Below is a link to a thoughtful blog post by Jeremy Costin (LL.B 2007, UBC) on the challenges the legal concept of fixation poses in the digital age. Jeremy is (needless to say) being a bit too kind in terms of my contribution to his thinking:
Parenthetically, will note that there are few things more satisfying then a former student who many years later remains passionate about an area of mutual study.
jon
Prof. Greg Lastowka of the Rutgers University School of Law is doing some important research on User Generated Content and needs the help of video game developers. So if you are a game developer please help. If you know game developers ,please pass on to them Greg’s personal message below:
“Hello! My name is Greg Lastowka and I’m a Professor of Law at Rutgers University. As part of my current research on user-generated content practices online, I’m conducting a survey on game developer attitudes toward UGC as an element of video games. A prior survey was taken by over 400 players of video games and I’m curious to see how developer attitudes compare with the attitudes of players. The survey should take about 20-30 minutes to complete (depending on whether you answer the optional questions) and all responses will be kept anonymous.
You can reach the survey via this link: http://bit.ly/playerauthors2
After results have been collected and analyzed, the data from the survey (and other components of the larger project) will be posted here: http://player-authors.rutgers.edu/
p.s. It’s fine if multiple employees within a studio complete the survey — part of what we’re looking at is how developers with various levels of experience might have different attitudes about UGC.”
jon
1. Three More MMO Developers Receive Letters from Treehouse Attorneys
2. NCAA Will Not Renew Contract with EA in 2014
3. THQ liquidation plan approved by court, ending bankruptcy case
4. Strong-female protagonist game jam kicks off in Vancouver to fight industry sexism
5. Every Misogynistic Argument You’ve Ever Heard About Video Games
6. Report: CDC Closer to Beginning Research on Gun Violence and Video Games
7. Why Nintendo can legally shut down any Smash Bros. tournament it wants
8. Playing With Life: Are Living Video Games Ethical?
9. Will the NSA use the Xbox One to spy on your family?
10. World of Warcraft opening in-game microtransaction store
11. Deus Ex: The Fall disables firing guns on jailbroken iOS devices
12. iPhone to EyePhone: The Next Gaming Frontier?
13. How Intellectual Property Reinforces Inequality by Joseph E. Stiglitz
14. Surveillance, sousveillance and PRISM – an op-ed by Ethan Zuckerman
15. Convicted Music Pirate Refuses to Work For The RIAA
16. Are fan translations an infringement of copyright?
jon
1. Sega claiming $941,000 from THQ over Company of Heroes 2 preorders
2. Is Hacking Videogame Characters Legal?
3. Research: Violent Games Do Not Adversely Affect Prosocial Behavior
4. Microsoft patent filing attempts to lock down games with multiple engines running concurrently
5. Microsoft: Xbox One advertising will integrate with Kinect
6. Mattrick prepped Zynga buyout while at Microsoft – report
7. An EVE Revenant Supercarrier downed on combat is the most expensive ship destroyed to date
8. A Conversation with Paola Antonelli about MoMA’s Video Game Collection
9. Apple guilty of ebook price fixing, rules federal court
10. Secret Court’s Redefinition of ‘Relevant’ Empowered Vast NSA Data-Gathering
+ Supreme Court asked to halt NSA phone surveillance
+ Is Switzerland turning into a cloud-haven in the wake of Prism scandal?
11. Author Resale rights in Canadian Copyright Law
13. Did Florida Accidentally Ban All Computers and Smartphones?
And in the “too cute” category:
14. The Console Wars Become A Triumphant West Side Story-Style Musical
jon
This coming weekend my friend and colleague Dr. Kimberly Voll is unleashing the (first annual) “i am a gamer” Game-Jam on our world. The event is committed to creating games with strong female characters and was prompted by a number of industry comments doubting the viability of woman as lead characters in games.
If any of the many worlds theories promulgated by contemporary physicists are correct we might hope such sexist non-sense has long since disappeared in those alternate universes. But in our here and now confronting nonsense with truth must be the order of the day – or at least the order of this weekend.
The Jam is July 12-14 at the Centre for Digital Media. Sign up @ the website: http://iamagamer.ca/
jon
Not too long ago I was engaging with my academic colleague and professional clown (some of the more witless from my former business lives might ask “is there a difference?”) Patrick Pennefather (http://thecdm.ca/people/faculty/patrick-pennefather).
Our topic of choice, as it frequently is, was the inadequacies of intellectual property as a concept, and how those inadequacies are magnified by the uncertainties inherent in legal definitional processes. Patrick, using his company name ‘Design for Humans’, then created the following rather telling diagram for a “patent process claim” to make his point:
A particularly surreal quality of our ensuing email dialogue (which of course also went directly to proving Patrick’s point) emerged when I proposed removing certain logos included in his original work so that the diagram could be publicly posted. Here is how that went:
Jon: “…Just to be safe, can you send me a version with the logos removed?…”
Patrick: “…I can send you without logos but then it’s no longer art:)”
Jon (trying in vain to be witty): “Who is Art?”
Patrick: “art is a friend i once knew currently lost on an island of doubt”
Boom.
Pretty well says it all on the subject of legal confusion undermining the creative process…
jon
P.S. Patrick’s blog, suitably titled “The Unknown Collaborative Zone” is at http://unknownzone.patrickpennefather.com/
Received a mass mailing note from Ashley O’Toole-Brown and Rachel Kowert announcing the launch of the new DiGRA students website (http://digrastudents.org)and asking this be brought to the attention of all students who might be interested in the area.
DIGRA is the Digital Games Research Association and is a point of convergence for all of the academic work being done in and around video games worldwide. Apparently the star of the new website is the new and improved web forums. While this site was built with students in mind (and a user base primarily consisting of students), anyone can participate. There is also an active Facebook community which can be found at http://www.facebook.com/digrastudents as well as a twitter account (@digrastudents).
So join & follow to keep updated on the latest information of interest to students, academics, and professionals under the DiGRA umbrella.
jon
On October 4, 2012 I was privileged to join a panel on “The Battle of the Living Room: Video Game Consoles as Media Centers” at the Law Seminars International 3rd Annual Seattle Conference on Gamer Technology Law. Given that the panel was nine months before the reveals of Sony & Microsoft’s next generation platforms you may find the discussion interesting from todays perspective. Moderating the panel was Kraig Marini-Baker of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, and my fellow panellists were Alan Bruggeman of Microsoft and Anoop Desai of Electronic Arts. Sincere thanks to LSI for their permission to post.
1. Beyonce Settles $100M Lawsuit With Video Game Company
2. First Amendment trumps trademark in Call of Duty Case
3. Antonick v. Electronic Arts (Patent Arcade Update)
4. Texas Teen Could Face Eight Years in Prison for Comments Made in League of Legends
5. Blizzard Bans More Diablo III Players for ‘Cheating’
6. 10 Business Lessons from the Battlefield
7. Consoles must offer self-publishing to attract indies, says Jackbox
8. How Important Are YouTube Game Videos To Game Companies?
9. Microsoft explains Xbox One’s new griefer-separating reputation system
10. Video Games: Seven More Building Blocks in MoMA’s Collection
11. Zynga Hires Xbox Boss to Initiate Turnaround
12. Ubisoft warns millions of video gamers of hack attack
13. Bushnell: Atari abused by shareholders
14. Research: Active Gaming Therapy Beneficial to Stroke Victim Recovery
16. Secret Court Declassifies Yahoo’s Role in Disclosure Fight
17. NSA surveillance may be legal — but it’s unconstitutional
jbf
A powerful Final Statement on June 27, 2013 from Pranesh Prakash of the Center for Internet and Society on the WIPO Treaty for the Blind focussing on the increasing tensions between intellectual property and human rights.
jbf
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