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Better Protection from Loot Boxes?

By alice kwan on October 22, 2019

There has been much talk regarding Fortnite in recent weeks, particularly given the recent class-action lawsuit by a Montreal legal firm on behalf of two minors, to sue the company for producing such an addictive game. Now, a new report in the UK has been released, investigating the relationship young people in the UK have with video games called, ‘Gaming the System.’

The report identified a number of concerns with the game including:
– Loot boxes as a form of gambling as some children are spending hundreds of pounds chasing losses
– Lack of maximum daily spend limits/caps on children purchasing lootboxes
– Feelings of being not in control with the amount of time/money spent on the game

In some instances, the report identified children spending over 300 pounds per year on games, having been influenced by peer pressure from friends, online strangers, and the gaming community.

The report suggests that introducing control measures or boundaries, similar to that of measures towards adults who gamble, should be put in place to mitigate young people against harm. The government is seen as having a duty of care around areas such as cyberbullying and violent content; However with the influx of loot boxes and game designs which feature gambling style elements, should the government’s scope of duty of care be widened to encompass protection of young people from loot boxes?

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Patenting AI-generated inventions

By jakob dolmer on October 21, 2019

Hi all

On Wednesday I’ll do a presentation on patenting software and the problems when trying to patent AI-generated inventions.

I’ll do an overview of how software patents are treated in different juridictions (Europe, USA, Canada), and then I’ll go through some of the problems that arises when trying to patent AI-generated inventions.

Here are two articles, where you can read about the topic or at least generate som thoughts on the topic:

The challenges of patenting artificial intelligence

Artificial Intelligence and its Potential Implications on Patents

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He played for 72 hours straight: South Korea wrestles with video game addiction

By yuan kevin shi on October 20, 2019

His bedroom door was always locked, and when his grandmother stood on the veranda and peered through his window, he was invariably engrossed in an on-screen gunfight.

He eventually began disappearing to play at internet cafes. Night after night, she would search for him, and he would try to evade her.

Now he is 21 and unemployed. In June at his grandfather’s funeral, he played games on his phone.

“There wasn’t a day he’d go without playing,” said his grandmother, who raised him and felt so ashamed by his situation that she would speak only on condition that her family not be named. “Games ruined the child.”

The debate intensified in May after the World Health Organization officially added “internet gaming disorder” to the 2022 edition of its International Classification of Diseases, which sets global standards for diagnosis.

In 2011, the country passed the so-called Cinderella Law requiring games to include automatic shutdown for children 15 or younger after midnight. Most teens quickly found work-arounds using VPN connections or signing on as their parents.

Two years later, a lawmaker proposed legislation classifying games alongside alcohol, drugs and gambling as major addictions to be battled by society. The proposal was debated for years before fizzling.

Many of the video games he played featured the opportunity to buy “loot boxes,” which contain randomized prizes.

It wasn’t much of leap into another addiction that he readily acknowledges: gambling.

He began dabbling in illegal offshore sports betting websites. In recent years, he resorted to petty fraud to get gambling cash — like selling his motorcycle to multiple people online.

He was arrested in July on fraud charges related to his gambling debts and is currently in jail awaiting trial.

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2019-10-17/south-korea-video-game-addiction-mental-health

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News of the Week; October 16, 2019

By Jon Festinger on October 20, 2019

GAMES

DIGITAL

A.I.

COMMUNICATIONS

PRIVACY

CREATIVITY

Jon

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Presentation Outline – 23 October 2019

By anna-lisa tie on October 18, 2019

Hello all,

On Wednesday 23^rd October, I’ll be presenting on the application of copyright law to video game livestreams and recorded playthroughs (“Let’s Plays”), which are commonly uploaded on internet platforms such as YouTube and Twitch.

I’ll be covering the following points:

Overview of Let’s Plays and livestreams on YouTube and Twitch;
Applying copyright law to gameplay content online;
- DMCA safe harbor and online platforms’ takedown systems;
- Misuses of DMCA takedown notices;
- Untested question of whether gameplay footage uploaded online is fair use/fair dealing;
Other ways YouTube and Twitch deal with copyrighted material.

For some quick preliminary reading/watching in the lead-up to class, please have a look through the following links below. Many thanks!

A short video to review copyright infringement and fair use
YouTube’s Approaches to dealing with Copyright
- Distinguishing copyright strikes from Content ID claims
- The Content ID system generally
Twitch.tv’s DMCA Guidelines

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Class 6 – 10/16/19; “Gamer Vulnerability in Virtual Realities Part 2” + “Gaming as a Career” + Ian Verchere

By Jon Festinger on October 18, 2019

Slides and video below. Have once again had to cut the non-essential slides out of my presentation to fit the maximum upload limit of the website.

Jon

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Settlement between YouTube and ‘DMCA Extortion Scammer’

By anna-lisa tie on October 18, 2019

YouTube recently settled a dispute with a man who abused the platform’s DMCA takedown system. The defendant in the lawsuit had been repeatedly making false copyright infringement claims to harass and extort money from content creators, threatening them with DMCA takedown notices for content that wasn’t his.

The Digital Millenium Copyright Act (‘DMCA’) is a U.S. statute that was enacted in 1998 to update copyright law to deal with challenges in the digital age, and to balance the interests of copyright holders, consumers and internet service providers (‘ISPs’). Among other things, the part that’s relevant to ISPs like YouTube is the “safe harbor” provision that protects them from copyright infringement liability, provided they meet certain requirements. Importantly, YouTube has to promptly remove access to the infringing material when it is put on notice (17 USC § 512).

Usually, when a copyright holder finds infringing material uploaded by a user on an ISP, they’ll send a DMCA takedown notice to officially notify the ISP of the infringement. The ISP will then remove access to the copyrighted material, so that they are exempted from liability. In the case of YouTube, removal of infringing material also results in a copyright strike against the user’s channel. Receive three strikes, and the user’s channel could be shut down entirely. One can definitely see how this would put content creators on edge; to have a person weaponise DMCA takedown notices to make false claims to extort money would place their accounts and potentially livelihood at even greater risk.

YouTube’s dispute with this particular defendant was first brought in August under s 512(f)(1) of the DMCA, which imposes liability for damages on any person who knowingly materially misrepresents that material is copyright infringement. What the defendant would do was use false identities to issue takedown notices, then send messages to the users demanding payment in exchange for cancelling the copyright strikes. Notable targets of this conduct included Minecraft gaming creators such as Kenzo and ObbyRaidz.

As part of the settlement, the defendant agreed to pay $25,000 in damages, and he also issued an apology to the YouTube platform and community. While this is a positive outcome in catching out this kind of misconduct, it does go to show how easily the DMCA can be misused for purposes other than legitimate copyright claims. This is something I’ll be touching on as I look into the application of copyright laws to gaming content on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch in my presentation in the next class.

Links for further info:

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Ian Verchere: Class 6 Guest

By Jon Festinger on October 14, 2019

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Ian Verchere is (IMHO) the most influential active creator of games in B.C. He has been a force to reckon with for decades, and if we are lucky enough, will be for decades to come. He has been a “must-see” part of this course for many years. His talks are always deeply and passionately rooted in the ethos of the creator. It is through that core lens that Ian explores legal and normative constraints and freedoms with insight and frequent surprises.

Ian Verchere is the Co-Founder of Session Games. He was also Digital Artist in Residence at Emily Carr University of Art & Design and Founding Faculty at the Centre for Digital Media. But there is tons more to the story. Ian’s Linked In profile (quoted below) provides a sense of it:

“Verchere is a long-time game industry executive, creative producer, game director, writer, and visual artist. He has been involved in the creation and production of some 40 video, computer, and mobile games. Over 31 million people have now downloaded Red Bull Air Race, Bike Unchained, and Snowboarding The Fourth Phase for their mobile devices. Millions more have played SSX Tricky and NBA Street V2 on their consoles, and the classic, best-selling Sega Genesis title Beavis and Butt-head for MTV.

A former professional skier and alpine coach, Verchere graduated with honours from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 1989. He was one of the founders of Radical Entertainment, and served as Studio Creative Director until he left in 1998 to join Electronic Arts (Canada) as a Producer.

Verchere sold his first feature screenplay, Mom’s Cookies (co-written with Douglas Coupland), to Buena Vista (Disney), and is a member of the WGAw. In 2007, his first non-fiction book General Deliver, Whistler BC V0N 1B0, was published by Douglas & McIntyre. He was former Chief Creative (CCO) of Roadhouse Interactive, a company he co-founded in 2009. Some months prior to the closing of Roadhouse, Verchere departed the company. In September of 2016 he co-founded Session Games, a production company specializing in creating, delivering, and operating original games.

Specialties: Creative and game direction. Game design and production. Expert in free-to-play monetization, mobile game play, and mobile narratives. Writing for film, television and interactive. Deep understanding of how brands and intellectual properties migrate authentically and successfully cross-platform and cross-media.”

Jon

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News of the Week; October 9, 2019

By Jon Festinger on October 14, 2019

GAMES

DIGITAL

A.I.

COMMUNICATIONS

PRIVACY

CREATIVITY

Jon

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Nintendo’s War on ROMs

By eunize lao on October 10, 2019

A ROM (“Read Only Memory”), as described by Nintendo refers to the “process of copying the software that constitutes a video game from the read-only memory found in a game cartridge or disk”, which can be played on various devices including non-Nintendo devices such as PCs and mobile phones through emulators, “a piece of software designed to mimic the functionality of the physical video game system like the Nintendo 3DS or Nintendo Switch” (para 19 in the complaint).

Nintendo has previously taken similar measures to protect the company’s intellectual property rights against ROM distributors such as was the case last year when Nintendo sued LoveROMs and LoveRETRO, forcing these websites to close down. In the fall of 2018, they reached a settlement of $12.2 million USD and were also granted an injunction that prevented the owners of these websites from re-entering the ROM sharing business as well as requiring them to turn in all their games, files, and emulators. The difference here between with the current lawsuit with RomUniverse.com is that these websites offered ROMs for free, while RomUniverse.com charged a subscription of $30 USD a year. To further highlight the egregious actions of RomUniverse.com, Nintendo noted that the owner of the website, Matthew Storman bragged about continuing to offer ROMs (new Switch games and older games from other Nintendo consoles) through his website despite Nintendo’s settlement with LoveROMs and LoveRETRO (para 23 of the complaint).

In response to the lawsuit, Storman stated that “RomUniverse.com was founded in 2009 under the notion that users like you should have easy access to the content that you purchased and the ability to relive those childhood moments. It is because of this, that I am asking for your help,” Storman writes. RomUniverse.com is still accessible online and those who are inclined are able to donate to help with the legal fees through the website.

Some supporters for ROMs often refer to the argument that ROMs allow players to resurrect old games that they are unable to obtain through any legal means (e.g. if the company and manufacturer have permanently closed). Other supporters feel that they should be able to create ROMs to make back-up copies of games that they already own.

While profiting from the distribution of the sales of pirated games is clearly illegal, what do you think of the nostalgia and preservation argument for the support of ROMs?

Nintendo’s stance on the use of ROMs and emulators is clear. Whether or not they are for personal use to back-up legally owned games or access old games that are no longer available through legal means, Nintendo’s response is that it should not be allowed.

From the Nintendo Legal page:

People Making Nintendo Emulators and Nintendo ROMs are Helping Publishers by Making Old Games Available that are No Longer Being Sold by the Copyright Owner. This Does Not Hurt Anyone and Allows Gamers to Play Old Favorites. What’s the Problem?

The problem is that it’s illegal. Copyrights and trademarks of games are corporate assets. If these vintage titles are available far and wide, it undermines the value of this intellectual property and adversely affects the right owner. In addition, the assumption that the games involved are vintage or nostalgia games is incorrect. Nintendo is famous for bringing back to life its popular characters for its newer systems, for example, Mario and Donkey Kong have enjoyed their adventures on all Nintendo platforms, going from coin-op machines to our latest hardware platforms. As a copyright owner, and creator of such famous characters, only Nintendo has the right to benefit from such valuable assets.

Another interesting thing I found is that there is a conspiracy theory out there that Nintendo repurposed a ROM of Super Mario Bros. and sold it as the Wii version.

For more information:

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