Posts

News of the Week: April 1, 2020

By Jon Festinger on May 26, 2020

GAMES

  1. ‘NBA 2K’ Publisher Beats Copyright Suit Over LeBron James’ Tattoos: In a landmark decision on the tatto a federal judge rules that Take-Two’s depiction was de minimus and that an implied license was granted.
  2. Judge Swain: Depicting NBA Players’ Tattoos in Video Game Is “Fair Use”
  3. Court Manages To Get NBA2K Tattoo Copyright, Trademark Case Exactly Right
  4. Videogame Doesn’t Infringe Tattoo Copyright By Depicting Basketball Players–Solid Oak Sketches v. 2K Games (Eric Goldman)
  5. Videogame Can Replicate Musician’s “Signature Move” (Unless It’s a False Endorsement, Which It Isn’t)–Pellegrino v. Epic Games (Eric Goldman)
  6. US court dismisses Humvee trademark infringement suit against Activision: New York judge rules that use of Humvees in Call of Duty is protected as artistic expression
  7. Wargaming.net files lawsuit against group of former employees: Blitz Team says it has become target of “unfair competition and legal bullying” at hands of Wargaming
  8. Gamevice brings yet another accusation of Nintendo patent infringement: This is the peripherals manufacturer’s third attempt at such a complaint
  9. Nintendo Switch sells out at retail, leading to third-party price inflation
  10. The year of Mario: A ton of classic 3D games reportedly coming to Switch in 2020
  11. How SNES emulators got a few pixels from complete perfection
  12. Report: Gearbox overspent on Borderlands 3, and devs see bonuses cut in response
  13. Borderlands 3 devs accuse Gearbox of shorting bonuses: Kotaku reports that promised six-figure bonuses have been significantly reduced, studio planning an IPO
  14. Epic offers $1m reward for evidence of Houseparty smear campaign: Fortnite developers assures that app does not enable access to bank accounts or other services
  15. Activision has dished out over 50,000 permabans in Call of Duty: Warzone
  16. Activision permabans over 50,000 cheaters in Call of Duty: Warzone – Publisher says it has “zero tolerance” policy on cheaters and will issue regular updates on number of bans handed out
  17. Jedi Academy dev promises to fix mistake that let PC gamers slaughter console players
  18. Sony declines to sell Call of Duty in Russia (again): Modern Warfare 2 Remastered will not be sold through PlayStation Store
  19. Players host weddings, classes, more in online games during COVID-19 crisis
  20. Hyper casual dominated new mobile downloads in 2019: More than 75% of the 20 most downloaded new mobile games of 2019 were hyper casual
  21. Fox’s virtual Texas NASCAR race sets esports record with 1.3 million viewers
  22. NASCAR’s First Virtual Race Draws Record-Setting 903K Viewers, Seals Broadcast Deal For Rest Of Season
  23. Mobile esports team Tribe Gaming raises $1 million: Backers include NBA all-star Gordon Hayward, WWE wrestler Cesaro, and Super Evil Megacorp CEO Kristian Segerstrale
  24. During The Outbreak: All Sports Are eSports Now
  25. How to play Pokémon Go when everyone’s stuck inside
  26. Pokémon and Apex Legends esports events cancelled: Physical events scrapped amid coronavirus concerns, prize money shifted to online competitions
  27. Anybrain receives €1m investment form Trust Esport: Artificial intelligence startup works to secure online gaming and make esports more fair
  28. FaZe Clan, Verizon Host Charity ‘Fortnite’ Match For Coronavirus Relief Efforts
  29. ESL partners up with PUBG Mobile to host competitions for the game
  30. Andre ‘Typical Gamer’ Rebelo Signs Exclusive Streaming Deal With YouTube
  31. What is happening with video game sales during coronavirus: GamesIndustry.biz analyses the latest figures from GSD
  32. Pandemic has led to spikes in mobile gaming, says ironSource: App monetization firm reports daily average users, new game installs up in regions under lock down
  33. The rise and rise of video games: Covid-19 has drawn renewed attention to an under-appreciated industry
  34. Kojima’s GBA experiment—and the sunny island childhood it changed forever
  35. Kojima Productions working remotely after employee diagnosed with COVID-19
  36. Kojima Productions staff working remotely after employee diagnosed with COVID-19: Developer is working with health authorities to prevent further spread of virus
  37. UK retailer Game furloughs staff with full pay through April: However, company tells staff it cannot guarantee full pay or jobs past that point
  38. Twitch is holding a Stream Aid charity event to raise money for the fight against coronavirus
  39. Twitch ‘Stream Aid’ To Combat Coronavirus Raises $2.8 Million, Nabs 135,000 Concurrent Viewers
  40. A Twitch streamer is exposing coronavirus scams live
  41. Mojang shakes up AR game Minecraft Earth to adapt to shelter-in-place play
  42. Pokémon Go temporarily changes mechanics to reduce spread of COVID-19: Mojang follows suit with changes to Minecraft Earth
  43. Pokémon Go revenue spikes as game continues to adjust for COVID-19: Last week was its highest-earning week in 2020 so far, despite lockdowns
  44. Record number of Steam users online during coronavirus outbreak: Steam sees record numbers of users in-game, and record concurrent users for third week running
  45. With more people staying home, Steam makes changes to reduce bandwidth use
  46. GameStop turns a Q4 profit despite 28% dip in sales: Retailer says pandemic has increased demand; chain closed 320 stores last year and looks to close that many or more in the current year
  47. Amid pandemic closures, GameStop says it’s seeing increased business
  48. GameStop ends 2019 with sales down year-over-year, but ‘increased financial flexibility’
  49. GameStop to close at least 320 stores in 2020
  50. GameStop says no indication of PS5, Xbox Series X delays: Retailer says as of right now, pandemic has had “minimal” impact on product deliveries
  51. Sony says COVID-19 won’t impact PS5 launch (yet)
  52. Early Access MMO Last Oasis offering full refunds due to server problems: Game being taken offline for a week while developers fix issues
  53. Colopl acquires Steins;Gate developer Mages for $15 million: Studio will become a wholly owned subsidiary after mobile firm purchases all shares
  54. Koch Media, Kalypso Media expand physical publishing partnership
  55. South Australia launches second round of Games Innovation Fund
  56. Xbox encouraging devs to push updates during off-peak hours to lessen server strain
  57. Microsoft adjusts Xbox Live functionality due to pandemic: As demand for cloud services surges, custom gamerpics disabled and game updates only delivered in off-peak hours
  58. Future shuts down Official Xbox Magazine after almost two decades
  59. Official Xbox Magazine closed: Publication is reportedly one of six magazines Future has discontinued
  60. Sony doesn’t see pandemic affecting PS5 launch: Despite factory closures and downgraded profit forecast, Sony estimates no material impact on its gaming business so far
  61. Sony will begin limiting PSN download speeds in the U.S.
  62. Sony reduces PSN download speeds for the US: PlayStation maker expands European downgrade “to help ensure internet stability” during pandemic
  63. Bungie: Google Stadia an “amazing solution” for playtesting during lockdown – COO Patrick O’Kelley says Google’s streaming platform can replicate an essential aspect of game development
  64. Google Stadia, ‘beefy laptops’ drive Bungie’s remote work success
  65. Tencent and Huawei are working on a mobile cloud gaming platform
  66. All hail Nintendo’s animal overlords | Opinion: Animal Crossing looks set to be one of the year’s biggest games — we might reflect on what it says about the appetite for different kinds of escapism
  67. A Super Mario Christmas is the ideal counter to PS5 and Xbox Series X | Opinion: Why a bunch of Mario ports may be all Nintendo needs to face off against the new consoles
  68. Strong week for UK physical game sales despite lockdown: “Animal Crossing New Horizons” drops to No.3
  69. Final Fantasy VII Remake shipping early amid COVID-19 disruption: Square Enix reveals European and Australian players may receive the game sooner than April 10 launch
  70. Square Enix will ship ‘Final Fantasy VII Remake’ early to some countries: Disruption caused by the coronavirus will leave some players open to spoilers.
  71. Epic launches new publishing program with 50/50 profit sharing for developers
  72. Epic launches publishing label with Remedy, Playdead and GenDesign onboard: Epic Games Publishing will be multiplatform, cover as much as 100% of costs, and offer partners 50/50 profit share
  73. Epic Games is now a third-party multi-plat publisher, secures three big studios
  74. Epic signs Playdead, Remedy, and genDesign to new publishing label
  75. COVID-19 preventing Bethesda from hosting digital E3 showcase
  76. Star Citizen dev Cloud Imperium raises $17.25 million in funding
  77. Cloud Imperium secures $17.25m in additional investment: Existing investors pour more finance into Star Citizen developer
  78. Colopl acquires game and interactive novel developer Mages for $14.92 million
  79. Terraria has sold over 30 million copies across all platforms
  80. Niantic acquires 6D.ai to help map out the entire world for AR
  81. Niantic acquires AR mapping company 6D.ai: Location-based game developer working on dynamic, 3D map of the world
  82. How to Clean Your VR Headset
  83. Roto VR Picks up $1.86M Investment to Support Roll-out of Rotating VR Chair
  84. ‘Half-Life: Alyx’ Now Among Steam’s 10 Best Rated Games Ever, Surpassing All Other ‘Half-Life’ Titles
  85. With Half-Life: Alyx out, Valve shifts focus to its Hammer level editor
  86. Forte recruits 5 more high-end game studios to make blockchain-based games
  87. Wasteland 3 delayed due to COVID-19: Minecraft Dungeons also delayed into May for the same reason
  88. The Sandbox blockchain-based world will feature virtual Atari theme park
  89. Researchers turn to PC gamers for help with COVID-19: Folding@home downloaded onto over one million devices
  90. Tinybuild’s Hello Neighbour books have made $16m in revenue: Book series hits 2m sales as game franchise passes 30m downloads
  91. League of Legends: The art of balance – Summoner’s Rift team manager John Frank discusses the intricacies of balancing one of the world’s most successful competitive titles
  92. An extended interview with Crash Bandicoot designer Andy Gavin
  93. What happens when an outbreak ruins your game announcement plans?
  94. WHO and game companies launch #PlayApartTogether to promote physical distancing
  95. Industry launches #PlayApartTogether in fight against COVID-19 pandemic: Over 50 companies now using their platforms to spread key messages, organisers in talks 70 more
  96. Resident Evil 3 Remake review: Are we ready for pandemic nostalgia?
  97. Deep Dive: Making a cozy, therapeutic experience in Coffee Talk
  98. Don’t Miss: How Mario Kart influenced Nintendo’s fighting game, ARMS
  99. Don’t Miss: What it took to port Resident Evil 2 to the N64
  100. Don’t Miss: The Valkyrie Profile-inspired design of Indivisible
  101. Don’t Miss: Give players a place to feel ‘cozy’ and they’ll keep coming back
  102. Video: Storytelling with verbs to better integrate narrative and gameplay
  103. Video: Using forgiveness mechanics to design better games 
  104. Video: How Gearbox baked accessibility features into Borderlands 3
  105. Blog: Understanding and effectively implementing live ops
  106. Blog: Differentiating narratives using the selfish story model
  107. Next big thing or next big bubble? – 10 Years Ago This Month: Streaming, motion controls, and stereoscopic 3D were all pushed as transformative technologies
  108. 28 years later, a no-disc version of the Sega CD exists—and it rocks [Updated]
  109. Insert Coin, the arcade documentary worth feeding all your quarters into 
  110. Cyberpunk dev CD Projekt Red donates $950,000 to help fight COVID-19
  111. Eidos-Montreal hosting Deus Ex flash sale to help those affected by COVID-19
  112. Rockstar pledges 5% of Red Dead and GTA Online revenue to fight COVID-19
  113. Dozens of devs pitch in games for Humble’s all-for-charity Conquer COVID-19 bundle
  114. Game industry backs ‘Play Apart Together’ campaign to slow spread of COVID-19
  115. U.S. Patent no. 10,286,326: Soft reservation system and method for multiplayer video games

DIGITAL

  1. Court: Violating a site’s terms of service isn’t criminal hacking
  2. Levandowski says Uber must pay his $179 million judgment to Google
  3. Yet Another Court Says Suing Twitter For Terrorist Acts Is A Waste Of Everyone’s Time
  4. “Material Support for Terrorism” Lawsuit Fails a Third Time–Colon v. Twitter (Eric Goldman)
  5. Redbox’s Terms of Use Fail (OUCH)–Wilson v. Redbox (Eric Goldman)
  6. Section 230 Protects Classifying Non-Competitive Software as a Threat–Asurvio v. Malwarebytes (Eric Goldman)
  7. Broadband Speeds Dip In Major Cities Due To Covid-19
  8. Coronavirus misinformation is the latest test for social media platforms
  9. Study looks at how Russian troll farms are politicizing vaccines
  10. How China Built a Twitter Propaganda Machine Then Let It Loose on Coronavirus: ProPublica analyzed thousands of fake and hijacked Twitter accounts to understand how covert Chinese propaganda spreads around the globe.
  11. Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories Are a Public Health Hazard: It’s time to debunk the worst—and most dangerous—Covid-19 misinformation. 
  12. The Digital Response to the Outbreak of COVID-19: Undeniably, we need to use technology as part of disaster response, but the regulatory immaturity of the industry makes technology companies risky allies
  13. Internet Archive offers 1.4 million copyrighted books for free online: Massive online library project is venturing into uncharted legal waters.
  14. Authors fume as online library “lends” unlimited free books
  15. Publishers And Authors Misguided Freakout Over Internet Archive’s Decision To Enable More Digital Book Checkouts During A Pandemic
  16. Streaming Gets Big Bump During Coronavirus Quarantines, Nielsen Says: SVOD platforms outpaced the overall gains in TV usage during the first few weeks of March.
  17. As More People Shelter At Home, Podcasts See 15% Drop In U.S.-Based Listeners
  18. Amazon: Walkout leader’s firing wasn’t due to his organizing efforts
  19. Amazon, Walmart Suspend Marketing Deals With Digital Media Firms
  20. Email, text message attacks surge during COVID-19 crisis
  21. An Internet Shutdown Is Keeping Coronavirus Information from Millions in Pakistan
  22. South Korea: Cyberbullying Amid Coronavirus – Some online trolls seem determined to infuse Korean politics and COVID-19 with racial tensions.
  23. Anti-Vaxxer Sues Facebook, In The Middle Of A Pandemic, For ‘In Excess’ Of $5 Billion For Shutting Down His Account
  24. Facebook spends US$100M to support local news amid pandemic
  25. Facebook invests $100M in journalism as COVID-19 makes it more vital than ever: In the form of direct grants and advertising spend
  26. Facebook Says Live Streams Have Increased 50% This Month, Will Expand ‘Stars’ Monetization To Musicians, More
  27. Facebook has a new way for communities to help each other through COVID-19: Its Community Help feature is expanding
  28. Tech giants are navigating an ‘infodemic.’ Are they doing it right?: Social media platforms have resisted being arbiters of truth for years, but COVID-19 has changed that, fast.
  29. How data-mining companies are set to gain from the Covid-19 pandemic: Their business model, challenged by numerous activists and analysts, is likely to gain further public acceptance, to the detriment of democracy.
  30. Democrats say Google’s COVID-19 ad ban is a gift to Donald Trump: “To not allow political candidates to mention or discuss COVID-19 is something that has the potential to dramatically bolster Trump’s…reelection.”
  31. Judge Allows PEN America’s Lawsuit Against Donald Trump Over Retaliation Against The Media To Proceed
  32. President Trump Is So Upset About This Ad Showing His Failed Handling Of COVID-19 That He’s Demanding It Be Taken Down
  33. Democrats Being Blocked From Advertising On Trump’s Failed COVID-19 Response Due To Content Moderation Rules
  34. How Do You Moderate COVID-19 Misinformation When It’s Coming From Official Sources?
  35. Jared Kushner’s Coronavirus Task Force Is Using Private Email Accounts To Conduct Official Business
  36. Google sent users 40,000 warnings of nation-state hack attacks in 2019
  37. Tech Firms Are Swooping in to Profit From COVID-19: Tech is winning gov’t contracts to roll out spurious apps & services. Innovation must be administered publicly to prevent the further commodification of health care.
  38. Tech giants should give away their money instead of their products: Anything helps, yes. But there’s a limit to even a billion dollars in donations – “Can’t make payroll on ad credits.”
  39. The Online Cold War: foreign hackers and trolls undeterred by virus crisis
  40. Apple acquires Dark Sky weather app, and that’s bad news for Android users
  41. Bogus coronavirus claims lead Google Play to finally give Infowars the boot: Apple kicked Alex Jones out of the App Store in 2018.
  42. Google Commits $800 Million, Mostly in Ad Credits, to Coronavirus Relief Efforts
  43. Don’t Click That Link! It Might Be Viral: There’s been an explosion of Covid-19-related websites, some real and some nefarious.
  44. Frequency of looking for and accessing information about the coronavirus pandemic among adults worldwide as of March 2020
  45. Snapchat preempts clones, syndicates Stories to other apps
  46. Snapchat Reports Engagement Records During the Coronavirus Pandemic: The app reached all-time highs in Snaps sent, Snap Games, time spent watching Shows
  47. Spotify is bringing its kids app to the US, Canada, and France: Just as kids are stuck at home because of the pandemic
  48. Spotify and Warner Music Group renew their global licensing deal, resolve issue in India
  49. HQ Trivia returns with surprise $1,000 show and $100,000 donation
  50. Resurrected HQ Trivia App Welcomes 100,000 Players For First Game Back
  51. HQ Trivia returns, reportedly acquired by private investor: Live mobile trivia competition to donate $100k to World Central Kitchen
  52. Will Airbnb Become Obsolete After the Coronavirus?: The world’s most-visited cities are deserted. When the virus passes, they will be durably changed.
  53. Patreon, Which Had 150,000 Pre-Pandemic Creators, Sees 30,000 Sign-Ups In March Alone
  54. B.C.’s Civil Resolution Tribunal keeps ‘doors open’ during pandemic: CRT is able to stay fully operational because it operates remotely
  55. COVID-19 court closures forcing long-overdue use of technology, say lawyers
  56. Vancouver studio uses 3D printers to make face shields for hospital workers
  57. Some Instacart and Amazon Workers Stay Home, Calling for More Pay in Coronavirus Pandemic: Coronavirus risks prompt walkouts, pay demands at delivery and retail companies
  58. “Amazon Is a Breeding Ground”
  59. Amazon fires warehouse worker who led Staten Island warehouse walkout
  60. No Masks and Uncertain Sick Leave: New York Whole Foods Delivery Workers Say Amazon Is Failing To Protect Them
  61. Amazon auditions to be ‘the new Red Cross’ in Covid-19 crisis | Free to read This could be the group’s finest hour but there are concerns about workers being put at risk
  62. Why Amazon Is Poised to Emerge from the Covid-19 Crisis Stronger Than Ever: Amazon has reacted to the coronavirus with restrictions designed to cement its market power at the expense of merchants and consumers.
  63. Who needs a government when you’ve got Amazon to keep things running?: While Trump blusters, the online giant has taken on the role of regulator and benevolent dictator
  64. Nationalize Amazon: Instead of letting Amazon use coronavirus to dominate even more of the economy, the company should be nationalized and reoriented to serve the public good instead of predatory capitalism.
  65. We Should Nationalize Food Delivery Apps and Turn Them Into a Public Food Service
  66. The Technology 202: Mask scams and misinformation still present on social media despite tougher policies
  67. Well Hyped Satellite Broadband Provider OneWeb Files For Bankruptcy
  68. OneWeb goes bankrupt, lays off staff, will sell satellite-broadband business
  69. Daisy Keech Moves Out Of ‘Hype House’ Mansion, Files Suit Against Ex-Business Partners
  70. John Krasinski Launches ‘Some Good News’ YouTube Channel, Gaining 330K Subscribers Overnight
  71. YouTube Taps Lilly Singh, Philip DeFranco, Others For Coronavirus Interview Series With Dr. Fauci
  72. “With me” videos on YouTube are seeing huge spikes in viewership as people stay home: A growth of 600 percent since social isolating started
  73. Reese Witherspoon Pacts With YouTube For Charitable ‘Shine On’ Series Amid Quarantine
  74. We Talked To Industry Insiders About How The Coronavirus Is Impacting YouTube Ad Revenues
  75. YouTube Sets 480p Resolution Limit On Android App Across India Amid Coronavirus Lockdown
  76. YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, Instagram See Significant Boosts In Traffic Amid Digital Ad Woes
  77. YouTube To Launch TikTok Competitor ‘Shorts’ Later This Year
  78. TikTok Strikes Short-Term Licensing Deals With Sony, Warner, Universal
  79. Facebook Hosts Beware: Potential Defamation Liability around the Corner
  80. FTC Paid Endorser Settlement Sets Framework for Advertiser Best Practices
  81. Rihanna’s ‘Fenty Beauty House’ Temporarily Shutters As Coronavirus Precaution
  82. Google Wants Your Data in Exchange for a Coronavirus Test: Public health shouldn’t mean surrendering privacy to Silicon Valley.
  83. Disney+ Is Reportedly Asking Users If It Should Offer Shows Aimed At Older Audiences
  84. Patreon, Which Had 150,000 Pre-Pandemic Creators, Sees 30,000 Sign-Ups In March Alone
  85. How U.S. Sports Are Publishing On Social Video Without Games Being Played
  86. BuzzFeed Cuts Staff, Executive Pay In Attempt To Prevent Coronavirus-Related Layoffs
  87. Some Silicon Valley Companies Are Booming as COVID-19 Rages: For some businesses, the novel coronavirus pandemic and efforts to contain it have been a boon, boosting their popularity if not yet their revenue.
  88. We just glimpsed how a “digital dollar” might work, thanks to coronavirus: Proposal for new government-run payment platform didn’t make it into the coronavirus relief plan. It won’t be the last we hear of the idea.
  89. Not having lockdown parties on Zoom? What are you waiting for?: Zoom birthday parties & virtual pubs demonstrate social distancing isn’t isolation – will the party stop when we can all go outside again?
  90. Coronavirus scammers are getting taken down by grassroots ‘hackers without borders’
  91. ‘The Valley has stepped up’: Ro Khanna on layoffs, bailouts, Trump and crisis innovation – Protocol talks with the California representative about how the tech industry is being affected by the crisis — and what comes next.
  92. New pandemic edtech power networks
  93. Ad Council’s COVID-19 PSAs Bring Together White House, Social Platforms, Tech Companies, Advertisers, And Influencers
  94. From female computers to male comput♂rs: Or why there are so few women writing algorithms and developing software
  95. The Law of Informational Capitalism (Amy Kapczynski)
  96. Digital Repression in Autocracies (Erica Frantz, Andrea Kendall-Taylor, Joseph Wright)

A.I.

  1. AI and big data won’t work miracles in the fight against coronavirus
  2. EU Parliament Told Predictive Policing Software Relies On Dirty Data Generated By Corrupt Cops
  3. As Platforms Rely Less on Human Content Moderators, What’s at Stake?: In response to COVID, some social media sent content moderators. This could be a glimpse into their desire to rely less on human labour
  4. Neural implants plus AI turn sentence-length thoughts to text
  5. Unity Game Simulation Lets Studios Use AI Bots To Playtest Games In Google Cloud
  6. CAA Signs Human Avatar-Fashioning Tech Startup ‘Soul Machines’
  7. The false positive problem of automatic bot detection in social science research: A study of Botometer’s diagnostic ability over time
  8. Emotional AI, soft biometrics and the surveillance of emotional life: An unusual consensus on privacy (Andrew McStay)
  9. The benefits of Artificial Intelligence in the field of IP
  10. Artificial Intelligence – Our March 2020 report

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. Video Streaming to TVs Soared 85% in U.S. in First Three Weeks of March, Nielsen Says
  2. Broadband speeds fall in dozens of big US cities during pandemic
  3. Alarm, Denial, Blame: The Pro-Trump Media’s Coronavirus Distortion – Hannity, Limbaugh & other commentators turned a pandemic into a battle of us vs. them – the battle President Trump has waged.
  4. Charter gives techs $25 gift cards instead of hazard pay during pandemic
  5. Comcast waiving data caps hasn’t hurt its network—why not make it permanent?
  6. Instead of COVID-19 Hazard Pay, Spectrum Is Giving Its Repair Techs $25 Gift Cards To Closed Restaurants
  7. Saudi spies tracked phones using flaws the FCC failed to fix for years
  8. Saudi Arabia reportedly tracked phones by using industry-wide carrier weakness
  9. Teardown of Huawei flagship phone finds US parts despite blacklisting
  10. AT&T, Verizon Will Waive Wireless Overage Fees During Pandemic. But You’ll Have To Ask.
  11. Verizon Is The Only US Wireless Carrier Charging Extra For 5G
  12. FCC Permits Schools and Libraries to Make Wi-Fi Available to Public
  13. FCC requires anti-robocall tech after “voluntary” plan didn’t work out [Updated]
  14. Goodbye, John Legere: CEO leaves as T-Mobile completes Sprint merger
  15. Frontier prepares for bankruptcy, regrets failure to install enough fiber
  16. China’s economy was hit hard by the pandemic. Its 5G ambitions could be crucial to its recovery
  17. Is the media an essential service?
  18. Opinion of the Advocate General of the Court of Justice on net neutrality and zero-rating
  19. Tone Deaf: Using COVID-19 As A Prop To Celebrate The Death Of Net Neutrality

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Bill C-4 Receives Royal Assent: Incoming Changes to the Intellectual Property Landscape
  2. EU: infringement of software license agreement can result in an intellectual property infringement
  3. The Open COVID IP Pledge
  4. IP monitor: Canadian Intellectual Property Office announces further extension of deadlines in wake of pandemic
  5. COVID-19: Canadian Government Can Now Use Patented Inventions to Respond to the Public Health Emergency
  6. COVID-19 Emergency Response Act: Amendments to the Patent Act
  7. COVID-19 and intellectual property
  8. Patents Concerning Coronavirus Treatments
  9. Evalve v Edwards – Review of competing public interests in grant of final injunctions
  10. Florida Atlantic University Suddenly Decides Owl Tutoring’s Name Is Trademark Infringement After Over A Decade
  11. Lean Trademark Strategies – For The Covid-19 Pandemic And Its Aftermath
  12. A “Dark Horse” Victory for Katy Perry: Central District of California Overturns $2.8M Copyright Verdict
  13. First Circuit Treads “Unchartered Waters”: Holds Copyright Sublicenses Can Be Implied
  14. RIAA Realizes It Sued Charter Over A Bunch Of Songs It Doesn’t Hold The Copyrights For
  15. A Snapshot From Section 101: Patent Directed to Image Cataloging Not Patent Eligible
  16. A Collision of Patents, Copyrights, and Piracy on the High Seas
  17. 67 Years Ago Today: Jonas Salk Announced The Polio Vaccine… And Did NOT Patent It
  18. Supreme Court Holds that States are Immune from Copyright Infringement
  19. GEICO Earns Victory at Intersection Between Copyright and Trade Secret Law Covering Source Code
  20. Top 3 legal predictions on Copyright for 2020
  21. Copyright Termination. Chapter One: What Kind of Grants Can Be Recaptured?
  22. Copyright Termination. Chapter 2: When Can a Grant Be Terminated?
  23. Is Your Character Entitled to Copyright Protection? The Ninth Circuit Reinforces High Bar for Copyright Protection of Characters
  24. The Pirates Of Precedence, or How a Modest Copyright Case Could Affect Controversial Supreme Court Cases
  25. Ninth Circuit Shows Led Zeppelin a Whole Lotta Love in ‘Stairway’ Copyright Win
  26. Copyright Is Broken: COVID-19 Pandemic Revealing Just How Messed Up Our Permission-Based Culture Is
  27. Permission Culture Gone Mad: Worries About Proper License For ‘Balcony Singing’ Lead Collection Society To Say It’s Okay, You Can Sing
  28. I Just Took a DNA Test . . . Am I the Joint Author?
  29. U.S. Supreme Court Holds Copyright Remedy Classification Act of 1990 Does Not Abrogate State Sovereign Immunity for Copyright Infringement: Allen v. Cooper
  30. Judge Ramos Finds “Bad Faith” Enforcement of a Patent is Not Patent Misuse
  31. Global patent law update
  32. Eli Lilly and Co v Genentech Inc: issue estoppel and abuse of process in patent cases

PRIVACY

  1. Zoom iOS App Sends Data to Facebook Even if You Don’t Have a Facebook Account: Zoom’s privacy policy isn’t explicit about the data transfer to Facebook at all.
  2. Zoom is being sued for allegedly handing over data to Facebook
  3. Zoom Meetings Aren’t End-To-End Encrypted, Despite Misleading Marketing
  4. Who’s Zoomin’ Who? Privacy and Data Security Concerns over Stay-at-Home Video Conferencing
  5. Zoom’s privacy problems are growing as platform explodes in popularity
  6. Attackers can use Zoom to steal users’ Windows credentials with no warning
  7. Researchers Say Kids’ Android Apps Are Still Riddled With Malware
  8. >4,000 Android apps silently access your installed software
  9. UK’s National Health Service Plans To Use Big Data Analysis To Fight COVID-19 — With The Help Of Palantir
  10. Can ProctorU Be Trusted With Students’ Personal Data?
  11. Moscow To Launch New Surveillance App To Track Residents In Coronavirus Lockdown
  12. Voluntary Virus Tracking Apps Seek To Get A Grip On The Coronavirus Problem
  13. How Much Data Does Clearview Gather On People? The Answer (Sadly) Will Not Surprise You.
  14. Maine Event: ISP Privacy Law Challenged on Free Speech Grounds
  15. Geolocation and the Fight Against COVID-19: Could the Emergencies Act Overrule Privacy Law Protections for Cellphone Location Data?
  16. Appeals Court Tells Baltimore PD To Start Coughing Up Information About Its Cell Site Simulators
  17. Countries are using apps and data networks to keep tabs on the pandemic: And also, in the process, their citizens
  18. Will Germans trade privacy for coronavirus protection?
  19. Australian state will install home surveillance hardware to make sure if you’re in virus isolation, you stay there: Could be a wearable, could be wired. Backed by big fines and jail
  20. Verily’s COVID-19 website becomes a health data privacy battleground: “These tools can be a helpful part of the solution during our ongoing public health emergency, but patient privacy shouldn’t be sacrificed as a result”
  21. Pitching trade against privacy: reconciling EU governance of personal data flows with external trade (Svetlana Yakovleva, Kristina Irion)
  22. Someone Convinced Google To Delist Our Entire Right To Be Forgotten Tag In The EU For Searches On Their Name

   

  1. Johnny Depp disclosure in libel case in English MAC Court Ruling
  2. The death of Hungary’s democracy is a worldwide press-freedom warning
  3. Judge Schofield: Claims Over White House Revocation of Press Credentials and Security Clearances May Proceed
  4. Call for Creatives: United Nations Opens Submission Process for COVID-19 Messaging Work
  5. ‘The real ideological war has just begun and Covid-19 is only the starting point’: Ai Weiwei on China’s response to the outbreak – The Chinese artist reflects on how authoritarian political systems tackle the crisis effectively
  6. The importance of art now and beyond Covid-19: The always deeply flawed and unequal conditions of labour for the artistic community have been revealed and made much worse by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
  7. The importance of art in the time of coronavirus
  8. UK gallery curator calls for public art project in response to Covid-19: Ambitious national programme is needed to support artists and institutions, says Serpentine Galleries’ artistic director
  9. In a Pandemic, How Do You Make the Case for an Art Emergency?: Literary Arts Leaders are Bracing for Months of Financial Crisis
  10. ‘A Matter Of Common Decency’: What Literature Can Teach Us About Epidemics
  11. Insights: Adapting Hollywood To The Pandemic, And What Happens Hereafter
  12. Call for Depression Era-style Public Art Project
  13. This American Life host Ira Glass on storytelling during Covid-19
  14. The Architecture of Quarantine Is No Longer a Thing of the Past
  15. Ethics and Reporting Practices for COVID-19
  16. Disease control: Mapping violations of free speech under the cloak of the coronavirus crisis
  17. The ‘human canvas’ livestreams from Tasmanian museum
  18. Marvel, DC will delay digital comic books during brick-and-mortar closures
  19. Adam Schlesinger, Emmy Winner and Fountains of Wayne Cofounder, Dies of Coronavirus Complications

Jon

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News of the Week; March 25, 2020

By Jon Festinger on May 21, 2020

GAMES

  1. No Fun and Games: Blizzard Alleges Infringement by JoyFun Inc.
  2. High Fashion Invades Runeterra – Fascinating IP Issues in the Collaboration Between League of Legends and Louis Vuitton
  3. Nintendo presses Sony to remove Mario creations from Dreams: Sony confirms ongoing case-by-case purge of Nintendo IP from creation game
  4. Nintendo Gets ‘Dreams’ Mario Taken Down Because Of Course It Did
  5. Nintendo donates 9,500 face masks to US emergency services: Highly sought-after face masks will be distributed across the City of North Bend and surrounding area
  6. After Years Of Being Blamed For Everything, The World Turns To Video Games To Escape During Coronavirus Shut-In
  7. Game platforms respond to increased demand amid coronavirus quarantines [Updated]
  8. Record number of Steam users online during coronavirus outbreak: Steam sees record numbers of users in-game, and record concurrent users for third week running
  9. Game Discoverability: The Steam & Epic stores, circa early 2020
  10. F1 Is Cancelled, So Drivers Will Race Each Other In The Official Video Game
  11. Formula 1 officially goes virtual from this weekend: Endorsed races with real-life talent begin this Sunday
  12. Missing live sports? There’s a lot more esport racing this weekend
  13. Entire Spanish Soccer League, Including Barcelona And Real Madrid, Are Going To Play Each Other In FIFA [Update: Real Madrid Wins]
  14. Keywords Studios staff criticize pandemic response: Testers say company made QA staff show up while management worked from home, adopted lax sanitation processes
  15. UK retailer GAME keeping its Belong arenas open for now – Update: Retailer has now decided to close them until further notice
  16. UK games retail shifts online as government orders closure of all non-essential stores: CEX, GAME, Argos and more shut their High Street branches to prevent the spread of coronavirus
  17. Sony will ‘manage’ PSN download speeds in Europe to preserve internet access
  18. Sony to Slow PlayStation Downloads in Europe Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
  19. Sony throttles back game downloads in Europe: PlayStation maker says gameplay will be unaffected but players may see slower or delayed downloads to reduce strain on ISPs
  20. Sony and Microsoft are playing different card games | Opinion: Sony and Microsoft’s next-gen communications strategies tell us almost as much as the tech specs themselves
  21. GameStop rules itself ‘essential retail’ and therefore immune to lockdown closures
  22. GameStop pauses trade-in program for 9 days due to COVID-19 concerns
  23. GameStop shuts down regular operations amid coronavirus closures [Updated]
  24. GameStop bumps up Doom Eternal release to cut back on in-store crowds
  25. Retailers break Doom Eternal street date over COVID-19 fears: GameStop and other retailers are selling Bethesda’s game early to avoid overcrowding in-store
  26. Bethesda apparently broke its own Denuvo protection for Doom Eternal
  27. Finnish-Icelandic studio Mainframe nets $8.3 million to create cloud-native games
  28. Animal Crossing: New Horizons smashes sales records in the UK – It is the fastest-selling single Switch game ever
  29. Report: Animal Crossing: New Horizons sets new Switch launch sales record in Japan
  30. Animal Crossing: New Horizons breaks Switch sales records in Japan – Famitsu data reveals Nintendo’s latest has sold 1.88 million copies in just three days
  31. Why Nintendo’s new Animal Crossing features allow instant change in the real-time game
  32. Report: The Nintendo Switch has now outsold the Wii in Japan
  33. Nintendo shuts down U.S. repair centers due to COVID-19
  34. Top three unchanged in App Annie’s annual mobile publisher chart: Tencent, NetEase and Activision Blizzard lead a top ten with only two new entries
  35. Mobile versions of Call of Duty and PUBG driving game revenue at Tencent
  36. All US GameStop stores closed except for curbside pick-up: Retailer will pay US employees for lost hours for next two weeks; Canadian EB Games stores shut entirely
  37. GameStop reportedly shutting down all stores in California: Retailer had previous tried to remain open despite shelter in place order, saying it was “essential business”
  38. GameStop keeping stores open as government orders lockdowns: San Mateo county says GameStop is not an “essential business,” GameStop says it can have “positive impact”
  39. GameStop abruptly shuts down all stores in California
  40. GameStop closing U.S. storefronts to customers amid COVID-19 pandemic
  41. Google Play’s malicious app problem infects 1.7 million more devices
  42. Exclusive: Google mobile downloads suggest Stadia has sold 107,000 units in the last two months
  43. Stadia to offer dev kits, funding, and more through new Stadia Makers program
  44. Stadia launches Makers program to attract experienced indies: Google offers tech help, hardware, and funding to devs using Unity and including Stadia among launch-day platforms
  45. Unity debuts new cloud-based platform for simulating game playtests
  46. Unity offers up free game dev courses and tutorials during coronavirus pandemic
  47. Big Run Studios nets $1.4 million to create mobile titles for ‘underserved’ audiences
  48. Koei Tecmo found global success by focusing on its Japanese identity: CEO Hisashi Koinuma on being trusted with big IPs, making an asset of the firm’s Asian identity, and its goal of making a 5m-selling original IP
  49. Square Enix implements work-from-home policy due to COVID-19
  50. Call of Duty: Warzone passes 30 million players in ten days
  51. ‘Half-Life: Alyx’ Review – Valve Delivers One of VR’s Best Games Yet
  52. Half-Life: Alyx review: The greatest VR adventure game yet—and then some
  53. ‘Half-Life: Alyx’ Breaks Concurrent User Record for VR Game on Steam
  54. Mods that cut VR from Half-Life: Alyx will only show how vital its VR is, says Valve
  55. Don’t Miss: The making of Half-Life 2
  56. ‘Half-Life: Alyx’ Tops ‘Fortnite’ and ‘Warzone’ with 300K Concurrent Twitch Viewers on Launch Day
  57. Half-Life: Alyx — Critical Consensus: Critics praise the frightening, tactile and brilliantly detailed return of Half-Life — but will it be 13 years until the next one?
  58. HP, Valve, and Microsoft team up for ‘next-gen’ PC VR headset
  59. Valve: “VR has been missing a big game that everyone can get excited about”
  60. Gabe Newell: “Competition in game stores is awesome…but ugly in the short term”: Valve CEO – “We get a lot more freaked out not by competition, but by people trying to preclude competition”
  61. How Amazon Web Services is powering some of the world’s biggest video games: Leading developers discuss how they’re using the company’s tech to solve their challenges
  62. MTG says COVID-19 could sink esports revenues by 45%: DreamHack and ESL parent warns investors about first-half financials, proposes post-pandemic stock buybacks
  63. Gfinity’s CEO and chairman step down ahead of 60% cost reduction plan: Esports firm secures new income through ad deal with Bidstack and Venatus
  64. What does a chain of esports restaurant arcades do in a pandemic?
  65. Twitch hands indefinite ban to “Kaceytron” for COVID-19 comments: Kacey “Kaceytron” Caviness joked about virus fatalities, will need to appeal ban to be reinstated
  66. Bohemia Interactive grossed $68m last yearz: DayZ and Arma 3 developer makes over 4.5 million software sales in 2019
  67. Blizzard and Paradox arrange care packages for remote-working staff during coronavirus lockdowns: Meanwhile, Sega added to growing list of games firms sending employees home to work
  68. Scopely increases series D round to $400m
  69. Mobile studio Scopely nets $200 million for more acquisitions 
  70. Robin Games raises $7m to create “lifestyle gaming”: New studio formed by former Jam City exec Jill Wilson, has primarily women-led team
  71. Eight principles for making a game influencer-friendly: ICO Partners’ David Ortiz Lapaz lays out ways developers and marketers can make games work for content creators
  72. Superdata – February digital game spending up 4%: Console revenues down 22% on weaker release slate, but “many titles” are seeing spikes due to pandemic shutdowns
  73. World’s Greatest Teacher Delivers VR Math Lesson In Half-Life: Alyx
  74. This Developer Turned His Apartment Into a VR Game
  75. Ukie launches industry-specific online wiki: Ukiepedia is free resource of games industry facts, insight, resources and links
  76. Untitled Goose Game, A Short Hike take home top prizes at GDC and IGF Awards
  77. GoldenEye 007, Guitar Hero among 2020 World Video Game Hall of Fame finalists
  78. Polish government running games development course for quarantined kids: Webinars, game jam and a building competition on Minecraft launched as part of digital education efforts
  79. Microsoft says it can still make Xbox Series X despite coronavirus concerns
  80. Minecraft gets free educational content to help enable distance learning
  81. Xbox curates free educational marketplace in Minecraft: Meanwhile, Outright Games partners with Digital Schoolhouse for computer science workshops
  82. Routing Around Damage: Censored Reporting Hosted In Custom-Built Minecraft ‘Library’
  83. Another port bites the dust: Xbox Series X drops S/PDIF audio
  84. DirectX 12 Ultimate brings Xbox Series X features to PC gaming
  85. TIGA calls for increased game tax credits due to COVID-19
  86. Playtika delivers food packages to vulnerable people amid pandemic: Mobile developer to distribute thousands of packages per week across Eastern Europe and Israel
  87. BBTV Pacts With Latin American YouTube Phenom Mariale On Mobile Puzzle Game
  88. CAA Signs Online Gaming Entrepreneurs Jesse Cox And Bruce Greene
  89. Blog: Building a historical game based on real-world struggles
  90. Blog: Rethinking progression in mobile puzzle games
  91. Blog: A guide to working remotely in games
  92. Blog: VR/AR – A renaissance art form
  93. Blog: How lore and storytelling can make puzzlers more replayable
  94. Blog: Why the world needs game developers right now
  95. Video: The benefits of Paradox’s long-term DLC model 
  96. Video: Storytelling lessons learned in 14 years at BioWare
  97. Video: Designing great UI that helps immerse players in your game
  98. Don’t Miss: The aggressive resource management of Doom Eternal4
  99. Don’t Miss: Where next for the video game power fantasy?
  100. Don’t Miss: Designing Grindstone’s super satisfying board-clearing gameplay
  101. Ninja and wife donate $150,000 to Feeding America amid coronavirus pandemic: Streamers encourage other influencers ask their followers to stay at home and observe social distancing
  102. Games industry rallies in fight against COVID-19: IMVU raises over $100,000 to send supplies to hospitals fighting COVID-19
  103. Razer will start manufacturing surgical masks to help fight COVID-19
  104. Plague Inc. dev Ndemic donates $250,000 to COVID-19 response funds
  105. The UK National Videogame Museum starts fundraiser after COVID-19 puts future at risk
  106. COVID-19 “threatens the very existence” of National Videogame Museum: British Games Insitute launches campaign to save nation’s only dedicated games museum
  107. Plague Inc. rolling out new mode where you fight to contain the outbreak
  108. ASCII art + permadeath: The history of roguelike games
  109. GDC 2020 talks are now available to watch for free on the GDC Vault!
  110. U.S. Patent no. 10,286,323: Dynamic difficulty adjustment
  111. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice named game of the year in 2020 SXSW Gaming Awards

DIGITAL

  1. Freedom Of (All) The Press?: Impact of “Shelter in Place” Orders on Media Companies
  2. Coronavirus could delay tech antitrust action: “I would expect all of the timetables that authorities have developed are going to be stretched out,” former FTC Chairman William Kovacic said.
  3. COVID-19: Product liability for “fake news”?
  4. ‘The US of Amazon’: how the coronavirus has created a governance vacuum the tech giant is quickly filling
  5. American Amazon warehouse worker gets COVID-19
  6. Employees at nine Amazon warehouses have contracted the coronavirus
  7. Some Amazon Prime deliveries may take a month as demand surges
  8. Amazon and eBay failing to stop Covid-19 profiteers, says Which?: Consumer group finds ‘consistent overpricing’ on hand sanitiser, thermometers and baby formula despite crackdown
  9. Smartphones Aren’t the Problem – Capitalism Is: All of the fretting about social media addiction and smartphones destroying our attention span misses the point. Capitalism and the profit-seeking of big tech is the real problem.
  10. Snapchat rolls out mental health feature early due to the coronavirus
  11. A Snapchat-owned location app just added a leaderboard comparing who stays home the most: Zenly is gamifying social distancing
  12. Instagram prototypes Snapchat-style disappearing text messages
  13. Instagram Unveils New ‘Co-Watching’ Feature To Promote Social Distancing
  14. Coronavirus, cybercrime and the parasitising of a pandemic
  15. DOJ Correctly Takes Down Fraudulent COVID-19 Website Selling Bogus ‘Vaccine Kits’
  16. How Facebook is preparing for a surge in depressed and anxious users: And why it’s Mark Zuckerberg’s biggest worry about the user base
  17. Facebook says coronavirus is pushing usage through the roof, but its business is hurting: Total messaging has increased by 50 percent and video calling has doubled in some markets
  18. Facebook’s new design turns your PC into an enormous phone
  19. Why Silicon Valley Loves Coronavirus: Coronavirus is the shock that Silicon Valley needed to complete its workplace revolution – with new technologies mediating our daily lives in ways that will be difficult to reverse.
  20. YouTube Reduces Default Streaming Quality Globally In Light Of Congestion Concerns
  21. YouTube is reducing its default video quality to standard definition for the next month: You can still watch videos in HD, but you have to manually choose that option
  22. YouTube Launches ‘Learn@Home’ Educational Hub For Kids Kept Home By COVID-19
  23. YouTube Lowers Playback Quality In EU, U.K. To Stave Off Potential Coronavirus Congestion
  24. Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels • Week Of 3/23/2020
  25. YouTube Music, Spotify, Amazon, More Donate To Recording Academy’s COVID-19 Fund For Music Professionals
  26. Netflix, Disney Throttle Video Streams In Europe To Handle COVID-19 Internet Strain
  27. Comcast, Disney Embrace Faster Home Video Release Windows In Wake Of COVID-19
  28. Netflix, YouTube cut video quality in Europe after pressure from EU official
  29. Netflix, YouTube slow down streaming in Europe
  30. Netflix Establishes $100 Million Fund To Support Cast, Crew On Productions Halted By COVID-19
  31. Netflix Streaming Traffic Hits All-Time Highs on AT&T Networks
  32. Here’s the Netflix account compromise Bugcrowd doesn’t want you to know about [Updated]
  33. ‘Oprah Talks COVID-19’ Is Apple TV+’s Lo-Fi, Long-Distance Look At Coronavirus
  34. Apple Helps China Censor Citizens By Pulling The Plug On A Keyboard App That Encrypted Text Messages
  35. Quibi Reveals ‘&Music’ Series Featuring Ariana Grande, J Balvin, Ozzy Osbourne, More
  36. WhatsApp Is at the Center of Coronavirus Response
  37. Twitter Gains 12 Million Users, But Will Take Q1 Operating Loss Due To Pandemic’s Effects On Ad Revenue
  38. Insights: How Online Creators Can Thrive, And Help Others Survive, In Our Plague Year
  39. Coronavirus Social Video Stats: Yes, It’s The Main Topic People Are Talking About
  40. 20-Person Creator Collective Launches Facebook Hub To Stave Off Coronavirus Isolation
  41. As Pandemic Worsens, Influencers Could Face 15-25% Decrease In Sponsored Post Pricing (Study)
  42. Pornhub Sees 12% Global Visitor Growth Amid Coronavirus Lockdowns, Free ‘Premium’ Offers
  43. Coronavirus Cancels VidCon 2020, Organizers Hoping To Reschedule For This Fall
  44. Twitch Hooks Up With SoundCloud To Help Musicians Monetize Livestreams Amid COVID-19 Concert Cancellations
  45. Tours Are Canceled, So Musicians Are Turning To Twitch: “I’m just trying to survive, and Twitch has the highest earning potential.”
  46. SoundCloud and Twitch just made it easier for musicians to monetize live streams: SoundCloud artists can apply for Twitch Affiliate status
  47. Musicians ask Spotify to triple payments to cover lost concert revenue: Bandcamp relaxes charges in light of Covid-19 but there is growing pressure on streaming services to compensate artists more fairly
  48. Yes, Global Spotify Chart Streams Are Down This Week. No, That Doesn’t Mean Coronavirus Is Hurting The Record Industry.
  49. ‘A worldwide hackathon’: Hospitals turn to crowdsourcing and 3D printing amid equipment shortages
  50. Spotify Resurrects FaZe Banks And KeemStar’s ‘Mom’s Basement’ YouTube Series In Podcast Form
  51. Spotify opens its podcast catalog to third-party apps, but not for streaming
  52. Spotify Is Testing A Feature That Recommends Music To Match The ‘Moment And Mood’ Of A Photo
  53. Spotify is revoking support for all third-party DJ apps
  54. Spotify to let artists link to donation pages from their Spotify profile page: The changes come as part of the company’s measures to help artists hit hard by COVID-19
  55. Maryland General Assembly Votes to Adopt Digital Advertising Gross Revenue Tax & Expand Sales Tax to Digital Products
  56. OneWeb says it will have to cut workers amid economic crisis
  57. Beyond the Digital Analogy in Constitutional Law (Spencer Livingstone)

A.I.

  1. Why Don’t We Just Ban Targeted Advertising?: From protecting privacy to saving the free press, it may be the single best way to fix the internet.
  2. Artificial intelligence, transparency, and public decision-making: Why explanations are key when trying to produce perceived legitimacy
  3. Artificial Intelligence: Can a machine be an inventor?
  4. Speech recognition algorithms may also have racial bias
  5. Artificial Intelligence Platforms – A New Research Agenda for Digital Platform Economy (Tomasz Mucha, Timo Seppala)
  6. Echo Chambers and Competition Law: Should Algorithmic Choices be Respected? (Eran Fish, Michael Gal)

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. Comcast wins Supreme Court case over interpretation of civil rights law: Black-owned TV network alleged racism in Comcast decision not to carry channels.
  2. Comcast aggressively moves to work-from-home during pandemic
  3. Charter employees beg for work-from-home rights during pandemic
  4. Charter grudgingly lets up to 40% of call-center employees work from home
  5. Charter Spectrum Under Fire For Putting The Public At Risk During Coronavirus
  6. Should Zoom Be a Public Utility?: Online platforms like Zoom and Skype have become basic, public necessities as our lives are upended by the coronavirus. Should they be nationalized?
  7. How to get Verizon and AT&T data-cap fees waived during the pandemic
  8. AT&T CEO Nabbed Record $32 Million Compensation In 2019, Despite Rampant Bumbling, Layoffs
  9. Changes Affecting Telehealth Due to COVID-19 Pandemic
  10. HHS Removes Enforcement Barriers for Telehealth during COVID-19 Nationwide Public Health Emergency
  11. The FCC Exempts COVID-19-Related Health Care “Robocalls” From TCPA Liability
  12. FCC Issues Guidance on TV News Sharing Agreements During the Pandemic
  13. Libraries Want To Become Broadband Havens During The Pandemic, But Want More Help From The FCC
  14. Essential Planning for Broadcasters Facing Coronavirus Restrictions on Access to Facilities and News Events
  15. SpaceX gets FCC license for 1 million satellite-broadband user terminals
  16. Broadband Considerations for Schools and Libraries Impacted by COVID-19

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Awful, Awful People Keep Trying To Trademark COVID And Coronavirus
  2. The Utility of Recent Force Majeure Amendments to Canadian Trademark Law
  3. Federal Court of Appeal remands Remicade new use patent decision on anticipation and obviousness
  4. (Trade)mark America Great Again: Should Political Slogans Be Able to Receive Trademark Protection? (Katherine Kerrick)
  5. Newspaper Can Talk About “Derby Pies” Without Infringing Trademarks–Rupp v. Courier Journal (Eric Goldman)
  6. Supreme Court Decides North Carolina Is Immune from Filmmaker’s Copyright Suit
  7. Surprise: Judge Throws Out Jury’s Awful Copyright Infringement Decision Over Katy Perry Song
  8. Supreme Court rules states are immune from copyright law
  9. States Cannot be Sued for Copyright Infringement Says the Supreme Court
  10. SCOTUS Strikes Down Law Abrogating Sovereign Immunity to States for Copyright Infringement
  11. North Carolina Won’t Be Walking the Plank: Supreme Court Finds State is No Copyright Pirate in Blackbeard Ruling
  12. U.S. Supreme Court Rules That Sovereign Immunity Shields States From Copyright Suits
  13. Supreme Court Rules That States Cannot be Sued for Copyright Infringement, For Now…
  14. Brompton bike case unfolds as AG’s opinion indicates no copyright infringement
  15. A casual snapshot can make for a valuable copyright
  16. Responding to COVID-19 | Global intellectual property update
  17. COVID-19 and trademark-driven scams
  18. Judge Woods Finds Dating App Patent Doesn’t “Match Up” With Section 101
  19. Federal Circuit Adds “Method of Preparation” Claims to Bucket List of Claim Types that May Elude the Dreaded US 101 Invalidity Finding
  20. An Improved Step in a Diagnostic Method is Patentable Subject Matter
  21. Everyone’s Got A Pet Project: Patent Maximalist Says We Need Longer Patents To Incentivize Coronavirus Vaccines
  22. RIP to the Australian innovation patent
  23. ‘Upload filters’ and human rights: implementing Article 17 of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market
  24. Double Blow To The EU’s Long-Delayed Unified Patent Court, But Supporters Unlikely To Give Up
  25. Former Google engineer pleads guilty to stealing confidential document

PRIVACY

  1. Washington State Legislators Pass Bill Blocking Use Of Facial Recognition Tech Without A Warrant
  2. Governments Around The World Are Tracking Their Citizens’ Movements To Prevent The Spread Of COVID-19
  3. As Coronavirus Surveillance Escalates, Personal Privacy Plummets
  4. Privacy & Encryption Will Be More Important Than Ever In Wake Of Coronavirus
  5. The US Government Is Also Looking At Increasing Domestic Surveillance To Fight The Spread Of The Coronavirus
  6. VPN Review Site Creates Live Digital Rights Tracker To Compile Coronavirus-Related Surveillance Efforts
  7. Google v CNIL – an update on the right to be forgotten
  8. 9th Cir. Rejects Spokeo ‘Standing’ Objection to Nationwide Privacy Class Settlement
  9. New attack on home routers sends users to spoofed sites that push malware
  10. Israel uses mass cellphone surveillance to contend with coronavirus
  11. Trudeau leaves door open to using smartphone data to track Canadians’ compliance with pandemic rules: Cellphone companies are already sharing data with health authorities around the world
  12. Canada should ensure cellphone tracking to counter the spread of coronavirus does not become the new normal (Michael Geist)
  13. How Canada Should Ensure Cellphone Tracking to Counter the Spread of Coronavirus Does Not Become the New Normal (Michael Geist)
  14. Coronavirus is forcing a trade-off between privacy and public health: The crisis has governments and companies scrambling to decide when it’s appropriate to lift data privacy protections and AI ethics guidelines.
  15. Ring Continues To Insist Its Cameras Reduce Crime, But Crime Data Doesn’t Back Those Claims Up
  16. Privacy issues arise as governments track virus
  17. European Privacy Law and Global Markets for Data
  18. My Third Set of Comments to the CA DOJ on the CCPA Regulations (Eric Goldman)

CREATIVITY   

  1. ‘A Whole Generation of Artists Might Be Wiped Out’: Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev on Museums, Care and the Covid-19 Crisis
  2. Covid-19 leaves creative industry vulnerable: As the coronavirus pandemic shuts down all but essential services around the globe, live entertainers are scrambling to find ways to earn an income from home.
  3. COVID-19 is spawning a global press-freedom crackdown
  4. Twitter Suspended Cory Doctorow For Putting Trolls On A List Called ‘Colossal Assholes’
  5. Interview With Liz Mair, Whom Rep. Devin Nunes Is Suing For $400 Million Because She Was Mildly Mean To Him
  6. Houston Police Chief Says He’ll Prosecute People For False Statements About COVID-19 Response; Won’t Debate 1st Amendment
  7. Big Telecom’s Quest To Use The First Amendment To Scuttle Privacy Laws Won’t Go Well, Experts Predict
  8. Judge To Art Licensing Agency: No, Your Stupid Unicorn Is Not More Important Than COVID-19 Right Now, Shut Up
  9. The only little movie screen in the capital of Texas

Jon

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News of the Week; March 18, 2020

By Jon Festinger on May 19, 2020

GAMES

  1. The coronavirus pandemic has sparked a rise in online gaming in the U.S.
  2. Gaming Usage Up 75 Percent Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, Verizon Reports: Video streaming has also seen a bump, up 12 percent during peak usage hours.
  3. Crunching devs share the human cost of development at Naughty Dog
  4. Dreams dev testing the waters of letting players monetize their work
  5. F1 drivers and other pros switch to esports in the age of the coronavirus
  6. Board finds that Nintendo Joy-Cons don’t infringe on Gamevice controller patents
  7. Nintendo wins patent dispute against Gamevice: Patent Trial and Appeal Board invalidates all 19 of mobile accessories maker’s claims against platform holder
  8. Nintendo tells employees to self-quarantine: Measure taken after employee in Redmond, Washington offices tests positive for novel coronavirus
  9. Nintendo staff working from home after employee tests positive for coronavirus
  10. Ittle Dew 2+ returns to Nintendo Switch: Former publisher Nicalis denies allegations it attempted to re-publish title without permission
  11. Animal Crossing: New Horizons review: A quarantined life has never been cuter
  12. Nexon to close down MapleStory 2 global servers this spring
  13. Gaming and live streaming rise globally amid COVID-19 crisis: Games industry in a strong position to weather pandemic, say analysts
  14. A short history of banned games in Germany: Beiten Burkhardt’s Andreas Lober explores Germany’s fractious relationship with video games — and the age rating issues that still lie ahead
  15. The developer of Journey bucks the trend of “predatory” monetisation
  16. What a WoW virtual outbreak taught us about how humans behave in epidemics
  17. Call of Duty: Warzone crosses 15 million players in four days
  18. Call of Duty: Warzone surpasses 6 million players in 24 hours
  19. Call of Duty: Warzone hits six million users in 24 hours – Activision’s free-to-play battle royale launch dwarfs competition
  20. Free press advocates unveil new library of censored works — in Minecraft
  21. Reporters Without Borders builds censorship-free zone in Minecraft: The press freedom group will publish articles censored in their country of origin via in-game books
  22. Samsung is discontinuing its PC-to-phone game streaming app PlayGalaxy Link
  23. Samsung scraps PlayGalaxy Link streaming service: Games streaming service canned after five-month beta trial period, ends March 27
  24. Why culturalisation matters as much as localisation: Kate Edwards discusses how to approach culturalisation, and how to navigate sensitive themes so your game can reach wider markets
  25. The four pillars of good representation: GDC 2020 – Proletariat’s Tori Schafer offers key considerations for studios including LGBT+ representation in their games
  26. Forza creative director on the hardest part of fostering inclusivity: Dan Greenwalt talks about the never-ending work of creating a workplace where developers feel safe to call out mistakes
  27. GameStop cancels in-store events indefinitely in response to COVID-19: But employees reportedly struggle with lack of cleaning supplies or emergency sick leave
  28. 505 Games, Activision, Nintendo 2019’s Best Publishers Says Metacritic, Sony Not in Top 20
  29. February US sales down 29%, says NPD: Tracking firm reports no new releases cracked the top 20 as every platform saw hardware sales drop year-over-year
  30. UK Monthly Report: GTA V reigns again as The Division 2 bounces back in February: Software market drops more than 15% and console sales continue to tumble
  31. Niantic updates Pokémon Go in effort to limit coronavirus spread
  32. Niantic just made it easier to play Pokemon Go in self-isolation
  33. Pokémon Home grosses $2.6m in first month: US leads in player spend and installs as total downloads exceed 2.3 million
  34. Monster Hunter World: Iceborne ships 5m units: Series lifetime sales exceed 62 million as Iceborne expansion maintains strong performance
  35. Doom Eternal is a masterful twitch shooter symphony with one sour note
  36. Doom Eternal: Critical Consensus: Id Software’s latest shows brilliance in its bombast, but dabbles in platforming and world building with less success
  37. Google details what you need to play Stadia games in 4K on the web: Mac users need not apply.
  38. Blog: Nvidia’s brilliance, Google’s foresight, and the necessity of adding something new
  39. UK Charts: Nioh 2 takes No.1 as Mario Kart 8 races up the charts
  40. Assassin’s Creed Unity was one of the best-selling games in the world last month: Latest EMEAA charts puts Ubisoft’s 2014 title at No.1
  41. Lego teams up with Nintendo for Super Mario brick-based game
  42. Lego Super Mario toys announced: New line incorporates interactive electronic character with traditional building block elements
  43. Pokimane, DrDisrespect sign multi-year Twitch exclusivity deals: Two top streamers opt to remain while other popular names move to YouTube, Mixer, Facebook
  44. Twitch Indefinitely Bans Lifestyle Streamer Kaceytron For Coronavirus Comments
  45. Ubisoft, EA, Bethesda, and more enact remote working policies due to COVID-19
  46. Twitch Partners With Measurement Firm Comscore To Amp Up Ad Data
  47. Coronavirus-induced school and office closures have been great for Twitch streamers
  48. Esports: how can travel businesses take advantage of this exciting new market?
  49. EA, Rockstar, others shift to remote working amid pandemic: FIFA publisher also cancels all live events until global situation improves
  50. Square Enix warns of Final Fantasy VII Remake shipping delays: Worldwide release still set for April 10, but publisher says it’s “increasingly likely” that copies may be delayed in delivery
  51. Genvid Technologies secures $33m in Series B funding round: Interactive streaming developer backed by Samsung, Huya and NTT Docomo
  52. Miniclip acquires UK mobile studio Eight Pixels Square
  53. Miniclip acquires Eight Pixels Square: UK mobile developer joins Swiss development and publishing outfit
  54. Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Critical Consensus: Kind, community escapism just when we needed it
  55. Overwatch League cancels all March and April live events in response to COVID-19: Scheduled matches will still be played and broadcast online
  56. Call of Duty League cancels all scheduled live events due to COVID-19: All planned matches will go forward online-only, with live broadcasts
  57. Fullscreen’s Dustin Glass Exits To Head Gaming For Digital Video-Focused Reach Agency
  58. Twitch Dives Into Exclusive Livestreaming Deal With Dr DisRespect
  59. Back-end engine developer Pragma closes $4.2m seed round; LA-based startup provides “back-end as a service” solution set to launch later this year
  60. Making remote work work: Two developers from Endless’ global workforce focus on communication, trust, and culture in distributed development
  61. GDC 2020 virtual talks, awards streaming for free all week! Here’s the lineup
  62. Microsoft Build conference, DOTA and League of Legends esports among latest events to be cancelled
  63. Microsoft drops full Xbox Series X tech specs, reveals ‘storage expansion cards’
  64. Xbox Series X specs revealed, aims for “a minimum doubling” over Xbox One X: Microsoft’s upcoming console will also dramatically improve the performance of current and previous gen games
  65. Xbox announces, retracts Thanksgiving 2020 launch for Series X: Larry Hryb says Microsoft is “committed to launching holiday 2020”
  66. The new Xbox Wireless Controller will reduce latency and allow instant sharing
  67. Going for speed: The load-busting, lag-limiting tech of the Xbox Series X
  68. Sony details PlayStation 5 tech specs in extensive ‘deep dive’
  69. 5 highlights from PlayStation’s big PS5 system architecture deep dive
  70. Sony lays out more PS5 details: Mark Cerny talks about the promise of system’s 825GB SSD and Tempest 3D Audio Tech, offers details on backwards compatibility and expanded storage
  71. PlayStation’s switch to a SSD for the PS5 aims to ‘give the game designer freedom’
  72. Sony details PS5’s fast SSD, variable clock rates, 3D audio tech [Updated]
  73. Ex-Vainglory devs raise $2.5m for Bazooka Tango: Seed funding will help new studio create debut title set in Vainglory universe, built in Super Evil Megacorp’s engine
  74. A year without E3 is a chance to take stock | Opinion: The ESA’s show has failed to articulate what function it will serve to the modern industry — this year’s cancellation will force that discussion to happen
  75. Epic Games acquires facial animation tech studio Cubic Motion
  76. Epic acquires Cubic Motion: Unreal Engine maker picks up the company behind facial animation tech in God of War and Hellblade – Senua’s Sacrifice
  77. Manticore Games is building a “truly level playing field” for game development: CEO Frédéric Descamps hopes to disrupt game creation in the way that YouTube and Twitch did broadcasting
  78. Deca Games acquires DragonVale following Backflip Studios closure
  79. Stuck at home? Binge on some “War Stories” gaming videos!
  80. Don’t Miss: Neo Cab and the effort to make an empathetic game about gamification
  81. Don’t Miss: The story behind Remedy’s viral dog mocap star
  82. Don’t Miss: A 2012 look at CDPR’s Cyberpunk plans, and lessons learned from The Witcher
  83. Don’t Miss: Evolving the combat design of id Software’s Doom Eternal
  84. Don’t Miss: Naughty Dog’s Jak and Daxter: the Precursor Legacy postmortem
  85. Video: Making better games by understanding human error 
  86. Report: AR Startup Magic Leap is Looking for a Buyer
  87. Magic Leap looks for buyers
  88. Report: AR headset maker Magic Leap exploring a sale at $10 billion valuation
  89. Games industry raised over $5.5m for Australian bushfire relief; Humble Bundle, Call of Duty DLC and Bungie T-shirts lead fundraising efforts
  90. Red Magic 5G gaming smartphone has 144hz display, internal cooling fan
  91. Video Gaming/E-Gaming Law Update
  92. U.S. Patent no. 10,286,314: System and method for providing continuous gameplay in a multiplayer video game through an unbounded gameplay session
  93. BAFTA opts for online-only game awards as COVID-19 concerns grow
  94. Untitled Goose Game nabs Game of the Year at the 2020 Game Developers Choice Awards!

DIGITAL

  1. Law Commission of Ontario recommends sweeping changes to law of defamation to address challenges of internet age
  2. LCO recommends new regime for online defamation
  3. French antitrust watchdog hits Apple with its biggest fine ever: $1.2 billion
  4. SoftBank Owned Patent Troll, Using Monkey Selfie Law Firm, Sues To Block Covid-19 Testing, Using Theranos Patents
  5. The Internet is drowning in COVID-19-related malware and phishing scams
  6. Capitalism’s Addiction Problem: The biggest, best-known companies in the digital economy are getting their users hooked on their products – and undermining the pillars of America’s market economy.
  7. Why Tech Might Actually Be The Solution To Capitalism’s Addiction Problem
  8. Online Harms Part 1: The new regulatory framework requiring businesses to protect online users against harm
  9. Another Troubling Courtroom Loss for Online Marketplaces–Massachusetts Port Authority v. Turo (Eric Goldman)
  10. Online Platforms Sidestep Claims over User Content Decisions and Social App Functions
  11. As Politicians Are Still Looking To Destroy The Internet, Covid-19 Reminds Us Why Social Media Is Not Just Good, But Saving Lives
  12. Burning The Ladder: Match.com Supports Burning Section 230 To The Ground, Despite Relying On It To Exist
  13. TikTok Moderation Guidelines Show Users Were Punished For Political Content, Being “Ugly” Or “Slummy”
  14. Invisible Censorship: TikTok Told Moderators to Suppress Posts by “Ugly” People and the Poor to Attract New Users
  15. As Legal Dispute Intensifies, Early ‘Hype House’ Star Looks To Launch Rival TikTok Group
  16. Insights: Taking TikTok Hype Houses Mainstream—What Could Go Wrong?
  17. 80% of TikTok’s Ad Spend is Dedicated to Snapchat, Reports MediaRadar
  18. New York Attorney General Continues Aggressive Enforcement Over Coronavirus Claims
  19. The Tort of Conversion in the Electronic Age: A Case Study
  20. Social Media Promised To Block Covid-19 Misinformation; But They’re Also Blocking Legit Info Too
  21. People In Kashmir Can’t Access Coronavirus Information Because The Government Is Crippling The Internet
  22. Why is Meetup helping people organize meetings during a pandemic?
  23. Major tech platforms say they’re ‘jointly combating fraud and misinformation’ about COVID-19
  24. How Wikipedia Prevents the Spread of Coronavirus Misinformation: A group of hawk-eyed experts operate on a special track to monitor medical information on the site.
  25. Android surveillanceware operators jump on the coronavirus fear bandwagon
  26. Verily’s COVID-19 screening site goes live, is already over capacity
  27. Facebook was marking legitimate news articles about the coronavirus as spam due to a software bug
  28. Reputable sites swept up in FB’s latest coronavirus-minded spam cleanse [Updated]
  29. Facebook Pledges $100 Million To Small Businesses Affected By Coronavirus, Partners With WHO To Remove False COVID-19 Content
  30. Here’s how social media can combat the coronavirus ‘infodemic’: Facebook and Twitter are major sources of Covid-19 news. They’re also where misinformation thrives. How can platforms step up?
  31. Facebook is shutting down MSQRD, the AR selfie app it acquired in 2016
  32. Instagram’s IGTV Reaching Out To “Emerging” Creators For Ad-Share Tests This Spring
  33. Facebook announces $100 million program for small businesses impacted by coronavirus
  34. Facebook unleashes the legal hounds against deceptive web domain names
  35. It’s Not Just the Content, It’s the Business Model: Democracy’s Online Speech Challenge
  36. Apple Music Signs New Licensing Deals With Majors
  37. Apple Music reaches new deals with major labels sans “Apple Prime” bundle agreement
  38. Apple’s WWDC is happening this year after all—but it has a new format
  39. Apple’s WWDC to take place entirely online: Conference will be held in June with online keynote and sessions
  40. There Are No Plans To Cancel Or Postpone VidCon, Organizers Say
  41. Social Media Influencer Marketing and FTC Enforcement
  42. Spotify Patents A Voice Assistant That Can Read Your Emotions
  43. Google and Verily clarify their roles in the US coronavirus response [UPDATED 3/15]
  44. YouTuber Loses Lawsuit Over Channel Termination–Mishiyev v. Alphabet
  45. YouTube Closes Some Content Moderation Offices Due To Coronavirus, Warns Creators It’s Temporarily Relying On Automated Systems
  46. YouTube Warns Video Takedowns Could Be Higher During Coronavirus Crisis
  47. YouTube Warns That, Thanks To Covid-19, It’s Handing Over More Content Moderation To The Machines And They Might Suck
  48. Here’s Why Google Broke Out YouTube’s Ad Revs For The First Time Last Quarter
  49. YouTube Officially Removing ‘Trending’ Tab From Mobile App In Favor Of ‘Explore’
  50. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 3/16/2020
  51. Will Wall Street Get In The Way Of Jack Dorsey’s Lofty Plans To Turn Twitter Into A Protocol?
  52. Fox Sells Stake In Roku To Purchase Ad-Supported Streamer Tubi For $440 Million
  53. Snapchat Introduces DIY Augmented Reality Tool for Brands: Advertisers can customize Lens Web Builder with logos, images
  54. Snapchat joins forces with WHO to combat coronavirus misinformation
  55. Twitter Will Increase Its Use of Automation Tools as It Looks to Ensure Accuracy in COVID-19 Discussion
  56. World Health Organization Launches Daily Livestreamed Concert Series With Coldplay, John Legend, More
  57. Amazon Music launches analytics for artists with a mobile app
  58. What it’s like to own Vancouver’s last two video stores during a pandemic
  59. Amazon hiring 100,000 warehouse workers amid coronavirus boom
  60. Coronavirus Is Speeding Up the Amazonification of the Planet: As restaurants, bars, and local shops close down, platform-based monoliths are vacuuming up customers and jobs
  61. World Health Organization Launches Daily Livestreamed Concert Series With Coldplay, John Legend, More
  62. Netflix Suspends All Scripted Productions In U.S., Canada
  63. Netflix Party lets you have movie night while social distancing
  64. Coronavirus Shutdowns Could Increase Viewers’ Content Consumption By 60%, Per Nielsen Data
  65. Competition Law and Online Sales Restrictions: UK Court of Appeal Judgment in Ping
  66. Online casino fined £3 million for “systemic” AML failings
  67. Sonos Backs Off Plan To Brick Older, Still Functioning Speakers
  68. Bill Gates steps down from Microsoft board
  69. Bill Gates steps down from Microsoft board of directors: Corporation’s co-founder will focus more on his philanthropic activities
  70. Bitcoin loses 21 percent of its value in broad cryptocurrency rout

A.I.

  1. AI is an Ideology, Not a Technology: At its core, “artificial intelligence” is a perilous belief that fails to recognize the agency of humans.
  2. Gabe Newell on Brain-computer Interfaces: ‘We’re way closer to The Matrix than people realize’
  3. How can machine learning be applied to game development?
  4. Coronavirus: Social giants police web with AI as staff sent home
  5. “High-risk AI”: A European approach to excellence and trust
  6. The challenges of Artificial Intelligence in the field of IP
  7. Who owns AI creations? Comment on WIPO’s ‘Draft Issues Paper on Intellectual Property and Artificial Intelligence’ (Guido Noto La Diega)
  8. Identifying the Legal and Business Risks of Disinformation and Deepfakes: What Every Business Needs to Know

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. TELUS Corporation obtains court order to hold virtual-only shareholder meeting
  2. California AG Announces Settlement Agreement with T-Mobile and Sprint
  3. US Cable Companies Lost 5 Million Paying Customers Last Year Alone
  4. AT&T waives data cap during coronavirus; Comcast keeps charging overage fees
  5. US ISPs Drop Usage Caps, Pledge To Avoid Kicking Users Offline During Coronavirus
  6. Comcast and T-Mobile upgrade everyone to unlimited data for next 60 days
  7. Comcast’s Broadband Market Domination Continues To Grow
  8. Charter engineer quits over “reckless” rules against work-from-home
  9. Amid pandemic, T-Mobile gets emergency access to Dish’s 600MHz spectrum
  10. AT&T CEO pay rose to $32 million in 2019 while he cut 20,000 jobs
  11. Patient Distancing: The Critical Role Telehealth Will Play During the Coronavirus Pandemic
  12. President Trump Signs Legislation to Enhance Efforts to Secure U.S. Telecommunication Networks
  13. President Trump Signs Huawei/ZTE Replacement Funding Legislation; FCC Pushes for Necessary $1 Billion Appropriations Bill
  14. FCC’s 2018 Abolition of Main Studio Rules Means Broadcast Studios Do Not Need to Be Open to the Public During Coronavirus Outbreak
  15. After deregulatory blitz, FCC scrambles to prevent ISP abuse during pandemic
  16. President renominates FCC commissioner O’Rielly
  17. Data From Italy, China Suggests The US Internet Isn’t Likely To Choke On COVID-19 Broadband Usage Spike

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Volunteers 3D-Print Unobtainable $11,000 Valve For $1 To Keep Covid-19 Patients Alive; Original Manufacturer Threatens To Sue
  2. Industry Committee Recommends Adding Digital Lock Exception to USMCA Copyright Provisions (Michael Geist)
  3. False Start for Paparazzi in Copyright Suit
  4. Cruz v. Cox Media Group: District court holds Cox Media Group liable for copyright infringement due to publication of bystander’s photograph of 2017 terrorist attack in conjunction with news story, finding no fair use.
  5. LinkedIn Appeals Important CFAA Ruling Regarding Scraping Public Info Just As Concerns Raised About Clearview
  6. After A Long Climb, Led Zeppelin Prevails In The Stairway To Heaven Copyright Battle
  7. Is “This Land is Your Land” in the Public Domain?
  8. The Freewheeling, Copyright-Infringing World of Custom-Printed Tees: Print-on-demand companies allow anyone to upload designs for T-shirts, mugs & other items. But many images violate I.P. rights.
  9. Cofemel decision applied for the first time by UK court
  10. The Philadelphia Phillies Are Phighting for Their Rights to the Phanatic
  11. March Madness Trademarks: Avoiding a Foul Call from the NCAA (2020 Update – Part 1)
  12. March Madness Trademarks: Avoiding a Foul Call from the NCAA (2020 Update)(Part 2 – Even if the Tournament is Off)
  13. Google’s Servers Hosted by Third Parties Do Not Establish Patent Venue
  14. Failure to Mark Can Put Damages Underwater
  15. Protecting Trade Secrets During a Pandemic
  16. Natural Language Processing
  17. Former Refrigerator Manufacturer Says Companies Using Open Source, Royalty-Free Video Technology Must Pay To License 2,000 Patents
  18. Patent Marking – Federal Circuit Clarifies Noncompliance is not Cured by Ceasing to Sell Products or by Willful Infringement
  19. 2020: A Busy Year for CRISPR Patents at the EPO
  20. Firm wielding Theranos patents asks judge to block coronavirus test [Updated]
  21. After Theranos suit, Fortress makes patents available on royalty-free basis for COVID-19 tests
  22. Softbank-Owned Patent Troll Now Promises To Grant Royalty-Free License For Covid-19 Tests; Details Lacking
  23. True or false: testing limits of comparative advertising
  24. Patent-Eligible Improvements to Computer Functionality Must Be Directed to an Improvement of the Computer or Network Platform
  25. Claims Using Naturally-Occurring Phenomenon in Method of Preparation Found Patent Eligible
  26. Choosing Advocacy over Candor Renders Patent Unenforceable
  27. Unitary Patent and Unified Patent Court – Is it all over or is there a Plan B?
  28. The Growing Importance of International Arbitration for Intellectual Property Disputes
  29. Intellectual property law: a year in review
  30. As Congress Explore New Awful Copyright Plans, Maximalists Look To Rewrite The History Of SOPA/PIPA

PRIVACY

  1. Why the Coming Battle Over Canadian Privacy Reform Starts at Home (Michael Geist)
  2. Housebound Blues: Considering the Privacy and Data Security Consequences of Remote Work
  3. Clearview Was A Toy For Billionaires Before It Became A Toy For Cops
  4. Best Practices for Maintaining Employee Privacy Regarding Covid-19
  5. The government might want your phone location data to fight coronavirus. Here’s why that could be okay.: Privacy advocates want restrictions on how much phone location data the government gets from tech companies.
  6. How China built facial recognition for people wearing masks
  7. Since The FBI Can’t Be Bothered To Do It, Motherboard Has Compiled A Database Of Attempts To Access Encrypted IPhones
  8. We need privacy and data laws to tackle this global pandemic
  9. TikTok Says New ‘Transparency Center’ Will Invite Outside Experts To Observe Its Content, Data Practices
  10. What industries utilize opt-in cookie banners the most, and the least?
  11. High-stakes security setups are making remote work impossible
  12. Study ranks the privacy of major browsers. Here are the findings
  13. Local Government Employee Fined For Illegally Deleting Item Requested Under Freedom Of Information Act

CREATIVITY   

  1. Eighth Circuit Serves Another Round of First Amendment Protection for Alcohol Advertising
  2. China Expels U.S. Journalists
  3. Insane: China Expels American Journalists In Ridiculous, Unhelpful Spat About Covid-19

Jon

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News of the Week; March 11, 2020

By Jon Festinger on May 18, 2020

GAMES

  1. Take-Two: Another step in the High Court’s battle against cheating in video games
  2. Bold: Matthew Storman, Sans Lawyer, Counter Sues Nintendo For False Allegation Of Copyright Infringement
  3. Joy-Con drift lawsuit denied dismissal, but referred to arbitration: 18 plaintiffs have joined suit against Nintendo, claiming unfair and deceptive business practices
  4. Nintendo Switch Joy-Con drift class action lawsuit paused as case moves to arbitration
  5. Australian Parliamentary committee recommends loot box regulation: Also suggests mandatory age verification for purchases toward any simulated gambling elements in games
  6. Bungie will no longer sell randomized loot boxes in Destiny 2: Bright Engrams will still be available through the game’s free season pass
  7. APA warns against linking violent video games to real-world violence
  8. APA: Video games’ link to aggression doesn’t tie games to violent behavior
  9. APA reaffirms stance on video games and violent behaviour: “Attributing violence to video gaming is not scientifically sound and draws attention away from other factors,” says APA president
  10. ESA’s Game Generation leads us down a dark path of denial | Opinion: Amid threats of regulation, the games industry still fails to recognise the importance of honesty and transparency
  11. How to approach mental health issues in the workplace: Games studios championing mental health awareness tell the GamesIndustry.biz Academy about how to support and safeguard your staff’s emotional well-being
  12. 2K Games is the latest publisher to pull games from GeForce Now
  13. 2K pens deal with the NFL to develop multiple new football games
  14. The next “NFL2K” won’t be a simulation—here’s what that might mean
  15. Mod.io raises $1 million to help game devs support user-generated content
  16. Tim Sweeney says Epic will throw support behind Nvidia GeForce Now
  17. Nvidia’s GeForce Now loses 2K games, gains Epic support: Another publisher pulls from streaming service as Tim Sweeney declares it most “developer and publisher-friendly” option
  18. Epic Games Store adds wishlists: Steam’s biggest rival adds essential marketing tool for independent developers
  19. Unity acquires AI-driven art software company and ArtEngine maker Artomatix
  20. Unity acquires Artomatix: Engine maker picks up creator of ArtEngine AI-assisted art tool promising time-saving texture techniques
  21. 2K partners with the NFL to create multiple, non-simulation football titles: Publisher looks to create football games that are “accessible and approachable” to a broader audience
  22. Playing To Win: The Post-Alice Video Game Patent Landscape
  23. A video game is being used to help fight coronavirus: “We’re calling on YOU to help design antiviral proteins against coronavirus.
  24. Pay to watch play: Florida DOR concludes that video game streaming site subscriptions are subject to Florida communications services tax
  25. Learning the lessons of the PlayStation 2 | Opinion: Twenty years after it arrived in Japan, the most successful console of all time still has lessons that are relevant to the industry today
  26. Horizon Zero Dawn confirmed for PC: But PlayStation committed to dedicated consoles
  27. First-party PlayStation exclusive Horizon Zero Dawn arrives on PC this summer
  28. The world’s only known Nintendo PlayStation has sold for $300,000 [Updated]
  29. UK Charts: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon debuts at No.1: Nintendo Switch remake beats out Call of Duty Modern Warfare
  30. Call of Duty: Warzone offers a free-to-play, cross-platform battle royale mode
  31. Pokémon Sword and Shield remain top-sellers in Japan months after release: Persona 5 Scramble – The Phantom Strikers tops Japanese charts for February with over 160,000 units sold at retail
  32. PlatinumGames raises over $2.2m for The Wonderful 101 Remastered: Kickstarter campaign closes well above $50k goal
  33. Sega invests in music startup Flutin: Sonic publisher’s efforts to expand into other areas of entertainment continue with indie artist discovery app
  34. Steam Labs’ latest addition is a dedicated News Hub for news and events
  35. Apex Legends dev says Forge stab-and-switch was meant to foil data miners 
  36. Disruptor Beam lays off devs as it transitions to a game tech provider
  37. Disruptor Beam lays off nine as it pivots away from game development: Final game project canceled, company to focus solely on Disruptor Engine platform
  38. Game Informer non-editorial staff hit by layoffs: Business unit restructuring sees long-time publisher Cathy Preston retire as six others lose jobs
  39. Coronavirus delays TG-16 Mini launch, are PS5 and Xbox Series X next?
  40. E3 2020 cancelled due to ‘overwhelming’ coronavirus concerns
  41. E3 2020 has been canceled
  42. Xbox plans digital event to replace E3 conference
  43. Microsoft confirms more Xbox Series X details: Console will feature quick resume for multiple games, 12 teraflops GPU, first-party games can be bought once and played on Xbox One or Series X
  44. Xbox boss calls for greater transparency on key issues: Phil Spencer says the industry should lead public discussion of problems like crunch and “game loops that are exploitative”
  45. E3 cancelled: Troubled event postponed due to coronavirus concerns
  46. E3 2020 Canceled After ‘Overwhelming Concerns’ About Coronavirus
  47. TurboGrafx-16 Mini indefinitely delayed due to coronavirus: Impact on manufacturing and shipping in China means Konami’s classic console will not arrive this month as planned
  48. Take-Two CEO: COVID-19 may make believers out of remote work skeptics in games
  49. Elite developer Frontier now making F1 management games: Gear change.
  50. HTC hosting conference in virtual reality to mitigate coronavirus risk: This year’s Vive Ecosystem Conference will have ‘cloned rooms’ so no limit for attendance
  51. Bungie activates remote work policy in response to COVID-19 outbreak
  52. Microsoft aims to give hourly staff their full pay despite COVID-19 cutbacks
  53. Microsoft asks employees to work from home over coronavirus fears: Nintendo also encourages remote working for staff based in Washington and California
  54. Streamline: COVID-19 will delay games and not just consoles – Reliance on Chinese outsourcing for game development is likely to cause delayed launches, says Streamline Media Group CEO Alexander Fernandez
  55. COVID-19: Bungie activates remote work policy – “This includes delivering on our current content plans, the maintenance and upkeep of Destiny 2, as well as continuing development of the game,” says developer
  56. GDC offers talks for free following event cancellation: Previously-accepted talks will be streamed via Twitch next week, and archived for free in the coming weeks
  57. Game Developers Conference 2020 announces virtual awards and talk schedule 
  58. Salvaging the opportunites lost by GDC’s cancellation: We speak to the people offering financial relief to indies, or alternatives for those forced to still travel to San Francisco
  59. Game Informer lays off 6 staff in restructure as publisher Cathy Preston retires
  60. Activision Blizzard cancels March and April Overwatch League events over COVID-19
  61. Mojang and EA cancel live events in response to COVID-19: Minecraft Festival cancellation joined by Apex Legends and FIFA 20 esport events
  62. Game Connection America 2020 postponed due to COVID-19 concerns: Last-minute decision made following updated health recommendations from San Francisco leadership
  63. Psyonix cancels Rocket League World Championship over coronavirus concerns: Remainder of Season 9 League will play as scheduled, but all broadcast coverage will be completely online
  64. Esports Players League raises $1m in seed round: 500 Startups led investment in the amateur-focused esports firm
  65. WME Hires 2 Former FaZe Clan Execs As Gaming Agents
  66. FaZe Clan Teases New Los Angeles Mansion With Rumored $10 Million Pricetag
  67. PUBG CEO reportedly will also lead parent group Krafton Game Union
  68. Pokimane Becomes Twitch’s Latest Talent Lock-In With Multiyear Exclusive Livestreaming Deal
  69. Twitch streamers make thousands by literally just sleeping
  70. GameOn Technology scores $10.5 million in financing for sports and gaming chat platform
  71. Report: Twitch viewership drops, while YouTube and Facebook Gaming rise
  72. TinyBuild says traditional indie publishing unsustainable, opens new studio with HakJak
  73. GameStop’s concept stores: A “laboratory,” not a Hail Mary: In Tulsa, Oklahoma, the gaming retailer is taking its time trialing new, interactive store experiences focused on the local community
  74. Reggie Fils-Aimé to join GameStop board of directors
  75. Discord loosens streaming limits to help teams work remote during COVID-19
  76. Frontier Developments signs exclusive license for multiple F1 management games: A total of four games are planned, with the first anticipated in F1’s 2022 racing season
  77. Building Ori and the Will of the Wisps with 80 people working from home: Moon Studios’ Thomas Mahler reveals the challenges and solutions to managing a distributed development team
  78. HBO, PlayStation announce Last of Us TV series—the “first of many shows”
  79. Writing, directing, and designing FMV censorship simulator Not for Broadcast
  80. The Last of Us is being adapted into an HBO series: Creative director Neil Druckmann onboard as executive producer with Chernobyl creator Craig Mazin
  81. Annapurna signs multi-year deal with Simogo: Sayonara Wild Hearts publisher and developer re-team to make more games across all platforms
  82. The Strong Museum and Kongregate partner to preserve Flash games
  83. Team17’s full-year profits rise to £30m: Indie publisher enjoyed record growth in 2019, expanded headcount to 200
  84. Playrix acquires Armenian casual mobile game developer Plexonic
  85. Call of Duty: Mobile devs scrap Zombies mode due to quality concerns
  86. Activision unveils standalone Call of Duty battle royale: Warzone launches tomorrow, will be free-to-play with microtransactions including $10 battle pass
  87. That time Activision dishonorably discharged Call of Duty’s star dev duo – 10 Years Ago This Month: Jason West and Vince Zampella were marched out of Infinity Ward right into the eager arms of EA
  88. Call of Duty’s free-to-play, cross-platform battle royale launches March 10
  89. Fortnite removes abusable “legacy” aim assist for controller players: Tracking hidden players with “left trigger spam” will soon be a thing of the past.
  90. Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us is getting a live action adaptation courtesy of HBO
  91. An upcoming UI tweak will make The Outer Worlds infinitely more accessible
  92. Bethesda wants to bring humanity to Fallout 76 through NPCs: Wastelanders designer Ferret Baudoin on why a game populated with real people needs fake ones for a more human experience
  93. How an unlikely Tencent project is helping China’s indie scene
  94. “Where should you put your time in marketing? Fun fact: emails”: Crows Crows Crows founder on how an email newsletter became a more effective marketing tool than Twitter, Facebook and Instagram combined
  95. Conducting the interactive opera of Evergreen Blues: David Su and Dominique Star on the musical design of their free, co-op song suite
  96. Creative Chronicles: A balancing post-mortem of Total War Three Kingdoms – GamesIndustry.biz Academy &  Creative Assembly to publish its Creative Chronicles video series, today focusing on strategy game balancing
  97. Creative Chronicles: tutorials and insights into game development – Total War developer Creative Assembly share its tips on all aspects of building games, in its game development tutorial series Creative Chronicles
  98. Op-ed: The upsides, downsides, and future of AAA game development
  99. Blog: Making particles twice as fast through cache optimization
  100. Blog: How I built a game studio from the ground up
  101. Don’t Miss: The shape of God of War III
  102. Don’t Miss: A Game Design Deep Dive into Amnesia’s ‘Sanity Meter’
  103. Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality Litigation Update: Virtual Immersion Technologies Litigations
  104. How ‘classical game mechanics’ and physics converge in VR hit Boneworks
  105. U.S. Patent no. 10,286,299: Transitioning gameplay on a head-mounted display
  106. U.S. Patent no. 10,286,307: Game controller with removable faceted finger pad

DIGITAL

  1. Facebook Hit with Anti-Trust Lawsuit
  2. Facebook pulls Trump campaign ads for fake census claims
  3. Twitter, Facebook Target Trump Campaign’s Latest Biden Video, Labeling It “Manipulated,” “Partly False”
  4. Facebook slaps “partly false” label on Trump-endorsed video of Biden
  5. How new rules at Facebook and Twitter led to a warning beneath a Trump retweet: The spread of the video shows how even clear warnings can be little match for the power of the social media infrastructure.
  6. President Trump Prohibits Chinese Acquisition of U.S. Software Company
  7. Why Is Fox News Acting As State Media, Announcing Trump’s Lawsuits Before They’re Filed And Failing To Point Out How Frivolous They Are?
  8. Donald Trump And Charles Harder Continue Their Assault On The 1st Amendment, Suing The Washington Post
  9. Trump Campaign Suing All His Media ‘Enemies’: Files Another Silly SLAPP Suit Over CNN Opinion Piece
  10. Study: Facebook’s fake news labels have a fatal flaw
  11. Facebook Still Can’t Admit That Launching Libra During An International Privacy Scandal Is Idiotic
  12. Facebook Brings Suit against Mobile Marketing Firm for Siphoning User Data without Authorization
  13. Surge of Virus Misinformation Stumps Facebook and Twitter: Secret labs. Magic cures. Government plots. Despite efforts by social media companies to stop it, false information about the coronavirus is proliferating.
  14. Facebook Bans Ads for Face Masks
  15. Facebook’s experimental Stories feature lets users cross-post to Instagram: An older tool released in 2017 can only cross-post Stories from Instagram to Facebook.
  16. Containing the Infectiousness of Fake News: Developments in Singapore’s Online Falsehoods Laws Amidst the COVID-19 Outbreak
  17. Before it sued Google for copying from Java, Oracle got rich copying IBM’s SQL
  18. How China is using QR code apps to contain Covid-19
  19. ‘This may be the last piece I write’: prominent Xi critic has internet cut after house arrest
  20. Content Moderation At Scale Is Impossible; Naughty Kids In Wuhan Edition
  21. Online Harms White Paper – UK government publishes its initial consultation response
  22. COPPA Author Senator Ed Markey Introduces KIDS Act Targeting Sponsored Content, Unboxing Videos
  23. Quibi Accused Of Stealing Technology, Trade Secrets From Interactive Video Company Eko
  24. Senate Democrats Introduce Legislation to Ban Certain App Features and Types of Advertising Aimed at Children Online
  25. New Bill Seeks to Impose Design Restrictions on Kids’ Online Content and Marketing
  26. Bad Ideas: Newark Stupidly Threatens ‘Criminal Prosecution’ Against Anyone Who Reports ‘False’ Info About Covid-19
  27. Reddit ran wild with Boston bombing conspiracy theories in 2013 and is now an epicenter for coronavirus misinformation. The site is doing almost nothing to change that.
  28. Twitter expands hateful conduct rules to ban dehumanizing speech around age, disability and now, disease
  29. Full Count: Retweet Copyright Dispute Against Cubs Moves Forward
  30. Twitter Reaches Deal With Activist Fund That Wanted Jack Dorsey Out
  31. Jack Dorsey To Stay CEO After Twitter Reaches Deal With Investors Elliott, Silver Lake
  32. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Backpedals On Africa Plans Amid Reports He’s Being Pushed Out
  33. NBCUniversal Has Sold Its $500 Million Stake In Snap, But Will Continue On As Content Partner
  34. So Wait, People Seriously Think Bill Barr Will Rein In Tech Monopoly Power?
  35. Sorry, Tulsi Gabbard, Google can’t violate the First Amendment
  36. Court Explains 1st Amendment To Tulsi Gabbard In Dismissing Her Ridiculous Lawsuit Against Google
  37. First Voters Reject Tulsi Gabbard, Then a Judge Does–Gabbard v. Google (Eric Goldman)
  38. Google tells employees to work from home to prevent coronavirus spread
  39. How Wikipedia’s volunteers became the web’s best weapon against misinformation
  40. Insights: The Death Of Cookies Opens New Opportunities For Influencer Marketing
  41. Celebrity Influencers Receive Warning Letters From Federal Trade Commission
  42. FTC Settlement Provides Detailed Guidance on Influencer Campaigns
  43. FTC Action Says Influencers Made False Claims and Failed to Include Proper Disclosures
  44. Will New FTC Endorsement Guidelines Make A #Hashtag of Influencer Advertising?
  45. Marketers Beware: Deceptive Health Claims and Social Media Influencer Practices Remain High Priorities for FTC Enforcement
  46. Despite Some Naysayers, Influencer Marketing Set For Big Growth In 2020
  47. FTC Puts Influencers and Sponsors on Notice with $15.2 Million Judgment
  48. FTC targets Teami’s Unsupported Health Claims and Use of Social Media Influencers
  49. Cannabis Company is Sued for Showing Mural in Advertising Campaign
  50. A Legal Fissure Appears To Be Taking Shape Among Early Members Of ‘The Hype House’
  51. OG Pet Influencer And Senior Adoption Activist ‘Marnie The Dog’ Has Passed Away
  52. Quibi Reveals Launch Slate Of 51 Shows And Movies, Offers 90-Day Free Trial
  53. Quibi Sued by Eko for Patent Infringement, Theft of Trade Secrets
  54. ByteDance Launches Standalone Music Streamer In India Armed With Sony, Warner, T-Series Licensing Deals
  55. Rihanna Launches TikTok Collab House For Her Fenty Beauty Brand
  56. Markiplier Blasts Unauthorized Biography Being Sold Without His Consent
  57. Canadian court awards significant ‎defamation damages — are online ‎platforms immune?‎
  58. Proposed bill would end “likes” for young teens’ online content
  59. YouTube Will Allow “A Limited Number Of Channels” To Monetize Coronavirus Content, CEO Susan Wojcicki Says
  60. YouTube children’s content faces a new threat from the KIDS Act: The KIDS Act could dramatically affect kids’ channels
  61. YouTube Cancels ‘Impulse’, One Of Its Last-Remaining Scripted Series, After 2 Seasons
  62. YouTube To Stream This Year’s Brandcast Due To Coronavirus, As NewFronts Recommends Other Presenters Do The Same
  63. Senators Hawley & Feinstein Join Graham & Blumenthal In Announcing Bill To Undermine Both Encryption And Section 230
  64. Why Does The NY Times Seem Literally Incapable Of Reporting Accurately On Section 230?
  65. Privacy Issues in the Ongoing Controversy Over Section 230
  66. DOJ’s Latest Ideas For Section 230 Reform Dumber Than Even I Expected
  67. 46 Academics Encourage Congress To Consider Section 230’s Benefits (Eric Goldman)
  68. The EARN IT Act Partially Repeals Section 230, But It Won’t Help Children (Eric Goldman)
  69. Recap of the USDOJ’s Section 230 Roundtable (Eric Goldman)
  70. Are Cuts Coming to the “Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet?”
  71. Amazon, counterfeits and memes: Online IP developments
  72. Amazon offers no-checkout technology to other retailers
  73. YouTube will slowly start monetizing coronavirus videos following creator anger: Weeks after YouTube declared automatic demonetization
  74. YouTube Is Demonetizing Coronavirus Videos Under Its Long-Standing “Sensitive Events” Policy
  75. YouTube To Stream This Year’s Brandcast Due To Coronavirus, As NewFronts Recommends Other Presenters Do The Same
  76. YouTube’s New Subscriber Notification Metrics Show Creators Exactly How Many Are (And Aren’t) Sent Per Upload
  77. YouTube TV Drops 3 Fox Regional Sports Networks Amid Contract Kerfuffle With Sinclair
  78. YouTube To Introduce Themed Content Shelves Within Nascent ‘/Fashion’ Hub
  79. Bernie Sanders’ Social Video Lead Shrinks As Joe Biden Overtakes Delegate Count
  80. Spotify is working on voice activation for its apps: You’ll be able to summon the app with ‘Hey Spotify’.
  81. Spotify rolls out a more personalized home screen to users worldwide
  82. Spotify Unveils New Radar Global Emerging Artist Program
  83. Spotify, Amazon to Argue Against Songwriter Rate Hike in Court of Appeals
  84. Instagram Reportedly Toying With ‘Video Response’ Feature For IGTV
  85. Netflix Continues To Release CYOA Content, Doesn’t Refer To It As ‘CYOA’…For Now
  86. The Obamas’ Next Netflix Feature To Tackle Refugee Crisis With Russo Brothers
  87. Sonos decides bricking old stuff isn’t a winning move after all: Software support for the products is ending, but you can still pass them along.
  88. You Don’t Own What You Buy Episode 9,000: Philips’ Light Bulbs Lose Functionality
  89. eBay bans sale of masks and hand sanitizer over gouging concerns
  90. Microsoft asks employees to work from home over coronavirus fears
  91. City of Austin cancels SXSW 2020, citing COVID-19 concerns
  92. Apple, Netflix, WarnerMedia, and LinkedIn pull out of SXSW appearances
  93. Apple warns staff of product shortages, but IT workers have already seen them
  94. Apple’s new App Store policies fight spam and abuse but also allow ads in notifications
  95. Hulu’s live TV doesn’t work on T-Mobile home Internet
  96. .eu domain names, the transition period and update on GDPR restricted ICANN registrant data
  97. The grandfather of distributed computing projects, SETI@home, shuts down
  98. Interaction Between Privacy and Competition Law in a Digital Economy Part-2
  99. The economic cost of major tech events canceled due to coronavirus has passed $1 billion: Some of the industry’s biggest events have been postponed, moved online, or canceled altogether.
  100. Kiva Partners With Mari Malek, Shahrzad Rafati And Others To Redefine What A “Powerful Woman” Is And Drive Loans To Over 12,000 Women During International Women’s Day
  101. 16 women in tech who are driving BC forward
  102. Deported By Silicon Valley
  103. Ancient animistic beliefs live on in our intimacy with tech
  104. Voluntary Parting Exclusion Bars Coverage for Social Engineering Scheme
  105. Administering Estates With Digital Assets
  106. Environmental activism goes digital in lockdown – but could it change the movement for good?
  107. Chinese beauty bloggers: amateurs, entrepreneurs, and platform labour (Zexu Guan)
  108. How Dictators Control the Internet: A Review Essay (Eda Keremoglu, Nils Weidmann)
  109. Disruption, embedded. A Polanyian framing of the platform economy (Gernot Grabher)

A.I.

  1. ACLU Sues ICE Over Its Deliberately-Broken Immigrant ‘Risk Assessment’ Software
  2. AI Company Has Access To Pretty Much Every Piece Of Surveillance Tech The State Of Utah Owns
  3. Much ado about Clearview: Facial recognition is here to stay
  4. Engineer at the center of Waymo/Uber legal battle declares bankruptcy
  5. Blog: Designing the enemy AI of The Division 2
  6. Does my AI own the IP that it creates? If not, who?
  7. The Social Life of Robots: The Politics of Algorithms, Governance, and Sovereignty
  8. Political warfare in the digital age: cyber subversion, information operations and ‘deep fakes’ (Thomas Paterson, Lauren Hanley)
  9. The Robots Are Coming: Ethics, Politics, and Society in the Age of Artificial Intelligence (Kenneth Taylor)
  10. The Social Lives of Generative Adversarial Networks (Michael Castelle)

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. The Cancon Conundrum: Why Policies to Promote “Canadian Stories” Need an Overhaul (Michael Geist)
  2. Bains’ Other Wireless Affordability Problem: The Broadcast Panel Plan for WhatsApp, Skype and Other Internet Services to Pay Canadian Broadband Taxes (Michael Geist)
  3. A CRTC Without the West: Why an MP Is Calling a Broadcast Panel Recommendation “Discriminatory” and Warning it Could Further Alienate Western Canada (Michael Geist)
  4. FCC Proposes Over $200 Million in Fines to Big Four Wireless Carriers for Allegedly Selling Customer Data Without Safeguards
  5. FCC Proposes Over $200 Million in Fines to AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint for Not Protecting Customers’ Location Data
  6. Cable Sector Likely To Freak Out At New Service That Streamlines Streaming TV Password Sharing
  7. Congress Forces FCC To Go Beyond Its Tame, ‘Voluntary’ Anti-Robocalling Plan
  8. AT&T Can’t Get Out Of Its Own Way As It Tries To ‘Disrupt’ Traditional TV
  9. Comcast, Charter expand broadband domination as cable hits 67% market share: Cable soars again as telcos fail to deploy enough fiber to offset DSL losses.
  10. Comcast accidentally published 200,000 “unlisted” phone numbers
  11. FCC to require anti-robocall tech after “voluntary” plan didn’t work out
  12. FCC Opens Proceeding to Reinvigorate Opportunities for TV White Space Devices
  13. ICO Issues Record Fine for Nuisance Calls
  14. Huawei expects a 20% drop in phone sales, thanks to lack of Google apps
  15. Wireless Carriers Are Training Consumers To Equate “5G” With Bluster And Empty Promises

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. How Explaining Copyright Broke the YouTube Copyright System
  2. NYU Law School’s Video Teaching Copyright Completely Flummoxed YouTube’s Copyright Filters
  3. Protective Orders Alive and Well in Canadian IP Litigation: The Federal Court of Appeal has recently put to rest concerns about the availability of “protective orders” in IP litigation.
  4. Managing Canadian Trademark Applications Under CIPO’s New Restrictions on Extensions of Time
  5. Led Zeppelin wins latest battle in Stairway to Heaven legal fight
  6. 9th Circuit Gets It Right: Says Led Zeppelin Didn’t Infringe; Dumps Dumb ‘Inverse Ratio’ Rule
  7. Ninth Circuit Affirms Non-Infringement Judgment for Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven
  8. Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin: 9th Cir. reinstates jury verdict that Stairway to Heaven did not infringe copyright to song Taurus, ruling that sound recordings of Taurus were properly excluded at trial.
  9. Ninth Circuit Watch: En Banc Court Overturns Rule That a High Degree of Access to Copyrighted Material Reduces Plaintiff’s Burden to Show Substantial Similarity
  10. Fantasies About a Formula for Fair Use
  11. Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality Litigation Update: Virtual Immersion Technologies Litigations
  12. Hugo Boss – aka comedian Joe Lycett – takes on Hugo Boss
  13. In New 5Pointz Decision, Second Circuit Concludes That VARA Trumps The Constitution
  14. Street artists spray paint legal victory across walls
  15. No success for Questor in its quest for an injunction
  16. NFL Gets Shopify To Take Down Clear NY Jets Parody Merch Site With Trademark Complaint
  17. A Bite in the Apple: Apple Inc. v. California Institute of Technology, Appeal Nos. 2019-1580, -1581 (Fed. Cir., March 5, 2020)
  18. Gender inequality — How many patent offices does it take to fix a leaky pipeline?
  19. It might be good enough to eat, but is your product good enough to protect?
  20. Software Can Make Non-Abstract Improvements to Computer Technology Just as Hardware Can (But Didn’t Here)
  21. Haptic feedback assisted text manipulation: technical
  22. UK opts out of Unified Patent Court regime
  23. UK will not be part of the Unified Patent Court or Unitary Patent system
  24. Will I be able to enforce my European intellectual property rights in the UK?
  25. Key Estate Planning Considerations for Individuals with Intellectual Property (Part III: Patents)
  26. Key IP trends to watch for in 2020
  27. Intellectual Property Protection Strategies for Successful Business in the US and Canada
  28. Intellectual Property Issues for Foreign Enterprises Acquiring Chinese Companies
  29. Mastering the patent application process
  30. Publicity Rights and Its Scope in Intellectual Property Laws

PRIVACY

  1. Vermont sues Clearview, alleging “oppressive, unscrupulous” practices
  2. Clearview Sued By Vermont Attorney General For Violating The State’s Privacy Laws
  3. Justice Department Issues Guidance on Online Intelligence Gathering for Cybersecurity
  4. Proposed US law is “Trojan horse” to stop online encryption, critics say
  5. Porn, gore, and gambling habits aired in Virgin Media breach
  6. Some mobile ad-blockers and VPNs siphoning user data, report finds
  7. Intel SGX is vulnerable to an unfixable flaw that can steal crypto keys and more
  8. UK Government announces plans to strengthen the security of internet-connected devices
  9. Vegas Casinos Are “Cash Only” After Suspected Ransomware Attack
  10. 5 years of Intel CPUs and chipsets have a concerning flaw that’s unfixable
  11. The Internet of Things (IoT) and cybersecurity: key challenges and new regulation
  12. Hackers can clone millions of Toyota, Hyundai, and Kia keys
  13. What percentage of websites actually deploy a cookie banner?
  14. What percentage of websites utilize a banner that seeks opt-in consent before deploying cookies?
  15. Mitigating Cybersecurity Risks Related to the Coronavirus
  16. GDPR-ish Wisconsin Privacy Bills Go Together Like Beer, Bratwurst and Polka
  17. Austria, EU privacy and the ongoing Schrems v Facebook case
  18. Expect Increased Privacy Regulatory Enforcement in 2020
  19. Ad Industry Split on Cookies and CCPA
  20. The end of anonymity

CREATIVITY   

  1. Radio Hosts Aren’t Liable for Online Attacks Against Beleaguered Referee–Higgins v. Kentucky Sports Radio (Eric Goldman)
  2. Lt. Governor Of Texas Gets Offended By An Anti-Police Shirt, Decides He Needs To Start Violating The First Amendment
  3. UK ASA Bans Coronavirus-Related Ad for Causing “Serious and Widespread Offense”
  4. Sen. Wyden And Rep. Khanna Introduce Bill That Would Protect Journalists And Whistleblowers From Bogus Espionage Prosecutions
  5. Japan Approves New Law To Make Manga Piracy A Criminal Offense
  6. False Advertising: What You Need to Know
  7. New York Court Halts Dog Food False Ad Suit
  8. Tate’s racy exhibition debuts Aubrey Beardsley’s double-sided painting
  9. Art fair drops New York dealer for inciting coronavirus prejudice
  10. Do Your Sponsorship Agreements Address Event Cancellation?
  11. Creative industries shocked by UK withdrawal from £1.3 billion EU arts fund
  12. Challenging the media on coverage of a personal nature – Part 1
  13. Challenging the media on coverage of a personal nature – Part 2
  14. Challenging the media on coverage of a personal nature – Part 3

Jon

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News of the Week; March 4, 2020

By Jon Festinger on March 8, 2020

GAMES

  1. Plague Inc. pulled from Chinese App Store over ‘illegal’ content
  2. Pandemic simulation game Plague Inc. pulled from iOS App Store in China
  3. Statement on The Removal of Plague Inc. From the China App Store
  4. Plague Inc. pulled from Chinese App Store: Developer Ndemic Creations says outbreak simulation game removed because it “includes content that is illegal in China”
  5. China Bans ‘Plague Inc.’ Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
  6. Zynga faces class action lawsuit over 2019 data breach
  7. Zynga faces class action lawsuit over data breach: Plaintiffs warn that millions of users, including minors, will be at risk of fraud and identity theft “for years to come”
  8. Grand Theft Auto cheat software; an infringement story
  9. FaZe Clan Indefinitely Suspends Fortnite Star ‘Dubs’ For On-Stream Racial Slur
  10. Smaller devs say they won’t back Stadia due to a lack of incentives
  11. Google Stadia Lacks Games In Its Library, Isn’t Shelling Out For New Games
  12. Modus Games’ narrative puzzler Lost Words becomes ‘First on Stadia’ exclusive
  13. Google picks California as the home for its second Stadia studio
  14. Stadia opens new studio in Playa Vista: Ex-Sony Santa Monica head Shannon Studstill will oversee a team creating exclusive games for Google’s streaming service
  15. The Division 2 is headed to Stadia this month with PC cross-play
  16. Real Property Dispute in a Virtual World
  17. Hinterland Studio pulls The Long Dark from Nvidia GeForce Now
  18. Nvidia didn’t ask permission to host The Long Dark on GeForce Now, says dev: Hinterland Studio becomes third game company to pull its content from fledgling streaming service
  19. New publisher Ziggurat Interactive to revive dormant IP for PC and console: Company has access to over 140 titles from as far back the ’80s, first three games revealed
  20. Why Destiny 2 is leaving cosmetic loot boxes behind and working to balance ‘FOMO’
  21. China and Asia show their influence over the top grossing mobile games: Sensor Tower’s data for January 2020 underlines the commanding role Asian markets play in the global games industry
  22. NetEase revenue and profits ride high on the back of diverse portfolio: World of Warcraft Classic drives WoW subscribers to record heights in China
  23. Improbable’s losses rose 65% last year to £63.7 million: But SpatialOS developer says accounts do not reflect “major changes” that have taken place in the last nine months
  24. Echo Fox admits to defamation charge in settlement: Esports organization agrees former general partner Rick Fox made false statements that harmed a co-founder and investor
  25. FIFA pro is “done” after server issues force Rock, Paper, Scissors decision
  26. FIFA 20 esports qualifiers decided by Rock, Paper, Scissors when players can’t connect: Another pro defaulted after he was unable to connect for three hours
  27. EA is working with FIFA 20 players to test and fix connectivity issues
  28. Torque Esports to operate Overwatch Collegiate League: Participating schools to compete for $40,000 in esports scholarships
  29. Twitch To Surpass 40 Million Monthly U.S. Viewers Next Year, Report Finds
  30. My.Games annual revenue spikes by 23% to $474m: Top-performing franchise Warface surpasses 85 million registered users
  31. Roblox closes $150m funding round: Investment lead Andreessen Horowitz also tenders $350 million minority stake offer
  32. Kwalee and the power of profit sharing: Pocketing the extra cash would have a “detrimental effect on the success of the company” says CEO David Darling
  33. Games firms “have to be ready” to support employees with mental health issues: Safe In Our World’s Kim Parker-Adcock offers advice on how to cultivate a more understanding work environment
  34. Six ways video game composers are missing out on money: Video game music is more accessible than ever before, but a lack of business knowledge among composers means money is being left on the table
  35. UK Charts: Two Point Hospital debuts at No.2 – Call of Duty Modern Warfare returns to No.1
  36. Free-to-play PS4 and PC game Let it Die surpasses 6 million downloads
  37. Pokerist maker KamaGames grows revenue 18% to $90.4 million in 2019
  38. Mobile studio FunCraft nets $1.8 million to push into casual market
  39. What does $1M in Steam sales look like? Academia: School Simulator case study
  40. GOG will now refund games within 30 days, even if they’ve been played
  41. Labworks secures £500,000 investment for voice game subscription service: “The new service will be designed to cater for both gamers and the needs of wider sectors such as education and the visually impaired community”
  42. TinyBuild and Guts & Glory dev HakJak open new studio in Idaho
  43. TinyBuild opening new Boise studio with Guts and Glory developer: Former solo dev Jed “HakJak” Steen will build a team to make “a world-class emergent gameplay IP”
  44. Tilting Point acquires Star Trek Timelines from Disruptor Beam
  45. Tilting Point buys Star Trek Timelines from Disruptor Beam; Key team members will join Tilting Point to operate Timelines as Wicked Realms Games
  46. Phoenix Games acquires Romanian live-ops company Studio Firefly
  47. Zordix acquires mobile dev Invictus Games
  48. Zordix acquires Invictus Games: Swedish publisher doubles in size with addition of Hungarian mobile developer
  49. Blastlands: Team Combat dev Strange Quest is closing down
  50. Next-gen will be “tectonic plates” shifting underneath marketers: Behaviour’s new chief marketer officer David Reid talks about how much the strategy of selling games has changed and the future of streaming
  51. Designing the end of all Longing: Studio Seufz’s Anselm Pyta talks about his 400-day exploration/idle game, and the importance of time, empathy, and endings
  52. Spellbreak beta stands out from the copycat battle royale crowd
  53. GDC 2020 postponed: Organizers now intend to host a show in the summer after health concerns prompt numerous participants to drop out
  54. GDC postponed to later in 2020 amid coronavirus cancellations [Updated]
  55. Unity pulls out of GDC as coronavirus “presents too much risk”: Engine provider will no longer exhibit, plans to showcase its GDC content online
  56. Amazon, Blizzard withdraw from GDC: Novel coronavirus concerns keeps more big names away from next month’s conference
  57. The ESA is ‘actively assessing’ new COVID-19 info, but says E3 is still on
  58. ESA moves ahead with E3 2020 despite coronavirus concerns – Update: Los Angeles declares state of emergency, E3 team “actively assessing” the situation
  59. CCP calls off EVE Fanfest event over coronavirus concerns
  60. Baldur’s Gate 3 gameplay reveal: A huge leap past THAC0, early access in 2020
  61. Nvidia switches GTC 2020 to online conference amid coronavirus concerns: Chip maker scraps in-person event due to take place in San Jose this month
  62. Epic cancels Unreal Fest Europe 2020 due to coronavirus concerns 
  63. Epic cancels Unreal Fest Europe: Following its withdrawal from GDC 2020, engine provider scraps its own event due to “uncertainty around health concerns and travel”
  64. GamesFirst London 2020 and Google I/O cancelled: Organizers pull plug on events citing novel coronavirus concerns
  65. Industry rallies to offer relief after GDC cancellation: Publishers, developers and trade bodies collaborate to raise funds for financially-stricken attendees
  66. Final Fantasy VII Remake demo finally gets official, free release [Updated]
  67. PlatinumGames: The Wonderful 101 Kickstarter wasn’t about the money – “We thought it would be a good opportunity to bring the fans together — to unite them — and gauge interest,” says executive director Atsushi Inaba
  68. Autistica Play launches inclusive game jam: Charity hopes to show how games can be used to raise awareness and funds for research into the challenges autistic people face
  69. The Great Divide: A look at Africa’s very different dev scenes – Creators discuss what separates the continent’s South and North from its East and West, and what unifies them
  70. Iran video games timeline: from 1970 to 2019
  71. War Stories: How Crash Bandicoot hacked the original PlayStation
  72. Blog: Programming visual effects for Lightmatter
  73. Blog: Designing the perfect video game tutorial
  74. Blog: The secret AI testers inside The Division 22
  75. Don’t Miss: How Game Freak designs the iconic monsters of Pokemon
  76. Don’t Miss: Using the language of film & theater to entice new players in FMV game Erica
  77. Don’t Miss: Reflections on the afterimage of Final Fantasy VII
  78. Don’t Miss: Why multiplayer almost didn’t make it into Halo: Combat Evolved
  79. Don’t Miss: Defining direction, writing, art and music on Yakuza 4
  80. Video: Procedural level design in XCOM 2
  81. Video: Understanding the illusion of choice in game design
  82. Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima to receive BAFTA Fellowship award
  83. Control and Death Stranding lead BAFTA Games Awards 2020 nominations
  84. Control and Death Stranding nominated for 11 BAFTAs each: Hideo Kojima to receive Fellowship as Death Stranding ties for most nominations in BAFTA Game Award history
  85. Hideo Kojima to receive BAFTA Fellowship: BAFTA’s highest honour will be given to Metal Gear Solid’s creator at the Games Awards on April 2, 2020
  86. Konami Code creator Kazuhisa Hashimoto has died: Publisher pays tribute to former programmer and producer
  87. Erica dev Flavourworks nets $650,000 to further develop tactile FMV tech
  88. Valve: Half-Life: Alyx is “not the end” of the franchise
  89. Ten minutes of Half-Life: Alyx: The biggest VR goosebumps we’ve ever had
  90. Half-Life’s mechanics are a ‘surprisingly natural fit for VR’ says Valve
  91. VR 2020 — can Sony’s PlayStation catch PC in the virtual reality game?

DIGITAL

  1. Data shows who was reading “fake news” before 2016 US election
  2. Spanish Government Moves Ahead With First ‘Fake News’ Prosecution
  3. Reddit Cofounder Steve Huffman Calls TikTok “Spyware” That’s “Fundamentally Parasitic”
  4. How Information on the Coronavirus is Managed on Chinese Social Media
  5. How Hackers and Spies Could Sabotage the Coronavirus Fight: Intelligence services have a long history of manipulating information on health issues, and an epidemic is especially tempting for interference.
  6. Turns Out Most People Still Don’t Hate ‘Big Internet’ As Much As Politicians And The Media Want Them To
  7. Defeating Tech Giants With Open Protocols, Interoperability, And Shared Stewardship
  8. Did Apple throttle your iPhone? Settlement will give you a whopping $25
  9. Apple can’t break up with China, Wall Street Journal report argues
  10. It’s not just ‘big tech’ that should be wary of regulatory changes
  11. Everyone agrees: Facebook, Twitter should block disinfo—but probably won’t
  12. 8chan Founder, Who Has Denounced The Site, Now Facing ‘Criminal Cyberlibel’ Charges From Current Owner
  13. Facebook Gives Thumbs Up to Sponsored Content by Politicians
  14. Facebook Announces Restrictions on Coronavirus-Related Ads
  15. Facebook Messenger is getting a much simpler new design: Chatbots and games are gone as part of a broader streamlining of Messenger
  16. Who’s Afraid of the IRS? Not Facebook.: Social media behemoth is about to face off with the tax agency in a rare trial. But onerous budget cuts have hamstrung the agency’s ability to bring the case.
  17. Facebook Files Anti-SLAPP Motion Against Defunct App Developer Who Sued Over Revamp Of Facebook’s App Platform
  18. Facebook cancels F8 conference over coronavirus fears
  19. Facebook denies reports it is backing away from Libra cryptocurrency
  20. Cisco: Avoid coronavirus, stay home, use Webex
  21. Google cancels I/O developer conference amid coronavirus concerns
  22. Fantasy Baseball Players Sue MLB, Houston Astros, and Boston Red Sox
  23. Twitter’s New Investor Wants To Replace CEO Jack Dorsey
  24. Twitter’s newest major investor wants to oust CEO Jack Dorsey
  25. Twitter Introduces ‘Fleets,’ Its Years-Late Version Of The Stories Format
  26. Twitter is testing ephemeral tweets in Brazil and calling them ‘fleets’: Snapchat Stories finally arrive on Twitter
  27. Snapchat’s Speed Filter Protected by Section 230–Lemmon v. Snap (Eric Goldman)
  28. Defendants Keep Getting Arbitration Despite the Anarchy in Online Contract Formation Doctrine (Eric Goldman)
  29. YouTube Isn’t a State Actor (DUH)–PragerU v. Google (Eric Goldman)
  30. Yelp Finally Defeats a False Advertising Lawsuit Over Its Review Functionality–Demetriades v. Yelp (Eric Goldman)
  31. Pricing and the online channel
  32. Microsoft expects to miss Q3 targets due to coronavirus: Supply chain returning to normal at a “slower pace than anticipated”
  33. Amazon Removes More Than One Million Products for Inflated Prices or False Coronavirus Claims
  34. Amazon’s New Grocery Store Is Watching Our Every Move. But We Asked For This.
  35. Making History at Amazon: If they can disrupt the supply chain, Amazon workers could transform an industry that constitutes one of the commanding heights of the twenty-first-century economy.
  36. Tech firms push telework as Amazon employee confirmed with coronavirus
  37. Quibi Closes $750 Millon Round, Bringing Total Funds Raised To $1.75 Billion
  38. Quibi Closes Upsized $750 Million Second Round of Funding for Mobile-Video Launch
  39. LinkedIn tests Stories feature to be like Snapchat too: Even LinkedIn is copying Snapchat now.
  40. Supreme Court Decides Intel Corporation Investment Policy Committee v. Sulyma
  41. Food Delivery Drivers Open to Unionization – Expanding Labour Relations to E-commerce
  42. How e-commerce platforms get drawn into global war on counterfeit goods
  43. Mind the Wrapping: Ensuring the Validity of Online Agreements
  44. Can YouTube Quiet Its Conspiracy Theorists?
  45. YouTube’s Plan to Stop Recommending Conspiracy Theory Videos Is Actually Working
  46. YouTube Is Considering Letting Creators Sell Their Own Ads
  47. YouTube May Allow Content Creators to Sell Ad Space on their Own Videos
  48. BTS Shatters Record For Biggest YouTube ‘Premiere’ With 1.54 Million Concurrent Viewers
  49. Meghan Rienks Says Her Channel Has Been Hacked, Rebranded For 2 Months Amid Idle Response From YouTube
  50. YouTube Rolls Out Kids App To 11 More Countries
  51. YouTube TV Is Dropping YES Network, Fox Sports Networks
  52. After 109,000 Video Removal Appeals Last Quarter, YouTube Says It Reinstated 22%
  53. YouTube’s New Subscriber Notification Metrics Show Creators Exactly How Many Are (And Aren’t) Sent Per Upload
  54. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 3/02/2020
  55. FX launches on Hulu, offering over 40 shows and originals`
  56. Netflix Takes The Stage With First-Ever Live Comedy Festival Featuring Wanda Sykes, Jane Fonda, David Letterman, More
  57. Vine Successor ‘Byte’ To Launch Pooled Monetization Program On April 15
  58. Abrams Artists Signs TikTok Stars Avani Gregg, Andre Swilley, And Tayler Holder
  59. Chipotle Says Its #Boorito TikTok Campaign Got 3.9 Billion Views In 4 Months. But What Exactly Does TikTok Count As A “View”?
  60. TikTok Owner ByteDance Launches Resso App in India, Taking on Spotify
  61. MTV’s New Digital Series Sees Sneaker Influencers Compete In Customization Battles
  62. FTC Guidelines: Possible Civil Penalties to Deter Deceptive Influencer Marketing
  63. The Influencer Industry: Constructing and Commodifying Authenticity on Social Media (Emily Hund)
  64. Actor Steven Seagal Settles With SEC Over Improper Endorsements
  65. Emma Chamberlain Unveils Reimagined Podcast With Broader Focus: ‘Anything Goes’
  66. Casey Neistat Joins Advisory Board For Social Stock Market Investment Startup ‘Public’
  67. New Platform Taki Lets Digital Creators Share Their Skills With Fans Through Custom Commissioned Videos (Exclusive)
  68. Spotify tries making its app easier to use in latest update
  69. Kevin Hart’s LOL Forges Multi-Year Deal With ‘Advertising Week’ For Podcast, Branded Studio, Event Integrations
  70. Yelp Names And Shames Business Buying Reviews
  71. Endeavor Invests In Latest $13 Million Round For Creator Marketplace ‘Tongal’
  72. PetNet ‘Smart’ Pet Feeders Go Offline For A Week, Customer Service Completely Breaks Down
  73. Bernie Sanders Captures Commanding Social Video Lead Among Democratic Hopefuls
  74. Bogus Automated Copyright Claims By CBS Blocked Super Tuesday Speeches By Bernie Sanders, Mike Bloomberg, And Joe Biden
  75. European Commission’s communication on the European digital agenda: shaping Europe’s digital future
  76. Maryland hearing on Digital Advertising Tax highlights problems, hints at amendments
  77. The Evolution of E-Money: What Is In A Definition?
  78. Regulators Unveil Guidance On Best Practices for Internet Vehicle Sales

A.I.

  1. The pope’s plan to fight back against evil AI: The Vatican’s interest in artificial intelligence isn’t new, but pay attention to the tech companies that are joining along.
  2. AI has no personality: EPO rules that an AI machine cannot be an inventor in patent applications
  3. How do you keep an AI’s behavior from becoming predictable?
  4. Bringing Washington D.C. to life: The AI of The Division 2
  5. Big Data promises better deals. But for whom?
  6. AI Outlook: Europe initiates AI regulation introducing the principle of trustworthy AI
  7. European Commission Unveils Bold European Approach to AI Regulation
  8. SEC Issues Guidance on International Intellectual Property and Technology Risks
  9. Ars Technicast special edition, part 3: Putting AI to work defending your stuff
  10. Chinese Hospitals Deploy AI to Help Diagnose Covid-19
  11. Machine Learning Patentability in 2019: 5 Cases Analyzed and Lessons Learned Part 3
  12. Two New California Laws Tackle Deepfake Videos in Politics and Porn
  13. Patenting Artificial Intelligence and quantum technologies
  14. Social work thinking for UX and AI design
  15. OPC Consults on Regulation of Artificial Intelligence
  16. New entry in commercial quantum computing, using entirely different tech

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. Ontario’s Record Breaking, Multi-Billion Dollar Film Production Year: “A Healthy Balance Between Domestic and Foreign Production” (Michael Geist)
  2. The CUSMA Culture Poison Pill: Why the Broadcast Panel Report Could Lead to Millions in Tariff Retaliation (Michael Geist)
  3. Clarence Thomas Regrets Brand X Decision That Paved Way For The Net Neutrality Wars
  4. FCC issues wrist-slap fines to carriers that sold your phone-location data
  5. FCC To Dole Out Some Dainty Wrist Slaps For Wireless Carrier Location Data Scandals
  6. T-Mobile Cares So Much About Consumer Privacy, It’s Fighting The FCC’s Flimsy Fine For Location Data Sharing
  7. Right On Cue, Post-Merger T-Mobile Layoffs Begin
  8. T-Mobile conducts layoffs as it prepares to complete Sprint merger
  9. DOJ Sues Telecommunications Operators Over Robocalls
  10. New Charges Leveled Against Huawei, et al.
  11. Congress gives small ISPs $1 billion to rip out Huawei, ZTE network gear
  12. Many of Cable TV’s Dumbest Habits Will Make The Leap To Streaming
  13. AT&T’s new online TV has contracts, hidden fees, big 2nd-year price hike
  14. Struggling AT&T plans “tens of billions” in cost cuts, more layoffs
  15. FCC Proposes Over $200 Million in Fines Against “Big 4” Carriers for Failing to Protect Consumer Location Data
  16. FCC chair reportedly seeks fines for carrier sharing of location data
  17. FCC Adopts Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Looking to Allow Higher Power and Greater Height for Unlicensed White Space Devices Operating in the TV Bands
  18. Old Media Content – Not Dead Yet
  19. Telemedicine and the Coronavirus Crisis: Key Legal Issues for Providers to Consider

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Can someone copyright every possible melody? (Andres Guadamuz)
  2. Simple Solutions Simply Don’t Suffice to Solve the Slew of Song Infringement Substantial Similarity Suits
  3. Castillo v. G&M Realty L.P.: 2nd Circuit affirms $6.75 million damages against property owner for painting over   graffiti art at 5Pointz exhibition, ruling that works were protected under Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990.
  4. Second Circuit Affirms $6.7M VARA Judgment for Aerosol Artists
  5. United Kingdom: Court of Appeal Clarifies When a Work is a Product of Joint Authorship
  6. Netflix argues ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ has become a generic term
  7. Netflix Seeks Cancellation Of “Choose Your Own Adventure” Trademark
  8. Court Dismisses Author’s Claim that TV Series “Billions” Copied Her Work – No Substantial Similarity Under Any Applicable Test
  9. The Vatican Apostolic Library enters the digital age – and promptly asserts copyright
  10. Bobby Brown’s Claims for the Use of His Name and Likeness Not His Prerogative
  11. Copyright Registration – A Prerequisite to a Copyright Infringement Suit
  12. Landmark ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Digital Exhaustion in the Tom Kabinet Case
  13. Clash of IP and competition to pharma’s detriment? The CJEU’s decision in the GSK case
  14. Google v. Oracle – Copyright Battle of the Tech Titans
  15. Breaking Down the Briefing in Google v. Oracle: Petitioner’s Brief
  16. Four major factors at play in the Google-Oracle IP rights dispute
  17. U.S. Copyright Office: Renewal of DMCA Designated Agent Required for DMCA Safe Harbor
  18. Fifth Circuit Tosses Statutory Damages Award, Reinforcing the Importance of Early Copyright Registration
  19. Geo-blocking of copyright protected content: The elephant in the room
  20. Copyright: protection of designs as copyright works
  21. Who Owns the Copyright? Work-Made-For-Hire Edition
  22. Move to terminate Paramount Decrees may effect IP in the film industry
  23. UK confirms withdrawal from the Unitary Patent
  24. The UK will not be part of the UPC, Prime Minster’s Office confirms to IAM
  25. The European unified patent court – a Brexit casualty?
  26. Federal Court of Appeal remands REMICADE new use patent decision on anticipation and obviousness
  27. A Practical Guide to the transition to Canada’s new Patent Act and Rules
  28. Music – First Sale Doctrine, Fair Use and Protectability
  29. Key Estate Planning Considerations for Individuals with IP (Part I: Introduction & Copyrights)
  30. The Past and Future of Canada’s Criminalization of Trade Secret Theft – Part I
  31. The Past and Future of Canada’s Criminalization of Trade Secret Theft – Part II
  32. Intellectual Property Outlook: Cases and Trends to Follow in 2020 – PART 3
  33. Banking on Intellectual Property | Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in Banking
  34. Millennium and Janssen seek leave from Supreme Court in Section 8 bortezomib case
  35. Architects’ copyright
  36. The Future of Patent Research
  37. Senator Thom Tillis Pushed Awful Patent Reform Idea Last Year; Now Looks To Top It With Awful Copyright Reform This Year

PRIVACY

  1. State Actors Are Increasingly Targeting Journalists With Surveillance Malware
  2. “We Don’t Have Any Specific Analysis”: CUSMA Negotiators Surprising Admission On Key Privacy Issues (Michael Geist)
  3. HTTPS for all: Let’s Encrypt reaches one billion certificates issued
  4. Hoping To Combat ISP Snooping, Mozilla Enables Encrypted DNS
  5. State Court Says It Isn’t Theft To Remove An Unmarked Law Enforcement Tracking Device From Your Car
  6. FBI And DOJ Personnel Confirm Agents Frequently Fudge Facts When Seeking FISA Warrants
  7. From Wi-Fi to Spy-Fi—we test Plume’s new motion detection feature
  8. Should Antitrust Laws Tackle Privacy Issues? DOJ and State AGs Continue Google Investigations in Response to Privacy Concerns
  9. No, Google Isn’t Hiding Elizabeth Warren’s Emails To Promote Mayor Pete
  10. Disruptionware II – The “Cyber Terminator” and What This New Threat Means to You and Your Data
  11. How a hacker’s mom broke into prison—and the warden’s computer
  12. Documents Show Clearview Is Selling Facial Recognition Tech To Retailers, Fitness Centers, And Human Rights Violators
  13. More than 2,200 agencies and companies have tried Clearview, report finds
  14. Clearview Is Handing Out Access To Dozens Of UK Entities, Setting Up Accounts For Congressional Reps
  15. ‘Consumer Privacy Act’ Introduced in the Land of Lincoln
  16. The Washington Privacy Act Is Back
  17. Stealing advanced nations’ Mac malware isn’t hard. Here’s how one hacker did it
  18. Year in Review: Federal Privacy Enforcement Summarized
  19. The Year of Record Penalties: The Federal Trade Commission’s 2019 Privacy & Data Security Update
  20. 2019 Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Year in Review
  21. What’s scarier than hosts gone rogue? Westworld’s idea for privacy laws

CREATIVITY   

  1. I Wish More Countries ‘Stole’ Our Movies
  2. Sixth Circuit: Criticizing Refs Is Protected Speech, Even If Lots Of Sports Fans Are A-holes
  3. Court Dismisses Defamation Claim Against Crain Communications
  4. The Law Doesn’t Care About Your Feelings: 9th Circuit Slams Prager University For Its Silly Lawsuit Against YouTube
  5. Trump Campaign Files Laughably Stupid SLAPP Suit Over A NY Times Opinion Piece
  6. Another Day, Another Bogus SLAPP Suit From Devin Nunes And Steven Biss
  7. Watchdog Group Asks Congressional Ethics Office To Investigate How Devin Nunes Is Paying For His Many SLAPP Suits
  8. Shia LaBeouf Walks Into a Bar . . . And Ends Up Losing an Anti-Slapp Motion
  9. NY Times Political Reporter Believes Telling Right From Wrong Is Beyond His Job Description; He’s Wrong
  10. Mamadou Sakho allege that WADA is liable for negligence and defamation
  11. Why the Success of The New York Times May Be Bad News for Journalism: Our new media columnist says The Times has become like Facebook or Google – a digital behemoth crowding out the competition.
  12. NBCUniversal Fined €14.3 Million as European Commission Completes Trilogy of Sales Restriction Cases
  13. Unpaid Interns and a Lunch Order Gone Bad: Jury Returns FLSA Retaliation Verdict Against Martina McBride’s Production Company
  14. Hollywood Action Star Settles SEC Charges for Failing to Disclose ICO Promotion Payments
  15. The Tail of the Phillie Phanatic – The Hidden Underbelly of the New-Look Mascot
  16. U.S. Immigration Considerations for Media and Entertainment Industries

Jon

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News of the Week; February 26, 2020

By Jon Festinger on March 3, 2020

GAMES

  1. Crytek’s lawsuit against Star Citizen devs ends in settlement
  2. TIGA principles for protecting players are quietly radical | Opinion: UK trade group’s endorsement of common sense best practices shows good faith effort, puts peers to shame
  3. NHS’ gaming addiction clinic only needed by ‘a very small percentage’: Founder Dr Bowden-Jones hopes the numbers will remain lower than problem gambling
  4. Copyright In The Modern Era: Fortnite Lets Players Mute Emote To Avoid Auto-Copyright Claims Against YouTubers
  5. UK High Court Confirms That Grand Theft Auto Cheat Software Infringes Copyright
  6. EA bans pro FIFA player from all EA games for threatening messages and behavior
  7. The nuclear option: EA bans “abusive” FIFA player from all of its games
  8. Activision subpoenas Reddit in hopes of tracking down Call of Duty leaker
  9. Activision goes after Reddit to expose Call of Duty leaker: DMCA subpoena issued to identify user who posted new screenshot
  10. Well Then: Activision Issues DMCA Subpoena To Have Reddit Unmask Whoever Posted That CoD Image Leak
  11. Kitfox’s Victoria Tran aims to kill toxic game communities with kindness
  12. Panic Art Studios CEO posts racist remarks on Twitter: Elias Viglione describes outburst as “moment of temporary insanity”
  13. Kobe Bryant: Washington Post reporter reinstated after tweet row
  14. New legal counsel takes over class action lawsuit against Riot Games
  15. New legal counsel seeking ‘institutional reform’ in Riot Games’ discrimination lawsuit
  16. Two of Riot Games’ next few projects are being developed with Unity
  17. The next Xbox will quadruple XB1’s CPU, octuple its GPU performance
  18. Microsoft confirms Xbox Series X will pack 12 teraflop GPU, shares more tech specs
  19. Xbox boss Phil Spencer: Game streaming won’t hinder home consoles
  20. GeForce Now passes 1 million signups during free trial period
  21. Weeks after launch, Nvidia’s GeForce Now attracts a million streaming gamers
  22. Bethesda Softworks pulls all games but Wolfenstein: Youngblood from GeForce Now
  23. Bethesda pulls games from GeForce Now, more publishers may follow: But Nvidia promises new games will be added every week as trial period comes to an end
  24. Google wants to bring HTML5 titles to low-end devices with GameSnacks
  25. Google Stadia will come pre-installed in certain smartphones: Starting with the Asus ROG Phone 3
  26. The strange, unexplained journey of ToTok in Google Play fuels user suspicions
  27. Google Pulls 600 Apps From the Google Play Store for Disruptive Advertising
  28. Kunai becomes the latest title review bombed on Metacritic by a single person: TurtleBlaze’s Metroidvania was targeted at random, dropping from an 8.1 user score to a 1.7 in a single day
  29. Game crunch lessons: How to avoid game development crunch – “Teams who are having fun make better games and making games should be fun — otherwise, what’s the point?”
  30. Around 20 employees laid off at mobile studio Kixeye
  31. Kixeye lays off around 20: Parent company Stillfront says cuts were “a natural step” after acquisition, won’t affect portfolio or business in general
  32. UK studio Ultimatum Games has shut down after four years 
  33. Adventure game trailblazer Roberta Williams to receive Pioneer Award at GDC 2020
  34. Roberta Williams to receive GDCA Pioneer Award: King’s Quest designer will be recognized for her work in graphic adventures and for co-founding Sierra On-Line
  35. Is the US market ready to embrace a $500 game console?
  36. Roblox raises $150 million for game-making, game-playing platform
  37. COVID-19 looms over planning for next-gen launches | Opinion: The epidemic threatens to shut down supply chains the entire games industry relies on — and even push new console launches into next year
  38. PlayStation cites coronavirus, backs out of multiple major gaming expos [Updated]
  39. PlayStation and Facebook cancel GDC appearances citing coronavirus concerns: Kojima Productions also pulls out, cancelling founder’s talk
  40. Australian retailers limit Ring Fit Adventure sales as resellers and coronavirus cause stock shortage: Staff reportedly warned new stock will not be available until end of March or early April
  41. PUBG, Black Desert add new PS4 and Xbox One cross-play features
  42. CD Projekt Red and PUBG Corp cancel event plans due to coronavirus: But Cyberpunk 2077 developer currently still plans to attend GDC 2020
  43. The Wonderful 101 dev PlatinumGames to open 100-person studio in Tokyo
  44. Platinum Games opening new Tokyo studio: Bayonetta developer plans to build new team to 100 people to work on Viewtiful Joe and Wonderful 101 follow-up
  45. Employees say “sheer desperation” drives GameStop’s aggressive sales tactics: Chain focuses on pre-orders and buying used phones, with the potential threat of termination for staff who miss targets
  46. Nintendo severely limits save file options for Animal Crossing on Switch
  47. UK Monthly Report: GTA V and Nintendo Switch Lite shine in quiet January
  48. Pokemon Home first week downloads reached 1.3m: Sensor Tower -Estimated first week revenue from subscription plans is around $1.8 million
  49. Pokemon-inspired MMO Temtem passes 500,000 copies sold
  50. Steam’s latest search features are straight from Steam Labs experiments
  51. Metro Exodus off to strong start on Steam, despite Epic exclusivity: Embracer Group CEO says shooter has already sold 200,000 copies, also discusses Shenmue III’s performance
  52. UK Charts: Bayonetta and Vanquish return to Top Ten: Half-Term sales boosts Team Sonic Racing, Call of Duty Black Ops 4 and Forza Horizon 4
  53. Games’ European mobile market share expected to shrink to 55% by 2022: But category will still be biggest source of user spending, expected to hit $12.9 billion
  54. GOG expands refund policy to 30 days: New policy allows for customers to get their money back even if the game was played
  55. GOG asks you to please not abuse its expansive new 30-day refund policy
  56. Netmarble’s full year sales are up, but profit is down: Korean mobile developer to continue focus on global expansion
  57. Giants opening Chicago office: Farming Simulator developer’s first outpost outside of Europe to focus on support for North and South American players
  58. Starbreeze looks toward Payday 3 with $5m share sale: New series A shares are equivalent to 30% of voting rights in the embattled Swedish publisher
  59. Animal Crossing New Horizons lost save files can only be recovered once: Cloud saves will be limited to Switch Online members, and can only be accessed in case of loss or damage
  60. Take-Two forms new internal studio to finish Kerbal Space Program 2 
  61. Private Division moves Kerbal Space Program 2 development to new, internal studio: Jeremy Ables, other KSP2 leads join Private Division, but former developer Star Theory’s status is unknown
  62. Deathtrap Dungeon adaptation aims to demonstrate the true potential of interactive fiction: Branching Narrative’s Matt Spall also discusses how the scariest graphics are your imagination
  63. Black Desert Online and the diverging MMO ecosystem; Pearl Abyss America CEO Jeonghee Jin discusses the changing face of MMO monetisation
  64. On Kirby 64 and Impressionism: Sketch House Games’ Nate Buck considers how N64 developers discarded details while preserving an aesthetic
  65. Games sales up 51% at THQ Nordic at end of 2019
  66. The Witcher 3 earns $50 million on Steam in 18 months to hop revenue tiers
  67. Make-A-Wish launches GameStars charity intiative: UK branch of the charity will make it simpler for the games community to raise money
  68. YouTube Millionaires: MMG Balances College And A “Cuul” Gig As One Of YouTube’s Top ‘Madden’ Creators
  69. Twitch is making it easier to understand League of Legends matches: Helping you keep track of your favorite League of Legends streamers
  70. Twitch Star Dr DisRespect To Pen “Memoir” About His Gaming Persona For Simon & Schuster
  71. Twitch to top 40 million US viewers next year, forecast says
  72. Newzoo: Global esports market will reach $1.1b in 2020 – Nearly three-fourths of all revenue will come from sponsorships and media rights
  73. Esports firm Tempo Storm raises $3.3 million to launch a game
  74. Esports company Tempo Storm nets $3.3 million to start making games
  75. Tempo Storm raises $3.3 million: Esports team will use latest funding to expand into blockchain game development and livestreamed entertainment
  76. Adapting to the evolution of esports: Major League Gaming co-founder Mike Sepso explains why the original MLG wouldn’t work today, and how his new start-up Vindex is positioned for the future
  77. Wales. Golf. Madrid. Esports. In that order? Gareth Bale sets up a new esports team
  78. Ride on…in accordance with the rules
  79. Space Channel 5 VR review: The worst value proposition for a PSVR game yet
  80. Facebook acquires Asgard’s Wrath dev Sanzaru Games
  81. Facebook acquires Sanzaru Games: Studio behind Asgard’s Wrath to join Oculus Studios and continue VR development
  82. More Than 100 VR Games Have Exceeded $1 Million in Revenue
  83. HTC takes its own magic leap, announces Vive Proton prototype headset
  84. Index Will Return to Stock Ahead of ‘Half-Life: Alyx’, but “far fewer units” Due to Coronavirus
  85. How a new wave of developers are using voxels to create jaw-dropping worlds
  86. Push-button warfare: How artists use games to capture drone strike horror
  87. DeltaDNA and Earplay partner to bring analytics to voice-based games and apps
  88. PewDiePie Returns To Daily YouTube Uploads After “Really Healthy And Good” Break
  89. An extended interview with Atrus himself, Myst creator Rand Miller
  90. Video: Inside the AI systems of Final Fantasy XV 
  91. Blog: Crafting nightmares to define Othercide’s art direction
  92. Blog: Dear game developers everywhere – go teach!
  93. Blog: A decade-spanning retrospective of the Indonesian games industry
  94. Blog: A critical analysis of The Outer Wilds
  95. Blog: My full-time indie developer life – Year 3
  96. Don’t Miss: A Game Design Deep Dive into SteamWorld Dig’s digging mechanic
  97. Don’t Miss: A water interaction model for great video game boat physics
  98. Don’t Miss: The Resident Evil 4 postmortem
  99. Don’t Miss: A look back at the history of Konami’s Gradius
  100. Red Candle Games’ delisted game Devotion added to Harvard Library collection
  101. Eli Roth to direct Borderlands movie: Long-in-the-works adaptation will be helmed by filmmaker behind Hostel, Cabin Fever, and Death Wish remake
  102. The Outer Worlds, Outer Wilds, and more named Nebula Award finalists
  103. Obituary: Konami Code creator Kazuhisa Hashimoto has passed away

DIGITAL

  1. First Amendment doesn’t apply on YouTube; judges reject PragerU lawsuit: YouTube can restrict PragerU videos because it is a private forum, court rules.
  2. Father Of Alison Parker Files FTC Complaint Against YouTube, Alleging It Refuses To Remove Videos Of Her Death
  3. T-Series’ YouTube Channel Becomes First To Collect 100 Billion Views
  4. YouTube Confirms Demonetization Of Controversial Vlogger JayStation, As He Announces Indefinite Hiatus
  5. YouTube Reinstates Popular Music Streaming Channel ChilledCow After Fan Outcry
  6. Section 230 Protects Zillow for Bogus Submissions of House Details–924 Bel Air v. Zillow (Eric Goldman)
  7. Why Section 230 Matters And How Not To Break The Internet; DOJ 230 Workshop Review, Part I
  8. Section 230 and Criminal Law; DOJ 230 Workshop Review, Part II
  9. Barr’s Motives, Encryption and Protecting Children; DOJ 230 Workshop Review, Part III
  10. Rep. Cicilline Wants To Remove Section 230 Protections For Platforms That Host ‘Demonstrably False’ Political Ads
  11. Apple Pay under Competition Law scrutiny
  12. Apple is considering letting users change default email, browser, music apps in iOS
  13. Apple Maps expands its Street View competitor to Boston, DC, Philadelphia
  14. Apple tells moviemakers that villains can’t use iPhones, Rian Johnson says
  15. New Sony Xperia 1 II smartphone looks handsome, costs a ridiculous $1,300
  16. UK Government Releases Details of New ‘Online Harms’ Regime for Online Platforms
  17. UK Government’s Action Tackles Online Harms
  18. EU’s new digital strategy targets data-hoarding tech firms
  19. Digitalization, a high priority for Europe’s future – the European Commission showcases its new digital and AI strategy
  20. European Commission Announces Strategy for Data, Artificial Intelligence and Competition in the Digital Age
  21. CMA publishes interim report on online platforms and digital advertising
  22. How the Coronavirus Revealed Authoritarianism’s Fatal Flaw: China’s use of surveillance and censorship makes it harder for Xi Jinping to know what’s going on in his own country. (Zeynep Tufekci)
  23. China Expels Three Wall Street Journal Reporters: China’s Foreign Ministry says move was punishment for a recent opinion piece published by the Journal
  24. US government agencies are banning TikTok, the social media app teens are obsessed with, over cybersecurity fears — here’s the full list
  25. Amid Security Concerns, TSA Bans Employee Usage Of TikTok For Social Posts
  26. Prada Taps TikTok Megastar Charli D’Amelio For Milan Fashion Week Appearance
  27. Significant online defamation damages in Canada – are online platforms immune?‎
  28. Attorney General William Barr Raises Concerns over ISP Immunity
  29. The system is rigged against users: Another reason why getting compensated for data is not a good idea (Beatriz Botero Arcila)
  30. Clickwrap Agreement: Consent or Not Consent, That Is A Question
  31. Swinging the Vote?: Google’s black box algorithm controls which political emails land in your main inbox. For 2020 presidential candidates, the differences are stark.
  32. Federal Circuit Finds Presence Of Google’s Cache Servers In The Eastern District Of Texas Does Not Justify Venue
  33. 300 Oracle employees walk out over Ellison’s Trump fundraiser: The Trump administration just sided with Oracle in its legal battle with Google.
  34. Report: 300 Oracle employees walk out over Ellison’s Trump fundraiser
  35. Inside the Seething Boardroom Drama That Poisoned HQ Trivia: The app was America’s favorite gameshow until a toxic culture and co-founder feuding drove it off the air. Now, the CEO wants to bring it back.
  36. Companies are stealing influencers’ faces
  37. Federal Circuit Rules Presence of Google Servers in District Insufficient to Establish Venue
  38. FTC Toughens Enforcement against Comparison Websites and Influence Marketers
  39. FTC Seeking Public Comment on Revisions to Endorsement Guides
  40. Get ready for price hikes up to 10% annually after sale of .org registry
  41. The Drive-Thru Creator Problem: How Low-Quality Content Is Hurting Brands (And Creators)
  42. Instagram influencer Natalia Taylor fakes Bali vacation with Ikea pics: Taylor wanted to remind people not everything they see on Instagram is the real deal.
  43. Children’s Content Studio Pocket.Watch Unveils Kid-Centric Ad Agency ‘Clock.Work’
  44. Tana Mongeau Debuts Second Season Of MTV Reality Series, Adding Trevor Moran To Primary Cast
  45. Nickelodeon Nabs Social Star Annie LeBlanc For 13-Episode Linear Sitcom ‘Side Hustle’
  46. Facebook Aims To Get 3.5 Billion People Online So That It Can Profit From Their Data
  47. Facebook offers to pay users for their voice recordings
  48. Facebook will now pay you for your voice recordings: But it won’t pay much
  49. New Decade, New Facebook? Facebook Reaches $550 Million Settlement in Facial Recognition Class Action, Agrees to Upgrade Privacy Safeguards
  50. Facebook Unveils Creator-Centric ‘Studio’ App For Upload Management, Video Analytics, More
  51. Are Your Facebook Posts Discoverable? Application of the Forman Test in New York
  52. WCB Seeks to Refresh Record in Restoring Internet Freedom Proceeding in Wake of D.C. Circuit’s Mozilla Decision
  53. YouTube TV Adding HBO, HBO Max, Cinemax To Channel Lineup Come Spring
  54. WarnerMedia, YouTube TV Expand Distribution Deal to HBO, Cinemax, HBO Max
  55. YouTuber Partnerships Are Playing Big At This Year’s Toy Fair New York
  56. The Dolan Twins’ ‘Love From Sean’ Cancer-Fighting Venture Raises Roughly $200,000 In 24 Hours
  57. Tubular Labs Introduces New ‘Video Categories’ Tool, Co-Developed By Former Netflix Exec
  58. Netflix’s Top 10: What Is It, And Why Has It Shown Up Now?
  59. Fox Looking To Acquire Tubi For Reported $500 Million, As NBCUniversal Sets Sights On Vudu
  60. TikTok Rolls Out Tools Enabling Parents To Police Screen Time, Direct Messaging
  61. Petnet goes offline for a week, can’t answer customers at all
  62. Twitter now makes it easier to add new tweets to old threads: Now you can keep tweetstorms going forever
  63. This is Amazon’s newest grocery store concept
  64. Amazon made a bigger camera-spying store—so we tried to steal its fruit
  65. Spotify revamps the brand of its New Music Friday playlist
  66. Amid A Sudden Gold Rush, Is Podcasting’s Market “Anyone With Ears?”
  67. Sweep” of European websites
  68. Overview of internet intermediary and media law cases for Northern Ireland in 2019: Part 1
  69. Overview of internet intermediary and media law cases for Northern Ireland in 2019: Part 2
  70. The Mandalorian was shot on a holodeck-esque set with Unreal Engine, video shows
  71. A peanut butter brand has put its spoon into the GIF pronunciation debate

A.I.

  1. How Should AI be Regulated in Canada? Speak now, or forever hold your peace!
  2. 2020 Update: Data-Driven Online Targeting
  3. The Regulator: European Commission sets out approach on the future regulation of AI
  4. AI Update: European Commission Presents Strategies for Data and AI (Part 1 of 4)
  5. Contextual Analysis of Social Media: The Promise and Challenge of Eliciting Context in Social Media Posts with Natural Language Processing
  6. Who’s protecting the machines? Will IP law offer incentives to AI developers in the battle to beat bacteria?
  7. A neural network picks promising antibiotics out of a library of chemicals
  8. Dark, Beyond Deep: A Paradigm Shift to Cognitive AI with Humanlike Common Sense
  9. 2019 Artificial Intelligence Year in Review
  10. NTSB blasts Tesla, CalTrans, and NHTSA for Autopilot death

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. Complaint filed against Bell Canada and Rogers for anti-competitive conduct: Bell and Rogers sometimes inflated rates by more than 900 per cent, CRTC found
  2. Deja Vu All Over Again: Looking Back at Two Decades of Bell, Telus and Rogers Battles Over the Canadian Wireless Market (Michael Geist) 
  3. Who Runs Canadian Telecom Policy Anyway?: Why the Telus Threats at the CRTC Will Backfire (Michael Geist)
  4. Broadcast Panel Chair Says Canada Already Licenses News Organizations So Why Not Internet Companies? (Michael Geist)
  5. The Broadcast Panel Report and Canadian Stories: Take the Cancon Quiz (Michael Geist)
  6. NY AG Gives Up, Won’t Appeal T-Mobile Merger Ruling
  7. AT&T loses key ruling in class action over unlimited-data throttling
  8. AT&T Loses California Case After Lying To Consumers About ‘Unlimited’ Data Throttling
  9. Time Warner Cable Enters Into $18.8M Settlement With California DAs Over Internet Speeds
  10. Clarence Thomas regrets ruling that Ajit Pai used to kill net neutrality
  11. Trump report bizarrely claims net neutrality repeal raised incomes $50B a year
  12. The FCC To Field More Comments On Net Neutrality. Maybe They’ll Stop Identity Theft And Fraud This Time?
  13. FCC Does Bupkis As US Telco Networks Fall Apart, Putting Lives At Risk
  14. FCC Adopts Strict Processing Policies on Requests for Modification of TV Markets for Cable and Satellite Carriage
  15. FCC Announces Data Collection on Huawei and ZTE Equipment Replacement Effort
  16. U.S. Alleges Huawei Involved in Long-Running Scheme to Steal Trade Secrets
  17. FCC Seeks Anti-Robocall Information from Seven “International Gateways” Believed to be Originating Illegal Robocalls
  18. FCC Proposed Nearly $13 Million Fine for Illegal Spoofing
  19. As satellite TV tanks, Dish says merger with DirectTV is “inevitable”
  20. Dish Floats DirecTV Merger, Because What’s A Little Mindless Monopolization Among Friends?
  21. Thanks, Qualcomm: Mandatory 5G means phones now ship with disabled 5G modems
  22. Federal Trade Commission Reminds 19 VoIP Providers of the Telemarketing Sales Rule

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Musicians Algorithmically Generate Every Possible Melody, Release Them to Public Domain: Damien Riehl & Noah Rubin generated and saved every possible melody to a drive, then turned it around to the commons.
  2. Attempt To Put Every Musical Melody Into The Public Domain Demonstrates Craziness Of Modern Copyright
  3. Can a Machine Be Considered an ‘Inventor’ for Patent Purposes?
  4. Drake’s Sampling is a Fair Use
  5. Judge upholds decision awarding $6.75 million (£5.2 million) damages to 5 Pointz graffiti artists
  6. Second Circuit Affirms Visual Artists Rights Act Protects Famed Graffiti-ed Building
  7. An introduction to copyright for creatives
  8. Merchandising Monsters – European Commission imposes €14.3 million fine on NBCUniversal
  9. The NCAA Blocks the Use of “March Madness” in Trademark Dispute
  10. Brakes put on Bentley Motors’ use of trademark
  11. Infringement by ReTweet?
  12. Copyright term under Disney’s spell?
  13. Can You License A Video You Don’t Hold The Copyright Over?
  14. Copyright Can’t Bend Far Enough to Be Used Like a Patent
  15. Protecting the Design of Consumer Goods
  16. Compete, monetise, abandon: the strategic path to IP value
  17. Intellectual Property Alert: Where and How You Store Your Servers May Subject You to Patent Litigation in a Distant Jurisdiction
  18. Canadian patent law: 2019 year in review
  19. Obtaining patent protection for software in Europe
  20. 2019 U.S. Patents Hit All Time High
  21. Is Chinese IP Theft Coming to an End?
  22. The US Spent Years Telling China To Take Patents Seriously; Now It’s Freaking Out That China Is Doing So
  23. Design Patent Guidance Found in Recent Court Decisions
  24. Intellectual Property and Brexit
  25. IP after Brexit: consequences and checklists
  26. Revolution in enforcement of intellectual property rights in Poland – Introduction of specialised IP courts
  27. Hiding Actualities: Whether Art Should Exist Independent of the Artist (Derek Diemer)
  28. Open source licenses: What, which, and why
  29. The Next Risk In Buying An IOT Product Is Having It Bricked By A Patent Dispute
  30. Smithsonian Releases 2.8 Million Images And 3D Models Into The Public Domain

PRIVACY

  1. Ontario Recognizes False Light Tort of Invasion of Privacy
  2. Coronavirus brings China’s surveillance state out of the shadows
  3. Google cracks down on location-tracking Android apps
  4. NSA Blew $100 Million On Phone Records Over Five Years, Generated Exactly One Usable Lead
  5. Kentucky Appeals Court Says Cops Need Warrants To Obtain Real-Time Cell Site Location Info
  6. Yelp Defeats Businesses’ “Right to Be Forgotten” Claims—Spiegelman v. Yelp (Eric Goldman)
  7. Comments on the DOJ’s Proposed Modifications to the CCPA Regulations (Eric Goldman)
  8. Stalkerware Developer Found Leaking Sensitive Data From Thousands Of The Software’s Victims
  9. Stalkerware Developer Demands TechCrunch Remove Article Detailing Its Leaking Of Sensitive Data
  10. California man arrested on charges his DDoSes took down candidate’s website
  11. Senators Pitch Temporary Facial Recognition Ban, Leave Door Wide Open For Abuse By Federal Agencies
  12. Google faces state lawsuit alleging misuse of schoolkids’ private data
  13. Removing a GPS tracking device from your car isn’t theft, court rules
  14. Secretive face-matching startup has customer list stolen
  15. Flaw in billions of Wi-Fi devices left communications open to eavesdropping
  16. Firefox turns encrypted DNS on by default to thwart snooping ISPs
  17. The House wants to know what Ring is doing with footage from your house
  18. Ring Says It Helps Cops Fight Crime But The Data Shows It’s No Better At This Than Any Other Security Camera
  19. Ring Continues To Pitch Facial Recognition To Law Enforcement While Claiming It Won’t Be Adding Facial Recognition To Its Cameras
  20. An Airbnb For Farmland Hits A Snag, As Farmers Raise Data Privacy Concerns
  21. Data Breaches and complaints up over 70% – key findings of DPC Annual Report
  22. The Overlooked IoT Data Security Law in California
  23. UK Government to Introduce New Law to Strengthen Security of Consumer IoT Devices
  24. February 21, 2020 Commissioners launch joint investigation into Clearview AI amid growing concerns over use of facial recognition technology
  25. Russia’s War On Encryption Stumbles Forth With Ban Of Tutanota

CREATIVITY   

  1. Trump campaign says it is suing New York Times over Russia opinion piece
  2. As Court Finally Dumps One Of Devin Nunes’ Ridiculous Lawsuits (With A Warning About Sanctions), Nunes Promises To File Another
  3. Public Citizen Weighs In On Why Court Should Protect @DevinCow’s Information Under The 1st Amendment
  4. Group Promoting ‘Religious Freedom’ Around Vaccines Appears To Want To Stifle Free Expression Of Critics
  5. NPR Pulls Out The Big Guns: Asks For Sanctions Against Lawyer Steven Biss For Lying
  6. Corona Beer Takes a Hit From Coronavirus as Brand Image Suffers
  7. Judge Sullivan Dismisses Former Knick Charles Oakley’s Defamation Suit Against James Dolan and MSG
  8. Discovering Ed Sheeran’s Concert Income

Jon

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News of the Week; February 19, 2020

By Jon Festinger on March 2, 2020

GAMES

  1. UK Court Finds GTA V Cheat Makers Guilty of Copyright Infringement
  2. Rockstar Joins Other Publishers In Misusing Copyright Law To Go After Cheat Developers For GTA5
  3. GTA IV to return to Steam after cutting Games for Windows Live support
  4. GTA IV returns to Steam with Complete Edition next month: But transition from Games For Windows Live means loss of multiplayer mode
  5. Capital C Infringement of Capitol Records: EMI April Music Inc. v. 4MM Games, LLC, 2014 WL 1383468
  6. Fortnite boss says game loot boxes ’cause harm’
  7. After Confusion, IRS Clarifies Tax Treatment Of Fortnite & Gaming Currencies
  8. Italy Introduces Content Rating System for Videogames and Launches Permanent Observatory
  9. Game Developer Decides Best Way To Get Back At Pirates Is To Pirate Them Back
  10. Ex-Starbreeze exec convicted of insider trading
  11. Former Starbreeze CFO convicted of insider trading
  12. Can cheaters ever prosper? Videogames, esports and the gamers breaking the rules to get ahead
  13. How to Make Billions in E-Sports: There’s a gaming gold rush on, with companies cashing in on competitions, sponsorships and merch. But it all comes down to signing the best players.
  14. Fortnite and FIFA honoured at the Game Shaker Awards 2020: Esports Bar Cannes event also gave awards to Riot Games and Astralis Group
  15. ESL, DreamHack sign revenue-sharing deal with 13 esports teams: Agreement ensures Team Liquid, Evil Geniuses, Fnatic compete in MTG-owned circuits, grants partner teams a portion of ESL Pro Tour proceeds
  16. Here to stay – Faker becomes part-owner of T1 in 3-year deal
  17. Creators Going Pro: Meet KOT4Q, The ‘NBA 2K’ Enthusiast Who Hosted House Of Highlights’ All-Star Game Coverage
  18. Ninja criticized for calling out gamers who aren’t angry after losing
  19. Google Reportedly Paying Activision Blizzard $160 Million For YouTube’s Exclusive Livestreaming Rights
  20. Cyberpunk 2077 confirmed for GeForce Now, will have ray tracing via the cloud
  21. Activision Blizzard Pulls Its Games From Nvidia’s Streaming Service
  22. Activision Blizzard pulls all games from GeForce Now a week after launch: Nvidia clarifies that initial inclusion of publisher’s titles was due to a “misunderstanding”
  23. Nvidia’s GeForce Now loses Bethesda Softworks games: Second major publisher to pull its catalog following streaming service’s launch
  24. Activision Tries To Bury Cover Art For New CoD Game Via Copyright Threat…So Let’s All Look At It Together, Shall We?
  25. Nifty Games signs licensing deal with NBA for its first game
  26. What the CEO of Epic Games gets wrong about video games and politics
  27. Detroit: Become Human dev Quantic Dream will self-publish from here on out
  28. Lydia developer’s quest to make a ‘feel bad’ game about substance abuse: “If we can make a difference for even one child’s life, what could be better?”
  29. Report: Nintendo facing global Switch shortage because of coronavirus
  30. CryEngine finally hits Switch with low-resolution Warface port
  31. “The Switcher” improves: Witcher 3 reduces blur, now works with Steam, GOG
  32. NPD: January sales down 26% year-over-year – Dragon Ball Z Kakarot tops charts as hardware spending declines 35% year-over-year
  33. UK Charts: PS4 exclusives Yakuza and Dreams crack Top Ten – But it’s the classic FIFA and Call of Duty duo that come out top
  34. Anthem gets a rare second chance | Opinion: Most games that fail at launch are quickly passed over — but Bioware’s Anthem is getting a rare and expensive second chance at success
  35. The risky business of sexuality in games: Games with sexual themes have always been difficult to distribute and sell — is the games industry ever going to catch up to the rest of entertainment?
  36. Disney Invites Game Developers to Tell Original Stories With Popular Franchises
  37. Disney wants developers to “reimagine” its IP for video games: Exec invites DICE Summit attendees to “come and play” with its catalogue
  38. Sony drops out of PAX East due to novel coronavirus concerns: The Last of Us Part II and other demos will not be available at the show next week
  39. PlayStation backs out of PAX East due to coronavirus concerns
  40. Report: Sony can’t build a PS5 for less than $450
  41. Report: Sony facing PS5 pricing quandary as manufacturing cost rises
  42. Sony Is Struggling With PlayStation 5 Price Due to Costly Parts
  43. Expensive components drive PS5 production costs to $450 per unit: Retail price of Xbox Series X will be deciding factor in PlayStation 5 price tag
  44. Microsoft and Samsung team up for “cloud-based game streaming”
  45. Panzer Dragoon Remake flies to Stadia as Google reveals new games
  46. Stadia expands to support some non-Google mobile devices: Subscribers will soon be able to stream games on some models from Samsung, Razer, and ASUS
  47. Stadia support arrives on 19 non-Google Pixel phone models this week
  48. “The people in the suits, in the expensive boardrooms, are nerds now”: At the Yorkshire Games Festival, Mike Bithell discussed John Wick Hex as part of a positive shift in the way movie licenses are handled
  49. Blind Squirrel Games’ decade-long drift from work-for-hire to original IP: CEO Brad Hendricks on what it took for the company to grow beyond its engineering focus and make its own IP
  50. Remedy holds steady, posting solid growth across the board: Finnish developer moves forward on live-service multiplayer game plans
  51. Nexon’s Korean business holds full-year revenues steady despite declines in China: Both Maple Story and Maple Story M in Korea achieve highest-ever Q4 and full-year revenues
  52. GDC gives COVID19 update: Organizers say US travel restrictions on China impact about 2% of exhibitors and attendees
  53. China is approving more foreign games, but not so many American ones
  54. THQ Nordic parent Embracer Group acquires World War Z dev Saber Interactive
  55. Embracer Group acquires Saber Interactive in $525m deal: World War Z developer retains autonomy as Embracer’s fifth subsidiary, takes total headcount to over 2,500
  56. THQ Nordic parent Embracer Group now has 26 studios, more to be announced: Koch Media acquires Let’s Sing developer Voxler, two new studios have been opened but yet to be unveiled
  57. Embracer-owned Koch Media acquires Let’s Sing developer Voxler
  58. THQ Nordic approves Gothic remake and confirms plans to open Barcelona studio
  59. Ultimatum Games shuts down: Four years after founding studio, Shahid Ahmad confirms closure of Virtue Reality idle clicker game developer
  60. Half-Life: Alyx finally has a concrete release date
  61. ‘Half-Life: Alyx’ Release Date Set for March 23rd, New Screenshots Revealed
  62. Half-Life: Alyx is one step closer to existing with new, firm release date
  63. Sonic the Hedgehog beats Detective Pikachu in US opening weekend: Blue blur pulls $57 million in North America to become highest-grossing video game adaption
  64. Review: At the very least, ‘Sonic The Hedgehog’ revitalizes the Jim Carrey experience – This is the rare case where a video game film is decent, and the true MVP here is the seasoned comedy vet, Carrey.
  65. ‘Crossfire’ Movie Adaptation Lands at Sony 
  66. Smilegate, Sony, and Tencent partner to give Crossfire the movie treatment
  67. Sony Pictures and Tencent partner on Crossfire movie: Film based on Smilegate’s hugely successful shooter will be handled by producer behind Sonic The Hedgehog and Fast and the Furious
  68. Sony Patents Valve Index-Like VR Controller With Finger Tracking
  69. Untitled Goose Game comes out on top at DICE Awards
  70. Untitled Goose Game wins Game of the Year at DICE Awards 2020: House House received three awards, while Remedy Entertainment won four for Control
  71. Angry Birds franchise can’t prevent profits slipping at Rovio 
  72. Tekken 7 closed out 2019 with 5 million copies sold
  73. Operating profits up at Paradox as monthly active players hits record high
  74. Jordanian mobile publisher Tamatem nets $3.5 million to expand globally
  75. Facebook Gaming Rings In Ronda Rousey As New Livestreaming Partner
  76. Insurance is necessary to navigate the uncertain waters of the games industry
  77. Following Project Nova’s ‘end’, CCP won’t be as public with its early projects 
  78. Eve Online shooter Project Nova is not cancelled, it’s just changing: CCP dedicates London studio to FPS concept, will no longer announce internal project codenames
  79. Rebuilding a classic in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
  80. Don’t Miss: How Neopets has influenced a generation of game developers
  81. Don’t Miss: Turning love into a cooperative game mechanic in Haven
  82. Don’t Miss: What went right (and wrong) during the development of Persona 4
  83. Meet the community still obsessing over Mass Effect 2 10 years later
  84. A peek at the risks and reworks that gave Rainbow Six Siege a chance to thrive
  85. Releasing an update archive benefits both devs and players, says Dead Cells dev
  86. How Supergiant weaves narrative rewards into Hades’ cycle of perpetual death
  87. Video: The raw numbers behind indie game success, from $0 to $1 million 
  88. The ten commandments of indie survival
  89. The state of Steam discoverability: February 2020
  90. The latest Steam Labs experiment will tell you what game to play next
  91. Razor Edge Games nets $1.3 million to bring debut title to Steam Early Access
  92. Video: Valve’s Portal postmortem
  93. Blog: My experience as a game creator in an artist residency
  94. Blog: How AlphaStar became a StarCraft grandmaster
  95. Blog: When history gets interactive
  96. Blog: A firsthand account of coronavirus’ impact on China’s game industry
  97. Blog: What is reward fatigue?
  98. U.S. Patent no. 10,279,266: Monitoring game activity to detect a surrogate computer program

DIGITAL

  1. Amazon wins court injunction on controversial JEDI contract: Amazon’s suit argues it lost the deal because Trump personally hates Jeff Bezos.
  2. Who’s responsible for what you buy on Amazon? A court is about to decide
  3. Jeff Bezos pledges $10 billion to stop climate change
  4. The Billion-Dollar Disinformation Campaign to Reelect the President: How new technologies and techniques pioneered by dictators will shape the 2020 election
  5. Assange lawyer claims congressman offered Trump’s pardon in exchange for absolving Russia in WikiLeaks case
  6. Trump offered Assange a pardon if he denied Russia gave him emails, lawyer says
  7. Trump Offered Assange Pardon if He Covered Up Russian Hack, WikiLeaks Founder’s Lawyer Claims
  8. College Student Gets Thrown On The Ground And A Gun Pointed At His Head For Committing The Crime Of ‘Taking A Selfie While Black’
  9. Answering Impossible Questions: Content Governance in an Age of Disinformation (John Bowers, Jonathan Zittrain)
  10. Divided, we fall: How ant behavior mimics political polarization – Division of labor, polarization arise from social influence plus interaction bias.
  11. Snapchat Temporarily Defeats Another Case Over Its Speed Filter–Lemmon v. Snap (Eric Goldman)
  12. Ninth Circuit Decision Has Significant Implications for Terms and Conditions in Smartphone Apps
  13. Google plans to move UK users’ accounts outside EU jurisdiction
  14. “Why is Facebook drawing the line where it’s drawing the line?”: Discussing Facebook’s Oversight Board
  15. A picture of a same-sex kiss on Facebook wreaks havoc: Beizaras and Levickas v. Lithuania
  16. Mark Zuckerberg Suggests Getting Rid Of Section 230; Maybe People Should Stop Pretending It’s A Gift To Facebook
  17. Ron Wyden: Modifying Section 230 Will Give More Censorship Power To Trump; And Lock In Facebook’s Dominance
  18. The “EARN IT” Act Is Another Terrible Proposal to “Reform” Section 230 (Eric Goldman)
  19. Hey Tom Wheeler: Stick To Net Neutrality, Because Your Understanding Of Section 230 Is… Not Right
  20. What A Shame: Legacy Newspapers Want To Take Away Free Speech On The Internet
  21. Facebook quietly releases a Pinterest clone: Hobbi is an app from Facebook’s new product experimentation team
  22. Strategic Framing and Social Media Engagement: Analyzing Memes Posted by the German Identitarian Movement on Facebook
  23. Facebook backs Indian education startup Unacademy
  24. UK Government announces proposed legislation aimed at reducing online harm
  25. Creating a safe space online: Government provides initial response to consultation on its Online Harms White Paper
  26. UK is set to introduce a new duty of care to protect children online backed by increased fines and personal liability for senior management
  27. Pay-for-Play Website Pays FTC Over Fake Reviews, Deceptive Rankings
  28. The FTC Wants To Hold Brands, Platforms Like YouTube Financially Liable For Improper #SponCon Disclosures
  29. FTC Announces Endorsement Guide Review — Are There New Rules on the Horizon for Influencers?
  30. FTC Aims to Shake Up Endorsements, Seeks Public Comment on Its Endorsement Guides
  31. With an Eye on Social Media Platforms and Influencer Marketing, the FTC Seeks Public Comment on Endorsement Guides
  32. FTC Seeks Comments on Revamping its Endorsement Guides
  33. After Four Decades, FTC Announces Regulatory Review of The Endorsement Guides: What Does This Portend for Digital Advertisers and Social Media Platforms?
  34. Can Public Infrastructure Fix Social Media? Ethan Zuckerman at Cornell
  35. Competition Bureau to focus on digital economy: 4-year strategic plan shows intention to increase use of interim measures, say competition lawyers
  36. Competition Bureau’s Marketing and Advertising Priorities: Dishonest Information about Data Privacy
  37. Drip pricing: StubHub enters into $1.3M consent agreement with Competition Bureau
  38. Kickstarter workers make history with unionization vote
  39. Kickstarter becomes one of the first major US tech companies to unionize: Employees vote in favor of joining the Office and Professional Employees International Union
  40. William Barr’s Move To Rid The DOJ Of Independence Shows One Of Many Reasons Josh Hawley’s FTC Plan Is Dangerous
  41. “We Are Going To Be The Best”: How Newly Launched TalentX Plans To Become Every Digital Star’s Dream Management Company
  42. Mobile quizzing company HQ Trivia has shut down
  43. HQ Trivia shuts down: 25 full-time employees reportedly let go as troubled mobile start-up loses investors
  44. After Investors Pull Plug, HQ Trivia Ceases Operations And Moves To Dissolution
  45. Juul bought ads on CartoonNetwork.com, NickJr.com, other kid sites, suit says
  46. Court Allows Chooseco’s Lawsuit Against Netflix Over ‘Bandersnatch’ To Move Forward
  47. Mills v. Netflix, Inc.: District court dismisses plaintiff’s DMCA claim of removal and altering of copyright management information
  48. PremFlix: the Premier League’s plans to introduce a ‘Netflix-style’ OTT service
  49. Doctor Suing A Patient Over A Negative Review Has His Case Dismissed Under Tennessee’s New Anti-SLAPP Law
  50. SLAPP Suits And The Enemies Of Writing And Ideas
  51. Devin Nunes’ Lawyer Continues To Use Unrelated Case To Try To Unearth Satirical Internet Cow Account
  52. Feds launch a probe into Big Tech’s smallest acquisitions
  53. Twitter acquires Stories template maker Chroma Labs
  54. Susan Wojcicki Reveals YouTube Paid Out $3 Billion To Music Industry Last Year
  55. YouTube TV To Cancel All Subscriptions Purchased Via Apple App Store In March
  56. Apple’s new iPad Pro could be delayed due to the coronavirus, report claims
  57. Spotify mimics Apple’s design with new podcast show page updates
  58. Anatomy of a Spotify scam (Andres Guadamuz)
  59. Hughes v. Benjamin: Court dismisses copyright and DMCA claims, finding use of plaintiff’s YouTube video was for criticism and commentary, and therefore transformative fair use
  60. Bell v. Chicago Cubs Baseball Club, LLC: District court grants motion to dismiss contributory infringement claim against Chicago Cubs based on retweet that allegedly copied key passage from plaintiff’s book.
  61. Jake Paul Launches ‘The Financial Freedom Movement,’ A $19.99/Month Program For Kids To Become Influencers
  62. After Mike Bloomberg Meme Sweep, Instagram Introduces Guidelines For Influencers Posting Political Sponcon
  63. Instagram Prototyping ‘Latest Posts’ Feature, Which Would Let Users See Certain Posts In Reverse Chronology
  64. House Of Highlights Is NBA’s Slam Dunk For All-Star Video Content
  65. Bosses tell social media celebrities: TikTok on your own time
  66. TikTok ‘family safety mode’ gives parents some app control
  67. Semaphore Launches Licensing Business, Signs 3 Popular YouTube Channels For Toy Deals
  68. YouTube Phenom Collins Key Inks Global Deal For Toy Collection
  69. Preschool-Aimed YouTube Goliath ‘Morphle’ Inks Global Toy Licensing Deal
  70. MrBeast Reveals He Has Already Spent $100,000 On Scrapped Videos This Year
  71. Condé Nast Forms New Entertainment Studios Around Key Titles Amid Push Into Film, TV, Podcasts
  72. A new spin on 3D printing can produce an object in seconds
  73. Electronic signatures are valid: so what’s the catch on finance transactions?
  74. Samsung Galaxy S20 vs. iPhone 11 Pro: A deeper division lurks beneath the spec sheets
  75. Samsung’s “Ultra Thin Glass” doesn’t seem much stronger than plastic
  76. Samsung’s 2020 TV lineup forces high-end buyers to go 8K whether they want it or not
  77. Snap Taps Third Class Of Startups For Its Media And Tech Accelerator ‘Yellow’, Offering $150K In Equity Funding
  78. A new era: what’s in store for tech regulation in 2020?
  79. English High Court declines jurisdiction for “Satoshi Nakamoto” libel claim
  80. Driver Stranded After ‘Smart’ Rental Car Can’t Phone Home
  81. The future of work looks like staying out of the office

A.I.

  1. Researchers have already tested YouTube’s algorithms for political bias
  2. The FTC, AI and Algorithms
  3. Can computers invent? EPO says no to AI inventors
  4. EPO rejects AI inventor patent applications
  5. Can AI Be an Inventor? Not at the European Patent Office.
  6. California Introduces Bill to Regulate Automated Decision Systems
  7. Liability for Artificial Intelligence — Why Canadian Businesses Should Pay Attention to Recent Developments in Europe
  8. What fairness can learn from AI
  9. Why AI is crucial for patent searching and mining
  10. A case study comparison of the AI chips patent landscape
  11. Ars Technicast special edition, part 1: Machine learning assimilates athletics
  12. Machine Learning Patentability in 2019: 5 Cases Analyzed and Lessons Learned Part 2
  13. Intelligent (patent) agents: should the patent profession be afraid of AI?
  14. Enforcing Cybertech Patents is Increasingly Possible, Even for Small Companies
  15. Numerical Ranges: More Than Just Endpoints in Patent Process
  16. Data shows Tesla owner experienced repeated glitch days before deadly 2018 crash
  17. The AI-development Connection – A View from the South

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. Broadcast Panel Commissioned Report Found Canada Ranks First Among Peer Countries in Spending on TV Production, Domestic TV Production, and Employment Per Capita (Michael Geist)
  2. The BTLR and USMCA, Part Two: Why the Broadcast Panel Recommendations Could Cost Canadians Millions in Retaliatory Tariffs (Michael Geist)
  3. CBC Leads Call for New Government Regulations to Support “Trusted” News Sources (Michael Geist)
  4. Appeals court seems poised to reverse landmark Qualcomm antitrust ruling
  5. T-Mobile’s Marathon to Acquire Sprint: Five Takeaways from the T-Mobile/Sprint Antitrust Litigation
  6. T-Mobile claims it didn’t lie about 4G coverage, says FCC measured wrong
  7. Not All Automatic Dialed Messages are Restricted, Says a US Appeals Court
  8. Circuit split on automatic telephone dialing systems under the TCPA reinforces importance of obtaining prior express written consent
  9. Seventh Circuit Joins The Party: Another Circuit Rejects Marks And Holds A Random or Sequential Number Generator Is Required For A System to be An ATDS
  10. Narrow Definition of ATDS Prevails in the Seventh Circuit
  11. Breaking: Seventh Circuit rejects marks- holds random or sequential number generation required for ATDS usage
  12. Uh, I Dunno – Maybe the FCC Just Isn’t Into You?
  13. UK green-lights Ofcom as the first internet regulator….but the devil is in the detail
  14. Google Fiber Ditches Cable TV While Broadband Effort Remains Stuck In Neutral
  15. What’s New in 5G – February 2020
  16. Wi-Fi 6E isn’t here yet—but Broadcom is clearly banking on it

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. The Copyright Board’s Access Copyright Post Secondary Decision: The Incorrect Correction (Howard Knopf)
  2. Oops, the Board did it again, and again, and again (Ariel Katz)
  3. Moschino Counterpunches on Cardi B Paparazzi Pic
  4. District Court Grants Judgment on the Pleadings, in Part, in Kanye West Copyright Suit
  5. Let Go of My LEGOs: Copyright Protection for Plastic People
  6. “Into the Garbage, Fly Boy”: A Review of the Star Wars Legal World; One Court at a Time
  7. Expansion of UK copyright law for the fashion industry
  8. Otto v. Hearst Communications Inc: District court denies attorneys’ fees to photographer who prevailed in copyright suit against Hearst Communications based on its unauthorized use of photograph of President Trump
  9. Artist Sues Cannabis Company and Agencies Over Mural Used in Ads
  10. No, Disney Probably Didn’t Infringe A Unicorn Van Artist’s Copyright, But It Would Have Sued If The Roles Were Reversed
  11. Making waves: Copyright in ‘Wave Fabric’ can be protected as a ‘work of artistic craftsmanship’
  12. I Scream, You Scream: Museum of Ice Cream Vindicated in Copyright Infringement Lawsuit
  13. Failure to Register Copyrights in the U.S. Can Bar Statutory Damages for Infringements
  14. A guide to intellectual property in the creative industries – protecting pitches, brands and concepts
  15. IP Enterprise Court expands copyright protection for designs
  16. Open access journals get a boost from librarians—much to Elsevier’s dismay
  17. IPCom GMBH & CO KG v Vodafone Group PLC and others
  18. Open Source Voice Assistant Promises To ‘Nuke From Orbit’ Patent Troll
  19. Judge Shuts Down Copyright Troll’s Cut-And-Run Effort; Hits It With $40K In Legal Fees
  20. Lost in the Amazon: how to combat trademark infringement in the e-commerce marketplace
  21. Xiaomi Sues Sisvel in Beijing: The First Lawsuit Seeking a Determination of Chinese SEP Royalty
  22. Presidents’ Day 2020: Presidential Patents Beyond Lincoln
  23. Patentability 101: A Review of the 2019 Guidance and Update on Subject Matter Eligibility
  24. Motivation to Combine Prior Art Can Come from Knowledge of those Skilled in the art, the Art Itself, or the Nature of the Problem
  25. Top five cosmetic trends shaping IP in 2020
  26. Top Issues in 2020: Trademark
  27. Happy Valentines Day (Patents) 2020
  28. Patentability in Canada: Federal Court of Appeal questions the fixed dosage amount vs dosage range distinction
  29. The Best of the Decade – Canadian Patent Law in the 2010s
  30. 2020 Outlook – Patents
  31. Top Issues in 2020: Patents
  32. The New Cybersquatters: The Evolution of Trademark Enforcement in the Domain Name Space (Michael Karanicolas)

PRIVACY

  1. Competition Bureau Flexes Muscles in The Privacy Sphere
  2. ISPs sue Maine, claim Web-privacy law violates their free-speech rights
  3. Comcast, AT&T Sue Maine Over Privacy Law, Claim It Violates Free Speech
  4. Anatomy of a dumb spear-phish: Hitting librarians up for Zelle, CashApp cash
  5. CBP, ICE Hoovering Up Cell Location Data From Third Party Vendors To Track Down Immigrants
  6. Hackers exploit critical vulnerability found in ~100,000 WordPress sites
  7. US natural gas operator shuts down for 2 days after being infected by ransomware
  8. Surprise! MIT Study Claims Voatz E-Voting Technology Is A Security Dumpster Fire
  9. Illinois Residents File Class Action against Biometrics Company for Collecting Information without Consent
  10. Ring cameras are more secure now, but your neighbors still snoop with them
  11. Ransomware Attacks Predicted to Occur Every 11 Seconds in 2021 with a Cost of $20 Billion
  12. Facebook Dating misses European launch for Valentine’s Day over regulatory dispute: Ireland’s data protection regulator stepped in
  13. NYPD Lied About National Security During An Attempt To Obtain A Journalist’s Records From Twitter
  14. Nasty Android malware reinfects its targets, and no one knows how
  15. 500 Chrome extensions secretly uploaded private data from millions of users
  16. US Takes Baby Steps Toward Providing Actual Public Evidence Of Huawei Spying
  17. Racketeering and Trade Secret Theft Added to List of Charges Against China’s Huawei
  18. Judge rules a 2019 law singling out Huawei is constitutional
  19. US government goes all in to expose new malware used by North Korean hackers
  20. Pwns for sale: Scythe prepares a marketplace for sharing simulated hacks
  21. Signal is finally bringing its secure messaging to the masses
  22. Why fixing security vulnerabilities in medical devices, IoT is so hard
  23. Federal Agencies Are Still Abusing Their Favorite, Super-Vague FOIA Exemption Thousands Of Times A Year
  24. The NFL Twitter Hack Shows We Need to Move Past Password Protection
  25. Manipulate to empower: Hyper-relevance and the contradictions of marketing in the age of surveillance capitalism

CREATIVITY   

  1. Harassment and The Handmaid’s Tale
  2. Trouble At The Law Firm Filing Patently Ridiculous Lawsuits On Behalf Of Tulsi Gabbard
  3. PGA Tour Calls Big Miss, Requests Dismissal of Hank Haney Lawsuit
  4. Texas Appeals Court Rules Private Communications with Customers Not Protected Free Speech
  5. Antitrust: EU Commission fines NBC universal Euro 14.3 for restricting sales of merchandise products
  6. ‘Star Wars’ May Never Recover From The Damage Done By ‘Rise Of Skywalker’

Jon

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News of the Week; February 12, 2020

By Jon Festinger on February 16, 2020

GAMES

  1. Sweeney criticizes “customer adversarial” industry tactics: Epic CEO condemns privacy invasion, pay-to-win, and loot boxes, calls for companies to “divorce ourselves from politics”
  2. Epic’s Sweeney: Game companies should be platform agnostic, ‘divorce’ from politics
  3. Proposed Washington Gambling Law Changes Aimed at Keeping State Video Gaming Industry Around
  4. Mario Kart Just Added Vancouver As A Race Track Location
  5. Games industry faces major disruption across all sectors as coronavirus spreads: PUBG Corporation postpones Berlin esports event in response to coronavirus
  6. Mobile World Congress Barcelona show cancelled over virus fears: Organizing body GSMA says travel concerns and other factors “made it impossible” to hold 2020 edition of annual conference
  7. Coronavirus concerns lead to delay of The Outer Worlds Switch port
  8. Switch production delayed in China due to coronavirus outbreak
  9. Coronavirus concerns lead to delay of The Outer Worlds Switch port
  10. Coronavirus concerns lead to delay of The Outer Worlds Switch port
  11. Nintendo: Switch “just entering the middle of its lifecycle”: President Shuntaro Furukawa says Switch Lite purchasers who already owned a Switch down to 30% from 43%
  12. The world’s only known Nintendo PlayStation could be yours—for over $15,000
  13. With 2 million sold, Take-Two is unsure how Game Pass affected The Outer Worlds
  14. Take-Two stock slumps following Dan Houser’s departure from Rockstar: Publisher’s share price has increased eight-fold since the day that Grand Theft Auto V launched
  15. Grand Theft Auto Online just had its best holiday quarter ever: Six and a half years after launch and 120m units sold, Rockstar’s behemoth leads Take-Two Interactive’s Q3 alongside Red Dead Online
  16. GTA, Red Dead can’t stop Take-Two’s revenue from sliding in Q3 2020
  17. Take-Two still isn’t sure about subscription services
  18. Recurrent consumer spending made up 37% of Take-Two’s $930 million Q3 revenue
  19. Team Ninja’s Nioh surpasses 3 million sold
  20. With no profit motive, new kids’ mobile IP from BBC focuses on a “safe gaming experience”: A luxury not afforded to most developers yields interesting results
  21. Accessible design and focusing on the gaps: HyperDot dev Charles McGregor explains how he stumbled into accessibility after an experiment with eye-tracking
  22. King’s Sabrina Carmona wants more women in game dev leadership
  23. Black game pros assess industry’s diversity efforts: Panelists at Ubisoft Toronto event say they see progress but there’s still a lot left to do
  24. The road to removing crunch is a long one | Opinion: RCP Scotland head Mark Lloyd says a revolution is coming as developers new and old discover a better way of working
  25. Nexon Korea agrees to 6.8% pay rise after talks with union
  26. Nexon Korea and union agree on pay raises: Publisher tentatively agrees with Starting Point labor union on an average 6.8% salary increase for this year
  27. Survey: Game devs, what are you doing about your studio’s carbon emissions?
  28. Blizzard president on Warcraft 3 Reforged: “We stand behind our games”: J Allen Brack commits to continued updates and support after poor reception
  29. GeForce Now loses all Activision Blizzard titles weeks after launch
  30. Activision Blizzard pulls support for Nvidia’s GeForce Now streaming platform
  31. Activision Blizzard pulls all games from GeForce Now a week after launch: Nvidia hopes to work with publisher on bringing its titles back to streaming service’s catalogue
  32. Mobile is now Activision Blizzard’s leading platform for revenue
  33. Call of Duty rises as rest of Activision Blizzard stumbles: Handful of bright spots in year-end financial results came courtesy of flagship shooter series
  34. Activision Blizzard saw $6.49 billion in revenue during 2019
  35. EA handing Need for Speed franchise back to Criterion
  36. EA will move Need for Speed development back to Criterion: Ghost Games to become an EA engineering hub with 30 staff at risk
  37. Atari acquires Wonder assets to expand capabilities of VCS console
  38. Atari acquires assets from tech start-up Wonder: Technology nods to possible cross-platform functionality with mobile and Atari VCS
  39. Steam brought in 95 million monthly active users in 2019
  40. Metro Exodus comes to Steam after a year of Epic Games Store exclusivity
  41. Zynga posts record revenue of $1.32B in 2019; Q4 revenue and bookings were highest in its history
  42. Ubisoft’s net bookings beat expectations, though still down from last year
  43. Ubisoft quarterly revenues down 26%: Rough Q3 results still beat forecast as publisher points to full slate for next fiscal year
  44. How will Brexit affect investment opportunities for the UK games industry?: With Britain leaving the EU, VC investment is up and game dev tax breaks could be strengthened, but uncertainty looms over every outcome
  45. Profits flat at Bandai Namco as video game sales dip slightly
  46. UK Charts: FIFA 20 reclaims No.1 and Ring Fit Adventure re-enters Top Five – Zombie Army 4 Dead War is the only new game to enter the charts this week
  47. 30% of Switch Lite owners already owned a Nintendo Switch
  48. Nintendo will no longer work with outlet that leaked Pokemon Sword and Shield details: Company publicly denounces Portuguese website that broke review embargo with early photos
  49. Sony files patent which encourages stuck players to spend money on DLC: Machine learning system also uses contextual data to help players overcome challenges using in-game resources
  50. Sony’s 2019 acquisition of Insomniac Games priced at $229 million
  51. Sony paid $229 million for Insomniac: SEC filing reveals acquisition cost of Ratchet & Clank and Marvel’s Spider-Man developer in a majority-cash deal
  52. ‘Games need to find players’: Phil Spencer talks Game Pass, Series X as next gen looms
  53. Phil Spencer: “There’s no slide deck that says we want to turn everyone into a subscriber” – Xbox head wants to “put the player at the center” in the next gen through services, hardware, and models that fit different needs
  54. Xbox Chief Says Its Main Competitors Are Now Google, Amazon Rather Than Sony, Nintendo
  55. Who are Microsoft’s “real” competitors?: Google and Amazon being the “real” competition for Xbox reveals the tricky balancing act that Microsoft’s games team now faces
  56. Xbox extends Project xCloud preview to iOS devices
  57. Stadia’s free tier to launch at some point in ‘the next few months’
  58. Have we got Google Stadia all wrong?: Google Stadia’s focus should be on accessibility, not on subscription models or exclusives
  59. BioWare hits pause on seasonal content to work on full Anthem overhaul
  60. BioWare promises “substantial reinvention” for year-old Anthem
  61. Anthem team ditches major seasonal updates in favor of “longer-term redesign”: BioWare intends to “reinvent the core gameplay loop” after a challenging first year
  62. Glu Mobile returns to profitability with $8.9 million net income for 2019
  63. Glu Mobile avoids second year of loss thanks to Q4 surge: Mobile dev posts $8.9 million profit as revenue rises across portfolio
  64. Mobile drives Innogames’ FY19 sales to $208 million
  65. THQ Nordic opens Slovakian studio Nine Rocks Games
  66. THQ Nordic opens new studio Nine Rock Games: Slovakia-based developer staff by team who has worked on DayZ, Conan and Soldier of Fortune 3
  67. IronSource opens mobile studio Supersonic Games to create ad-based games
  68. IronSource launches new mobile studio Supersonic Games: Debut game Sort It 3D already a chart topper in Europe, America, Korea, and Japan
  69. Fledgling mobile studio Double Loop secures $2.5 million in seed funding
  70. Double Loop Games raises over $2.5m for mobile games: LVP leads investment in push to make relaxing, connective titles for everyone
  71. PUBG Mobile was the top-grossing mobile game for the fifth month in a row – Sensor Tower: Tencent’s title brought in $176.3 million in January, over half of which came from Chinese users
  72. Yager receives strategic investment from Tencent
  73. Spec Ops: The Line developer Yager nets minority investment from Tencent
  74. 2K Silicon Valley studio becomes 31st Union and expands to Spain: “We want to identify opportunities where they haven’t traditionally existed for underrepresented voices”
  75. Payday ‘front and center’ as Starbreeze closes out its reconstruction-filled 2019
  76. Starbreeze relies on Payday as full-year losses increase to $12m: Co-op heist game accounted for 99.4% of the developer’s Q4 net sales
  77. Clash of Clans maker Supercell to ‘significantly’ cut back on hiring
  78. Supercell to “slow growth significantly” in coming year: As mobile studio enters its second decade, CEO Ilkka Paananen reaffirms goal to be “as small as possible”
  79. Report: System Shock 3 developers are “no longer employed”
  80. System Shock 3 development staff reportedly “no longer with the studio”: Highly-anticipated sequel supposedly halted after studio falls “critically behind” in development
  81. Lineage 2 M surpasses $152m in three months: NCSoft’s Mobile MMORPG is currently only available in South Korea
  82. The New Zealand games industry has doubled its annual revenue in two years
  83. New Zealand’s games industry has doubled revenue in two years: National industry earned more than $200m in revenue in the last fiscal year, but investment and skills remain impediments to growth
  84. UK spend on Video Games Tax Relief rose to record £582.6m in 2019: But number of projects receiving interim certification reduces as console cycle nears its end
  85. Bigben Interactive is now Nacon as publishing and accessories businesses merge
  86. Ultimate Rivals dev Bit Fry Game Studios lands $3.5 million investment
  87. Putting together an All-Star team of sports licenses: Bit Fry’s Ben Freidlin talks about how & why the developer got the NHL, NBA, MLB, WNBA, NFL Players Association and more on board for Ultimate Rivals
  88. Twitch, Gillette Further Three-Year-Old Brand Deal With Fleet Of Five Top Gaming Creators
  89. Riot Games Rioting Over Esports Team’s Trademark Infringement
  90. Major esport organisations launch new team-owned CS GO league: Flashpoint aims to address “lack of stability and long-term investment” issues of current pro scene
  91. Hitmarker: Number of full-time esports jobs doubled last year – The number of senior-level jobs in esports grew an impressive 190% in 2019
  92. $1.4bn divestment offsets modest annual loss for MTG: Esport and gaming revenue continues to climb for Swedish entertainment group
  93. Teamwork makes the dream work – the crossover between sports and esports
  94. Bit Fry backers invest additional $3.5 million: Bitkraft Esports Ventures and 1Up Ventures increase their stake in creator of many-licensed sports franchise Ultimate Rivals
  95. Facebook Expects Coronavirus Will Have “additional impact” on Oculus Quest Availability: Quest “unavailable” in most regions
  96. Facebook expects coronavirus outbreak to impact Oculus Quest production
  97. How to get the best game publishing deal: Don’t be afraid to negotiate and realise your value to avoid a publishing deal gone wrong
  98. How Star Trek Online managed to live long and prosper: In a decade when many licensed MMOs struggled and died, lead designer Al Rivera discusses why Cryptic Studios’ voyage to the final frontier has survived
  99. Light Brick wants to rebuild how we play with digital Lego: Studio head Karsten Lund explains why Lego’s new internal studio is getting back to basic building bricks with Lego: Builder’s Journey
  100. After another major E3 data leak, a gaming luminary says bye to the expo: Comes as reaction to E3 organizers’ plans for the event.
  101. ESA names 10 companies still attending E3: Xbox, Nintendo, Ubisoft, and Take-Two among the bigger outfits participating in 2020 show, which will have an industry-only day
  102. Ultra-tough dungeon-crawler Below adds easier “Explore” mode
  103. Cloudspire: a $130 MOBA for your tabletop?
  104. 15 co-op games to play with your partner this Valentine’s Day
  105. 5 important realizations about game balance
  106. Don’t Miss: The world design of Diablo III
  107. Don’t Miss: Sonic the Hedgehog co-creator’s philosophy of game design
  108. Sonic the Hedgehog film review: You can slow your roll, Sega fans
  109. Don’t Miss: Devs look back at the influential BioShock 2
  110. Don’t Miss: Translating the humor & tone of Yakuza games for the West
  111. An inside look at how Bungie found and fixed Destiny 2’s currency-deleting bug
  112. Video: How Guerrilla crafted the lush vegetation of Horizon Zero Dawn
  113. Video: Indexing and iterating design space permutations in game dev
  114. Video: How the Nyamakop team broke into game dev from Africa
  115. Video: Monetization design and overcoming the dark side of gacha
  116. Video: Monitoring and validating world design data in Assassin’s Creed Origins
  117. Blog: How my sci-fi adventure Aquamarine found Kickstarter success
  118. Blog: Finding the right publisher for your game and other dev tips
  119. Blog: Video game composers and the importance of research
  120. And Yet it Hurt: How I made a game played in Notepad
  121. Humble Bundle rolls out regional pricing for a handful of currencies
  122. Humble Bundle joins efforts to raise money for Australian bushfire relief: Humble Bundle sells 60,000 bundles to raise over $2.4 million for bushfire relief effort

DIGITAL

  1. TikTok reportedly waited nearly 3 hours to call police in Brazil after a teen’s death was livestreamed on the platform, but the company notified its own PR team almost immediately
  2. When You Set Out To Block Misinformation, You Can Wind Up Blocking A Hero Like Li Wenliang
  3. Chinese Hacking Is Alarming. So Are Data Brokers.
  4. The Speaker, the President, and the Case of (the) Ripped Up Speech (Jonathan Zittrain)
  5. The Billion-Dollar Disinformation Campaign to Reelect the President 
  6. Audit Indicates Intuit Made $1 Billion By Hiding Free File Program From The Public
  7. Can Public Infrastructure Fix Social Media?
  8. Defamation, social media and the right to insult
  9. Ninth Circuit Rules that LinkedIn Cannot Block Data Scraping
  10. Registrars raise alarm over proposal for big .com fee hikes: Proposed contract allows Verisign to raise registration fees 7 percent per year.
  11. Understanding Internet Culture
  12. Competition Bureau’s Marketing and Advertising Priorities: False Online Consumer Reviews
  13. Logitech debuts $169 StreamCam: A streamer-focused, USB-C webcam
  14. Canadian Government Officially Warns 100 Brands And Ad Agencies To Comply With Influencer Marketing Laws
  15. Bad Influence: FTC Settles Two Complaints Alleging Fake Social Media Influence
  16. US says Chinese military stole masses of Americans’ data
  17. Equifax breach was the work of Chinese state hackers, DOJ says
  18. China’s To Blame For The Equifax Hack. But It Shouldn’t Let Equifax, Or US Regulators, Off The Hook.
  19. DOJ Charges China With Hacking Equifax. That’s No Reason to Forgive Equifax: We’ve identified the culprits. But corporate accountability and meaningful victim compensation remains nowhere in sight.
  20. Justice Department Ramps Up Google Probe, With Heavy Focus on Ad Tools: Antitrust enforcers have contacted more than a dozen publishers, ad tech rivals and ad agencies
  21. Why Google Might Prefer Dropping a $22 Billion Business: Divesting its third-party ad operation could stave off even worse regulatory action.
  22. Google Tells Websites–Including YouTube–To Remove “Particularly Disruptive” Ads On Short Videos
  23. YouTube Wants To Hook Its Users Up With Third-Party Video Subscriptions (Report)
  24. The Young Turks Launches Google-Funded Video Course For Aspiring Local Journalists
  25. We Need to Talk About ‘Cloud Neutrality’: A multibillion-dollar, privately-owned infrastructure is now essential to the modern internet economy. That should freak you out.
  26. Video Sharing Site Protected by CDA Immunity for Removal of Poster’s “Objectionable Material”
  27. Sun To Rise on .GAY
  28. The Iowa caucuses were a comedy of tech errors and poor planning
  29. Snapchat introduces new interventions for mental health
  30. Snapchat is testing a big new redesign: A new home for the Snap Map and its original shows – plus a new test of news briefs
  31. Justin Bieber Docuseries Becomes YouTube’s Most-Viewed Original In One Week
  32. YouTube continues to mirror Twitch, tests new clap feature that lets fans donate to creators: Clapping costs $2 on YouTube now
  33. YouTube could compete with Apple and Amazon by offering third-party video subscription services: The report comes after Google boasted good subscriber numbers on YouTube
  34. Patreon Adds European Currencies, Will Open Berlin Offices As It Eyes Global Expansion
  35. Brazil judge rejects hacking accusation against Greenwald
  36. Brazilian Court Refuses To Move Forward With Bogus Charges Against Glenn Greenwald ‘For Now’
  37. European Commission continues crack down on cross-border online trade restrictions
  38. Can a Retweet Constitute Copyright Infringement? Uh….–Bell v. Chicago Cubs (Eric Goldman)
  39. Two New Mass Copyright Lawsuits – Rambo: Last Blood & Angel Has Fallen
  40. What Happens When a High-Tech Apparel Brand Shares the Same Name as the Company that Backed the Controversial Iowa Caucus App?
  41. ­­
  42. Mother Meets Recreation of Her Deceased Child in VR
  43. Ubisoft’s next Prince of Persia game is a VR escape room 
  44. Oxford VR Picks up $12.5M in Funding for Its VR-based Therapy Platform
  45. Steam: Virtual reality’s biggest-ever jump in users happened last month
  46. Acer Has Cancelled its ConceptD OJO Headset
  47. Nreal Temporarily Halts Production of ‘Light’ AR Headset due to Coronavirus
  48. Mobile World Congress canceled due to coronavirus [Updated]
  49. Facebook Watch Sets Limited John Legend Series For Valentine’s Day
  50. What it takes to get a hate page off Facebook: A letter from the state AG
  51. Senators Threaten Twitter For Allowing Iranian Official Who Helped De-Escalate Tensions Via Twitter To Tweet
  52. Twitter beats revenue, user growth estimates in fourth quarter
  53. Arizona Legislator Wants To Strip Platforms Of Section 230 Immunity If They’re ‘Politically Biased’
  54. Pigs Fly As Charles Harder And Donald Trump Support Anti-SLAPP Laws (When They Protect Trump, Of Course)
  55. Good News: Virginia Legislature Passes Anti-SLAPP Law
  56. Federal Court Ignores Journalist Privilege For Reporting On Court Documents; Allows Bullshit Defamation Suit To Proceed
  57. Downloading public court documents costs a dime a page—is that legal?
  58. Google Maps gets new icon, tweaked UI for 15th birthday
  59. Instagram Launches New Tool To Help Users Tidy Up Their Follows
  60. Instagram Confirms It’s Prototyping An Ad-Share Monetization Program For IGTV
  61. Instagram Claims Should Be Discontinued, NAD Recommends
  62. Amazon might offer Twitch’s streaming technology to businesses: Twitch would still exist, but Amazon would have a new way to monetize its technology.
  63. Regulator Ofcom to have more powers over UK social media 
  64. Logan Paul Drops Antonio Brown Diss Track, Compounding Reports Of Boxing Bout
  65. Apple will introduce universal app purchases for iOS and macOS
  66. Here Are All The Titles Netflix Has Removed Because Of Government Censorship
  67. Netflix Finally Lets Users Turn Off Contentious Autoplay-While-Browsing Feature
  68. Hell freezes over as Netflix finally lets users turn off autoplaying previews
  69. Quibi’s Oscar Ad Blitz A Decent Start Amid Disney Networks’ Promotional Blizzard
  70. Brands Owning Super Bowl Social Video Conversation Before And After Game
  71. ViacomCBS plan would unify all of Star Trek (and more) in one new streaming service
  72. WarnerMedia Forms New Film Division To Produce “Mid-Budget” Originals For Streamer HBO Max
  73. Hilton Hotels Named Title Sponsor Of BuzzFeed’s ‘BringMe’ Travel Vertical In Sweeping Pact
  74. Spotify’s Purchase Of The Ringer Won’t Be Cheap, But The Payoff Could Be Huge
  75. Spotify is giving songwriters their own pages and playlists
  76. Spotify launches ‘walled garden’ app Spotify Kids to millions more users
  77. Tentpole Events Boost Celebs’ Engagement On Social
  78. Just one day after launch, Moto Razr durability problems begin to pile up
  79. Bitcoin, CRA, and telemarketing scams in Metro Vancouver, Whistler and Squamish, and Vancouver Island
  80. The End Of Ownership: Tesla Software Updates Giveth… And Tesla Software Updates Taketh Away…
  81. Electronic signatures – legally binding or not worth the paper they’re written on?
  82. New Paper Explains How FOSTA Devastated Male Sex Workers (Eric Goldman)
  83. AOC Supports Full Repeal Of FOSTA
  84. The Future of International Crime: AI, 5G, Encryption, Cryptocurrencies and 3D technologies?
  85. Who’s Prone to Drone? A Global Time-Series Analysis of Armed Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Proliferation (Michael Horowitz,Joshua Schwartz. Matthew Fuhrmann)
  86. ’90s nostalgia: Dancing Baby does the cha-cha once more in new HD rendering
  87. Techdirt Podcast Episode 238: Larry Lessig Defends His ‘Clickbait Defamation’ Lawsuit

A.I.

  1. Review of Artificial Intelligence May Result in Significant Changes to PIPEDA
  2. Facebook, YouTube order Clearview to stop scraping them for faces to match
  3. Google Says Clearview’s Site Scraping Is Wrong; Clearview Reminds Google It Scrapes Sites All The Time
  4. Clearview AI and the Legal Challenges Facing Facial Recognition Databases
  5. Clearview Looking To Expand Its Market To Problematic Countries Known For Human Rights Abuses
  6. Ajunwa to Congress: Help stop employers’ AI-fueled bias
  7. AI isn’t just coming to the world of dating—it’s already here
  8. Artificial Intelligence at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board
  9. LAW’s Danielle Citron: How Campaigns Can Counter Deepfakes – Cybersecurity expert and MacArthur Fellow has devised an eight-point plan for political campaigns to protect against fabricated video and audio
  10. Machines have learned how to be creative. What does that mean for art?: A.I. is imbuing computers with the most human of traits, creativity. Not everyone is happy about it
  11. AI-Mediated Communication: Definition, Research Agenda, and Ethical Considerations (Jeffrey Hancock, Mor Naaman, Karen Levy)
  12. Can Fiction Introduce Empathy Into AI? Do We Want It To?: Flynn Coleman on the Potential for Ethical Technology
  13. Radiant app taps Spotify for ‘digital radio hosted by AI’
  14. EPO Publishes Grounds for Refusing AI-Invented Patent Applications
  15. The EPO explains why the inventor has to be a human being, not a machine
  16. The untapped potential of AI for conglomerates
  17. Canadian Privacy Regulator Launches Consultation on its Proposals for Ensuring AI Regulation
  18. Personal choices and situated data: Privacy negotiations and the acceptance of household Intelligent Personal Assistants (Jason Pridmore, Anouk Mols)

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. The Broadcast Panel Report and Discoverability of Canadian Content: Searching for Evidence of a Problem (Michael Geist)
  2. The BTLR and USMCA, Part One: Why the Broadcast Panel Recommendations Conflict With Canada’s Emerging Trade Obligations (Michael Geist)
  3. Higher Costs and Less Choice: Why Consumers Will Pay the Price for the Broadcast Panel’s Plans to Increase Costs of Internet Services and Sites (Michael Geist)
  4. Canadian Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel releases Final Report
  5. Update on Allarco Litigation – Allarco’s Potential Exit Costs in the Federal Court (Howard Knopf)
  6. Judicial Review: Impact of the Vavilov Judgment
  7. Goodbye, Sprint: US judge approves T-Mobile’s purchase of competitor
  8. US Antitrust Enforcement Clearly Broken As Court Rubber Stamps T-Mobile Merger
  9. US Broadband Gaps Are Twice As Bad As The Government Claims
  10. FCC data fails to count 21 million people without broadband, study finds
  11. Ajit Pai defeats another attempt to restore FCC’s net neutrality rules
  12. Comcast “not welcome” here: Customers protest sale of tiny cable company
  13. AT&T Keeps Pretending It Wants Real Net Neutrality And Privacy Laws. It Doesn’t.
  14. 5G choices: a pivotal moment in world affairs
  15. 5G Could Actually Make The ‘Digital Divide’ Worse
  16. iPhones Will Get Bigger And More Expensive This Year Thanks To 5G
  17. Microsoft’s first-ever Android Phone, the Surface Duo, spotted in the wild
  18. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip is the first foldable with a flexible glass cover
  19. Samsung’s Galaxy S20 is official, with bigger screens, higher prices
  20. Andy Rubin’s smartphone startup, Essential, is dead
  21. IoT Update: FCC Raises the Benchmark for Rural Broadband Deployments
  22. Frontier, nearing bankruptcy, faces scrutiny over weeks-long phone outages

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Downtown Music Publishing LLC v. Peloton Interactive, Inc.
  2. “Pound Cake” Sampling Is Fair Use According to the Second Circuit
  3. 2nd Circuit Appeals Court Upholds Drake Sampling Fair Use Victory, But Doesn’t Think It’s Useful For Anyone Else
  4. Estate of James Oscar Smith v. Drake (USCA 2nd Circuit, 2.3.20)
  5. Transformative Editing as Fair Use Under Copyright
  6. Google v. Oracle: Will Software Be Free?
  7. Supreme Court Set to Hear Copywrite Arguments in “Google v. Oracle”
  8. China and United States see eye to IP
  9. Copyright Troll Lawsuit Over Duct Taped Banana Picture
  10. Photo Of $120K Banana Art Leads To Copyright Fight
  11. Seattle Kraken or Sockeyes: How Legal Implications May Influence Seattle’s Decision
  12. Get Up, Stand Up, For Your Copyrights
  13. Fashion designers to have more protection against copying
  14. Can copyright protect your fabric design from copycats and competitors?
  15. Making Waves: IPEC finds fabric design a work of artistic craftmanship
  16. CJEU rules that the provision of e-books is an act of communication to the public
  17. Caltech Ten-Figure Patent Verdict Showcases Impact of University Intellectual Property
  18. Patenting Coronavirus Treatments
  19. EU’s top court clarifies when a patent settlement agreement can infringe EU antitrust rules
  20. You Mess With Me, You Mess With My Whole (Patent) Family
  21. Express License of Patent Includes Implied License of Continuations
  22. The six big ways the US and Europe differ on software patents
  23. What will France’s PACTE law mean for patents?
  24. Standard-essential patents in United Kingdom
  25. The future of 5G patent licensing
  26. Top Issues in 2020: 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing
  27. Government Looking in the Mirror: How to Do Better in IP Protection and Commercialization
  28. Tech tools to draft patent applications could revolutionise IP proceedings
  29. BREXIT’s Projected Impact on Intellectual Property Rights
  30. Copyright Troll Richard Liebowitz Drops Case After Suing On Behalf Of The Wrong Party And Trying To Swap Plaintiffs 

PRIVACY

  1. Man who refused to decrypt hard drives is free after four years in jail
  2. Appeals Court Rules That People Can’t Be Locked Up Indefinitely For Refusing To Decrypt Devices
  3. Harvard Students Again Show ‘Anonymized’ Data Isn’t Really Anonymous
  4. As The World Frets Over Social Media Tracking For Advertising, Young People Are Turning Fooling Sites Into Sport
  5. US says it can prove Huawei has backdoor access to mobile-phone networks
  6. Huawei fires back, points to US’ history of spying on phone networks
  7. Privacy Commissioner says Facebook violated PIPEDA: OPC made an application to Federal Court Thursday, seeking declaration Facebook broke the law
  8. IP Addresses No Longer Protected in Alberta: From a privacy perspective, the decision is “exceedingly troubling” argues Lisa Lifshitz
  9. One of the most destructive botnets can now spread to nearby Wi-Fi networks
  10. Personal Data of All 6.5 Million Israeli Voters Is Exposed
  11. Transparency Report Shows Ancestry.com Rejected A Warrant Demanding Access To Its DNA Database
  12. Inside the closed-door campaigns to rewrite California privacy law, again: How Google, Facebook, the EFF and others lobbied Alastair Mactaggart — and what they managed to get.
  13. For decades, US and Germany owned Swiss crypto company used by 120 countries
  14. New “red team as a service” platform aims to automate hacking tests for company networks
  15. Do Sports Clubs’ WhatsApp Groups Breach the GDPR?
  16. Windows trust in abandoned code lets ransomware burrow deep into targeted machines
  17. Google Play apps with 470k installs can log in to your Facebook and Google accounts
  18. How Attorney General Barr’s War On Encryption Will Harm Our Military
  19. Why is the healthcare industry still so bad at cybersecurity?
  20. Why you can’t bank on backups to fight ransomware anymore
  21. The CJEU’s cookie judgment: why the cookie consent debate continues

CREATIVITY   

  1. Advertising Watchdog Says Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop Is Making False Health Marketing Claims
  2. Philadelphia Police Clear Gritty of Alleged Assault
  3. Former “Bachelor” Contestant Stripped of $1 million Fantasy Football Win
  4. MLB Drops Joint Promotion with Roger Waters Over Anti-Semitism Charges
  5. Was it all a fantasy? New York Appeals Court says fantasy sports are illegal
  6. New York Appellate Court Rules Fantasy Sports is Illegal Gambling
  7. Ohio minister may face uphill fight in Super Bowl halftime
  8. Could employers ban office football chat?
  9. ABC Rejects Frida Mom Commercial for Oscars Broadcast
  10. The Beguiling: Glamour in/as Platformed Cultural Production (Alison Hearn, Sarah Banet-Weiser)

Jon

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News of the Week; February 5, 2020

By Jon Festinger on February 9, 2020

GAMES

  1. Nintendo switches it up with website blocking injunction
  2. FBI catches hacker that stole Nintendo’s secrets for years
  3. Appeals Court Tells Serial Litigant Runescape Didn’t Violate His Constitutional Rights By Muting His Account
  4. Federal court: Getting muted in RuneScape doesn’t violate your civil rights: Serial litigator in Pennsylvania loses latest appeal
  5. First ever UK Games Industry Census highlights need for more diversity
  6. GDC State of the Industry: Nearly half of game makers still work over 40 hours/week
  7. Bleszinski regrets being too political with LawBreakers: In reflecting on Boss Key’s demise, studio co-founder says it was a mistake to push his personal beliefs in a divided world
  8. Fable Fortune is being shut down two years after launch
  9. Creators Going Pro: ImSuda And Friends Put The “Fun” In ‘Fortnite’ With Their Content Goldmine Group Gaming Sessions
  10. Kentucky officials trying to ban Fortnite from varsity esports: “There is no place for shooter games in our schools,” says Kentucky High School Athletic Association commissioner
  11. For the love of the (video) game: Canadian law firms are rising to the challenge as the esports industry spreads like wildfire
  12. FaZe Clan Seeking To Sign Newest Member In Upcoming Quibi Competition Series
  13. The UK games industry is still overwhelmingly young, white, and male: But on the heels of its first UK Games Industry Census, UKIE launches initiative to improve diversity
  14. How to identify and avoid unconscious bias: The GamesIndustry.biz Academy explores the effect of unconscious biases on the workplace, and how you can steer away from them and towards diversity
  15. ESA launches Game Generation campaign to highlight positive impact of gaming: “Game Generation is about celebrating the more than 164 million Americans who love video games and the positive impact,” says ESA
  16. Taipei Game Show postponed in response to coronavirus outbreak: With 320,000 people set to attend, organisers take action to avoid “unthinkable risks” of cluster infection
  17. STJV issues call for testimonials from those in video game education: French game workers union concerned about reports of dysfunction in academic settings, hopes to implement action plan
  18. Cheat software: Can publishers level the playing field? – Legal expert Dr Andreas Lober offers practical advice to publishers battling the rise of cheat software in online games
  19. Only 23% of EA’s $5.4 billion net bookings in the last year came from non-digital sources
  20. Digital net revenue was 70% of EA’s total revenue in Q3: And The Sims 4 has now passed 20m unique players worldwide
  21. EA beats expectations with $1.98 billion in Q3 revenue as live operations grow
  22. EA planning to publish 14 games next fiscal year: Publisher wants to rely on a “broad-based model,” avoid dependence on any one title
  23. Jedi: Fallen Order sells almost 8 million copies to beat EA expectations
  24. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order has sold around 8m units: EA says single-player adventure hit the “high-end” of its expectations, projects 10m units by end of fiscal year
  25. EA wants to stop including daily and monthly active user data in earnings reports
  26. EA still lukewarm on bringing its portfolio to Switch: Blake Jorgensen – “We’re conscious of the fact that the top selling titles are all Nintendo software”
  27. Nintendo Switch overtook the SNES’ lifetime sales over the holidays: The Switch Lite’s launch pushed the hybrid console’s sales over 52 million, while Pokemon Sword and Shield sold more than 16 million copies.
  28. Profits and sales up at Nintendo as Switch continues momentum
  29. The Nintendo Switch has surpassed 52 million lifetime sales
  30. Nintendo raises Switch forecast as console shipments pass 52 million: Switch software sales now expected to hit 140 million for the year
  31. Nintendo: No new Switch model planned for 2020
  32. Nintendo’s 2020 plans don’t include a new Switch model
  33. The Outer Worlds will be digital-only on Switch: Launches March 6, retail version will contain a download code
  34. Free-to-play Fire Emblem Heroes is adding a $9.49 monthly subscription pass
  35. Nintendo’s latest subscription model is attached to Fire Emblem Heroes: $10/month Feh Pass offers free heroes and gameplay augments
  36. UK Charts: Nintendo Switch games dominate as stock shortages end – Call of Duty Modern Warfare is at No.1
  37. PlatinumGames turns to Kickstarter to self-publish The Wonderful 101 on Switch
  38. PlayStation game sales pass one billion units: More than 1.18 billion first- and third-party PlayStation games had been sold as of January 31, 2020
  39. PlayStation Vue Officially Shuts Down
  40. PS4 hardware and software sales down as next-gen looms large
  41. Sony gaming revenue and profit on the decline as new console generation looms: Network service revenue rises, while software and hardware take considerable hit
  42. Take Two stock dips as Rockstar scribe Dan Houser announces departure
  43. Capcom credits jump in profit to increasing interest in digital sales
  44. Monster Hunter World Iceborne boosts profits at Capcom: Strong digital sales lead to best ever nine-month “profit levels” at the Japanese publisher
  45. Koei Tecmo games profits slide in slow Q3: A single retail release kept revenue at a standstill, but a busier quarter lies ahead
  46. Dena shuts down two of its Japanese mobile titles: Fantasy Earth Genesis and Torikago Scrap March servers to shutter in March
  47. DeNA’s existing titles out-performed new games during the last nine months
  48. DeNA reassessing games strategy as older titles fail to deliver: Mobile games firm posts hefty operating losses in Q3, thanks to games business impairment loss
  49. Mobile Yu-Gi-Oh! and PES titles are Konami’s top revenue earning games this year
  50. Code Vein passes 1 million sales in under five months
  51. Zynga posts record full-year revenues: Q4 revenues up 63% year-over-year but Words With Friends publisher still posts modest net loss
  52. The mobile games market is getting bigger — and not just for the top ten: Battle passes made money for the major publishers in 2019, but there was growth outside of the top ten
  53. Microsoft’s gaming revenue down 21% in Q2, but subscriptions are still up: Holiday hardware sales were predictably low as current console generation comes to a close
  54. Phil Spencer claims Amazon and Google are ‘main competitors’ to Xbox
  55. Phil Spencer: “We see Amazon and Google as the main competitors”: Sony and Nintendo are out of position to keep up with “tens of billions” Microsoft has invested in cloud tech, says Spencer
  56. GeForce Now: Nvidia implements aggressive pricing to consolidate cloud gaming position
  57. Nvidia launches GeForce Now cloud gaming service at $4.99/month: Paid subscription gives priority server access and six-hour sessions, but there’s a free version too
  58. Now out of beta, GeForce Now offers cloud-based streaming of owned Steam and EGS games
  59. RIP Stadia? Nvidia’s newly launched cloud-gaming service is (mostly) a stunner
  60. Google Stadia’s latest free game only has a few thousand total players
  61. Google responds to Stadia complaints over lack of announcements
  62. Google responds to complaints of slow Stadia announcements: Internet giant tells GamesIndustry.biz there will be more news on streaming service exclusives “soon”
  63. Stadia Isn’t Starting Off Well, Even Judging By Player Counts On Free Games
  64. Android app developers have earned over $80 billion through Google Play
  65. In Europe, Google Play users spent more on mobile gaming in 2019 than App Store users: Sensor Tower High Google Play spending of $1 billion in Germany helped buck the global trend
  66. Fate/Grand Order just passed $4 billion in revenue: It was the most talked-about game on Twitter and the No.8 free-to-play game by revenue in 2019
  67. Discord no longer doubles as a game launcher as two non-core features get the axe
  68. Improbable has purchased online game hosting company Zeuz
  69. Improbable acquires game hosting service company Zeuz: Deal marks Improbable’s third acquisition in six months
  70. What I learned about community management from my immigrant parents
  71. Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser is leaving the studio
  72. Dan Houser departs Rockstar Games: Co-founder to leave company in March after year-long hiatus
  73. UK trade bodies respond to points-based immigration proposal: UKIE suggests “little impact” on games industry, while TIGA welcomes attention given to creative and STEM sectors
  74. Facebook Seeks To Arm Gaming Creators With Preset Tools To Encourage Inclusion
  75. Digital games driving growth at Sega as packaged titles underperform
  76. Sega Europe announces fully recyclable packaging for all PC titles: Building on work from Sports Interactive last year, Sega Europe introduces blanket policy for PC titles
  77. Sega lowers full-year forecast on soft Q3 packaged sales: Mario & Sonic, Persona 5 Royal, and New Sakura Wars all launched in the quarter, but packaged sales did not meet expectations
  78. Creative Chronicles: Designing for colour blindness in games
  79. Barclays introduces video games tax relief loans: Developers able to claim 90% of their tax credit before it is fully processed
  80. Bigben Group forms new entity ahead of planned IPO: Nacon will unite accessories and games publishing assets in a proposed listing on the Euronext exchange
  81. Nacon buys Rig headset brand from Plantronics: Bigben gaming business preparing for IPO picks up communications company’s gaming line
  82. Amplifier Game Invest opens new Seattle studio CC7 Entertainment
  83. Supercell sinks $1.1 million into fledgling Swedish studio Wild Games
  84. Supercell backs new mobile studio formed by EA DICE veterans: Stockholm-based Wild Games breaks cover to announce $1.1m investment
  85. In Elsinore, more matter is more art: Golden Glitch’s Katie Chironis and Connor Fallon on the nearly decade-long challenge of making Shakespeare’s Hamlet into a time loop video game
  86. Scopely scores partnership with Mattel and Hasbro for new Scrabble mobile game
  87. Ubisoft acquires mobile studio Kolibri Games to expand into ‘idle’ genre
  88. Ubisoft acquires free-to-play mobile dev Kolibri Games: Idle Miner Tycoon to strengthen Ubisoft’s idle game portfolio
  89. GameRefinery acquires Reflection.io: UK market data firm adds to new parent’s services for mobile developers
  90. WarCraft III Reforged: Not the flavor of chaos we were hoping for
  91. Can a solo indie developer use ray tracing in their game?: Zeng Xiancheng on why the realistic lighting technique is not solely the realm of AAA developers
  92. Who saved Rare?: “We were so worried about challenging ourselves technically, that we paused a little bit with worrying about people”
  93. PlayStation to close Manchester VR studio: VR outfit to close its doors after five years
  94. Sony Interactive Entertainment’s VR-focused Manchester Studio to close down
  95. Can Alyx pull VR out of its niche? | Opinion: Half-Life Alyx is driving headset sales before it’s even released — but it’s going to take a lot more to make VR into a viable market for AAA games
  96. The Oculus Store made almost $5 million on Christmas Day2
  97. Mark Zuckerberg: ‘people bought nearly $5M in Oculus Store content on Christmas Day’
  98. More than $5m worth of Oculus content was sold on Christmas Day: Mark Zuckerberg points to holiday surge as sign of progress for the VR ecosystem
  99. Exploring new frontiers of color with The Outer Worlds: Art director Daniel Alpert discusses the visually striking approach to Obsidian’s latest RPG
  100. 38,000 Flash games will live on after Flash support dies this year thanks to Flashpoint
  101. Video: A game artist’s guide to escaping your comfort zone 
  102. Video: Cursed problems in game design
  103. Video: Using chance to enhance fun
  104. Video: Why forums can be great for indie discoverability and community
  105. Don’t Miss: A Classic Postmortem on how Maxis avoided sequel-itis on The Sims 2
  106. Blog: Organizing engaging and dynamic forces
  107. Blog: Utilizing 3D cameras in 2D games
  108. Blog: How Tencent’s global mobile games biz took the crown in 2019
  109. Blog: Lessons and statistics after four years as an indie developer
  110. Blog: Pack-ratting in games – Do players need to have it all?
  111. Are gamers scarier than biker gangs?: 10 Years Ago This Month: South Australian attorney general compares the threats he receives while Activision Blizzard starts a new layoff tradition
  112. What ‘Dragons Love Tacos’ taught me about game discoverability
  113. The Coalition’s Rod Fergusson leaves Gears of War for Diablo: Former Xbox studios leader departs for Blizzard
  114. Where now for Gears of War?: As franchise lead Rod Fergusson departs, Xbox commits to the IP and its studio
  115. Call of Duty raises $1.6 million for Australian fire relief through in-game campaign
  116. The games industry continues to rally behind Australian bushfire relief: Activision led widespread efforts with $1.6m raised through the sale of a special COD pack
  117. U.S. Patent no. 10,279,260: Cut-scene gameplay

DIGITAL

  1. Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault on Regulating Foreign News Sites: “What’s the Big Deal?” (Michael Geist)
  2. Weak Walk-Back: Why Steven Guilbeault’s Reversal on Government Licensing News Sites Still Leaves a Huge Regulatory Structure in Place (Michael Geist)
  3. Video Excerpts Qualify as Fair Use (and Another 512(f) Claim Fails)–Hughes v. Benjamin (Eric Goldman)
  4. Twitter Suspends Reporter For ‘Posting Private Info’ That Is Merely Internal Deutsche Bank Email That Could Implicate Trump
  5. Twitter Moves To Quash Fishing Expedition Subpoena For Info On Devin Nunes Cow By Devin Nunes’ Lawyer In Unrelated Case
  6. YouTube Sends Cease-And-Desist To Facial Recognition Company That Scrapes Social Media Images For Law Enforcement
  7. YouTube Emphasizes Its Ban On Birtherism, Deepfakes As 2020 Election Gets Underway
  8. YouTube Says It Will Ban Misleading Election-Related Content: On the day of the Iowa caucuses, the video platform rolled out a complete policy of how it planned to handle false election content.
  9. Email release reveals chaos sowed by President Trump’s hurricane tweets
  10. ‘Fake news’ – the perfect storm: historical perspectives
  11. An Artist Used 99 Phones to Fake a Google Maps Traffic Jam: With his “Google Maps Hack,” artist Simon Weckert draws attention to the systems we take for granted—and how we let them shape us.
  12. Google Fiber kills TV service, focuses on broadband and YouTube TV
  13. Nightmare Google Photos bug sent private videos to the wrong people
  14. Nextdoor Post Isn’t Protected by Anti-SLAPP Law–Jeppson v. Ley (Eric Goldman)
  15. Can a “Fire” Emoji Support a Manslaughter Conviction?–Johnson v. State (Eric Goldman)
  16. Amazon Tells Ukraine Publication To Alter Its Article After It Links The Company To Ring’s Problematic Ukraine Branch
  17. Amazon Value Tops $1 Trillion After Results Beat Expectations
  18. Amazon reports big earnings, crosses $1 trillion in value
  19. What can Amazon do for you?
  20. Record labels want to ask potential jurors: Do you read Ars Technica?
  21. Microsoft’s failures to renew: Teams, Hotmail, and Hotmail.co.uk
  22. Microsoft now sees Amazon and Google as its main gaming threats
  23. Lindsey Graham’s Sneak Attack On Section 230 And Encryption: A Backdoor To A Backdoor?
  24. The Plot Against Section 230 Is Being Run By Big Legacy Companies Who Failed To Adapt To The Internet
  25. Google Search Qualifies For Section 230, Whether or Not It’s a “Platform”–Chukwurah v. Google (Eric Goldman)
  26. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act: Protections for Copyright Owners and Online Service Providers
  27. RIAA, Stream-Ripping Sites Engaged In Dumb Game Of Whac-A-Mole With Search Engines
  28. Dune’s New Logo Started Disappearing From Twitter Due To Copyright Claims, But No One Is Quite Sure Why
  29. What is a porn website’s duty to accommodate?
  30. New FTC Settlement Targets Fake Ratings and Reviews
  31. Cheap rooms? Probably not? Trivago’s top deals are hotels which pay the most
  32. How lawyers brought down internet trolls – without ever uncovering their identities
  33. How to virtually block a road: Take a walk with 99 phones
  34. YouTuber JayStation Concedes He Faked Girlfriend’s Death To Drive Subscriptions
  35. YouTube Takes Down Live Stream Over Copyright Claim…Before Stream Even Starts
  36. YouTube Shares Insights Into How It Will Deploy $100 Million Kids Content Fund
  37. YouTube Millionaires: Meet Steph Pappas, YouTube’s Up-And-Coming Queen Of Mukbang
  38. YouTube Finally Reveals Exactly How Much It Makes From Ads: $34.4 Billion In Last 3 Years
  39. Alphabet finally reveals YouTube revenue—$15 billion in 2019
  40. Alphabet discloses YouTube ad revenues of $15.15 billion, cloud revenues of $8.92 billion for 2019
  41. YouTube Finally Reveals Exactly How Much It Makes From Ads: $34.4 Billion In Last 3 Years
  42. CBS makes Star Trek: Picard pilot free on YouTube for a limited time
  43. Linux Star Trek fans, rejoice: CBS All Access now works in your OS [Updated]
  44. ViacomCBS-Owned Pluto TV To Enter Latin American Market Next Month
  45. Amid Push To Build Platform, Editor ‘VSCO’ Will Now Let Members Publish Videos
  46. Disney’s Licensing Dogs Charge Underserved School District A Third Of Fundraiser Money For Playing ‘Lion King’ DVD
  47. Verizon Says Disney+ Deal Helped It Bring In 790K New Wireless Customers Last Quarter
  48. Disney expected to announce up to 30 million subs for Disney+
  49. Hulu CEO Randy Freer Exits Amid Streamer’s Ongoing Integration Into Disney
  50. Netflix Signs 4-Film Deal With Adam Sandler, After Banking 6 Features To Date
  51. Sony, Wattpad Unveil First Original Shows In Development After First-Look Deal
  52. Insights: Frumpy Hulu Sharpens Its Edge With Reorg, Big Sundance Deals
  53. Spotify needed a huge podcast, and it just bought one of the biggest: Why it matters that Spotify bought The Ringer and Bill Simmons’ podcast
  54. China’s New Digital Stars Are Construction Vehicles–And They Have 40 Million Viewers
  55. Competition Bureau’s Marketing and Advertising Priorities: Influencer Marketing
  56. The FDA Is Studying Influencers Who Endorse Healthcare Products
  57. Competition Bureau’s Marketing and Advertising Priorities: Influencer Marketing
  58. Casey Neistat Invests In $4.5 Million Seed Round For Aperitif Startup ‘Haus’
  59. Chipotle Taps David Dobrik, Zach King, Avani Gregg For TikTok Super Bowl Campaign
  60. TikTok Testing New Profile Layouts That Look Strikingly Similar To Instagram
  61. James Charles To Attend VidCon 2020 For The First Time As A Featured Creator
  62. Jake Paul Defeats AnEsonGib In First Round, Setting Stage For KSI Showdown
  63. Messenger Kids adds expanded parental controls, details how much kids’ data Facebook collects
  64. Instagram Brings In More Than a Quarter of Facebook Sales
  65. Instagram Reportedly Clocked $20 Billion In Ad Revs Last Year, Toppling YouTube’s Tally
  66. Teens have figured out how to mess with Instagram’s tracking algorithm: Teenagers are using group accounts to flood Instagram with random user data that can’t be tied to a single person.
  67. Snapchat launches Bitmoji TV: zany 4-min cartoons of your avatar: Facebook’t can’t copy this one
  68. Snapchat hits 218M users but big Q4 losses sink share price
  69. Snapchat Triples Video Ad Earnings And Snags 8 Million New Users, But Misses Q4 Revenue Target
  70. Here are the 62 brand-new emoji for 2020
  71. OneWeb joins the satellite Internet gold rush this week
  72. Tracking the future of remote workplaces: Apps, communication, and liability
  73. Social AR/VR Workspace ‘Spatial’ Secures $14M Series A Financing
  74. Maryland State Senate’s Budget and Taxation Committee Hears Testimony on Proposed Digital Advertising Tax
  75. “Of Ransoms, Bitcoin, and Injunctions”: English High Court grants subrogee insurer proprietary injunction over ransomed Bitcoin
  76. SaaS, cashless and convergence drive tech to the top
  77. “OK, Boomer”: From Social Media to the Supreme Court
  78. Internet Law and Regulation

A.I.

  1. Patent law’s approach to AI: finding the way forward
  2. Could Star Trek’s DATA Be a Patent Inventor?
  3. UK Intellectual Property Office finds that patent law does not cater for inventions created by AI machines and calls for debate
  4. Patenting Considerations for Artificial Intelligence in Biotech and Synthetic Biology – Part 2: Key Issues in Patent Subject Matter Eligibility
  5. Someone used neural networks to upscale a famous 1896 video to 4k quality (Updated)
  6. Modl.ai closes $1.7m seed funding round: Startup uses AI-driven player archetypes to drastically reduce playtest times
  7. Machine behaviour
  8. Oyez! Robot
  9. Closing the AI accountability gap: defining an end-to-end framework for internal algorithmic auditing
  10. Transhumanism, Moral Perfection, and Those 76 Trombones (Tom Koch)

COMMUNICATIONS

  1.  The CRTC Knows Best: Panel Report Recommends Costly Overhaul of Canadian Communications Law to Regulate Internet Sites and Services Worldwide (Michael Geist)
  2. Not Neutral: Why the Broadcast Panel Report Weakens Net Neutrality in Canada (Michael Geist)
  3. Broadcasting report constitutes a stunning overreach
  4. Jonathan Kay: The federal government’s unsettling communications power grab – No one should trust any agency of government to regulate speech. I’m no fan of the Rebel. But free countries don’t ban book sales. Ever.
  5. No Netflix Tax? (Sort Of…): The Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel Releases Its Final Report
  6. Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel Releases its Final Report to the Federal Government
  7. Broadcaster to Pay $50,000 for Failing to Announce That “Live” Program Was Prerecorded
  8. 1 Year Later, FCC Finally Admits Wireless Carriers Broke The Law On Location Data
  9. FCC accuses carriers of being “gateways” for foreign robocallers
  10. Sinclair Pays Tribune $60 Million To Settle Lawsuit Over Dodgy Merger
  11. Did You Know that There is a Rule that Broadcasters Have to Tell Their Audience that a Program Is Recorded When It Seems to Be Live? – FCC Sends a $50,000 Reminder
  12. AT&T is doing exactly what it told Congress it wouldn’t do with Time Warner
  13. AT&T’s Attempt To Dominate The Pay TV Sector Continues To Go…Poorly
  14. AT&T Keeps On Firing Employees Despite Claims The Trump Tax Cut Would Boost Job Growth
  15. AT&T slashed billions from network spending, cut tens of thousands of jobs
  16. AT&T, Comcast Dramatically Cut Network Spending Despite Net Neutrality Repeal
  17. FCC proposes to fine racist troll $13 million for robocalling spree
  18. Quick Thoughts on a Few Political Broadcasting Legal Issues to Survive the Primary Season
  19. The United States vs. Robocalls
  20. Federal robocall watchdogs flex enforcement muscles
  21. Eleventh Cir. Rejects Broad Reading of “Autodialer”
  22. FCC Makes Permanent At-Home Call Handling by Sign Language Interpreters for VRS
  23. Ajit Pai’s “surprise” change makes it harder to get FCC broadband funding
  24. Ajit Pai: Carrier sales of phone-location data is illegal, FCC plans punishment
  25. Smaller Cable Companies Are Giving Up On Cable TV Altogether
  26. DoD’s Squeeze of Chinese Telecom Equipment Continues
  27. The electronic communications code: a new year, a new approach?
  28. The end of BlackBerry phones: TCL will cease sales in August 2020
  29. Telecom pioneer and convicted fraudster Bernard Ebbers has died

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Conservative MP Dan Albas on Copyright Term Extension in USMCA: Government Needs to Mitigate Damage to Copyright Law (Michael Geist)
  2. Woman Threatens Rep. Steve King With A Lawsuit For Using A 12-Year-Old Meme On His Facebook Page
  3. Success kid’s mom won’t stand for Steve King’s “meme” ad: Laney Griner, mother behind the meme, sent cease-and-desist to the Iowa congressman.
  4. The EPO’s fourth law of robotics: a robot must not be the inventor of a patent
  5. EPO publishes reasons for rejecting AI as inventor on patent application
  6. Can your AI machine be an inventor? The EPO says no….
  7. Caltech wins $1.1 billion patent award against Apple and Broadcom
  8. Patent Re-examination in Canada: Court Takes Truck Argument Off the Road
  9. Seedlings Clarifies Key Patent Litigation Issues
  10. Federal Circuit Alters Landscape for Design Patent Litigation
  11. Kendall and Kylie Jenner “Klauber-ed” for Allegedly Infringing Lace Designs
  12. Blockchain and intellectual property – the de-centralised alliance
  13. Creative Interpretations of a Creative Commons License
  14. Do you want to build a snowman? No, but I’d like to protect one! IP for animated characters.
  15. BMI Settlement of Royalty Battle with RMLC to Include Music in Podcasts? – Not So Fast….
  16. Schrödinger’s Shades of Grey: the CJEU’s landmark paroxetine ruling – antitrust market definition and patent settlement agreements
  17. The United Kingdom will not implement the European Union Copyright Directive
  18. Will rejecting the EU’s new copyright directive #savetheinternet?
  19. It’s That Time Of Year: No, The NFL Can’t Stop Every Business From Using ‘Super Bowl’ In Every Instance
  20. Update to Trademark Practice in Canada
  21. How the New U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Deal (Mostly) Expands Intellectual Property Protections
  22. Brexit: Implications for IP
  23. Brexit & IP – status quo for the transition period; changes to come post-transition
  24. Brexit is a Done Deal: What Are the Implications for Your IP?
  25. Cofemel’s first UK outing – The wooly world of copyright and designs
  26. Risk of Electronic Device Search For Patent Attorneys and Inventors Crossing the US-Canada Border with Confidential Information
  27. File When Ready! Criteria for Determining if an Invention Should Be Patented
  28. Fifth Circuit Holds that Mitigation is Not an Absolute Defense to Statutory Damages for Copyright Infringement and DMCA Violations
  29. Ninth Circuit Affirms $3.9 Million Attorney’s Fees Award in Ultraman Copyright Dispute
  30. Competition between generics and originators – what’s the relevance of a patent? (Part II)
  31. Intellectual Property Outlook: Cases and Trends to Follow in 2020 – Part 2 

PRIVACY

  1. Facebook Agrees to Landmark 550 Million Dollar Settlement in BIPA Class Action
  2. Ring LLC Faces a Proposed Class Action Alleging Camera Doorbells Should Incorporate Enhanced Cybersecurity Features
  3. Amazon Ring now lets users opt out of receiving police video requests
  4. Ring Updates Privacy Dashboard Again, Allows Users To Preemptively Block All Law Enforcement Requests For Footage
  5. Facial Recognition Developer Told Cops To Test Out The Software By Running Searches On Friends And Family
  6. Avast shutters data-selling subsidiary amid user outrage
  7. YouTube demands Clearview AI stop scraping its videos for facial recognition database
  8. Lawsuit Says Clearview’s Facial Recognition App Violates Illinois Privacy Laws
  9. NJ AG Bans Clearview AI – Preventing a Chain of Privacy Violations or Interfering with Clearview’s Intellectual Property?
  10. Facebook Pays $550 Million Settlement In Illinois Facial Recognition Lawsuit, Which Could Pose Problems For Clearview
  11. New ransomware doesn’t just encrypt data. It also meddles with critical infrastructure
  12. Flaws in WhatsApp’s desktop app allowed remote access to files
  13. Court Order Shows DEA Demanding Tons Of Data From WhatsApp And Bunch Of Other Service Providers
  14. ‘Wake-up call’: Iowa caucus disinformation serves as warning about 2020 election – On Monday night, it didn’t take foreign interference to highlight the persistent vulnerabilities that Russia exploited in 2016.
  15. Who Needs the Russians?: Don’t blame shadowy foreign hackers for the chaos in Iowa. Blame Shadow’s caucus app. (Zeynep Tufekci)
  16. “Untagging” From Photo Privacy Lawsuit: Facebook Settles Its Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Litigation For $550 Million
  17. Big News in Biometrics – Supreme Court Declines to Weigh in on What Plaintiffs Must Show to Bring Biometric Privacy Suit
  18. Cyber Criminals Using Coronavirus Concern to Assist with Intrusions
  19. If You Give a User a Cookie (Notice)
  20. A Comprehensive Review of the new Washington Privacy Act
  21. Cambridge, Massachusetts Passes Ban On Facial Recognition Tech Use By Government Agencies
  22. London Police Move Forward With Full-Time Deployment Of Facial Recognition Tech That Can’t Accurately Recognize Faces
  23. Criminal Charges Finally Dropped Against Security Researchers Who Broke Into An Iowa Courthouse
  24. Why we don’t know as much as we should about police surveillance technology: Despite a growing number of high-tech tools, law enforcement agencies don’t seem to want to disclose what they’re using.
  25. Should Your Antivirus Software Be Spying On You?
  26. Dear Ashley Madison user, I know everything about you. Pay up or else
  27. Britain Cracks Down on Child Data Privacy
  28. Blurred Lines: Navigating The Modern Day Data Privacy And Security Labyrinth
  29. The fractured future of browser privacy
  30. More than 200 browser extensions ejected from Firefox and Chrome stores

CREATIVITY   

  1. Prince Harry loses IPSO complaint against Mail on Sunday over criticism of his Instagram wildlife photography
  2. Bachelor Contestants Embroiled in Fantasy Sports Law Controversy
  3. The Guardian to Ban Advertising for Fossil Fuels
  4. What we learned from studying makerspaces – implications for policy

Jon

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News of the Week; January 29, 2020

By Jon Festinger on February 2, 2020

GAMES

  1. Japanese court ups punishment for unlicensed Mario Kart-themed go-karts: Maricar must change its name, pay out $458k instead of $92k to Nintendo
  2. Blizzard automatically owns any and all Warcraft 3: Reforged custom games
  3. Blizzard now claims full copyright for player-made “custom game” mods
  4. Warcraft 3 Reforged EULA gives Blizzard total ownership of all custom games: With the remake, Blizzard appears to be trying to avoid another Dota situation
  5. How Warcraft III birthed a genre, changed a franchise, and earned a Reforge-ing
  6. Riot Games denies collusion in gender discrimination lawsuit: 2 US government agencies attempt to discredit Riot Games and plaintiffs’ legal counsel in bid for $400 million compensation for current and former employees
  7. Game companies fall short on Bloomberg Gender Equality Index: Just five publicly-owned gaming or gaming-related companies appear on 2020 index measuring gender equality in the workplace
  8. Over one-fourth of developers say their studio has no diversity or inclusion initiatives – State of the Industry: Over half of developers are in favor of unionization; meanwhile, needle hasn’t moved on accessibility
  9. The industry is becoming more diverse, and more developers support inclusion efforts: IGDA developer survey: 85% of developers said that diversity in the games industry was important
  10. Crunch and ‘extended hours’ both down in latest IGDA dev satisfaction survey
  11. Bethesda restores characters who lost their clothes in Fallout 76 hack
  12. Industry faces “significant” regulatory risk following 2019 government inquiry: Concerns around bullying and gaming disorder could lead to “badly-informed regulation that damages the functioning of the industry”
  13. FTC Public Workshop on Loot Boxes – So What Now?
  14. When do deceptive playable ads help, and when do they hurt?: Dan Greenberg of ironSource says misleading interactive mobile ads were huge in 2019, but likely to be reined in this year
  15. Rockstar defends the $49m it received in UK tax relief last year
  16. Court rules Nintendo’s strict digital pre-order policies don’t violate EU laws
  17. The story of how Nintendo’s iconic logo escaped an “age-up” remake
  18. Analyst: Nintendo passes $1 billion revenue on mobile, largely thanks to Fire Emblem
  19. Plague Inc. maker: Don’t use our game for coronavirus modeling
  20. There are better ways to learn about coronavirus, says Plague Inc. developer
  21. Plague Inc dev: Game is “not a scientific model” for coronavirus outbreak – Ndemic Creations compelled to release statement as sales spike in China
  22. Blitzchung on Hong Kong protest: “Even if I had a chance to go back, I would still do it” – Hearthstone pro still “disappointed” in Blizzard but doesn’t hate the company
  23. Game revenue down 21% at Microsoft as Xbox hardware sales slow
  24. Microsoft’s Azure is still growing fast to take on AWS, but Xbox is still struggling: The tech giant reported impressive revenue in everything but gaming.
  25. Console tariff off the table as tensions ease between US and China: Tariff backtrack is well-timed as PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X prepare for launch
  26. U.S.-China trade deal clears way for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X
  27. Don’t Miss: How a ragtag band of modders restored Star Wars KOTOR II
  28. Don’t Miss: What went right (and wrong) during the development of BioShock
  29. Gabby DaRienzo wants to talk about burnout
  30. Rocket League ending MacOS and Linux support in March
  31. Rocket League left behind on macOS and Linux due to DirectX 11 shift
  32. Rocket League will drop support for Mac, Linux versions in March: Change comes eight months after Epic Games acquired the game’s creators.
  33. Rocket League is dropping Mac, Linux because of crazy-low player counts [Updated]
  34. Rocket League support ending on Mac and Linux, offers refunds: Psyonix woking with Valve to expand refunds beyond normal two-week policy but requires manual request
  35. Project xCloud is coming to Canada at the end of January
  36. Counterplay Games’ Duelyst is going offline for good in February
  37. Paradox has been quietly testing a DLC subscription service 
  38. Paradox trialling subscription model to address DLC criticism: But strategy publisher assures long-running fans that no future expansions will be exclusive to subscribers
  39. EA ends support for mobile Tetris, Tetris Blitz
  40. You Don’t Own What You Buy: The Tetris Edition
  41. US game content revenues hit $35.4 billion in 2019, say NPD and ESA: Overall spending on gaming similar to last year when omitting hardware revenues from the equation
  42. GDC State of the Industry: Devs torn on whether subscription services devalue games
  43. Developers are divided on how subscription services will affect game values – GDC State of the Industry: One-fourth of devs are concerned such services will devalue games, another fourth aren’t worried at all
  44. Game consoles excluded from tariffs on Chinese imports ‘until further notice’
  45. GDC State of the Industry: Game devs shifting focus to next-gen consoles
  46. UK Charts: The Witcher 3 rises as Dragon Ball holds No.1 – Meanwhile, Rugby 20 makes the Top 20
  47. Minecraft was the UK’s best-selling new IP of the decade: Mojang’s hit sold more retail units than any other new games property, but Destiny led the way in revenue generated
  48. Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2 have sold a combined 150m units: Red Dead Redemption 2 is the best-selling game of the last four years in the US, by dollar sales
  49. Red Dead Redemption 2 digital unit sales doubled in December, thanks to Steam launch
  50. GDC State of the Industry: Most devs feel Steam’s 30% cut isn’t justified; many prefer 10-15%
  51. The State Of Game Discoverability: January 2020
  52. Mobile publishing platform Coda secures $4 million to expand operations
  53. Stardew Valley has sold 10 million copies in 4 years
  54. Nintendo mobile games have brought in $1b in lifetime revenue: Sensor Tower Fire Emblem Heroes accounted for 61% of the total; Dr. Mario World brought in less than 1%
  55. Nintendo is halting Wii repairs in Japan due to parts shortage
  56. Digital Bros moves to acquire all Starbreeze assets from Smilegate
  57. Torchlight successor pivots away from free-to-play following alpha feedback
  58. THQ-owned Amplifier Game Invest opens new studio in Sweden
  59. Amplifier Game Invest opens new development studio in Sweden: River End Games is funded by recently rebranded investment arm of THQ Nordic parent Embracer Group
  60. The Witcher heralds an era of game IPs on TV | Opinion: As media giants prepare to do battle over streaming, well-known IPs are a potent weapon — and videogames remain the last great untapped source
  61. Netflix is also developing a standalone The Witcher anime film: “Nightmare of the Wolf” to be led by The Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, animated by Legend of Korra and Voltron studio
  62. What new console features are important to gamers?: ISFE and Ipsos Mori’s GameTrack consumer survey find shorter load times a close second to better graphics; VR and handheld modes less crucial
  63. Facebook Withdrew Oculus Go From Enterprise Platform, Now Offers Quest Only
  64. Pokemon Home keeps cross-platform cloud storage in the mix with free, paid tiers
  65. Pokémon Home cloud service detailed and priced: Launches on mobile and Switch next month, will cost up to £15.99 per year
  66. Chrono.gg secures $5.5m to build its answer to the discoverability problem: CEO Justin Sacks explains why tackling the issues with PC storefronts means letting content creators make a whole lot more of them
  67. Atari to Open Game-themed Hotels Across the US with “the latest in VR and AR”
  68. Atari wants to open gaming hotels in at least eight US cities: Planned locations to include VR and AR experiences, esports venues
  69. Hero bans work for some games but aren’t a fit for Overwatch, argues Jeff Kaplan
  70. Activision Blizzard And YouTube Execs Say Rewards Are Coming For Viewers Of Overwatch, Call Of Duty Leagues
  71. Esports events delayed, cancelled as coronavirus spreads: Competitions for League of Legends, Pokemon, CS GO already affected, Overwatch League currently in discussions
  72. Lifting the veil on antitrust questions arising in the distribution of esports: mandatory commissions
  73. Creators Going Pro: How 23-Year-Old Formula Went From Esports Team Manager To ‘Fortnite’ Maven
  74. YouTube’s Call Of Duty League Livestream Peaks At 102K Viewers, With Related Videos Bringing 4+ Million Views
  75. Ninja was reportedly paid between $20m and $30m for Mixer exclusivity deal: Other top streamers above certain viewership thresholds may have been offered as much as $10m
  76. Esports Organization 100 Thieves Unveils New Facility in Los Angeles
  77. Gaming Org ‘100 Thieves’ Opens Massive Compound For Player Training, Streaming, Retail, More
  78. Stadia owners on Reddit are blasting Google over radio silence and lack of support
  79. Google deal lands Activision Blizzard esports events exclusively on YouTube Gaming
  80. Activision Blizzard and Google sign esports, cloud deals: Overwatch League and others will air exclusively on YouTube and Google Cloud becomes preferred cloud service for game hosting
  81. Esports player contracts – knowing your worth and ‘equalising’ the contractual playing field
  82. Patrick Johnston: Esports’ gaming gladiators starring in digital – and real – arenas
  83. YouTube Scores Exclusive Streaming for Activision Blizzard’s E-Sports, Including Overwatch and Call of Duty Leagues
  84. YouTube Gaming To Exclusively Livestream Overwatch, Call Of Duty Leagues As Part Of Multiyear Activision Blizzard/Google Partnership
  85. Doom Eternal hands-on: It’s more, more, more—and maybe just a little bit less, too
  86. Doom Eternal dev team were ‘crunching pretty hard’ during 2019
  87. Id Software was “crunching pretty hard most of last year” on Doom Eternal: But studio confident that four-month delay has made upcoming shooter the “best game we’ve ever made”
  88. Disney to Sell Fox Video Game Division to Scopely
  89. Report: Disney is shutting down Storyscape developer Fogbank Entertainment
  90. Disney reportedly closing down Fogbank Entertainment: FoxNext’s San Francisco studio was not part of recent sale to Scopely
  91. Tencent wants to buy ‘full ownership’ of Conan Exiles developer Funcom
  92. Com2us and Skybound will partner on new The Walking Dead mobile game
  93. Com2uS leads new investment round in Skybound Entertainment: C Ventures and Third Wave Digital were also involved in the round, new The Walking Dead mobile game confirmed
  94. Housemarque puts all other projects on hold to focus on “most ambitious game to date”: Stormdivers, other upcoming titles paused for unannounced project now three years in development
  95. Riot takes its licensing game up a league: Hire of Disney and Nickelodeon vet Ron Johnson coincides with increased focus on external partners for consumer products
  96. Bare-bones Tetris mobile game arrives to replace EA’s departing ones: Tetris 2011 and Tetris Blitz will go offline in April
  97. No plans for a full Source 2 SDK, and other tidbits from Valve’s Half-Life: Alyx AMA
  98. Report: Valve Index sales more than doubled amid Half-Life Alyx reveal
  99. Valve Index sales more than doubled following Half-Life Alyx announcement – SuperData: The Index sold 149k units in 2019, 103k of which were sold in Q4
  100. “The devil is in the details” when creating a metaverse: Novaquark’s user-generated MMO Dual Universe is clear on its grand ambition, but has lots of specifics to nail down
  101. This amazing glitch puts Star Fox 64 ships in an unmodified Zelda cartridge
  102. Blog: Designing fun movement in games (with video)
  103. Blog: Analyzing the storytelling of Kingdom Hearts III
  104. Video: A game dev’s guide to the UX of engagement and immersion
  105. Video: How Myst’s designers stuffed an entire universe onto a single CD-ROM
  106. Video: What a decade with Thoreau can teach you about game design
  107. Video: How Bungie crafted the music of Destiny 2’s open world
  108. Designing the simulation of the wild and wonderful Planet Zoo
  109. A fleet of Arwings were just spawned in vanilla Ocarina of Time for the first time ever
  110. State of The Game Industry 2020
  111. Ustwo earns B Corp status, plans to further reduce environmental impact: Parent of Monument Valley developer joins movement of companies working to “balance purpose and profit”
  112. Untitled Goose Game dev will donate 1 percent of income to Indigenous Australians
  113. Untitled Goose Game dev promises at least 1% of future revenues to Australian Indigenous groups: “Our games are made on stolen land,” says House House as it joins Pay The Rent movement
  114. One single EVE Online ship sale raises over $30,000 for Australian fire relief

DIGITAL

  1. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter Try To Crack Down On Coronavirus Conspiracies
  2. Here’s how Facebook plans to make final decisions about controversial content it’s taken down: The company announced details Tuesday about how what’s been called its “Supreme Court” for content moderation will work.
  3. Feds, states consider tag-teaming massive Google investigation
  4. Congressional Committee Pens Letter Urging YouTube To Stop “Incentivizing Climate Misinformation”
  5. YouTube Streamer Hit With Demonetization Over Copyright Claims To Numbers ’36’ And ’50’
  6. This Is Why Researchers Studying Radicalization On YouTube Need To Be Logged In
  7. Oscar De La Hoya Slams YouTuber Boxing Matches: “Just Stick In Your Own Lane”
  8. YouTube Moderators Reportedly Ordered To Sign Document Acknowledging Their Job Could Cause Long-Term Mental Health Issues
  9. As Tulsi Gabbard’s Silly Attention Seeking Lawsuit Against Google Falters, She Files Equally Silly Lawsuit Against Hillary Clinton
  10. Google’s tenth messaging service will “unify” Gmail, Drive, Hangouts Chat
  11. Prince Harry And Meghan Markle Video Views Balloon After Royal Exit
  12. Influencer Post Lacked Necessary Disclosure, Says British Ad Authority
  13. Germany Wants To Limit Memes And Mashups Derived From Press Publishers’ Material To 128-by-128 Pixels In Resolution, And Three Seconds In Length
  14. Dolly Parton’s Meme Exposes Social Media’s Masquerade: The country star’s “LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Tinder” post speaks to people’s desire to be what any platform needs them to be. 
  15. My Instagram: We all die immediately of a Brazilian butt lift
  16. Welcome News: DC Circuit Revives The Constitutional Challenge Of FOSTA
  17. FOSTA Constitutional Challenge Revived–Woodhull Freedom Foundation v. US (Eric Goldman)
  18. BuzzFeed Wins Libel Suit Regarding “King of Bullsh*t News” Article
  19. BuzzFeed Editor Ben Smith To Depart, Named ‘New York Times’ Media Columnist
  20. Massachusetts Fire Marshal Warns Against TikTok ‘Outlet Challenge’, Says Student Participants Will Face Charges
  21. Linus Torvalds pulled WireGuard VPN into the 5.6 kernel source tree
  22. Former Microsoft IP counsel joins social video firm TikTok as GC
  23. StreamElements Opens New Creator Vending Platform SE.Merch To All Twitch Streamers
  24. As We Get Closer And Closer To The EU Requiring ContentID Everywhere, More Abuses Of ContentID Exposed
  25. Copyright As Censorship: Gun Rights Advocate Gets Video Taken Down With Bogus Copyright Claim
  26. The Grim Conclusions of the Largest-Ever Study of Fake News: Falsehoods almost always beat out the truth on Twitter, penetrating further, faster, and deeper into the social network than accurate information.
  27. ‘Fake news’ as infrastructural uncanny (Jonathan Gray, Liliana Bounegru, Tommaso Venturini)
  28. Do Not Gamble with Browsewrap Terms of Use
  29. Employers Get their Email Systems Back: NLRB Overrules Purple Communications
  30. Academic Consensus Growing: Phones And Social Media Aren’t Damaging Your Kids
  31. Will 2020 be the year of reckoning for social media regulation?
  32. Canada ready to ‘impose costs’ on malicious cyberactors, advisers tell Trudeau: Canada will work with allies to strike back at foreign cyberattackers
  33. 11th Circ. Insurance Ruling Views Cybercrime Realistically
  34. SmileDirectClub Is Trying To Silence Criticism By Tying Refunds To Non-Disparagement Agreements
  35. Aspirant Host David Dobrik Makes Late-Night Debut On Fallon, Nabbing 9 Million Views
  36. CBS Gets Angry Joe’s YouTube Review Of ‘Picard’ Taken Down For Using 26 Seconds Of The Show’s Trailer
  37. Attorney General Barr’s Anti-Encryption Efforts Aren’t Supported By Many FBI Officials
  38. Is William Barr’s Latest Attack On Section 230 Simply An Effort To Harm Tech Companies For Blocking His Desire To Kill Encryption?
  39. Time Magazine Explains Why Section 230 Is So Vital To Protecting Free Speech
  40. Twitter Asks Judge To Dismiss Devin Nunes’ Frivolous Lawsuit Via Section 230
  41. Is Devin Nunes’ Lawyer Using Questionable Subpoenas In An Unrelated Case To Seek Info On Satirical @DevinCow Account?
  42. Emoji reactions are sliding into Twitter’s DMs
  43. Netflix Inks Overall Deal With ‘Big Mouth’ Animation Studio Titmouse
  44. Netflix And ‘Big Mouth’ Studio Titmouse Hook Up For Multiyear Adult Animation Deal
  45. Netflix to Lay Off Roughly 15 in Marketing Department Shift
  46. Netflix to Lay Off Employees as It Shifts Marketing Strategy:  Sources say at least 15 people are expected to exit this week as the company moves to better advertise the service rather than its individual shows.
  47. WarnerMedia takes $1.2 billion revenue hit in hopes that HBO Max pays off in the long run: Most of that $1.2 billion hit is because of HBO Max investment
  48. Vox Media aims for $20m-plus podcast business in 2020
  49. Samsung Galaxy Fold review: The future is an ugly disappointment
  50. After a decade of drama, Apple is ready to kill Flash in Safari once and for all
  51. Microsoft’s sneaky plan to switch Chrome searches from Google to Bing
  52. Amazon faces employee revolt over slow climate action
  53. Amazon Music passes 55M customers, still lags behind Spotify and Apple
  54. Get ready to see Spotify’s looping videos on Instagram
  55. Instagram Allows Businesses to See and Share Stories that Mention Them
  56. Sonos sunsets several smart speakers’ software support, spurring storm [Updated]
  57. You Don’t Own What You’ve Bought: Under Armour Smart Hardware Gets Lobotomized
  58. Apple reports a blowout Q1 2020, but names coronavirus as a worry for the next quarter
  59. Apple TV+ Has Reportedly Amassed A Formidable 33.6 Million Subscribers In The U.S.
  60. Insights: Will Peacock’s Throwback Approach Take Flight For Comcast?
  61. Snapchat And NBC Expand Olympics Content Pact Around 2020 Tokyo Games
  62. NBC partners with Snapchat on four daily shows for 2020 Tokyo Olympics
  63. Vine Successor ‘Byte’ Now Live On iOS And Android — With Monetization Soon To Follow
  64. Byte Ascends U.S. App Store Charts In Debut, Vows To Fix Comment Spam Issue
  65. The tools and tricks that let Ars Technica function without a physical office
  66. Home Owners Association Threatens Residents With Lawsuit For Online Criticism
  67. FTC and State AGs Continue Focus on Deceptive Social Media Marketing
  68. Competition Bureau’s Marketing and Advertising Priorities
  69. The dangers of electronic signatures – can you prove who signed?
  70. (We)Work is a Scam: What the fall of WeWork tells us about the unicorn economy and worker exploitation.
  71. 2019 Emoji Law Year-in-Review (Eric Goldman)
  72. Top Issues in 2020: Digital Technology
  73. Tax Wars: How to End the Conflict over Taxing Global Digital Commerce
  74. Proliferating Predation: Reverse Redlining, the Digital Proliferation of Inferior Social Welfare Products, and How to Stop it (Sam Gilman)

A.I.

  1. EPO refuses to name machine as legal inventor
  2. Google and Microsoft shouldn’t decide how technology is regulated: A researcher who studies AI principles warns that giving too much credence to Big Tech is like “asking the fox for guidance on henhouse security procedures.”
  3. Stop Blaming Algorithms For Misinformation And Threats To Democracy; The Real Problem Is Societal
  4. Privacy Tip #223 – Navigating Individual Data Privacy in a World with AI
  5. AI and drug discovery
  6. How a $300 projector can fool Tesla’s Autopilot
  7. Facial Recognition Is Only The Beginning
  8. The EU is funding dystopian Artificial Intelligence projects
  9. Black-Boxed Politics: Opacity is a Choice in AI Systems
  10. Algorithmic Experts: Selling Algorithmic Lore on YouTube (Sophie Bishop)
  11. Automation in Moderation (Hannah Bloch-Wehba)
  12. Explainable AI under contract and tort law: legal incentives and technical challenges (Philipp Hacker, Ralf Krestel, Stefan Grundmann, Felix Naumann)
  13. Algorithmic Realism: Expanding the Boundaries of Algorithmic Thought (Ben Green, Salomé Viljoen)

COMMUNICATIONS

  1.  Canada’s Communication Future: Time to Act (Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel)
  2. Independent panel report calls for more Canadian streaming content and an ad-free CBC
  3. A Demonstrably False Premise: Why “Inevitable” Canadian Internet and Cancon Regulations Won’t Level the Playing Field, Support Canadian Stories or Save a Thriving Industry (Michael Geist)
  4. Conservative critic says broadcast review report doesn’t address inequalities in media market 
  5. Telecommunications review includes ‘extreme’ recommendations, warns expert
  6. Telecommunications Industry and Regulators Work Together to Thwart Fraudsters and Scam Artists
  7. Update on Allarco’s “Unusual” Litigation (Howard Knopf)
  8. DOJ sues US telecom providers for connecting Indian robocall scammers
  9. AT&T loses another 1.2 million TV subscribers as DirecTV keeps tanking
  10. DirecTV races to decommission broken Boeing satellite before it explodes
  11. CenturyLink, Frontier took FCC cash, failed to deploy all required broadband
  12. Oh Look, More Giant ISPs Taking Taxpayer Money For Unfinished Networks
  13. FCC Commissioner Asks Record Labels for Information About Payola Practices – What are the FCC Rules? How Do These Practices Compare to Online Music Providers?
  14. FCC Fines Broadcaster $1.13 Million for Improper Monitoring of Tower Lighting
  15. FCC Taps Four “Spectrum Administrators” for 3.5 GHz, Including Sony and Google
  16. Ajit Pai promised faster broadband expansion—Comcast cut spending instead
  17. Comcast Says It Will Respond To Cord Cutting In 2020 With…More Price Hikes
  18. Traditional TV Enters Its Final Death Spiral
  19. Verizon’s 5G Superbowl Ads Will Hype Nonexistent Firefighter Tech And A Barely Available Network
  20. Verizon brings 5G to the Super Bowl—for part of the stadium, anyway
  21. The ‘Race To 5G’ Is A Giant Pile Of Lobbyist Nonsense
  22. Telus’ CLO discusses growth plans 

PRIVACY

  1. Stopping the Press: New York Times Journalist Targeted by Saudi-linked Pegasus Spyware Operator
  2. “Totally Clueless”: Dating apps Grindr and OkCupid reported for breach of privacy rules
  3. Italian Spyware Company Execs Arrested After Company Employees Spied On Innocent Citizens
  4. China fears lead Interior Department to limit use of foreign drones
  5. UK Ignores US, Won’t Fully Ban Huawei Gear From Its Networks
  6. FISA Court Orders FBI To Start Cleaning Up Its Carter Page Surveillance Mess
  7. Amazon’s Ring app shares loads of your personal info, report finds
  8. Letter To Judge Details Vault 7 Leaker’s Post-Incarceration Leaking
  9. Dozens of companies have data dumped online by ransomware ring seeking leverage
  10. Keepin’ It “Real”: OPC Finds that PIPEDA Applies to Foreign-Incorporated Business
  11. Canada’s Piece Of The Regulatory Pie: Application Of Canadian Data Privacy Laws To A Local Data Processor With A Global Reach
  12. New “Off-Facebook Activity” portal lets you know where you’re being followed
  13. Puerto Rico’s Justice Department Demanded Info From Facebook About Journalists Who Livestreamed Protests
  14. Skimming heist that hit convenience chain may have compromised 30 million cards
  15. ICO Code: Think of the Children
  16. Do retailers drop more cookies on Americans or Europeans?
  17. What percentage of United States retailers configure their cookie notice to respond differently to visitors with European IP addresses?
  18. Why it’s time to stop force-feeding cookies to users
  19. Protecting the ‘Smart World’ Around Us: California’s ‘Internet of Things’ Law
  20. Maryland bill would outlaw ransomware, keep researchers from reporting bugs
  21. London to deploy live facial recognition to find wanted faces in a crowd
  22. Law Enforcement’s New Facial Recognition Toy Scrapes Photos From Websites, Serves Up ‘Matches’ In Seconds
  23. Facial Recognition Company Clearview Lied About Its Crime-Solving Power In Pitches To Law Enforcement Agencies
  24. Leaked Document Suggests Possible Facial Recognition Ban In Europe
  25. Cy Vance Is So Sure Encryption Is Pure Evil He Thinks Over-The-Air Software Updates Are Just Encryption Backdoors Apple Won’t Tell Him About
  26. Two-Factor Authentication—Not Broken Yet, But the Bad Guys Are Doing Their Worst
  27. New document-tracking technology created for legal departments to protect data privacy: Usage controls will be applied to confidential legal documents to enable in-house counsel to track files
  28. Lawmakers Propose COPPA Expansion
  29. Google researchers find serious privacy risks in Safari’s anti-tracking protections
  30. Yelp Disclosures Cost Mortgage Broker $120K in FTC Deal
  31. Advertising technology: A short introduction to the relationship between adtech, privacy and data protection
  32. Ransomware Attacks Reached Unprecedented Numbers in 2019
  33. Identity Theft and Imposter Scams Were the Most Common Complaints That the FTC Received in 2019
  34. FTC Fines Five Companies for Falsely Claiming Privacy Shield Certification
  35. Emerging Cyber-Security Threats for 2020: The Rise of Disruptionware and High-Impact Ransomware Attacks
  36. International Data Privacy Day: Privacy, Technology, and Cybersecurity Trends to Watch in 2020
  37. The Limitations of European Data Protection As A Model for Global Privacy Regulation (Shannon Mercer)
  38. The Wiretapping of Things (Eldar Haber)

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. How the Supreme Court’s New Standard of Review Will Impact IP
  2. USMCA amendments: implications for Canadian IP law
  3. Article 13: UK will not implement EU copyright law
  4. Tom Kabinet: CJEU rules resale of e-books requires permission of copyright holder
  5. CJEU judgement in Sky v Skykick (case C-371/18)
  6. UK Government “has no plans” to implement the Copyright Directive
  7. UK Says It Won’t Implement The EU Copyright Directive, Which Wouldn’t Have Passed Without Its Support During A Crucial Vote
  8. Here’s why the UK is (finally) dumping Article 13 for good: The UK had plenty of opportunities to veto the controversial EU copyright legislation, so why did it wait so long to torpedo Article 13?
  9. An IP Roadmap for Phase-One Sino-US Economic and Trade Agreement
  10. Phase 1 U.S. China Trade Deal: Patent Provisions
  11. PMPRB Publishes Draft Guidelines to Operationalize Amendments to the Patented Medicines Regulations
  12. Court of Appeal clarifies rules for joint authorship of copyright
  13. Fair Use and Fanatic Fans
  14. Lego A/S v. Zuru, Inc.
  15. Structured Asset Sales, LLC v. Sheeran
  16. Two Cases Raise New Copyright Infringement Concerns for Internet Linking
  17. #CopyrightInfringement: The Sequel
  18. IP Insight: Is Linking to Radio Streams Online Copyright Infringement?
  19. In ‘N Out Burger Continues Its BS Pop-Up Technique To Keep Trademarks It Isn’t Actually Using
  20. SDNY: Collateral Estoppel Halts Social Media Patent Case
  21. Conversant Wireless v Huawei: patents valid & essential
  22. Competition between generics and originators – what’s the relevance of a patent?
  23. Cannabis patent litigation update: construing cannabis claims
  24. Recent Suit By US Olympic Committee Is Excellent Reminder Of Special Protection Afforded To The Words “Olympic” and “Paralympic”
  25. Life sciences intellectual property: 2019 highlights
  26. 2020 Intellectual Property Primer: Cases to Watch this Year
  27. Tricks of the trade: Can you just do a quick search on …?

CREATIVITY   

  1. Goop’s Netflix series: It’s so much worse than I expected and I can’t unsee it
  2. JLo Character Hustles Into Court Over Publicity Rights
  3. Deaf man demands closed captioning for porn videos in federal lawsuit
  4. Patreon can’t solve its porn pirate problem
  5. In the ’60s, America’s wearable art movement reflected true counterculture
  6. Guardian to ban advertising from fossil fuel firms: Move follows efforts to reduce carbon footprint and increase reporting on climate crisis
  7. Class Action Alleges MLB Cheating Scandal Tainted Fantasy League
  8. Tied Up in Knots? Tied House Laws and the First Amendment
  9. Planning a Super Bowl-themed Marketing Campaign? 5 Tips for Staying In Bounds

Jon

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