings
  31. Amazon Sues Social Media Influencers for Promoting Counterfeit Goods
  32. Amazon and U.S. IPR Center announce “Operation Fulfilled Action”
  33. YouTube Finally Bans Content Endorsing Election Conspiracies
  34. YouTube Will Now Support ‘High Dynamic Range’ Video Quality For Live Streams
  35. YouTube Wants To Use Creators’ Data To See If Its Algorithms Target Marginalized People
  36. Influencer marketing Q&A
  37. Logan Paul Will Fight Floyd Mayweather In An Exhibition Match On February 20
  38. Juanpa Zurita, Kyle Exum, NikkieTutorials, More To Bestow First-Ever ‘Streamys Creator Honors’
  39. Charli D’Amelio Invests In Teen-Targeted Banking Startup ‘Step,’ Which Just Raised $50 Million
  40. How Much More Money Do Creators Make During the Holidays?
  41. Loren Gray, TikTok’s Fourth Biggest Creator, Debuts ‘&Always’ Jewelry Brand
  42. For Its Latest Drop, Startup ‘Stir’ Blindly Paired Creators To Collab On Custom Face Masks
  43. Brands Taking Stands: Six Non-Negotiable Tenets For 2021
  44. Where Netflix goes, the world follows – BBFC suggests that all streaming sites should introduce age-ratings in the UK
  45. AT&T, HBO Put Another Bullet In Antiquated Theatrical Release Windows
  46. Warner Bros. will release entire 2021 film slate in theaters and on HBO Max
  47. Georgia Court Streams Ridiculous ‘Kraken’ Lawsuit Hearing On YouTube; Then Tells People They Can’t Repost Recordings
  48. Federal Court System Pushes Back Against Free Access To Court Documents
  49. Trial by Webex, but Not Zoom?
  50. In narrow ruling, law firm escapes liability for not thwarting real estate cyber-scam
  51. B.C. Technology Sector Makes the Grade – But Not Yet Top of the Class
  52. Apple’s new AirPods Max over-ear headphones cost $549
  53. Apple’s Failure To Ensure Backwards Compatibility In Big Sur Leaves Developers Quite Sour
  54. Enrollment opens for Apple’s fee-reducing Small Business Program
  55. Google promises “spectacular” city GPS improvement with 3D building data
  56. New RISC-V CPU claims recordbreaking performance per watt
  57. Quantum device performs 2.6 billion years of computation in 4 minutes
  58. Google’s secretive Fuchsia OS is open for contributions
  59. Lidar startup goes public, makes founder a billionaire
  60. “A damn stupid thing to do”—the origins of C
  61. Grand theft GPU: $340,000 worth of RTX 3090s “fell off a truck” in China

A.I.

  1. Is Canada on the Brink of AI and Diagnostics Patent Rush?
  2. Use of patents in artificial intelligence: What does the new CIPO report say?
  3. Intellectual property rights to AI works: The EP proposal
  4. Artificial Intelligence and Creativity: Why We’re Against Copyright Protection for AI-Generated Output (Creative Commons)
  5. New York Schools Putting Students In The Crosshairs Of Tech That Targets Minorities, Thinks Broom Handles Are Guns
  6. Executive Order 13960 Establishes Government-wide Principles for its Use of AI
  7. AI Update: New Executive Order on Promoting the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Federal Agencies Pushes Developing Public Trust for Future Expansion
  8. Shining a Headlight on AI Blindspots
  9. Guidance on artificial intelligence and data protection
  10. This Arizona college student has taken over 60 driverless Waymo rides
  11. Uber abandons dreams of self-driving domination, sells self-driving unit
  12. The A.I. behind unique ‘interactive reality TV’ game Rival Peak
  13. Looking ahead to 2021: AI – A brave new world?

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day 11: The “Regulate Everything” Approach – Licence or Registration Required (Michael Geist)
  2. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day 12: The “Regulate Everything” Approach – The CRTC Conditions (Michael Geist)
  3. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day 13: The “Regulate Everything” Approach – Targeting Individual Services (Michael Geist)
  4. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day 14: The Risk to Canadian Ownership of Intellectual Property (Michael Geist)
  5. Broadcast Reform Bill Could Spell the End of Canadian Ownership Requirements (Michael Geist)
  6. The Trump FCC Has Failed To Protect Low-Income Americans During A Health Crisis
  7. GOP Confirms Unqualified Simington to FCC With Eye On Crippling Biden FCC
  8. GOP clinches 2-2 deadlock for Biden FCC as Senate approves Trump nominee
  9. With Simington Vote, The GOP And Big Telecom Maneuver To Cripple The Biden FCC
  10. McConnell pushes Trump nominee toward vote that would deadlock Biden FCC
  11. A New White House, a New FCC
  12. $125,000 FCC Penalty to Broadcaster for Tower Structure and Contest Rule Violations – Including Violation of Rule Against Broadcasting Seemingly Live Recorded Programming Without Informing Listeners
  13. FCC Starts Rulemaking on Possible Adoption of GeoBroadcast Solutions Zonecasting Proposal to Allow FM Boosters to Originate Limited Amounts of Programming
  14. FCC Terminates Proceeding to Dedicate TV Channel in Each Market to Unlicensed Wireless Use
  15. FCC acts on blocking one-ring scam calls
  16. SpaceX gets $886 million from FCC to subsidize Starlink in 35 states
  17. The FCC, 2.5 GHz Spectrum, And The Tribal Priority Window: Something Positive Amid The COVID-19 Pandemic
  18. Facing Massive Subscriber Defections AT&T Chooses: Rate Hikes & New, Bogus Fees
  19. Somehow, 5G Paranoia Is Only Getting Dumber
  20. Largest Auction for 5G Spectrum Starts Today! 
  21. What’s New in 5G – December 2020
  22. U.S. Broadband Speeds Jumped 90% in 2020. But No, It Had Nothing To Do With Killing Net Neutrality.
  23. Benton Study Again Shows How ‘Open Access’ Broadband Networks Can Drive Competition, Improve Service
  24. Colorado’s Broadband Internet Doesn’t Have to Be Rocky
  25. Insurer Can’t Mute TV Station’s Recovery for $25 Million Malpractice Claim
  26. Verizon has been leaking customers’ personal information for days (at least)
  27. Samsung finally starts its Android 11 rollout, three months after release 
  28. UK Government proposes laws to implement Huawei equipment ban and stricter telecommunications security controls
  29. A good day for UltraHD: HBO Max, The Lord of the Rings will stream in 4K HDR

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Linking and Copyright Law in the European Union – Where do we go from here?
  2. Another Court Says Embedding Instagram Photos May Be Fair Use–Boesen v. United Sports (Eric Goldman)
  3. 576 German Artists Want EU Copyright Directive Made Worse, With No Exceptions For Memes Or Mashups
  4. Nancy Pelosi Sells Out The Public: Agrees To Put Massive Copyright Reform In ‘Must Pass’ Spending Bill
  5. ACLU Tells Congress: Do Not Add Copyright Trolling Bill To Government Funding Bill
  6. Legendary MC5 Guitarist Wayne Kramer Doesn’t Like the Smell of Proctor & Gamble’s “Guitar Solo” Body Wash 
  7. Taking down copycat websites and defending against cybersquatting
  8. GSK v Teva – The Federal Circuit’s First Look at Skinny Labels and 35 U.S.C. 271(b)
  9. Deus ex Machina Motorcycles Pty. Ltd. v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (Cal., 10.23.20): Dismissal of trademark claims of Australian motorcycle brand against MGM for use of mark in The Sun Is Also a Star.
  10. The Bentley Clothing and Bentley Motors trade mark dispute: Take 2
  11. Can a Company Own ‘Enby’? Sex Toy Company Sues Black/Trans-Owned Company for Trademark Infringement 
  12. “Too many cooks… ‘Fit Kitchen’ trade mark infringed”
  13. “Naked” at the Federal Circuit 
  14. General Liability Insurer Must Defend Trademark and Other IP Claims 
  15. Tips When Using the Madrid Protocol to Register a Trademark in Canada
  16. Global brand expansion: Why Canadian trademark owners should consider whether international registration is right for them
  17. First Circuit Reversal Highlights Importance of Satisfying Trade Secret Definition
  18. Protecting trade secrets in the era of remote working 
  19. Patent Term Extension in Canada: an Overview of Certificates of Supplemental Protection
  20. 2020: A year of clarity for Canadian life sciences and software patents
  21. Canadian Intellectual Property Office issues new guidelines for reviewing patent applications
  22. Federal Court of Appeal clarifies standard for granting leave in NOC cases
  23. Employment Law and Patent Law Collide: Federal Circuit Rules that California’s Non-Compete Restrictions Also Limit the Scope of Patent and Invention Assignment Clauses
  24. Patent-Eligible Subject Matter in Biotech Should Recite More Than a “Telescope”
  25. Deciding Whether Your Software Is Patentable
  26. The UK Retains the Doctrine of Exhaustion of IP Rights After the Transition Period
  27. IP Litigation Quarterly Update: Q3 2020

PRIVACY

  1. A year featuring a flurry of Canadian privacy legislative reform
  2. CPPA: identifying the inscrutable meaning and policy behind the de-identifying provisions
  3. Long-awaited privacy reform welcomed by lawyers, could help bring national consistency
  4. ICE Sends Subpoena To BuzzFeed, Hoping To Force It To Turn Over Its Sources
  5. Patriot Act Used By The FBI To Collect Internet Browsing Data, Contradicting Claims Made To Oversight
  6. Florida State Police Raid Home Of COVID Whistleblower, Point Guns At Her & Her Family, Seize All Her Computer Equipment
  7. Nation-state backed hackers going after COVID vaccine supply chain
  8. COVID-19 vaccine data has been unlawfully accessed in hack of EU regulator
  9. Premiere security firm FireEye says it was breached by nation-state hackers
  10. NSA says Russian state hackers are using a VMware flaw to ransack networks
  11. Feds logged website visitors in 2019, citing Patriot Act authority
  12. Massachusetts Poised To Become The Next State To (Temporarily) Ban Facial Recognition Tech
  13. Federal Court Says Sanctions Are On The Way For Portland PD Over Violations Of Protest Restraining Orders
  14. CBP’s warrantless use of cell phone location data is under investigation
  15. After Being Notified Of Info It Should Have Already Been Aware Of, LAPD Bans Clearview Use By Investigators
  16. Provision Added To Defense Bill That Would Make Federal Officers Policing Protests Identify Themselves
  17. Cloudflare, Apple, and others back a new way to make the Internet more private
  18. New Privacy Requirements for App Developers Using the Apple App Store
  19. Settlement with App Developers Requires Limits on Collection and Use of Children’s Personal Information
  20. Zoom’s FTC Settlement a Good Guidepost to Avoiding Data Security Missteps
  21. FireEye cybersecurity tools compromised in state-sponsored attack
  22. Is an IP address considered personal information?
  23. Cyberattacks Discovered on Vaccine Distribution Operations
  24. German Court Orders Encrypted Email Service Tutanota To Backdoor One Account
  25. Lack of Standing: The Gift That Keeps on Giving for Defendants in Data Privacy Litigation
  26. FTC “Zooms” Into Settlement Agreement with Communications Company Over Concerns with its Security Practices
  27. Home Depot Enters Into Multistate $17.4 Million Settlement With State AGs Concerning Data Breach
  28. Satellite company to pay over $200 million for telemarketing violations
  29. International Data Transfers Post Schrems II: A Dance of Six Steps
  30. Are law firms considered “processors” or “controllers” of the personal data that they collect from third parties as part of a representation of a client? 
  31. Are barristers and solicitors “separate controllers” or “joint controllers?”
  32. Solutionism, Surveillance, Borders and Infrastructures in the “Datafied Pandemic” 
  33. Privacy in 2021: The Big Picture

Jon

Read More | No Comments



Creative Commons License