News of the Week; February 8, 2017

By Jon Festinger on February 12, 2017

GAMES

  1. Oculus lawsuit ends with half billion dollar judgment awarded to ZeniMax: Luckey pays $50M, Iribe pays $150M
  2. Verdict Analysis: Why the Jury Awarded ZeniMax $500 Million in Oculus Lawsuit
  3. Zenimax vs. Oculus: Carmack denies allegations, slams expert analysis
  4. John Carmack refutes “misdirection” of ZeniMax lawyers: The Oculus chief technology officer has taken to Facebook to complain about the $500 million verdict
  5. Doom co-creator defends his code against ZeniMax copying accusations: During expert testimony, Oculus CTO John Carmack “just wanted to shout ‘You lie!'”
  6. Exactly how and why Zenimax was awarded $500M in lawsuit against Oculus
  7. Facebook CEO Asks for Investor Patience on VR, ‘it’s not going to be really profitable for us for quite a while’
  8. How Is ‘Non-Literally Copying’ Code Still Copyright Infringement?
  9. Full Disclosure on Non Disclosure Agreements
  10. Lots of Best Buys are losing their Oculus demo stations due to low demand
  11. YouTuber behind FIFA gambling site avoids jail time: Craig “Nepenthez” Douglas and Dylan Rigby plead guilty, are ordered to pay a total of £265,000 in prosecution costs and fines
  12. YouTubers fined for running illegal FIFA 17 gambling site: Allowed kids as young as 12 to gamble on games of FIFA 17.
  13. YouTubers switch to guilty plea in FIFA 17 online gambling case
  14. Regulatory Risks of In-Game and In-App Virtual Currency
  15. Blizzard greenlights World of Warcraft gold being spent in its other games
  16. World of Warcraft gold can now be used to buy other Blizzard items: In-game gold pieces are now worth a fraction of a penny across Battle.net.
  17. Game over for PS3 Linux settlement—judge concerned gamers won’t get paid: Judge has no “confidence” that the deal “fairly, adequately compensates” console owners.
  18. Court Tosses Lawsuit Brought By Brother And Sister Against Take-Two Interactive Over NBA2K Face Scans
  19. Biometrics, Gaming & Privacy Laws: Facial scanning features can help put players in the game, but they can also put game makers in court if they aren’t implemented carefully
  20. Milwaukee County requires parks permit for Pokémon Go: Rubbish dropped by players leaves Niantic liable
  21. Making an AR game? You’ll need a permit to include some county parks
  22. Cloud Bottlenecks: How Pokémon Go (and other game dev teams) caught them all – Lesson – “Something that works with two million users doesn’t always work with 10 million.”
  23. EA Sports Partners With ESPN For FIFA Broadcasts
  24. EA Sports Increases E-Sports Exposure By Partnering With ESPN, NFL Media, Univision
  25. Esports Players As Employees: What European Teams And Players Need To Know: There’s lots of talk of players being ‘employees’ or ‘contractors’, accelerated by big moves planned by Riot, but what does that actually mean for players, teams and beyond?  (Jas Purwal, Pete Lewin)
  26. Valve under investigation by EU Commission over geo-blocking concerns
  27. Valve under investigation by European Commission for Steam geo-blocking: Bandai Namco, Capcom, Focus Home Interactive, Koch Media and ZeniMax also named in antitrust investigation
  28. Valve is still frustrated with console game development: But many of the Steam maker’s console complaints seem outdated.
  29. GameStop employees report harmful ‘Circle of Life’ policies: GameStop CEO responds to accusations of staff pressured into misleading customers – “nothing could be further from the truth”
  30. Denuvo forgets to secure server, leaks years of messages from game makers: Massive log file includes user complaints, apparently legitimate developer requests.
  31. Risky Nintendo spooks the markets
  32. Cash, random chance almost ruin Nintendo’s first smartphone Fire Emblem
  33. Physical game releases on the rise following 5 year decline
  34. Crowdfunding for video games was way down in 2016
  35. Mad Catz investors pour water on strategy to avoid delisting: Rock Band 4’s legacy looms large as shareholders question the company’s financial stability
  36. The Light ahead: PlayStation’s UK boss on why PS4 hasn’t peaked
  37. Sony’s games division in good health thanks to strong PS4 sales
  38. Sony’s Q3 game profits up 24% on strong Network sales: Combined PS4 and PS4 Pro sales reached 9.7 million, division revenue topped $5 billion
  39. Analysis: PS4 Pro’s “Boost Mode” bumps frame rates up to 38 percent
  40. Take-Two pushes sales up, misses bottom line guidance: Mafia III, Civilization VI, NBA 2K17, GTA V continue selling as publisher’s first VR efforts justify CEO Zelnick’s previous skepticism
  41. Warner Bros. sees full-year game sales dip: Publisher blames decline on tough comparison against 2015 hits Mortal Kombat X and Batman: Arkham Knight
  42. Starbreeze invests $8 million in Double Fine’s Psychonauts 2: Swedish publisher will take 85% of revenue until investment is recouped, and 60% thereafter
  43. Facts and Trends You Want to Know About China Game Market 2016 to 2017 
  44. Blizzard and Harmonix joins studios opposing Trump immigration ban: Executive order drawing more criticism; Devolver Digital offers to show games for devs who can’t make it to GDC
  45. Tech and gaming giants challenge Trump’s immigration order: Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, among 97 companies filing amicus brief over recent ban, say new rules already hurting US businesses
  46. Unity puts money where its mouth is in fight against Trump immigration ban
  47. Unity takes stand against Trumpian immigration ban: Flying affected devs to Amsterdam Unite for free and matching charitable donations
  48. The Travel Ban and Your Studio: What You Can and Can’t Do to Protect Your Employees
  49. Copyright Protection in Virtual Reality
  50. Releasing your first game at 12 years old: We speak to Donovan Brathwaite-Romero about the making of his first hit Gunman Taco Truck and living up to the family legacy
  51. You need a lawyer even if you are the most “indie” game developer ever

DIGITAL

  1. Breitbart loses advertising deals with 818 companies due to grassroots campaign
  2. Alt-Right Website, Breitbart, Loses Over 800 Advertisers For Offensive Content
  3. Playpen moderator sentenced to 20 years in prison
  4. The art of the troll: New tool reveals egg users’—and Trump’s—posting patterns: When an account makes 500 posts a day, that’s a sure sign that there’s something amiss.
  5. Ahead Of France’s Elections, Facebook Tries To Stop Fake News: With a new filter, it’s working with French media companies to fact check stories
  6. Want to post a discriminatory ad? Facebook may try to stop you automatically: Follows November outcry over targeted FB ads’ possible violations of Fair Housing Act.
  7. “Fake news is bad, but the ministry of truth is even worse”: Europe Considers Regulation for the Post-Truth Era
  8. Refugee who took selfie with German chancellor has had enough of “fake news”: Anas Modamani says Facebook should do more to stop misuse of his image.
  9. ‘Fake news’ highlights much bigger problems at play
  10. Judge rules against DOJ in Amazon, Expedia case against Trump travel ban – Washington AG: “No one is above the law—not even the president.”
  11. Apple, Google, and 95 other tech firms join forces to fight Trump travel ban: Companies say executive order is “overbroad…lacks any basis in precedent.”
  12. Basically The Entire Tech Industry Signs Onto A Legal Brief Opposing Trump’s Exec Order
  13. BT backs Google in EU’s Android antitrust spat: “We welcome Google’s anti-fragmentation initiatives,” says BT in snub to Brussels.
  14. How Iranian authorities have been fighting the ‘Soft War’ online
  15. Netflix abroad set for showtime after EU strikes a “portability” deal: But Brexit Brits’ beach-based boxset binges could be short-lived.
  16. Pirate Party’s Pirate Site Was Legal Under EU Law, Court Rules: Six years ago the Czech branch of the Pirate Party declared open war on a local anti-piracy outfit, opening several ‘pirate’ sites to draw fire from copyright holders. But, after being prosecuted in a criminal court last year, the matter has now been dropped after it was deemed the Pirates acted in accordance with a recent landmark EU ruling.
  17. Amazon Defeats Lawsuit Over Its Keyword Ad Purchases–Lasoff v. Amazon (Eric Goldman)
  18. Patent troll sues Netflix over offline downloads: Patent for “CD-Rs by mail” service—perhaps inspired by old-school Netflix—used to sue.
  19. HP patents, sold off to a troll, are used to sue Cisco and Facebook: Patents went from 3Com to HP to East Texas-based Plectrum LLC.
  20. Kanye West caught using Pirate Bay to download music software
  21. Music Industry Majors Sue Hip-Hop Streaming Site Spinrilla
  22. A Word of Caution: File Wrapper Contents Can Come Back to Haunt You
  23. How a former editor allegedly used Vice Canada to recruit drug mules for a global smuggling ring
  24. The Codification Of Web DRM As A Censorship Tool
  25. Google Brain super-resolution image tech makes “zoom, enhance!” real: Google Brain creates new image details out of thin air.
  26. YouTube now lets creators with 10,000 subscribers live-stream video on mobile: And new “Super Chat” lets viewers pay to get noticed.
  27. Facebook Plans To Be Like YouTube, Not Netflix
  28. Facebook is focusing on shorter content, YouTube model for its video strategy
  29. GoPro reports 35% lift in YouTube uploads
  30. The Problem With Snapchat’s IPO
  31. Snapchat parent warns of Brexit anxiety and sexting confusion in IPO filing: First public prospectus reveals a $405 million ad biz—and a net loss of $515 million…
  32. Majority Stake Owner Wants to Sell BroadbandTV – Or Take It Public
  33. Snapchat Stacks New York Times on Media Pile
  34. Something Happened: The origin of day-one patches – Canadian software houses were fast and loose places in the 1980s.

CREATIVITY

  1. Prof: “Can you sue the President based on his tweets? We’re about to find out” – Lawsuit joins at least 15 other cases challenging president’s executive order.
  2. BuzzFeed Sued for Naming Tech CEO in Story About Trump’s Alleged Russian Ties
  3. Court Tells Melania Trump She Can’t Sue The Daily Mail In Maryland, So She Refiles In New York
  4. Recent Law School Grad Sues Twitter Because Someone Made A Parody Twitter Account
  5. Bad Idea Or The Worst Idea? Having The FTC Regulate ‘Fake News’
  6. Liberals Won’t Bail Out Canada’s News Industry, Sources Say
  7. Time Inc. begins shopping for potential buyers
  8. Feds must take action on copyright trolls
  9. HowStuffWorks Attempts To Explain Why Advertisers Use Super Bowl Euphemisms, But I Have A Simpler Explanation
  10. New National “Right to Work” Bill Threatens Hollywood Unions
  11. ESPN Settles Lawsuit Over Reporter’s Tweet Revealing an NFL Star’s Amputated Finger
  12. Nine Years Later, Patriots Get ’19-0′ And ‘Perfect Season’ Trademarks, Despite Doing Neither
  13. Former NFL star Shawne Merriman sues Under Armour for trademark infringement
  14. Federal Court Basically Says It’s Okay To Copyright Parts Of Our Laws
  15. The Kylie Jenner–Kylie Minogue Trademark Dispute Was a Battle of the Old School vs. the New
  16. Investors pour another $8.5M into Star Trek Timelines dev Disruptor Beam
  17. Employers, employees and consultants – who owns what when it comes to intellectual property?
  18. How being replaced by a machine turned this graphic artist into an activist
  19. Political ad isn’t commercial, can’t be basis of Lanham Act claim (Rebecca Tushnet)

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. The Future of Simsub Post-Super Bowl: Why Canadian Viewership Data Vindicated the CRTC (Michael Geist)
  2. Bell Media adopts new tactics in bid to lure Super Bowl viewers
  3. Poll: Vast majority of Canadians oppose Internet Tax, prefer funding CanCon by extending GST/HST to foreign online companies
  4. Focus: Is shutting down TV service victory for broadcasters?
  5. Trump’s F.C.C. Pick Quickly Targets Net Neutrality Rules
  6. FCC chair stuns consumer advocates with move that could hurt poor people: Ajit Pai “walk[ed] back the stated goal of his chairmanship,” advocate says.
  7. New FCC Boss Ajit Pai Insists He’s All About Helping The Poor, Gets Right To Work Harming Them Instead
  8. FCC makes it harder for poor people to get subsidized broadband: Some might pay $9.25 more as ISPs lose ability to sell low-cost Internet plans.
  9. Ajit Pai defends decision to revoke low-cost broadband designations
  10. FCC rescinds claim that AT&T and Verizon violated net neutrality: Republican Ajit Pai halts Wheeler’s net neutrality investigation of zero-rating.
  11. New FCC Boss Kills Zero Rating Inquiry, Signals Death Of Net Neutrality Enforcement
  12. Undoing the Past – New FCC Rescinds Rulings on Noncommercial Ownership Reports, Political Broadcasting Sponsorship Disclosure and Shared Services Agreements
  13. FCC opens radio and television broadcasting to foreign entities
  14. New FCC Boss Decides It’s Cool If Phone Monopolies Want To Rip Off Inmate Families
  15. FCC Chairman Pai Promotes Transparency – Releases Draft Orders on Next-Generation TV and FM Translators for AM Stations – What Will Be Considered for Radio at February FCC Meeting? 
  16. FCC tries something new: Making proposals public before voting on them: Wheeler said releasing text before vote would cripple process—now we’ll find out.
  17. “Lipstick on a pig”: Time Warner Cable “deceived the FCC” in speed tests – “We just have to make it work temporarily,” TWC said of FCC speed tests.
  18. Not so fast—Comcast told to stop claiming it has “fastest Internet”: Verizon wins challenge of Comcast’s fastest Internet and “in-home Wi-Fi” claims.
  19. How Comcast’s Growing Broadband Monopoly Is Helping It Temporarily Fend Off The TV Cord Cutting Threat
  20. Here’s Exactly How the Internet Is Now Under Threat: Obama’s FCC head Tom Wheeler talks candidly about the open internet — and why, in Trumpworld, four companies could lock it up.
  21. Comcast, Verizon, T-Mobile & AT&T Issue Breathless Love Letter To Privacy With One Hand, Lobby To Kill All Privacy Protections With The Other
  22. The Shattered Mirror, Part Two: The Underwhelming Recommendation for Open Licensing at the CBC (Michael Geist)

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Did a Canadian court just establish a new right to be forgotten online? (Michael Geist)
  2. Did a Canadian Court Just Establish a New Right to be Forgotten? (Michael Geist)
  3. When are public documents too public?: A.T. v. Globe24h.com tests the limits
  4. Goodale orders review into illegal CSIS metadata program: The CSIS Operational Data Analysis Centre had stored “associated data” — usually called metadata — on innocent Canadians for nearly a decade.
  5. US visitors may have to reveal social media passwords to enter country: “If they don’t want to cooperate, then you don’t come in.”
  6. Ohio man’s pacemaker data may betray him in arson, insurance fraud case: Man describes quickly packing and fleeing; heart data shows otherwise, doctor says.
  7. Vizio Agrees To Pay $2.2 Million To Settle Too-Smart TV Lawsuit: The TVs were tracking viewership habits and selling the information to advertisers
  8. Vizio Fined $2.2 Million For Not Telling Customers Their TVs Were Spying On Them
  9. Vizio TVs secretly tracked viewership in U.S. without consent: Canadian units excluded from system that set screens to report what people watched — without them knowing
  10. Superior Court of Quebec Authorizes Privacy Class Action in Zuckerman v. Target Corporation
  11. Jason Pierre-Paul and ESPN reach settlement in invasion-of-privacy lawsuit
  12. Baseball team pays a big price for hacking
  13. Major privacy case to open before High Court in Dublin: Facebook and privacy campaigner party to action by Data Protection Commissioner
  14. The Ninth Circuit Holds That a Telephone Consumer Protection Act Violation Alone Is Sufficient To Establish Standing
  15. Maybe the US does have the right to seize data from the world’s servers: Until Supreme Court resolves this, we’ll likely see many conflicting rulings.
  16. The FBI Can Engage In All Sorts Of Surveillance And Snooping Without Actually Placing Someone Under Investigation
  17. How Google fought back against a crippling IoT-powered botnet and won: Behind the scenes defending KrebsOnSecurity against record-setting DDoS attacks.
  18. Privacy Tort Update – Not So Fast on Public Disclosure of Embarrassing Private Stuff 
  19. FTC Will Consider Spying Toy Privacy Concerns 
  20. Windows DRM: Now An (Unwitting) Ally In Efforts To Expose Anonymous Tor Users
  21. Former NSA contractor may have stolen 75% of TAO’s elite hacking tools: Prosecutors reportedly plan to charge Harold T. Martin with espionage.
  22. A rash of invisible, fileless malware is infecting banks around the globe: Once the province of nation-sponsored hackers, in-memory malware goes mainstream.
  23. Keys Under Doormats: Mandating insecurity by requiring government access to all data and communications
  24. Ron Deibert’s Lab Is the ‘Robin Hood’ of Cyber Security
  25. It’s Too Complicated: How The Internet Upends Katz, Smith, And Electronic Surveillance Law (Steven M. Bellovin, Matt Blaze, Susan Landau, & Stephanie K. Pell)

jon

Read More | No Comments



Creative Commons License