News of the Week

GAMES

1. Tired of legal threats, emulation hub EmuParadise drops its ROM library
2. Inside The Culture Of Sexism At Riot Games
3. Current and former Riot employees discuss the toxic feedback culture of the studio
4. Riot Games responds to sexist work culture exposé: “We haven’t lived up to our own values,” says League of Legends developer as criticism mounts in wake of damning report
5. Minecraft boss says US work culture needs more “off-ramps” for employees: Employees should be able “immerse themselves in their life experiences” without damaging their careers, says Helen Chiang
6. SNK artist discusses discrimination in the Japanese games industry 
7. EA issues apology after removing Kaepernick’s name from song in Madden 19 [Updated]
8. EA says mistake led to censorship of Colin Kaepernick’s name in Madden 19’s soundtrack
9. EA made “unfortunate mistake” removing Colin Kaepernick’s name from Madden 19 song: Company issues official statement on omission after it was discovered in early copies
10. GameFly to axe video game streaming service in August
11. BioWare is still exploring new projects outside of Anthem
12. “Netflix of games” a threat to developers: If subscription streaming services take off, creators likely to lose leverage in dealing with platform holders
13. IGN Pulls Review After Plagiarism Accusations 
14. IGN drops Dead Cells reviewer after plagiarism investigation
15. Fallout 76 won’t be launching on Steam
16. War changes: Fallout 76 is series’ first in a decade to skip Steam
17. Fallout Shelter surpasses $90M in lifetime mobile revenue
18. ZX Spectrum and Sinclair trademark holder to pull branding rights from Vega+
19. EmuParadise removes ROMs: Users won’t be able to download games from long-running site any more; “It’s not worth it for us to risk potentially disastrous consequences”
20. Facebook introduces AR games to group chats
21. Fake apps find a way to Google Play!
22. Confirmed: Fortnite on Android will drive its bus past Google’s 30% cut [Updated]
23. “30% store tax is a high cost,” says Sweeney as Fortnite skips Google Play: Epic Games CEO explains studio’s decision to aim for direct downloads, praises openness of Google’s platform
24. Epic Games is bypassing the Google Play Store forFortnite’s Android release
25. Google not at fault for clones and unsanctioned apps on Google Play, says Epic CEO
26. Analyst: Fortnite streams have racked up over 600M hours viewed in 2018
27. The battle royale boom helped Turtle Beach achieve a record quarter
28. Gamefly ends video game streaming service
29. Faeria: The CCG that abandoned free-to-play and went premium
30. New Unity report suggests 67% of indies plan to self-publish
31. Unity survey shows over half of indie studios working in mobile, 40% in VR or AR: Top-ranking studios by revenue and DAU showed a preference for mobile and freemium models
32. Unity partners with Google to introduce AdMob integration for mobile games
33. Minecraft’s studio head says devs and studios benefit from generous time off policies
34. Netmarble’s Lineage 2: Revolution has seen $1.3 billion in player spending – Sensor Tower data indicates the importance of the mobile RPG to Netmarble’s business
35. Crackdown and confidentiality: Sumo Digital’s approach to AAA development – The UK studio discusses handling coveted IP and why it’s not afraid of missing out on the limelight
36. Nexon withholds shareholder dividends to “review and execute effective investments”: Korean games firm sees simultaneous two per cent revenue increase and profit decline
37. Sony and Nintendo’s strategies converge: Bumper results for both platform holders point to a similar key to success – seeing themselves as game creators first and foremost
38. WarioWare Gold: A fine example of Nintendo’s weird “end of life” history
39. How do you pronounce “NES”? Nintendo throws a wrench in the debate
40. You Can’t Compete With Free Meets Its Ultimate Counterexample In The NES Classic
41. With $400M+ revenue, Fire Emblem Heroes reigns as Nintendo’s big mobile earner
42. Octopath Traveler has shipped 1M copies worldwide
43. Elon Musk adding Atari classics to Tesla software, wants original games for car display: Billionaire reveals Tempest, Missile Command and Pole Position coming in next four week – with the latter controlled by steering wheel
44. Mobile revenue failed to meet Square Enix’s expectations this quarter
45. Square Enix sees revenue and profit tumble in quiet Q1 for games
46. Bandai Namco sees flat first quarter with little help from game sales
47. Game sales and revenue down at Bandai Namco
48. Game revenue down at Sega despite increase in physical sales
49. Sega Sammy net sales down 35.8% in latest financial report: Entertainment contents arm suffers least with only 10.5% decline
50. Capcom: “We’d prefer a game that got a 9 and sold less, than a 6 but sold more.” – Publisher on its fear over Resident Evil 2’s E3 reveal, the Monster Hunter gamble and new IP
51. Harmonix signs multiplatform publishing deal with NCSoft
52. Take-Two expects GTA Online sales to ‘moderate’ as it beats estimates again: Publisher anticipates international growth for NBA2K, too
53. Digital sales drive Take-Two’s rising profits ahead of Red Dead Redemption 2
54. NBA 2K18 reaches ten million units sold: Lifetime franchise sales exceed 80 million
55. Activision Blizzard exceeds Q2 revenue goals thanks to in-game spending
56. Activision Blizzard exceeds second quarter outlook despite headwinds: Call of Duty season, record Hearthstone pre-purchases drove $1.64 billion in net revenue
57. Activision Blizzard: Tech issues will halt wide adoption of streaming in the near term
58. Blizzard confirms “multiple Diablo projects” in production, news by end of 2018
59. Spyro Reignited Trilogy only has one game on the disc: Activision warns that second and third instalments will need to be downloaded after purchase
60. Tencent and Activision bringing Call of Duty to mobile in China
61. Fire Emblem Heroes earns $400 million globally: Mobile game nearly ten time more profitable than Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
62. Fallout Shelter surpasses $90m lifetime revenue
63. China’s “enormous opportunity” for Eve Online
64. CCP partners with NetEase to grow Eve Online in China: Major local publisher takes over Serenity server following collaboration on mobile spin-off Eve Project Galaxy
65. Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins Becomes First Creator In Twitch History To Amass 10 Million Followers
66. Fortnite powers Ninja to become first Twitch streamer with 10m followers
67. No Man Sky scores biggest Twitch numbers since launch
68. With NEXT update, No Man’s Sky finally brings it all together
69. After two years, is No Man’s Sky everything Hello Games originally promised?: Hello Games’ procedurally generated creation is better than ever after two years of persistent updates
70. Opinion: Battle for Azeroth and the death of nuance
71. Frostkeep Studios is serious about making “the game that players want” with Rend
72. PUBG developers launch “Fix PUBG” campaign
73. PUBG dev launches ‘Fix PUBG’ website to address longstanding bug complaints
74. Elon Musk-funded Dota 2 bots spank top-tier humans, and they know how to trash talk
75. Newzoo: Esports viewership will continue to bear greater resemblance to traditional sports
76. Overwatch League adds new teams in Guangzhou and Atlanta
77. Kakao Games sinks $16.8M into esports studio Neptune
78. Esports Business Projected to Reach $1.5 Billion in Revenue by 2020
79. EA: Diversity and engagement key to growing FIFA eWorld Cup – FIFA competitive gaming commissioner shares how the game’s accessibility will lead to success across a wider swath of media
80. Inside Magic Leap’s Quest To Remake Itself As An Ordinary Company (With A Real Product)
81. After years of hype, Magic Leap starts selling $2,300 AR headset
82. Inside Magic Leap: How it works and what it means for game devs
83. Oculus Removes Handful of Fake Game Reviews, Says They’re Uncommon
84. Facebook introduces AR games to Messenger
85. Augmented Reality Recreates A New York City Not Seen for Centuries
86. Innovation Report: 1 in 3 AR/VR/MR devs are making a platform exclusive
87. Metaari: Game-based learning market will reach $17 billion by 2023 – Improved VR, AR, and AI technology will drive further investment, development opportunity
88. Halo TV series confirmed for a 2020 release
89. Digital collectable card games will generate $1.5 billion revenue in 2018: SuperData report forecasts global rise to $2 billion by 2020
90. Blog: What men and women consider hardcore gaming are not the same
91. Tips and best practices for localizing licensed IPs
92. Book Excerpt: Tips on negotiating key legal agreements in games
93. Real Estate Developer Found Using Video Game Footage In Marketing Material… Which Is Pretty Cool!

DIGITAL

1. How bots amplify hoaxes and propaganda on social media: Zignal Labs CEO Josh Ginsberg says consumers and companies need to know what’s bot-generated and what’s not so they can make informed decisions about things like elections.
2. ‘It’s our time to serve the Motherland’ How Russia’s war in Georgia sparked Moscow’s modern-day recruitment of criminal hackers
3. As ‘DNC Hacked Itself’ Conspiracy Theory Collapses, Key Backer Of Claim Exposed As UK Troll
4. Bill Says US Tech Companies Must Let The Feds Know When Foreign Companies Poke Around In Their Source Code
5. Court Says Comey And Other DOJ Officials Must Answer BuzzFeed’s Questions About The Steele Dossier
6. The Expensive Education of Mark Zuckerberg and Silicon Valley: They have weaponized social media, and we are all paying the price.
7. Alex Jones’ Infowars Channels Scrubbed From YouTube, Facebook, Apple, And Spotify
8. YouTube bans Alex Jones, following Facebook and Apple’s lead
9. YouTube Bans InfoWars Following Removals From Apple, Facebook, and Spotify
10. Alex Jones hit with bans from Facebook and Apple
11. Alex Jones podcast episodes yanked from Spotify over “hate content”
12. Alex Jones Is Shirtlessly Screaming Into the Void on Popular Social Network Google+
13. Filling the void Alex Jones left behind: YouTube’s attempt to burst the (far-)right bubble is a chance for Fox News
14. Twitter Founder Jack Dorsey Explains Why Twitter Isn’t Banning Alex Jones
15. Op-ed: Alex Jones is a crackpot—but banning him from Facebook might be a bad idea [Updated]
16. How journalists should not cover an online conspiracy theory: The QAnon narrative shows the need for better practices in reporting on baseless claims and hoaxes. Here’s how the media can take action
17. Online Hate Is Rampant. Here’s How To Keep It From Spreading
18. Report: Feds investigating whether Musk’s buyout tweet broke the law
19. In Germany, a news site is pairing up liberals and conservatives and actually getting them to (gasp) have a civil conversation
20. Saudi State Media Posted a Photo That Sure Looks Like a Threat to Attack Toronto 
21. Senators Demand Answers on Google’s Reported Plans for Censored Search Engine in China
22. BBC Migrates Everything To HTTPS, Immediately Finds Itself Blocked By The Chinese Government
23. Apple becomes first US public company worth $1 trillion: Q3 earnings report bolsters stock to record amount, maintained to market close
24. That’s trillion with a T—Apple hits market value of $1 trillion
25. Apple Kills App Affiliate Program In Pointless Move
26. Apple shuts App Store affiliate program, imperiling recommendation sites
27. Sensing Blood In The Water, All Major Labels Sue Cox For ‘Ignoring’ Their DMCA Notices
28. Indian Court Grants PepsiCo’s Takedown Request Targeting Thousands Of ‘Disparaging’ Social Media Posts
29. Yet Another Study Shows You Beat Piracy Through Innovation, Rather Than Enforcement
30. SESTA, FOSTA, And How To Make Sense Of The Acronym Soup
31. Evidence Mounts: UK Study Shows Better Legal Alternatives Pushing Pirates To Become Customers
32. The War On Fan-Subtitles Comes To Australia in The Form Of Site-Blocking
33. Microsoft adding support for Movies Anywhere, giving away free X-Men movie
34. Amazon’s Head Of Unscripted TV Out After Investigation Into Inappropriate Comments (Report)
35. Wells Fargo Admits ‘Computer Glitch’ May Have Contributed to 400 Foreclosures
36. Only a small percentage of users buys stuff through Alexa, report claims
37. Report: Almost Nobody Is Using Amazon’s Alexa to Actually Buy Stuff
38. Amazon launches grocery pickup at Whole Foods for Prime members
39. Facebook Faces Another Consequence of Its Privacy Problems: Shareholder Lawsuits
40. Facebook Wanted Us to Kill This Investigative Tool
41. Facebook Is Asking Banks to Share Data on Customers’ Spending Habits
42. Facebook: We’re not asking for financial data, we’re just partnering with banks
43. This Facebook Feature Shouldn’t Exist
44. Facebook Asked To Change Terms Of Service To Protect Journalists
45. ‘People You May Know:’ A Controversial Facebook Feature’s 10-Year History
46. YouTube Set To Overtake Facebook As Second Largest Website In America
47. YouTube is about to pass Facebook as the second biggest website in US, according to new study: Facebook’s web traffic has declined by nearly half in the last two years, while YouTube is climbing.
48. YouTube Premium Announces First Spanish-Language Slate With Gael García Bernal, Maluma, Sofia Niño de Rivera
49. Go90 or bust: How AwesomenessTV’s fate was tied to Verizon
50. Easier streaming services put dent in illegal downloading
51. Fight Over Virginia Tech Sportswriter’s Twitter Account: Who Owns Employees’ Social Media Accounts?
52. Warner Music Group Acquires UPROXX: The 10-year-old online hub and video production house aimed at youth boasts a reach of 40 million people.
53. Warner Music Group Sells Its Entire Stake in Spotify
54. Spotify’s $30 billion playlist for global domination
55. Bytedance Nixes Musical.ly Brand As Short-Form Video Site Merges Into Sister Platform ‘TikTok’
56. Music Streaming Service Deezer Raises $185 Million
57. Crowd-Sauce: How Memes Are Helping Rappers Reach Number One
58. Why Fitness Is The New Hot Marketing Platform And Revenue Stream For Music
59. Snapchat Made $262 Million During Q2 But Lost 3 Million Daily Active Users
60. Roku Exceeds Q2 Earnings Expectations, Brings Free Streaming Service To Web
61. Why Did Anyone Think MoviePass Could Have Worked?: The company had deep-pocketed backers and a plan. It just overlooked a few important details.
62. Katzenberg’s WndrCo Confirms $1 Billion Raise For Shortform Subscription Service, Doesn’t Plan To Compete With Netflix, Hulu
63. Warner Bros. And DC Comics’ ‘DC Universe’ Streaming Service Launching In Beta This Month
64. Disney Will Shuttle Marvel Cinematic Universe To Its Own Streaming Service Starting With ‘Captain Marvel’ In 2019
65. Peloton Raises $550 Million As It Builds “A Media Company Akin To Netflix,” Says CEO
66. Researchers Inadvertently Discover Crypto Scam Involving 15,000 Twitter Bots
67. Some Traders Are Talking Up Cryptocurrencies, Then Dumping Them, Costing Others Millions
68. America Needs a Blockchain Strategy ASAP
69. 3D-printed (and CNC-milled) guns: Nine questions you were too afraid to ask
70. New in School: AI-Driven Gun Detection Systems
71. The Algorithm That Could Save Vulnerable New Yorkers From Being Forced Out of Their Homes
72. Uber driver who struck, killed young girl is convicted of vehicular manslaughter
73. Patreon Creators See Dip In Earnings Due To Payments Being Mistakenly Marked As Fraudulent, Company Says
74. Silicon Valley Writes A Playbook To Help Avert Ethical Disasters
75. The Free-Market Fraud: Tech Innovation and Alternatives
76. New open source effort: Legal code to make reporting security bugs safer
77. Is there such a thing as Internet politics? (Andres Guadamuz)

CREATIVITY

1. Some Notes About Recent Developments at the Copyright Board of Canada (Howard Knopf)
2. When Copying Isn’t Infringement
3. Court Awards $12,500 For ‘Emotional Harm’ From Bogus Copyright Lawsuit
4. Alvin Toffler Investigated by FBI for Communist Activities According to Newly Released Files
5. Moneyballing the Movies: How the Box Office Became a Sport – Every weekend, new releases are graded on their box office returns. How did covering the movie business become a haven for statheads?
6. Warner Bros. Is Finally Realizing Supergirl Should Be the Center of the DC Universe
7. Is This the End of the TV Writers’ Room as We Know It?
8. ‘Anything For A Hit’ Exclusive Book Excerpt: Atlantic Records in the ’80s Was Like Plunging Into ‘A Circus Mixed with an Orgy’
9. MPAA: To Save Free Speech, We Must Broadly Censor Free Speech

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

1. FCC lied to Congress about made-up DDoS attack, investigation found 
2. Here’s the Internal Report Proving the FCC Made Up a Cyberattack
3. That Hack of the FCC’s Comment Section Last Year? It Never Actually Happened, Agency Admits
4. Ajit Pai Throws His Employees Under The Bus After Investigation Proves FCC Made Up DDOS Attack
5. Ajit Pai admits FCC lied about “DDoS,” blames it on Obama administration
6. Trump admin asks Supreme Court to re-kill already-dead net neutrality rules
7. Trump Admin Hopes Kavanaugh Supreme Court Delivers The Killing Blow To Net Neutrality
8. Report Highlights How U.S. Telcos Abandoned Rural American Broadband
9. ISPs’ listed speeds drop up to 41% after UK requires accurate advertising
10. FCC sides with Google Fiber over Comcast with new pro-competition rule
11. Verizon lied about 4G coverage—and it could hurt rural America, group says
12. FCC Tackles “Slamming and Cramming” 
13. Charter CEO Apparently Unaware He Runs One Of The Most Despised Companies In America
14. Will The “Real Journalists” At Fox News Please Stand Up?: It’s time for the Shep Smiths of Fox News to speak out against the pro-Trump propagandists like Hannity, Carlson, and Pirro.
15. AT&T Acquires The Chernin Group’s Stake In Otter Media In Reported $1 Billion Deal
16. $50 a month for 1Mbps: How AT&T and Verizon rip off DSL customers
17. Behind Ryerson’s Support for Site Blocking: Bell Reviewed Draft Submission, Was Warned It Did Not Represent Faculty View 
18. “One of Our Key Hiring Companies”: The Missing Link in the George Brown College Support for Bell’s Site Blocking Plan 
19. Aiding by Omission in CASL? Good Enough, CRTC Says

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

1. Does the Canada Border Services Agency Have the Authority to Search Your Electronic Devices?
2. The Pentagon Tells Soldiers To Stop Sharing Their Locations With Apps
3. Pentagon tells troops: Turn off fitness tracker GPS when you head to warzones
4. Facebook Granted ‘Unprecedented’ Leave To Appeal Over Referral Of Privacy Shield Case To Top EU Court
5. FTC Asks Whether to Expand Enforcement Power over Corporate Privacy Practices 
6. ICANN Loses Yet Again In Its Quixotic Quest To Obtain A Special Exemption From The EU’s GDPR
7. China’s influence on digital privacy could be global
8. Cramming Software With Thousands of Fake Bugs Could Make It More Secure
9. Unixiz Agrees to Settle Charges Under COPPA and the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act 
10. The Legal Paradox of Commoditizing Athlete Data Trade Secrets
11. How to win (or at least not lose) the war on phishing? Enlist machine learning

Jon

GAMES

1. Detroit dev Quantic Dream loses in court case brought by ex-employee
2. Former Quantic Dream employee wins court case against developer: Court rules in favour of employee who quit due to circulation of offensive photoshopped images
3. SimCity 2000 remake removed by EA for using copyrighted assets
4. EA shuts down open source SimCity 2000 over lifted assets: “The current audio visual output of the repository creates content that infringes on Electronic Arts copyright,” says publisher
5. EA financials show quiet Q1 reflective of few releases: Net revenue of $1.137 billion nonetheless above estimates ahead of packed Q2
6. FIFA Mobile’s debut in China brings EA its highest grossing day for a mobile game
7. EA open to cross-platform playability for Battlefield, other key franchises: Publisher also eyeing Fortnite’s success as a model for future free-to-play mobile releases
8. Area 35 ends legal dispute over Kickstarter embezzlement claims in settlement
9. Area 35, ex-employee settle defamation suit: Tariq Lacy retracts embezzlement accusations against studio CEO Hiroaki Yura
10. Abstractism removed from Steam store for ‘cryptojacking’: Game disguised as indie platformer installed programs to mine cryptocurrency using players’ computers
11. Valve removes Steam game after allegations of hidden cryptocurrency miner [Updated]
12. Valve adds safeguards to Steam to address concerns over fake item scams
13. Steam sees surprising, significant usage dip in 2018
14. Prominent Denuvo hacker arrested for breaching anti-piracy tech
15. Denuvo investigation reportedly leads to arrest for games pirate Voksi: However, Bulgarian cracker claims he voluntarily went to police, reached out to DRM firm for “peaceful solution”
16. An overlooked line of code led to slow performance forWarhammer Online
17. Daily Mirror paid interview subject of Fortnite hit piece: “Fortnite made me a suicidal drug addict” author offered £300 for case study
18. Fortnite mobile earned average of $3.47 per install 90 days after launch – SensorTower: Battle royale ranked #6 most-downloaded app in the US for Q2 despite iOS exclusivity
19. Analyst estimates put Fortnite at more than 100M downloads on iOS
20. Fortnite mobile breaks 100m downloads and $160m IAP revenue: PUBG not expected to reach 100 million milestone for another 206 days
21. Fortnite cosmetics possibly taking revenue from top console games
22. Dutch Dota 2 players can now see the contents of their next loot box: Valve’s attempts to comply with loot box regulations continue apace
23. Forza Motorsport 7 will not feature loot boxes
24. Forza Motorsport 7 removes prize crates, avoids paid tokens: Microtransaction system from prior Forza games will not appear in Forza Horizon 4, either
25. Gran Turismo Sport gets microtransactions in July update: Polyphony Digital adds ability to purchase in-game cars for real money
26. Gran Turismo Sport, revisited: More tracks, more cars, more everything
27. Spectrum ISP kicked out of NY for allegedly throttling online games and streams
28. New York shows Spectrum ISP the door, in part for throttling League of Legends: State public service commission revokes approval of Charter, Time Warner merger due to “various instances of misconduct”
29. One Week Later, Blizzard Still Doesn’t Know WhyWorld Of Warcraft’s Leveling System Is Borked
30. Nintendo barely improves conflict minerals sourcing over two years: One-fourth of company’s smelters and refiners aren’t following protocols to prevent human rights abuses
31. NPD: NES Classic was the highest unit-selling platform for June – Retro consoles help lead 52% YOY hardware sales growth
32. Nintendo has sold nearly 20M Switch systems and 87M Switch games
33. Switch sales lead Nintendo’s first quarter while 3DS and mobile income stagnate
34. Increased profits and $1.5bn sales kick off Nintendo’s financial year: Platform holder maintains forecast as Switch lifetime sales reach 19.7 million consoles, 86.93 million games
35. Nintendo stock increase trips up hedge fund’s $400 million bet: Melvin Capital’s months-long short position in Switch maker suffers setback, may still prove profitable
36. Nintendo’s next Labo kit coming in Sept, looks like next-gen Pilotwings
37. The Sinclair ZX Vega+ is finally being shipped to Indiegogo backers
38. Sales up at Sony as PS4 software exceeds expectations
39. Worldwide PlayStation 4 shipments have topped 80 million
40. PlayStation drives $17.9 billion Q1 for Sony: Higher-than-expected software sales and 43% digital ratio among financial highlights
41. The business case for a streaming Xbox
42. Zynga Q2 sees bookings jump 12%: Social publisher beats guidance with $233.9 million in non-GAAP sales, net losses of just over $900,000
43. Glu Mobile narrows losses with record Q2 bookings
44. Zynga’s mobile ‘forever franchises’ contribute to Q2 growth 
45. Sega capitalizing on foreign exchange with Yakuza, Total War: Sega Europe exec John Clark says audiences in Asia and the West are increasingly interested in games from the other region’s developers, but for different reasons
46. Sea of Thieves has attracted over 5 million players
47. Sea of Thieves reaches five million players as Cursed Sails expansion launches: Plus, 40 million hours broadcast on Twitch but it’s still unclear how player count translates to sales due to Game Pass inclusion
48. Live Streams Of A Chinese Robot-Fighting Tournament Are Getting Millions Of Views On Twitch
49. No Man’s Sky Next reaches over 50,000 concurrent players: Hello Games’ space exploration game sees resurgence after a 200k+ concurrent user peak at launch
50. No Man’s Sky hit almost 100,000 concurrent players on Steam this past weekend
51. Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle revenue tops $1B after two years
52. Dragon Ball Z mobile title reaches estimated $1 billion revenue: Sensor Tower data indicates Bandai Namco’s Dokkan Battle has hit major milestone after two years
53. MapleStory M achieves three million downloads in first week: Mobile version of hugely popular Korean MMO tops highest grossing charts in key Asian markets
54. Monster Hunter: World helps Capcom to record-breaking first quarter
55. Monster Hunter: World passes 8m sold in strong Q1 for Capcom – Game revenue increased 79 per cent year-on-year on the strength of Monster Hunter and Street Fighter
56. $2.65m Binding of Isaac card game Kickstarter smashes target by over 5,000%: Almost 40,000 backers successfully funded tabletop spin-off of popular indie roguelike
57. From failed Kickstarter to career-defining success: The story of Pony Island: Daniel Mullins discusses how he bounced back from failure to create “the smartest game of 2016”
58. The art of failing: What 11 bit Studios learnt from Beat Cop – Marketing director Patryk Grzeszczuk – “We were too far away from the times and the culture that were depicted in the game”
59. Mail.ru took a $27m impairment charge on Armored Warfare development in Q2: The charge was related to the game’s recent poor performance, in a quarter that saw revenues rise but profits halve
60. Paradox Interactive chooses development over stagnation with CEO switch
61. Paradox: “We’ve released crappy games in the past… I don’t want to do that anymore”
62. Dead Cells dev hopes to challenge exploitation with equal pay model
63. Dead Cells dev Motion Twin touts equal pay system: All 11 employees at French studio have identical salary, same say in project direction
64. Empires & Puzzles: Disrupting the biggest market with the smallest team – CEO Timo Soininen discusses the importance of mid-development marketing and defying the “so-called industry experts”
65. Steam user count has decreased 17 percent since January 
66. Steam active users on unusual decline throughout 2018: Steep decrease after January surge may reflect popularity of PUBG, then Fortnite
67. Steam game accused of covertly mining for cryptocurrency
68. Lessons learned and questions raised in bringing a game from console to Steam
69. Worldwide digital spending up 15% in June – Superdata: PUBG bolstered by Steam sale with second-best month of all time by unit sales
70. PUBG Mobile’s revenue reaches $30 million: Users globally spending about $650k daily over the last month, nearly triple the amount for the previous month
71. Valve adds pop-ups to Community Market warning of potential scams: Dialogue boxes warn users if they attempt to purchase items for a game they don’t own, or a new release
72. Valve’s first new game in 5 years, Artifact, coming in November, starting at $20
73. How League of Legends Went From Idea to Esport
74. Why Competitive Gaming Is Starting To Look A Lot Like Professional Sports: Can an FPS compete with the NFL?
75. How mobile can unlock esports for a casual audience: nWay CEO Taehoon Kim on the success of Power Rangers Legacy Wars and how it’s helping grow mobile esports
76. Overwatch League franchise spots for next season could be worth up to $60m: London Spitfires crowned Season 1 champions as Activision Blizzard prepares to open up six new spots globally
77. Making the piracy problem worse – 10 Years Ago This Month: Some publishers look at the recording industry’s disastrous reaction to file-sharing and basically copy it
78. Pokémon Go brushes off competition from Jurassic World and The Walking Dead: Apptopia co-founder and COO Jonathan Kay explains why Pokémon Go thrives as its competitors flounder
79. HTC Pushes Back On Reports of Declining Headset Sales
80. HTC defends lack of data when disputing VR “tailspin”: Headset manufacturer claims its leading position shows health of market – despite failing to demonstrate with sales figures
81. HTC, amidst a major revenue decline, brags about its VR revenue
82. PlayStation VR co-creator Richard Marks has swapped Sony for Google
83. Samsung Odyssey Drops to $400 and HP to $200 as Steep Discounts Continue for Windows VR Headsets
84. New XRDC Innovation Report reveals Vive still devs’ top target as AR rises
85. The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast: Artificial intelligence, with Chet Faliszek
86. Elon Musk to video game devs: Help me put “super fun games” on Tesla screens
87. Why did licensed games get better?
88. Defy Media Sells Off Another Property — Its ‘Escapist Magazine’ Gaming News Site
89. The Escapist relaunches with “no politics” pledge
90. FoxNext to join Disney after $71.3 billion Fox deal approved by shareholders: 21st Century Fox games division one of the “key assets” acquired by Disney
91. Disney’s purchase of Fox moves FoxNext into the House of Mouse
92. iOS game collection aims to spotlight pre-mobile handheld games
93. Blog: Meet The mobile puzzlers from a century ago 

DIGITAL

1. Facebook Loses $120 Billion in Market Value, as Stock Slides on Fears Growth Is Hitting a Wall
2. YouTube comes down on Alex Jones for hate speech, child endangerment content
3. Alex Jones hit with 30-day Facebook suspension for bullying and hate speech: Only Jones’ personal profile is affected, not his official channels, including InfoWars
4. Facebook, Following YouTube’s Lead, Takes Action Against InfoWars And Alex Jones
5. Alex Jones slammed with 30-day ban from Facebook for hateful videos [Update]
6. Ted Cruz Bravely Defends Alex Jones Against Facebook’s Temporary Internet Jail
7. Twitter Responds to Claims of ‘Shadow Banning’
8. Insights: Twitter, Facebook Investors Find No Upside In Doing The Right Thing
9. Facebook Just Shut Down Dozens of Fake Pages
10. Facebook’s latest meddling disclosure: “We expected the organization to evolve”
11. ‘We Are Not Bots’: Facebook Censors U.S. Activists After Falsely Claiming They ‘Unwittingly’ Planned Protest
12. MPs slam Facebooks serious failings in report identifying the misuse of personal data as threatening our democracy.
13. Facebook Settles with the Washington Attorney General Over Ad Targeting Practices
14. Facebook’s “downvote” system begins rolling out wider in US—here’s how it works
15. Facebook Starts Showing You How Much Time You Waste on Facebook
16. Facebook And Instagram Add Tools To Help Users Not Get Addicted To Facebook And Instagram
17. Cops Lose Qualified Immunity After Arresting Man For A Snarky Facebook Comment
18. A Cautionary Tale of Sarcasm in Social Media–Ross v. City of Jackson
19. Ignorant Hysteria Over 3D Printed Guns Leads To Courts Ignoring The First Amendment
20. Universal Right Back At It Issuing A DMCA For A Reporter’s Video Of Prince Fans Singing ‘Purple Rain’
21. Universal Retracts DMCA On Journalist Video Of Prince Fans Singing Purple Rain
22. Website User Held to Arbitration Provision Despite Renewing Subscription in Wife’s Name 
23. Embedding preview images is not copyright infringement, says German court
24. 3D-printed gun website yanks CAD files after federal judicial order
25. You Can’t Legally 3D Print Guns Quite Yet
26. The Battle Over 3D-Printed Guns Is Getting Serious
27. 8 states take aim at 3D gun company, sue to get files off the Internet
28. Is Code Free Speech?
29. Inside the Unabomber’s angsty, odd and furious online revival: A TV drama has rekindled interest in anti-technology terrorist Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber. Ironically enough, his followers now congregate online
30. How they did it (and will likely try again): GRU hackers vs. US elections: Latest Mueller indictment offers excruciating details to confirm known election pwnage.
31. On Conspiracy Theories and Election Hacking 
32. Why We’re Sharing 3 Million Russian Troll Tweets
33. My short life as (the face of) a Russian disinformation troll
34. Daily Beast: Russian hackers targeted Democrat facing tough 2018 election
35. Russian Government Decides To Stamp Out ‘Fake News’ At Home, Presumably Leaving Export Operations Unaffected
36. DOJ announces arrest of 3 men allegedly behind notorious FIN7 hacking group
37. Report: Julian Assange’s Thin Ice at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London Could Be About to Break
38. The age of cyberwar is here. We can’t keep citizens out of the debate
39. Senator Mark Warner Lays Out Ideas For Regulating Internet Platforms
40. Microsoft invests $500,000 in coding and tech training for students of colour: Firm’s support will open Seattle chapter for Black Girls Code and boost Technology Access Foundation’s STEM program
41. Windows 10 will try not to reboot when you’re just grabbing a cup of coffee
42. Twitter’s One Step Closer to Figuring Out Why It Sucks
43. Twitter is funding college professors to audit its platform for toxicity
44. On Amazon Prime Day warehouse workers around the world took action against the company. We hear about some of the organizing going on in fulfillment centers from Germany to New Jersey.
45. Amazon’s Rekognition messes up, matches 28 lawmakers to mugshots
46. Amazon’s Face Recognition Falsely Matched 28 Members of Congress With Mugshots
47. Amazon Rekognition Falsely Matched 28 Members of Congress to Mugshots
48. Amazon wrongly IDed 28 members of Congress, and they’re not happy about it
49. Congress Members Want Answers After Amazon’s Facial Recognition Software Says 28 Of Them Are Criminals
50. Congress Members Demand Answers From, Investigation Of Federal Facial Rec Tech Users
51. Amazon: Cops should set confidence level on facial recognition to 99%
52. The Value Of Public Shaming
53. The future role of AI in fact checking
54. Data’s day of reckoning: We can build a future we want to live in, or we can build a nightmare. The choice is up to us.
55. Why Westerners Fear Robots And The Japanese Do Not
56. The “Biometric Mirror” Judges You The Way We’ve Taught It To: With Bias
57. Contractual considerations in Robotic Process Automation and Artificial Intelligence outsourcing
58. AI Coaches Are Here To Unleash Your Inner LeBron
59. Canadian Developments in AI and Technology: Ethical Considerations for Innovators
60. Neural network implemented with light instead of electrons
61. Regulation-bot: the rise of AI legislation
62. The Rise of the Last-Mile Exchange: Keeping up with the growing volume of e-commerce will require delivery companies to disrupt their long-standing business model.
63. Report: Google is preparing to cave to Chinese search censorship
64. Google’s Censored Chinese Search Engine Shows It’s No Longer Afraid of U.S. Backlash
65. Google Developing Censored Search Engine For China: Report
66. Disappointing: Google Makes Plan To Return To China With Censored Search Engine
67. Google Glass Is Back, And May Have Finally Found A Place It Belongs
68. YouTube Will Bring Original Programming To Germany, Japan, Mexico, France, And India
69. YouTube In Hot Water Again After Search Results For Tom Hanks Lead To Conspiracy Theories
70. YouTube’s Second Demi Lovato Documentary Is In Production But On Hold After Apparent Overdose
71. YouTube Premium’s Fall Slate To Feature Will Smith, Robert Downey Jr., Kirsten Dunst
72. YouTube Music Is Seriously Bulking Up Its Senior Leadership On A Global Scale
73. Indian PM Narendra Modi Surpasses One Million Subscribers, Will Soon Be Top World Leader On YouTube
74. Jimmy Kimmel Enlists Goddaughter To Teach Him About YouTube Beauty Tutorials
75. Casey Neistat Is “Just Getting Started” After Surpassing 10 Million Subscribers
76. Casey Neistat Challenges Logan Paul In Testy Interview: “All That Really Matters Is What Transpired”
77. Will Smith To Casey Neistat: “Let’s Get To Creatin’”
78. Alisha Marie Returns From Two-Month Hiatus, Looks To Normalize Breaks For YouTube Stars
79. Huda Kattan, Lele Pons Are Instagram’s Top-Paid Digital Influencers At $33,000 Per Post (Report)
80. “Kidtech” Company Superawesome Launches Video Player For Family-Friendly Publishers
81. CBS Announces Plans For 24/7 Streaming Local News Services, Launching First In New York
82. Viacom confirms Awesomeness TV acquisition
83. Viacom To Acquire Digital Media Company AwesomenessTV For Rumored Price “Below $300 Million”
84. Viacom announces it’s buying Awesomeness: Viacom announced it’s buying Awesomeness for a price well under $300 million – Awesomeness was owned by NBCUniversal, Verizon, and Hearst.
85. Jeffrey Katzenberg’s WndrCo Raises Additional $200 Million, For $1 Billion In Total Funding (Report)
86. Spotify Hits 83 Million Premium Subs in Q2 as Net Loss Doubles: CEO Daniel Ek says direct-licensing deals with artists don’t make Spotify a record label
87. Spotify is now streaming Archie motion comics
88. Spotify Debuts ‘Archie’ Motion Comic Amid Pivot To Audio-Visual Content
89. Penske Media Makes Strategic Investment in BuzzAngle Music: Key PMC brands, including Rolling Stone and Variety, will utilize the platform’s data, analysis and consumption charts.
90. Snapchat To Act As Matchmaker For Creators And Advertisers Via ‘Storytellers’ Initiative
91. NFL Renews Snapchat Deal for Two Years, Will Flood the Zone for Sunday Games 
92. Snapchat launches new Lenses that respond to your voice
93. Snapchat’s Latest Lenses Are Speech-Activated With Words Like “Love” And “Wow”
94. MoviePass Is Jacking Up Its Prices as It Tries to Survive
95. MoviePass, AMC, and the Era of Cinema Subscriptions
96. Mission: Impossible’s Box Office ‘Failure’ Shows Why We Need MoviePass
97. The strange story of how MoviePass’ owner was created by an Indian company accused of massive fraud
98. WhatsApp Rightly Refuses Indian Government’s Silly Demand To Break Encryption
99. Loyalty vs. Freedom of Expression: Who Wins the Battle in the Social Media Ring
100. OSC Cryptocurrency Survey Reveals Public’s Uncertainty About Blockchain Issues
101. Cryptomining Malware Is Infecting Corporate Networks Worldwide
102. Hackers find creative way to steal $7.7 million without being detected
103. The Rise Of An “Assassination Marketplace” Shows The Dark Side of Decentralized Networks
104. NFLPA Bets on Blockchain-Backed Social Streaming Platform SportsCastr
105. California Federal Court Denies Preliminary Injunction In “Blockchain” Dispute 
106. Up to Two-Thirds of Bitcoin Transactions Have No Economic Value
107. Inside Ecobee’s plans to outsmart Nest: The smart-thermostat maker wants to remodel our houses for the digital age — if Google’s Nest doesn’t squash it first.
108. How Software Ate the Point of Sale: Or, why paying for stuff is so complicated now
109. Services drove Apple’s best third quarter ever, but iPhone sales aren’t growing
110. Growing Up Jobs: Steve Jobs and Chrisann Brennan were 23 when their daughter was born. Lisa Brennan-Jobs remembers the pride and pain of a childhood spent navigating the vastness between her struggling single mom and Apple’s mercurial founder.
111. Happy Birthday To Us! Wired Turns 25 

CREATIVITY

1. Inequality in 1,100 Popular Films: Examining Portrayals of Gender, Race/Ethnicity, LGBT & Disability from 2007 to 2017 (Dr. Stacy L. Smith, Marc Choueiti, Dr. Katherine Pieper, Ariana Case, & Angel Choi)
2. In the era of #MeToo, is it still OK to laugh at ‘Animal House’?
3. Stephen Colbert swallows hard and addresses boss Les Moonves’ #MeToo mess
4. Assaults in dressing rooms. Groping during lessons. Classical musicians reveal a profession rife with harassment.
5. Down for what?: Every rapper wants a woman who will do anything, except be her own person.
6. The Sex-Trafficking Case Testing the Limits of the First Amendment: How a couple of crusading journalists made a fortune selling adult escort ads and in the process became unlikely and widely reviled First Amendment advocates.
7. Why Are We Still So Worried About Wat­­ching Porn?: Decades of fearmongering almost got porn addiction added to the International Classification of Diseases. Thankfully, the World Health Organization got it right.
8. Staircases in Space: Why Are Places in Science Fiction Not Wheelchair-Accessible?
9. “Known but not discussed”: Low-income people aren’t getting quality news and information. What can the industry do about it?
10. How music has responded to a decade of economic inequality: Popular music has always delivered social critique. But it’s struggled to grapple with the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.
11. The 200 Greatest Songs By 21st Century Women+
12. Sony Finds Itself In Court After Bullying Film Studio Over Supposed ‘Slender Man’ Copyright Infringement
13. Better by design: significant changes coming to Canada’s industrial design legislation
14. Are headline and title writers getting too cocky about their IP rights?
15. Fox Shareholders Have Agreed to the Disney Deal, and the X-Men Are Coming Back to Marvel

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

1. CRTC Truthiness: New Docs Reveal New Story About Bell Meetings with the Commission on Website Blocking 
2. Trump Throws His FCC Under The Bus For Pointing Out Sinclair May Have Lied During Its Merger Sales Pitch
3. Ajit Pai Lies (Again) To Congress With Claim Net Neutrality Killed Broadband Investment
4. FCC Chairman Will Not Recuse Himself From Investigation Into Former Client Securus Technologies
5. Cord Cutting Accelerates Faster Than Expected, As Cable Still Refuses To Compete On Price
6. The Fairfax and Nine merger is the disruption of digital media arriving to Australia in a big way
7. NY threatens to kick Charter out of the state after broadband failures
8. New York State Votes To Kick Charter Out Of The State For Poor Service, Failing To Meet Merger Conditions
9. NY orders Charter out of state, says it must sell Time Warner Cable system
10. Comcast installed Wi-Fi gear without approval—and this city is not happy
11. Comcast, Charter dominate US; telcos “abandoned rural America,” report says 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

1. GDPR Compliance for Canadian Organizations
2. How GDPR is affecting the kidtech biz: The EU’s new data protection and privacy regulations went into effect in May, but experts say the kids industry is not prepared for the potential fines.
3. UK Tribunal Says GCHQ Engaged In Illegal Telco Collection Program For More Than A Decade
4. Inspector General Says NSA Still Hasn’t Implemented Its Post-Snowden Internal Security Measures
5. Court Rejects Evidence From Warrantless Search Of Phone Six Years After The Gov’t Seized It
6. Cops Slowly Wise Up To The SIM Hijacking Trend Carriers Don’t Want To Seriously Address
7. EU And Japan Agree To Free Data Flows, Just As Tottering Privacy Shield Framework Threatens Transatlantic Transfers
8. Sir Cliff Richard v The BBC: Blurring the lines between libel and privacy law
9. Freedom of expression: On a Cliff edge?
10. Hold on to Your Coins! Understanding Sextortion Scam Emails and What You Should Do
11. Click on this iOS phishing scam and you’ll be connected to “Apple Care”
12. Password breach teaches Reddit that, yes, phone-based 2FA is that bad
13. New Spectre attack enables secrets to be leaked over a network
14. Shipping company’s networks in the Americas crippled by ransomware attack
15. Bringing the Fourth Amendment into the Digital Age: Implications of Carpenter v. United States
16. New Report Says The Feds’ Focus On Device Encryption Is Holding Local Law Enforcement Back
17. Burglar wakes up couple to ask to use their Wi-Fi network

Jon

GAMES

1. Two Researchers Challenged a Scientific Study About Violent Video Games – and Took a Hit for Being Right: How two researchers paid a price for challenging a retracted study about violent video games.
2. Nintendo files lawsuit against two popular ROM websites
3. Nintendo to ROM sites: Forget cease-and-desist, now we’re suing
4. Nintendo files copyright infringement lawsuit against two console ROM websites: LoveROMs and LoveRETRO are “among the most open and notorious online hubs for pirated video games” says platform holder
5. Roblox: “Our work on safety is never-ending” – Developer behind popular kids game responds to recent gang rape incident, reiterates that hacker behind it has been banned
6. Roblox on track to pay in-game devs $70M in 2018, more than double 2017’s payout
7. Blind Mind Studios releases source code for Star Ruler 2
8. PUBG Corp apologizes, removes offensive Japanese mask from game
9. PUBG developer apologies after controversial World War II references found in game: Purchasable mask and AI bot caused offence across Korea and China with allusions to Imperial Japan
10. Video chat with PUBG creator: “We could put battle royale in everything”
11. PUBG Mobile reaches $30M in revenue 4 months after launch
12. How Landfall accidentally struck a vein with a joke battle royale game
13. Valve bans over 90,000 Steam accounts in one week
14. 90,000 Steam accounts banned in Valve’s biggest anti-cheat purge to date: Just under 30,000 cheaters dealt with on Wednesday, followed by a record-breaking 60,000 yesterday
15. Psyonix shares Rocket League loot box drop rates ahead of progression overhaul
16. Dota 2 loot boxes now reveal contents ahead of purchase for Dutch players
17. Niantic introduces three-strike policy for cheaters inPokémon Go
18. Niantic outlines Pokemon Go cheating policy: Developer offers clarity on three-strike disciplinary system as ban waves ramp up
19. Guiding children towards healthy gaming: “We have amazing materials for parents, we need to shout about them much more,” says Andy Robertson
20. For the record: Report on Saudi Arabia ban of 47 games inaccurate
21. Rebuilding MidBoss – Interim CEO and creative director discuss trying to save the 2064: Read Only Memories studio after sexual harassment and employee mistreatment scandal
22. Gaming’s toxic men, explained: Experts tackle the phenomenon of angry men, trolls, racists and misogynists who hover around the video game industry
23. The GamesIndustry.biz Careers Survey 2018: Lower pay but less crunch
24. Studio Pixel Punk: Getting diversity right means going beyond “good intentions”
25. 2K’s light slate belies bigger ambitions: President David Ismailer discusses publisher’s plans to grow, how it evaluates development partners, and thoughts on esports betting
26. International Olympic Committee hosts forum to discuss esports: Riots Games CEO hopes forum might lead to esports “being more legitimised the world over”
27. Esports Could Enter The Olympics Fray By The 2024 Summer Games In Paris (Report)
28. James Ohlen: Anthem failure won’t mean the end of BioWare – Long-serving designer also disputes “conspiracy theories” that EA is driving studio away from story-driven RPGs
29. Bandai Namco: “We want 50% of our games to be new IP” – Digital and marketing VP Hervé Hoerdt details how the Japanese publisher plans to create new brands that yield movies, toys and more
30. Bandai Namco Amusement Lab Inc. established for VR arcade development
31. Bandai Namco establishes new development team for VR, AR, MR: Bandai Namco Amusement Lab Inc. will focus on XR experiences primarily for arcades
32. This VR Horror Game Is Exactly as Scary as Your Body Can Handle
33. The Magic Hustle: Magic Leap not so Magical – Silicon Valley Global News SVGN.io
34. Unity: “Games wouldn’t see the light of day” without asset stores – Asset Store boss Peter O’Reilly on the misconception around “asset flips”, and why Unity won’t match the Unreal Marketplace’s 88/12 revenue split
35. Minecraft most downloaded Switch game in Japan so far this year: Retail version beats out all other packaged software for 2018 after less than one month on store shelves
36. Blog: Breath of the Wild and the Montessori method
37. Octopath Traveler impresses in European charts
38. Square Enix bets on game streaming with Blacknut partnership
39. Square Enix partners with Blacknut for cloud gaming: Partnership will bring Lara Croft Go, Hitman Go, more to Blacknut-supported devices
40. UK Charts: Crash Bandicoot holds No.1 as Xbox exclusives dominate Top Ten
41. Microsoft’s streaming Xbox will split up games to keep latency low
42. Forward-box: Xbox Adaptive Controller’s packaging is a good Microsoft move
43. Designing accessible packaging for the Xbox One Adaptive Controller
44. Candy Crush Saga revenue spikes 18% in Q2 to over $200m: King’s six-year-old game ranked No. 7 for global app spending and No. 6 for games
45. Next Games looks to The Walking Dead for growth after €7m H1 loss
46. Layoffs at OnRush developer after racer fails to gain traction
47. Onrush struggles lead to Evolution layoffs: Driveclub director Paul Pustchynsky among those who have been made redundant as Codemasters “decapitates” studio
48. Raiders of the Broken Planet going free-to-play less than a year after launch: MercurySteam’s online shooter also rebranding as Spacelords as of August 23rd, director says episodic model “didn’t work as planned”
49. Apple promotes iPhone gaming performance with new ad
50. Analyst: Fortnite now rakes in $2 million per day on iOS alone
51. Fortnite daily mobile revenue reaches $2m: Launch of Season 5 sets new record of $3 million revenue in a single day
52. Why the world loves “Fortnite” and I don’t
53. Epic releases postmortem for Fortnite’s playground mode
54. How Fortnite Captured Teens’ Hearts and Minds: The craze for the third-person shooter game has elements of Beatlemania, the opioid crisis, and eating Tide Pods.
55. Video: The unconventional launch of Fortnite 
56. Report: Epic’s net worth could rise to $8B thanks toFortnite
57. Breaking down Azeroth’s gates: Nostalgia is a powerful force for millions of former WoW players; but to convince them that they can re-engage without facing a time-sink, Blizzard needs to innovate once more
58. In A New Game Available On YouTube, Video URLs Are Hidden Inside Puzzles
59. YouTube Stars Kristopher London, Jesser Play ‘NBA 2k19’ With The Lakers, Get Scanned Into The Game
60. Matthew Patrick Announces The Passing Of Game Theorists Editor Ronnie “Oni” Edwards
61. Halo devs not working on battle royale mode for Infinite
62. Rockfish: Live Steam broadcasting will change the game for indie marketing – Valve’s store page streaming beta helped Everspace to its highest ever single-day revenue, says CEO Michael Schade
63. Blog: Being a solo indie in a post-Steam Greenlight world
64. Oculus Go supporting otherwise faltering VR headset market: Q2 shipments show waning interest in VR as Pokemon Go continues to popularize AR
65. No Man’s Sky Next update attracts over 40,000 players on Steam
66. Bethesda unlikely to use external developers in future
67. Bethesda’s growth makes it ‘less likely’ it’ll let external devs tackle its IP
68. Google Play continues to widen global download gap with iOS: Android storefront saw over 20 billion app downloads in Q2, iOS downloads around 8 billion
69. Microsoft ends fiscal year with $10 billion in games revenue, more Xbox Live users
70. Microsoft annual gaming revenue tops $10 billion: Xbox maker’s full-year results show year-over-year growth in sales, Xbox Live active users
71. Jurassic World Evolution hits one million sales
72. Jurassic World Evolution has sold over 1 million copies
73. Defiance 2050 developer Trion Worlds lays off 15 staff
74. Trion Worlds eliminates 15 positions post-Defiance 2050 launch: MMO studio says round of layoffs necessary to enable continued development on upcoming projects
75. UK tax breaks have helped finance 480 video games: In fact, more games have benefitted from tax relief than TV productions
76. How piracy led to GOG encouraging DRM-free releases
77. Muriel Tramis becomes second-ever game designer awarded the Legion of Honour
78. Understanding the human cost of creating No Man’s Sky
79. Writers discuss the evolving role narrative has in game development
80. Former BioWare dev James Ohlen discusses creative freedom and burnout
81. A quick word on which versions of Mega Man X Legacy Collection to get—or avoid
82. The Game Outcomes Project: How teamwork, leadership and culture drive results

DIGITAL

1. Microsoft exec: We stopped Russia from hacking 3 congressional campaigns
2. Yes, Russians Hacked U.S. Electric Companies, Homeland Security Confirms
3. Breaking With 30 Years Of Traditional Opacity, DOJ Releases FISA Warrant Applications For Surveillance Of Carter Page
4. Wikileaks Refused To Publish Manafort Family Texts, So Someone Else Did
5. Digital age reinforces the need for judiciary to act as a bulwark against tyranny
6. The ‘Guerrilla’ Wikipedia Editors Who Combat Conspiracy Theories
7. How Silicon Valley Turned Evil: What Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, and Elon Musk can learn from their predecessors – before they destroy the world.
8. Is Any Press Really Good Press? California Supreme Court Rules on Fate of Defamatory Yelp Reviews
9. Facebook stock dives nearly 20% on warning of slow revenue growth
10. Facebook Just Learned The True Cost Of Fixing Its Problems
11. Facebook Sets Up China Subsidiary to Build Local Innovation Hub
12. After a single day, Facebook is pushed out of China again
13. Facebook follows SpaceX and OneWeb into high-speed satellite broadband
14. Senators Wyden & Rubio Ask Google And Amazon To Bring Back Domain Fronting
15. Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Twitter partner for ambitious new data project: An open-source collaboration for ‘the future of portability’
16. Study: Analysis of top Facebook pages covering American political news – Study of 463 leading Facebook pages shows that partisan pages have roughly equal engagement, but right-wing pages drastically outnumber left-wing pages
17. Facebook bows to WA state pressure to remove “discriminatory” ad filters
18. Facebook’s Fight Against Fake News Keeps Raising Questions
19. Departing Facebook Security Officer’s Memo: “We Need To Be Willing To Pick Sides”: In a brutally honest note about his departure, Facebook’s Chief Security Officer Alex Stamos calls on his colleagues “to intentionally not collect data where possible”
20. Listen To Stephen Fry Perfectly Analogize The Moral Panics Around Facebook To The Ones Over The Printing Press
21. Should Your Family Be Able to Inherit Your Facebook Messages?
22. Appeals Court Won’t Yet Review Awful District Court Decision That Says Embedding Could Be Infringement
23. Does the Public Have a First Amendment Right to Post Comments on a Public Official’s Twitter Feed? First Amendment Challenges to Social Media Access in the 21st Century
24. Twitter courted comedians, then the opposition: How jokes became ammo during the social media platform’s shift from distraction to political warzone
25. Was It Ethical For Dropbox To Share Customer Data With Scientists?
26. The Internet Apologizes …:Even those who designed our digital world are aghast at what they created. A breakdown of what went wrong – from the architects who built it.
27. Cyberbullying
28. Leaders Who Pledged Not To Build Autonomous Killing Machines Are Ignoring The Real Problem
29. U.S. Department of Defense Established A Center To Better Integrate AI
30. ‘The discourse is unhinged’: how the media gets AI alarmingly wrong
31. We Need Transparency in Algorithms, But Too Much Can Backfire
32. Google’s iron grip on Android: Controlling open source by any means necessary
33. Advertiser’s Suit Against Google Loses for Third (and Final) Time–Abid v. Google
34. Google Wants You to Use Physical Security Keys So Bad It’s Willing to Sell You One
35. Google launches “Shielded VMs” to protect cloud servers from rootkits, data theft
36. Big News: Big Internet Platforms Making It Easy To Move Your Data Somewhere Else
37. Science Fiction Is Not Social Reality: The tech industry is inspired to create our world from linear, scripted science fiction stories.
38. Delete your account: It’s a “great shame,” says Silicon Valley insider Jaron Lanier, that so much of big tech’s AI has been aimed at manipulating you.­­
39. Brainwashing your wife to want sex? Here is adtech at its worst
40. Resale Price Maintenance, Pricing Algorithms and Monitoring Software: a Recipe for Disaster 
41. DARPA Is Funding Research Into AI That Can Explain What It’s “Thinking”
42. Robots And Racism (Bartneck, C., Yogeeswaran, K., Ser, Q. M., Woodward, G., Sparrow, R., Wang, S., & Eyssel, F.)
43. Influence and responsibility: New Canadian influencer marketing guidelines emerge
44. The Database: A Look At The Growing World Of Streaming And Over-The-Top Video
45. Mozilla Exec Says YouTube Runs Five Times Slower Than Chrome On Firefox, Offers Solution
46. YouTube Streams Over 180 Million Hours to TV Screens Every Day
47. YouTube Deletes Videos Posted by Infowars, Suspends Alt-Right Channel From Live-Streaming
48. YouTube Issues Another Strike Against InfoWars For Hate Speech, Child Endangerment
49. Documentary Series ‘Best Shot,’ Co-Produced By Lebron James, Tips Off On NBA YouTube Channel
50. YouTube Will Distribute Grants To Education-Focused Channels Via ‘YouTube Learning’ Fund
51. YouTube shuts down FamilyOFive channel over ‘child endangerment’ concerns
52. YouTube Finally Terminates Channels Belonging To Notorious ‘DaddyOFive’ Parents
53. YouTube Blocks ‘FamilyOFive’ Account of Parents Convicted of Child Neglect
54. Carrie Hope Fletcher Urges Boycott Of Fellow YouTuber Alex Day’s Upcoming Book
55. Ahead Of Boxing Match, Deji Olatunji Says He’s Being Sued For Greg Paul Press Conference Assault
56. Logan Paul And KSI Have Launched A Pay-Per-View YouTube Channel Dedicated To Their Upcoming Boxing Match
57. YouTube Is Reportedly Combatting Instagram’s IGTV By Cutting Six-Figure Checks To Creators
58. YouTube Experimenting With ‘Explore’ Tab To Expose Viewers To Broader Video Variety
59. What would you do if your teenager became an overnight Instagram sensation?
60. Mac ’n Cheese bubbles over in Instagram copyright dispute
61. GoDaddy & Instagram Avoid Liability for Users’ Photos of Knockoff Goods–Franklin v. X Gear 101
62. Insights: As Subscriptions Drain Wallets, Ad-Supported Online Services Find New Fans
63. Netflix Launches Its First European Production Hub in Madrid
64. Shonda Rhimes’ Eight-Show Netflix Slate Has A Some Romance, Some History, Some Intrigue
65. Petition To Halt Release Of Netflix Series ‘Insatiable’ Garners 123,000 Signatures
66. Netflix Will Enable Subscribers To Use Its Popular Characters As Their Profile Icons
67. Sony Looking To Sell Stake In Crackle And Onboard Strategic Partner (Report)
68. Musical.ly Reportedly Shut Down Live.ly Because Its Owner Didn’t Want A LiveMe Competitor
69. How radio found new life on the internet and changed music discovery forever
70. Twitch Launches Creator Camp Channel To Help Its Users Become Better Streamers
71. Snapchat Opens A Private Marketplace For Brands To Buy Ads In Discover Shows
72. Snapchat and Nielsen Partner to Integrate Offline Data For Audience Targeting
73. Snapchat is shutting down Snapcash
74. Snapchat starts to syndicate video shows on Discover
75. Snapchat Is Launching A Show Where Parents Look At Their Kids’ Dating App Profiles
76. Sony’s Monstrous New Smartphone Camera Sensor Could Make Us Care About Megapixels Again
77. Research Confirms The Anecdotal Evidence: Internet Content Filters Are A Waste Of Money
78. ‘Piracy Audiences Are Untapped Pools of Wealth’
79. Chinese Citizens Are Using Blockchain to Warn Each Other of Unsafe Vaccines
80. CSA reinforces position that securities laws apply to cryptocurrency offerings, confirms regulatory scrutiny for industry participants
81. Hacker Exposes Security Vulnerability in Popular Cryptocurrency Site Etherscan
82. The Role of IP in the Crypto Bubble
83. Declining cryptocurrency prices are making graphics cards affordable again
84. Behold This Disastrously Bad Op-Ed Calling for Amazon to Replace Libraries
85. Amazon Studios’ Top Film Executive Is Departing Amid Strategic Shift
86. Best Buy Should Be Dead, But It’s Thriving in the Age of Amazon: The big-box retailer doesn’t just want to sell you electronics. It wants its in-home consultants to be “personal chief technology officers.”
87. Amazon’s Face Recognition Falsely Matched 28 Members of Congress With Mugshots
88. Can We Make Non-Racist Face Recognition?
89. For One Last Night, Make It a Blockbuster Night: Everything is 10 years behind in Alaska—including the way people see movies.But now, the late fees are finally coming due, and the end of the Blockbuster era is upon us.
90. Click-wraps the way of the future ‒ but make sure they’re legal
91. A new digital divide: Young people who can’t use keyboards

CREATIVITY

1. The value of a copyrighted photograph is not necessarily in the eye of the beholder
2. When Does “All” Mean All?
3. Tesla clears the air with “farting unicorn” artist after copyright stink
4. Au Revoir, Droit de Suite—9th Circuit Narrows California Resale Royalty Act to a Single Year’s Sales
5. South Africa’s Proposed Fair Use Right In Copyright Bill Is Surprisingly Good — At The Moment
6. False Advertising in a Movie Trailer?
7. Who owns the Roger Federer RF monogram trade mark? 
8. Ecuador Will Imminently Withdraw Asylum for Julian Assange and Hand Him Over to the UK. What Comes Next?
9. The View From Somewhere: The Press Needs To Be Anti-Partisan, Not Bi-Partisan
10. Cambodian Government Latest To Stifle Press With ‘Fake News’ Legislation
11. The Daily News Was Superman’s Paper – Tronc Fed It Kryptonite: The owners fired half the paper’s staff Monday in a savage move that not only guts the newspaper, but also drastically diminishes the reporting of New York City.
12. Tronc Is Incompetent, but Gutting Newsrooms Is Just Normal Capitalism
13. If You’re A Journalist Hiring Lawyers To Intimidate Publishers Into Killing Stories About Your Misdeeds, You’re A Hypocrite
14. Disney confirms Guardians director fired over years-old tweets
15. James Gunn Will No Longer Direct Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in the Wake of Appalling Tweets 
16. Hollywood’s Zero-Tolerance on Racism, Sexism Is the New Normal
17. The US Army Gets Armistice With NHL Team Over ‘Golden Knights’ Trademark
18. Four ways President Trump is changing prime time TV
19. The Propaganda Films That Saved Walt Disney’s Cartoon Empire
20. Marvel Offers Grief Counseling at Comic-Con for Fans Traumatized by the End of Infinity War 
21. Art technicians: The industry’s dirty secret, or all part of the process?
22. The Standard Consent Agreement That Protects Sacha Baron Cohen
23. The death of Don Draper: Advertising, once a creative industry, is now a data-driven business reliant on algorithms. The implications are deeply sinister – not only for the consumer but for democracy itself.
24. How The Global Music Copyright Business Grew By $1.5bn In 2016 (And Why That’s Amazing News Today)
25. Blurred Lines Between Inspiration and Infringement: Ninth Circuit Holds “Blurred Lines” Infringes Copyright
26. You Don’t Need to Be a Musician to Get a Record Deal in 2018: Streaming has upturned music’s status quo – and labels are looking farther afield for truly fresh talent
27. Trying to protect – and expand – Cuba’s undiscovered musical legacy

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

1. Court Rules Quebec Plan for Mandated ISP Blocking of Online Gambling Sites is Unconstitutional
2. A $250,000 Reminder that “CASL” is Not Just an AntiSpam Law
3. CRTC Issues Penalties to Middle Men Under CASL to Combat Malware Installation
4. Audio Bulletin – CRTC Issues Penalties to Middle Men Under CASL to Combat Malware Installation
5. How far will the FCC pursue Sinclair Broadcasting’s “misrepresentations” now that Trump has intervened?
6. FCC votes against Sinclair/Tribune merger, likely dooming deal
7. FCC Confirms Sinclair Misled Agency To Try And Get Its Megamerger Approved
8. Trump tweets anger at FCC after Pai blocks Sinclair/Tribune merger
9. Comcast Drops Its Bid to Buy Fox, Meaning There’s Nothing Stopping the Disney Deal Now
10. Comcast admits defeat in bidding war for Fox, clearing path for Disney
11. Ajit Pai gets message from his hometown ISP: Don’t hurt us small ISPs
12. Viacom in Talks to Buy AwesomenessTV
13. Viacom In Advanced Talks To Acquire AwesomenessTV (Report)
14. Verizon Took A $658 Million Hit “Mainly Related To The Discontinuation” Of Go90
15. FCC will now take your comments on whether to allow T-Mobile/Sprint merger
16. Wireless Carriers Have A SIM Hijacking Problem They Don’t Want To Talk About
17. Massachusetts Just The Latest State To Embrace Net Neutrality
18. India Embraces Full Net Neutrality As The U.S. Runs The Opposite Direction
19. NYC Will Stop Gouging Incarcerated New Yorkers For Calling Home
20. Personal liability for directors over nuisance calls
21. Sen. Ron Wyden On Breaking Up Facebook, Net Neutrality, And The Law That Built The Internet
22. Survey: 5.4 Million Americans Will Cut The Cable TV Cord In 2018

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

1. Canadian Court Affirms Citizens Still Have An Expectation Of Privacy In Devices Being Repaired By Third Parties
2. Toronto Approves Gunshot-Detecting Surveillance Tech Days After Mass Shooting: Rattled by a string of gun violence this year, Toronto just approved ShotSpotter, a US-based audio surveillance system that purports to detect the sound of gunshots.
3. Public Facebook Profiles Not Equivalent to Public Information Under PIPEDA
4. Texas Judges Continue To Turn Expungement Orders Into ‘Right To Be Forgotten’ Requests
5. Snoopware installed by 11 million+ iOS, Android, Chrome, and Firefox users
6. Decade-old Bluetooth flaw lets hackers steal data passing between devices
7. Today’s the day that Chrome brands plain old HTTP “not secure”
8. In the Internet of Things, Opportunities Abound for Class Action Litigation
9. UK Court Rules a Suspect in a Criminal Investigation has Reasonable Expectation it will be Kept Private
10. UK Judge Says Accurate Journalism Is An Invasion Of Privacy In Cliff Richard Case
11. Congratulations and Celebrations to Sir Cliff Richards in High Court Privacy Success
12. Sir Cliff Richard wins landmark privacy battle against the BBC
13. Privacy Cliff’s courageous battle with the BBC brings the right outcome
14. Federal Judge Blasts FBI, Agent For Breaking The Law When Seeking Stingray Warrants
15. 24 people have now been sentenced in India-based phone-scam case
16. This school scans classrooms every 30 seconds through facial recognition technology
17. Uber, Lyft driver booted after newspaper reveals he was livestreaming passengers
18. Venmo’s terrible idea
19. British Airways asked customers to post personal information on Twitter ‘to comply with GDPR’
20. Irish Lawmakers Realizing The GDPR’s Consent Requirements Seem A Bit Onerous, Want To ‘Infer’ Consent
21. Demonstrating Compliance with both GDPR and CCPA
22. Cybersecurity, Privacy and Data Protection Alert: California Consumer Privacy Act
23. Once Again…California Sets the Tone for U.S. Data Privacy 
24. California Passes Groundbreaking Data Privacy Law with an Expansion of Consumers’ Privacy Rights
25. A First (But Very Incomplete) Crack at Inventorying the California Consumer Privacy Act’s Problems
26. The World Economy Runs on GPS. It Needs a Backup Plan: The small satellite network, which keeps global computer systems from freaking out, is shockingly vulnerable to all kinds of interference.
27. Ars on your lunch break: The consequences of a government genetic database

Jon

GAMES

1. Tencent awarded $2.9M in case against dev of allegedLeague of Legends clone
2. Tencent awarded $2.89 million in lawsuit against Mobile Legends CEO: Riot Games parent company wins non-compete suit in China
3. Capcom Wins Judgement to Uphold Patent in Lawsuit to Rescind Decision for its Patent #3295771
4. Star Citizen backer loses court case for $4,500 refund: Arbitration clause in end-user license agreement protects developer RSI from refund claims in court
5. Court denies Star Citizen backer’s $4,500 refund lawsuit
6. EPIC Bravely Defeats 14 Year Old’s Mom In Court To Continue Lawsuit Against Her Son For Cheating In Fortnite
7. Saudi Arabia appears to ban 47 video games after deaths of children
8. Credit card thieves reportedly using Clash of Clans to launder money
9. Coming soon? German courts ban vague release dates on pre-orders
10. Germany bans vague pre-order release dates: Retailers no longer to pre-sell games that are “coming soon”, courts have ruled
11. NetEase moves to dismiss PUBG Corp lawsuit: Knives Out developer calls complaint a “shameless attempt” to monopolize a genre
12. As PUBG-like contenders emerge, Islands of Nyne might already have them beat: While we wait for Battlefield, Call of Duty, awesome sci-fi twist is already here.
13. Nintendo lawsuit against Colopl won’t block developer’s Switch release: Platform holder says ongoing patent dispute and defendant’s games business are “completely separate matters”
14. Tempest 4000 finally lives after delays, legal threats—but what’s up on PC?
15. Social features have cut down on toxic behavior inOverwatch
16. Toxicity in Overwatch down by over a quarter following new measures from Blizzard: Game director promises further improvement along with exploration and implementation of new systems
17. Ubisoft is now insta-banning toxic Rainbow Six Siegeplayers
18. Rainbow Six Siege instantly bans players for using slurs: Bans last nearly half an hour for the first offense, with possible permanent bans after the third
19. Amazon may have allowed sales of pirated games: Retailer says “We strictly prohibit the sale of counterfeit products, and these games have been removed”
20. Amazon claims to be spiking listings for pirated games
21. The ArenaNet Catastrophe Has The Whole Game Industry Rethinking Harassment Policies
22. Opinion: It’s past time to get serious about social media policies
23. Over half of UK parents let kids play 18+ rated games
24. How Bossa relied on players to help build its skyfaring MMO Worlds Adrift
25. Jade Raymond on applying lessons from Assassin’s Creed to her new project at EA: The original game was designed as a “sandbox for creatives” with the intention to “hand off the keys to other professionals”
26. Madden lead Carlos Guerrero dismissed from EA: Senior producer departs after only two months due to company policy violation
27. Valve brings trading back to CS:GO in the Netherlands, though loot boxes remain blocked
28. Valve locks Counter-Strike loot boxes for Dutch and Belgian players: Steam item trading returns, but CS:GO’s containers are now locked
29. Valve is temporarily withholding adult games from Steam 
30. Valve temporarily halting new adult game releases on Steam: Company isn’t approving updates or new games until planned filter is in place
31. Valve updates “Upcoming” tab on Steam to focus on user interests: Suggestions based on past purchases and pre-release interest will replace chronological listing
32. Blog: The three ages of Steam distribution
33. Actor Nathan Fillion Just Created A YouTube Fan Film Of Video Game ‘Uncharted’
34. Uncharted fan film, starring Nathan Fillion, beats Sony to live-action punch
35. Nathan Fillion Is Finally Playing Nathan Drake in This Uncharted Fan Film
36. Nathan Fillion Made An Uncharted Fan-Film, And It’s Excellent
37. Fallout 76 and the thrill of ‘stranger danger’: Bethesda’s Pete Hines discusses how the publisher’s previous RPGs have been cheating players – and how its next title resolves this
38. Blizzard does away with World of Warcraft Battle Chest pricing
39. Blizzard makes WoW base game and expansions free to subscribers: New subs now only have to pay an extra fee for the latest expansion, Battle For Azeroth
40. Colonial Marines modder finds big AI fix by changing one letter of code
41. A years-old, one-letter typo led to Aliens: Colonial Marines’ weird AI
42. A One-Letter Typo is (in Part) the Reason Aliens: Colonial Marines Sucked
43. Nintendo showcases DIY games made with Labo’s Toy-Con Garage
44. Hands-on with Nintendo’s weirdest, and maybe rarest, classic console yet
45. The Makers Of Nintendo’s Latest Hidden Gem Worry People Missed It
46. Nintendo hid a load-your-own NES emulator inside a GameCube classic
47. What’s behind Nintendo’s falling stock price?: Nintendo has lost almost a quarter of its valuation in recent months – but its strategy and line-up remains sound despite investor jitters
48. Milan court applies Nintendo v Big Ben in fast fashion lawsuit against ZARA
49. Modders revamp Super Mario Odyssey on hacked Switch hardware
50. Japan is taking steps to legalize paid esports tournaments
51. The Most Important Video Game on the Planet: How Fortnite became the Instagram of gaming.
52. Fortnite has collected $1 billion from in-game purchases
53. Fortnite has earned $1 billion from in-game purchases alone: Revenue has only continued to rise month by month since game’s battle royale debut
54. ‘Fortnite’ Streamer Ninja Helped Florida’s GuardianCon Raise $2.7 Million For St. Jude
55. Dan Bull’s Epic Collaboration Brings Together 100 Creators For ‘Fortnite’ Rap Battle
56. Encouraging collaboration among players in Sea of Thieves
57. Despite Its Best Efforts, NBA 2K League Can’t Beat The Real Thing
58. App Store and Google Play spending hits $34.4B during first half of 2018
59. Mobile game spending up 19 per cent in H1 2018 – Sensor Tower: Tencent’s Honor of Kings led mobile spending on Google Play and the App Store, PUBG Mobile led downloads
60. Marvel Strike Force brings in over $25 million since launch: Turn-based mobile RPG accumulates 10 million installs over four months
61. NetEase’s Identity V downloaded over 100 million times: Asymmetrical multiplayer horror game’s downloads doubled upon global release
62. The Crew 2 activity “in line” with The Crew 1: Ubisoft sees open-world racing sequel following in the tracks of its predecessor, hoping continued support leads to continuous sales over coming years
63. Back catalog games continue to drive growth for Ubisoft as Q1 sales hit $466M
64. Ubisoft net bookings ahead of projections in Q1: Company reports $466 million in sales for the quarter, remains on track for full-year estimates
65. Ubisoft Berlin granted $1.84M in subsidies from city senate for expansion
66. Ubisoft Berlin approved for $1.85m subsidy from city government: Studio plans to use money to expand, creating around 150 new jobs
67. Epic increases revenue split for Unreal Engine Marketplace sellers
68. Epic Games adjusts Unreal Engine Marketplace share in favor of creators: Developer/store split changed to 88/12% from 70%/30%, applied retroactively
69. Epic ups Unreal Marketplace creators’ pay well above industry standard
70. Vampyr sells 450,000 copies in first month
71. Hangar 13: Diversifying your team protects you from blind spots – The Mafia III developer on “walking a tightrope” with the game’s narrative and how the risks it took shaped the new Brighton studio
72. Tropico publisher Kalypso acquires rights to Commandos series
73. Tropico publisher acquires Commandos franchise among others – Kalypso Media: “We see it as our responsibility to want to revive and further develop these beloved games for the fans around the world”
74. Pokemon Go developer Niantic acquires Seismic Games
75. Niantic acquires VR and mobile developer Seismic Games
76. VR rivals come together to develop a single-cable spec for VR headsets
77. Facebook spends $88M on Oculus permits in Seattle to expand VR headquarters
78. Facebook invested $88.3 million to expand its Redmond Oculus HQ this year: Company spent $106 million on construction and permits over the last three years
79. Octi raises $7.5 million in seed funding: AR startup’s app can discern human movement in videos, outline people and add effects
80. AppLovin’ takes $400 million investment: KKR & Co investment is based on a $2 billion valuation of the mobile marketing firm
81. Video game Kickstarters have raised almost $10m so far in 2018: Total money pledged reaches three-year high, but number of campaigns drops to six-year low and success rate remains steady
82. Blog: Crowdfunding and video games in 2018 – A mid-year update
83. Earn while you play start-up Blast secures $12m seed funding: “If you can attach a positive outcome to something that people already do and love, like gaming, you can change lives”
84. Klang Games raises $8.75m for AI-driven space colonization MMO: Spotify-backer firm Northzone leads Series A funding round
85. “There will be more IPOs”: Rebuilding trust in the UK games industry
86. “Real innovation is coming from emerging markets in many spaces – game development is one of them”
87. Ovosonico: Games will be “like the Netflix button on your remote – that easy” – CEO Massimo Guarini on preparing for the horizontal expansion of the industry, and the Italian studio’s pivot into indie AAA
88. Taking stock after five years of ID@Xbox: Chris Charla talks about the program’s biggest successes, pain points, and the conventional wisdom on when to announce and release independent games
89. The Washington Post Is Now Streaming The News On Twitch
90. The Twitch Streamers Who Spend Years Broadcasting To No One
91. Top YouTube Gamer Jacksepticeye, Citing Mental Health, Is On A Break
92. Don’t Miss: Fight or flight – Exploring the neuroscience of survival horror
93. Video: How devs can apply the 5 domains of play to develop empathy
94. Ninja Theory dominates the Develop Awards
95. French game designer Muriel Tramis awarded Legion of Honor
96. Challenging videogame music tropes: “Music doesn’t exist for a passive viewer… it’s the player’s emotional reality,” says composer James Hannigan
97. The 20 JRPGs You Must Play
98. Video Game Deep Cuts: Octopath’s DOS Demake
99. Watch a Guy Build a Brand New, Completely Obsolete Gaming PC With 20-Year-Old Parts

DIGITAL

1. 3D-printed gun lawsuit ends after 3+ years—in gun publisher’s favor
2. “Content is fire, Social Media is gasoline” – Court of Appeal considers the challenges for interim injunctions in the digital age 
3. EU: Google illegally used Android to dominate search, must pay $5B fine
4. EU Fines Google $5 Billion for Stifling Android’s Competition 
5. Here’s Why Google Just Got Hit With a Record $5 Billion Fine 
6. How Google’s Safe Browsing Helped Build A More Secure Web
7. Some Thoughts On The EU’s Latest $5 Billion Google Antitrust Fine
8. Businesses Cannot Contractually Ban “Abusive” Consumer Reviews
9. Trolling the Internet for Photos Creates Copyright Headaches for Ad Agency (and the Advertiser)–Laspata v. Rimowa
10. Executives From YouTube, Facebook, Twitter To Testify Before Congress Regarding Political Bias
11. Shadow Politics: Meet The Digital Sleuth Exposing Fake News – Buried in media scholar Jonathan Albright’s research was proof of a massive political misinformation campaign. Now he’s taking on the the world’s biggest platforms before it’s too late.
12. 12 Russian intel officers indicted for hacking the DNC and Clinton campaign
13. Russia Indictment 2.0: What to Make of Mueller’s Hacking Indictment
14. Indicting 12 Russian Hackers Could Be Mueller’s Biggest Move Yet
15. Bitcoin, malware and ‘spearphishing’ helped Russian agents hack Democratic Party computers in 2016 election
16. Cryptocurrency’s Criminal Revolution: The Unsavory Cast Of Bitcoin’s Biggest Beneficiaries
17. Suspect behind bitcoin exchange that “catered to criminals” ordered to France
18. The SIM Hijackers: Meet the hackers who flip seized Instagram handles and cryptocurrency in a shady, buzzing underground market for stolen accounts and usernames. Their victims’ weakness? Phone numbers.
19. Apple Updates Crypto Currency Aspects of App Store Review Guidelines 
20. AI & Blockchain: An Introduction
21. Coty gets green light for online platform ban
22. Instagram Model Attacked By Shark While Attempting To Snap The Perfect Shot
23. Study: Instagram leads as influencer marketing platform 
24. California Supreme Court Ruling Immunizes Yelp from Defamatory Content Removal
25. ‘Smart’ TVs Remain The Poster Child For Dismal Privacy, Transparency & Security Standards
26. States prevail over e-commerce companies in Battle for sales taxes
27. Magic Leap Finally Demoed Its Headset And It Is… Disappointing
28. Magic Leap’s Disappointing Demo Could Be A Death Knell For AR 
29. Much of the excitement and cool factor around Magic Leap is now gone
30. The best augmented reality I saw this year was live theater funded by a liquor company: Whiskey-sponsored immersive theater. Snickers escape rooms. Immersive branding is just getting started.
31. ‘Rick & Morty VR’, ‘Coco VR’, ‘Blade Runner 2049 VR’ & More Nominated for Emmys
32. DOJ Tells Ron Wyden About The Times It Has Collected Journalists’ Communications; Leaves Some Facts Out
33. Why the Craig behind Craigslist gave big bucks to a journalism program: His philanthropy funds veterans, women, voter protection and trustworthy journalism.
34. Copyright As Censorship: FIFA’s Overaggressive Copyright Takedowns Target Fans Celebrating And Pussy Riot Protesting
35. Trump revealed as Facebook’s biggest political advertiser
36. Media – both on the left and right – are pressing Facebook to define what journalism is
37. Notification: Facebook – you have a £500,000 fine from the Information Commissioner’s Office
38. Why is InfoWars allowed on Facebook? Zuckerberg: Because it doesn’t cause “harm”
39. Here’s What It Takes to Get Kicked off Facebook (Hint: It’s A Lot)
40. Facebook says it will begin removing misinformation that leads to violence
41. How We Can ‘Free’ Our Facebook Friends
42. Inside Facebook, Twitter and Google’s AI battle over your social lives: From stamping out trolls to removing fake bot accounts, here’s how social networks are waging war using AI weapons.
43. UK: ICO announces intention to fine Facebook £500,000 and publishes data analytics investigation update 
44. A FOSTA Of One’s Own: UK Parliament Members Looking To Punish Websites, Push Traffickers Underground
45. Digital Ads Are Starting To Feel Psychic: Targeted advertising has become so uncanny, it feels like we’re being surveilled. Two artists want to hear these stories.
46. How publishers and advertisers can balance privacy and monetization
47. DeepMind Created a Test to Measure an AI’s Ability to Reason
48. New Quantum Computer Milestone Would Make Richard Feynman Very Happy
49. D-Wave’s quantum computer successfully models a quantum system
50. The quantified heart: Artificial intelligence promises ever more control over the highs and lows of our emotions. Uneasy? Perhaps you should be
51. A new hope: AI for news media
52. Artificial Intelligence Is Automating Hollywood. Now, Art Can Thrive.
53. Top AI Experts Vow They Won’t Help Create Lethal Autonomous Weapons
54. Netflix Scores 112 Emmy Nominations, Beating Out HBO’s 108
55. Netflix to Launch Comedy Radio Channel on SiriusXM
56. For First Time In Two Years, Netflix Falls Short Of Quarterly Growth Expectations
57. Investors are worried that Netflix is getting as big as it can get
58. Netflix Can Either Become the Dominant Media Monopoly of the 21st Century or Go Bust
59. Netflix Is King No More as Disney Retakes Media-Company Crown 
60. Netflix CEO Proclaims The Death Of Net Neutrality Is No Big Deal
61. Will Smith Collects $20,000 In Two Days By Selling Merch On YouTube’s New Teespring Shelf
62. Shawn Mendes To Kick Off Year-Long Partnership Between YouTube Music, Rolling Stone
63. Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain” Becomes Oldest Music Video To Reach One Billion YouTube Views 
64. Female Science-Focused YouTubers Face Inordinate Amount Of Criticism, Study Finds
65. YouTube TV Gifts Subscribers Week Of Free Service To Apologize For World Cup Outage
66. Progress Isn’t Linear: YouTube TV’s World Cup Flub Threatens Public’s Trust For Sports Streaming
67. Tickets For The First-Ever VidCon London Are On Sale Now
68. Talent Firm ‘Addition’ Signs Lifestyle Creators Aaryn Williams, Ally Chen, And Jennifer Zhang
69. Racial Discrimination Complaint Against The Young Turks Leads To A Lawsuit
70. Insights: Purging – It’s Not Just For Twitter Anymore (Or At Least It Shouldn’t Be)
71. A Serial Twitter Follow/Unfollower Explains Himself: “I’m just trying to get eyes on me. It’s a big attention game online… the end goal for me is just be on as many screens as I can.”
72. Unfollowing Everybody (Anil Dash)
73. The 10 Most Difficult-To-Defend Online Fandoms
74. Creators Are Making As Much As $50,000 With Music Video App Triller’s New Monetization Feature
75. Kid-Friendly Network Pocket.watch Raises $15 Million Series B Round Led By Viacom
76. Original Shows From DeStorm, Lil Tay Lead The Way As New SVOD Service Zeus Launches
77. Do Subscription Models Work with Apps?: Thoughts on Setapp  –  subscription-based collection for Mac apps
78. Reddit Reinvents The Chat Room With Community Chat
79. Don’t Feed The Trolls, And Other Hideous Lies: The mantra about the best way to respond to online abuse has only made it worse
80. The “Intellectual Dark Web” Is Nothing New
81. PC market appears to have grown for the first time since 2012
82. Microsoft finally gives Teams what it needs to take on Slack: A free version
83. Early Amazon Prime Day Sales Were Up Over 50% Despite Website Crashes and Worker Strikes
84. Uber faces new probe over alleged gender discrimination in hiring practices
85. Elon Musk could face lawsuit for calling cave rescuer a “pedo guy”
86. Antarctic Exploration Vessel Which Should Be Named Boaty McBoatface But Tragically Isn’t Launches

CREATIVITY

1. All’s Fair in Whoville: Dr. Seuss Parody is Fair Use
2. DeLorean Estate Alleges ‘Back to the Future’ Royalties Were Improperly Distributed
3. Green v. Harbach
4. The first rule of copyright reform: Don’t mess with free speech and net neutrality (Michael Geist)
5. Guy In Charge Of Pushing Draconian EU Copyright Directive, Evasive About His Own Use Of Copyright Protected Images
6. Did The Ninth Circuit’s “Blurred Lines” Ruling Just Quietly Move To Kill Off The So-Called Inverse Ratio Rule?
7. Court Won’t Rehear Blurred Lines Case, Bad News For Music Creativity
8. Is the press regulator subject to judicial review? – Coulter v Independent Press Standards Organisation CIC (IPSO)
9. The MAGA Trolls Have Met Their Match In Sacha Baron Cohen And “Who Is America?” 
10. Congressman Introduces Legislation To Criminalize Protesting In A Mask
11. When Black Performers Use Their ‘White Voice’
12. Court to Kanye Plaintiff: Imma Let You Finish
13. Kanye’s Tweet Could Be False Advertising, New York Court Rules
14. Pussy Riot has a wake up call for America’s youth in the Trump era
15. State Appeals Court Tosses Defamation Suit Against Lawyer Who Wrote About Teen Driver Who Injured His Client
16. How A US Burger Chain Brought ‘Ruby Tuesday’ Full Circle Through Trademark Bullying
17. Eighth Grade’s R rating deters actual 8th-graders from seeing it. What a shame.: The MPAA ratings system and its very specific hang-ups are keeping teens away from the movies they need most.
18. Disruption, Consolidation, Uncertainty: Welcome to Hollywood’s Age of Anxiety
19. Why Did American Music Festivals Almost Disappear in the 1970s and ’80s?
20. There Is Now Just One Blockbuster Left in the US
21. Alaska’s last two Blockbusters are shutting down, leaving one in US
22. The Simpsons Wouldn’t Exist Without Yellow Submarine: How the Beatles classic changed the future of animation.
23. Q2 2018 Quick Links, Part 5 (Potpourri) (Eric Goldman)

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

1. Canada: A $250,000 Reminder that “CASL” is Not Just an Anti-Spam Law
2. AG’s False Advertising Suit Challenging Broadband Claims Not Preempted
3. Bill to save net neutrality gets first Republican vote in US House
4. The Cable TV & Broadband Sector Has A Nasty Billing Fraud Problem
5. The FCC’s Sneaky Plan To Make It Easier To Ignore ISP Complaints
6. Ajit Pai Pretends To Care About Identity Fraud That Plagued Net Neutrality Repeal
7. Ajit Pai’s Cure For The ‘Digital Divide’ Looks Suspiciously Like A Giant Middle Finger
8. Ajit Pai finalizes vote to limit FCC reviews of customer complaints
9. Ajit Pai deals major setback to Sinclair/Tribune merger
10. The FCC Mysteriously Retreats From Sinclair Cronyism, Potentially Dooming Controversial Merger
11. FCC Seeks “Large Step” Toward Advancing Broadband Infrastructure Goals With Draft One-Touch Make-Ready Order 
12. Trump administration appeals court loss in AT&T/Time Warner case
13. After AT&T Jacks Up Prices Post Merger, DOJ Decides To Appeal Court Loss
14. Charter Spectrum’s New ‘Unlimited’ Wireless Service Bans HD Video Entirely

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

1. Supreme Court of Canada affirms privacy protections in tobacco health-data case
2. B.C. wins SCC appeal on production of health-care databases in Big Tobacco case
3. PIPEDA at 20: Time for PIPEDA 2.0 (Michael Geist)
4. US v. Microsoft Litigation Update: Supreme Court Dismisses Case as Moot After Congress Amends Stored Communications Act
5. Shocker: DOJ’s Computer Crimes And Intellectual Property Section Supports Security Researchers DMCA Exemptions
6. Judge slams FBI for improper cellphone search, stingray use
7. Oregon Supreme Court Sets Up New Limits For Digital Device Searches
8. Florida Man Jailed for Failing to Unlock His Phone
9. Guy Gets Tossed In Jail For Contempt Charges Because Cops Say They Need To Unlock His Phones To Get Evidence Of Drug Possession 
10. State Appeals Court Says Exigency Beats A Warrant Requirement If A Phone Has A Passcode
11. Walmart Patents Tech for Eavesdropping on Workers
12. Our Data, Ourselves: How to stop tech firms from monopolizing our personal information. 
13. Microsoft President Calls For Government Rules For Facial Recognition Technology
14. How Facial Recognition Could Tear Us Apart: Will the new tech create a safer society – or a dystopian panopticon?
15. Smart TVs are invading privacy and should be investigated, senators say 
16. ‘Smart’ TVs Remain The Poster Child For Dismal Privacy, Transparency & Security Standards
17. Should we have any expectation of privacy in public spaces? (Andres Guadamuz)
18. Obtained Documents Show The DEA Sold Compromised Phones To Suspected Drug Dealers
19. Health Insurers Are Vacuuming Up Details About You – And It Could Raise Your Rates
20. The most ambitious browser mitigation yet for Spectre attacks comes to Chrome
21. California’s Data Privacy Law: What It Is and How to Comply (A Step-By-Step Guide)
22. Can the Privacy Shield survive? What’s next for exports of personal data to the US?
23. European Parliament Turns Up The Pressure On US-EU Privacy Shield Data Transfer Deal A Little More

Jon

GAMES

1. Nintendo, Valve, Sony, and EA reported in Norway for breaching European consumer law – UPDATE: NCC reports Nintendo to German authorities after dropping other complaints
2. We need parents on board if we want to protect their children: Following news of a sexual assault in Roblox and ‘addiction’ to Fortnite, parents want to cut kids off from these games – but that will only make the problem worse
3. Video Game Deep Cuts: Livestreaming Your Fortnite Addiction
4. The Truth About ‘Video Game Addiction’
5. French gambling regulator concerned by loot boxes, but won’t take legal action
6. How Journey eliminated online toxicity with a simple ping
7. Fighting a toxic Steam community – and winning: Creative Assembly’s Grace Carroll said the “visible presence of moderation” was enough to turn around a toxic Steam forum in just a week
8. Valve quickly shuts down developer method for estimating Steam sales: Steam API suddenly altered after The End Is Nigh co-dev uses achievements data as SteamSpy alternative
9. Valve swiftly removes new method for estimating Steam sales
10. Valve highlights the best selling and most played Steam games of 2018
11. Valve leaks Steam game player counts; we have the numbers
12. Team Fortress 2 leads as biggest player counts on Steam revealed
13. Steam Spy and the need for numbers: For indie developers in need of metrics Steam Spy is imperfect, “but the other option is absolutely nothing”
14. Launching a successful indie game in 2018: TheMoonlighter story
15. Guild Wars 2 writers dismissed after Twitter spat with streamer
16. ArenaNet cuts ties with Guild Wars 2 writers after Twitter spat: “Their attacks on the community were unacceptable,” says ArenaNet president
17. ArenaNet sends all the wrong messages: Guild Wars 2 studio terminating employees after backlash discourages fan interaction, encourages player outrage
18. ArenaNet “promised me that I wouldn’t have to check my identity at the door”: Fired writer says Guild Wars studio has damaged its reputation, but ArenaNet maintains that Jessica Price “attacked” community over a “perceived slight”
19. ArenaNet firings inspire IGDA to remind devs: Ask about harassment protection
20. IGDA asks studios to “clarify the guidelines and expectations around social media use”: ArenaNet firings show how “interacting with people as a game developer can jeopardize someone’s job and career”
21. ArenaNet president: Fired devs ‘could have chosen not to engage’ on social media
22. Women in Games launches strategy on improving gender diversity in esports: Encouraging women to participate in the industry is critical for the commercial success of the industry, says advocacy group
23. Blizzard’s Pink Mercy event raised over $12 million for a breast cancer charity
24. ESPN, Disney XD, and Blizzard pen deal to bring Overwatchmatches to primetime TV
25. Blizzard and Disney partner to bring Overwatch League to ESPN, other networks: ESPN, Disney XD, ABC, related networks will broadcast the competition’s inaugural season
26. Todd Howard: Games as a service ‘doesn’t mark the future’
27. ESA president: Crunch “hasn’t been a significant issue” for ten years: Industry body’s leader Mike Gallagher also believes call for unions is “in its infancy”
28. ESA: Strong wages and opportunities keep unionization from being a ‘significant issue’
29. Disney’s ‘Moana’ production assets now available for the public
30. RuneScape generates $800M in lifetime revenue during its 17 years online
31. RuneScape has brought in over $800 million in lifetime revenue: After 17 years and three iterations, Jagex’s MMO has over 250 million player accounts and continues to grow
32. Xbox: Accessible games can “mean the difference between existing and living” for disabled people – But platform holder’s Tara Voelker urges developers to add more accessibility options to their titles
33. Monster Hunter World concerns trigger 13% drop for Capcom shares: US analyst predicts “significant risk of sales decline” as console version slows ahead of PC launch
34. Supercell becomes first publisher to operate two multi-billion-dollar mobile games: Clash Royale breaks $2 billion lifetime revenue
35. Durham College embraces eSports with construction of gaming arena
36. ‘The Unspoken’ VR League eSports Final is Cancelled & Not Coming to Oculus Connect 5 After All
37. Valve: Monthly Active VR Users on Steam Are Up 160% Year-over-year
38. “There is no magic formula” for getting noticed on Steam
39. Jurassic World already one of Steam’s 2018 top sellers: Frontier’s dino park management sim rubbing elbows with Grand Theft Auto 5, Far Cry 5 after less than a month on sale
40. The Sims Mobile has amassed $15M in revenue in four months
41. The Sims Mobile brings in over $15 million in four months: Popular life sim game was only EA’s eighth highest earning mobile game in June
42. The Sims Mobile brings in over $15 million in four months: Popular life sim game was only EA’s eighth highest earning mobile game in June
43. EA acquires Industrial Toys: Midnight Star development studio brings mobile expertise to EA Worldwide Studios
44. id Software: Avoiding cannibalization in the post-apocalypse – Tim Willits on the role of Fallout 76 in Rage 2’s pre-E3 reveal, and why id no longer uses its tech to sell its games
45. Nexon and EA cancel Asia-exclusive Titanfall Online
46. Asia-focused Titanfall Online canceled: Nexon, EA, Respawn collaboration abandoned after over three years of development
47. Electronic Arts snaps up Alex Seropian’s studio Industrial Toys
48. THQ Nordic acquires German developer and publisher HandyGames
49. Coming out from under Grand Theft Auto’s shadow: For years, Take-Two’s other games have lingered in the shadow of Rockstar’s series, but GTA V’s monumental status means it’s pointless to compare it to the upcoming Red Dead Redemption 2
50. Todd Howard: Service-based Fallout 76 doesn’t mark the future direction of Bethesda – “Anyone who has ever said ‘this is the future and this part of gaming is dead’ has been proven wrong every single time”
51. “Millions of people” are still playing Skyrim every month – Todd Howard on the many Skyrim ports: “If you want us to stop releasing it, stop buying it.”
52. How do companies like Nintendo and CD Projekt Red approach crunch?
53. ‘Gatcha’ is a good fit for Fire Emblem, but it isn’t Nintendo’s standard for mobile
54. Many more indie games will be coming to Switch if Nintendo has its way
55. Nintendo aiming for 20 to 30 Switch indie releases per week
56. NPD: Nintendo Switch on track to be the best-selling console of Q4, and all of 2018 – Industry analyst predicts all three current generation consoles will sell at least 4m units total this year in the US
57. Nintendo reportedly rolls out hardware patch following Switch exploit
58. Nintendo reportedly rolling out new, more hack-resistant Switch hardware
59. Ideally, Nintendo wants 20 to 30 new indies to hit the Switch per week
60. GameStop says Nintendo Switch sales doubled following E3 
61. Pokemon Quest nabs 7.5M downloads across Switch and mobile
62. Analyst: Two years in, Pokemon Go crosses $1.8B lifetime revenue
63. Pokemon GO has brought in $1.8 billion since launch: Pokemon’s foray into augmented reality sees players spending $2 million per day
64. Pokémon Quest downloads pass 7.5 million: Free-to-play mobile and Switch game gets off to a strong start
65. Niantic’s Ingress to get Netflix animated series later this year: Series based on Pokémon Go forebear will be used to introduce upcoming sequel Ingress Prime
66. The Binding of Isaac card game raises $1 million in a week on Kickstarter
67. Games account for 94% of Google Play revenue in South Korea: Messaging and communication apps only bring in 2.2%, even less from social media and dating apps
68. Newzoo: Taiwanese gamers expected to spend $1.3 billion in 2018 – With 14.5 million players, Taiwan is the world’s 15th largest gaming market
69. Warner Bros. acquires mobile platform Plexchat to improve social features in its games
70. Tencent to publish Game of Thrones mobile game in China: Yoozoo is developing Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming through a partnership with Warner Bros
71. Tencent going global with WeGame digital marketplace as Steam targets China
72. The negativity of Keita Takahashi: The developer behind Wattam and Katamari Damacy has spent his career trying to show the potential of games, but doesn’t think he’s been successful
73. The European TV channel making documentaries with video games: Arte project manager Adrien Larouzée tells us why games are the perfect storytelling media to spread culture from the continent
74. The video games of Ecuadorean fishing village Santa Marianita: We take another look at how people find ways to play games everywhere
75. Shuhei Yoshida reflects on the PS2 launch: “We were awfully unprepared”: President of SIE Worldwide Studios discusses what went wrong and what went right for PlayStation over the years
76. Levine on BioShock: ‘I don’t think I was conscious of how Jewish it was until afterwards’
77. Meet the dev making his first DOS game — in 2018
78. Time bandits: Check out the ’80s and ’90s titles still going strong
79. The 80s and 90s PC games still unbelievably being updated today
80. Blog: Retro games as a revivalist movement

DIGITAL

1. NZ court rules Kim Dotcom can be extradited to US on copyright charges
2. Kim Dotcom Loses Latest Round In Extradition Fight, Will Try To Appeal Again
3. Technoleviathan: China, Silicon Valley, and the rise of the global surveillance state.
4. Spy For Us – Or Never Speak To Your Family Again: China is using its huge digital surveillance system, and the threat of sending family members to reeducation camps, to pressure minorities to spy on their fellow exiles.
5. China producing x86 chips nearly identical to AMD server processors
6. iPhone crashing bug likely caused by code added to appease Chinese gov’t
7. Uganda Bans VPNs To Prevent Users From Dodging Its Absurd New Social Media Tax
8. A Numerical Exploration Of How The EU’s Article 13 Will Lead To Massive Censorship
9. EU sends controversial internet copyright reforms back to the drawing board: It’s a strong rejection of the legislation in its current form, but not the end of the battle
10. European Parliament rejects discussions on controversial copyright law
11. EU Parliament Votes To Step Back From The Abyss On Copyright For Now
12. EU copyright law sent back for a rethink
13. Don’t Believe Those Who Wish To Diminish Digital Rights By Falsely Implying It’s All Big Tech Lobbying
14. What can the Copyright Directive vote tell us about the state of digital rights? (Andres Guadamuz)
15. Movie Industry Denies Lawsuit Strategy Despite Proliferation of Legal Actions and Settlement Demands Against Thousands of Canadians (Michael Geist)
16. Lawyer loses appeal, fails to expand internet privileges
17. Trump’s Supreme Court pick: ISPs have 1st Amendment right to block websites
18. Online Review Website Cannot Be Forced To Remove Defamatory Posts
19. Section 230 Immunity Protects Yelp from Injunction Order to Remove Defamatory Posts
20. Section 230 Helps Facebook Defeat Pro Se Defamation Suit–Jefferson v. Facebook
21. Amazon Again Avoids Liability for Defective Marketplace Item–Fox v. Amazon
22. Over The Top Sports Streaming Comes To Europe With Amazon’s Deal With The Premier League
23. Court Rejects Evidentiary and CFAA Vagueness Challenges to Conviction for Botnet Hacking Scheme
24. Sales tax in the digital era : major impacts for retailers in the United States
25. How Facebook’s Rise Fueled Chaos And Confusion In Myanmar: The social network exploded in Myanmar, allowing fake news and violence to consume a country emerging from military rule.
26. Facebook Says It’s Sorry for Removing a Part of the Declaration of Independence That Includes a Racial Slur
27. Facebook Runs Full-Page Ads in Indian Newspapers to Fight Fake News
28. Blaming The Messenger (App): WhatsApp Takes The Blame In India Over Violence
29. Fake News Is A Meaningless Term, And Our Obsession Over It Continues To Harm Actual News 
30. Fining Facebook: ICO issues £500,000 fine following data breach 
31. Facebook could face legal claims totalling ‘hundreds of millions of pounds’
32. When a Facebook Like Lands You in Jail: NYPD’s Social Media Monitoring Raises Civil Liberties Issues
33. Sex, Beer, And Coding: Inside Facebook’s Wild Early Days – When the young Mark Zuckerberg moved to Palo Alto in 2004, he and his buddies built a corporate proto-culture that continues to influence the company today.
34. Cory Doctorow: Zuck’s Empire of Oily Rags
35. Regulation coming for Facebook
36. Facebook Watch May Pay Upwards Of $10 Million For Cristiano Ronaldo Reality Series
37. Facebook will broadcast live Premier League games in Asia: The £200 million deal helps Facebook’s push into the world of sports.
38. Facebook To Launch News Programming On July 16, Will Organize ‘Watch’ With New Categories
39. Reddit CEO tells user, “we are not the thought police,” then suspends that user
40. More Than Half of ICO-Funded Startups Fail Within 4 Months, Study Says
41. Are the UK’s intellectual property laws ready for AI?
42. Google Applies More Machine Learning To Increase The Reach Of Ads Across Its Properties
43. “Google Was Not A Normal Place”: Brin, Page, And Mayer On The Accidental Birth Of The Company That Changed Everything
44. Inside X, The Moonshot Factory Racing To Build The Next Google: Seven years after its secretive launch, X is starting to spawn mind-blowing companies – and show us what an ever expanding Google means for the world.
45. Despite Chrome’s pending “mark of shame,” 3 major news sites aren’t HTTPS
46. What Soda Taxes And Lead Paint Have To Do With Internet Regulation
47. Malaysian Government Decides To Dump Its Terrible Anti-Fake News Law
48. YouTube, Whose Users Promoted Fraudulent Cryptocurrency Bitconnect, Is Added As Defendant In Lawsuit
49. After Losing NCAA Scholarship Due To YouTube Channel, Donald De La Haye Gets A Win In Court
50. YouTube to fight fake news with links to real news and context
51. YouTube Tweaks Site Design, Dedicates $25 Million to Combat “Fake News”
52. YouTube Pledges $25 Million To News Organizations As It Continues Fight Against Fake News
53. YouTube Launches Initiative to Fight Fake News, Pledges $25 Million to Support News Orgs
54. YouTuber in row over copyright infringement of his own song
55. YouTube Guitarist Claims He Got A Copyright Strike For Infringing Upon His Own Song
56. YouTube Rolling Out ‘Copyright Match’ Tool To Creators With More Than 100,000 Subs
57. YouTube to Launch Tool to Detect Re-Uploaded Videos Automatically: New Copyright Match tool initially will roll out to channels with more than 100,000 subscribers
58. YouTube TV Outages Draw Ire From World Cup Viewers
59. Two Co-Creators Of Travel YouTube Channel High On Life Die After Waterfall Accident
60. Constitutional Challenge Against FOSTA Filed–Woodhull v. US
61. More Police Admitting That FOSTA/SESTA Has Made It Much More Difficult To Catch Pimps And Traffickers 
62. Preparing for the Next Phase of Influencer Marketing – The CGI Influencer 
63. Jake Paul’s Team 10 Involved In Yet Another Lawsuit For Trashing Rental Property
64. Logan Paul Is Filming A Documentary About “What Actually Happened” During Suicide Video Scandal 
65. Hank Green Apologizes To Tana Mongeau For VidCon Slight, But Calls TanaCon “Inexcusable And Terrifying”
66. Twitter is Suspending More Than One Million Accounts Per Day in Latest Purge
67. Twitter Users To Lose Tens Of Millions Of Followers After Company Excludes ‘Locked’ Accounts
68. Twitter Sheds $3.1 Billion After Suspending Millions of Questionable Accounts
69. These are the ‘invisible’ challenges that make it harder for Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter to grow
70. Snap and Amazon Are Reportedly Working on a Visual Search Feature for Snapchat
71. Tinder Users Can Now Upload Two-Second Looping Videos On Their Profiles
72. Are You Ready for Even More Expensive Netflix Options?
73. Netflix To Create A Digital Comedy Festival By Releasing 47 Specials At Once
74. Netflix Is Shutting Down User Reviews This Summer
75. Netflix is killing off user reviews
76. European Networks Are Joining Forces to Take On Netflix and Amazon
77. HBO must ‘change direction’ to flourish, says its new boss: User engagement must be increased to make HBO into a perennial product.
78. AT&T Is Very Excited To Try And Ruin HBO 
79. Here are all of the future TV shows that Apple has signed deals for
80. Feds arrest Apple employee for stealing self-driving project secrets
81. Woman who once bought bitcoins for $300,000 cash in paper bags sent to prison
82. ‘It’s not just video games’: Concordia partners with Ubisoft on VR: The initiative will focus on a set of technologies called extended reality, or XR.
83. Ubisoft Opens XR:MTL An Innovation Factory Focused On XR Technologies At Concordia University – The Factory’s focus will be on developing applications that have market potential. 
84. 10 Projects That Have Us Excited About the Next Generation of VR & AR
85. VR Treatment, Even Without a Therapist, Helps People Overcome Fear of Heights
86. Driving Without a Smartphone: A new law in Georgia discourages drivers from even touching a screen. Whether or not it improves safety, it could help break people’s phone habits.
87. How Music Fans Built The Internet
88. What I’ve learned from nearly three years of enterprise Wi-Fi at home
89. Strategies for the Shadows: Protecting your Company’s IP Rights on the Dark Web
90. A Field Guide to “Social Engineering” Cyber Scams
91. How will 3D-printing challenge IP rights?
92. A Landmark Legal Shift Opens Pandora’s Box For DIY Guns: Cody Wilson makes digital files that let anyone 3-D print untraceable guns. The government tried to stop him. He sued—and won.
93. Wait—the RateMyProfessors.com “hotness” chili was about attractiveness? 
94. Hulu Hit ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Bafflingly Launches Wine Line
95. How Wattpad Is Rewriting the Rules of Hollywood
96. What the Russian Revolution would have looked like on social media
97. The AI revolution has spawned a new chips arms race 
98. Understanding Media and Information Quality in an Age of Artificial Intelligence, Automation, Algorithms and Machine Learning (Yochai Benkler, Robert Faris, Hal Roberts & Nikki Bourassa)
99. Algorithms and Justice (Christopher Bavitz & Kira Hessekiel)
100. Global Governance and Inclusion: Reframing the Global Debate Around AI (Ryan Budish, Urs Gasser & Amar Ashar)
101. Designing frameworks that allow for Intentions, Commitments and Exuberance in AI (Bobi Rakaova)
102. The Industrial Era Ended, and So Will the Digital Era
103. Q2 2018 Quick Links, Part 4 (Social Media, Section 230, Defamation) (Eric Goldman)
104. Q2 2018 Quick Links, Part 3 (Privacy, Advertising, E-Commerce) (Eric Goldman)

CREATIVITY

1. Unpacking Canada’s IP Strategy: Countering IP Abuse, Addressing IP Administration and Removing IP Barriers to Innovation (Michael Geist)
2. No, you can’t patent the ability to pause a lesson recording, EFF says
3. Lombardo v. Dr. Seuss Enterprises L.P.
4. Selling Items with Political Messages? What about “Impeach 45”?
5. President Trump Sends North Korean Dictator a CD of Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man’ Because Our World is Just One Big Joke
6. Girl Arrested in Iran for Posting Videos of Herself Dancing on Instagram
7. How Warner Brothers Resisted a Hollywood Ban on Anti-Nazi Films in the 1930s and Warned Americans of the Dangers of Fascism
8. Free Speech Doesn’t Protect Nazis. It Protects Us From Nazis
9. Ninth Circuit Recently Slams PETA Over Monkey Selfie Lawsuit
10. Post Office owes $3.5M for using wrong Statue of Liberty on a stamp
11. Police Union Upset Not All Books Paint Cops As Heroes, Calls For Removal Of Titles From School’s Reading List 
12. You Can Only Listen To Jaden Smith’s New Album On Instagram
13. Hobbyists Lose Fight to Escape the FAA’s Toy Drone Rules
14. Why local US newspapers are sounding the alarm
15. 54 newsrooms, 9 countries, and 9 core ideas: Here’s what two researchers found in a yearlong quest for journalism innovation: “Our angle on the current state of journalism is this: The crisis of journalism and legacy news media is structural.” 
16. Cortés-Ramos v. Martin-Morales
17. What You Need to Know About Toronto’s New Arts and Culture Property Tax Subclass 
18. Keep on moving: the bizarre dance epidemic of summer 1518 – Five centuries ago, the world’s longest rave took place in Strasbourg – a ‘plague’ of dancing that was fatal for some. What caused it? Art, poetry and music of the time can provide some clues
19. Creative types all go through hot streaks of superior production  

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

1. Government Memo Suggests Netflix Outspends Canadian Private Broadcasters on Canadian English Scripted Programming (Michael Geist)
2. The State of Canadian Wireless in One Chart: No One Has Carriers That Generate More Revenue With Less Usage (Michael Geist)
3. Ajit Pai’s FCC Doesn’t Want to Hear Your Complaints Unless You Pay Them $225
4. “This is bonkers”: FCC wants to stop reviewing most complaints about ISPs
5. FCC stands by decision to raise broadband prices on American Indians
6. FCC Refuses to Back Down From Plan to Strip Phone and Internet Subsidies for American Indians
7. Ajit Pai finally gets around to fighting fraud in FCC comment system 
8. Second Circuit Follows D.C. Circuit’s Reasoning in Vacating FCC’s Interpretation of an Autodialer
9. SCOTUS Nominee Kavanaugh Bought Verizon’s Silly Argument That Breaking Net Neutrality Is A 1st Amendment Right 
10. CRTC Issues $250,000 in Penalties for Malware Distribution
11. CASL Enforcement Action – $250,000 in Penalties for Aiding the Distribution of Malvertising
12. Net neutrality makes comeback in California; lawmakers agree to strict rules 
13. Yes, Privacy Is Important, But California’s New Privacy Bill Is An Unmitigated Disaster In The Making
14. Ten Reasons Why California’s New Data Protection Law is Unworkable, Burdensome, and Possibly Unconstitutional 
15. DOJ’s Challenge to Vertical AT&T/Time Warner Merger Experiences Failure to Launch
16. Magic Leap grabs investment from AT&T as it sets up US distribution deal
17. Echoing Apple’s iPhone Launch, Magic Leap Taps AT&T for Exclusive US Distribution
18. AT&T wants to overhaul HBO, says it isn’t profitable enough 
19. After Backlash To AT&T Chicanery, California Salvages Tough Net Neutrality Law 
20. Streaming Video Sees Wave Of Price Hikes In Apparent Bid To Mimic Cable & Embolden Piracy
21. Two years after buying, Univision wants to sell its Gawker, Onion portfolios
22. Charter launches mobile service, throttles all video to 480p
23. US forces smartphone giant ZTE to fire its CEO and leadership team
24. Comcast’s Wireless Service Will Charge You More To Stream HD Video 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

1. Court Compares Car Crash Data To CSLI, Cellphone Contents; Tells Cops Best Bet Is To Always Get A Warrant
2. “Stylish” extension with 2M downloads banned for tracking every site visit
3. Stolen certificates from D-Link used to sign password-stealing malware
4. German Court Issues First GDPR Ruling 
5. CARU Protects Privacy for Child Karaoke Stars
6. California Passes Consumer Privacy Act With “GDPR-Like” Provisions
7. European Parliament Votes to Suspend EU-U.S. Privacy Shield
8. Don’t Misrepresent Your U.S. – E.U. Privacy Shield Status: FTC Brings An Enforcement Action 
9. California Corporation Settles FTC Complaint Regarding U.S.-EU Privacy Shield Compliance Claim
10. Police Chief Tries To Blame Newspaper Shooting On The Loss Of Social Media Monitoring Tool, But It Doesn’t Add Up
11. For $80 Million, Yahoo! Settles Shareholder Class Action Claiming Stock Price Losses from Data Breaches 
12. What we buy can be used to predict our politics, race or education – sometimes with more than 90 percent accuracy
13. DOD seeks classification “Clippy” to help classify data, control access
14. Year-old router bug exploited to steal sensitive DOD drone, tank documents
15. Tech-support scammers know EVERYTHING about my computer, Dell customer says

Jon

GAMES

1. Bethesda Suing Warner Bros. For ‘Blatant Rip-Off’ Of Fallout Shelter
2. Warner Bros. calls Bethesda lawsuit against Westworld game ‘baseless’
3. Warner Bros is READY TO FIGHT over “Baseless Accusations”
4. Warner Bros surprised by Bethesda’s “baseless accusation” in Westworld lawsuit: Publisher claims developer Behaviour Interactive has confirmed allegations are untrue
5. Blog: The Westworld fallout – A discussion on work-for-hire
6. In Contrast To PUBG’s Silliness, Bethesda’s Copyright Suit Against Warner Bros. Is All About Copyrightable Source Code
7. We Hardly Knew Ye: PUBG Drops Lawsuit Against Epic Over Fortnite Similarities
8. Ex-hatemonger confirms white supremacists recruit in Minecraft, Fortnite
9. After initial refusal, We Happy Few granted R 18+ rating in Australia
10. We Happy Few wins appeal for reclassification in Australia: After initial denial, game will see Australian release with a rating of R18+
11. Roblox bans players who ‘gang raped’ a seven-year-old’s avatar: Developer stresses it has a “zero tolerance” policy for this behaviour as US mother complains about in-game assault
12. Judge halves ZeniMax’s $500M Oculus payout, declines to block Rift sales
13. Penalty in ZeniMax v. Oculus Reduced to $250M, Motion to Halt Headset Sales Rejected
14. US Judge halves ZeniMax’s $500m win in Facebook Oculus legal battle: Also denies Bethesda parent’s request for sales ban on Rift headsets
15. Bethesda implies Sony is preventing cross-play in Fallout 76
16. Bethesda: “Sony is not as helpful as everyone would like” on cross-play – There will be no cross-play in Fallout 76, Todd Howard says – and Microsoft is not the problem
17. EA Sports VP Daryl Holt on loot boxes: “Our model is sustainable” – Publisher’s sports division reacts to loot box controversy with disclosure of pack odds in FIFA Ultimate Team
18. Amy Hennig, who was hired to make an EA Star Wars game, has left EA: Timeline of Hennig’s departure, full Star Wars game pivot is fleshed out in interview.
19. French gambling regulator criticizes loot boxes, stops short of regulation: ARJEL refrains from fully defining loot boxes as gambling but will continue to investigate effect on consumers
20. Leaks, riots, and monocles: How a $60 in-game item almost destroyed EVE Online
21. International Olympic Committee to host esports forum: Representatives from the worlds of esports, gaming, and the Olympic movement will meet to discuss future collaboration
22. Kotaku Compete shuts down: Esports coverage hub closes due to Univision budget cuts
23. OpenAI teaching neural networks to compete with Dota 2 professionals: Team of five neural networks has already beaten multiple amateur human teams
24. AI achieves “human-level performance” in Quake III Arena: Google’s DeepMind teaches AI to play competitively both with and against human players
25. OpenAI to level up Dota 2 neural networks with live Twitch demo
26. Twitch Prime’s “free game every day” for half of July adds up to a ton
27. Forza Horizon 4’s stream-to-earn function is Microsoft’s latest attempt to push Mixer: Players will earn in-game currency purely by streaming their gameplay session to platform holder’s Twitch rival
28. Microsoft is working on AI-driven, platform-level Xbox Live cheat detection
29. Google reportedly planning streaming platform, gaming hardware: Rumored gaming initiatives could include developer partnerships or outright acquisitions
30. Report: Google courting developers for coming game-streaming service – “Project Yeti” would also include game-focused hardware component.
31. Blog: Changes to the Google Play Store are putting thousands of indie devs at risk
32. Vlambeer’s Ismail sees promise in the hybrid of triple-A and indie dev
33. Failbetter Games spearheads ‘Love Indies Week’ for elevating devs and communities
34. 15 indie games highlighted in Smithsonian SAAM Arcade event
35. Blog: 10 lessons from making 100 games in five years
36. French startup Oh BiBi nets $21M to build out mobile shooter
37. Fortnite mobile has half the downloads of PUBG, but five times the revenue: PUBG gains ground but can’t compete with Fortnite’s $92 million gross lifetime revenue
38. Rash of Fortnite cheaters infected by malware that breaks HTTPS encryption
39. Streaming platform devs take down Fortnite adware, chide Epic for not doing it itself
40. Clash of Clans iOS players have spent over $4 billion: Popular mobile strategy game is the highest grossing iOS title over last nine years
41. Our Uncertain Streaming Future: The idea of streaming games from the cloud was a hot topic again at E3 – but no matter how close to that ideal the tech is coming, the business case remains a mess
42. 2K Games banks on Carnival Games to recreate Wii success on Switch: Multi-million selling mini-game franchise returns as efforts to attract a mainstream audience to Nintendo’s new console continue
43. Super Mario Run surpasses $60m revenue after two years: Remains the lowest-earning Nintendo mobile game by a considerable margin
44. Hollow Knight has sold over 250,000 copies on Switch
45. Hollow Knight sold 250,000 in two weeks on Nintendo Switch: Lifetime sales of Team Cherry’s game now far exceed 750,000
46. Switch version of Fox N Forests outsells PlayStation 4 by 4:1 – Director Rupert Ochsner – “[The] Switch is our best platform to date”
47. Nintendo says the Switch is played as much docked as it is portably 
48. Nintendo: Docked and undocked play time for Switch is “about even” – Online telemetry data varies heavily by individual game and player, though.
49. Switch pirates don’t want you to pirate their piracy-enabling firmware: But anti-piracy hackers are hacking the piracy hack for themselves.
50. Reggie Fils-Aime: ‘Vibrant’ 3DS remains a key part of Nintendo armory
51. Reggie Fils-Aimé: The 3DS “continues to be a vibrant system” – Handheld console “absolutely” remains a focus of Nintendo, serving as a “gateway” to the Switch
52. Shuntaro Furukawa has been officially appointed Nintendo president
53. New Intellivision console will have all new games, all exclusives, disc controller: Company president Tommy Tallarico says console will cost “way under $200,” but release date is still far off
54. Take-Two: “We don’t believe in Red Dead Redemption 2 success until we deliver it” – CEO Strauss Zelnick discusses expectations for Rockstar’s next epic and the publisher’s muted E3 presence
55. NeverEnding Story: Ubisoft keen to move away from ‘finite’ experiences
56. Ubisoft VP says company moving away from “finite experiences”: For games like Assassin’s Creed, line between content updates and sequels grows “fuzzier and fuzzier”
57. Frontier: “We want to become a third-party publisher” –  CEO David Braben and CCO Jonny Watts on publishing, Tencent and the return of the British games industry
58. Incoming Paradox CEO wants more acquisitions and mobile expansion
59. Paradox turns its eye to M&A and mobile development: Incoming chief executive Ebba Ljungerud wants ten per cent of game sales to come form mobile by 2020
60. Valve is working on its own ‘more accurate and more useful’ Steam Spy-like tools
61. Valve working on “more accurate” replacement for Steam Spy’s sales data
62. Steam Direct sees 180 game releases per week, over twice as many as Greenlight did
63. Blog: The surprising effect of Steam Sales on non-discounted games
64. Blog: Using achievement stats to estimate sales on Steam
65. Amy Hennig: Atomised development, not crunch, will lead to games industry unions – The outspoken critic of crunch culture says it’s driven by passion, and it’s up the management to protect developers
66. The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast: Fighting Ageism, with Kate Edwards – Ex-IGDA director discusses how the industry is neglecting experienced professionals and ignoring new perspectives
67. Pokemon Quest nets $3M in revenue during first week on mobile
68. Pokémon Quest generates $3m in first week on mobile: Becomes No. 1 most downloaded free game on Japanese App Store
69. Niantic acquires machine learning company Matrix Mill
70. Niantic acquires Matrix Mill: Pokemon Go creator picks up computer vision start-up building neural networks to infer 3D models of surroundings from cameras
71. Niantic previews AR tech designed to create ‘meaningful’ interactions
72. Niantic Offers Tantalizing Peek at Upcoming AR Tech, Announces New Platform for Third-party Devs
73. ISS Astronaut Uses Oculus Rift in Experiment to Understand How Space Effects Hand-eye Coordination
74. Snapchat Is Reportedly Planning to Follow WeChat by Launching an In-App Gaming Platform
75. Snapchat reportedly launching a gaming platform: Photo messaging app may already have one game publisher on board
76. Second Life creator’s VR platform High Fidelity secures $35M investment
77. High Fidelity Raises $35M Series D Financing to Further Develop Social Platform & Blockchain Tech
78. Jonathan Blow: “C++ is a weird mess” – The Witness developer on his new programming language that could increase productivity by 50 to 80 per cent
79. Will Wright’s Proxi Art Challenge Winners
80. Breadcrumbs Interactive embraced Slavic folklore to find Yaga’s unique voice: The Romanian studio drew from the country’s culture for its debut, and won the Nordic Discovery Contest in the process
81. Summer Games Done Quick raises record-breaking $2.1M for charity
82. For The First Time, The Video Game Speedrunners Of Summer Games Done Quick Raise Over $2 Million
83. Summer Games Done Quick raises $2.1m for Doctors Without Borders: Week-long charity speedrunning marathon brings organisation’s cumulative fundraising to over $16 million
84. Making the most of voice talent: Voice actors talk about the challenges of working in games and share tips for getting the best possible performances out of them
85. E3 2018 has GameStop “looking forward to an incredible Q4”: Leading retailer shares pre-order reactions to the biggest announcements, and how publishers will benefit from a wider spread of releases
86. Resident Evil 2 Remake wins Best of Show at the E3 2018 Game Critic Awards: BioWare and Insomniac receive two awards apiece for Anthem and Spider-Man
87. Remake of Resident Evil 2 wins ‘Best of E3’ from Game Critics Awards 
88. Life is Strange: Before The Storm wins big at Games for Change Awards
89. The best, craziest speedruns from this year’s Summer Games Done Quick
90. Blog: A brief history of murder in Ultima Online
91. 343 and Showtime team up to produce 10-episode Halo TV series
92. Halo TV show going into production in early 2019: There were plans to make a Halo TV show as long ago as 2013.
93. Halo TV series gets green light at Showtime: Cable network orders 10 episodes for series; Mind Games creator Kyle Killen named showrunner
94. Immersion cited as top motivator for playing games

DIGITAL

1. “Dancing Baby” lawsuit finally settles, baby is now a middle-school student: Universal says it now has a “fair and tempered process for… potential takedowns.”
2. The Monkey Selfie Case Continues, But The Dancing Baby One Does Not
3. California Court Not Yet Ready To Undermine The Entire Internet; Rules Yelp Can’t Be Forced To Delete A Review
4. EFF Launches Lawsuit To Stop FOSTA/SESTA
5. EFF sues to kill FOSTA, calling it “unconstitutional Internet censorship law”
6. The “CREEPER Act” Would Be Yet Another Unconstitutional Law from Congress
7. Facebook reveals it gave 61 companies access to widely blocked user data: Company tells Congress it provided Nike, Spotify, a dating app and other services with special rights to information
8. Facebook Stock Drops on Report of Wider U.S. Probe of Cambridge Analytica Scandal
9. How Facebook Punked and then Gut Punched the News Biz
10. Facebook patent would turn your mic on to analyze how you watch ads: Application hints to proximity to a “broadcasting device” before your mic turns on.
11. You Can Now See All The Ads Facebook Is Running Globally
12. Facebook Creates a Process of Review for Previously-Banned Cryptocurrency Ads
13. Facebook Will Once Again Allow Ads Promoting Cryptocurrencies
14. Fig: Digital currency won’t be what makes blockchain go mainstream – Crowdfunding site’s head of blockchain strategy discusses the pitfalls and potential of decentralisation
15. Digital token ruled a security under the Howey Test, for now
16. Really dumb malware targets cryptocurrency fans using Macs
17. The California Supreme Court Didn’t Ruin Section 230 (Today)–Hassell v. Bird (Eric Goldman)
18. First Amendment Doesn’t Prevent Probationer Condition Restricting the Display of Illegal Activity on Social Media–In re Jawan S. (Eric Goldman)
19. The Digest: Uganda Is Now Forcing Citizens to Pay a Tax to Use Social Media
20. Copyright Industries Reveal Their Ultimate Goal: An Internet Where Everything Online Requires A License From Them
21. Snapchat Partners With Kylie Jenner To Launch Ecommerce Capabilities For Influencers
22. Snapchat Launches Augmented Reality Experiences in Disneyland, Universal Studios
23. The Rise of CGI Influencers
24. Instagram Stories Hits 400 Million Daily Users — More Than Twice As Many As Snapchat
25. Instagram is reportedly testing a ‘questions’ feature for Stories
26. Netflix Is No. 1 Choice for TV Viewing, Beating Broadcast, Cable and YouTube (Study)
27. Sony tries to upload movie trailer to YouTube, posts entire movie instead
28. Goofballs at Sony Accidentally Upload Entire Film to YouTube Instead of the Trailer
29. Creators are making longer videos to cater to the YouTube algorithm
30. Studio71 Brings YouTube Creators Into Podcasting World
31. Michelle Phan’s Latest Startup Helps Creators Find Free Music For Their YouTube Videos
32. YouTube Is Conducting ‘A Small Experiment’ With Auto-Generated Thumbnails, And Creators Aren’t Happy
33. YouTube thumbnail experiment may impact millions of users, frustrating creators
34. You Can Watch The Last 2018 World Cup Games On YouTube, Hulu, DirecTV
35. YouTube Apologizes To LGBTQ+ Creators On Last Day Of Pride Month
36. Google Is Investing in the Not-Quite-So-Smart Smartphone Market
37. Defamation Update: Google under fire again
38. Google researchers created an amazing scene-rendering AI: A neural network from Google’s DeepMind has impressive spatial reasoning skills.
39. Google reveals how DeepMind AI learned to play Quake III Arena like a pro
40. StyleHaul CEO Stephanie Horbaczewski Exits RTL-Owned Company: CFO Jeremiah Bates also leaving the fashion, beauty and lifestyle digital media company
41. StyleHaul’s CEO Stephanie Horbaczewski And CFO Jeremiah Bates Have Left The Company
42. Dwayne Johnson Teams With Fine Brothers Entertainment To Show Off His Action Movie Knowledge
43. Social media follies: watch your step 
44. Philo, A Skinny Bundle For Non-Sports Viewers, Raises $40 Million From AMC, Discovery, Viacom
45. A Twitter Leak Scuttled An NBA Draft Day Trade This Year
46. Twitter gets a re-org and new product head
47. Twitter Will Show Who Pays for Ads and How Much They Spend
48. Amazon Needs More Delivery Companies and Wants You to Start Them
49. Amazon Makes $1 Billion Splash in Health Care, Buying PillPack
50. Amazon buying online pharmacy with nationwide reach; drug store stocks dive
51. IPG Confirms $2.3 Billion Deal to Acquire Data Marketing Company Acxiom
52. The New DC Universe Streaming Service Will Bundle Superhero Comics and TV Shows All in One Place
53. Why Adult Content Creators Are Mad at Patreon
54. How The Startup Mentality Failed Kids In San Francisco: Huge contributions from tech titans, a STEM-packed curriculum, gadgets everywhere: Willie Brown Middle School was supposed to set the bar. Then it opened.
55. The Delicate Art Of Creating New Emoji
56. Hey New York Times, Welcome to Writing About Pop Culture on the Internet
57. It Just Wasn’t Meant to Be, Batman
58. New York Times Writer Regrets Spoiling Batman’s Wedding in Headline
59. A Vows Feature Spoiled a Comic Book Ending, and You Weren’t Happy
60. Mandatory Internet filtering and The War on Memes (Andres Guadamuz)
61. EU Copyright Proposal That Would Destroy Internet Memes Being Protested With Internet Memes
62. EU Parliament’s Legislative Affairs Committee Is Now Misleading Members Of Parliament In Effort To Fundamentally Alter The Internet
63. Would you pay $700, plus a monthly fee, for a digital license plate?
64. “Inventor of email” appeals ruling that tossed his libel suit against Techdirt
65. 1990, meet 2018: How far does 20MHz of Macintosh IIsi power go today? 

CREATIVITY

1. USPS Ordered to Pay $3.5 Million After Putting Artist’s Weird ‘Sexier’ Lady Liberty on Stamps
2. Appeals Court Says You Can Copyright A Collection Of Facts… If You Leave Out A Few
3. Owner of “Let’s Get It On” Copyright Sues Ed Sheeran for $100 Million
4. DJ Khaled Files Suit to Protect Son’s Name
5. Judge Dismisses Plagiarism Lawsuit Against The Girls Author Emma Cline
6. Music Industry’s Nonsense ‘Myth Busting’ About EU’s Censorship Machines Is Basically Saying ‘Nuh-uh’ Repeatedly
7. Latest Text Of EU Copyright Directive Shows It’s Even Worse Than Expected: Must Be Stopped
8. NY Times, Winner Of A Key 1st Amendment Case, Suddenly Seems Upset That 1st Amendment Protects Conservatives Too
9. Modernizing Canada’s Industrial Design Regime: Top 10 Changes
10. Q2 2018 Quick Links, Part 1: Trademarks and Other IP (Eric Goldman)
11. Q2 2018 Quick Links, Part 2: Copyright (Eric Goldman) 

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

1. Comments about Indigenous Women Breached Broadcast Codes, Says Canadian Broadcast Standards Council
2. Talk Show’s Sexual Discussions Not Too Explicit, Says Canadian Broadcast Standards Council
3. The Consequences of High Wireless Costs: OECD Data Confirms Canadians Lag Behind in Data Usage (Michael Geist)
4. Effort To Save Net Neutrality Via Congressional Review Act Appears Stuck In Neutral
5. Verizon Finally Puts Its Sad, Unloved Streaming TV Service to Rest
6. Verizon To Shut Down Mobile-Friendly Video Platform Go90
7. Verizon is shutting down its original video app Go90: Go90 died so Oath can live
8. How Verizon Could Fix Its Streaming Video Strategy After Shutting Down Go90
9. Comcast starts throttling mobile video, will charge extra for HD streams
10. Fresh Off Its Merger, AT&T Jacks Up Price Of Streaming Video Service
11. AT&T Begins Testing Its Power In The Wake Of Merger Mania & The Death Of Net Neutrality
12. AT&T’s low-cost TV streaming service WatchTV goes live
13. AT&T promised lower prices after Time Warner merger—it’s raising them instead 
14. Internet TV packages are getting pricier — including AT&T’s
15. How AT&T could use Time Warner shows and movies to compete with Disney and Netflix
16. AT&T removed HBO from an unlimited data plan after buying Time Warner: AT&T alters unlimited plans and makes the cheapest one $5 more expensive. 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

1. Facebook patents ’emotion detecting’ selfie filters
2. Facial recognition found Capital Gazette suspect among 10M photos
3. Facial Recognition Company Says It Won’t Sell To Law Enforcement, Knowing It’ll Be Abused
4. Judge slams Tacoma for not releasing stingray records
5. NSA Extends Its Streak Of Surveillance Violations To Fourteen Years With Its Latest Announcement
6. NSA: Sorry, Sorry, Trying to Delete
7. California approves privacy rules opposed by ISPs and tech companies: Law will give people some control over collection and sale of private data.
8. California Enacts Sweeping Consumer Privacy Law
9. California Enacts Sweeping Privacy Law; Will Other States Follow?
10. The Digest: California Cracks Down on the Companies Harvesting Your Data
11. California Consumer Privacy Act Of 2018 –  GDPR Lite?
12. Over 60 Organizations Want Sanctions For EU Nations’ Failure To Repeal ‘Invalid’ Data Retention Laws 
13. A Bug in Samsung’s Default Texting App Is Sending Random Pics to Other People
14. LTE wireless connections used by billions aren’t as secure as we thought

Jon

GAMES

1. PUBG Corp. drops lawsuit against Fortnite creator Epic Games
2. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds dev drops lawsuit against Fortnite: No word on whether a settlement has been reached, but PUBG Crop has withdrawn from the legal battle
3. Epic is suing former employee for leaking Fortnite spoilers 
4. Epic Games sues former QA contractor over Fortnite leak: Thomas Hannah admits breaching NDA but files defence against lawsuit as he claims leak was out of his control
5. 69% of Fortnite players have bought in-game purchases, average spend is $85: But one in five spenders unaware that paying for items does not given them an advantage
6. Players paying up to $450 for disc-based copies of Fortnite
7. ‘Free’ Game Making $300 Million Per Month? But I Thought You Can’t Make Money On Free…
8. Westworld bug outs stolen Fallout Shelter code, alleges Bethesda lawsuit
9. Bethesda sues over Westworld mobile game: Publisher alleges that Fallout Shelter developer Behaviour Interactive re-used copyrighted code when it created “blatant rip-off” for Warner Bros.
10. Star Control creators raising $2M to defend against Stardock lawsuit
11. Star Control II developers crowdfund legal fight for IP control: Paul Reiche III, Fredrick Ford estimate $2m in legal costs in escalating disagreement with Stardock
12. Donut County dev speaks out about F2P clone on App Store
13. PayPal blocks school shooting simulator dev from making sales online: “We work to ensure that our services are not used to accept payments for activities that promote violence,” says payment platform
14. Omega Labyrinth Z will no longer release in the West
15. Australian classification board to reconsider We Happy Few ban: Appeal made for Compulsion Games’ upcoming title after incentivised drug use denied it a rating
16. Which game companies could be using slave labor?: Conflict mineral disclosures show Sony is lax about where/how it gets its materials, while Apple sets the standard for maintaining an ethical supply chain
17. Studios Remove ‘Spyware’ From Several Games As Gaming Public Revolts
18. For EA and loot boxes, “Fair is the number one thing”: Chief design officer Patrick Söderlund discusses EA’s current thinking around monetization and its future ambitions for streaming
19. “People make the mistake of saying, ‘This is what you really want'”: EA chief design officer Patrick Söderlund talks about bringing back Command & Conquer as a mobile game and what the publisher really gets out of EA Originals
20. EA Sports creates 24 jobs with new division in Madrid
21. WHO expert defends gaming disorder listing: “This moral panic lives its own life” – GamesIndustry.biz speaks with the World Health Organisation and its critics on the subject of gaming disorder
22. Prickly denial is the wrong response to WHO’s “gaming disorder”: The proposed definition is careful and cautious; more research is needed and the industry should be cooperating, not stonewalling
23. It’s time to stop running from gaming addiction: Talk to the hand.
24. Overwatch hacker facing possible jail time for selling illegal programs
25. Overwatch hacker jailed by South Korean court: 28-year-old man made $180,000 from illegal programme
26. Blizzard applied for a patent on Overwatch’s Play of the Game highlight system
27. Blizzard adds a positivity-driven ‘endorsements’ system to Overwatch
28. Blizzard adds “endorsements” to encourage positive behavior in Overwatch: Reception of the new system so far is mixed; meanwhile, another Overwatch system may be patented
29. Donut County developer speaks out on frustration of app store clones: Ben Esposito says learning of a F2P clone just before his game’s release “stings”
30. Valve’s updated Knuckles VR controller brings pinpoint finger-tracking
31. Microsoft scraps plans for VR support on Xbox 
32. Microsoft Affirms No Plans for VR on Xbox Consoles
33. Microsoft And Nintendo Team Up To Troll Playstation In Ads For Not Giving Gamers What They Want
34. Sony now looking at cross-platform play possibilities
35. Xbox and Nintendo gang up on PlayStation in cross-platform row: Could console momentum switch because of an issue most gamers don’t really care about?
36. Microsoft teases the first-ever “stream-to-win” option built into Xbox
37. Microsoft switches to blockchain tech for publisher royalty calculation: Xbox publishers will now receive royalty statements faster and with less process effort from Microsoft
38. Nintendo and Microsoft partner to bring cross-play of Minecraft on Switch
39. Nintendo and Microsoft unite against Sony with Minecraft cross-platform play: “Better together” say newfound allies in the face on Sony’s cross-platform reluctance
40. Sony exec “confident” PS4 cross-console play “solution” is coming
41. Sony changes tone on PS4 cross-play with Xbox One, Switch: Shawn Layden says company is hearing the backlash, looking at possibilities and “confident we’ll get to a solution” to make everyone happy
42. Game of Thrones: Conquest players find bot exploiting user data
43. Report: Snap looking to launch a game platform for Snapchat
44. Blog: Weird and not-so-weird concepts that could take the fighting genre forward
45. ‘Emergent gameplay’: RPG devs mull what the future holds for big RPGs
46. Streaming-only RPG looks to build on Twitch Plays Pokemon model
47. Nintendo’s Fils-Aime commits to improving Switch storefront curation
48. New security measure from Nintendo ‘perfectly prevents’ digital piracy on the Switch: Platform holder permanently bans consoles with pirated games following reveal of unpatchable hardware exploit
49. Switch-hacking trolls reportedly loading pornographic profile pictures
50. Pokémon Go hits largest playerbase since launch
51. Pokemon Quest hits 2.5M Switch downloads ahead of mobile launch
52. The Legend of Nintendo: With the Switch, the 130-year-old gaming giant has once again turned reports of its demise into Nintendo Mania.
53. Nintendo stole the show during E3, at least as far as Twitter is concerned
54. Nintendo attracts most attention on Twitter during E3: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was the most discussed game on the platform that week
55. Mario Tennis Aces claims top spot in the UK retail chart: Switch exclusive is one of eight games in the top 40 on Nintendo’s platform
56. Mario Tennis Aces review: Turning tennis into a fighting game
57. Nintendo brings Labo support to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, with more games to come
58. You can now play Mario Kart 8 with Labo’s cardboard motorbike controller
59. Nintendo adds Mario Kart functionality to boost Labo sales: Platform holder also seeks ‘greatest Labo creations’ as part of summer campaign
60. Lumines Remastered turns the Nintendo Switch into a full-body vibration party
61. FIFA 18 remains No. 1 in Europe for third week running: World Cup fever keeps FIFA 18 on top both digitally and at retail
62. Ubisoft CEO: Our goal is to provoke thought, not to make political statements
63. Guillemot explains Ubisoft’s apolitical political games: CEO of publisher behind Far Cry 5 and The Division 2 says the games are impartial “to make people think”
64. Metal Gear Rising no longer playable on Mac due to DRM 
65. How Hitman Sniper prepared Square Enix Montreal for the switch to freemium: Why one of the biggest success stories in premium mobile is dropping its entry fee – and “making the long-term commitment to not be evil”
66. Newzoo: Mobile most popular platform, least popular to spend money on – 95% of surveyed gamers play on mobile, but the platform has a lower player-to-payer ratio than console or PC
67. Madmind Studio cancels Agony Unrated: Developer “struggling with financial problems” reneges on promise of unrated re-release
68. Trion Worlds acquires assets of defunct Marvel Heroes dev Gazillion
69. Trion Worlds acquires Gazillion Entertainment assets: Rift developer hopes to expand MMO portfolio through acquisition, third-party relationships
70. Google launches Indie Games Accelerator in Asia
71. Four-month program builds on Launchpad: Accelerator, dozens of expert mentors already on board
72. Sony stops launch of explicit anime dungeon crawler: Omega Labyrinth Z won’t launch on PS4 or Vita in the West
73. Blog: An E3 2018 media coverage analysis 
74. Fortnite, Fallout 76, Cyberpunk 2077 lead E3 media coverage: Sony narrowly retakes leadership from Microsoft, EA dominates publishers
75. Fortnite growth slows in May as Pokemon Go makes comeback: Superdata’s monthly digital games market report finds worldwide spending up 25% year-over-year to $9.1 billion thanks largely to mobile growth
76. Fancensus: Fallout 76 most viewed game on YouTube of E3 2018 – Elder Scrolls VI enjoys Twitter attention; Kingdom Hearts III most often mentioned across media coverage
77. NPD: Software sales slump in May offset by hardware and accessory spending – Accessory and game card spending at record high, growing 30 per cent year-on-year
78. What Apptopia learned from four years of top grossing mobile games: Only six games have maintained an unbroken streak in the US App Store top 50 since 2014
79. Avalanche Studios finds the line between AAA and independence: Following its acquisition by Nordisk Film and a fine showing at E3, the 15 year-old Swedish studio has an even brighter future ahead
80. Dungeon Fighter Online gross lifetime revenue exceeds $10bn
81. Friday the 13th developer scraps all future content plans 
82. Bluehole to acquire mobile dev Delusion Studio 
83. Bluehole to acquire Delusion Studio: PUBG owner picks up Korean developer behind Guardian Stone, Castle Burn
84. Immortals acquire previously defunct Brazilian esports brand MIBR: Signs non-endemic sponsors Tinder and Betway as part of the deal
85. UTA Launches Esports Division With 90 Creators Following Acquisitions Of Press X, Everyday Influencers
86. Tencent: Chinese esports market expected to grow to $1.5 billion in 2020 – Country’s esports userbase projected to grow to 350 million, accounting for 59% of global esports users
87. Worldwide esports to hit $2.17 billion by 2023 – Report: Research and Markets projects competitive gaming revenues to grow at 18% CAGR over next five years
88. Twitch Beat Its All-Time Concurrent Viewer Record At E3 This Year
89. E3 2018 audience breaks Twitch all-time concurrent viewer record: 2.9 million concurrent viewers watched Twitch on June 10, the day of Microsoft and Bethesda’s press events
90. Inside Atari’s rise and fall
91. Sensible Object: “Voice control will bring people closer together” – CEO Alex Fleetwood discusses how smart speakers will create entirely new types of games ahead of his “Develop Brighton” talk

DIGITAL

1. Get ready for more sales taxes on online purchases
2. The Supreme Court Makes A Federal Case Out Of South Dakota’s Inability To Collect Taxes From Its Residents And Thus A Big Mess
3. Internet Retailers Subject to State, Local Sales/Use Taxes in Historic Supreme Court Decision
4. Supreme Court’s Online Tax Decision Will Impact Cloud Computing and Software Industries 
5. Supreme Court Overturns Quill: Remote Sellers Will have to Collect More Taxes
6. Supreme Court Overturns Quill, Holds States Can Tax Online Retailers Without Physical Presence
7. Microsoft’s facial recognition service now less bad for nonwhites
8. Judge deals blow to women suing Microsoft over gender discrimination
9. People Set To Spend More Time Online Than Watching TV In 2019
10. Internet Freedom Without Imperialism
11. American media keeps falling for Russian trolls
12. TrumpHotels.org Purchased by Pranksters to Promote America’s Concentration Camps
13. Report: Trump officials planning escalation of US-China tech trade war
14. China Censors John Oliver Because President Xi Looks A Bit Like Winnie The Pooh
15. Watch the John Oliver segment that got Oliver’s name banned in China
16. Apple just launched a ‘fact-based’ election feature in Apple News with coverage from Fox News and The Washington Post
17. Apple launches service program to address MacBook keyboard woes
18. Apple’s AirPower charging mat delayed until fall due to “technical hurdles”
19. Samsung and Apple have had enough of the court battles, finally settle
20. Amazon Needs to Stop Providing Facial Recognition Tech for the Government: The benefits do not outweigh its privacy risks and dangers
21. Amazon Workers Demand Jeff Bezos Cancel Face Recognition Contracts With Law Enforcement
22. Amazon staff to Bezos: Stop selling tech to law enforcement, Palantir
23. Amazon Unveils Plans to Provide Blockchain-as-a-Service 
24. Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited, ‘book stuffing,’ and the darker side of being a digital content consumer
25. I’m Starting to Have Serious Doubts About Amazon Prime
26. Tech Employees Revolting Over Government Contracts Reminds Us That Government Needs Tech More than Tech Needs Government 
27. Artificial Consciousness: How To Give A Robot A Soul
28. Morality in the Machines: Researchers at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society are collaborating with MIT scholars to study driverless cars, social media feeds, and criminal justice algorithms
29. Silos, Centralization And Censorship: Losing The Promise Of The Internet
30. Thermostats, Locks and Lights: Digital Tools of Domestic Abuse
31. Domestic Abusers Are Increasingly Weaponizing Smart Home Tech
32. Why the Future will Require Mesh Governance
33. Why gesture-based interfaces haven’t lived up to the hype
34. Google Gives Its Human-Like Phone Chatbot A Demo Redo
35. Talking to Google Duplex: Google’s human-like phone AI feels revolutionary
36. Yes, Google’s Phone-Calling AI Is Cool. But Why Does It Exist?
37. Google Killing Off DoubleClick, AdWords Names in Rebranding of Ad Products
38. YouTube Debuts Premieres To Let Creators Launch New Videos Within Live Streams
39. YouTube launches paid subscription membership, merch shelves: More ways to get paid.
40. YouTube introduces new monetization methods for its creators
41. Top Influencers Post The Most, Get Watched Less Often On YouTube
42. YouTube challenges Twitch by expanding $5 channel memberships: Platform rolls out service to wider group, adds built-in merchandising tools 
43. IFPI Nuking Twitch Streamers Accounts For Playing Background Music
44. YouTube now lets you pay $4.99 per month to support your favorite creators
45. ASMR Creators Rustle Up Some Revenue On YouTube And Beyond 
46. India Beyond Bollywood: How YouTube & Other Streaming Services Are Rewiring the Local Music Industry
47. The UK’s Singles Chart Will Incorporate YouTube Streams For The First Time
48. YouTube’s VidCon Keynote Is All About How It Can Help Creators Make (A Lot) More Money
49. YouTube Orders George Clooney-Produced Dark Comedy Series Starring Kirsten Dunst 
50. VidCon Will Distribute $2,000 Grants To Emerging Creators Every Week For The Next Year 
51. After Thousands Of Unticketed Guests Show Up, Tana Mongeau’s TanaCon Is Cancelled
52. Rapper Juice WRLD Apologizes to Twitch Streamers Banned for Playing His Music on Stream 
53. Mobcrush’s Mobcam Tool Lets Users Stream To Multiple Live Video Platforms At Once
54. Activism & Doxing: Stephen Miller, ICE And How Internet Platforms Have No Good Options
55. Twitter punishes users for doxing White House advisor Stephen Miller
56. Australian Parliament Sends Ethics Committee After A Citizen For Mocking Gov’t Official On Twitter
57. Twitter’s Creator Ads Are Working, Study Finds Users’ Purchase Intent Rises By 88%
58. How Twitter Made The Tech World’s Most Unlikely Comeback
59. Court Refuses to Dismiss Lawsuit Over Kanye’s Tweet 
60. Instagram Exec Says Monetization Will Arrive On Just-Launched IGTV Platform By Year’s End
61. Instagram Rolls Out Video Chat, New Camera Effects And Topic Channels
62. L.A. Mural Requires At Least 20,000 Followers To Take An Instagram Photo
63. Instagram Users Spent 53 Minutes Per Day In The Android App This Month (Study) 
64. Instagram Is 100 Times More Valuable Than It Was When Facebook Bought It
65. Facebook mistakenly leaked developer analytics reports to testers
66. Facebook Updates Policy on Marketing Weapon Accessories
67. Facebook Expanding Fact-Checking Project to Combat Fake News
68. The Great Facebook Crash: The social giant is retreating from the news business. It’s been a painful transition for publications that had come to depend on it—including Slate.
69. Facebook’s quest for fleet of solar-powered Internet drones grounded forever
70. Wikipedia Makes The Case For Google & Facebook To Give Back To The Commons, Rather Than Just Take 
71. Snapchat To Place Renewed Emphasis On Creator Community, Unveils Second Series With Patrick Starrr
72. Sony Shuts Down Crackle in Canada
73. Sony’s Crackle Will Cease Service In Canada On June 28
74. Insights: The Big Schmear – Soon Every Social Media Platform Will Look Like Every Other One
75. Digital Media Company Whistle Sports Announces $28 Million Funding Round
76. Here’s The Conspiracy Tearing Bitcoin Crypto Communities Apart
77. Bit by Bitcoin mining
78. Are Digital Asset Transactions Always Securities Offerings?
79. A Summary of the SEC’s Speech on Cryptocurrencies 
80. How Pixar’s Open Sexism Ruined My Dream Job
81. Disney Partners With Cisco for Its StudioLAB
82. Intel CEO Brian Krzanich Quits After Investigation Into Total Boner Move
83. Intel CEO Brian Krzanich resigns over workplace relationship
84. Intel CEO resigns over breach of “non-fraternisation” policy: Brian Krzanich steps down after five years with tech giant
85. Uber wins back its right to operate in London
86. Police: Uber driver was streaming Hulu just before fatal self-driving car crash
87. Hulu CEO Says Streaming Service Likely To Make “20 Or 25” Original Shows Next Year
88. Is the “Netflix of podcasts” moment finally here?
89. Academics Gathered To Share Emoji Research, And It Was…
90. FTC Publishes Guidance on Online Giving Portals
91. Slack Is Down and I’ve Never Felt Less Alive 
92. How Can We Make Technology Healthier for Humans?

CREATIVITY

1. Judge won’t dismiss defamation case on anti-SLAPP grounds, citing hate speech: Hate speech ‘raises no subject matter that is related to the public interest,’ judge says
2. Supposed ‘Free Speech’ Warrior Jordan Peterson Sues University Because Silly Professor Said Some Mean Things About Him
3. Education Fair Dealing Update: All Eyes on York as Copibec and Université Laval Reach Tentative Settlement
4. How One Man Is Using Hip-Hop to Diversify Architecture: Armed with a master’s degree in architecture, decades of hip-hop fandom and rapper teachers, Mike Ford is quickly getting kids into building
5. Site Blocking, The Sequel: After Telling Courts They Can Issue De-Indexing or Blocking Orders, Movie Industry Calls for More in Copyright Act (Michael Geist)
6. One step closer to approval of new controversial EU copyright law
7. Copyright in the United States
8. The marvellous world of superhero licensing 
9. Distilling the Essence of the Fair Use Defense 
10. Why a 40-year-old SCOTUS ruling against software patents still matters today
11. 2018 World Cup: FIFA’s determined to keep ambush marketing on the bench
12. Inclusion riders: Can they work in the Canadian music industry?
13. The Fred Rogers We Know: With his unconventional take on children’s television, Mr. Rogers helped redefine the male role model.
14. Lawsuit Argues Honking Your Car Horn Is Protected By The First Amendment

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

1. Net Neutrality and NAFTA: Canadian Government Says It Will Address U.S. Policy Should Harms Arise (Michael Geist)
2. AT&T Successfully Derails California’s Tough New Net Neutrality Law
3. California net neutrality bill gutted as lawmakers cave to AT&T lobbyists
4. California’s Quest For Tough Net Neutrality Not Dead Yet
5. Bill to save net neutrality is 46 votes short in US House
6. AT&T buying company that delivers targeted ads based on your Web browsing
7. New Report Details AT&T’s Role in NSA Spying Initiatives
8. Meet the 8 spooky AT&T buildings that almost certainly also serve the NSA
9. Investigation Shows AT&T Really Likes Being In The Surveillance Business
10. AT&T Will Launch Skinny OTT TV Bundle, WatchTV, Next Week
11. AT&T Employees Reportedly Encouraged to Use Unethical Sales Tactics to Drive Up DirecTV Now Subscriptions
12. Judge In AT&T Merger Ruling Had Zero Understanding Of The Markets AT&T Now Dominates
13. Charter’s gigabit cable with no data caps is ready for 27 million homes
14. Considerations for media and telco vertical mergers in the rise of the digital media age 
15. Disney gets DOJ approval to buy Fox but must divest sports networks
16. 21st Century Fox Accepts Amended Disney Offer
17. Fox desperately trying to avoid selling to Comcast
18. Two Titans’ Rocky Relationship Stands Between Comcast and Fox: Tensions between Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and 21st Century Fox’s Rupert Murdoch have complicated Comcast’s pursuit of the biggest media deal in years
19. Ajit Pai Rushes To Weaken Media Ownership Cap To Aid Sinclair… While Under Investigation For Being Too Cozy With Sinclair
20. Why Network Effects Matter Less Than They Used To
21. Broadcasters Hope To Counter Ad Skipping By Replacing Ads With Short ‘Inspirational Videos’

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

1. Canada’s Access to Information Open Data Fail: Departments Months Behind Posting Summaries of Completed Requests (Michael Geist)
2. Revealed: Canada uses massive US anti-terrorist database at borders
3. The NSA’s Hidden Spy Hubs in Eight U.S. Cities
4. Supreme Court Says Warrants Are Needed For Cell Site Location Info
5. Supreme Court rules: Yes, gov’t needs warrant to get cellphone location data
6. U.S. Supreme Court Holds that Historical Cell Site Location Data Is Subject to a Reasonable Expectation of Privacy
7. Supreme Court surveillance opinion nudges us to think nationally, act locally
8. Senator to FCC: How much do police stingrays drain a cell phone battery?
9. Anthony Kennedy’s Retirement May Have Huge Consequences For Privacy
10. Court Dismisses Privacy Claims Against Email Subscription Management Tool–Cooper v. UnrollMe
11. Illinois Prosecutor Brings Felony Eavesdropping Charges Against 13-Year-Old Who Recorded His Conversation With School Administrators
12. A Privacy Bomb Is About to Be Dropped on the California Economy and the Global Internet (Eric Goldman)
13. In A Surprising Decision, European Court Of Human Rights Says Sweden’s Mass Surveillance Is Fine
14. Social sharing and the US Video Privacy Protection Act: Perilous for online video content providers
15. After subpoenaing Apple in trade secrets case, Tesla goes after Facebook
16. Voluntary Compliance: The Business Case for Adopting the GDPR in the US
17. Why personal agency matters more than personal data

Jon

GAMES

1. A Claim of Epic Proportions: Epic Games Hits Back in Suit Against 14-Year-Old 
2. ‘Gaming Disorder’ officially listed in World Health Organization diagnostic doc
3. WHO makes ‘gaming disorder’ diagnosis official: Final version of World Health Organization’s 11th International Compendium of Diseases includes gaming addiction for the first time
4. Games industry trade bodies concerned by ‘gaming disorder’ classification 
5. Industry trade bodies from around the globe unite to condemn ‘gaming disorder’ decision: WHO classification will create moral panic, says international trade body coalition
6. Ukie: WHO gaming disorder diagnosis is based on “highly contested evidence”
7. Former Telltale CEO and co-founder Kevin Bruner is suing the studio
8. Former Telltale CEO sues developer over alleged breach of contract: Kevin Bruner claims Telltale failed to fulfil its obligations to him after he stepped down in 2017
9. HitRecord “has to draw a line somewhere” on payment for Beyond Good & Evil assets: Only work used in the game will be compensated, says founder Joseph Gordon-Levitt
10. Reverse-engineered Diablo source code released on GitHub
11. Blog: How much protection does Fair Use really offer?
12. Nintendo boss says loot boxes have ‘gotten a bit of a bad rap’
13. Nintendo: Loot boxes “have gotten a bit of a bad rap” – Reggie Fils-Aime says loot boxes “can be interesting” as long as players have other options
14. Citing Dutch law, Valve drops trading CS:GO and Dota 2items in the Netherlands
15. Valve disables CS:GO and DOTA 2 item trading in Netherlands after legal warning – “We still don’t understand or agree with the [Dutch Gaming Authority’s] legal conclusion,” says Valve
16. Valve continues its fight against “fake games” on Steam: Games that haven’t reached Steam’s “confidence metric” will be restricted from user achievements and game counts
17. Valve introduces limits for new games to prevent ‘fake’ ones from gaming Steam
18. Review manipulators aren’t as sneaky as they think they are, warns Valve
19. Following App Store rejection, Valve cuts game purchasing from iOS Steam Link app
20. Valve continues work on rejected iOS Steam Link app: After initial rejection by Apple, TestFlight version of Steam companion app updates to curb ability to purchase new games
21. Following GDPR, Steam now discloses a ton of collected account data to users
22. Studios commit to removing Red Shell due to player complaints: Dead by Daylight, Elder Scrolls Online and other Steam games will remove alleged spyware that tracked advertisement efficacy
23. The GamesIndustry.biz E3 Award Winners
24. Editor roundtable: What did E3 2018 mean for game developers?
25. E3 2018: Starting next-gen hype early is bad for business – Casual references toward next-gen consoles and games risks overshadowing the huge releases coming in 2018
26. Analyst: 66% of console players still prefer physical games over digital
27. E3 2018: Microsoft finally comes out of its “self-imposed damage control position” – Industry analysts on Sony’s muted E3 briefing, and why it’s too soon to know if Microsoft’s studio acquisitions will be proved “smart or dumb”
28. E3 2018: Cyberpunk 2077 astounds, but so do the crowds – Dispatches from the show floor, where E3 continues to struggle with delivering a satisfying show for the public
29. E3 attendance reaches highest point since 2005: 2018 event was “an enormous success” says organiser as nearly 70,000 people descend on LA Convention Centre
30. The top ten games from E3 2018
31. Stick or Twitch? How streaming is hurting single-player games
32. Is single-player dead? Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick ‘doesn’t buy it’
33. Netflix and Telltale partner on Minecraft TV show, Stranger Things game: Minecraft Story Mode will be an interactive five-episode series, but Netflix doesn’t have “any plans to get into gaming”
34. Microsoft is making changes to its Xbox app to better reflect PC users
35. Streaming could be key to Xbox reclaiming the lead from PlayStation
36. PlayStation 4 sale transforms EMEA games charts: Vampyr debuts at No.2 as FIFA 18 holds top spot
37. Sony revives greatest hits program for PS4 games as PlayStation Hits
38. PlayStation briefing a response to “shallow” E3 press conferences: Sony Worldwide Studios’ Michael Denny addresses disappointment over this week’s more focused showcase
39. Sony is locking Fortnite accounts to PS4, and players are mad
40. Sony issues evasive response to Fortnite cross-platform controversy
41. PlayStation 4 owners can’t access Fortnite accounts on Switch: Sony issues response, side-steps complaints around lack of cross-play and inability to access saved progress
42. Fortnite racks up two million downloads on Switch in a single day: Despite releasing late last year, Fortnite has been featured prominently throughout E3 2018
43. Fortnite revenue tops $100M on iOS after 90 days
44. Rare official arcade versions of Donkey Kong, Sky Skipper headed to Switch
45. Nintendo and Disney join forces for a Switch-themed game show
46. Is Nintendo Switch in trouble?: After a slight E3 showcase, investors and analysts are concerned over Switch sales. But are they right?
47. After a strong start, Nintendo wants Labo to reach a broader demographic 
48. Inside Nintendo’s “perfect” method for detecting online Switch piracy
49. Following hardware exploit, Nintendo bans Switch consoles with pirated games
50. Xbox and Nintendo speak out against Fortnite PS4 stalemate: Phil Spencer and Reggie Fils-Aime both want their customers to play with and across other consoles
51. Dev taps blockchain tech to make Pokemon playable on Twitch — for a price
52. Fortnite breaks record for concurrent Twitch viewers – Battle Royale smash hit outperforms previous record holder Counter-Strike: GO
53. Fortnite hits $100m revenue in its first 90 days on iOS: Meanwhile, PUBG on iOS has grossed just $5.2 million in 60 days
54. How useful errors and evolving player skills shape Fortnite’s UX
55. PUBG dev says store-bought assets help teams ‘work smart’
56. PUBG Corp. defends the use of asset stores as the only way to “work smart”: PUBG is no “asset flip”, says PUBG Corp., but store-bought assets are necessary when building maps
57. Ubisoft won’t whitewash Ancient Greece with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey: “We really felt like it was a nice opportunity for us to have a deep dive into the culture of Greece,” says audio director Lydia Andre
58. In Defense Of Ubisoft: Crowdsourcing Game Content Creation Is Actually Fun And Non-Exploitive
59. Editor Roundtable: How does Ubisoft’s HitRecord partnership impact devs? 
60. THQ Nordic raises $168 million for future acquisitions 
61. THQ Nordic completes share issue worth $168m: Major acquisition plans afoot with flash sale of 7.7 million shares
62. Keemstar, ItsAlexClark, Bart Baker Among YouTube Stars Featured In New Mobile Game
63. BBTV Interactive Launches Squad Rivals
64. HitRECord founder responds to backlash over crowdsourcing assets for Beyond Good and Evil 2
65. Avalanche EP: livestreaming ‘can’t not’ influence game development now
66. Naughty Dog’s Last Of Us games have sold over 17M copies in 5 years
67. Unity moving entire infrastructure to Google Cloud for ‘connected games’
68. Unity unveils new augmented reality extension MARS
69. Sales from Fallout 76 ‘Country Roads’ cover will be donated to charity
70. Critical Force nets $6.3m investment to scale esports operation: Business Finland backs mobile developer as flagship title hits 40 million downloads
71. Blog: Are battle royale titles the next big esport?
72. FIFA is a Better Esport Than Other Sports Simulation Games
73. Sea of Thieves hit three month target in a single day
74. Naughty Dog marks The Last of Us’ fifth birthday with 17m copies sold: Combined sales of The Last of Us and the Uncharted series are now pushing 60 million units
75. Phones within phones: Simulating real apps to explore real issues: Lost Phone and Bury Me, My Love developers discuss the intimate impact of games that behave like mobile interfaces
76. After Rumors Swirl, Nintendo Says Talks To Bring Video Services To Switch Are “Ongoing”
77. Why Unravel Two is not on Nintendo Switch: Coldwood Interactive tells us how the console’s simpler hardware would have delayed the surprise launch by six months
78. Does cyber insurance make us more (or less) secure?: Underwriting cyber risk remains more art than science, but in the absence of regulation, cyber insurance might still be the best hope for improving cybersecurity practices across the board – at least fo
79. Unity and Google Cloud announce partnership to create multiplayer development suite: Alliance aims to create server hosting, matchmaking tools to ease multiplayer game development in Unity
80. GameStop in buyout talks, reports Reuters
81. Celebrating experience and tackling ageism: 50 Over 50 industry list revealed – List conceived to “counter the trend of glossing over ageism,” says Game Advocacy
82. Educational app TinyTap raises $5M toward accessible learning 
83. How ARKit 2 works, and why Apple is so focused on AR

DIGITAL

1. Where does the internet happen? The Supreme Court of Canada tackles the thorny issue of which law applies to defamation claims
2. Libel Tourism and Forum Shopping: The Supreme Court of Canada Applies the Van Breda Test to an Internet Defamation Claim
3. Biohacker Who Implanted Transit Chip in Hand Evades Fine
4. Lessons From Making Internet Companies Liable For User’s Speech: You Get Less Speech, Less Security And Less Innovation
5. Dear EU Parliament: Why Are You About To Allow US Internet Companies To Decide What EU Citizens Can Say Online?
6. EU Parliamentary Committee Votes To Put American Internet Giants In Charge Of What Speech Is Allowed Online
7. Jury awards Apple $533 million in damages
8. Apple snags Oprah Winfrey in original content deal
9. Oprah Winfrey, Apple Ink Multi-Year Development Deal
10. Huge Apple Maps outage prevents all users from searching, getting directions 
11. Apple Pulls Plug On Phone-Cracking Tech Vendors, Will Prevent Data Transfer From Locked Phones 
12. A New Tech Manifesto: Six demands, from a citizen to Big Tech
13. Microsoft Employees Up in Arms Over Cloud Contract With ICE
14. Microsoft staff call on company to end ICE contract
15. Microsoft condemns separation of families at US border
16. Microsoft’s new diverse avatar editor represents more body types, disabilities
17. It Turns out All Kinds of Tech Companies Are Working With ICE
18. FBI recovers WhatsApp, Signal data stored on Michael Cohen’s BlackBerry
19. The Making of an Online Moral Crisis: How the many-chambered heart of the internet turned the Trump administration’s family-separation policy into a different kind of scandal.
20. Trump Stokes Outrage In Silicon Valley—But It’s Selective
21. Senate rejects Trump’s plan to lift ZTE export ban
22. Welcome To Blaine, The Town Amazon Prime Built
23. How Alt-Right Twitter Tricks The Media Into Panicking: @thebradfordfile has been cited as evidence of the rise of the alt-right, but its popularity is faked through power-engagement groups and networks of sockpuppets.
24. From billboards to Twitter, why the aesthetics of protest matters more today
25. When Do the Perils of Programmatic Advertising Undermine Its Value? 
26. Data Nationalization in the Shadow of Social Credit Systems (Frank Pasquale)
27. Inside The Crypto World’s Biggest Scandal: Arthur and Kathleen Breitman thought they held the secret to building a new decentralized utopia. On the way, they plunged into a new kind of hell. A crypto-tragedy in three acts.
28. US ethics body tells government employees to declare crypto holdings
29. What does a Bitcoin taste like?
30. Europe advances copyright law that could filter the Internet
31. Europe on the verge of voting nefarious digital publishing right (Andres Guadamuz) 
32. Norwegian Court Orders Website Of Public Domain Court Decisions Shut Down With No Due Process
33. Critical Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights
34. DOJ Lets Cops Know SESTA/FOSTA Is For Shutting Down Websites, Not Busting Sex Traffickers 
35. Catching Up on FOSTA Since Its Enactment (A Linkwrap) (Eric Goldman)
36. Section 230 Can’t Save Snapchat From Lawsuit Involving Its ‘Speed Filter’
37. The End of All That’s Good and Pure About the Internet
38. Tanzania Forces ‘Unregistered Bloggers’ To Disappear Themselves
39. Andy Serkis Thinks Performance Capture Will Just Be How All Actors Work in 100 Years
40. The enabled landscape is the future of augmented reality
41. Europe’s GDPR Is Killing Email Marketing, to the Disappointment of No One
42. Think The GDPR Only Regulates Big Internet Companies? The EU Says It Regulates You Too.
43. Google Maps removes Uber integration 
44. Google’s New Podcast App Could Turbocharge The Industry 
45. Boston Globe Posts Hilarious Fact-Challenged Interview About Regulating Google, Without Any Acknowledgement Of Errors
46. Users Watch Over 180 Million Hours Of YouTube Content On TV Screens Daily
47. French Political Party Voting For Mandatory Copyright Filters Is Furious That Its YouTube Channel Deleted By Filter
48. YouTube Announces Creative Suite For Brands, Lets Them Live Experiment With Ads
49. Head Of YouTube Music Has “Largest Marketing Plan In YouTube’s History” For The Service
50. ‘Cobra Kai’ Producers Reveal How They Helped YouTube Create Its Very Own ‘House Of Cards’
51. YouTube Announces Creative Suite For Brands, Lets Them Live Experiment With Ads 
52. YouTube Premium And YouTube Music Roll Out To 12 More Countries Including U.K., Canada
53. Struggling Fitbit now has 5 ex-employees who face criminal charges
54. With IGTV, Instagram Takes Aim At YouTube
55. Instagram Launches Long-Form Video Service Called IGTV
56. Instagram Announces IGTV, An Entertainment Hub With Hour-Long Videos And Content From Social Stars
57. Facebook used less for news as youngsters turn to WhatsApp: Reuters Institute
58. The “Facebook Nevers”
59. What Facebook can learn from academia about protecting privacy
60. Facebook Communications Head Elliot Schrage Is Leaving
61. Facebook Expands Monetization With Branded Content Marketplace, More Ad Breaks 
62. Facebook Adds New Ways To Gamify Video, Will Incorporate Non-Episodic Clips Into ‘Watch’ Hub
63. Facebook will air live PGA Tour coverage on its Watch tab
64. Florida frat bros sued over Facebook revenge porn
65. In nearly 500 pages of answers, Facebook stonewalls some senators’ questions
66. Data Propria, run by Cambridge Analytica alumni, working on Trump 2020 campaign
67. Man who allegedly gave Vault 7 cache to WikiLeaks busted by poor opsec
68. As Market Cheers Spotify’s Direct Deals With Artists and Managers, Labels Mull Their Options
69. Streaming Threatens to Dethrone Traditional TV for World Cup
70. Streaming Services Jump Into the Unscripted Series Game
71. Fullscreen Has Quietly Offered 360-Degree Talent Management For 2 Years — And Its Client Roster Is Growing Fast
72. Jon Cozart, Marla Catherine, CJ Perry Sign With Management Firm Expand Entertainment
73. Whistle Sports Signs Deal With NBA Comedian ‘Famous Los’ For Original Content, Events
74. Influencers Must Disclose Who Is Influencing Them
75. More Than 80 Creators, Including Casey Neistat And Miranda Sings, Confirmed For Tana Mongeau’s VidCon Alternative
76. Insights: VidCon Navigates An Industry’s Stormy Season With New Owner, Influx Of Brands And Platforms
77. What would it mean for AI to have a soul? 

CREATIVITY

1. Music Canada at the Copyright Review: “Illegal Content is Drifting Away” (Michael Geist)
2. Canadian Music Industry Pitches ‘You Must Be A Pirate’ Tax On Smartphones
3. Danish Anti-Piracy Lawyers Jailed For Real, Actual Stealing From Copyright Holders
4. The Gawker Case Has Become More Interesting
5. Dear Journalists: Stop being loudspeakers for liars
6. Minnesota’s Vague Ban On ‘Political’ Wear At Polling Places Shut Down By The Supreme Court
7. Broadway Producers Denied Motion to Set Aside Damages Verdict against Former Publicist 
8. Judge Cock(y)blocks Author Faleena Hopkins’ Demand Other Authors Stop Using The Word ‘Cocky’ In Their Titles
9. Star Trek, Dr. Seuss Mash-Up, Continues to Make Law
10. Seeing red – Louboutin’s trademark victory at the ECJ
11. Oakley Denies Validity of Graffiti Copyright: Calling artist-duo’s works unoriginal and “generic.”
12. Hold the presses: contempt of court 
13. Terry Gilliam Has Lost the Rights to The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
14. European Citizens: You Stopped ACTA, But The New Copyright Directive Is Much, Much Worse: Speak Up 
15. UN Free Speech Expert: EU’s Copyright Directive Would Be An Attack On Free Speech, Violate Human Rights
16. Following Allegations of Abuse, Chris Hardwick Has Been Pulled from AMC Programming and San Diego Comic-Con
17. World Cup Advertising Fever – but don’t overstep the mark!
18. Propaganda or news: Should media publish government’s child-detention photos?
19. The MoviePass Effect Is Here to Stay – Even if MoviePass Isn’t
20. How Swiss news publisher NZZ built a flexible paywall using machine learning
21. Warner Bros. Turns Harry Potter Fan Events Into Events For The Franchise That Must Not Be Named
22. Is an audio recording on magnetic tape a technological document?
23. How John Mayer Helped Me Become a Better Therapist: Using song lyrics is a form of expressive arts therapy, which can help people tap into their emotions and invoke personal change. 

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

1. The CRTC’s Vision of the Future
2. Government of Canada Looks to Modernize Telecommunications and Broadcasting Legislation for the Digital Age 
3. CRTC Rebuked: Government Signals Frustration With the Commission Prioritizing Carriers Over Consumers (Michael Geist)
4. How Did George Brown College Come to Support the FairPlay Site Blocking Plan? Docs Show Bell Lobbied the School’s President (Michael Geist) 
5. A CRTC focused on the public interest?
6. Too punitive: Québec Court of Appeal cuts award of punitive damages down to size 
7. Court Rejects DOJ Challenge to AT&T/Time Warner Vertical Merger
8. Federal Judge Approves AT&T-Time Warner Merger; Deal Closes 
9. AT&T Closes $85 Billion Time Warner Deal
10. What to expect now that AT&T officially owns Time Warner
11. Time Warner Is Getting A Rebrand To Avoid Confusion
12. New York threatens to revoke Charter’s purchase of Time Warner Cable
13. Wireless Carriers Hope You Won’t Notice Their Location Data Scandal Makes The Facebook, Cambridge Fracas Look Like Amateur Hour
14. ISPs Lobbying California Lawmakers In Bid To Weaken State’s Looming Net Neutrality Law
15. Ajit Pai Now Trying To Pretend That Everybody Supported Net Neutrality Repeal
16. Charter Spectrum Claims The Death Of Net Neutrality Will Magically Provide Better, Faster Broadband
17. How AT&T and Comcast are trying to kill California’s net neutrality bill
18. Net Neutrality And The Broken Windows Fallacy
19. AT&T, Time Warner, and the Need for Neutrality
20. AT&T is already planning more acquisitions, days after buying Time Warner
21. Following AT&T’s Lead, Comcast Makes A $65 Billion Bid For Fox
22. Comcast Offers $65 Billion for Twenty-First Century Fox
23. Disney Ups Fox Bid to $71.3 Billion, Outflanking Comcast
24. Sorry, Comcast: Fox and Disney sign new merger deal, rejecting Comcast bid
25. Disney’s Plan to Acquire Fox Is Back On, Thanks to a New $70 Billion Deal
26. Net Neutrality And The Broken Windows Fallacy
27. California Net Neutrality Bill Was ‘Hijacked,’ Lawmaker Says
28. FCC Seeks Public Comment On Proposals To Streamline
29. FAA v. FCC On Drone Enforcement 
30. FCC, Big Telcos Take Aim At Line Sharing Rules In Bid To Further Hamstring Broadband Competition
31. Sprint, T-Mobile to FCC: Our Job Killing, Competition Eroding Megamerger Will Create Jobs & Competition
32. Verizon’s New Phone Plan Proves It Has No Idea What ‘Unlimited’ Actually Means
33. Verizon and AT&T will stop selling your phone’s location to data brokers
34. South Carolina’s New State Telemarketing Law

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

1. Geolocation phone apps to track children come under scrutiny by the FTC
2. China Is Rolling Out A Mandatory Program That Puts Tracking Chips In Every Car
3. China-based hackers burrow inside satellite, defense, and telecoms firms
4. China’s Latest Censorship Crackdown Target: Videos Of Women Rubbing, Kissing And Licking Binaural Microphones
5. NY Senate Passes Bill That Would Make It A Crime To Publish Photos Of The Elderly Without Their Consent
6. Decades-old PGP bug allowed hackers to spoof just about anyone’s signature
7. EU Politicians Tell European Commission To Suspend Privacy Shield Data Transfer Framework
8. Hackers who sabotaged the Olympic games return for more mischief
9. Reminder: macOS still leaks secrets stored on encrypted drives
10. Tesla sues employee alleged to have stolen gigabytes of data

Jon

GAMES

1. Valve removes AIDS Simulator, other controversial games from Steam Store: Games taken down offer slight clarification on what company means by “straight up trolling”
2. AIDS Simulator kicked off Steam as Valve grapples with “trolling” definition
3. Valve clarifies what games count as ‘straight up trolling,’ sort of
4. Op-ed: Valve takes a side by not “taking sides” in curation controversy
5. Valve Decides To Get Out Of The Curation Business When It Comes To ‘Offensive’ Games
6. Itch.io founder brands Valve’s open-door Steam policy ‘ridiculous’
7. Valve’s new policy on Steam games splits opinions among devs
8. By 2019, Steam will no longer run on Windows XP or Vista
9. Valve launching Steam China with Perfect World: Partnership likely means leading PC marketplace will be free from the threat of long-rumoured government block
10. Valve partners with Perfect World to bring Steam to China 
11. Battletech developer let go after sexual harassment allegations
12. Cyberpunk dev: QA can absolutely help your team prevent offensive moments
13. Harebrained Schemes parts ways with designer accused of sexual harassment: Battletech developer conducted internal investigation after multiple women came forward
14. ‘This is not okay’: EA minces no words on backlash against women in Battlefield
15. EA CEO’s damage control speech: “We want to be better”: Andrew Wilson stresses that publisher does not want to give paying players unfair advantages following last year’s loot box fiasco
16. EA touts “profound impact” of streaming and subscription, announces Origin Access Premier: New PC service gives players instant access to Battlefield and FIFA 19 at launch, with publisher promising streaming option in future
17. EA adds new releases to Origin Access via $100 Premier membership tier
18. EA’s Impressive New PC Subscription Service Won’t Degrade Its Old One
19. EA’s Patrick Soderlund talks Anthem, loot boxes, and women in Battlefield
20. Anthem deep dive, Jedi: Fallen Order and EA Originals lead publisher’s E3 2018 showcase – Surprise launch of Unravel Two and tease for Respawn’s long-awaited Star Wars project break up usual round of sports titles
21. FIFA 18 tops European charts with combined digital and retail sales: Results are in for Europe’s first sales charts to include digital data
22. EA at E3: BioWare confirms Anthem in Feb 2019, Madden returns to PC
23. We Are initiative hopes to connect and inspire women in games
24. Game Advocacy introduces ’50 Over 50′ list to combat industry ageism
25. ESA Foundation launches “We Are” diversity initiative: Red Bull Media House is partner on an initiative that will launch at E3 and continue into 2019
26. Cool Event Alert: Loot Boxes: Video Game Gambling, Paying to Win, and the Question of Game Design, Talk by Drs. Mark R. Johnson and Tom Brock
27. E3 Roundtable: Microsoft’s first-party intent, EA’s loot box lament – Microsoft’s flurry of studio acquisitions lit up E3’s opening weekend, Bethesda showed every ace in its hand, and EA promised to do better
28. E3 Roundtable: PlayStation disappoints on a day short on surprises – Known quantities were front and centre at Sony and Ubisoft’s briefings, but Beyond Good & Evil 2 and Ghost of Tsushima still managed to delight
29. E3 Roundtable: E3 2018 showed an industry on the brink of change – Games-as-a-service drained life out of the show floor, while the major publishers all gestured toward streaming and the next generation
30. Ubisoft CEO: Cloud gaming will replace consoles after the next generation
31. This app in Google Play wants to use phone mics to enforce copyrights
32. Nintendo Direct shows off packed release schedule for 2018: Super Smash Bros. takes focus, but publisher offers up host of exclusive, third-party, and downloadable content
33. Fortnite comes to Switch, though with slightly limited cross-platform play
34. One day in, Fortnite attracts 2 million downloads on Switch
35. Fortnite to launch for Nintendo Switch today: Epic’s battle royale shooter will be free to everyone, and is now on every major gaming platform
36. PlayStation 4 owners can’t access Fortnite accounts on Switch
37. Playing Fortnite on PS4 blocks players from logging in on Switch
38. Fortnite uses the Switch hardware for voice chat, not the Switch mobile app
39. Super Mario Party introduces a mode that links two Switch displays together
40. Epic Games announces 2019 Fortnite World Cup as game reaches 125m players
41. Ninja And Marshmello Win $1 Million For Charity At Fortnite’s First Celeb Pro-Am Tournament
42. Fortnite has attracted 125M players in under a year
43. Analyst report: Xbox One install base at 39M as of March 2018
44. Xbox has everything to prove at E3: The E3 playing field has rarely been so uneven; Sony’s strong position means it needs to do very little, while Microsoft arrives in LA with a heavy weight of expectation
45. Microsoft’s next-gen gaming plan: A new Xbox, and streaming for everyone else
46. Microsoft “Andromeda” this year, new HoloLens in 2019, and the next Xbox in 2020
47. Report: Microsoft to launch next Xbox console in 2020
48. Microsoft teases Halo Infinite at E3 2018
49. Halo Infinite, Gears trio and Cyberpunk 2077 lead Xbox’s E3 2018 line-up
50. Microsoft pushes exclusives, premieres at pre-E3 press conference
51. Microsoft adds five game studios to first-party stable
52. Microsoft super-sizes first-party studio system: Xbox One maker acquires Ninja Theory, Playground Games, Compulsion Games, and Undead Labs, establishes new studio The Initiative
53. Xbox’s evolving first-party strategy: Chief marketing officer Mike Nichols explains Microsoft’s “forward-leaning pivot” in how it has viewed its game studios this generation, and why it just added five more to the operation
54. Ninja Theory bosses explain decision to join Microsoft Studios: “We want to take bigger creative risks, and create genre-defining games without constant threat of annihilation,” says creative lead Tameem Antoniades
55. Ninja Theory joined Microsoft to ‘fly without the threat of falling down’
56. Playground Games: “Our best is yet to come” thanks to Microsoft acquisition – Creative director Ralph Fulton believes transition from third-party to first-party studio can empower his team to do more
57. Phil Spencer on Microsoft’s commitment to the traditional console experience: It’s important to support players of old games on new hardware, says Xbox head
58. Xbox using machine learning to load Game Pass titles ‘twice as fast’
59. Microsoft boosts Xbox Game Pass with better third-party support – Phoenix Point and Warhammer: Vermintide 2 will hit the service day-and-date, all games to launch “twice as fast” through machine learning
60. Xbox Boasts Investment in Future Tech, But Still Silent on VR After Backpedaling
61. PlayStation E3 Keynote Puts Blockbusters Center Stage, Relegating VR to the Sidelines
62. Ethics Emerging: the Story of Privacy and Security Perceptions in Virtual Reality
63. Even Assassin’s Creed is a live service now
64. The Elder Scrolls VI, Starfield close out Bethesda E3 briefing: Doom and Wolfenstein sequels, Elder Scrolls: Blades for mobile, new VR efforts added to evening anchored by Fallout 76
65. Bethesda at E3: Elder Scrolls VI, Starfield confirmed for “next generation”
66. With Tencent’s help, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot opens new game studio
67. Bad Robot, Tencent team up to open new dev studio: Bad Robot Games will create ‘large and indie-scale original games’ for PC, consoles, mobile; WBIE on board as minority investor
68. Two weeks in, Detroit: Become Human surpasses 1M sold
69. Detroit: Become Human hits one million sales faster than any Quantic Dream game – Co-CEO Guillaume de Fondaumière confirms Detroit reached the milestone after two weeks
70. Quantic Dream patches over one of Detroit’s most emotional moments
71. Devs say no Friday the 13th DLC due to copyright dispute
72. Facebook Is Launching A Video Destination Dedicated To Its Gaming Content
73. Facebook launches new program for gaming streamers just starting out
74. No Fuchs Given: Christian Fuchs Starts First EPL Player-Backed Esports Team
75. New Jersey bans esports betting with new, unclear legislation 
76. E-Sports: A football World Cup with 20 million participants
77. EON Foundation raises $5 million for blockchain game publishing: Cherubic Ventures among the investors for startup with goal to be “the number one blockchain game publisher in the world”
78. Trendy Entertainment eyeing blockchain-based rewards for Dungeon Defenders II
79. Supercell invests $5M in Redemption Games, marking its first US investment  
80. Blog: Making video game worlds in Yellowknife  
81. Sunset for LawBreakers as shooter prepares to go offline after only a year
82. LawBreakers shutting down in September following Boss Key closure
83. VidCon Organizers Insist Event Won’t Differ For Attendees After Viacom Acquisition
84. VidCon 2018 vs. VidCon 2010: How The Convention Has Evolved Over The Years
85. Telltale is bringing Minecraft: Story Mode to Netflix

DIGITAL

1. Mobile Viewing to Overtake TV Viewing by Next Year
2. That Merkel Photo Is More Like a Meme Than a Renaissance Painting
3. OFAC sanctions Russian entities and individuals for cyber activities connected to FSB
4. Cambridge Analytica director ‘met Assange to discuss US election’: Brittany Kaiser also claims to have channeled payments and donations to WikiLeaks
5. Apple bans developers from creating, selling user Contacts databases
6. Facebook privacy goof makes posts by 14 million users readable to anyone
7. Facebook let select companies have “special access” to user data, per report
8. Facebook Answered Congress’s Questions About Data Privacy. Here Are 5 Surprising Ways They Track You
9. Facebook Announces New Feature That Aggregates Old Memories
10. Latest Privacy Fracas Drops Facebook In The Middle Of Anti-Huawei Hysteria
11. Facebook may now ban bad businesses from advertising
12. Insights: It’s Game On As Facebook Takes On Twitch And YouTube For Live-Streaming Primacy
13. Mueller checks witnesses’ phones for secure messaging apps, per report
14. How Pro-Eating Disorder Posts Evade Filters On Social Media
15. UKSC judgment in Cartier – who pays for website blocking orders? 
16. Confirmed: ZTE to reopen after $1 billion fine, new leadership
17. Republican senators move to block Trump’s deal to revive ZTE
18. Top German Publisher Says: ‘You Wouldn’t Steal A Pound Of Butter… So We Need A Snippet Tax’
19. Inventor says Google is patenting work he put in the public domain
20. Hey Google: Stop Trying To Patent A Compression Technique An Inventor Released To The Public Domain
21. Encyclopædia Britannica Wants To Fix False Google Results
22. Google: JK, We’re Going To Keep Working With The Military After All
23. New law forces Google to suspend political ads in Washington state
24. YouTube Takes Down Anti-LGBTQ Ad After Multiple Creator Complaints
25. YouTube Complicit In Copyright Infringement Of News Station’s Content
26. Austrian court ruling could hold YouTube liable for copyright infringing content
27. YouTube’s World Cup coverage includes near-live highlights in Spanish
28. Reggaeton Singer Ozuna Is Most Viewed Artist On YouTube This Year
29. During The Upcoming World Cup, YouTube Will Be Stocked With Highlights And Athlete Vlogs
30. YouTube Stars Joe Sugg, Caspar Lee Form IMG-Backed Digital Talent Management Agency
31. Ad Standards Introduces New Influencer Disclosure Guidelines
32. Walking the Line with Influencers: How to Satisfy the FTC without Your Influencers Becoming Employees in California
33. Appeals Court Curbs FTC’s Enforcement of Security Standards–LabMD v. FTC
34. IoT Device Companies: The FTC is Monitoring Your COPPA Data Deletion Duties and More
35. Yet Another Study Shows The Internet Of Things Is A Privacy And Security Dumpster Fire
36. Circuit Court of Cook County Upholds City of Chicago’s Imposition of Amusement Tax on Internet-Based Streaming Services 
37. Unpublished Censorship Guidelines Lay Bare The Deepest Fears Of The Chinese Government
38. Snapchat Wants To Help Popular Music Artists Make AR Lenses
39. Instagram Rolls Out Ecommerce In Stories, As Snapchat Tests Shoppable Ads
40. Snapchat’s Speed Filter Not Protected by Section 230–Maynard v. Snapchat (Eric Goldman)
41. Reddit Announces Native Auto-Play Video Ads For Select Brands
42. Amazon Prime Video Secures Premier League Streaming Rights
43. Twitter is putting more live news events in your timeline and notifications
44. Twitter Isn’t a Shopping Mall for First Amendment Purposes (Duh)–Johnson v. Twitter (Eric Goldman)
45. Musical.ly To Fold Live Streaming Service Live.ly Into Its Primary App
46. Canadian Music Industry Wants Government to Pay Copying Fee for Every Smartphone Sold in Canada (Michael Geist)
47. Microsoft’s plan for GitHub: “Make GitHub better at being GitHub”
48. Three Takes On Microsoft Acquiring Github
49. IAB Says U.S. Podcast Ads Generated $314 Million Last Year, Pegs 2020 Tally At $659 Million
50. The EU’s Copyright Proposal is Extremely Bad News for Everyone, Even (Especially!) Wikipedia
51. EU Publishers Freak Out Now That People Are Realizing Just How Messed Up Their Link Tax Really Is
52. EU Commission Violates GDPR; Claims That It’s Exempt From The Law For ‘Legal Reasons’
53. EU Explores Making GDPR Apply To EU Government Bodies… But With Much Lower Fines
54. UK Security Minister Says Only A Drivers Licence For The Internet Can Bring Back Online Civility
55. America should borrow from Europe’s data-privacy law: The GDPR’s premise, that consumers should be in charge of their own personal data, is the right one
56. GDPR’s Impact on the Use of Blockchain to Facilitate International Trade
57. Blockchain: Game changer or game over?
58. The rise of the “Crypto Czar,” the fall of a “blockchain evangelist,” and other crypto developments
59. Bitcoin has lost more than half its value since last year’s all-time high
60. Bitcoin Price Plunges After Hack of South Korean Exchange, Down 53 Percent Since December
61. Bitcoin prices continue to fall as yet another exchange reports a breach
62. Bitcoin’s 2017 Surge Was the Result of Manipulation, Experts Say
63. Another SEC Enforcement Action against Allegedly Fraudulent ICO 
64. Recent Virtual Currency Actions by the CFTC and State Regulators 
65. Brain-Based Circuitry Just Made Artificial Intelligence A Whole Lot Faster
66. AI is a very surprising tech, which makes its future hard to predict: Bruce Schneier
67. This wild, AI-generated film is the next step in “whole-movie puppetry”: Results are admittedly limited due to a 48-hour crunch—but hint at a wild future.
68. Artificial intelligence and human development
69. People Are Paying Insane Amounts of Real Money for “Virtual Real Estate”
70. Tech Addiction And The Paradox Of Apple’s ‘Screen Time’ Tools
71. Apple No Longer Allows Crypto Mining On Its Devices. That’s Good For Users.
72. Apple just banned cryptocurrency mining on iOS devices
73. Apple clamps down on developers sharing data on users’ friends: “When someone shares your info as part of their address book, you have no say in it, and you have no knowledge of it,” says privacy expert
74. For almost 11 years, hackers could easily bypass 3rd-party macOS signature checks
75. Popular Spanish Soccer Mobile App Has Been Turning Users Into Piracy-Spotters Via Mobile Devices
76. Ordering Food via Touchscreen Is so Fun You Spend More Money When You Do It
77. White nationalists, Nazis find new space for racism
78. Dark Web vendor “OxyMonster” turns out to be a Frenchman with luscious beard
79. In a blow to e-voting critics, Brazil suspends use of all paper ballots
80. How emoji can kill: As gangs move online, social media fuel violence
81. Options for Reacting to Negative Online Comments, Reviews, and Defamation 
82. SCC Stays Internet Defamation Case, Urges Fairness and Efficiency
83. Canada’s Supreme Court Is Preserving Every Website Mentioned In Its Rulings: The country’s top court is publicly archiving every single hyperlink in its decisions, so they aren’t lost.

CREATIVITY

1. Trump Admits He Calls All Negative News ‘Fake’
2. French President Pushing ‘Fake News’ Bill That Would Demand Decisions From Judges In 48 Hours
3. Unsettling Comments from the Ontario Courts re the Settled Law of Trademarks and Parallel Importation (Howard Knopf)
4. Off the Rails: How the Canadian Heritage Copyright Hearings Have Veered Badly Off-Track (Michael Geist)
5. Ending The Memes: EU Copyright Directive Is No Laughing Matter
6. Illegal memes? Weak Safe Harbor? Unpacking the proposed EU copyright overhaul 
7. CJEU rules that Louboutin red sole mark does NOT fall within absolute ground for refusal (Eleonora Rosati)
8. Viacom Possesses Trademark Rights in ‘Krusty Krab’ Based on Its Central Role in the SpongeBob Universe – Viacom v. IJR
9. Stephen Colbert Cut a Star Wars Trailer to Dunk on Kelly Marie Tran’s Harassers
10. FBI Hoovered Up Two Years Of A Journalist’s Phone And Email Records To Hunt Down A Leaker
11. Fahmy v. Jay-Z

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

1. Government of Canada launches review of Telecommunications and Broadcasting Acts
2. Broadcasting And Telecommunications Legislative Review: Terms of Reference
3. The CRTC’s fundamental mistake: It thinks it can regulate the internet (Michael Geist)
4. The CRTC’s Fundamental Flaw: Broadcasting May Be the Internet, but the Internet is Not Broadcasting (Michael Geist)
5. Canadian Government Responds to Parliamentary Committee’s Recommended Changes and Clarifications to Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL)
6. Ajit Pai’s FCC lied about “DDoS” attack, ex-chair’s statement indicates
7. Senators Wyden and Schatz Wants To Know Why The FCC Made Up A DDOS Attack 
8. Oddly The Trump FCC Doesn’t Much Want To Talk About Why It Made Up A DDOS Attack
9. ‘Transparent’ FCC Doesn’t Want To Reveal Any Details About Ajit Pai’s Stupid Reese’s Mug
10. Ajit Pai says you’re going to love the death of net neutrality
11. What Ajit Pai Should Have Said About Killing Net Neutrality… And Why It Still Would Have Been Wrong
12. Net neutrality will be repealed Monday unless Congress takes action
13. Net Neutrality Rules Die Today, But The Backlash Is Just Getting Started
14. First state net neutrality law took effect today, countering FCC repeal
15. AT&T Defeats DOJ In Merger Fight, Opening The Door To Some Major Competitive Headaches
16. Trump administration fails to block AT&T/Time Warner merger
17. AT&T Cleared to Buy Time Warner in Blow to Trump Administration
18. AT&T wins: Judge clears $85 billion bid for Time Warner with no conditions
19. AT&T imposes another $5 price hike on grandfathered unlimited data plans
20. AT&T/Time Warner Merger Could Create Giant Player for Sports Rights
21. Comcast, AT&T, Verizon say they have no paid prioritization plans
22. Comcast offers $65 billion for Fox, says government won’t stop merger
23. Comcast disabled throttling system, proving data cap is just a money grab
24. FTC Files Lawsuit for Widespread Telemarketing Law Violations

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY 

1. NY Times reporter’s email records seized by Justice Dept. in leak case
2. China Hacked a Navy Contractor and Stole 600GB of Data
3. A Chip in the Windshield: China’s Surveillance State Will Soon Track Cars
4. Global Russian-Linked Router Malware Even Worse Than Originally Stated
5. Backdoored images downloaded 5 million times finally removed from Docker Hub
6. Court Says German Intelligence Agency Can Continued To Deploy Its Dragnet On World’s Largest Internet Hub
7. New Data Breach Notification Laws Spring 2018: What You Need to Know
8. Stymied by browsers, attackers embed Flash 0-day inside MS Office document
9. Security Companies Want To Use Facial Recognition To Stop School Shootings
10. It’s Now Scary to Be A White Hat Hacker Thanks to the US Government
11. How did hacker Adrian Lamo die? Medical examiner couldn’t figure it out
12. Vermont Takes Aim at Data Brokers

Jon

GAMES

1. PUBG vs Fortnite: Let the market decide – A court case in South Korea revives the old question of whether a game concept deserves legal protection – but ‘clone wars’ should be settled in the market, not the courtroom
2. PUBG Corp. Sues Epic Games In S. Korea Over Gameplay Similarities That Probably Aren’t Copyrightable
3. Winner winner copycat dinner – IP protection of battle royale game mechanics 
4. Flight-sim maker threatens legal action over Reddit posts discussing DRM
5. Panic at 30,000 virtual feet: Controversial flight sim aircraft maker threatens reddit mods with libel legal action, mods hit back.
6. An open letter to Flight Sim Labs
7. FlightSimLabs Installs More Questionable Stuff On Users’ Machines, Then Threatens Reddit
8. UK ad regulator hits out at gambling site for game ads of ‘particular appeal to children’
9. Popular Twitch Streamer Makes An Example Of Her Harassers
10. Bury Me, My Love and MyoBeatz among 2018 Games for Change Awards nominees
11. Twitch To Promote LGBTQ+ Streamers, Launch Rainbow Emotes In Honor Of Pride Month
12. We’re experimenting with Twitch content to catch up on zillions of video games
13. Twitch promotes Pride Month, raises money for Human Rights Campaign: Throughout June, Twitch will spotlight LGBTQ+ creators and celebrate diversity across its platform
14. One-third of UK women gamers report abuse or discrimination from male gamers: Bryter survey shows many women avoid online play or identification as gamers due to fear of abuse
15. Video: A postmortem look at Rocket League’s language ban system
16. Ex-Microsoft exec J Allard speaks to the game industry’s inherent burnout problem
17. Microsoft Studios head: ‘It’s really important to think about the longevity of a game’
18. Using AI to take the “emotional work” out of community management – Spirit AI’s Dr Mitu Khandaker: “We are trying to make the lives of community managers and moderators easier”
19. Fear the reaper: Activision sunsetting Guitar Hero TV later this year
20. Guitar Hero Live goes offline in December, making 92% of songs unplayable
21. New iOS App Store guidelines ok timed demos but put the kibosh on the Steam Link App
22. Steam updates game-content guidelines, will include “something that you hate”
23. Steam “might have killed our business”: Developers behind mature visual novels describe the “chilling effect” of ad hoc game removals and Valve’s radio silence
24. Valve: We shouldn’t be choosing what you’re allowed to create or play
25. Australian gamers could face throttled data usage
26. Asus’ insane gaming phone has 3 USB ports, clip-on cooling fan
27. Indiegogo working with debt collectors to refund Sinclair ZX Vega+ backers 
28. Indiegogo confirms debt collectors will recoup crowdfunding money for ZX Spectrum Vega+: Crowdfunding platform says Retro Computers Ltd failed to meet requirements for mid-June extension
29. Free-to-play Pokemon Quest passes 1M downloads on Switch
30. Fortnite among the Switch ports reportedly coming to E3
31. GameStop’s Q1 earnings can’t match last year’s Switch-driven highs
32. 56% of Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon’s 100k week-one sales were on Switch
33. Square Enix now has a dev group devoted to making Switch games
34. Citing the declining premium mobile market, Square Enix backs away from Go series
35. Square Enix Montreal abandons Go series, will continue work on mobile: Studio head cites rising quality of free mobile games, shrinking audience for pay-up-front titles
36. Nier: Automata has shipped 3M copies worldwide
37. Why Codemasters is finally ready to float: Ten years on from its aborted IPO, the UK racing specialist discusses how games-as-a-service and the push to mobile will secure its future
38. Onrush: The shooter-inspired racer that saved the Evolution team – Two years on from Sony’s shock decision to close the Driveclub developer, the team is back with a title that aims to reinvent the genre
39. A host of new security enhancements is coming to iOS and macOS
40. App Store devs have made $100B in revenue since store launched
41. iOS developers have made $100 billion since App Store launched: 20 million companies now registered as developers for Apple’s mobile platform
42. Games account for 75% of App Store spending: 66 per cent of iOS games spending comes from APAC territories alone
43. Analyst: 77% of the 4.5M apps on iOS are games, down from past years
44. Porting iOS games to MacOS should be easier next year, says Apple
45. Developers can now offer free trials on the App Store
46. New App Store Review Guidelines also clarify rules around multi-platform apps like Steam Link
47. Blog: The perks of soft-launching your game on Itch.io before Steam
48. Why Platinum Games may never work with a publisher again: Co-founders Hideki Kamiya and Atsushi Inaba discuss the acclaimed studio’s self-funded future and determination to own its IP
49. Jack Tretton’s indie investment fund will target UE4 projects: Interactive Gaming Ventures will make up to 21 investments in projects using Epic’s engine
50. Bungie nets $100M+ from China’s NetEase, aims to create ‘new worlds’
51. Bungie gets more than $100 million investment from NetEase: As Destiny studio sells minority stake, CEO Pete Parsons discusses the incubation process for its next new world and the possibility of self-publishing
52. The Elder Scrolls: Legends development switched to Sparkypants Studios – Transition away from Dire Wolf Studios will include new client, UI, and visuals, same game design
53. Paradox Interactive to acquire Battletech dev Harebrained Schemes
54. Paradox: “If a game can’t be played for 500 hours we probably shouldn’t be publishing it” – Paradox Interactive’s management team on moving beyond “premium plus DLC” to a more flexible future
55. How Minit’s team found creativity through limitations: The indie title’s four developers discovered freedom within its restrictions, and made a game “without stressing the hell out”
56. World Cup fever propels FIFA 18 back to No.1 in UK charts – But Detroit: Become Human, Far Cry 5 and God of War still manage to fend off retro-centric new releases
57. Battlefront II developer EA Motive expands with Vancouver opening
58. Evolve’s dedicated servers are being switched off in September
59. Evolve servers to shut down in September: Publisher 2K confirms end for AAA game turned free-to-play
60. Don’t Miss: Looking back at how Evolve was retrofitted for accessibility
61. Activision ending Guitar Hero TV in December: iOS version already removed from the App Store
62. Bethesda stream for new Fallout game pulls 2m unique viewers: “We have had over two million unique visitors to this stream to watch, I don’t know what, nothing,” said Bethesda Game Studios’ Todd Howard
63. The Elder Scrolls: Legends is swapping devs one year after launch
64. Fig nabs blockchain outfit Ownage to help create new digital publishing platform
65. Fig acquires blockchain startup Ownage Ltd: UK company will help build the “Shard” decentralized publishing platform
66. Indiegogo extends deadline for ZX Spectrum Vega+ as June shipping date announced: Retro Computers Ltd “still determined to deliver the Vega+” despite ongoing dispute with former project leads
67. Intellivision returns with new console, president: Tommy Tallarico and veteran team plan ’80s revival as Intellivision Entertainment
68. VR title Beat Saber hits 100,000 sales in a month – Update: Hyperbolic Magnetism’s rhythm game nears estimated $2 million in first month revenue
69. New XRDC Healthcare Report offers insight into how AR/VR/MR is shaping medicine
70. Arc System Works introduces ‘non-negotiable’ streaming guidelines: Developer threatens breaches with potential channel strike or account suspension
71. Riot Games donating 100% of ‘Dark Star Cho’Gath’ skin sales to charity
72. Riot Games donating all proceeds from limited edition skin to charity: Skin designed with League of Legends fan through The Make-A-Wish Foundation
73. Activision Blizzard sells out Barclays Center for esports championship
74. Overwatch League™ Grand Finals Sells Out Barclays Center: Fans purchased more than 20,000 tickets to the esports championship in Brooklyn, New York – The largest esports event ever slated at Barclays Center sold out within two weeks of its public on-sale
75. High school esports firm PlayVS raises $15 million
76. Arena of Valor tournament will mark Tencent’s E3 debut: Partnership with ESL will see playoffs hosted in Los Angeles ahead of next month’s $550,000 World Cup
77. Ubisoft tests limited revenue sharing for Rainbow Six Pro League: Pilot program to see 11 teams take portion of in-game item sales for one year before revenue sharing introduced for entire league
78. Ubisoft CEO: ‘There will be one more console generation … after that, we will be streaming’
79. Deep UX: The last “Here Be Dragons” area of modern game development – IT Territory’s Alexsandr Enin on embracing negative, emotional feedback to boost HAWK’s already high retention
80. Americans largely won’t pay to win a video game – but Chinese gamers will
81. One man is auctioning off 40 years of gaming history today
82. Blog: The evolution of boss design in video games
83. The original Doom, one of 64 Objects that shaped video game history
84. Rare Japanese games rediscovered after 67GB folder leaks online
85. Early Pokemon Gold and Silver demo uncovers scrapped content
86. The great video game exodus
87. Ted Dabney, a Founder of Atari and a Creator of Pong, Dies at 81

DIGITAL

1. Canada Introduces New Influencer Disclosure Guidelines
2. Russian State TV Photoshops an Awkward Smile on Kim Jong Un’s Face
3. VPNFilter malware infecting 500,000 devices is worse than we thought: Malware tied to Russia can attack connected computers and downgrade HTTPS.
4. Former Cambridge Analytica CEO Faces His Ghosts In Parliament
5. Craigslist Sex Sting Prosecution Rejected as “Outrageous Misconduct”–Washington v. Solomon (Eric Goldman)
6. Egyptian Gov’t Arrests Journalist Who Exposed Brutality; Will Use Social Media Suspensions As Evidence Against Him
7. Has Facebook Merely Been Exploited By Our Enemies? Or Is Facebook Itself The Real Enemy?
8. YouTube is the preferred platform of today’s teens: And Facebook continues to fall, according to Pew Research Center
9. Facebook Accused of Giving Users’ Personal Data To Every Major Device Maker
10. Insights: Has Facebook Already Lost The Next Generation Of Users?
11. Judge OKs Class Action Status For Illinoisans Claiming Facebook Violated State Privacy Law
12. Facebook will remove the Trending topics section next week
13. Following Licensing Pacts, Facebook Will Let Users Add Music To Their Personal Videos
14. Man posts morel mushrooms on Facebook, gets a visit from the cops
15. State Court Says Cop Posing As A Facebook Friend To Snag Criminal Evidence Isn’t A 4th Amendment Violation
16. Chrome and Firefox leaks let sites steal visitors’ Facebook names, profile pics
17. Not Fake News: Facebook Watch Funds Shows From CNN, Fox News, ABC News
18. Uganda Is Taxing WhatsApp and Facebook, Because Users “Gossip”
19. Social Media as a Weapon to Harass Women Academics
20. Language-Policing AI Will Suggest A Polite Alternative to Online Hate Speech
21. School Can’t Take A Joke; Turns Student Over To Cops For Listing The School For Sale On Craigslist
22. Telegram CEO: Apple has “prevented” app updates globally since April
23. Apple’s Plans To Bring Artificial Intelligence To Your Phone
24. You Can’t Make This Stuff Up: Amazon Warehouse Robots Slipped On Popcorn Butter
25. Amazon is reportedly upping its investment in India by $2 billion
26. Amazon Disconnects From Australia After Government Hits It With 10% Tax On All Imported Items 
27. Amazon scores Premier League TV rights to stream 20 games next season: Amazon secures all the Boxing Day games in the UK
28. The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same: Teens Still Love YouTube, Snapchat
29. Lenovo’s all-screen smartphone was all talk
30. As Pride Month Begins, YouTube Faces Criticism For Allegedly Demonetizing The World “Transgender”
31. YouTube Draws More Flak From Queer Creators As Anti-LGBTQ+ Ads Appear On Videos
32. ‘The Washington Post’ Launches Second-Ever YouTube Channel, A Science Brand For Kids
33. YouTube Co-Founder Who Posted The Site’s First Video May Return With More
34. Lawsuit Over Cancer-Curing Honey Ads Still Sucks–Abid v. Google (Eric Goldman)
35. Washington State Is Suing Facebook And Google For Violating Election Advertisement Laws
36. Google reportedly won’t renew controversial drone imaging program
37. Google Ditches Department of Defense, Updates Its Code of Ethics
38. Google To Publish Artificial Intelligence Ethical Guidelines
39. Google Announces Programmatic Buys of Audio Ads – Looking at Legal Issues with Programmatic Sales 
40. Type ‘the1975..com’ Into Your Google App to See a Weird Bug in Action
41. 9-Year-Old Trash-Talker Lil Tay Has Wiped Her Instagram And YouTube Accounts
42. Instagram might soon let you post videos up to an hour long: A ‘new feature’ would allow for much longer vertical videos
43. Instagram Eyeing Push Into Long-Form Vertical Video With 1-Hour Clip Limits 
44. Patreon To Launch Merch Service For Creators Following Acquisition Of Ecommerce Startup ‘Kit’
45. Cheddar Forms Third News Brand, ‘CheddarU’, For Distribution Across College Campuses
46. Why Music Video Hosting Service Vevo Is Joining Mediaocean’s Spectra Platform
47. Microsoft killing off the Groove Music apps for iOS and Android
48. Microsoft snaps up GitHub for $7.5 billion
49. Microsoft has acquired GitHub for $7.5B 
50. Microsoft acquires GitHub for $7.5 billion: Windows and Xbox maker says software development platform will continue to operate independently and support any OS, cloud, or device
51. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says $7.5 billion GitHub deal shows, ‘We are all in on open source’
52. Everyone complaining about Microsoft buying GitHub needs to offer a better solution
53. We know you hate the Internet of Things, but it’s saving megafauna from poachers
54. Hulu’s Live TV Offering Reaches 800K Subs in First Year
55. Hulu CEO Says His Company’s Live TV Service Has 800,000 Subscribers One Year After Launch
56. Hulu Loses Chief Content Officer, SVPs Of Partnerships And Experience Amid Sweeping Reorganization
57. Hulu in Major Exec Shakeup: Content Chief Joel Stillerman, Two SVPs Are Out – Under reorg, Tim Connolly and Ben Smith will depart; company hires new CTO and first chief data officer
58. Netflix is becoming a global media phenomenon, says analyst: Mark Mahaney, RBC Capital Markets lead internet analyst, explains his latest research note on Netflix highlighting the streaming giant’s international business.
59. Netflix and Governance Transparency
60. Harnessing Change: The Future of Programming Distribution in Canada (CRTC)
61. A Hacker Hijacked the Buffalo Wild Wings Twitter Account and Revealed Its ‘Secret Recipe’ 
62. TWiT’s Trademark Lawsuit Against Twitter Sent Back to the Drawing Board
63. Twitter Reorgs Content-Partnerships Group, Folds Live-Video Team Into Regional Structure
64. Twitter’s Top Live Video Exec Exits Amid Organizational Restructuring
65. Court Not At All Impressed By Chuck Johnson’s Silly Lawsuit Against Twitter, Plans To Grant Anti-SLAPP Win To Twitter
66. Cops Perform Guns-Drawn Raid Of Chelsea Manning’s Home Because Someone Reported Her Suicidal Tweets
67. Can You Fire Someone For Racist Tweets? 
68. AI Can Now Manipulate People’s Movements In Fake Videos
69. MIT scientists created a “psychopath” AI by feeding it violent content from Reddit
70. There’s Now A Religion Based On the Blockchain. Yes, Really.
71. Understanding the Effect of Wyoming’s Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Legislation
72. Gumi launches $30 million cryptocurrency investment fund: Gumi Cryptos aims to help organizations struggling to connect with Japanese markets
73. Hackers Commandeered 3 Cryptocurrency Networks, Stole Millions 
74. WME Secures New Branded Content Opportunities By Investing In Marketing Platform Influential
75. After Arduous Fundraising Process, Crowdfunding Platform Seed & Spark Lands $2 Million Seed Round
76. Software and stealth: how carmakers hike spare parts prices
77. More Bad News for Uber’s Contract Formation–Ramos v. Uber
78. After dispute on freeway, Uber driver shot his passenger, who died soon after
79. San Francisco to Uber, Lyft: If your drivers aren’t employees, prove it
80. Report: Turkish President Erdogan Claims Uber’s Turkey Business Is ‘Over’
81. As Uber and Tesla struggle with driverless cars, Waymo moves forward
82. Waymo announces 7 million miles of testing, putting it far ahead of rivals
83. Contract Law or Copyright Law – What’s the Confusion?
84. Uncle Sam wants you to join the United States Digital Service
85. FOSTA Supporters Come Out Swinging Against Critics
86. Highlights From Former Rep. Chris Cox’s Amicus Brief Explaining The History And Policy Behind Section 230 
87. From Westworld to Best World for the Internet of Things (Jonathan Zittrain)
88. Censorship in the Age of Large Cloud Providers (Bruce Schneier)

CREATIVITY

1. Court Allows “Battery by GIF” Claim to Proceed – Eichenwald v. Rivello
2. Star Wars And The Battle Of The Ever-More-Toxic Fan Culture
3. Is the NFL’s anthem policy constitutional? Not in some states, law prof argues
4. Annual Also-Ran Buffalo Bills File Trademark For “Respect The Process”
5. S Is For Streisand: Sesame Street Decides To Offer Free Promotion To R-Rated Muppet Satire By Filing Trademark Claim
6. San Diego Comic-Con Petitions Judge To Have Salt Lake Comic Con Pay Its Attorney’s Fees, Bar It From Calling Itself A ‘Comic Convention’
7. Naruto the Macaque’s 3 year legal journey has come to an end in a San Francisco Court of Appeals 
8. Ninth Circuit to PETA: Stop Monkeying Around with Copyright Claims 
9. Media pirates walk the plank: extraordinary remedies against copyright infringers in Canada
10. Fast fashion and IP regulation: will fast fashion kill the golden goose?
11. Study Shows That Wartime Program To Abolish Copyright On German Science Books Brought Significant Benefits To US
12. The case for quarantining extremist ideas: When confronted with white supremacists, newspaper editors should consider ‘strategic silence’
13. Why the Government’s Copyright Board Plans Threaten to Spark Another Lobbying Battle (Michael Geist)
14. Recording Industry Hypocrisy On Full Display In Continuing To Push The CLASSICS Act That Expands Copyright
15. EU Parliament Members Play Hardball On Terrible Copyright Policies, Article Highlighting Sketchy Tactics Magically Disappears

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

1. The Future of Programming Distribution in Canada: CRTC Reports On CanCon in the Digital World
2. Harnessing Change: The Future of Programming Distribution in Canada (CRTC)
3. Regulate Everything: The CRTC Goes All-In on Internet Taxation and Regulation (Michael Geist)
4. Math Not Magic: If Melanie Joly Mandates Internet Taxes, Consumers Will Foot the Bill (Michael Geist)
5. The 1980s CRTC: The Commission Turns Back the Clock with Old-Style Regulation and Privileged Insider Access (Michael Geist)
6. Government’s Telecom/Broadcast Review Sets Up Internet Taxes and Regulation As a 2019 Election Issue (Michael Geist)
7. Court Of Appeal Affirms Punitive Damages Must Be Proportionate To Gravity Of Breach: Vidéotron v Girard, 2018 QCCA 767
8. CASL Compliance Becomes More Complex
9. Chicago streaming video tax does not violate federal and state law
10. E-Mails Show FCC Made Up DDOS Attack To Downplay The ‘John Oliver Effect’
11. FCC accused of “spreading lies” about DDoS hitting comment system
12. Trump grants Democrats’ request for a new FCC commissioner
13. California Senate Approves Bill to Restore Net Neutrality Rules Repealed by FCC 
14. California’s Tough New Net Neutrality Law Takes Another Step Forward
15. FCC Claims Perfectly-Timed Regulatory Handout To Sinclair Is Just Quirky Happenstance
16. FCC Wants Ebay, Amazon To Crack Down On Kodi-Based Pirate TV Boxes
17. Sprint says merger with “fiercest rival” will “create robust competition”
18. Trump administration could block T-Mobile/Sprint merger, AT&T CEO says
19. AT&T wants to settle with FTC to avoid unlimited data throttling lawsuit
20. AT&T Ends Quest To Erode FTC Authority Over Broadband Providers
21. Comcast drops bid for “gigabit” tax cut that was created for Google Fiber
22. Google Fiber Broadband Hype Replaced By Delays And Frustration
23. Thanks To No Competition, Broadband Satisfaction Scores Plummet
24. Fox News Shows Eagles Players Praying, Falsely Implies They Were Protesting During Anthem
25. Sheriffs Are Raking In Millions In Prison Phone Fees And Some Really Don’t Want To Talk About It

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

1. Glassdoor ordered to turn over user information
2. Settlement Of Alleged CASL Violation – Text Messages Sent Without Consent Or Prescribed Information
3. Mobile Phone Maker Reaches Settlement with FTC Over Deceptive Privacy and Data Security Claims 
4. FTC Reminder: Websites and Online Services Subject to COPPA Must Honor Data Deletion Requirements 
5. Paul Manafort Learns That Encrypting Messages Doesn’t Matter If the Feds Have a Warrant to Search Your iCloud Account
6. In seconds, we faked our way into a political campaign, got unsecured voter data
7. With possible summit approaching, North Korean espionage hacks continue
8. DHS found evidence of cell phone spying near White House
9. Three months later, a mass exploit of powerful Web servers continues
10. Appeals Court Rolls Its Eyes At Goverment’s Attempt To Dodge FOIA Litigation By Pretending It Didn’t Know Who Was Seeking Documents
11. This Filter Makes Your Photos Indecipherable to Facial Recognition Software
12. Governor’s office is “stonewalling” lawsuit over Confide use, lawyer tells judge
13. Another Report Highlights How Wireless SS7 Flaw Is Putting Everyone’s Privacy At Risk
14. 11th Circuit Says No Reasonable Suspicion Needed For Invasive Device Searches At The Border
15. 30,000 Cameras Can’t Be Wrong: Chicago Banks On Surveillance To Solve Violence Problem
16. Data protection laws are shining a needed light on a secretive industry: Regardless of where we live, we all benefit from data protection laws – companies must us show how they profit off our information (Bruce Schneier)
17. ICANN’s Pre-emptive Attack On The GDPR Thrown Out By Court In Germany
18. Websites in the US are definitely “turning off” Europe
19. 92 million MyHeritage users had their data quietly swiped

Jon

GAMES

1. PUBG Corp files copyright lawsuit against Epic Games: Korean developer began proceedings in January, alleging Fortnite plagiarises PUBG
2. PUBG Corp. files copyright infringement lawsuit against Fortnite dev Epic Games
3. Fortnite sold 5 million battle passes on the first day of Season 3: Analyst Michael Pachter relates success, predicts more games moving to cosmetics as a result
4. Fortnite, God of War break monthly revenue records –  Superdata: Epic’s battle royale makes $296 million in April; God of War becomes fastest-selling PS4-exclusive
5. Interactive Gaming Ventures and Epic Games team up to fund UE4 indies
6. Gamers involved in December’s “swatting” death just got indicted
7. Charity calls on Valve to remove ‘school shooting simulator’ from Steam store: Game described as “horrendous” by Infer Trust
8. Valve removes mass shooting game and its ‘troll’ dev from Steam
9. School Shooting Game Angers Steam Users, Developer ‘Likely’ Changing It
10. Valve removes school shooting game, along with developer’s entire catalogue: Creator of Active Shooter identified as previously banned ‘troll’ developer Ata Berdiyev
11. Opinion: So, you want to talk about porn on Steam
12. Valve’s Steam Link app blocked by Apple due to ‘business conflicts’
13. Apple has rejected iOS version of Steam Link app, Valve says
14. Steam Link app rejected by Apple: Valve’s appeal has been denied; Android version already in beta
15. Syrian refugee games developer denied UK visa ahead of awards ceremony: Path Out co-creator Abdullah Karam feels “sad and mistreated” as his misses out on Indie Prize ceremony
16. Honesty contributed to Subsurface Circular’s 2 percent refund rate
17. US has the largest gender pay gap for video game streamers: Half of US women streamers go unpaid despite country’s higher-than-average spending on influencer support
18. DICE GM pushes back against Battlefield V anger: “Player choice and female playable characters are here to stay,” says Oskar Gabrielson after complaints over game’s inclusion of women
19. Battlefield V ditches season pass and loot boxes, takes on Red Dead Redemption 2: Electronic Arts plans to monetise upcoming blockbuster shooter with live service and cosmetics after its arrives on October 19th
20. Battlefield V Shows How The Video Game Industry Is Turning On Loot Boxes
21. Trade group prez: Loot box regulation “challenges our freedom to innovate”
22. ESA: We can’t go to the “lowest common denominator of government” on loot boxes – Mike Gallagher warns against “over-reactions” to loot boxes influencing the industry
23. Op-ed: Game companies need to cut the crap – loot boxes are obviously gambling – Much as game companies try to deny it, the truth is plain to see.
24. Sony’s PlayStation 5 hints confirm an eight-year PS4 lifespan: Rejecting hardware updates in favour of a full generational refresh, Sony implies a PS4 successor will come in 2021 – but how big a leap can that offer?
25. Hacker gets Super NES games running on unmodified NES
26. Nintendo offers dockless Switch in Japan: The reduced-price ‘2nd Unit Set’ is being marketed to households that already own a Switch
27. Nintendo starts selling cheaper, dock-free Switch, but only in Japan
28. The first Pokemon RPG on the Switch takes cues from Niantic’s Pokemon Go
29. Pokémon’s first Switch game launches in November, connects to Pokémon Go
30. Game Freak & Nintendo debut a phone-friendly Pokemongame on the Switch
31. Pokémon’s new evolution was inevitable: With two generations of fans, The Pokémon Company has made some big changes
32. Pokémon profits down nearly 50% in company’s second most profitable year: Pokémon Go, Sun, and Moon accounted for the 2016 spike and subsequent fall-off
33. Pokemon Company annual profits drop to a mere $80.8 million
34. Zynga acquires mobile game dev Gram Games for $250 million
35. Zynga splashes $250 million on Gram Games acquisition: But Frank Gibeau tells GamesIndustry.biz recovering firm is “not on a buying spree”, pips Merge Dragons as new “forever franchise”
36. Hacker gets Super NES games running on unmodified NES
37. The NES Classic Is Back – Here’s How To Make Sure You Get One
38. Detroit Become Human: Critical Consensus –
39. Quantic Dream has sued journalists for negative coverage, but judging from the reviews for the studio’s Detroit Become Human, the media isn’t holding it against the studio.
40. Detroit: Become Human review: Robotic in all of the wrong ways
41. ‘Detroit: Become Human’ dehumanizes everything it touches
42. Wolfenstein 2 accounted for speedrunners in its design
43. H1Z1 gains early F2P traction on PlayStation 4
44. Caffeine rolls out stream monetization program, complete with payouts for devs
45. Mixer rolls out MixPlay, a tool for creating interactive stream overlays
46. US has the largest gender pay gap for video game streamers: Half of US women streamers go unpaid despite country’s higher-than-average spending on influencer support
47. Battle royale players are among the most engaged gamers, report finds – Newzoo: 88 per cent of battle royale players spend money in-game, compared to 75 per cent of traditional competitive game players
48. Kids On YouTube Keep Making Videos About Scamming Fortnite V-Bucks From Their Parents
49. ESPN+ to Live-Stream ‘League of Legends’ Esports Events Under New, Non-Exclusive Pact
50. Minecraft reaches 100 million downloads in China: Approaching 250 million downloads worldwide
51. How premium PC games continue to rise, surprise in China
52. Media Molecule: Avoiding the “soul tax” of making games – At the Nordic Game Conference, Siobhan Reddy offered advice on protecting people and culture against the pressures of development
53. Echo and Little Nightmares clean up at 2018 Nordic Game Awards: Ultra Ultra’s sci-fi adventure wins three categories, including Game of the Year, while Tarsier Studios’ dark title takes two
54. Former Dragon Age director reflects on the ups and downs of development
55. Mobile dev Voodoo secures an estimated $200M investment from Goldman Sachs
56. YoYo Games opens publishing division to elevate GameMaker Studio 2 projects
57. Wargaming reportedly closes Seattle studio: Formerly Gas Powered Games, the studio employed around 150 people
58. Just Cause dev Avalanche Studios acquired by Nordisk Film 
59. UK indie chain Games Centre enters liquidation: Another games retailer disappears from the High Street
60. After 3+ decades as a private firm, UK dev Codemasters is going public
61. Codemasters valued at £280m as it prepares to go public: Developer expected to raise £15 million for expansion into mobile
62. Voodoo secures $200m Goldman Sachs investment: French mobile developer looks to double its staff by year’s end
63. Andrew Maximov: “Technology is actually going to make us better artists” – Industry veterans say artificial intelligence will enable artists, not replace them
64. Video: How inequality (both real and virtual) shapes player behavior
65. Carmack: New 5K × 5K Mobile VR Playback Tech Will ‘set the bar for VR video quality’
66. Qualcomm launches a new chip specifically for standalone AR and VR devices
67. Revenue expected to double this year for augmented and mixed reality: Virtual reality revenue will fall behind AR/MR by 2021, says SuperData
68. HTC Announces Strategic Partnerships With MLB & McLaren Formula One Team
69. How the BattleTech devs built an engrossing tactics game on a budget
70. Video: What game designers really want out of AI
71. Researchers teach AI to play ‘hard’ games by showing it YouTube videos
72. Video: Unproven game AI techniques that might just work
73. Nintendo, Microsoft and EA Veterans Join to Create the Future of Blockchain Gaming
74. Players get credit for evolution–and stagnation–of gaming narrative: What Remains of Edith Finch developer Ian Dallas says the market is pushing the medium forward in some ways, tying its hands in others
75. Insights: We Have Influencers And Games, But Why Not More Games From Influencers?
76. What does GDPR mean for PR?: Leading UK games agencies tell us how new privacy regulations are refining their processes and better relationships with press
77. GDPR changes prompt Torn Banner Studios to shut downMirage: Arcane Warfare
78. A Critical Analysis of Kinect Star Wars’ “I’m Han Solo” Song, the Definitive Text on the Character

DIGITAL

1. Google Fails To Amend Canadian De-Indexing Injunction Despite California Court Order: Equustek Solutions Inc. v. Jack, 2018 BCSC 610
2. Court Says It’s Unconstitutional For Trump To Block People On Twitter, But Doesn’t Actually Order Him To Stop
3. U.S. District Court Rules President Trump Can’t Block Critical Followers
4. President Trump Violated the First Amendment by Blocking Users @realdonaldtrump
5. Six or Seven Things Social Media Can Do For Democracy 
6. Nurse Disciplined for Unprofessional Posts on Social Media Loses Appeal
7. Cloud-based quantum computer takes on deuteron and wins
8. Should Bots Have a Right to Free Speech? This Non-Profit Thinks So.
9. Personalized, Brainwave-Guided Movies Are Cool, As Long As You’re The One Steering
10. DHS Fusion Center Gets Request For Documents On Extremists, Decides To Hand Over Mind Control Docs Instead
11. NHL Aims to Debut ‘Smart Puck’ Tech in 2019
12. Alibaba’s Youku to Stream World Cup Soccer in China
13. YouTube Confirms Test Of Subscriptions Feed Driven By Algorithm And Not Chronology, Angering Creators
14. YouTube Premium To Launch Travel Soccer Series With Trickster Duo F2 Freestylers
15. YouTube’s Live Stream Of The Recent Royal Wedding Drew 11.2 Million Total Viewers
16. Spanish YouTube Star El Rubius Says He Has “Hit A Wall,” Announces Break From YouTube
17. YouTube Has Deleted 30 ‘Drill’ Music Videos For Fueling Gang Violence In The U.K.
18. Egyptian Government Set To Ban YouTube For One Month Six Years After Release Of Anti-Muslim Video
19. YouTube Music will replace Google Play Music but won’t kill user uploads
20. Two 18-Year-Olds Arrested In Paris For VEVO Hacks Of Top YouTube Videos Like “Despacito” 
21. Vevo Is Killing Off Its Mobile Apps, Website to Refocus on YouTube
22. Vevo To Shut Down Website, Apps In Order To “Remain Focused On Engaging The Biggest Audiences”
23. Vevo Flop Shows, Once Again, How Badly The Record Labels Underestimate Technology
24. Insights: Between ‘Solo’ Misfire And Comcast Pitch, Is Disney’s Streaming Strategy Still A Winner?
25. Barack Obama Reveals General Content Plans For New Netflix Deal
26. Netflix stocks hit record high making it more valuable than Disney – but only for a few hours: The streaming giant also surpassed estimations on subscriber growth, with a total of 125 million worldwide 
27. Hulu Orders BuzzFeed-Produced Documentary About R. Kelly’s Alleged History Of Sexual Abuse
28. Facebook Tools Are Used to Screen Out Older Job Seekers, Lawsuit Claims
29. Facebook Will Label Political Ads, Reveal Who Paid For Them, And Show Who They Targeted
30. Wherein Facebook Messes Up Elections By Trying Not To Mess Up Elections
31. ‘FacePause’ Desktop Extension Automatically Halts YouTube Videos Upon An Averted Gaze 
32. Facebook Funds Comedy Series From Sarah Silverman and Group Nine’s JASH
33. Your Worst Alexa Nightmares Are Coming True
34. Amazon confirms that Echo device secretly shared user’s private audio
35. Amazon Alexa Instantaneously Justifies Years Of Surveillance Paranoia
36. Don’t Freak Out About That Amazon Alexa Eavesdropping Situation
37. Google Just Turned a Huge Corner in the Smart Speaker Game
38. Google zooms by Amazon in smart speaker shipments, report says
39. Yelp’s Newest Campaign: Asking Google To Do The Right Thing
40. Court docs show Apple knew about the bendiness of the iPhone 6, 6 Plus
41. 187 Things The Blockchain Is Supposed To Fix
42. A Scottish Clinic Will Now Treat “Cryptocurrency Addiction”
43. The DoJ is reportedly probing the murky world of bitcoin trading
44. Sanctions: Iran, Russia, OFAC and cryptocurrencies
45. Russian unit, GRU officer linked to 2014 shoot-down of airliner over Ukraine
46. Uber’s Self-Driving Car Saw The Woman It Killed, Report Says
47. NTSB: Uber’s sensors worked; its software utterly failed in fatal crash
48. Tesla Agrees to Settle Class Action Suit Over ‘Essentially Unusable’ Autopilot Feature
49. Snapchat Launches ‘Yellow’, A $1.5 Million Accelerator Program For Mobile Content Creators
50. Forget The GDPR, The EU’s New Copyright Proposal Will Be A Complete And Utter Disaster For The Internet
51. The Demise Of Copyright Toleration
52. Why Is This Happening? The internet is terrible now, and Tim Wu knows why: Chris Hayes asks professor Tim Wu what created the conditions for the current angst surrounding our online experience.
53. The Collapse of UN Talks on the Application of International Law in Cyberspace: Why It Matters to U.S. Businesses

CREATIVITY

1. Harmonizing Tariff Regimes and Statutory Minimum Damages: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing? (Howard Knopf)
2. Batiste v. Lewis
3. Cabell v. Zorro Productions, Inc.
4. Monkey-Selfie Case Returns – To Court & (Maybe) a Theater Near You 
5. The Monkey Selfie Lawsuit Will Never, Ever Die: Appeals Court Judge Wants A Do Over
6. Use of “sound-alike” music in advertising ‒ key legal issues
7. Who owns an idea?: It’s a question the law can struggle to answer, particularly when it comes to fiction
8. Canadian Copyright, Fair Dealing and Education, Part Three: Exploring the Impact of Site Licensing at Canadian Universities (Michael Geist)
9. Canadian Copyright, Fair Dealing and Education, Part Four: Fixing Fair Dealing for the Digital Age (Michael Geist)
10. Woof: The Prosecco People Successfully Oppose A Pet-Treat Company’s ‘Pawsecco’ Trademark Application
11. On Graffiti, Public Art and Snoopy
12. Copyright Term: When Does a Work Enter the Public Domain? 
13. Amanda Palmer: Hands Up! I Have a Picture of a Toddler, and I’m not Afraid to Use it
14. The right of communication to the public … in a chart (Eleonora Rosati) 

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

1. A Matter of Trust: What Is Happening at the CRTC? (Michael Geist)
2. Who Needs an iPhone Tax: Canadian Music Industry Instead Calls for $40 Million Annual Handout (Michael Geist)
3. Wireless Carrier Abuse Of Location Data Makes The Facebook, Cambridge Scandal Look Like Amateur Hour
4. ESPN Analysts Routinely Told Execs Not To Worry About Cord Cutting
5. No, Counting The Number Of Patent Infringement Lawsuits Is Not A Good Way To Quantify A Company’s IP Ethics
6. No, The FTC Is Not Going To Do A Good Job Policing Net Neutrality
7. Trump hits campaign trail to endorse key foe of net neutrality rules
8. Shockingly, Streaming Providers Are Dominating Cable At Customer Satisfaction
9. Comcast may soon control what you pay to watch your favorite sports teams
10. Comcast Exposes Customer WiFi SSIDs and Passwords For Customers Paying To Rent A Comcast Router
11. California Senate defies AT&T, votes for strict net neutrality rules
12. FCC Republican asks Amazon and eBay to boost crackdown on pirate TV boxes
13. Charter Claims NY Lawsuit Over Crappy Broadband Speeds Just An Evil, Netflix ‘Cabal’
14. Submission of Civil Society Coalition at WIPO SCCR 36 on Broadcasters’ Rights Treaty

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

1. Guidance on Consent and Inappropriate Data Practices issued by Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
2. Open Letter To Francisco Partners: Request For Follow Up On Apparent Misuse Of Sandvine Technology And Sale Of NSO Group To Verint Systems (Citizen Lab)
3. U.S. Supreme Court Dismisses U.S. v. Microsoft as Moot After CLOUD Act Signed Into Law: Court Declares That There is No Longer a Live Controversy Over a Warrant Requiring Microsoft to Disclose Customer Data Stored Overseas
4. DOJ, FBI Issuing Corrections To Statements, Testimony Containing Bogus Uncracked Device Numbers
5. Apple’s Latest Transparency Report Shows Gov’t Still Not All That Interested In Seeking Warrants
6. A trip to the ER with your phone may mean injury lawyer ads for weeks
7. Yahoo hacker whose work compromised 500M accounts sentenced to 5 years
8. SS7 routing-protocol breach of US cellular carrier exposed customer data
9. Amazon confirms that Echo device secretly shared user’s private audio
10. FBI tells router users to reboot now to kill malware infecting 500k devices
11. Report On Milwaukee PD Body Cams Show Fewer Complaints, Fewer Stops, But No Reduction In Use Of Force
12. ICE Trying To Deport Journalist For Reporting On Abusive ICE Behavior
13. Europe’s New Data Protections Will Affect You Too. Here’s How.
14. Dozens of American News Sites Blocked in Europe as GDPR Goes Into Effect Today
15. The GDPR: Ghastly, Dumb, Paralyzing Regulation It’s Hard To Celebrate
16. EU Parliament’s Own Website Violates The GDPR
17. GDPR jokes to help ease the pain 
18. Two States Are Trying To Give People Control Over Their Online Data

Jon

GAMES

1. Judge Rules Copyright Lawsuit Over Tattoo Use in Video Game Can Proceed: What Might This Mean for the Video Game Industry and Virtual Sports Betting? 
2. Opinion: Illuminating the shadowy group celebrating Valve’s latest censorship drive
3. Valve threatens to pull games now deemed ‘sexually explicit’ from Steam
4. Valve advises sexualized anime-themed titles to censor content or be removed from Steam: HuniePop, Mutiny!!, Tropical Liquor and more received warnings today for “pornographic content”
5. Steam games warned for “pornographic content” have warnings dismissed, subject to re-review
6. Crunch can put devs at odds with their own mental health, warns Blizzard dev
7. With Steam Link app, your smartphone can be an imperfect gaming monitor
8. We Happy Few refused classification by Australian ratings board
9. We Happy Few denied classification in Australia
10. ADL partners with Global Game Jam, NYU’s Game Center to reduce hate in games
11. UK government takes aim at online games in Internet Safety Strategy response
12. Lack of oversight led to use of Overwatch art in Paladins Strike ad, says dev
13. Overwatch art used in Paladins Strike ad due to “not much oversight”
14. Overwatch to get Lego sets and Nerf merch: Activision Blizzard Consumer Products Group reveals new projects as it pursues more partners at Licensing Expo
15. Chinese Overwatch League team practices for twelve hours, six days a week: Team with the “most intensive training scheme” in the league has so far not won a single game
16. ‘We can launch games whenever we’re ready and whenever we want,’ says Guillemot
17. Less AAA competition makes delays easier – Ubisoft: CEO Yves Guillemot says “we can launch games whenever we are ready,” with digital content, live services, new markets offsetting any loss in revenue from smaller slate
18. Far Cry 5 and Assassin’s Creed Origins lead to record profit and sales for Ubisoft
19. Capcom bringing Resident Evil 7 to Switch with experimental pricing
20. Capcom experiements with streaming and new pricing in Resident Evil 7 for Switch: Cloud version of acclaimed horror title will be streamed via wifi, costs just £13 / $18 for six-month ‘play ticket’
21. Capcom requires high-speed streaming to play Resident Evil 7 on Switch
22. Owlboy turned profit on Nintendo Switch within 24 hours of release: Switch success “bodes really well for funding our future projects” says D-Pad CEO Jo-Remi Madsen
23. Nintendo is selling a dock-free ‘Second Set’ Switch bundle in Japan
24. Hearts of Iron IV sells one million copies
25. GTA V has sold over 95 million copies worldwide
26. Gameloft revenues fell 13% in Q1
27. Ubisoft posts record sales, delays Skull & Bones: Original IP pushed to next fiscal year as publisher sees pace of digital shift picking up, eyes expansion in PC, mobile, and China
28. iOS gamers are more loyal than Android, suggests Priori Data
29. Rovio sees profits rise amid strong revenues from Angry Birds 2
30. Rovio doubles down on Angry Birds with new content roadmap: Multimedia strategy includes stage shows, location-based events, and long form animated series
31. Paradox Q1 profits up 270% – despite only one new game release: Outgoing CEO Fred Wester says quarter shows the value of retaining loyal players with expansions and more
32. Paradox: “People were coming to us in droves asking if we could make board games” – And the Swedish publisher is now licensing its biggest IPs to do just that
33. Less management, more success: Inside Supercell’s ‘upside-down’ organization
34. Tencent acquires majority stake in Path of Exile dev Grinding Gear
35. EA acquires talent, tech from GameFly’s cloud gaming service 
36. EA acquires GameFly subsidiary for cloud gaming: Israel-based team and technology will expand EA’s ability to offer its games across multiple devices
37. FIFA and Call of Duty driving viewer growth in console esports: 20 million hours of console events watched in 2018 so far, but still only a fraction of esports’ overall viewership
38. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 won’t have a single-player campaign but will offer battle royale
39. Black Ops 4 ditches single-player campaign, adds battle royale mode
40. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 ditches Steam in favor of Battle.net
41. Analysis: Player interest in Call of Duty’s campaigns is cratering
42. Gamelynx raises $1.2 million to develop esports games on mobile
43. Gamelynx raises $1.2 million for mobile esports development: Investors include Riot Games, Y Combinator, and Skycatcher Fund
44. NBA 2K League announces State Farm sponsorship
45. Microsoft partnership brings video game event to Special Olympics USA Games
46. One hundred meeeeellion dollars: Epic dumps serious cash into Fortnite esports
47. Epic Games to provide $100 million prize pool for Fortnite esports this year
48. Epic Games puts up $100M for Fortnite esports prize pool
49. Fortnite Developer’s $100,000,000 Prize Pool Is Great News For Streamers
50. ‘Fortnite’-Branded Products In The Works Following Pact Between Epic Games, IMG
51. Battlegrounds mobile attracting over 10 million daily active users
52. Oculus & ESL Partner on eSports VR League with $220,000 in Prizes, Including ‘Echo Combat’
53. HTC Says Watching ‘Ready Player One’ Boosts VR Purchase Intent in China
54. Oculus adds DLC support for mobile VR apps: Beta test opens up a new revenue stream, with Rift DLC support still to come
55. Crowdfunded 3D Headphone Startup OSSIC is Shutting Down, 99% of Orders Go Undelivered
56. Microsoft launches Xbox Adaptive Controller to make games more accessible 
57. Microsoft’s next Halo game is an arcade cabinet 
58. Minecraft surpasses 100M users in China on PC and mobile 
59. Eurogamer scoops multiple awards at first-ever Games Media Brit List
60. ESRB points devs toward IARC ratings as it looks to phase out short-form option 
61. ESRB dropping short form ratings for digital games in June: Developers will still be able to get rated at no cost via IARC
62. God of War helps PlayStation smash records in April NPD stats: Kratos’ return was best ever launch for a PlayStation exclusive, PS4 game sales reaches new high for the month
63. Sony: PlayStation 4 is entering ‘final phase’ of its lifecycle
64. Sony prepares for the “final phase” of PlayStation 4’s life-cycle
65. Sony: Next PlayStation is at least three years off
66. Sony: The next PlayStation is another three years away
67. Reassessing the legacy of PlayStation Vita: As software production ends, it’s a good moment to reassess Sony’s handheld – its commercial failure looms large, but its innovations remain hugely influential
68. PlayStation Vita game production will continue in Japan: Sony confirms physical games will still be released in home market beyond March 2019
69. Sony: PS4 Enters “final phase of life cycle,” Next PlayStation to Come in 3 Years
70. Sony takes a page from Microsoft by licensing customizable PS4 gamepad
71. The future of PlayStation may be portable, says Sony exec
72. Portable gaming shouldn’t be separate from consoles – PlayStation head: Newly appointed John Kodera says company is considering portable gaming options, signalling a change from previous management’s thinking
73. Jagex shutting down RuneScape Classic after 17 years
74. Jagex shutting down RuneScape Classic: Problems with community safety, botting, and bugs led to the decision to shut down the 17-year-old game
75. Wargaming Seattle is shutting down
76. Cultural approaches to horror game design

DIGITAL

1. Media can’t be an arm of the police, Vice lawyer tells Supreme Court hearing: Reporter Ben Makuch challenging ruling he must hand over info on terrorists to RCMP
2. Trump’s Twitter blocking violates First Amendment, court rules: The “interactive space” around Trump tweets is a public forum, judge rules.
3. Trump feels presidential smartphone security is “too inconvenient”
4. President Trump Thinks Basic Phone Security Is Simply Too Inconvenient
5. New Malaysian Prime Minister Who Promised To Kill ‘Fake News’ Law Decides It Might Be Useful Now That He’s In Power
6. Turkish President Visits UK To Remind Everyone He Still Wants To Punish Critical Speech
7. FBI seizes domain Russia allegedly used to infect 500,000 consumer routers
8. Hackers infect 500,000 consumer routers all over the world with malware: VPNFilter can survive reboots and contains destructive “kill” function.
9. All of Mugshots.com’s alleged co-owners arrested on extortion charges: Mugshots.com is a “business permeated with fraud,” California AG says.
10. Mugshots.com Operators Arrested For Letting Money Influence Editorial Decisions
11. North Korea-tied hackers used Google Play and Facebook to infect defectors
12. Cambridge Analytica files for bankruptcy amidst “siege” of negative attention
13. What Happened To Facebook’s Grand Plan To Wire The World?: Five years ago Mark Zuckerberg debuted a bold, humanitarian vision of global internet. It didn’t go as planned – forcing Facebook to reckon with the limits of its own ambition.
14. Mark Zuckerberg Played Parliament for Fools and They’re Pissed
15. Facebook Is Testing Its Own Influencer Marketing Platform
16. Facebook Moderation Ramps Up In Germany And Everything Keeps Getting Worse For Its Users
17. Instagram Finally Rolls Out ‘Mute’ Button, 3 Years After Twitter Unveiled Feature
18. There Is No Magic Bullet For Moderating A Social Media Platform
19. Fed Up With Apple’s Policies, App Developers Form A ‘Union’
20. Small group of iOS devs form “The Developers Union” to request App Store changes: There’s little in the way of organization, but some notable names are attached.
21. Apple cracks down on CallKit-enabled apps in China’s App Store
22. Apple, VW sign driverless car deal for Apple campus shuttles, NY Times sources say
23. An Overview of Political Advertising Policies for Google, Twitter, and Snapchat
24. Snapchat’s Parent Launches ‘Yellow’ Incubator Program for Mobile-Content Creators
25. How Google-happy jurors are derailing Ontario trials
26. Does Google’s Duplex violate two-party consent laws?
27. Google Removes ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Clause From Its Code of Conduct
28. Pretty Much All Tech Demos Are Fake as Hell
29. Morgan Stanley Pegs YouTube’s Valuation At $160 Billion, Above Disney, Comcast, And Netflix
30. Netflix and other online video are killing cable in customer satisfaction
31. YouTube Red Renamed ‘YouTube Premium’, Price Upped From $10 To $12 Monthly
32. New YouTube Music Premium costs $9.99 monthly, add $2 to get all Red perks
33. Google announces YouTube Music and YouTube Premium: Goodbye, YouTube Red; hello, new premium services
34. The Long, Checkered History Of YouTube’s Attempt To Launch A Music Service
35. YouTube TV Channels For The Young Turks, Tastemade Now Live With 9 New Shows
36. Rising NBA Star Jayson Tatum Learned Some Of His Best Moves From YouTube
37. Lilly Singh Launches Inaugural Campaign As UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador To End Child Violence
38. 89 Years After Popeye’s Introduction, The Sailor Man Is Coming To YouTube
39. Twitch’s Longest TV Marathon So Far Will Include More Than 500 Episodes Of ‘Doctor Who’
40. In New Video, Elle Mills Talks Mental Health, A Break From Social Media, And Being “Burnt Out At 19”
41. Here’s How You Can Turn On The New YouTube Feature That Reminds You To Take A Break
42. Magazine publishers with video ambitions see YouTube as safer bet than Facebook
43. New Version Of YouTube Music Ready To Launch, Will Feature Smart Recommendations, Context-Based Search
44. Barack And Michelle Obama Ink Multi-Year Content Partnership With Netflix
45. How The Record Labels Screwed Up The Music Industry, And The Tech Industry Saved Them
46. How The Recording Industry Hid Its Latest Attempt To Expand Copyright
47. Minimize harmfulness of bots but don’t ban them
48. Cross-sector code of conduct for AI – a solution with substance? 
49. New Requirements for Legal Analytics & Artificial Intelligence Under the GDPR
50. Many Of Those Desperate GDPR Emails You’ve Been Getting Are Violating A Different EU Regulation
51. Buyer Beware: Hundreds of Bitcoin Wannabes Show Hallmarks of Fraud – A Wall Street Journal analysis of 1,450 cryptocurrency offerings reveals rampant plagiarism, identity theft and promises of improbable returns
52. Bitcoin Is Going To Use As Much Electricity As Austria By The Year’s End
53. New study quantifies bitcoin’s ludicrous energy consumption
54. “We have built the world that they told us existed”: Did the rise of young, white “Internet reporting” bolster the alt-right?
55. Who Is Arthur Chu?: When Jeopardy ended, the real puzzles of online life began – Airing on PBS, new doc explores ups and downs of growing up – and growing in stature – online.
56. The Balkanization Of The Internet (Andres Guadamuz) 

CREATIVITY

1. District Court in California recognizes plausible trademark rights over fictional Star Wars board game 
2. Congress’ Latest Move To Extend Copyright Protection Is Misguided (Lawrence Lessig)
3. Who Needs a Copyright Small Claims Court? Evidence from the U.K.’s IP Enterprise Court
4. Copyright fair use – “transformative” revisited: has the Second Circuit gone too far?
5. Copyright Being Used To Prevent Actress From Showing Her Own Demo Reel
6. Copyright Once Again Hiding Important Cultural Artifacts
7. HBO Wins Stupid Copyright, Trademark Lawsuit Brought By Graffiti Artist Over 2 Seconds Of Background Scenery
8. EPA boots reporters from meeting on chemicals called a PR disaster
9. EPA’s War On Journalists Is Not A Good Look
10. Fox News Staffers Reportedly Freaking Out Over New Workplace Rules 
11. And then, they took her cellphone
12. This Video Explores the Experimental History of Scifi Book Covers
13. Canadian Copyright, Fair Dealing and Education, Part Two: The Declining Value of the Access Copyright Licence (Michael Geist)
14. Canadian Copyright, Fair Dealing and Education, Part One: Making Sense of the Spending (Michael Geist)

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

1. Judge For Yourself: Bell Says It Didn’t Meet CRTC to Review the FairPlay Application, But Here’s the Slide Presentation (Michael Geist)
2. Rupert Murdoch Believes In The Free Market… Until His Company Is Struggling: Then He Wants To Regulate Competitors
3. Disney’s Plans to Buy Fox Just Hit a Major Snag and Its Name Is Comcast
4. Comcast confirms plan to buy 21st Century Fox and control of Hulu
5. Comcast bug made it shockingly easy to steal customers’ Wi-Fi passwords
6. Comcast Found To Be Charging $90 Installation Fees At Homes Where Comcast Is Already In Use
7. TV regulation in a digital age
8. Senators Demand FCC Answer for Fake Comments After Realizing Their Identities Were Stolen
9. Senators Ask FCC Why It Did Nothing To Stop Their Names From Being Fraudulently Used During Net Neutrality Repeal
10. FCC is hurting consumers to help corporations, Mignon Clyburn says on exit
11. Net Neutrality Is Just A Gateway To The Real Issue: Internet Freedom  (Susan Crawford)
12. Charter Uses Net Neutrality Repeal To Claim States Can’t Hold It Accountable For Shoddy Service, Failed Promises
13. ISPs and Ajit Pai are really sad about Senate’s vote for net neutrality
14. A preview of the FTC’s role in monitoring broadband markets following the FCC’s adoption of the Restoring Internet Freedom Order
15. FTC Commissioner calls for stricter penalties and structural remedies against recidivist companies that violate consent orders 
16. T-Mobile should stop claiming it has “Best Unlimited Network,” ad group says
17. Supreme Court Strikes Down Law against Sports Betting – But Broadcasters Need to Proceed with Caution 
18. Website leaked real-time location of most US cell phones to almost anyone
19. Nearly Everyone In The U.S. And Canada Just Had Their Private Cell Phone Location Data Exposed
20. FCC investigates site that let most US mobile phones’ location be exposed
21. Verizon Begins ‘Testing’ DSL Usage Caps It Refuses To Call Usage Caps
22. The ‘Race To 5G’ Is Largely Just Marketing Nonsense 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

1. ICE Abandons Efforts for Social Media Vetting Algorithm
2. ICE Drops Extreme Vetting Software Plan After Discovering No One Could Possibly Deliver What It Wants
3. Judge Allows Fourth Amendment Challenge Of Warrantless Device Searches At The Border To Continue
4. Michigan Takes On The NSA With New Law, But Probably Won’t Have Much Of An Impact
5. Senators to DOJ: Reveal your secret paragraph-long explanation of stingrays
6. Not Paying Attention in Class?: China’s “Smart Eye” Will Snitch on You
7. Illinois Users’ Face-Scanning Privacy Lawsuit Against Facebook Headed to Trial
8. Police Surveillance Is Getting a Helping Hand from…Amazon!
9. ACLU Obtains Documents Showing Amazon Is Handing Out Cheap Facial Recognition Tech To Law Enforcement
10. Police use of Amazon’s face-recognition service draws privacy warnings
11. Report Confirms Deep Flaws Of Automated Facial Recognition Software In The UK, Warns Its Use In The US Is Spreading
12. FBI exaggerated the number of phones it can’t unlock by up to 550 percent
13. FBI Admits It’s Been Using A Highly-Inflated Number Of Locked Devices To Push Its ‘Going Dark’ Narrative
14. EFF Asks FBI, DOJ To Turn Over Details On Thousands Of Locked Phones The FBI Seems Uninterested In Cracking
15. Blunder burns unicorn attack that exploited Windows and Reader 
16. Warning: the Federal Trade Commission will prosecute companies over consumer data breaches – its recommendations should be heeded
17. As the Web moves toward HTTPS by default, Chrome will remove “secure” indicator

Jon

GAMES

1. Belgian Gaming Commission recommends criminal prosecution over illegal loot boxes: Commission lays groundwork for prosecution as Belgian justice minister meets with stakeholders to find an alternative
2. Twitch files counter-complaint against banned CS:GOstreamer
3. Twitch counter-sues streamer banned for gambling, inappropriate conduct: James Varga, aka “Phantoml0rd”, sued Twitch over the ban last month
4. ‘Saturday Night Live’ 48-Hour Marathon to Stream on Twitch
5. Twitch To Stream 48-Hour-Long ‘Saturday Night Live’ Marathon Ahead Of Sketch Show’s Season Finale
6. Supreme Court lifts ban on (e)sports gambling, allowing state-by-state legalization
7. Supreme Court lifts ban on sports gambling, including esports: DraftKings to implement sports, esports betting on its fantasy sports platform
8. Supreme Court Ruling Opens Door for Legalized Sports Betting
9. Take-Two CEO: Legal (e)sports gambling ‘meaningfully positive’ for games
10. Satirical game used to push back against German ban on Nazi symbols
11. Unprecedented move by German prosecutors over Nazi imagery in satirical game: Game serves “both the arts and civic enlightenment” says PPO
12. Kingsleys unleash ire of independent author community with Rebellion trademark: But CEO Jason Kingsley assures that ‘Rebellion’ will only be used for relevant services, is investigating ‘overreaching’ application
13. Video: A lawyer’s guide to practical IP law for indies
14. Hackers find PSP emulator in PS4 remaster of PaRappa the Rapper: PlayStation 4 version of cult classic rhythm game just an emulation of the 2007 PSP re-release
15. Pay-To-Flay: Examining microtransactions inMortal Kombat X 
16.  Making microtransactions work for players in Guild Wars 2
17. Gran Turismo franchise has sold 80M units in two decades
18. Gran Turismo franchise tops 80 million sold: Polyphony Digital racing sim series reaches mark a little over 20 years after initial debut
19. Sony and Nintendo update warranty policies in response to FTC warning: Both companies’ customers now have more freedom to use third party products and services
20. Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft update warranty policies in response to FTC warning: Customers now have more freedom to use third party products and services
21. Nintendo shuts down debut mobile app Miitomo
22. Nintendo still won’t commit to online services: “Netflix for retro games” would be a huge selling point for the Switch – but Nintendo’s reticence to commit to online services will stop it happening
23. Nintendo’s $20 charging stand fixes one of the Switch’s biggest problems
24. Nintendo Labo tests, part one: Robot Kit’s cardboard stomps are fun but shallow
25. A year ago, the NES Classic flew off the shelves—now it’s coming back
26. LawBreakers dev Boss Key Productions shuts down
27. Pokemon Go dev Niantic wants to build AR maps with data from players
28. Clearing up misconceptions around motion sickness in VR
29. Microsoft enables digital game and DLC gifting on PC: This follows the addition of Xbox One digital game, DLC, and subscription gifting last year
30. Xbox One may be indies’ least popular platform, survey suggests: Indies love the Switch, but PC wins out for accessibility despite marketplace overcrowding
31. Leaked photo shows new, accessible Xbox One controller
32. In the lab with Xbox’s new Adaptive Controller, which may change gaming forever
33. How the DualShock 4’s share button came to be
34. Sony winding down production of physical PlayStation Vita titles
35. Sony announces end of Vita GameCard production: Production of physical Vita games will cease by end of March 2019
36. ModDB parent launches cross-platform API mod.io:v New tech makes it easier for developers to add modding tools to their games
37. Mobile games continue to drive rising online game revenue for Tencent
38. Konami breaks profit records thanks to domestic mobile market
39. Konami shows record operating profits: Fourth straight year of bottom line growth helps publisher surpass previous 2012 high point; no word on Metal Gear Survive performance
40. Packaged software driving profits in Sega’s games division
41. Sega’s game profits rose 30% last year: Japanese publisher delivered increased operating profit despite launching fewer games than expected
42. Japanese devs reflect on the recent renaissance of Japanese games
43. Take-Two’s fortunes on the rise ahead of Red Dead Redemption 2 debut 
44. Devs share the most memorable things they’ve had to cut from games
45. Bigben Interactive acquires Styx developer Cyanide for $24M
46. Bigben acquires Cyanide for €20 million: WRC publisher broadens development focus with Styx: Shards of Darkness creator
47. Campo Santo retains freedom, flexibility under Valve
48. Development on In the Valley of Gods will continue as before, but with more support
49. Valve debuts public bug bounty board in an effort to improve security
50. Steam services expand to mobile with new apps: Steam Link and Steam Video will launch in the coming months
51. Polish studio Acram Digital banned from Steam for review tampering
52. Steam Yanks Another Developer’s Games Over Fake Reviews Posted By Employee
53. Acram Digital games removed from Steam after rogue staffer manipulates reviews: “This is my individual, bad behaviour, not the team, so I would like to blame me, not the devs,” says Grzegorz Kubas
54. From zero to 15 million: The story of Outlast – Red Barrels’ Philippe Morin on turning a $1.4 million budget into a $64 million franchise with 15 million sales
55. Mod.io API aims to help developers create mod-friendly games
56. Balancing Hearthstone: Metrics help the team understand what’s happening, but designer Dean Ayala says most changes in the Blizzard card game are made due to player perception
57. Universal “committed to games”, disputes free labour concerns over IP contest: Hollywood firm determined to build final product from Unity-partnered competition, stresses unsuccessful entrants retain rights to ideas
58. Daybreak insists it has no connection to parent company: H1Z1 developer now says it was never owned by Columbus Nova after investment firm’s owner sees assets frozen by US government, claims it has no impact on its business
59. Eidos Montreal: “We have to try new models for single-player games” – Shadow of the Tomb Raider dev on making $135 million narrative projects work
60. Discord now boasts 130M users, 85M more than one year ago
61. Discord triples users to 130 million in one year: The gaming chat platform just closed a $50 million round, which valued the company at $1.65 billion
62. Nexon doubles revenue in US following Pixelberry acquisition 
63. Nexon more than doubled profits in Q1: Pixelberry acquisition boosted North American revenue, but Korea remains Nexon’s source of strength
64. BioShock Remastered studio lays off 10% of workforce after project cancellation: Blind Squirrel Games confirms 13 redundancies, affected staff seeking help via Twitter hashtag
65. Kongregate looking to court indie devs with new Canada office
66. Kongregate opens Montreal office: Digital publisher’s first Canadian branch looks to capitalize on the local indie development scene
67. “The era of ‘break-out indie success’ is long dead”: Indie developers share their thoughts on the greatest challenges facing the industry in 2018
68. Looking back on our first year as an indie studio
69. Runescape creator Jagex raises $300K for mental health charities
70. Little Orbit acquires GamersFirst online game portal andAPB Reloaded
71. Online retailer Gameseek goes into liquidation: UK company left many orders unfulfilled when it hit the wall
72. GameStop boosted by billionaire hedge fund: Bridgewater Associates ups stake in troubled games retailer, plus new investment from quant firm Renaissance
73. Niantic to build a 3D augmented reality world map with Pokémon Go data: “We want players to build out the game board they want to play on,” says CEO
74. Nvidia posts record Q1 revenues as profits soar by 145%: Meanwhile, GPU prices “beginning to normalise” following cyrptocurrency surge
75. THQ Nordic saw more sales in 3 months than all of 2017, thanks to Koch Media
76. THQ Nordic posts 673% revenue increase following acquisition of Koch Media: Excluding Koch Media revenue, THQ Nordic still up 64 per cent
77. NCSoft profits up by 585% to $110m in Q1 2018: Mobile revenue spikes by 1,028 per cent amid mixed overall games performance
78. German mobile game revenue growth surpasses whole market growth in 2017: Mobile sales rose 21% year over year, while the country’s overall market revenue rose 15%
79. Appealing to the West by focusing on the East: Spike Chunsoft CEO Mitsutoshi Sakurai says there’s a growing global audience for the “very Japanese” games his company publishes
80. Cliff Bleszinski’s Boss Key Productions shuts down after three years
81. Saying Goodbye To The Fan Game That Recreated A Decade-Old Classic
82. Researchers teach AI the art of ‘interesting’ level design
83. The Race To Stop The Best Mario Kart 64 Player From Securing Every World Record 
84. Sonic the Hedgehog devs explain how competing with Mario influenced development
85. How Fortnite, A ‘Gamer’s Game,’ Took Over The World
86. Fortnite mobile has earned $50M in under two months
87. How Epic’s Fortnite rose from the ashes of Paragon’s failure
88. An analysis of building in Fortnite
89. Silverman: Is Fortnite habit the cause of David Price’s injury?
90. Red Sox starter David Price denies carpal tunnel related to gaming, but plans to scale back
91. Blog: How does multiplayer impact replayability?
92. Madden NFL could go in “new direction” following departure of creative director: Former Overwatch producer Carlos Guerrero takes over series following Rex Dickson’s depature
93. How EA Sports games are designed for blind players
94. Nordisk Film continues investment spree with $18M Star Stable deal
95. Google Chrome no longer breaks Web games, but the fix won’t last
96. Chrome temporarily rolls back audio-muting update so devs can prep for the change
97. How we increased our review score from mid 60’s to 80
98. The risky business of creating an introspective blockbuster 
99. Blog: The myth of the hero’s journey
100. Opinion: Neo Cab and the effort to make an empathetic game about gamification
101. John Carmack recalls “frustrating” arguments with Apple’s Steve Jobs
102. 100,000 Video Game Players Helped Scientists Prove Einstein Wrong

DIGITAL

1.  It’s Over: The Podcast Patent Troll’s Patent is Officially And Completely Dead
2. Supreme Court declines to hear “podcasting patent” case, handing win to EFF
3. Here are the Russian-made Facebook ads that tried to shake American politics 
4. 7 Takeaways from the Latest Batch of Russian-Bought Facebook Ads: House Democrats released over 3,000 Facebook and Instagram ads purchased by the Kremlin-linked Internet Research Agency. Here’s what we learned.
5. It’s Begun: Facebook Just Banned 200 Apps For Abusing User Data
6. Facebook suspends ~200 suspicious apps out of “thousands” reviewed so far
7. How Facebook Can Better Fight Fake News: Make Money Off the People Who Promote It
8. California Gov’t Thinks It Might Be Able To Regulate Fake News Sometime Before 2020
9. How Facebook Binds – And Shatters – Communities
10. Facebook Watch To Spend Up To $10 Million Per Series Amid News Programming Push (Report) 
11. New Commissioner Says FTC Should Get Tough on Companies Like Facebook and Google: Citing lax treatment of corporate malefactors, Rohit Chopra calls for the FTC to impose more significant penalties when companies violate its orders.
12. Could Cambridge Analytica happen again?
13. Iran’s President Comes Out Against His Country’s Ban On Telegram
14. Spotify’s Ban on Hateful Content and Conduct Is ‘Too Subjective’ and ‘Dangerous,’ Experts Say
15. Merlin Sells All of Its Spotify Shares for an Estimated $125 Million-Plus
16. Apple Music Passes 50 Million Subscribers, Including Free Trials
17. Online Ad Targeting Does Work – As Long As It’s Not Creepy
18. Minnesota Judges Refuse To Unmask Defendants For Copyright Troll Strike 3
19. Danish ISPs That Teamed Up To Beat Back Copyright Trolls Get Huge Legal Win
20. Japan’s Largest Cable Provider Pacts With Fullscreen To Launch Local Digital Network
21. The revamped Google News app is now available on iPhones and iPads
22. Area Man, Obscure Sidekick Asked to Leave Google Fiber’s Austin Office by the Police
23. Google Employees Resign in Protest Against Pentagon Contract
24. A dozen Google employees quit over military drone project
25. Could Google’s creepy new AI push us to a tipping point?
26. Brave new world: some legal considerations in using AI and IoT Systems 
27. Robots Behaving Badly: Legal Responsibility In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence (Andres Guadamuz)
28. Robot U: The First American A.I. Undergrad Program is Here, and Already Incredibly Elite
29. Can This AI-Powered Baby Translator Help Diagnose Autism?
30. Stop Using Discriminatory AI, Human Rights Groups Say
31. All the Rage in Sweden: Embedding Microchips Under Your Skin
32. The Next Blockchain Revolution? Crypto-Powered Beer Vending Machines
33. When The Blockchain Skeptic Walked Into The Lions’ Den 
34. Blockchain Reaction
35. Blockchain as a Content Distribution Technology: Copyright Issues Abound 
36. Could Blockchain Disrupt How We Protect Our Intellectual Property? 
37. FedEx Wants To Track Packages On The Blockchain, So You’ll Know Exactly Who Dropped Your Stuff
38. Can you trust blockchain?
39. AI trained to navigate develops brain-like location tracking
40. Tech Firms Move To Put Ethical Guard Rails Around AI
41. What do AI and blockchain mean for the rule of law?
42. Bing Prohibits Cryptocurrency Advertising
43. Cryptocurrency has been great for GPU makers—that might change soon
44. Report: Bitcoin money laundering suspect spared from prison poison plot
45. Man who claims he created bitcoin committed perjury, lawsuit says
46. Goldman Sachs Just Launched A New Cryptocurrency
47. Crypto Is “Taking us Back to the 1830s?” Here’s What That Fed Branch President Means.
48. Apple Slapped With Class Action Lawsuit Over Faulty MacBook Pro Keyboards
49. Amazon Prime members to get new discounts at Whole Foods
50. Twitter will hide more bad tweets in conversations and searches: Another move to reduce abuse
51. Klout is out—social media mojo-ranking service to shutter 
52. Who Pays The Most, And Least, In Silicon Valley?
53. YouTube Defeats Another Remove-and-Relocate Lawsuit–Song Fi v. Google
54. Cambodian YouTubers In Legal Jeopardy For Skinning, Eating Endangered Animals On Film
55. Cisco Announces YouTube Ad Boycott, Citing Fear Of A “Brand-Tarnishing Experience”
56. YouTube Adding Songwriter, Label, And Publisher Credits To All Official And User-Generated Music Videos
57. Incognito Mode May Soon Bring More Privacy To Users Of YouTube’s Mobile App
58. YouTube Launches Upgraded Charts
59. Ahead Of Royal Wedding, Meghan Markle Videos Have Received 94 Million Views On YouTube In 2018
60. Jeffrey Katzenberg Raises $800 Million To Develop YouTube-Length Shows On Netflix-Sized Budgets
61. As Her Channel Turns 10, Alisha Marie Announces Brief Break Due To Creative Burnout 
62. YouTube’s new ‘take a break’ notifications are part of Google’s focus on your digital well-being: If YouTube eats up too much of your time, perhaps the notifications will be helpful
63. Robert Downey Jr. To Bring Series About Artificial Intelligence To YouTube Red
64. Can we stop technology from amplifying society’s inequalities? Perhaps, if we act now. 
65. ‘Cobra Kai’: YouTube Red’s ‘Karate Kid’ Sequel Outperforms Netflix, Hulu Shows
66. Netflix To Allocate 85% Of Upcoming Content Spend On Original Series And Films
67. Formula 1 finally launched its livestream—and it was a total mess
68. Materially and Substantively Modifying Online Articles Restarts the Clock in NJ Defamation Claims
69. What does GDPR mean for journalists?: From 25 May 2018, General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, will be enforced by regulators across Europe. 
70. GDPR will pop the adtech bubble
71. Companies Respond To The GDPR By Blocking All EU Users
72. Bittersweet DMCA Safe Harbor Defense Win in Ninth Circuit–Ventura v. Motherless
73. Venture Beat Reporter Abuses DMCA To Silence A Critic
74. As Intermediary Liability Is Under Attack, Stanford Releases Updated Tool To Document The State Of Play Globally
75. A DMCA Section 512(f) Case Survives Dismissal–ISE v. Longarzo
76. Jails are replacing visits with video calls—inmates and families hate it
77. The True History Of ‘Yanny’ And ‘Laurel’
78. The Fundamental Nihilism Of Yanny vs. Laurel

CREATIVITY

1.  The Man with the Tiger Tattoo
2. The Ninth Circuit STILL Thinks Keyword Metatags Matter in 2018–Adidas v. Skechers 
3. When Plaid Goes Bad – Burberry Files Infringement Suit Against Target Over Burberry’s Iconic Plaid Design
4. What Artists Can Teach Us About Making Technology More Human
5. Gynecologist Dr. Drai can use name, even if Dr. Dre doesn’t like it, judge says
6. Rap or Pap? Dr. Dre Loses Trademark Battle With Dr. Drai, A Gynecologist 
7. For the Love of God, Stop Asking the Black PantherCast to Do the ‘Wakanda Forever’ Salute

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

1. Fair Play for FairPlay?: Bell Presented Its Site Blocking Plan to the CRTC Months Before It Became Public (Michael Geist)
2. House of Commons Ethics Committee Recommends Rejecting Bell Coalition Website Blocking Plan (Michael Geist)
3. Not So Fast: Digging into MEI’s Report on the State of Canadian Wireless Services (Michael Geist)
4. AT&T Continues Fight To Gut FTC Authority Over Broadband Monopolies
5. AT&T says hiring Trump lawyer was “big mistake,” forces top lobbyist out
6. AT&T Chief Says It Made a ‘Big Mistake’ Hiring Michael Cohen
7. Democrats demand answers on AT&T’s $600,000 payment to Trump’s lawyer
8. AT&T Cans Exec Over Cohen Payment Kerfuffle, Pretends This Kind Of Influence Peddling Isn’t Perfectly Routine
9. Trump vows to reopen smartphone giant ZTE to save Chinese jobs
10. Trump eliminates national cyber-coordinator job, gives Bolton keys to the cybers
11. Senate Votes To Save Net Neutrality, But Hurdles Remain
12. Senate Approves First Step In Uphill Effort To Restore Net Neutrality
13. Senate votes to overturn Ajit Pai’s net neutrality repeal
14. Net neutrality to die on June 11, as Ajit Pai blasts “special interests”
15. Senate Will Vote Wednesday To Try And Save Net Neutrality
16. Defying Republicans, Senate Democrats schedule vote to save net neutrality
17. This Is Ajit Pai, Nemesis Of Net Neutrality
18. US Senate forces vote to restore net neutrality: If it passes, the vote goes to the House of Representatives, followed by the President’s desk
19. Net neutrality officially ends June 11: Challenges to the change are unlikely to take forceful effect in time, though reversal remains possible
20. FCC Boss Celebrates As Net Neutrality Gets An End Date: June 11
21. Here’s the Name of Every Senator Who Voted Against Net Neutrality—and When to Vote Them Out
22. Comcast charges $90 install fee at homes that already have Comcast installed
23. Comcast Still Makes A Killing, Even When You Cut The Cord
24. T-Mobile Hires Ex-FCC Commissioner To Claim Its Competition-Killing Merger Will Be Really Great For…Farmers
25. Settlement of Alleged CASL Violations – Messages Sent without Compliant Unsubscribe Mechanism 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

1. Shining A Light On The Encryption Debate: A Canadian Field Guide
2. Ad Software Dev Doesn’t Like Being Called Out For Privacy Violations ; Sends Threatening Letter To Researchers Who Exposed It
3. Email No Longer a Secure Method of Communication After Critical Flaw Discovered in PGP
4. Critical PGP and S/MIME bugs can reveal encrypted emails – uninstall now
5. It has been a bad week for encrypted messaging and it’s only Wednesday
6. Encrypted Email Has A Major, Divisive Flaw
7. Ex-CIA employee ID’d but not charged in Vault 7 leak of hacking tools
8. Georgia Governor Vetoes Terrible Cybersecurity Law That Would Have Criminalized Security Research
9. “Like stealing candy from a baby,” arrested teen says of his phishing efforts
10. The LAPD’s Terrifying Palantir-Powered Policing Algorithm Was Just Uncovered and Yes It’s Basically ‘Minority Report’
11. How a “location API” allows cops to figure out where we all are in real time
12. Company used by police, prisons to find any mobile device breached (again)
13. Prison Phone Monopoly Securus Under Fire Again, This Time For Doling Out Everybody’s Private Phone Location Data
14. Forget scanning license plates; cops will soon ID you via your roof rack
15. Malicious Chrome extensions infect 100,000-plus users, again
16. Inside The Takedown Of A Notorious Malware Clearinghouse

Jon

GAMES

1. Gamevice v Nintendo – Let’s try this again, at the ITC: Certain Portable Gaming Console Systems with Attachable Handheld Controllers and Components Thereof – International Trade Commission, Inv. No. 337-TA-1111 -and- Gamevice, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd.
2. NBA 2K Tattoo Copyright Dispute Blocked
3. Man sentenced to prison over 2010 World of Warcraft DDoS attack
4. Don’t Miss: How a band of modders restored Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II
5. Free-to-play game Loadout ending service in wake of GDPR regulation
6. GDPR spells closure for free-to-play shooter Loadout: Developer says new regulations are a “major burden” for small studios doing business in EU
7. Gaming Industry And Game Consumers On A Collision Course Over Loot Boxes
8. EA will continue to use loot boxes that are ‘transparent, fun, and fair’
9. EA adamant loot boxes aren’t gambling: Publisher pushes back after Belgian Gaming Commission finds fault with FIFA 18, talks game-streaming plans and Fortnite/PUBG phenomenon
10. EA experiences growth in revenue from digital downloads and live services
11. EA celebrates a record year, forecasts another: Full game downloads and physical game sales drop as booming live services now make up 40% of publisher’s income
12. EA: ‘Innovators’ like Fortnite can benefit the entire games industry
13. Madden NFL creative director Rex Dickson departs EA
14. Madden NFL could go in “new direction” following departure of creative director: Rex Dickson leaves EA after 12 years with publisher
15. Vulcan debuts new Holodome shared immersive reality platform
16. Analyst: Mobile to make up over half of worldwide game revenue in 2018
17. An in-depth breakdown of how mobile game media coverage fared in 2016
18. New Nintendo president targets ¥100bn mobile business: Incoming chief Shuntaro Furukawa believes a Pokémon Go-style hit will transform the platform holder’s fortunes on smart devices
19. Mobile Now Makes Up Majority Of Gaming Sales And Nintendo’s New President Wants To Get The Company On Board
20. Switch online service will introduce cloud saves and NES multiplayer
21. Nintendo courts families with Switch Online service: Eight-person membership available, alongside cloud saves and free NES games
22. Nintendo says Switch won’t get Virtual Console classic game downloads
23. Virtual Console Is Not Coming To Switch, Nintendo Says
24. Nintendo drops Virtual Console model in favor of subscriptions: Focus turns to the Nintendo Switch Online service for future monetization of classic games
25. Nintendo introduces Switch cloud saves as part of paid online subscription
26. Nintendo starts moving to a Wii-like “non-gamer” strategy for the Switch
27. Push the button: Steam now supports the Switch Pro Controller
28. Hackers find “official,” usable PSP emulator hidden in PS4’s PaRappa
29. PS4 expands its sales lead, now 71% of “two-console” market with Xbox One
30. Future Minecraft updates won’t come to last-gen consoles
31. Top 25 companies made up 77% of global games market in 2017 – Newzoo: Market intelligence firm points to industry consolidation as largest companies solidify positions
32. Supercell: Meet the industry’s “least powerful CEO”: Ilkka Paananen on the value of leaving power in the hands of developers, and Supercell’s ambition to create a “truly global” mobile hit
33. Google Play Instant leaves closed beta, now open to all developers
34. Report: Google has quietly opened a new game studio called Arcade
35. Google confirms new social gaming startup: Arcade is an “experiment” that will reportedly release its first game this summer
36. Chrome update auto-mutes audio on many web-based games
37. Google breaks HTML5 games with latest Chrome update: Efforts to mute autoplay video ads have unexpectedly affected browser-based web games
38. Google slams “for-profit bail-bond providers,” won’t let them advertise
39. God of War sold 3.1M copies in three days
40. God of War tops 3.1 million sold in three days: Sony says PS4-exclusive game is the fastest-selling first-party game on the system to date
41. Sony updates warranty terms following FTC warning 
42. FTC Calls Out Nintendo, Microsoft, And Sony For Their Illegal ‘Warranty Void If Removed’ Stickers
43. Capcom sees improved profits from sales of Monster Hunter: World
44. Monster Hunter: World drives Capcom’s most profitable year ever – Fantasy action game has now sold 7.9 million units, offsetting “worsened conditions” in amusement market
45. Xbox One sales up by 15% for 2018: Record-setting start to the year for platform holder
46. The Kinect lives on through Microsoft’s new project for Azure
47. Twitch tries ‘Bounty Board’ approach to setting streamers up for sponsored streams
48. Zynga posts $5.6m profit last quarter after predicting $9.5m loss: Meanwhile, company founder Mark Pincus reduces personal voting power from 70 per cent to ten per cent
49. The Curious Case Of The Fortnite Cheater: Is it illegal to cheat in a video game?
50. Fortnite pulls in fives times more revenue than PUBG on iOS: First week of monetisation for PUBG Mobile sees combined platform revenue reach only one third of Epic Games’ offering
51. Why do mobile games get a ‘free’ pass?: The mainstream media launches attacks on Fortnite’s business model, but ignores more egregious behaviour in mobile – does this reflect a bias?
52. Activision Blizzard sees new Q1 records, though share prices still falter
53. Activision shows PC some love, plans “significant” resources for Call of Duty
54. Activision is feeling the heat from battle royale titles 
55. Activision Blizzard jumping on battle royale bandwagon: Executives say Fortnite and PUBG have expanded the industry; publisher is “very quick to figure out how to capture inspiration from innovation”
56. Battlegrounds item trading shut down due to marketplace abuse
57. Fortnite Is Getting An Avengers: Infinity War Crossover
58. “The reason we’re killing ourselves isn’t because we love what we’re doing”: Night in the Woods’ Scott Benson and Bethany Hockenberry discuss unionizing in games and what to do about indie devs crunching themselves
59. Why the Campo Santo team hung up their indie spurs and joined Valve
60. Tequila Works’ Raul Rubio on the dangers of building on stereotypes: “If you look at games made in Spain, you will notice a shocking lack of bullfighters”
61. DDoS attack against Blizzard lands Romanian man in US federal prison: Calin Mateias extradited to face charges over 2010 cyber attack
62. Pink Mercy skin comes to Overwatch, all proceeds go to charity
63. Blizzard to donate more than $250,000 to Breast Cancer Research Foundation: Overwatch’s Pink Mercy charity skin will drive fundraising, alongside livestreams and more merchandise
64. ‘Overwatch’ Esports League Launches Social VR Experiences With Sansar
65. UK Charts: God of War beats Donkey Kong to No.1: Nintendo Labo slips down the charts in a quiet week for games retail
66. Chinese games market expected to reach $42bn revenue by 2022: Increase in number of female users puts China on path to 720 million gamers
67. Activision Blizzard posts record Q1 – Call of Duty: WWII helps drive Activision business even as engagement metrics drop for King and Blizzard
68. Activision share price wounded following “extraordinary error” by Dow Jones: Confusion overshadowed record Q1 revenue for publisher; stock value down 2.3 per cent by market close
69. PUBG most downloaded mobile game last quarter, but revenue flags: Sensor Tower Data Digest: Mobile game downloads up to 2.4 billion on iOS and 7.23 billion on Android
70. Google’s ARCore 1.2 enables multiplayer AR across Android and iOS
71. Ninja Hits 10 Million YouTube Subscribers, Gaining 3 Million Subs Over The Past Month
72. Hi-Rez Studios announces new esports production company: Studio co-founder and COO to head up Skillshot Media as president
73. Digi-Capital: Combined Asian markets could deliver over half of AR/VR revenue by 2022: “Western companies might need to adopt a ‘we try harder’ approach to compete at the same level,” says investment bank
74. Oculus Go to ship 1.8 million this year – Superdata: Market intelligence firm expects new stand-alone offering to lead all premium headsets in shipments this year, downgrades overall VR projections
75. Oculus: “We don’t want exclusivity. We want VR to thrive” – At Reboot Develop, Oculus’ Matt Conte urged developers to make the most of a small market by shipping on every VR platform possible
76. Facebook changes an Oculus division’s name, invents term “Facebook Reality”
77. ‘I AM A MAN’ Puts You At The Heart Of The Civil Rights Struggle, Now Available On Rift
78. Square Enix reports decreased sales, increased profits: Dragon Quest XI publisher only takes a 2.5% hit to revenues despite 32% dip in software unit sales
79. Rising revenues in US and Europe drive profits for Bandai Namco
80. Bandai Namco sees game sales up 14%: Company’s full-year results show strong gains in revenues, units sold over previous year
81. Inside Bandai Namco’s Innovation Department: Why the Pac-Man publisher is turning to Alexa and other emerging technologies
82. Tencent partners with UK government’s cultural and creative industries
83. Harmonix denies association with Columbus Nova
84. Steam reviews study suggests ‘bad design,’ not bugs, irks players most
85. Players less concerned by bugs than bad game design, study finds: Study of over 10 million Steam user reviews unearths valuable data for developers
86. New Steam Link app allows players to stream Steam games to mobile
87. Valve will soon let you stream Steam games to phones and tablets
88. Using Steam reviews to estimate sales: A game dev guide
89. Early Access effort Conan Exiles surpassed 1M sales ahead of launch
90. Analyzing the financial impact of 2 years spent on Early Access
91. Blog: A marketing perspective on trademarking
92. Game streaming service Utomik has officially launched
93. Jagex shutting down online game portal FunOrb after ten years: Advancements in technology have made it “increasingly difficult to access and play the games”
94. Artificial Intelligence Is Making Video Game Levels So Good That Even Other AI Thinks They’re Man-Made
95. Why pseudo-localization is essential 
96. In blocking autoplay videos, Chrome is breaking many Web-based games
97. Attentat 1942 wins a top honor at A MAZE Berlin, remains banned in Germany
98. Episode, Old Man’s Journey, and Empires & Puzzles win at 2018 Google Play Awards
99. Empires and Puzzles wins Best Breakthrough Hit at Google Play Awards: Best Android apps and games announced at award ceremony ahead of Google I/O 2018
100. Shadow of the Tomb Raider and the risk of making an introspective AAA game
101. Spacewar!, Tomb Raider, and others join World Video Game Hall of Fame
102. Devs share personal touches they’ve hidden in games
103. Republican politician and lobbyist runs for election in EVE Online: “Maybe 20 years ago this would be weird, but given how mainstream gaming has become…how can anyone say ‘You’re throwing your life away playing these games?'”
104. Blog: 10 negotiation tips from a video game lawyer (Pete Lewin)

DIGITAL

1. New Québec “Netflix / Amazon Tax” Will Affect Non-Canadian Businesses 
2. Report: Chinese government is behind a decade of hacks on software companies
3. As Iran Joins Russia’s Block On Telegram, The Echoes Of The Arab Spring Begin To Sound
4. House Democrats Release 3,500 Russia-Linked Facebook Ads
5. Facebook security analyst is fired for using private data to stalk women
6. Facebook’s New Focus On ‘Community’ Might Actually Depress You
7. German Politician Decries Censorship, Follows It Up By Suing Facebook To Have A Critical Comment Deleted
8. Irish Judge Slaps Down Facebook’s Attempt To Halt EU’s Top Court Examining The Legality Of Sending Personal Data To US
9. UN Celebrates World Press Freedom Day By Suppressing Presentation Of Turkey Suppressing Press
10. Artificial intelligence will sharpen the East-West divide
11. Four days at the wild, AI-filled Collision Conference—before it bails for Canada
12. DeepMind has trained an AI to unlock the mysteries of your brain: While it seems like second nature, what goes on in your brain when you navigate between two places is surprisingly complex.
13. Ars ex machina: artificial intelligence, the artist
14. Microsoft continues its quest to bring machine learning to every application
15. With Timeline and Your Phone, Microsoft makes a PC the phone’s second screen
16. Sorry Elon Musk, there’s no clear evidence Autopilot saves lives
17. Elon Musk hung up on NTSB chief during call about Tesla crash probe
18. Report: Software bug led to death in Uber’s self-driving crash
19. Ai Isn’t A Crystal Ball, But It Might Be A Mirror
20. Everyone Is Flipping Out About Google’s AI Assistant That Just Booked A Haircut On The Phone
21. How Google’s Eerie Robot Phone Calls Hint At Ai’s Future
22. Google’s ML Kit offers easy machine learning APIs for Android and iOS
23. The Price Of Google’s New Conveniences? Your Data
24. Android Things 1.0 launches, Google promises 3 years of updates for every device 
25. Google And The Rise Of ‘Digital Well-Being’
26. The Research Behind Google’s New Tools For Digital Well-Being
27. Google News gets Material Design look, better personalization with AI
28. Google releases open source framework for building “enclaved” apps for cloud
29. Google Maps unveils its first-ever augmented reality interface                     
30. Microsoft Charts Its Own Path On Artificial Intelligence
31. Apple reportedly removing apps that share location data with third parties
32. Signal’s “disappearing messages” live on in macOS notifications
33. Want To Prove Your Business Is Fair? Audit Your Algorithm
34. Section 230 Doesn’t Provide a Basis To Remove Cases to Federal Court–A.R.K. v. Grindr
35. Airbnb, Homeaway, And The Importance Of Holding The Line On Section 230 
36. Another Convicted Fraudster Attempts To Manage His Reputation With Bogus DMCA Takedown Notices
37. GoDaddy has shut down Richard Spencer’s white supremacist site
38. Nigerian Email Scammers Are More Effective Than Ever
39. Reserve Bank of India reins in cryptocurrency
40. Hundreds of big-name sites hacked, converted into drive-by currency miners
41. YouTubers Are Mad Again After YouTube Deletes Videos With Paid Promos for Academic Cheating
42. Over a 5th of the world’s population is logging in to YouTube—despite scandals
43. More Than 250 Creators Get Into Hot Water For Promoting Academic Essay-Writing Service EduBirdie 
44. YouTube Removes Hundreds Of Videos To Quash Advertisements From “Academic Aid” EduBirdie 
45. YouTube Announces New Ad-Supported Originals From Stars Like Will Smith, Priyanka Chopra
46. YouTube TV Enters Streaming Pact With Third Major League Soccer Club
47. Amid Growth To 1.8 Billion Logged-In Users, YouTube CEO Vows To Remain “On The Right Side Of History”
48. Google News And New VR180 Camera App To Add YouTube Integrations
49. Google News to be revamped, incorporate YouTube videos and magazines
50. YouTube investing $5 million on 47 creators trying to make platform more positive: Creators for Change program looks to tell stories about important topics
51. YouTube and Vevo have struck a new ad deal
52. Did YouTube Phenomenon Poppy Steal Her Style From Another Star?
53. Philip DeFranco Launches Interactive Website And App Dubbed ‘DeFranco Now’ In Partnership With Snakt
54. Lele Pons Drops Debut Music Video, Clocking 10 Million Views In 4 Days
55. Patreon Has Paid Out $350 Million To Creators Since Its Founding 5 Years Ago
56. Racing needs new fans—and paywalls and geoblocking aren’t helping
57. The Media’s Paywall Obsession Will End In Disaster For Most
58. Snapchat, Despite Redesign Woes, Keeps Adding Media Partners – Including Disney’s ‘Star Wars’
59. Spotify Ends First Quarter as a Public Company With 75 Million Paying Subscribers
60. Instragram, In Continued Quest For Social Video Domination, Will Launch Video Chat
61. Digital Media Company Popsugar Lays Off 19 Amid Financial Struggles 
62. Hulu Hits 20 Million Subscribers, Picks Up ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ For Third Season
63. Hulu will soon offer offline viewing and episode downloads
64. Following Facebook, Verizon Quietly Backs Off Opposition To Modest California Privacy Rules
65. Facebook Canada’s Hard Questions Series Turns to Privacy (Michael Geist)
66. $2-Billion Class Action Commenced Against Facebook
67. An Overview of Facebook’s Election-Related Disclosure Program for Advertisers
68. Facebook to release “clear history” tool
69. Facebook Dating Looks A Whole Lot Like Hinge
70. Why Facebook Won’t Put Ads on Its Dating App
71. Facebook Adds New Live Stream Tools, One Like Twitch Co-Streams 
72. What’s The Deal With Facebook And The Blockchain? 
73. Facebook Wants To Explore Blockchain Technology. Here’s What They Might Be Up To.
74. The Second Coming Of Vine Is On Indefinite Hold
75. V2, The Planned Successor To Vine, Postponed Indefinitely Due To “Financial Hurdles”
76. How Collab Built A Digital Talent Network And Rights Management Powerhouse Six Seconds At A Time
77. ESPN To Launch Daily Edition Of ‘SportsCenter’ On Redesigned Mobile App
78. Conan O’Brien’s TBS Show Trimmed To 30-Minute Episodes Amid Digital Pivot
79. What Ecologists Can Learn From Memes
80. CLOUD Act – clever acronym or real certainty for Cloud Service providers?
81. A short primer on applicable US eSignature laws
82. EU Commission Asks Public To Weigh In On Survey About Just How Much They Want The Internet To Be Censored
83. The Sinar Project shines light on Malaysian Internet Censorship
84. The First Amendment in the Second Gilded Age – The 2018 Mitchell Lecture (Jack Balkin)

CREATIVITY

1. The fake news Russians hear at home
2. Then they came for Peppa Pig
3. Malaysian ‘Fake News’ Law Claims Its First Victim 
4. Maybe InfoWars defense will be – “Hey nobody believe us anyway”
5. First Amendment Doesn’t Protect Encouraging Readers to Make Anti-Semitic Attacks–Gersh v. Daily Stormer
6. Monkey See, Monkey Do: Ninth Circuit Declines to Go Bananas over “Monkey Selfie” Copyrights
7. ‘Monkey Selfie’ Film in the Works at Conde Nast  
8. Olivia de Havilland Looks to Revive ‘Feud’ Defamation Suit
9. Duke Administrator Gets Baristas Fired For Listening To Rap Music 
10. Dispute over rap song leads to protest at Duke and apology from coffee shop owner
11. Nike, Great Protectors Of IP, Found To Be Infringing On Copyright And Refusing To Pay After Software Audit
12. Raging Bull and Fearless Girl – moral rights in copyright
13. New Report Shines Much-Needed Light On Shadow Libraries Around The World
14. Romance Novelist Secures Trademark For Word ‘Cocky,’ Begins Beating Other Novelists Over The Head With It
15. Springer Nature Opens Up on Educational Publishing: “E-Piracy” Sites Do Not Replace Traditional Subscription Services, Business Risks Primarily Stem from Marketplace Changes (Michael Geist)
16. Canadian Publisher on the Term of Copyright: Life Plus 50 Years is “Already Too Long” (Michael Geist)

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

1. World’s Worst Wireless Pricing?: Report Finds Canadian Wireless Broadband Pricing Offers Least Bang for the Buck in Developed World (Michael Geist)
2. Why one man’s victory against Bell won’t resolve telecom’s customer-service problems
3. Bell Backroom Pressure: Internal Documents Reveal How a Brock University Executive Came to Provide Support for Website Blocking (Michael Geist)
4. Text “Y” to confirm your subscription! Companies agree to $100,000 payment for alleged CASL violations
5. AT&T Stumbles As It Tries To Explain Why It Paid $200K To Cohen’s Shady Shell Company
6. AT&T’s Estimated Payment to Trump’s Lawyer Rises to $600,000 as Investigations Ramp Up
7. AT&T explains why it blocked Cloudflare DNS: It was just an accident
8. AT&T/Verizon lobby asks FCC to help raise prices on smaller ISPs
9. AT&T will ask Supreme Court to cripple the FTC’s authority over broadband
10. The Sprint And T-Mobile Merger Will Test The Department Of Justice’s Mettle
11. Sprint announces highest profit ever after saying it needs T-Mobile merger
12. T-Mobile pays ex-FCC commissioner to lobby for Sprint merger
13. T-Mobile CEO Hallucinates Competitors In Bid To Sell Competition-Killing Sprint Merger
14. Comcast preparing hostile bid for Fox properties—and control of Hulu 
15. Your Favorite Websites Are Rallying In A Last-Ditch Effort To Save Net Neutrality
16. Senate will vote to kill or keep net neutrality rules by June 12
17. Facebook Quietly Backs Away From Its Net Neutrality Killing ‘Free Basics’ Program Overseas
18. Cord Cutting Is The Obvious Result Of A 70% Spike In Cable TV Prices Since 2000

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

1.  Once more unto the breach: Canada’s PIPEDA breach notification and reporting regulations in force November 1, 2018
2. Police Drop Charges Filed Against 19-Year-Old Who Downloaded Public Documents From Gov’t FOI Portal
3. Oakland passes “strongest” surveillance oversight law in US: “They are even being exploited by the federal government to fuel mass deportations.”
4. Oakland Residents Now Protected By The ‘Strongest’ Surveillance Oversight Law ‘In The Country’
5. Georgia governor vetoes cyber bill that would criminalize “unauthorized access”
6. Facial Recognition Tech Is Creepy When It Works  – And Creepier When It Doesn’t
7. UK police say 92% false positive facial recognition is no big deal 
8. Not Ready For Prime Time: UK Law Enforcement Facial Recognition Software Producing Tons Of False Positives  
9. Privacy Group Files Legal Complaint Over UK Law Enforcement’s Warrantless Phone Searches
10. You Can’t Opt Out Of Sharing Your Data, Even If You Didn’t Opt In
11. Equifax breach exposed millions of driver’s licenses, phone numbers, emails
12. FTC settles with cellphone manufacturer over data security issues 
13. We Don’t Need a National Data Center of the Poor: The many, many ways the food-stamp database proposed by House Republicans could go wrong. 
14. Change Your Twitter Password Right Now
15. Twitter alerts users: Please change your passwords, we’ve seen them
16. Yahoo Fined $35 Million for Failing to Report Data Breach
17. Welsh Police Used Face Scanning Software That Incorrectly Flagged Thousands
18. Virginia Supreme Court Says License Plate Readers Collect Personal Data; Suggests Use Violates State Law
19. Smart Doorbells That Call The Police Are Going to Endanger Some Innocent People

Jon

GAMES

1. Chinese police arrest 15 ‘major’ Battlegrounds cheat suspects
2. Daybreak Games denies reported links to sanctioned Russian oligarch
3. Epic Games continues pursuing lawsuit against 14-year-old Fortnite player: Parent’s move to dismiss the case met with resistance from Fortnite developer
4. Epic Decides To Double Down On Copyright For Cheating Lawsuit Against 14 Year Old By Taking On Mom
5. Fortnite earned $223 million in March – Superdata: Research firm calls Epic Games survival shooter “the largest free-to-play console game of all time” in revenue generated and monthly users
6. Mobile gaming cements its dominance, takes majority of worldwide sales
7. Nintendo reports jump in profits as Switch tops 15M sales
8. Lifetime Switch sales have surpassed 17M units
9. Switch is selling well, but Nintendo thinks it can sell even better
10. Nintendo hasn’t achieved ‘satisfactory profit’ on mobile
11. Nintendo credits its mobile push for rise in Switch sales in Asia, Middle East
12. Nintendo’s new president wants to turn mobile into $900M business
13. With new leadership incoming, Nintendo aims to keep collaboration front and center
14. As Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze comes to Switch, it disappears from Wii U eShop
15. Nintendo under investigation for patent infringement over Switch design
16. Nintendo Switch targeted by Gamevice patent lawsuit (again): Wikipad manufacturer attempting to block console sales in the US over detachable controller dispute
17. U.S. agency to probe Nintendo systems after rival’s complaint
18. US will consider blocking imports of Nintendo Switch: The International Trade Commission is investigating Nintendo.
19. Nintendo Switch drives staggering 500 percent profit jump
20. Nintendo profits spike as Switch approaches 18m sales: Mario Odyssey breaks 10m sales barrier
21. Nintendo still has plans for the 3DS through ‘2019 and beyond’
22. Nintendo bringing new IP exclusively to mobile: Platform holder acquires five per cent stake in development partner Cygames
23. Nintendo yet to achieve “satisfactory” profit on mobile says company president: Games continue to perform well, but still fall below Nintendo’s expectations
24. Nintendo partners with Japanese dev Cygames on new mobile title
25. Breath of the Wild is now the best-selling Zelda game to date
26. Nintendo shifting away from individual leadership: Incoming president Shuntaro Furukawa to continue a trend moving away from the style of long-time leader Hiroshi Yamauchi
27. Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft among those warned by FTC – Report: Federal Trade Commission gave console makers, HTC, ASUS, and Hyundai 30 days to correct illegal warranty practices
28. Norwegian customer watchdog calls out Nintendo, Sony, EA and Valve
29. Nintendo, Valve, Sony, and EA reported in Norway for breaching European consumer law: Digital games “do not exist in a lawless vacuum” says Norwegian Consumer Council director of digital services
30. PS4 software fueling growth at Sony as hardware stalls
31. With the PlayStation 4 at 73M sold, Sony braces for sales to slow
32. Sony brings PS2 titles to PS Now streaming service
33. PUBG Corp. says 15 hackers arrested, fined $5.1 million: Some PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds cheat programs were said to contain viruses to scan users’ PCs, steal information
34. Lohan Loses (Yet Another) Publicity Rights Suit
35. Self-regulate loot box mechanisms – while you still can: As European states begin ruling against loot boxes, this is the industry’s last chance to prove it can be trusted to regulate itself
36. Self-regulating loot boxes is harder than it sounds: Supposing publishers even want to rein in the monetization scheme driving their bottom lines, how are they supposed to go about doing that?
37. USA: New Loot Box Bill Introduced…Again
38. Loot Box Saga Continues 
39. Despite backlash, loot boxes could be essential to gaming’s future: Analysis sees loot box spending ballooning 62 percent, to $47 billion, by 2022.
40. Loot boxes expected to drive games market to $160 billion by 2022: Juniper Research also predicts Switch-driven console revival, with revenues to reach $33.2 in four years
41. Tencent to publish Freejam’s Robocraft in China: Deal announced one week after UK studio pledged to remove all loot boxes from the game
42. WarpPortal blocks access to game catalogue in Europe: Ragnarok Online and more will be restricted from May 25 – the date that GDPR takes effect
43. Blizzard now selling community-made maps for StarCraft II: Revenue spilt “favours content creators” says StarCraft II production director
44. Global games market to hit $137.9 billion this year – Newzoo: Market intelligence firm expects industry revenues to be just over 50% mobile, 25% console, 24% PC
45. What separates China and the West in mobile?: GameRefinery compares the traits of the top 100 grossing mobile games in China and America, including one feature found in 29% of top Chinese games completely absent in the US
46. PlayStation 4 sales pass 75m in another strong year for Sony: Software sales and PS Plus subs were both up, but Sony is preparing for hardware decline in the coming year
47. Xbox earnings on the rise thanks to third-party games and services
48. Third-party sales boosted Microsoft Gaming revenue in Q3: Gaming revenue was up 18%, Xbox Live users up 13% to 59 million
49. Starting in June, Xbox live rewards will transition to Microsoft rewards
50. Microsoft shuts down popular Halo mod ElDewrito: Streamers attract tech giant’s ire as multiple DMCA takedowns issued
51. Bungie will finally release Destiny companion album Music of the Spheres
52. “If anybody is going to pick a fight with Steam or create an alternative, the time is now”: At Reboot Develop, Rami Ismail and Robin Hunicke argued that existing digital platforms are not doing enough to represent the diversity and artistry of developers
53. SteamSpy creator develops new algorithm to keep service alive: “It’s still possible that Valve will make another move to shutdown the service, but until that happens, SteamSpy will continue to operate,” says Galyonkin
54. Steam Spy isn’t dead, but it’s not back at 100% yet either
55. An era of “triple-I” development is almost here: Ninja Theory, Frostkeep Studios and Private Division discuss a coming wave of games that combine indie creativity with triple-A production values
56. Frostpunk has surpassed 250K sales in 66 hours
57. PC Building Simulator sells 100,000 copies in a month: The Irregular Corporation’s latest release had a strong opening month in Early Access
58. Sumo Digital transformed £52.2m debt into £12.4m cash balance in 2017: Crackdown 3 developer buoyant in first financial results following last year’s IPO
59. Techland picks up Call of Juarez publishing rights from Ubisoft
60. Call of Juarez publishing rights return to Techland following Ubisoft partnership – Critically acclaimed Call of Juarez: Gunslinger reappears on Steam after being delisted last month
61. How to stop big publishers breaking your business: During this year’s Reboot Develop, Ninja Theory’s Nina Kristensen detailed the rights studios should fight for
62. The anti-Brexit game turning controversy into opportunity
63. Snapchat launches “Snappables” series of AR games: Snap Inc commits to releasing new mini-games on a weekly basis
64. FC Bayern Munich Joins Esports World With NBA 2K Team
65. The Highs And Lows From Day One Of The NBA 2K League
66. Your One-Stop Interactive Guide To The NBA 2K League
67. How Esports Leagues Model Traditional Sports To Build Stability, Thwart Competition
68. The Growth Of Esports Minor Leagues
69. Imagine Dragons invest in esports agency RektGlobal and Team Rogue: Members from award-winning band joined by music producer Steve Aoki in ownership of esports team
70. Don’t Miss: How Blizzard designed StarCraft II with esports in mind
71. The Doomy Gloomy Revival Of Old-School First-Person Shooters
72. Super Monday Night Combat shutting down due to new data protection regs
73. GDPR prompts Super Monday Night Combat shutdown: Developer Uber Entertainment says cost of rewriting back-end too high to warrant compliance
74. Implementing The Eu General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): An Overview For Digital Entertainment Businesses
75. The ESA hits a low point – 10 Years Ago This Month: Self-regulation helps fend off threatened legislation, but mismanagement of E3 has members jumping ship
76. In-app purchases now available on Facebook’s instant games platform
77. Facebook rolls out in-app purchases to Instant Games platform: IAP currently available on Android and Facebook.com
78. Facebook Needs To Stop Bad VR Apps Before They Start
79. Oculus Reveals 140 Degree VR Headset Prototype with Varifocal Displays
80. Oculus Go standalone headset launches at $199: Oculus VR promises “the best optics of any VR system we’ve built” from new standalone hardware
81. Analyst: How education, age, and even degree levels can affect video game spending
82. The Heartbeat Symposium: Exploring love, sex, and intimacy in games
83. Life in (virtual) pit lane: The war stories of video game car design
84. Blog: Developing games in non-developed territories – Part 1
85. Flashpoint is archiving Flash games before they disappear forever
86. Blog: Looking back at the trailblazing Atari RPG,Dragonstomper
87. Blog: Why Atari’s infamous E.T. tie-in isn’t half bad

DIGITAL

1. Equustek again: BC Supreme Court upholds injuction despite US refusal to enforce
2. Google worldwide injunction will not change
3. Foreign Broadcaster Infringed US Copyright Through Online Streaming
4. Man Fined $60,000 For Streaming Live Sports Illegally
5. Another Court Says Competitive Keyword Advertising Doesn’t Cause Confusion
6. Iranian activist awarded defamation damages after anonymous web harassment
7. Iran blocks Telegram, pushes replacement with “Death to America” emoji
8. FOSTA/SESTA Was Passed Based On Made Up Stats About Sex Trafficking
9. Germany’s Supreme Court Confirms That Adblocking Is Legal, In Sixth Consecutive Defeat For Publishers
10. Firefox will show sponsored content that’s personalized but private: Sponsored content will use technology from Pocket, which Mozilla acquired last year.
11. Pornography Dispute Sheds Light on DMCA Safe Harbor Defense
12. Recapping a Year’s Worth of Section 230 Cases That Got Stuck in My Blogging Queue
13. Federal Circuit overturns fair use ruling in Oracle v Google
14. Insights: Alert Google’s Use of Oracle’s APIs Not Fair Use Under U.S. Copyright Law
15. FTC Obtains Court Order Banning Marketer from Negative-Option Sales
16. France seizes France.com from man who’s had it since ‘94, so he sues
17. Facebook begins asking if every post you see is hate speech
18. Mark Zuckerberg Says It Will Take 3 Years To Fix Facebook
19. Mark Zuckerberg announces Facebook Dating
20. After data “clash” report, WhatsApp founder says he’s leaving Facebook
21. Hollywood Front Groups Decide To Kick Facebook While It’s Down, Advocate For More Internet Regulations
22. Facebook building a “simple way to clear your cookies and history”
23. Cambridge Analytica shuts down after Facebook user data scandal
24. Cambridge Analytica shutting down, says it’s been ‘vilified’ in Facebook scandal: Investigations continue into firm at centre of Facebook privacy scandal
25. Facebook Launches A New Ad Campaign With An Old Message
26. Facebook’s New ‘Dating’ Feature Could Crush Apps Like Tinder
27. Private Facebook Posts Could Be Fair Game For Discovery
28. Facebook And Google Finally Take First Steps On Road To Transparency About Content Moderation
29. Facebook Ranking News Sources By Trust Is A Bad Idea… But No One At Facebook Will Read Our Untrustworthy Analysis
30. Health Secretary calls for social media giants to stop “turning a blind eye”
31. New York Enhances Disclosure of Online Political Ads and Requires Online Platforms to Create Archives
32. CGI ‘Influencers’ Like Lil Miquela Are About To Flood Your Feeds
33. Could Artificial Intelligence Predict The Next Avengers: Infinity War?
34. Discrimination through artificial intelligence banned
35. USPTO Suggests That AI Algorithms Are Patentable, Leading To A Whole Host Of IP And Ethics Questions 
36. Don’t Be Surprised if the iPhone X Goes Away
37. Apple exits Wi-Fi game, AirPort routers discontinued after stock sells out 
38. Why Snap Needs Its Spectacles 
39. Snap Launches Second Edition Of Spectacles With New Colors, Water-Resistance, Quicker App Transfer
40. Snapchat To Follow YouTube With Unskippable, Six-Second Ads
41. YouTube May Bring An Abbreviated Version Of Its Content ID Copyright Tool To The Masses
42. YouTube Is Becoming One Of Fox News’ Favorite Talking Points
43. Logan Paul Ceases Daily Vlog To “Exercise His Creativity In Different Ways”
44. YouTube Invites Advertisers To Target TV Viewers, Will Add YouTube TV To Google Preferred Lineup
45. YouTube Exec Says Three-Month-Old Brand Safety Measures Have Been “99% Effective”
46. Pandora Learns The Cost Of Ads, And Of Subscriptions
47. Twitter is promoting more news links in your timeline 
48. Twitter’s Niche Moves Into Non-Branded Content With Josh Peck, Miel Bredouw, More
49. Twitter To Double Video Output In 2018, Including Pacts With NBCUniversal, Disney, Viacom 
50. Actress-Influencer Bella Thorne Gets $65,000 Per Instagram Post, Says Social Media Paid For Her House
51. Comedy Central’s New Web Series Is “A ‘Daily Show’ For The Internet”
52. Amazon blocks domain fronting, threatens to shut down Signal’s account 
53. After Strong First Quarter, Amazon Raises Price Of Prime By $20 Per Year
54. Amazon will raise the price of Prime by $20 in a few weeks
55. Amazon to open new Vancouver office, create 3,000 jobs
56. NFL Renews Thursday Night Football Streaming On Amazon Prime Video
57. 11 NFL Games Will Stream Live On Twitch This Fall
58. Hulu passes 20 million US subscribers, says offline downloads are coming
59. Conde Nast Entertainment Is Launching Individual OTT Channels For Brands Like Wired
60. Creators For Good: Ricky Dillon Asks Teens To #BeMore In Building A Kind, Inclusive World
61. Companies Are Cashing In On Reality TV For Tots
62. A Short History Of Blaming ‘Hackers’ For Pretty Much Everything
63. New court ruling could force Uber, Lyft to convert drivers to employees: California Supreme Court: It’ll be tougher for firms to not have bona fide employees.
64. Disney’s New Food Video Brand Partners With The Tastemade Network To Get Cooking
65. How Microsoft Convinced Clueless Judges To Send A Man To Jail For Copying Software It Gives Out For Free 
66. Why the man who tried to sell Windows recovery discs will go to prison: Eric Lundgren paid a company in China to print thousands of Dell-branded recovery CDs.
67. Microsoft Defends Putting A Computer Recycler In Jail With Misleading Statement
68. iTunes is finally in the Microsoft Store
69. Even Windows revenue is up in Microsoft’s $26.8 billion 3Q18 
70. IPO’s consultation on domestic enforcement of the EU Portability Regulation
71. Understanding the Regulatory Concerns of Cryptocurrency Exchange Registration 
72. Is Bitcoin a Security? Definitely Maybe
73. Section 17(b) of the Securities Act in Crowdfunding and Token Sales
74. I Spent a Weekend With Cyborgs, and Now I Have an RFID Implant I Have No Idea What to Do With
75. Canadian Government Provides Details of First Ever National IP Strategy
76. Canadian Government’s IP Strategy Seeks to Boost Innovation, Increase IP Literacy, and Rein-in Patent Trolls 
77. Supreme Court Says Of Course The Patent Office Can Admit It Made A Mistake And Dump Bad Patents
78. Swedish Pirate Party Declares War On Copyright Trolls
79. Emojis in the Workplace – A Cautionary Tale
80. Declining Majority Of Online Adults Say The Internet Has Been Good For Society
81. A Magna Carta for the digital age
82. Thousands Of Academics Pledge To Boycott Springer’s New Machine Learning Title In Support Of Long-Established Open Access Journal 

CREATIVITY 

1.  House of Representatives Passes Music Modernization Act – Looking for Clarity on Mechanical Royalties, Pre-1972 Sound Recordings and Other Music Rights Issues  
2. House Unanimously Passes Music Modernization Act – Paves the Way for Major Updates to Digital Music Royalty Ecosystem
3. SCOTUS Released Same-Day Oral Argument Audio. Guess What Happened Next?: There is no reason not to release same-day audio for all oral arguments at the Supreme Court.
4. Blurred Lines Songwriters Have Got to Give It Up for the Gaye Family
5. Fox News v. TVEyes Shows Fair-Use Defense Remains Risky Business
6. Copyright Is No Monkey Business, Rules the Ninth Circuit
7. Monkeys Lack Standing to Sue for Copyright Infringement 
8. Nicassio v. Viacom International, Inc.
9. Gayle v. Home Box Office, Inc.
10. Westworld Has to Acknowledge the Racist Appeal of Shōgun World
11. The New York Times Is Turning Its Hit Podcast, ‘The Daily’, Into A TV Show 
12. Tackling IP Misuse: Canada Takes the Lead in Combating the Dark Side of Intellectual Property Protection (Michael Geist)
13. Canadian Music Industry Seeks New Fees, Content Blocking, and Right to Renegotiate Deals Despite Generating Record Digital Revenues (Michael Geist)
14. Theater Accidentally Plays Horror Movie Trailer Before Peter Rabbit, Families Run Out Screaming
15. Kardashian Gets Political to Highlight Lack of Regulations over Cosmetics Industry
16. Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah embroiled in ‘serious issue’ over Egypt image rights
17. Lessons From Picasso’s Copyrights: Pleading, Proving and Arguing Foreign Law in U.S. Courts 
18. The Royal Wedding: What’s the IP etiquette?
19. Tackling IP Misuse: Canada Takes the Lead in Combating the Dark Side of Intellectual Property Protection (Michael Geist) 
20. Canadian Music Industry Seeks New Fees, Content Blocking, and Right to Renegotiate Deals Despite Generating Record Digital Revenues (Michael Geist)
21. Less Than 1%: Canadian Publisher Data Points to Tiny Impact of Access Copyright Royalty Decline (Michael Geist) 

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

1. Customer takes Bell to court and wins, as judge agrees telecom giant can’t promise a price, then change it: Contract law expert says Ontario case could be grounds for class-action lawsuit
2. FCC Republican gets official warning after pushing for Trump’s re-election: O’Rielly broke government ethics law; could be punished if he does it again.
3. Small ISPs Like Sonic Join The Legal Battle To Preserve Net Neutrality
4. Marsha Blackburn Wants ISPs To Sell ‘Fast Lanes’ Like ‘TSA Pre-Check’
5. AT&T’s least favorite net neutrality bill takes another step forward: California’s tough net neutrality bill clears second Senate committee in a week.
6. California net neutrality bill that AT&T hates is coming to New York, too: Bill is moving through Calif. Senate and will be submitted in NY legislature.
7. The Sprint/T-Mobile Merger Is Huge – But A Lot Of Questions Remain
8. Sprint, T-Mobile Try To Sell The Public On A Job-Killing, Competition Eroding Megamerger
9. T-Mobile and Sprint don’t need to merge for 5G – they said so two months ago: AT&T made the same claims – about 4G – when it tried to buy T-Mobile in 2011. 
10. While Facebook Gets All The Hate, Verizon Continues To Show It’s No Better, And Potentially Much Worse For Privacy
11. Verizon Signs Deal to Place the Saddest, Most Pathetic Bloatware on Samsung Devices  
12. Some Comcast Customers Won’t Get The Latest Broadband Upgrades Without Buying Cable TV
13. FCC Approves 100% Mexican Ownership of Radio Stations in California and Arizona – Further Showing Foreign Ownership Limitations Less Significant in Today’s Broadcast World 
14. At Least One Japanese ISP Gets A Jump Start On The Government’s Unconstitutional Site-Blocking Plans
15. Japanese Lawyer Sues NTT For Voluntarily Blocking ‘Pirate Sites’ 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

1. High Court Says UK Government Can No Longer Collect Internet Data In Bulk
2. Another Federal Court Says Compelled Decryption Doesn’t Raise Fifth Amendment Issues
3. Phone maker settles charges it let partner collect customers’ text messages
4. Are Google And Facebook Undermining Europe’s Privacy Rules?
5. International Standards Body Rejects Weakened IOT Encryption Methods Pushed By The NSA
6. Cops Follow Up Officer-Involved Shooting By Heading To Funeral Home To Apply Dead Man’s Fingers To His Locked Phone
7. Device Detects Drug Use Through Fingerprints, Raising A Host Of Constitutional Questions
8. Alabama Rolls with Tide as Last State to Adopt Breach Notification Law 
9. EU Government Looking To Expand, Standardize Whistleblower Protections
10. As two Koreas shake hands, Hidden Cobra hackers wage espionage campaign

Jon

GAMES

1. Loot boxes in leading games violate Dutch gambling legislation: Developers have eight weeks to change their loot box mechanics or face prohibition
2. Netherlands pushes for EU-wide loot box legislation: Loot box ruling from Dutch government body could set precedent in Europe against certain iterations of the mechanic
3. Loot boxes with real-world value deemed unlawful in The Netherlands
4. Four publishers must change in-game loot boxes to avoid Dutch gambling laws: Study determines randomized items that have a “market value” violate the law.
5. Belgian Gaming Commission declares loot boxes illegal
6. Video game loot boxes are now considered criminal gambling in Belgium: FIFA, Overwatch, Counter-Strike: GO could face fines and prison penalties.
7. EA, Activision Blizzard, and Valve found in breach of Belgian gambling laws: Loot boxes in FIFA 18, Overwatch, and CS:GO violate gambling legislation, says Belgian Gaming Commission
8. Tattoo artist takes aim at WWE and video game maker
9. Tattoo artist sues WWE in Southern Illinois, says her designs were copied in video games
10. Terminal Reality is suing Microsoft over shadow and lighting patents
11. Microsoft accused of ‘egregious and wilful’ patent infringement: Terminal Reality and Infernal Technologies file lawsuit against tech giant for infringing patent with multiple games
12. A fan-made Halo PC patch meets Microsoft’s legal muscle – and apparently survives: Lawyers arrive after Halo Online “ElDewrito” patch explodes – but no C&D yet.
13. 343 clarifies Halo modding policy as fan-led Halo Onlinerevival gets the axe
14. Blizzard brings paid mods to StarCraft II with ‘Premium Arcade’ initiative
15. The Gaming Industry is Susceptible to ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuits
16. Ragnarok Online shutting down European servers after 14 years
17. GOG is getting more Steam-like with addition of new social features
18. Australian High Court orders Valve to pay $2.4M fine over misleading refund policy
19. Valve fined $3m over breach in Australian law with misleading Steam refund policy: Steam operator’s appeal denied by High Court of Australia
20. Valve acquires Firewatch creator Campo Santo
21. Valve acquires Firewatch developer Campo Santo: Yet another sign Valve might be interested in making new games again.
22. Detroit developer sues French press over “toxic culture” reports: Developer goes to court to fight what it calls a “smear campaign.”
23. Quantic Dream takes legal action against French media for negative press
24. Quantic Dream sues press over reports of toxic workplace – Report: Detroit Become Human studio takes legal action against two of the three outlets who unearthed allegations of harassment and discrimination
25. Maxis renames The Sims 4’s in-game ‘insane’ trait to ‘erratic’
26. EA Maxis renames The Sims’ “insane” character trait: Switch to “erratic” is a reflection of how “language evolves”, EA says
27. Studio apologizes for delay by pledging 90+-hour work weeks: NeoCoreGames says it was joking when it promised crunch as atonement for pushing full launch of Early Access game Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr back three weeks
28. The Red Flag of Passion: How a seemingly harmless word is used to put a happy face on some of the industry’s biggest problems
29. Fortnite breaks $25 million in first month on mobile: Revenue could pass $500 million this year, Sensor Tower suggests
30. Fortnite streamer peaks at 667,000 concurrent viewers, breaking own record: Las Vegas Esports Arena inaugural event becomes record-breaking Twitch stream
31. Thanks to a cosmetic change, Epic accidentally rebalancedFortnite’s shotguns
32. Tencent investing $15M to help establish Fortnite in China
33. Tencent will invest $15 million in Fortnite’s rollout in China: Seeding an esports community for Epic’s game will be a focus of the investment
34. As PUBG-like contenders emerge, Islands of Nyne might already have them beat: Rumors swirl around Battlefield, Call of Duty, but awesome sci-fi twist is already here.
35. First major PUBG tournament launches this summer with $2m prize pool on the line: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Global Invitational set to take place this year in Berlin, Germany
36. Twitch starts beta for new monetisation system: Viewers can now spend virtual currency in Extensions, with revenue divided between streamer and developer
37. Twitch Has Expanded Monetization To 220,000 Affiliates 1 Year After Program’s Launch
38. TheWaveVR secures $6M for its social VR platform
39. CCP chief: EVE dev’s move to leave VR due to risk, not loss of faith
40. Oculus overhauls privacy policy and terms of service
41. UK God of War launch is the biggest in the series history: Same for the new Yakuza, too
42. God of War Director’s Review Reaction Is A Reminder That Games Are Made By Humans
43. Sony’s studios continue their winning streak: The success of the PS4’s excellent first-party experiences belie the commercial challenges single-player titles still face
44. The infamous FMV game Night Trap is headed to the Nintendo Switch after all
45. Nintendo Switch hardware exploits cannot be patched out
46. The “unpatchable” exploit that makes every current Nintendo Switch hackable: Newly published Tegra bootROM exploit could be a big headache for Nintendo and others.
47. Behind the scenes with the hackers who unlocked the Nintendo Switch: “The best way to get a chip security audited is to put it in a game console”
48. Nintendo Labo belongs in the classroom
49. Review: Nintendo Labo (Variety And Robot Kits – Nintendo’s big gamble on cardboard and imagination pays off.
50. How to make your old Game Boy as good as (or better than) new: Why wait for a “Game Boy Classic” when you can fix up your old stuff instead?
51. How Squidlit’s devs authentically recreated a Game Boy game in 2018
52. Sonic Mania surpasses 1M sold worldwide
53. Capcom scrapping Puzzle Fighter to focus on Dead Rising
54. Italian games market hits $1.8 billion in 2017: The latest wave of GSD data is released for Europe
55. Steam sales, store pages and the art of selling games: At Reboot Develop, Rockfish, Vlambeer and 11 bit take very different views on the value of cutting prices
56. Kartridge announces new dev-friendly revenue terms
57. Kartridge offers developers 100% of revenue up to $10,000: Exclusive games will also get 90% up to $40k, in new terms aimed at “smaller developers”
58. How indie publishers stand out – and why they need your game to help them: Speaking at Reboot Develop, Devolver Digital, Paradox Interactive and Raw Fury reflect on their role in a game’s success and offer advice on pitching to them
59. “We just want to keep the IP” – Why Swery is banking on crowd-funding: The Good Life approaches its last stretch on Kickstarter
60. How Space Ape eschewed convention to make its most profitable game – Simon Hade and Nicolas Boulay discuss growing Fastlane: Road to Revenge from $5,000 ad revenue a day to $45,000 in four months
61. Ubisoft launches second season of start-up incubator program: “Ubisoft is proud of its roots and has not forgotten that its very own adventure began as a start-up,” says program sponsor
62. Darwin Project goes free-to-play after six weeks in Early Access: Scavengers Studio cites players’ “difficulty finding matches” as motivation for the change
63. Crossfire developer Smilegate closes Berlin studio
64. Smilegate to close Berlin office just over a year after it opened: Crossfire developer shuts down European base as part of new business strategy
65. “What’s your plan to not destroy yourself as you’re stepping into this career path?”: At Reboot Develop, Devolver and Good Shepherd co-founder Mike Wilson discussed the need for unions, mental burnout, and dealing with online toxicity
66. Better than reality: New emulation tech lags less than original consoles: “LAGFIX” fast-forwards through “hidden” frames for near-instant response times.
67. The Sentinel stands alone: Why I Love: Quantum Soup’s Chris Payne remembers Geoff Crammond’s purely innovative, rarely imitated classic
68. Rovio and Sony confirm a new Angry Birds movie for 2019: The first film earned $352 million since it opened two years ago
69. Wolfenstein II has five nominations at the Nordic Game Awards 2018: But Ultra Ultra’s Echo leads the pack with six, Tarsier Studios’ Little Nightmares and Image & Form’s SteamWorld Dig 2 close behind
70. Three years out, Final Fantasy VII remake still seems a long way off: Despite 2015 announcement, ambitious overhaul effort appears to be in early stages.
71. Death Road to Canada devs delay release out of respect for recent tragedy
72. Reboot Develop expands with Canada conference in 2019: Spring conference will remain in Dubrovnik alongside new student event, Canadian debut to be held in autumn next year
73. Social media ‘fair game’ in admissions process: But survey finds less than a third of colleges actually look at social media profiles when making admissions decisions
74. GDPR: Frequently Asked Questions – In the final part of their GDPR guide, Purewal & Partners’ Jas Purewal and Peter Lewin tackle the industry’s most common concerns
75. Blog: How the Rubik’s Cube inspired a laid-back Atari puzzler
76. Video: We force kids to confront ’80s technology – Youngsters struggled to understand why the TV must be on channel 3 to play games.

DIGITAL

1. Google Fails to Amend Canadian De-indexing Injunction Despite California Court Order
2. B.C. Court Leaves Google Global Takedown Order Intact Pending Full Trial (Michael Geist)
3. U.S. Falls To 45th On Press Freedom Index, Trump Labeled ‘Media-Bashing Enthusiast’
4. Michael Cohen Drops Ridiculous Lawsuit Against Buzzfeed After Buzzfeed Sought Stormy Daniels’ Details
5. It’s Spreading: Lindsey Graham Now Insisting ‘Fairness Doctrine’ Applies To The Internet
6. WikiLeaks, Russia, Trump Jr. named in new DNC hacking lawsuit: “It’s more than a shot over the bow, it’s a shot into the hull of the ship.”
7. Trump’s cell phone use is security “nightmare” waiting to happen, lawmakers say – New letter: “Does the President use encryption when he makes phone calls…?”
8. Verizon says Yahoo users must waive class-action rights – or stop using Yahoo: Yahoo, facing data breach lawsuits, starts enforcing mandatory arbitration.
9. Google disables “domain fronting” capability used to evade censors: A “long-planned” change happens to coincide with a new wave of state censorship in Russia.
10. Judge Agrees: Perfectly Fine For Google To Deny Ad Placement For ‘Honey Cures Cancer’ Claims 
11. Russia and China take Big Brother to absurd new levels
12. Internet Watch Foundation publishes its Annual Report
13. LA councilman asks city attorney to “review possible legal action” against Waze: “They say the crises of congestion they cause is the price for innovation.”
14. Are our smart devices starting to outsmart us?
15. The next big battle over internet freedom is here: Congress just passed a law to combat sex trafficking. Now the future of the free internet is in danger. 
16. Be Careful What You Wish For: The Risk of Ceding Online Content Monitoring to Internet Giants (Michael Geist)
17. Sweeping the Internet for Netsweeper
18. Calling Facebook A Utility Would Only Make Things Worse
19. What’s Not Included In Facebook’s ‘Download Your Data’
20. How academic at centre of Facebook scandal tried – and failed – to spin personal data into gold: The story of Aleksandr Kogan’s business ventures reveals a world where companies traded in the currency of personal information
21. Man behind Cambridge Analytica’s Facebook data mining says he’s sorry: Aleksandr Kogan, if he’d known survey would upset many: “I would’ve never done it.”
22. The Security Risks Of Logging In With Facebook
23. Delete Your Account: On the Theory of Platform Capitalism
24. Minds Is The Anti-Facebook That Pays You For Your Time 
25. Here’s What Facebook Won’t Let You Post
26. For the first time, Facebook clearly tells its users what’s allowed: Social network not saying why it took 14 years to release this document.
27. Facebook removes 1.5 billion users from protection of EU privacy law: In anticipation of the EU’s new GDPR rule, Facebook limits its legal umbrella. 
28. Facebook Publishes Internal Content Moderation Guidelines For The First Time 
29. Imposing Regulations on Online Technology Giants 
30. Meet the Professor Who’s Warning the World About Facebook and Google
31. FOSTA/SESTA Passed Thanks To Facebook’s Vocal Support; New Article Suggests Facebook Is Violating FOSTA/SESTA
32. Sex Workers Set Up Their Own Social Network In Response To FOSTA/SESTA; And Now It’s Been Shut Down Due To FOSTA/SESTA
33. Authorities May Charge Pennsylvania Juvenile Who Threatened Second YouTube Shooting
34. Exclusive: YouTube ran ads from hundreds of brands on extremist channels
35. 300 Companies Ran Ads On YouTube Channels Promoting Nazism, Pedophilia, Conspiracies (Report) 
36. YouTube CEO To Discuss Brand Safety On Conference Call With 30 Top Advertisers (Report)
37. YouTuber Convicted Of Hate Crime For Teaching Nazi Salute To Dog Raises £118,366 For Legal Appeal
38. YouTube Deleted 8.3 Million Objectionable Videos Last Quarter, Thanks Mostly To Machines
39. ‘Deadpool’ Writers To Serve As Executive Producers For Upcoming YouTube Red Series
40. New Footage Of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” Receives One Million Views In First Day On YouTube
41. YouTube Gives Creators With At Least One Million Subscribers A Space On The Trending Tab
42. YouTube Kids Amplifies Parental Controls, Including Ability To Whitelist All Videos, Channels
43. P&G Resumes YouTube Spend After 13-Month Boycott — As New Ad Controversy Looms
44. Proposed US Consumer Internet Privacy Legislation Threatens Digital Advertising
45. Texas Revenge Porn Laws Loses Battle With First Amendment
46. Cheddar Joins Hulu’s Live TV Lineup 1 Day After Being Added To YouTube TV
47. The Roku Channel gets live news thanks to ABC, Cheddar, and other partners: But it won’t replace all live news broadcasts.
48. Flipboard’s Answer To Fake News: More Human Curation
49. We’re underestimating the mind-warping potential of fake video: Doctored photos can easily create false memories. What happens when there’s fake video?
50. Fullscreen, Concerned About Inappropriate Content, Cuts About 160 Partners From Its Network 
51. DJ Khaled Alcohol Endorsements Exposed, Says TINA
52. Citing Tepid Crowdfunding Results, Neill Blomkamp Cancels Plans To Adapt Digital Short Into Feature
53. Snapchat’s Stock Tumbles As Company Confirms It’s Testing Yet Another Redesign
54. Hollywood is Wrong: Netflix is the Future of Film
55. Netflix Is Launching A Podcast That Breaks Down Its Original Documentary Shows And Films
56. BuzzFeed Pacts With Netflix For Short-Form Docuseries About Its Journalists
57. Netflix Again Raising $1.5 Billion In Debt Financing Amid Aggressive Content Push 
58. Netflix, Amazon, and major studios try to shut down $20-per-month TV service: It’s the third lawsuit against TV box makers filed by Netflix and film studios.
59. Jeff Bezos Says Video Has Helped Drive 100 Million Amazon Prime Members 
60. It’s Thanks To The Pirate Community That Amazon’s Attempt To Degrade Its Streaming Service Is Now Public
61. Amazon Key expands to deliver packages inside your car: Another option for those skeptical about in-home deliveries.
62. Amazon made an Echo Dot for kids, and it costs $30 more than the original: New parental controls and FreeTime Unlimited subscription coming soon, too. 
63. Twitter’s Bet on Video Is Starting to Pay Off: The company is doing as good a job as anyone figuring out live streaming, a medium that has been slow to take off in the U.S
64. In Earnings Report, Twitter Says Video Ads Now Make Up More Than Half Of Its Ad Revenue
65. State Appeals Court Upholds Criminal Conviction For Twitter Harassment Targeting An Autistic Student 
66. How Twitter Suspended The Account Of One Of Our Commenters… For Offending Himself? 
67. Vevo Announces Layoffs After The Departure Of Its CTO 
68. Backlash prompts Eventbrite to drop demand to crash events, record them: “We’ve heard some concerns from our customers,” company says, over perpetual copyright grab.
69. Ben Makuch of Vice takes on police in Supreme Court: The refusal of a journalist to hand over communications with a terror suspect has raised fundamental questions about press freedoms and national security.
70. Vice Media Launches Local Operations in India
71. Spotify Just Gave You a Pretty Good Reason Not to Pay for Spotify
72. Spotify Exec Jabs YouTube Amid Launch Of Redesigned App With More Free Feature
73. Spotify Bolsters Free Service In Defense Against Apple Music
74. Tim Cook on merging macOS and iOS: “I don’t think that’s what users want”: Apple’s CEO appeared to debunk speculation that the company seeks a unified OS.
75. Apple offers free battery replacements for select MacBook Pro models: Only some newer 13-inch MacBook Pros without Touch Bars have been affected.
76. Apple Sued An Independent Norwegian Repair Shop In Bid To Monopolize Repair — And Lost
77. ABKCO Music, Inc. v. William Sagan 
78. The ‘Terms and Conditions’ Reckoning Is Coming: Everyone from Uber to PayPal is facing a backlash against their impenetrable legalese.
79. Robot Showboat: Now Even Our Celeb Feuds Are Automated
80. Your Next Job Interview Could Be with a Racist Bot: Companies are using AI-powered cameras and chatbots to screen applicants. And that could unintentionally make employers even more discriminatory than before.
81. Some Startups Use Fake Data To Train AI 
82. Ready Lawyer One: Virtual Reality Is Coming To Courtrooms
83. Augmented Reality Is Transforming Museums
84. Coinbase Reportedly Shuts Down Wikileaks Store, Assange Calls for Boycott in Response 
85. Silicon Valley’s Latest Revolution: Cutting Out Wall Street 
86. The Selfie As We Know It Is Dead
87. Why So Many People Make Their Password ‘Dragon’ 
88. Reinventing the Internet via blockchain 
89. New hacks siphon private cryptocurrency keys from airgapped wallets: Beware of smartphones and cameras around wallets storing your digital coin.
90. Icelandic bitcoin heist suspect arrested in Amsterdam after leaving prison
91. “Secondary Sales” of Private Securities (And Tokens) in Crowdfunding
92. Suspicious event hijacks Amazon traffic for 2 hours, steals cryptocurrency: Almost 1,300 addresses for Amazon Route 53 rerouted for two hours.
93. ‘We’ve Lost 10 Years of Innovation. This Decade Has Been Boring for the Web.’: A conversation with Ethan Zuckerman, media scholar and inventor of the pop-up ad, on the original sin of advertising and the web’s lost decade.
94. Want To Blog In Tanzania, Or Read Social Media In Uganda? Pay The Government, Please

CREATIVITY

1. 9th Circuit rules that Naruto has no standing under US Copyright Act
2. Naruto v. Slater
3. Monkey has no standing to assert copyright infringement in selfie case, 9th Circuit rules
4. Monkey-selfie lawsuit finally ends: Court affirms adorable macaque can’t sue: PETA claimed to be a friend to Naruto but “failed” at doing so, 9th Circuit finds.
5. We Interrupt The News Again With Hopefully The Last Update From The Monkey Selfie Case
6. Grumpy Cat Limited v. Grenade Beverage LLC, et al.
7. U.S. Court of Appeals Finds That the Lines Remain Blurred
8. Music publishers score major victory in closely watched copyright case
9. Kimberley v. Penguin Random House 
10. Silberstein v. Fox Entertainment Group, Inc. 
11. Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC v. Ren Ventures Ltd
12. Fearless Girl to be moved due to … viability concerns
13. Astronaut’s Right-of-Publicity Case Won’t Timeout
14. LeBron James hit with trademark suit over his barbershop-based web series
15. When Your Trademark Is A False Advertisement
16. Supreme Court upholds patent review process, dealing trolls a blow: A key part of the 2011 America Invents Act is constitutional, high court rules.
17. Brexit and copyright law: will the English courts revert to the ‘old’ test for originality?
18. The CASE Act – A Noble but Toothless Gesture Toward Fair Copyright Enforcement 
19. Of Course The RIAA Would Find A Way To Screw Over The Public In ‘Modernizing’ Copyright 
20. Publisher Helps To Keep Sci-Hub In The Public Eye By Trying To Bully It Into Submission Using Ineffectual Legal Remedies
21. This band is storing their best-selling album in DNA 
22. Following Questionable Election, Honduran Government Debuts New Censorship Law
23. Hate Speech Laws In India 

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

1.  F-Word in Live Sports Broadcasts Should be Avoided, Says Canadian Broadcast Standards Council
2. Discussion about Sex Shops Was Acceptable Before 9:00 pm, Says Canadian Broadcast Standards Council
3. Wait for it: Government to clarify anti-spam law – eventually
4. Government Response to CASL Report Released
5. Government Response Suggests No Appetite for Canadian Anti-Spam Law Reform (Michael Geist)
6. Another Survey Shows Massive Bipartisan Opposition To Net Neutrality Repeal
7. Ajit Pai hasn’t finalized net neutrality repeal – here’s a theory on why: Pai’s delayed repeal could let Congress pass weaker law while ISPs behave.
8. No, Net Neutrality Isn’t Officially Dead (Yet), And The FCC Is Stalling For A Reason 
9. AT&T, Verizon face DOJ investigation for allegedly trying to lock eSIMs: Carriers reportedly sought ability to lock eSIMs to networks; Apple complained.
10. DOJ Investigating AT&T, Verizon for Making It Harder To Switch Wireless Carriers
11. NYC blasts broadband competition shortage as it pursues suit against Verizon: Two-thirds of NYC homes have only one or two broadband options, city report says. 
12. ISPs should charge for fast lanes – just like TSA Precheck, GOP lawmaker says: GOP’s Marsha Blackburn wants Internet service to be just like airport security. 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

1. Australian Gov’t Scooped Up Tons Of Cell Site Location Data To Track Citizens’ Movements
2. High Court establishes ‘right to be forgotten’ in English law
3. Company obtains cyber injunction under the protection of anonymity
4. SEC issues $35 million fine over Yahoo failing to disclose data breach
5. Supreme Court Dismisses Microsoft Appeal as Moot After Passage of the CLOUD Act 
6. Framed For Murder By His Own DNA 
7. Florida Police Allegedly Crash Funeral Home to Unlock Phone With Slain Man’s Fingerprints
8. Hackers Designed a ‘Master Key’ to Unlock Millions of Hotel Room Doors
9. When you go to a security conference, and its mobile app leaks your data: RSA Conference attendee contact data extracted using hard-coded API data.
10. Cracking The Crypto War: Ray Ozzie thinks he has an approach for accessing encrypted devices that attains the impossible: It satisfies both law enforcement and privacy purists.
11. Jaywalking in China Can Get You Hit with a Stream of Water
12. Atlanta Spent $2.6m To Recover From A $52,000 Ransomware Scare
13. Batten down the hatches: The GDPR wind is about to blow

Jon

GAMES

1. Cop won’t be charged in “swatting” death of Kansas man: Victim’s family is “devastated” by the decision, their lawyer says.
2. Blog: A legal analysis of the NetEase vs. PUBG lawsuit
3. In-Game Currency Triggers State Gambling Laws, Rendering Mobile Game “Illegal Gambling”
4. Patrick Soderlund: EA “can’t afford” another loot box controversy with Anthem – Newly promoted chief design officer promises publisher has learned from mistakes with Star Wars debacle
5. Loot boxes, skins gambling to hit $50 billion by 2022: Juniper Research “strongly recommends regulation for skin trading and gambling” in report covering growth of practices
6. Microsoft & other game companies win out in camera patent lawsuit
7. Patent lawsuit against Microsoft, EA, and Nintendo quashed at appeal: Federal court finds patent holder’s argument “unconvincing”
8. FTC warns that, yes, those warranty-voiding stickers on consoles are illegal
9. FTC warns about illegal warranties, likely including Nintendo and Sony: Federal Trade Commission states that companies are not allowed to force users to use specific service providers
10. Sophisticated APT surveillance malware comes to Google Play: Attackers pushing mobile surveillance-ware are stepping up their game.
11. Google Play under investigation by South Korea’s FTC over market abuse
12. Google Play faces allegations of market abuse in South Korea: South Korean FTC begins survey of mobile companies to uncover alleged abuses
13. Female game devs in South Korea are being harassed for feminist beliefs 
14. Cliff Bleszinski accuses Epic Games of stealing staff: Boss Key co-founder believes there is plenty of room in Battle Royale genre as Radical Heights gains momentum
15. SteamSpy creator warns PC market is once again open to abuse: “Imagine signing a basketball player without knowing his past performance,” posits Sergey Galyonkin
16. Valve’s SteamSpy snub will only hurt smaller developers: And thus begins a rant about digital data
17. Valve’s move against SteamSpy isn’t such a big deal, says No More Robots founder – Mike Rose: “There’s no doubt people right now are making games because they thought SteamSpy told them to”
18. Eugen Systems developers call an end to strike: “We have stopped striking… after more than a month a half, to conserve our resources for the future”
19. How Dlala survived the loss of a $3m Disney deal: CEO AJ Grand-Scrutton shares the cautionary tale of a studio whose life-changing game was scrapped without warning
20. Hollywood Should Make Movies That Grapple with Gamergate
21. Cheater! Billy Mitchell stripped of scores, banned from premiere scoreboard: Full investigation shows King of Kong star used emulators, not real hardware.
22. Billy Mitchell says he’s “not going to stop now” after scoreboard ban: Disgraced score-chaser promises witnesses, documents will redeem his name.
23. Devs can now pitch crowdfunded games based on D&D co-creator’s unpublished work
24. Estate of Dungeons & Dragons creator teams with crowdfunding/investment site for video game project
25. The accidental relevance of Wolfenstein: The New Colossus – MachineGames creative director Jens Matthies on when he realized his Nazi-killing game was going to be politically topical, and dealing honestly with Nazi ideology
26. God of War (2018): How to reinvent a beloved series without ruining what works – Kratos’ son avoids Scrappy-Doo syndrome amid more strategic melee brawling.
27. Reversing the sunk cost fallacy: Devs recount what shouldn’t have been cut
28. Win Mazda’s new iRacing challenge to get a test in an MX-5 race car: The winners of online and at-track rounds will compete at Daytona in 2019 for the test.
29. Spending On Games Up By 13% Among US Iphone Users: Games Account For Largest Share Of Apps Installed On Average User’s Device
30. Iron Harvest most successful video game Kickstarter in nearly a year: King Art Games’ crowdfunded project the first to break $1 million in 2018
31. Do gamers really care about cross-platform play?: GameTrack survey of European gamers shows indifference to the trend, and a lack of influence on purchasing decisions
32. With 2 million units sold, Shovel Knight generated the most income from Switch sales
33. Shovel Knight earns more revenue from Switch sales than any other platform: Yacht Club Games’ signature  title sells faster on Switch than any other console
34. Nintendo seeking startups to improve Switch hardware: Platform holder teams up with Scrum Ventures to source new add-ons and technology for hybrid console
35. Nintendo soliciting pitches from startups for innovative Switch tools and tech
36. Nintendo seeking startups to improve Switch hardware: Platform holder teams up with Scrum Ventures to source new add-ons and technology for hybrid console
37. Sega entering micro-console biz with Mega Drive Mini
38. Sega reveals Mega Drive Mini: Publisher’s entry into the mini console market begins with Japan-only release
39. Ex-PlayStation boss points to streaming as gaming’s next “inflection point”: Andrew House also sees emerging markets keeping physical media alive and console life-cycles long
40. EA shakes up executive team to ‘sharpen focus’ on creative core
41. Firing the middlemen: How blockchain can reshape digital distribution – Korrobox CEO Benjamin Huang discusses how the platform intends to eliminate costs of payment handling and fraud
42. Pro Evolution Soccer loses UEFA Champions League license: Konami ends its partnership with European tournament after a decade
43. Yoko Taro: We don’t need to think globally to sell globally – Nier Automata director and PlatinumGames lead designer Takahisa Taura discuss developing for Western tastes, 3D action games, and the dilemma of multiple endings
44. Dwarf Fortress is giving its dwarves the ability to form (and dwell on) memories
45. Hellblade wins big at 2018 BAFTAs as Edith Finch takes top honor
46. What Remains of Edith Finch beats out AAA giants to win the BAFTA for Best Game
47. A Way Out has sold over 1 million copies in two weeks
48. A Way Out sells 1 million in two weeks: Hazelight Studios’ EA Originals co-op prison break game wastes no time hitting milestone
49. Rainbow Six Siege has pulled in 30 million players
50. Rainbow Six Siege reaches 30 million registered players: Ubisoft’s multiplayer shooter goes from strength to strength
51. Life is Strange dev Dontnod headed toward an IPO
52. Terraria spin-off canned after three years in development
53. Counter-Strike pro player suspended over racist comment: Remarks “went beyond something being a genuine joke” says Faceit Pro League rep
54. Naomi Kyle Joins WatchMojo’s Gaming Channel With New Let’s Play Series
55. Twitch takes 82% of viewership hours for the top streaming titles in Q1: Esports content generated 11 per cent of all viewership hours across Twitch and YouTube
56. Twitch reportedly affected by IP address bans in Russia
57. Twitch Revamps Channel Analytics Dashboard As Part Of Yearlong Effort
58. Twitch signs multi-year deal with NBA 2K League: First media rights deal for the NBA and Take-Two’s esports endeavor will see up to 199 games aired live on streaming site
59. Battle Royale threatens a repeat of the MOBA bloodbath: With around a dozen Battle Royale titles set for release by the end of this year, developers need to be realistic about their chances of wresting market share from PUBG and Fortnite
60. Blog: Why Fortnite will fall, but battle royale will rise on mobile
61. Fortnite studio called out by Gears of Wardirector over hiring practices: Asks Epic to “please stop trying to hire away my team” – after major December defection.
62. Fortnite mobile nabbed $25M in revenue during its first month
63. Activision Blizzard enlists Nielsen for esports valuation: Tracking firm to assess value of sponsorship packages to see if brands are getting their money’s worth
64. Unikrn sets up cryptocurrency esports betting platform with acquisition of ChallengeMe.gg: “This is a big deal for me, for Unikrn and, honestly, for the entire gaming ecosystem,” says Unikrn CEO
65. Augmented and virtual reality consumer content market hits $3.2bn: Virtual reality install base expected to reach 75.7 million by 2021
66. How psychological experiments influenced the design of Vault 11 in Fallout: New Vegas 
67. Blog: Understanding the role of music in VR
68. The Young And The Reckless: A gang of teen hackers snatched the keys to Microsoft’s videogame empire. Then they went too far.
69. V&A Museum: Video games are approaching a cultural tipping point – Curator Marie Foulston discusses how the industry can help a wider range of people understand our full impact and potential, and get them to look beyond the blockbusters
70. A (slightly) different way to think about games and art
71. Communications Accessibility In Games: What Game Developers Need To Know
72. Crazy racing mash-up: Gamer vs driver in real cars, but with video-game views – Identical Ford Mustangs with the windows blacked out and an external camera to see.
73. Video: How the classic arcade game NBA Jam was designed 
74. How Xbox got its start — and its name
75. Exploring the rise and eventual fall of Xbox’s early teenage hacker

DIGITAL

1. Teen charged in Nova Scotia government breach says he had ‘no malicious intent’: 19-year-old says he believed documents were ‘free to just download’ from province’s FOIPOP web portal
2. Digital Disruption: How Should Canadian Regulators Respond?
3. 19-Year-Old Canadian Facing Criminal Charges For Downloading Publicly-Accessible Documents
4. Facebook must face class action over facial recognition, judge rules
5. Judge Clears Way for Major Class Action Suit Against Facebook Over Face Recognition 
6. Facebook’s Potential $70 billion Legal Challenge
7. Facebook Is Steering Users Away From Privacy Protections
8. Facebook Stops Funding Opposition to California Privacy Focused Ballot Act 
9. Why dictators love Facebook 
10. Congress Never Wanted to Regulate Facebook. Until Now
11. Facebook data transfers to be examined by EU court, Irish judge rules – Activist: “US law requires Facebook to help the NSA…and EU law prohibits just that.”
12. After Cambridge Analytica, Privacy Experts Get to Say ‘I Told You So’
13. This plan would regulate Facebook without going through Congress: How to rein in data collection without going through Congress
14. Zuckerberg’s New Hate Speech Plan: Out With the Court and In With the Code 
15. As Zuckerberg Smiles To Congress, Facebook Fights State Privacy Laws 
16. Tens of thousands of Facebook accounts compromised in days by malware: Professionally developed trojan posing as a stress reliever infects 40,000 PCs.
17. “Not too fond of Facebook”: A dating app removes its linked-profile requirement – Could be the first of many apps to dump FB requirements in wake of recent disclosures.
18. The problems with Facebook are inherent in its design, but that can change
19. Inverting The Expected Order Of Things, German Court Orders Facebook To Reinstate ‘Offensive’ Content
20. Is Facebook a Community? Digital Experts Weigh In
21. What Comes After The Social Media Empires: “Maybe we’ve reached the point where it’s not even possible to have Facebook in common.”
22. ‘One Has This Feeling of Having Contributed to Something That’s Gone Very Wrong’: A conversation with VR pioneer Jaron Lanier on Silicon Valley’s politics, being quoted by Mark Zuckerberg, and what went wrong with the internet.
23. This isn’t the first time a tech boom has interfered with democracy 
24. Watch Obama, Voiced By Jordan Peele, Warn Against Fake News In BuzzFeed Video
25. Singaporean Government Creates Fake News To Push Fake News Legislation 
26. Stealing Your Online Face – Online Truth Suffers Another Blow 
27. Actually, Social Media Isn’t An Echo Chamber
28. At-Home Dental Appliance Company Sues Website For Having Opinions About Its Products
29. Despite Repeated Evidence That It’s Unnecessary And Damaging, Trump Signs SESTA/FOSTA
30. Amended Complaint Filed Against Backpage… Now With SESTA/FOSTA
31. Backpage CEO pleads guilty to conspiracy, money laundering: Carl Ferrer agreed to end Backpage and help prosecution of his former co-workers.
32. Apple may debut its own news subscription service within the next year: An upgraded Apple News app could be home to the company’s trusted news sources.
33. Apple’s Infringement In $502M Security IP Row Willful: Jury
34. Apple memo warning employees about leaking gets leaked: Apple warns leakers that “they’re getting caught faster than ever.”
35. Apple’s Internal Memo Warning Employees Not To Leak To The Press Leaks To The Press
36. Apple plans to kill 32-bit app support on MacOS in the near future
37. U.S. iPhone users spent an average of $58 on apps and IAPs in 2017
38. The Wired Guide To Internet Addiction: Everything you ever wanted to know about screen time, likes, and pull-to-refresh.
39. Congress Enacts Law Creating a Sex Trafficking Exception From the Immunity Provided by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act
40. Ted Cruz Demands A Return Of The Fairness Doctrine, Which He Has Mocked In The Past, Due To Misunderstanding CDA 230 
41. Scott Pruitt has “at least four” official email addresses, senators say: According to The Washington Post, one of them is sooners7@epa.gov.
42. Court upholds clickwrap agreement, reiterating that general principles of contract apply 
43. How Android Phones Hide Missed Security Updates From You
44. LA Official Is Starting to Get Fed Up With Waze’s Habit of Directing Drivers Down a Death Slalom
45. A crummy drop-down menu appeared to kill dozens of mothers in Texas: This doesn’t mean maternal mortality in Texas or the US is OK. It’s still horrific.
46. Artificial intelligence and copyright
47. Algorithmic Accountability: A Primer
48. A.I. Engineers Must Open Their Designs To Democratic Control: When it comes to A.I., we need to keep humans in the loop.
49. AI Tool Helps Law Enforcement Find Victims of Human Trafficking
50. Lawmakers Want You to Be Able to Sue Robots
51. IKEA Furniture Tests Your Relationship, Also Robots
52. A Robot Does The Impossible: Assembling An Ikea Chair Without Having A Meltdown
53. Google works out a fascinating, slightly scary way for AI to isolate voices in a crowd: Google researchers try to replicate the “cocktail party effect” for computers.
54. Beyoncé Leads YouTube To Record-Setting 41 Million Viewers On Coachella Streams
55. Barcelona-Based YouTuber Faces Prison For Pranking Homeless Man With Doctored Oreos
56. Lawsuit Alleges That YouTube Star Poppy’s Shtick Was Stolen From Another Creator
57. Stupid Copyright: MLB Shuts Down Twitter Account Of Guy Who Shared Cool MLB Gifs
58. YouTube tackling creator monetisation issues new pilot scheme: Self certification “will make the monetisation process much smoother with fewer false positive demonetisations,” says YouTube CEO
59. YouTube demonetized my tuba videos (also, I make tuba videos): YouTube can’t decide if I can make money off my 10-year-old Legend of Zelda video or not.
60. Ex-YouTube Engineer Builds Site To Figure Out What Content The Video Site’s Algorithm Recommends
61. Citing Viewership Suppression, Philip DeFranco Again Says New Shows Won’t Be Distributed YouTube-First
62. YouTube’s Restrictions On Firearms Content Has Led A Gun Manufacturer To Sue A Creator 
63. YouTube TV Adds Cheddar, Cheddar Big News To Lineup, Marking First Digital-Native Channels
64. YouTube TV brings two Cheddar digital-only shows to its lineup: The financial media company will offer its finance and general news channels to YouTube’s live TV service.
65. Google Staffer’s Scrappy Design Becomes Healing Symbol After YouTube Shooting
66. Google refuses to fix Waze so it won’t route people on 32%-grade road
67. Hulu Keeps Pace With YouTube TV By Sponsoring NBA Playoffs
68. Sports Illustrated Launches SVOD Service On Roku, iOS, Android, And The Web
69. Formula 1’s streaming service goes live with the Spanish GP in May: You’ll need a browser to watch it at first, but mobile and TV apps are coming
70. Sports-Centric Skinny Bundle FuboTV Raises $75 Million From Fox, AMC, Sky
71. The Digital Afterlife is Open for Business. But It Needs Rules.
72. Beautycon Launches Content Pact With BET Ahead Of Sold-Out New York Event
73. FouseyTube To Enter Rehab For Addiction, Depression, And Bipolar Disorder
74. Ja Rule’s catastrophic Fyre Festival gets a documentary series on Hulu
75. Hulu Nabs Docuseries About The Infamous Fyre Festival Scam
76. 80% Of Netflix Viewership Comes From Licensed Content, Not Originals (Study)
77. Despite October 2017 Price Hike, Netflix Added 7.4 Million New Customers In Q1 2018
78. Netflix Bows Out Of Cannes After Festival Tells Streaming Services To Get Off Its Lawn
79. Netflix Sees Itself As The Anti-Apple
80. Comcast To Sell Netflix Subscriptions In False Belief This Will Slow Cord Cutting
81. Amazon and Best Buy team up to sell TVs, but it’s a risky move for Best Buy: Best Buy will carry TVs with Amazon software and will sell TVs on Amazon.com.
82. House of Lords issues report on digital advertising market 
83. $2 Million Allegedly Stolen From Cryptocurrency Vlogger in the Middle of His Livestream
84. Bitcoin heist suspect reportedly walked out of low-security prison, onto flight: Sindri Thor Stefansson had been arrested over theft of 600 bitcoin-mining computers.
85. New York’s Attorney General Begins Inquiry Into Cryptocurrency Practices
86. New York Attorney General Launches Inquiry into Cryptocurrency Exchanges 
87. Microsoft’s bid to secure the Internet of Things: Custom Linux, custom chips, Azure – This is Redmond’s first-ever Linux distribution.
88. Microsoft claims to make Chrome safer with new extension: A purported Edge advantage is now available in Chrome.
89. Welcome To The Wikipedia For Terms Of Service Agreements
90. Online-Transactions can trigger Specific Jurisdiction of U.S. Courts
91. Canada’s Tough Anti-Piracy Copyright Law: Federal Court Awards Millions in Damages Against Unauthorized Streaming Site (Michael Geist)
92. Digital Trends and Initiatives in Education: The Study the Association of Canadian Publishers Tried To Bury (Michael Geist)