News of the Week

The Fair Use/Fair Dealing Handbook

A compilation of Fair Use/Fair Dealing provisions from over 40 countries around the world: http://infojustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/band-and-gerafi-2013.pdf jon

University of Pennsylvania Law School I.P. Symposium “Creation Nation: IP & The Rise of Prosumerism” Friday, March 29, 2013

Am honoured to be speaking on a panel with Greg Lastowka and Mark Methenitis on modding and video games. The entire program (which is excellent  and covers legal challenges in fan fiction and 3D printing as well) is here: 2013 Symposium » Penn Intellectual Property Group. There will be a live stream of the event which […]

News of the Week; March 27, 2013

1. Bug in EA’s Battlefield Play4Free allows attackers to hijack players’ PCs: http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/03/bug-in-eas-battlefield-play4free-allows-attackers-to-hijack-players-pcs/ 2. Kaiju Combat Kickstarter Suspended Over Trademark Infringement Claim: http://www.gamepolitics.com/2013/03/21/kaiju-combat-kickstarter-suspended-over-trademark-infringement-claim#.UU9pWb_R1Lx 3. Video Game Retailers Receive High Marks from 2012 FTC Secret Shopper Survey: http://www.gamepolitics.com/2013/03/25/video-game-retailers-receive-high-marks-2012-ftc-secret-shopper-survey#.UVHvg7_R1Lw 4. New Research Suggests Extended ‘Screen Time’ Does Not Breed Bad Behavior in Young Children: http://www.gamepolitics.com/2013/03/26/new-research-suggests-extended-screen-time-does-not-breed-bad-behavior-young-children#.UVI0xr_R1Lw 5. Pratchett: Nobody talks about how well […]

Pennsylvania stadium adds video games to bathrooms

Pennsylvania stadium adds video games to bathrooms

How do we feel about “hands-free” urinal video games? http://www.torontosun.com/2013/03/27/pennsylvania-stadium-aims-to-please-fans-with-urinal-video-games I guess my concern is, how does a hands-free game publish top scorer names without players touching anything?

Microsoft XBox Panned for Virtual Thefts, Disputed Charges

take a look at this CBC article from March 25, 2013, that deals with “virtual theft” of a young gamer’s players that he purchased on-line.  Our own Professors Jon Festinger and Joel Baken of UBC Law also provide some expert commentary on this situation. link:http://www.cbc.ca/m/touch/news/story/2013/03/22/bc-fifa-hacking.html

Your Children are not Your Children: Why NYT public editor is Wrong on Children’s Right to Privacy

“Your Children are not Your Children: Why NYT public editor is Wrong on Children’s Right to Privacy” by Zeynep Tufekci is a must read after our class this past week. Ordinarily would just include in the weekly News of the Week round-up. However this piece deserves special mention at the very least for its relevant […]

News of the Week; March 20,2013

1. Nintendo found guilty of patent infringement over glasses-free 3DS technology: http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/13/4100924/nintendo-guilty-of-patent-infringement-3ds-technology 2. Major vulnerability in EA’s Origin platform lets hackers overtake PCs: http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/19/4124456/major-vulnerability-ea-origin-hackers-overtake-gamer-pcs 3. Defeating mobile game clones: Why copyright protection is not enough: http://venturebeat.com/2013/03/16/defeating-mobile-game-clones-why-copyright-protection-is-not-enough/ 4. Research: Playing Shooters Improves Visual Search: http://gamepolitics.com/2013/03/15/research-playing-shooters-improves-visual-search#.UUTATKXR1Lw 5. Video Games and Societal Violence: Cause for Urgent Action or a Bridge Too Far?: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-levine/video-games-and-societal-_b_2859598.html […]

UK Intellectual Property Office helps law students with term papers

Thanks to “The 1709 Blog” for noting and posting links to some very useful largely empirical studies commissioned by the UK IPO. These may be very helpful to those doing papers on related subjects. Having taken a look through as there is tons of good stuff here, especially on the economic impact on copyright holders […]

News of the Week; March 13, 2013

1. Top 10 New IP Paper Downloads: http://writtendescription.blogspot.ca/2013/03/top-10-new-ip-paper-downloads.html 2. Appeals Court: ‘Ed Sullivan’ Clip in ‘Jersey Boys’ is Fair Use: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/appeals-court-ed-sullivan-clip-427260 3. US Supreme Court limits standing to sue in a case that will likely impact privacy and data breach plaintiffs: http://www.edwardswildman.com/files/News/543d63b5-4962-48f6-b71f-e0d2192720f6/Presentation/NewsAttachment/3e09a485-a60e-4fc4-b513-4d34f91e09f3/2013-CA-USSupremeCourtLimits-March-v2.pdf 4. Google Concedes That Drive-By Prying Violated Privacy: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/13/technology/google-pays-fine-over-street-view-privacy-breach.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=1& 5. Aaron Swartz’s lawyer accuses prosecutor of misconduct […]

News of the Week; March 6, 2013

1. I’m a Victim of Gun Violence. I’m Also a Video Game Developer: http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/02/28/a_victim_of_gun_violence_who_is_also_a_video_game_developer_weighs_in_on.html 2. Gun Control Debate: Violent Video Games Actually Decrease Violence, Study Finds: http://www.policymic.com/articles/28280/violent-video-games-actually-decrease-violence-study-finds 3. “SIX STRIKES,” PIRACY, AND YOUR INTERNET: http://ihogeek.com/2013/03/01/sixstrikes/ 4. The Corporate Coup Over Copyright Infringement: http://clearancebinreview.com/2013/02/28/dr-geek-the-corporate-coup-over-copyright-infringement/ 5. A Rational System of Design Patent Remedies (paper by Mark Lemley): http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2226508 6. Opening Arguments in Nintendo 3D Patent […]