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News of the Week; July 27, 2016

GAMES

  1. Pokémon Go is “new level of invasion,” says stony-faced Oliver Stone – Snowden director: “This data-mining game is what they call totalitarianism.”
  2. Nintendo posts biggest Q1 loss in five years: Last year’s profit turns to $232 million loss in the face of collapsing Wii U sales and the absence of new revenue streams
  3. Nintendo suffers huge first-quarter loss as Wii U and 3DS sales tumble
  4. Pokémon Go: Nintendo stock tanks after it issues profit warning: Nintendo admits to limited impact from app’s success—sees biggest shares drop since 1990.
  5. Nintendo issues reminder it didn’t make Pokémon Go, stock slumps 18%: $6.7 billion wiped from Nintendo’s market cap in its biggest one-day drop since 1990
  6. Nintendo’s stock drops as investors learn it didn’t createPokemon Go
  7. Nintendo stays the course despite flagging sales and profits
  8. Despite radical success, Pokemon Go won’t affect Nintendo’s bottom line
  9. Pokemon Go is popular but polarizing, according to Nielsen data
  10. The Endgame Grind Of ‘Pokémon GO’ Is Spirit-Crushing
  11. London restaurant drops Pokémon Go lures, revenues go up 26%: Covent Garden eatery has a dedicated employee who spends £100 per day on lures.
  12. Pair that brought guns to Pokémon tournament gets two years in jail: Sentencing comes after players showed off weapons in threatening online posts.
  13. Pokémon’s Big Carbon Footprint Illustrates Energy Reality
  14. How Pokémon Go changes the geography of cities
  15. The tireless, automated bots that want to play Pokémon Go for you: GPS-spoofing programs open up a big cheating problem for developer Niantic.
  16. Wherein An Associate Curses Out A Partner Over Pokémon
  17. Augmenting Reality: A Pokémon Go Business and Legal Primer 
  18. Expanded Video Game Liability Post-Pokémon Go? 
  19. The intriguing legal ramifications of Pokémon GO
  20. Pokémon Go — another reminder about the duty of competence for lawyers 
  21. Is Pokémon Go success going to come to a Weezing halt?: Garry Barter of PlayerXP analyses the customer feedback for Niantic’s AR giant
  22. Pokémon Go developer’s first game, Ingress, surges in Japan
  23. How The 23 Named Skin Gambling Sites Have Reacted To Valve’s Cease And Desist Letter
  24. Heroes of the Storm player arrested for death threats against Blizzard
  25. Man arrested for threats against Blizzard: California man faces up to five years in jail after repeatedly suggesting he might “pay a visit” with an AK-47
  26. The patented “superformula” that could cause a legal headache for No Man’s Sky: Drama comes as game has been finalized, is set to launch on August 9.
  27. Over 775K emails stolen in Warframe hack
  28. Humble Bundle clarifies fraud policies: “Let us take care of this for you using our infrastructure” it tells devs
  29. Humble Bundle outlines fraud prevention strategy following G2A fiasco
  30. Report: China pushes past US to lead the world in App Store game revenue
  31. Alibaba invests $150 million in esports
  32. Renegades, Riot and the danger of absolute power
  33. ESL: “The onus is on us to set the bar” – Spike Laurie talks regulation, responsibility and reaching the mainstream
  34. Dota 2’s The International prize pool is the richest in eSports — again
  35. Gaming revenues down 9% at Microsoft as hardware sales slow
  36. Xbox One drops to $249, now half of its launch-day price
  37. Study: Sexualized female characters in games down over last decade
  38. How Are Games Companies Dealing With Online Abuse?
  39. No Consoles For Old Men: Ageism In The Game Industry
  40. Games For Grandparents: How the game industry is leaving today’s (and tomorrow’s) seniors behind.
  41. Top 10 Worst Star Wars Games Ever Made: These aren’t the games you’re looking for.
  42. Political snarls drive prominent game educators out of Wisconsin

DIGITAL

  1. Photographer sues Getty Images for selling photos she donated to public: Firm demanded $120 from Carol Highsmith for alleged copyright violation of her own photo.
  2. Photographer Suing Getty Images for $1 Billion
  3. Highsmith v. Getty Images, Complaint USDC Southern District of New York, July 25, 2016
  4. EFF Lawsuit Takes on DMCA Section 1201: Research and Technology Restrictions Violate the First Amendment
  5. EFF sues US government, saying copyright rules on DRM are unconstitutional: DMCA’s “anti-circumvention” rule has rankled hackers and scholars for a long time.
  6. America’s broken digital copyright law is about to be challenged in court: The Electronic Frontier Foundation is suing the US government over ‘unconstitutional’ use of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
  7. EFF Lawsuit Challenges DMCA’s Digital Locks Provision As First Amendment Violation
  8. China Clamps Down on Online News Reporting
  9. China To Ban Ad Blockers As Part Of New Regulations For Online Advertising
  10. Just As We Warned: A Chinese Tech Giant Goes On The Patent Attack — In East Texas
  11. Russian Copyright Law Allows Entire News Site To Be Shut Down Over A Single Copied Article
  12. It looks like Russia hired internet trolls to pose as pro-Trump Americans
  13. Unified Patents files legal challenges against top three patent trolls of 2016: Patent trolls sent hundreds of demand letters over package tracking and DRM.
  14. Qualcomm settles class-action gender bias suit for $19.5 million: Chip-maker will now address imbalance within its ranks, implementing reforms to improve pay and opportunities for women
  15. Search Engine Snippets Protected By Section 230–O’Kroley v. Fastcase (Eric Goldman)
  16. Appeals Court Rejects Silly Case Against Google Over Search Results Summary
  17. Paramount ends geoblocking tactics after EU antitrust breach warning: Movie studio commits to boldly allow access where no European had access before.
  18. Olympics Committee Says Non-Sponsors Are Banned From Tweeting About the Olympics
  19. Dear US Olympic Committee: Tweeting About The Olympics Is Never Trademark Infringement
  20. Batten down the hatches—Navy accused of pirating 585k copies of VR software: Bitmanagement Software says Navy “did not license” its virtual reality product.
  21. Message Board Operator May Be Liable For Moderator’s Content–Enigma v. Bleeping
  22. Isohunt Founder Settles With Music Industry For $66 Million
  23. IsoHunt Settles The Last Of Its Lawsuits, Laughably Agrees To ‘Pay’ Recording Industry $66 Million
  24. Will The FTC Investigate People & Companies Paid By Facebook To Use Facebook Live?
  25. Twitter Continues Push Into Live Sports Streaming With Announcement Of MLB And NHL Partnership
  26. Breaking Down Twitter’s Flurry Of Streaming Rights Deals
  27. The Future Of Live Streaming Sports Lies With Social Media Networks
  28. It’s Official: Verizon Buying Yahoo for $4.83B in Cash
  29. Official: Yahoo snapped up by Verizon in $4.8 billion deal – ’90s Internet pinups Yahoo and AOL together at last.
  30. Verizon Buys Yahoo In $4.8 Billion Attempt To Bore The Internet To Death
  31. Does The Snapchat Generation Even Know What Yahoo Is?
  32. Verizon To Unite AOL & Yahoo Against Facebook, YouTube
  33. How Yahoo Lost Its Way: The seminal early tech giant never quite found a way to successfully pivot.
  34. What Hot ’90s Tech Company Should Verizon Buy Next?: Yahoo today, maybe Neopets tomorrow
  35. Why Netflix Is Stumbling Overseas
  36. Facebook CEO: ‘In Five to Ten Years AR Will Be Where VR is Today’
  37. Massachusetts issues guidelines for using third-party robo-advisers 
  38. North Carolina Clarifies Digital Currency Amidst Growing Interest in Blockchain Technology
  39. Bitcoin ‘not real money’ says Miami judge in closely watched ruling – Defendant acquitted of illegally transmitting $1,500 worth of cryptocurrency – Judge: ‘Bitcoin has a long way to go before it is the equivalent of money’
  40. Florida judge: Bitcoins aren’t currency, so state money laws don’t apply
  41. In Rejecting Bitcoin as Money, Florida Court Sets Likely Precedent
  42. Leslie Jones And Twitter’s Troll Economics
  43. Twitter’s Wholesale Rejection of Donald Trump’s Speech Was Oddly Comforting
  44. Hillary 2016 app sees gamification of political activism for iPhone-owning Democrats
  45. The Strange Politics of Peter Thiel, Trump’s Most Unlikely Supporter
  46. MIT Media Lab Launched Disobedience Award, Funded By Reid Hoffman
  47. Canada’s National Digitization Plan Leaves Virtual Shelves Empty (Michael Geist)
  48. Why Canada should adopt a national IP strategy
  49. The rise in cyber attacks shows we need to change the way we think about crime

CREATIVITY

  1. Turkey Cracks Down on Journalists, Its Next Target After Crushing Coup
  2. Donald Trump’s Ghostwriter Tells All: “The Art of the Deal” made America see Trump as a charmer with an unfailing knack for business. Tony Schwartz helped create that myth—and regrets it.
  3. Donald Trump Threatens ‘Art Of The Deal’ Ghostwriter, Claiming His ‘Disloyalty’ Somehow Amounts To Defamation
  4. Demand Letter and Response re Author of Trump’s “Art of the Deal”
  5. Why Donald Trump Should Have Gotten Song Permission from The Rolling Stones (But Not Queen)
  6. But Wait: Copyright Law Is So Screwed Up, Perhaps The Rolling Stones Are Right That Donald Trump Needed Their Permission
  7. Whose Copyright Office? (Annemarie Bridy)
  8. Led Zeppelin Copyright Trial, Round 2: Band’s Accuser Files for Appeal
  9. The Hamster Case Continues as District Court Denies Hasbro’s Motion to Dismiss
  10. Harris Faulkner Says It Doesn’t Matter that Hamster Toy Doesn’t Look Like Her
  11. Daily Mail Must Face Defamation Suit After Using Photo of Porn Star in HIV Story: The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals concludes that reasonable readers could have assumed that Danni Ashe had tested positive.
  12. How to Libel a Porn Star (Noah Feldman)
  13. Gawker Founder Nick Denton Wins Temporary Reprieve From Hulk Hogan Judgment
  14. How the Real Edward Snowden Helped Write the Ending to Oliver Stone’s ‘Snowden’
  15. The weirdest ads made by your favourite filmmakers: Everybody needs to pay the bills – for directors that might mean surrendering creative control to a brand and making films you might not normally make
  16. Technology changes how authors write, but the big impact isn’t on their style 

COMMUNICATIONS & BROADCASTING

  1. Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations, Roger Ailes Resigns As Chairman And CEO Of Fox News
  2. What does Fox News do after Roger Ailes?
  3. RNC 2016 Ratings Have Fox News Flat, Big Jumps for CNN, MSNBC
  4. A Stony Silence at Fox News After Ailes’s Departure
  5. Why Did It Take Roger Ailes So Long to Fall?: The real surprise may be that some accusers were willing to step forward despite the likely consequences.
  6. Roger Ailes’s Fox News Ending Was The Story He Couldn’t Control
  7. Amazon, Cable Industry Molest The Definition Of Copyright In Ongoing Scuff Up Over Cable Box Reform
  8. Lawsuit Claims Frontier Misused Millions In Federal Broadband Stimulus Funds
  9. Verizon to disconnect unlimited data customers who use over 100GB/month
  10. Netflix’s cable box deal with Comcast won’t exempt it from data caps: Netflix video will stream on Comcast cable boxes—but without special treatment.
  11. Are You Compliant with Canada’s Anti-Spam Law? Expect the Multi-Million Dollar Lawsuits to Start Next Year
  12. AT&T to lead robocall “strike force”—after claiming it can’t block them: Industry might finally take stronger action against robocalls after FCC demands.
  13. NBC Turns to Digital Influencers to Draw TV-Averse Millennials to Olympics Coverage

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Why this internet celebrity is hacking his fans’ social media accounts
  2. Pop star tells fans to send their Twitter passwords, but it might be illegal: #HackedByJohnson entices young fans so he can post cute messages in their name.
  3. All Signs Point to Russia Being Behind the DNC Hack
  4. Critics blast Trump calls for Russia to locate missing Hillary Clinton e-mails
  5. New evidence suggests DNC hackers penetrated deeper than previously thought: Consultant’s Yahoo Mail suspected of being targeted by state-sponsored hackers.
  6. Connecting the dots: How Russia benefits from the DNC email leak
  7. Wikileaks Leak Of Turkish Emails Reveals Private Details; Raises Ethical Questions; Or Not…
  8. Secret algorithms that predict future criminals get a thumbs up from Wisconsin Supreme Court
  9. In Secret Battle, Surveillance Court Reined in FBI Use of Information Obtained From Phone Calls
  10. Judge Orders Yahoo to Explain How It Recovered ‘Deleted’ Emails in Drugs Case
  11. Protecting the Fourth Amendment in the Information Age: A Response to Robert Litt (Cindy Cohn)
  12. Nonagenarian model citizen wants secret surveillance data on him deleted: Classed as a “domestic extremist,” the RAF veteran is suing UK police at the ECHR.
  13. A Side-By-Side Comparison of “Privacy Shield” and the Controller-Processor Model Clauses: The Easiest Way to Understand What Privacy Shield is and What You Need to Do to Use it
  14. Microsoft ordered to stop tracking Windows 10 user behaviour—or face piddling fine: France’s data watchdog also eyes Microsoft’s clasp of discredited Safe Harbour scheme.
  15. Police asked this 3D printing lab to recreate a dead man’s fingers to unlock his phone
  16. Apple’s Touch ID blocks feds—armed with warrant—from unlocking iPhone: Supreme Court has not ruled about compelled unlocking of fingerprint-locked devices.
  17. Snowden Designs a Device to Warn if Your iPhone’s Radios Are Snitching
  18. Hacker who published LA Times login credentials ordered to prison: Matthew Keys must begin serving two-year sentence for putting login info online.
  19. The Internet Of Things Is a Security And Privacy Dumpster Fire And The Check Is About To Come Due
  20. Oscar-Winning Screenwriter Mark Boal Sues U.S. Government Over Bowe Bergdahl Interviews: Boal says he shouldn’t be held in contempt in a military court for refusing to comply with a subpoena.
  21. FTC: Most Americans Don’t Know How Much Companies Track And Sell Their Data – As Americans face ubiquitous data collection with too little transparency or control, Edith Ramirez, the head of the Federal Trade Commission, wants a comprehensive privacy law.

jon

News of the Week; July 20, 2016

GAMES

  1. Valve lawyers send cease-and-desist letters to Counter-Strike gambling sites: CSGOLotto, CSGOLounge among those told to cease “commercial use” of Steam accounts.
  2. Valve calls on 23 Counter-Strike gambling hubs to cease & desist
  3. 23 Skin Gambling Sites, Spanning Casino And Sports Betting, Targeted With Cease And Desist From Valve
  4. Are ‘Provably Fair’ CS:GO Skin Gambling Sites As Fair And Safe As They Claim?
  5. Seven Questions Raised By Valve’s Skin Betting Announcement
  6. Twitch pulls the plug on CS:GO gambling broadcasts
  7. Twitch Bans Top Counter-Strike Gambling Streamer
  8. Robert Yang calls out Twitch for “humiliating and dehumanising treatment”: Radiator 2 is the third Yang release to be banned by Twitch for its sexual content
  9. Fallout 4 DLC Quest Resembles New Vegas Mod; Bethesda Denies Copying It – “We love our mod community and would never disrespect them,” Bethesda says.
  10. Nintendo Breaks Stock Market Records Thanks To Pokemon: A whole lot of shares were traded in Japan.
  11. Pokemon GO drives Nintendo market cap past Sony: Nintendo’s value has doubled, approaching $40 billion, thanks to Niantic’s Pokemon mobile game
  12. Measuring the quotable pop culture impact of Pokémon Go
  13. Pokémon Go Maker Is Facing a Privacy Lawsuit Threat in Germany
  14. Pokémon Go Craze Brings New “Augmented Reality” Legal Issues Into Light (Michael Geist)
  15. I hired a Pokémon Go chauffeur and played in ultimate luxury
  16. Pokémon Go is barely a week old and Hillary Clinton is already using it to register voters
  17. T-Mobile’s Pokémon Go freebie data bad for net neutrality, cry activists: Gotta zero-rate ’em all if you want to preserve the open Internet.
  18. Fake Pokémon Go app on Google Play infects phones with screenlocker
  19. What can you do when Pokémon Go decides your house is a gym?: Augmented reality and private spaces don’t mix
  20. Pokémon Go in the Workplace: Oh Look There’s a Pikachu! 
  21. Providing for your Pokémon in your Will:  Everyone is talking about Pokémon Go but no one is asking the most important question of all – what happens to your Pokémon when you die?
  22. ‘Incredibly dangerous’ Pokemon Go stunt draws ire of TTC
  23. Sex offender arrested, accused of playing Pokémon Go with kids: Probation agent saw offender playing game with kids outside agency’s office.
  24. Nintendo Cracking Down On Pokemon Go ‘Pirates’ Despite The Game Being Free
  25. Pokemon GO is now the biggest US mobile game ever: Niantic’s insta-hit has topped Twitter’s daily users and sees more engagement than Facebook
  26. Pokemon GO is the perfect marriage of IP and technology
  27. The past and future of location based AR games like Pokemon Go
  28. Sales double at GameStops that are now PokeStops, says company chief
  29. What ‘Pokémon Go’ Could Be Like if it Was Really Augmented Reality
  30. Pokémon Go Ushers in a New, Augmented World of Legal Liability Concerns 
  31. Defense Department Issues Opsec Guidelines For Safe And Secure Pokemon Hunting
  32. Pokemon Go players: you have 30 days from signup to opt out of binding arbitration
  33. How hackers are revealing the hiddenPokemon Go monsters all around you: Deciphered server data provides precise locations in a handy Google Map.
  34. What Pokémon, Japanese Schoolgirl Punks, and Cocaine Have in Common: There wouldn’t be Pikachu without kawaii, Japan’s highly addictive cult of cuteness.
  35. Microsoft’s games revenue slips due to declining Xbox console sales
  36. The Call For Diverse Representation In Gaming: A Win In ‘Mirror’s Edge Catalyst’
  37. Shooter Raw Data becomes first VR title to top Steam charts
  38. VR “kind of scares me as an investor” – Lasky
  39. Pro-skier Matilda Rapaport dies whilst filming footage for Steep: Extreme sports star killed by avalanche during Ubisoft project
  40. Ubisoft’s sales climb 44% as Vivendi increases stake in publisher: Vivendi now holds over 20% of the voting rights in Ubisoft
  41. South Korean prosecutor arrested over ’05 purchase of Nexon stock
  42. Unity Raises $181 Million Series C in Anticipation of VR/AR Growth: Company reportedly valued at $1.5 billion
  43. The law in the world’s largest mobile gaming market has changed
  44. China overtakes US in iOS game revenues – App Annie
  45. Twitch viewers more likely to buy within 24 hours of stream
  46. eSports growth slowing but market to pass $1bn in 2017 – SuperData
  47. TV networks show they are ready to commit to esports
  48. Why sports teams are recruiting video gamers
  49. eSports’ “Wild West” period is drawing to a close
  50. Ubisoft’s fortunes rise thanks to strong Q1 sales of digital goods
  51. TIGA wants improved Game Tax Relief following Brexit
  52. TIGA issues ten-point report on preparing for Brexit
  53. Spanish games companies have “multiplied by a factor of 8” since 2005
  54. Breeding Season’s Patreon campaign turns sour: When sex and farming sims go wrong
  55. Hideo Kojima on Leaving Metal Gear Behind and Starting Anew
  56. Can ‘Minecraft’ Really Change the Way Teachers Teach?
  57. Matt Damon Would Love to Be in a Video Game, But No One’s Asked Him Yet

DIGITAL

  1. Google’s ad business “breaches” EU rules, says antitrust chief: Price comparison charges “reinforced,” fresh charges against ad practices coming.
  2. Alleged founder of world’s largest BitTorrent distribution site arrested: US prosecutors allege Artem Vaulin illegally distributed over $1 billion in IP.
  3. Twitter stirs debate as ‘troll’ banned over racist abuse
  4. Milo Yiannopoulos, rightwing writer, permanently banned from Twitter: Breitbart writer, who tweeted as @Nero, handed permanent suspension after claims he fanned flames of social media attack on Ghostbusters’ Leslie Jones
  5. Twitter vows to act more swiftly after banning Leslie Jones abuser: Twitter bars Milo Yiannopoulos for good after Jones quit the network following tweets that left her in ‘personal hell’
  6. Twitter opens up account verification, bans Breitbart editor over abuse
  7. Police Step Up Arrests For ‘Threatening’ Social Media Posts In The Wake Of The Dallas Shooting
  8. Paris Court Says Search Engines Don’t Need To Block Torrent Searches
  9. Google, Microsoft can’t be forced to censor “torrent” searches: Court disapproved of plaintiff’s attempt to use “torrent” as a badge of dishonor.
  10. Sideloading Service Defeats Copyright Infringement Claims–BWP v. Polyvore (Eric Goldman)
  11. Yelp Isn’t Liable For User-Submitted Photos Of Businesses–Albert v. Yelp (Eric Goldman)
  12. California Appeals Court Reaffirms Section 230 Protections In Lawsuit Against Yelp For Third-Party Postings
  13. Twitter May Be Liable for Sending Texts to Recycled Cellphone Numbers–Nunes v. Twitter
  14. Most of what you do online is illegal. Let’s end the absurdity: A hopelessly outdated law can criminalise things like using chat clients, playing games or watching sports. Worse, it make research into discrimination illegal
  15. Could Donald Trump Block Hillary Clinton’s Campaign From Visiting His Website Via The CFAA?
  16. Courts Approve Terms of Service-Based Arbitration Clauses for Uber and Groupon
  17. Does Snapchat’s Lenses feature violate Illinois’ biometrics law?: 2008 law warns “full ramifications of biometric technology are not fully known.”
  18. TOS agreements require giving up first born—and users gladly consent: Study says participants also agreed to allow data sharing with NSA and employers.
  19. A Binding “Clickwrap Agreement” From Paper?
  20. Turkey Blocks Wikileaks After It Dumps Nearly 300,000 Turkish Gov’t Emails
  21. As Erdogan Faces Turkish Coup, The Guy Who Once Banned Social Media Sites, Forced To Address Nation Via Facetime & Twitter
  22. Ninth Circuit Panel Backs Away From Dangerous Password Sharing Decision—But Creates Even More Confusion About the CFAA (EFF)
  23. Is It Really Illegal to Share Your Netflix Password?: The confusion over the 30-year-old Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
  24. Plagiarism claims against BuzzFeed Video: a complicated tale of originality on the internet
  25. Google deletes artist’s blog and a decade of his work along with it
  26. When Tragedy Strikes Who Should Cash In on Viral Video?
  27. Pam Geller Sues The US Gov’t Because Facebook Blocked Her Page; Says CDA 230 Violates First Amendment
  28. Kim Dotcom to reboot Megaupload half a decade after FBI shut it down: File-sharing mogul still fighting against extradition to US.
  29. Facebook isn’t trying hard enough to increase its diversity: It’s blaming schools, not itself.
  30. Yahoo may not have “screwed Tumblr up,” but it has haemorrhaged money
  31. YouTube Is Becoming Many YouTubes to Keep Its Video Crown
  32. YouTube Pays Billions, But the Music Industry Says It’s Not Enough
  33. Owner Steve Ballmer shares his vision for an online streaming service run by the Clippers
  34. Twitter Live-Stream Of Two Original NBA Shows Is Huge For Basketball Fans
  35. Twitter Signs NBA Deal to Stream New Shows: Partnership won’t include digital rights to stream actual games
  36. Nick Denton Says Giving Up on Reader Comments Is a Big Mistake
  37. Unionizing the Digital Newsroom
  38. A European perspective on robot law: Interview with Mady Delvaux-Stehres
  39. Virtual Reality Gave Me My Brain Back
  40. Why Google DeepMind wants your medical records
  41. Here’s Why Google Is Open-Sourcing Some Of Its Most Important Technology
  42. Windows 10 to miss its target of being on 1 billion devices by 2018
  43. Newt Gingrich: Merely Visiting An ISIS Or Al Qaeda Website Should Be A Felony
  44. Major Tech Leaders Pen Brutal Condemnation Of Donald Trump – “We have listened to Donald Trump over the past year and we have concluded: Trump would be a disaster for innovation.”
  45. How the internet was invented: In 40 years, the internet has morphed from a military communication network into a vast global cyberspace. And it all started in a California beer garden 

CREATIVITY

  1. Melania Trump’s RNC Speech: Plagiarism, Copyright Infringement, or Both?
  2. Was Melania Trump’s Plagiarism Also Copyright Infringement?
  3. Queen want Donald Trump to stop using their music. But the law might be on Trump’s side.
  4. Ted Cruz Campaign Infringed On Copyright, But Will Probably Be Treated With Kid Gloves Just Because
  5. Why Is The UK’s Intellectual Property Office Praising National Portrait Gallery’s Copyfraud Claims Over Public Domain Images?
  6. Just As Open Competitor To Elsevier’s SSRN Launches, SSRN Accused Of Copyright Crackdown
  7. Treaty For The Blind Comes Into Force… But US Refuses To Ratify Because Publishers Association Hates Any User Rights
  8. More Copyright Law ≠ Less Copyright Infringement (EFF)
  9. Copyright small claims: an update on legislation
  10. Boilerplate: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly
  11. A Day In The Life of Fair Use: A Different Kind of Superhero at Comic-Con
  12. Digital domination? YouTube, Vimeo Crackle and more receive Emmy nods
  13. B.C. ruling means journalist must hand over notes
  14. How the CIA Hoodwinked Hollywood: Since its inception, the agency has wooed filmmakers, producers, and actors in order to present a rosy portrait of its operations to the American public.
  15. British teachers caught up in Turkey crackdown as Erdogan bans academics from leaving country and orders those overseas to return
  16. Trans-Pacific Partnership Would Harm User Rights and the Commons
  17. Here are 6 reasons why newspapers have dropped their paywalls: Sometimes it’s a response to a public emergency; sometimes it’s just to build audience.
  18. A Fan’s Case For Putting Batman & Superman In The Public Domain
  19. Featuring Someone’s Property in a Commercial Advertisement 
  20. Canadian copyright laws have been amended to make works more accessible to people with print disabilities
  21. American Medical Association Claims False Copyright Over President Obama’s Journal Article
  22. Julia Child Foundation Sues Airbnb for Using Her Name
  23. The Pleads Of The Many: 50 Years of Star Trek Lawsuits
  24. You As A Brand: A Legal History
  25. What can a crime drama teach us about justice?
  26. The new science of cute: Kumamon, a cartoon bear created to promote tourism in an overlooked part of Japan, has become a billion-dollar phenomenon. Now, a new academic field is trying to pinpoint what makes things cute – and why we can’t resist them
  27. An Art Historical Perspective on the Baton Rouge Protest Photo that Went Viral
  28. New Measures Initiated to Remedy the Surprising Pitfalls of Collecting Video Art
  29. Goold on Copyright Infringement as a Group of Torts
  30. Ginsburg on the Right to Be Recognized as Author of One’s Work
  31. Copyright infringement claim is dismissed after the Court finds the applicant is not the author and owner of the works

COMMUNICATIONS & BROADCASTING

  1. Sources: Megyn Kelly Told Murdoch Investigators That Roger Ailes Sexually Harassed Her
  2. Roger Ailes Petitions to Compel Arbitration of Gretchen Carlson’s Sex Discrimination Claims 
  3. Murdoch Brothers’ Challenge: What Happens Next at Fox News?
  4. Cable Industry’s False Copyright Claims Are Killing Cable Box Reform Efforts
  5. Set Top TV Boxes in the Eye of the Storm Over Copyright Claims
  6. FCC Chairman Announces No Changes in Good Faith Negotiation Standards for Retransmission Consent Agreements Between TV and MVPDs 
  7. Cable blackouts of “free” TV channels won’t be stopped by FCC: FCC won’t expand oversight of contract disputes that cause TV blackouts.
  8. BT’s poor customer record, failure to invest in fibre attacked by MPs
  9. Tim Berners-Lee slams “manipulative tactics” of telcos on net neutrality
  10. Mobile carriers aren’t doing enough to fight robocalls, senators say
  11. FCC will let jails charge inmates more for phone calls: Court rejected rate caps of 11¢ to 22¢ per minute.
  12. $700,000 to Be Paid By Media General to End Inquiry on its Attempts to Enforce a JSA – What are the Limits on the Enforceability of a Contractual Restriction on an FCC Licensee’s Sale of its Station? 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Our search warrant case: An important decision for people everywhere
  2. Microsoft win is a victory for privacy rights: A US court has ruled that Microsoft does not have to hand over data from an email account to the US authorities because the data is held on a server in Ireland.
  3. Second Circuit Holds That U.S. Cannot Compel By Warrant Microsoft’s Production of Emails Stored Outside of U.S., Citing The Stored Communications Act’s Privacy Protections and Lack of Extraterritorial Effect 
  4. Microsoft wins: Court rules feds can’t use SCA to nab overseas data – Outlook.com e-mail on Irish servers not covered by Stored Communications Act.
  5. In the Matter of Microsoft: Why It Matters
  6. The Microsoft Ireland Case and the Future of Digital Privacy (Jennifer Granick)
  7. DOJ Pushes Out Legislation Proposal To Undercut Microsoft Case Decision About Overseas Searches
  8. For The First Time, A Federal Judge Has Suppressed Evidence Obtained With A Stingray Device
  9. For The Third Time, Whatsapp Blocked (And Then Unblocked) By Brazilian Judges For Failing To Decrypt
  10. EU-U.S. Privacy Shield: Should You Sign Up?
  11. Five Ways that Privacy Shield is Different from Safe Harbor and Five Simple Steps Companies Can Take to Prepare for Certification
  12. A Québec Perspective on the “Right to be Forgotten” and the Removal of Personal Information Online
  13. Federal Court of Appeal Comments on New Tort of “Publicity Given To Private Life”, Overturns Certification Order
  14. Kim Kardashian v Taylor Swift: privacy on Snapchat and the legal gray areas
  15. Kim Broke The Internet. Did Kanye Break The Law? An Expert On Taylor Swift’s Case To Sue
  16. Former STL Cardinals Scouting Director Gets Jail Time For Illegally Accessing Astros Scouting Database
  17. The email, data and privacy implications of Microsoft’s acquisition of LinkedIn

jon

News of the Week; July 13, 2016

GAMES

  1. The history of video games in court
  2. Checking In: Blizzard Still Suing Hack/Cheat Makers For Copyright Infringement? Yup!
  3. Pokemon GO’s launch was an unqualified success – almost
  4. Nintendo shares up as Pokemon Go heads toward global launch
  5. Location, location, location: Pokémon GO’s unique strength and biggest problem: Niantic eyes sponsored locations just as the complaints from real-world businesses start to roll in
  6. Cops warn Pokémon Go players: Please don’t trespass to catch ‘em all – “Please use caution as I do not believe the game was intended to be used while driving.”
  7. Some public places want more Pokémon Go—but the Holocaust Museum does not: Follows anecdotal police, medical reports of people using the app to their detriment.
  8. Armed Robbers Use Pokémon Go To Find 9 Victims
  9. Armed muggers use Pokémon Go to find victims: Police warn that muggers can “add a beacon to a Pokéstop to lure more players.”
  10. Gamer finds dead body while testingPokémon Go’s GPS features: App requiring users to walk to physical locations leads to disturbing discovery.
  11. ‘Pokémon Go’ Is Grabbing ‘Full Access’ to Some Players’ Google Accounts
  12. You can cheat and play Pokémon Go on PC: Android emulators and GPS spoofing work, but expect to be banned for your efforts.
  13. How Pokémon Go is creating a barrier for gamers with disabilities
  14. How TV and Streaming Networks Hope to Benefit From the Pokemon Go Frenzy: Hulu sees 10% daily jump in Pokemon viewing
  15. Pokémon Go, explained: Everyone is suddenly catching Pokémon fever again. Here’s what’s going on.
  16. Tracing Pokémon Go’s roots back to the ’90s MMORPG Meridian 59
  17. Catch them all – Pokemon Go and the law
  18. Pokemon Go Hysteria Again Highlights How Media Is Happy To Be Gullible And Wrong — If It Means More Ad Eyeballs
  19. Pokémon Go is so yesterday as cell phone gambling hits the Vegas strip: Gamblers compete against other MGM resort gamers in bingo, slots, and video poker.
  20. Warner Brothers fined for paying YouTube celebs to promote game
  21. Warner Bros. settles FTC influencer charges: Charges involved Shadow of Mordor, PewDiePie and cash
  22. Warner Brothers gets fined by FTC, PewDiePie skates free
  23. Disclosing paid content legally – a practical guide for developers and influencers
  24. The Counter-Strike Gambling Scandal, Explained
  25. YouTubers Behind Counter-Strike Gambling Scandal Get Sued
  26. YouTuber Trevor ‘TmarTn’ Martin has issued an “apology” over the CSGO Lotto scandal. 
  27. Mom takes on Valve, third-party “trading” sites, alleges “illegal scheme”: Suits call in-game skin system “an element of gambling and market economies.”
  28. YouTube corruption sinks even deeper into the gutter: Promoting illegal gambling could finally see governments on YouTube’s doorstep – and perhaps on Valve’s
  29. Valve can’t pass buck to third parties for teaching CS:GO kids to gamble – Opinion – Valve’s own Dota 2 and CS:GO much worse than third-party gambling sites.
  30. CS:GO gambling site accused of offering to rig bets for YouTubers
  31. Valve says it’s going after gambling sites that use Steam: Counter-Strike GO gambling sites asked to cease operations
  32. Valve demands that gambling sites cease operations through Steam: “We have no business relationships with any of these sites. We have never received any revenue from them,” says Valve’s Erik Johnson
  33. Blizzard casts silence on abusive World of Warcraft players
  34. G2A will allow developers to apply for royalties, adds seller verification: Controversial key reseller finally addresses major concern highlighted by Tinybuild’s Alex Nichiporchik
  35. China Forbids The Use Of English Words In Mobile Games
  36. Establishing Esports Oversight: The Groups, Issues, And Potential Challenges
  37. Wii U was expected to sell 100 million units: Nintendo talks about the failed console, and it now expects any new games to sell 2m units worldwide
  38. Microsoft quietly trims the scope of its ‘Play Anywhere’ Xbox initiative
  39. In an effort to find more players, Evolve is now free: Hope you didn’t buy the game last week or anything…
  40. Twitch’s research shows that livestreaming leads to better game sales
  41. Hollywood wants to make a TV show based on EA’s Battlefieldgames
  42. Jocks Without Borders: The majorly male spectators of e-sports are in league with a fantasy of globalized manhood
  43. Splash Damage sold to Chinese poultry firm: Leyou will acquire the developer from Paul Wedgwood, along with Fireteam and Warchest
  44. Record $18.6 billion games M&A to Q2 2016
  45. In the battle for gaming business, Vancouver is about to ‘git gud’: Quebec may lead in number of firms, but BC is closing in like a juggernaut  
  46. LucasArts’ long lost, 30-year-old MMO is now preserved on Github: Habitat restoration required recovering a 300-pound, circa-1989 server.
  47. Block Stop: The theatre company taking live-action video games to the stage – A London company is using live-streamed content to enhance interactivity.
  48. Kojima: Games’ ability to convey emotions will soon surpass that of real people

DIGITAL

  1. 9th Circuit: It’s a federal crime to visit a website after being told not to visit it (Orin Kerr)
  2. TOS agreements require giving up first born—and users gladly consent: Study says participants also agreed to allow data sharing with NSA and employers.
  3. Employees Bound By Clickthrough Agreements–ADP v. Lynch (Eric Goldman)
  4. YouTube to the music industry: here’s the money: Google’s new report on piracy makes the case YouTube is a boon to the music industry
  5. Google responds to music biz critics, points to $2B it has paid out
  6. Google Issues Its Latest ‘Stop Blaming Us For Piracy’ Report
  7. Apple’s Plan to Own the Entire Music Industry
  8. Sony Pictures Legal Affairs VP Files Bogus DMCA Notice Because His Salary Is Listed On Wikileaks
  9. Minneapolis PD Issues Questionable DMCA Notice To Bury Its Controversial Recruitment Video
  10. Relatives of Palestinian attack victims sue Facebook for $1 billion in U.S.
  11. Families: Hamas on Facebook, so firm must pay $1B after terror deaths – Facebook will likely argue for protection under Section 230 of CDA.
  12. Section 230 Protects YouTube’s Removal of User’s Videos–Lancaster v. Alphabet (Eric Goldman)
  13. How technology disrupted the truth: Social media has swallowed the news – threatening the funding of public-interest reporting and ushering in an era when everyone has their own facts. But the consequences go far beyond journalism
  14. Mom alerted to adult content on her teenage son’s Snapchat, so she sues: Snapchat spokesman: “We are sorry if people were offended.”
  15. Lawsuit Filed Against Snapchat Over Inappropriate Content Served To Minors Through Discover
  16. Live Footage of Shootings Forces Facebook to Confront New Role
  17. Facebook video shows black man killed by Minnesota police during traffic stop
  18. Philando Castile’s girlfriend says she filmed his shooting ‘so that the people could see’
  19. Baton Rouge Police Took Alton Sterling Surveillance Video Without a Warrant or Permission: The store’s owner said minutes after the deadly shooting, officers took a hard drive against his wishes and there’s no record they even asked a judge to do it.
  20. Witness videos and the conversation about race and policing
  21. The Gatekeepers Aren’t Gone: Viral content seems democratic. But it’s still mostly controlled by big media companies.
  22. The bias in our software: We’ve been sold the idea that social networks are neutral. They’re not.
  23. Activists Cheer On EU’s ‘Right To An Explanation’ For Algorithmic Decisions, But How Will It Work When There’s Nothing To Explain?
  24. How Uber secretly investigated its legal foes — and got caught: Faced with a class action suit, the company hired a CIA-linked intelligence firm to look into the plaintiffs and their lawyer, but a judge says they may have gone too far
  25. Twitter Prepares For NFL Live Stream With Wimbledon Coverage
  26. Twitter is talking to the NBA, MLS and Turner to buy rights to more sports streams: Twitter is looking to ink more NFL-style streaming deals.
  27. Smartphone=not-so-smart parenting?: Psychologists and other child development experts are exploring how parents’ use of technology affects kids and the best ways to help families reconnect in the Digital Age.
  28. Back to bricks and mortar: how e-commerce has embraced the real world – Many digitally born businesses are taking the plunge into physical retail as they tap into the rise of the experience economy
  29. TP-Link forgets to register domain name, leaves config pages open to hijack: The domain name’s new owners want $2.5 million to give it back.
  30. Virtual and augmented reality need a PG-13 moment
  31. Ashley Madison admits using fembots to lure men into spending money: The hookup site for cheaters admits its mistakes and tries to rebrand.
  32. Tesla’s Autopilot Driving Mode Is a Legal Nightmare
  33. Contracting for the Internet of Things’: Looking into the Nest (Guido Noto La Diega & Ian Walden)
  34. The Biggest Lie On The Internet: Ignoring The Privacy Policies And Terms Of Service Policies Of Social Networking Services (Jonathan Obar & Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch)

CREATIVITY

  1. Why a Canadian Composer’s Controversial 80s Work is Still Ahead of Today’s Copyright Laws
  2. The Tragic Downfall of British Media: How did the country that produced the BBC and the Economist fail so spectacularly at journalism in the lead up to     Brexit?
  3. A Fight to Make ‘We Shall Overcome’ and ‘This Land Is Your Land’ Copyright Free
  4. Two More Songs Could Follow ‘Happy Birthday’ Into the Public Domain
  5. Ted Cruz’s Presidential Campaign Apparently Committed Copyright Infringement. Oops. (Eric Goldman)
  6. Campaign IP Violations Part 3 – Huckabee’s Campaign Pays Up 
  7. Led Zep lawyers want $800k for defending “Stairway to Heaven” lawsuit: Lead attorney is billing at $330 an hour, says it’s “below” going rate.
  8. Long Island couple sues neighbors for trying to build their copyrighted mansion 
  9. Fox News fair use claim for Facebook post of 9-11 image remains unresolved
  10. B.B. King estate, Universal sued over blues legend’s photos
  11. How this millennial entrepreneur makes dance moves go viral
  12. Inequality in 700 Popular Films: Examining Portrayals of Gender, Race, & LGBT Status from 2007 to 2014

COMMUNICATIONS & BROADCASTING

  1. Anchor Gretchen Carlson files lawsuit alleging “pervasive” sexual harassment at Fox News: Fox News host Gretchen Carlson has filed a shocking sexual harassment lawsuit against Fox News chairman and CEO Roger Ailes, claiming that Ailes retaliated against her and ultimately fired her for refusing his sexual advances — and for complaining about repeated sexual harassment from her former Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy.
  2. Watch Gretchen Carlson’s “Fox & Friends” Colleagues Routinely Make Sexist Comments at Her
  3. Gretchen Carlson files sexual harassment suit against Fox’s Ailes
  4. The most shocking details from Gretchen Carlson’s lawsuit against FOX News CEO Roger Ailes
  5. Roger Ailes opts for secrecy, cowardice in face of Gretchen Carlson suit
  6. Gretchen Carlson’s Sexual-Harassment Lawsuit May Allow Murdoch Sons to Finally Oust Roger Ailes From Fox News
  7. How Rupert Murdoch’s media empire covered the Roger Ailes sex harassment suit
  8. ‘Daily Show’s’ Trevor Noah Defends Gretchen Carlson from Rampant Fox News Sexism
  9. Gretchen Carlson gets real
  10. CRTC faces allegations of racism at highest ranks: court documents
  11. D.C. Circuit Affirms FCC’s Net Neutrality Order
  12. Univision Sues Charter Communications Over Fee Payments: Media company accuses cable operator of using recent merger to try to pay lower rates
  13. Verizon ‘Competes’ With T-Mobile By Raising Prices, Then Denying It’s A Price Hike
  14. Big telcos promise awesome 5G—in exchange for weak net neutrality: BT, Vodafone, and chums all flex muscles, press for lighter regulation.
  15. European Telcos Threaten To Withhold Next Gen Wireless Upgrades If Net Neutrality Rules Passed
  16. Comcast Continues To Claim It’s ‘Not Feasible’ To Offer Its Programming To Third-Party Cable Boxes
  17. Here comes 5G: On July 14, the FCC will initiate a formal rule-making that will make the U.S. the first country in the world to open high-band spectrum for 5G networks and technologies.

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Privacy Shield approved by EU member states, but 4 nations abstain: Safe Harbour replacement deal expected to be signed with the US next week.
  2. EU-US Privacy Shield – What’s new in comparison with Safe Harbor?
  3. Future of Privacy Forum Statement Regarding Finalization of the US-EU Privacy Shield Agreement
  4. iOS version of Pokémon Go is a possible privacy trainwreck – No user data has been accessed, and Google and Niantic are working on fixes.
  5. Pokémon GO, augmented reality, and privacy
  6. Niantic acknowledges Pokémon Go security fears, says fix is imminent
  7. Sen. Franken asks Pokémon Go creator: Why all the privacy problems?: What’s being shared and with whom? And why not an “opt-in” system?
  8. Appeals Court Says Government Email Stored On Private Servers Is Still Subject To FOIA Requests
  9. Appeals Court Says That Sharing Passwords Can Violate Criminal Anti-Hacking Laws
  10. Three years after taking off Guy Fawkes mask, Kentucky Anon indicted
  11. ‘KYAnonymous,’ who drew attention to Ohio rape case, indicted by federal grand jury
  12. UK Tor operator hit with bizarre EU arrest warrant from Polish prosecutor: Authorities want to track down anonymous user who “insulted” a small-town mayor.
  13. Fifteen secret warrants in force granting bulk data collection in UK: Watchdog reveals for first time number of orders imposed on telephone and internet firms under Telecommunications Act
  14. UK’s secret, ongoing mass surveillance rigorously frisked by watchdog: Warrants so hush-hush, affected telcos weren’t allowed to keep copies.
  15. Reports Shows UK Police Improperly Accessed Data On Citizens Thousands Of TimesIn Russia and China, Big Brother is watching you online
  16. FDIC was hacked by China, and CIO covered it up
  17. Putin Says All Encryption Must Be Backdoored In Two Weeks
  18. Major VPN firm pulls out of Russia, blames country’s new spy law: Abrupt exit comes in wake of controversial Russian online snooping legislation.
  19. The Difficulty of Routing around Internet Surveillance States (Bruce Schneier)
  20. 10 million Android phones infected by all-powerful auto-rooting apps: First detected in November, Shedun/HummingBad infections are surging.
  21. Firms must directly notify people affected by data breaches: watchdog
  22. Do you have privacy rights on social media? 
  23. Spoliation or Privacy “Right to be Forgotten”? – Google’s new service “My Activity” allows you to delete your history!

jon

News of the Week; July 6, 2016

GAMES

  1. Blizzard ups the ante against Overwatchcheats by filing lawsuit: Hostilities reopen between Blizzard and longtime rivals Bossland.
  2. Blizzard files suit for copyright infringement against Overwatch hack developer
  3. YouTubers under fire for promoting their own CS:GO gambling site in videos: Syndicate and TmarTn promoted CSGO Lotto, but didn’t disclose that they own it.
  4. Prominent YouTubers revealed as owners of controversial CS:GO gambling site: Pair had heavily promoted use of service without disclosure, alleges video
  5. YouTube gamers caught in gambling row
  6. Popular YouTubers scrutinized over Counter-Strike gambling scandal
  7. Steam warns users against gambling site after YouTube stars discovered as owners
  8. To get young people gambling, casinos embrace video games
  9. Nintendo issues DMCA takedown against Kickstarter for NES photobook
  10. Video game art swiped this week by Beijing hockey team, Ford dealership: Guild Wars 2, Firewatch are latest victims of “infinite free content” syndrome.
  11. eSports Integrity Coalition launches
  12. British eSports Association formed
  13. Manchester City sign 18-year-old eSports player: Kieran ‘Kez’ Brown to play Fifa 16 for the team, live streaming on Twitch and making YouTube videos
  14. Sources: Sporting Lisbon enters League of Legends and FIFA esports
  15. ESPN partners with Evo to put Street Fighter V finals on live TV
  16. PlayStation Plus now has 20.8m paying subscribers
  17. GameStop sells out of PS VR pre-orders… again: Second allotment sells out in 4 minutes
  18. Sony’s entire future now rests on PlayStation: As Kaz Hirai’s painful restructuring comes to a close, a new Sony emerges – one whose growth is almost entirely centered on the success of PlayStation
  19. Sony Locks Up The PSN Account Of A Man Named ‘Jihad’ Because You’ll Never Guess Why
  20. The Legend of Zelda fans decry lack of female lead as ‘lazy’ and ‘laughable’: Video game hero Link often interpreted as androgynous, but producers maintain that he will remain male
  21. Microsoft aims to upgrade Xbox avatar program with wheelchairs
  22. Nintendo May Skip VR for its Forthcoming NX Console, Report Suggests
  23. With NX in the wings, Nintendo execs seek to reassure investors
  24. Japanese LittleBigPlanet servers shutting down
  25. Only 3.5% of gamers make in-app purchases – AppsFlyer
  26. Ubisoft expands board of directors to combat Vivendi influence
  27. Video games on Kickstarter raise just $8.2m in first half of 2016 – ICO: That’s down from more than $20m in the previous period, but the ratio of successfully funded projects has increased
  28. Steam Spy: Steam summer sale revenues rise nearly 50% year-over-year
  29. HTC Vive spearheads $10bn VR VC group: 27 firms have joined with HTC Vive in the VR Venture Capital Alliance
  30. TIGA asks UK government to protect status of existing EU workers: Migrant workers fill vital gaps in country’s skillset, says body
  31. How virtual racing is turning gamers into drivers
  32. The ethical decisions and factional politics of Stellaris
  33. Social Dynamics Within Sony’s PlayStation VR Social VR Experiments
  34. Source code for Lucasfilm Games’ ’80s MMO Habitat released
  35. Inside The Art Of Atari: Take a look at a book about console gaming’s earliest days
  36. The Secret History of Donkey Kong 

DIGITAL

  1. Internet piracy falls to record lows amid rise of Spotify and Netflix
  2. American Copyright Trolls Continue To Abuse Canadian Courts In Search Of Easy Settlements
  3. Google Asks to Punish Oracle Lawyer Who Spilled Apple Secrets
  4. NRA Trademark Complaint Over Yes Men Parody Takes Down 38,000 Websites
  5. ACLU Files Challenge To CFAA Over Blocking Research Into Discrimination Online
  6. China restricts online news sites from sourcing stories on social media: News outlets forbidden from using “conjecture and imagination to distort the facts.”
  7. Spotify says Apple won’t approve a new version of its app because it doesn’t want competition for Apple Music: “We cannot stand by as Apple uses the App Store approval process as a weapon.”
  8. For The First Time In Olympic History, Virtual Reality Broadcast Programming Will Be Available
  9. Internet Access Is Now A Basic Human Right
  10. Facebook’s News Feed: Often Changed, Never Great
  11. Spotify And Apple Are At Each Other’s Throats – With The Music Biz Caught In The Middle
  12. The tick-tock story of how LinkedIn shopped itself to Microsoft, Salesforce and Google
  13. The mad rush to own the rights to the blockchain
  14. This chatbot appeals parking tickets and wins 60 percent of the time: Available in NYC and London for now; 160,000 tickets challenged so far.
  15. The Good, the Bad and the Weirdest “Internet of Things” Things: Why haven’t all of our objects gone wireless? Because nobody’s buying this stuff
  16. VidCon 2016: Innocence Lost?
  17. Paid / Sponsored Content Disclosure: A Practical Legal Guide for YouTubers and Streamers (Jas Purewal & Pete Lewin)
  18. IP for AIs?
  19. A women’s History of Silicon Valley: Let’s lionize these seven technologists who kicked off the computer revolution and happen to be female.

CREATIVITY

  1. Two Courts Throw Out Turkish President’s Bid To Obtain An Injunction Against German Media Boss
  2. Peter Thiel Is Not an Enemy of Journalism (He Just Wants to Destroy It): And what may be one of the most significant First Amendment fights in history.
  3. Thin-Skinned Chinese Govt. Declares Media War On Lady Gaga For Meeting With The Dalai Lama
  4. Movie theater chain demands $700,000 from victims of the Aurora shooting to recoup legal fees
  5. Ford Dealership Swipes Game Image For Ad, Thinks It’s Kosher Because It Came From A DMCA Compliant Site
  6. Media coverage in politics: court draws line between critical political reporting and defamation
  7. A $10 Billion Idea, without a Patent, is just an Idea
  8. Happy Birthday: my campaign to liberate the people’s song – video
  9. Dish Agrees To Make Ad-Skipping DVR Less Useful In Settlement With Comcast, NBC Universal
  10. Licensed To Fail: How licensing ended ‘established and respected’ international document supply service
  11. The FEC has no business judging Fox News’s debate
  12. The AP’s New Baseball Reporter Is Not Human
  13. Track Changes: A Literary History of Word Processing review – did tech change literary style?
  14. A Philosophy of Intellectual Property (Peter Drahos)
  15. New study could explain why we remake certain movies over and over again: Unfortunately, there is no method for eliminating bad reboots.
  16. Data Mining Reveals the Six Basic Emotional Arcs of Storytelling: Scientists at the Computational Story Laboratory have analyzed novels to identify the building blocks of all stories.

COMMUNICATIONS & BROADCASTING

  1. Reining in the Cable Killers: Federal Court Orders Crackdown on TV Set-top Boxes with Copyright-infringing Applications 
  2. Canadian Battle over “Zero Rating” Places Net Neutrality Safeguards at Risk (Michael Geist)
  3. Kickbacks And Legal Tricks Are Protecting Mega-ISPs From Apartment Broadband Competition
  4. FCC Pressure Helps Bring Netflix To Comcast Cable Boxes
  5. Comcast Incorrectly Bills Customer $1,775, Tells Him To Figure It Out With His Bank
  6. Amazon offers smartphone discounts in exchange for baked-in ads: Amazon brings ad-supported hardware model from the Kindle to Android phones.
  7. Dish Sues Tribune Because It Called The Company ‘Dishgusting’ 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Facebook wins privacy case, can now track any Belgian it wants: Facebook can go back to tracking Belgians who aren’t logged in or don’t have an account.
  2. Illinois Court Says State’s Cyberstalking Law Is Unconstitutional
  3. Man arrested for taking video of cops sues NYPD
  4. I helped draft the Freedom of Information Act 50 years ago. Here’s what I learned about government secrecy.
  5. Government Surveillance of Internet Traffic 
  6. 2015 Wiretap Report Doesn’t Have Much To Say About Encryption, But Does Show Feds Run Into Zero Judicial Opposition

jon

News of the Week; June 29, 2016

GAMES

  1. Sony Settlement Gives PS3 Owners $9 After Company Made Console Less Useful Via Firmware Update
  2. Optimistic about VR and games, Sony raises its earnings forecast
  3. Counter-Strike Player Sues Valve Over ‘Illegal’ Weapon Skin Gambling
  4. Lawsuit Against Valve Over Skin Gambling Could Face Significant Hurdles
  5. EA Sports won’t be beaten at its own game – Escaping potential liability through successful § 101 motion to dismiss
  6. EA punts, gives $600k to former football star in Madden NFL rights flap: But EA is fighting a similar suit that could represent thousands of NFL players.
  7. EA pays $600k to settle legal fight with former NFL star Jim Brown
  8. Tinybuild: G2A “facilitates a black market economy” – SpeedRunners dev claims $450,000 of its games were sold through unofficial marketplace, “thousands” of which were fraudulent
  9. Game key reseller G2A offers to pay devs royalties from third-party sales
  10. G2A now allowing developers to apply for royalties: “This initiative invites developers to become accomplices,” says Alex Nichiporchik
  11. G2A, Piracy, and the Four Currencies
  12. Developer claims Valve removed its game from Steam at Activision’s behest
  13. Game devs weigh in on the ‘Brexit’ decision
  14. Ukie issues statement on Brexit: “Ukie is committed to ensuring the UK is the best place in the world to make and sell games”
  15. TIGA calls for government to reassure UK games industry: Post-Brexit Britain will be a harder place to do business, warns body
  16. Brexit: UK game developers share their concerns – “The negative revolves around skilled talent not wanting or being able to stay, or come to UK.”
  17. HQ Vancouver: Why global gaming giants set up shop in Vancouver
  18. PlayStation Plus hits 20.8 million subscribers
  19. Moore: “We want to make stars of all our players” – EA’s Chief Competition Officer lays out company plans for eSports
  20. How the law matters in eSports’ Wild West
  21. Will E-Sports Ever Work on TV?: With eLeague, TBS is going to find out.
  22. Overwatch tops League as the most-played game in South Korean ‘net cafes
  23. Report: China is now the global leader in video game revenues
  24. Xbox Fitness Users Shelled Out Big Bucks For Workout Programs They’ll Soon Be Totally Unable To Use
  25. Xbox Fitness users will soon lose access to workout videos they bought: Microsoft’s “sunset” plan will cut users off from content they paid for.
  26. Nintendo is closing servers for Devil’s Third
  27. Our social network is in another castle: The new face of Nintendo – Response to social-media outrage is latest sign of a very different “gaming” company.
  28. Action Henk devs would rather you torrented their games than buy from resellers
  29. New South Park Game Lets You Play as a Girl, Game Reacts to You Differently
  30. Hands-on with the emulator that adds depth to old 2D NES games: Standalone 3DNES emulator is a promising starting effort with some rough edges.
  31. Firaxis partners with GlassLab for educational version of Civilization V
  32. Truth and Protection: Where is the Line When Teaching Kids about the Video Game Community
  33. Smithsonian to document evolution of game industry with Video Game Pioneers Archive
  34. Xbox Scorpio, PlayStation Neo an “incredibly positive evolution”: Electronic Arts, Ubisoft and Take-Two discuss why Microsoft and Sony launching new consoles more quickly is a big win
  35. Microsoft Discontinues Xbox Fitness Programs To The Dismay Of Users
  36. The Minecraft Movie Has A Release Date!

DIGITAL

  1. NRA Complaint Takes Down 38,000 Websites
  2. Digitising public domain images creates a new copyright, rules German court: Wikimedia Foundation says that it intends to appeal against the decision.
  3. Terrible Ruling In Germany: Digitizing The Public Domain Creates New Copyright
  4. Leave to Appeal to SCC: Rogers v SOCAN (2016 FCA 28) re Ringtones and Ringbacks
  5. Woman Sues Microsoft Over Unwanted Windows 10 Upgrade, Wins $10,000
  6. Researchers Sue the Government Over Computer Hacking Law
  7. First Look Media Works, Inc., Plaintiffs, -v.- Loretta Lynch, in her official capacity as Attorney General of the United States, In The United States District Court For The District Of Columbia
  8. Judge Calls Out Malibu Media For Its Attempt To Cut And Run When Faced With Challenge To Its Infringement Claims
  9. Malibu Media Sues Its Former Lawyer Over Missing Funds, Breach Of Bar Rules
  10. Porn studio that sued thousands for piracy now fighting its own lawyer
  11. Two Judges Punch Holes In Copyright Trolls’ Claims That An IP Address Is The Same Thing As A Person
  12. Web Host Defeats Copyright Liability Despite Mishandled Takedown Notice–Hydrenta v. Luchian (Eric Goldman)
  13. LOL! OMG. HUH? Court Finds That Text Message Can Form Binding Contract 
  14. Could This Silicon Valley Algorithm Pick Which Homeless People Get Housing?: A new approach seeks to find the most desperate people on the streets—with data.
  15. Your Favorite Website Might Be Discriminating Against You
  16. Testing whether the web is discriminating against you shouldn’t be a crime
  17. EU regulations on algorithmic decision-making and a “right to explanation” (Bryce Goodman & Seth Flaxman)
  18. On second thought, Facebook doesn’t care so much about news publishers: Says news feed has “far too much information,” will downgrade content from “pages.”
  19. Twitter Deletes SCOTUSblog Twitter Account Briefly Thinking Its Running Of The Trolls Meant It Was Hacked
  20. How Brexit affects the global technology industry
  21. Many UK voters didn’t understand Brexit, Google searches suggest: “What happens if we leave the EU?” and “What is Brexit?” were top search terms.
  22. Lindsay Lohan gifted us with epic Brexit tweets, and then deleted them mysteriously
  23. The replies to this idiotic Donald Trump Brexit tweet are beautiful
  24. Donald Trump Is Not a Troll: Calling him a troll trivializes his repulsive comments.
  25. Mapping online hate speech: You might think from anecdotal evidence that hate speech on social media by individuals and groups appears quite a lot, but one of first academic studies to examine the empirical data concludes that these extreme forms of speech on Facebook are marginal as compared with total content.
  26. Exclusive: Google, Facebook quietly move toward automatic blocking of extremist videos
  27. This Algorithm Could Wipe Out ISIS Propaganda Online: The creators of a new software technology claim it can expunge extremist content from social media. But will a wary Silicon Valley warm to it
  28. Rather Than Launch A Massive DDoS Attack, This Time China Just Asks GitHub To Take Down Page It Doesn’t Like
  29. County Attorney’s Deletion of Constituent’s Facebook Comment May Violate First Amendment
  30. Google secretly deletes inactive YouTube accounts
  31. Google is Adding a VR Shell to Chrome to Let You Browse the Entire Web in VR
  32. Microsoft Says It’s in Love With Linux. Now It’s Finally Proving It
  33. The Sacramento Kings’ New Stadium Is Wired for Virtual Reality: The wireless Internet at the NBA team’s new arena is designed to let fans watch virtual reality replays from any seat in the house.
  34. Apple Wins Patent For Technology To Disable iPhone Camera And Bar Photography
  35. FTC Is Cracking Down On Failure To Disclose Influencers’ Connections
  36. How Sony, Microsoft, and Other Gadget Makers Violate Federal Warranty Law
  37. Tax Treatment of Bitcoin Has Many Open Questions 
  38. Lessons From The Downfall Of A $150M Crowdfunded Experiment In Decentralized Governance
  39. Do you trust the government to set morals for AI (Artificial Intelligence) to drive cars? 
  40. Artificial Intelligence Has a ‘Sea of Dudes’ Problem: AI software depends on data sets, and data sets have to be created by computer scientists. What happens when most of those researchers are men?
  41. Ad firm: It doesn’t matter that migrant app doesn’t work, it’s the idea that counts – “I Sea” claimed its users could help migrants via “real-time” satellite imagery.
  42. Reverse Engineering The YouTube Algorithm
  43. Oculus Reverses DRM Course After Public Backlash
  44. Exclusivity can be a driving force for VR, says Oculus founder
  45. New VR venture capital supergroup gathers $10B to invest in VR dev
  46. You can now livestream right from the YouTube app: Press capture, pick a thumbnail, and you’ll be live streaming to the world.
  47. Take it from a viral media star: Stop signing away your ideas
  48. Following a period of turmoil, Wikimedia Foundation appoints new director: Tension over a “Knowledge Engine” led to previous director’s resignation.
  49. Op-Ed:  Why notice-and-takedown is a bit of copyright law worth saving (Chris Springman & Mark Lemley)
  50. Computer-Generated Works Outside The Box (James Grimmelmann)
  51. How Google Is Remaking Itself As a “Machine Learning First” Company: If you want to build artificial intelligence into every product, you better retrain your army of coders. Check.
  52. Chatbot lawyer overturns 160,000 parking tickets in London and New York: Free service DoNotPay helps appeal over $4m in parking fines in just 21 months, but is just the tip of the legal AI iceberg for its 19-year-old creator
  53. The New Yorker, BuzzFeed, and the push for digital credibility
  54. Inside ‘The Next Rembrandt’: How JWT Got a Computer to Paint Like the Old Master – The project leaders explain their brilliant, troubling masterpiece 
  55. The Laws of Mixed Reality: A vision of the future, without the rose-colored glasses
  56. The Partnership of the Future: Microsoft’s CEO explores how humans and A.I. can work together to solve society’s greatest challenges.
  57. Instagram and the Fantasy of Mastery: A “look” is a kind of instant style – quickly executed and dispatched, immediately understood and overcharged with incident. It is time for a new view.
  58. The Fintech Bubble (Joi Ito)
  59. AI bests Air Force combat tactics experts in simulated dogfights
  60. Alchemy Can’t Save Moore’s Law
  61. My friend, the bot: How our friendships change over time — and technology
  62. Man Marries His Smartphone
  63. From file-sharing to prison: A Megaupload programmer tells his story

CREATIVITY

  1. Led Zeppelin didn’t steal music for ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ jury finds
  2. ‘Stairway’ Verdict May Rein in Lawsuits Claiming Song Ripoffs
  3. VMG Salsoul, LLC v. Madonna Louise Ciccone, et al.: Why a Bright Line Infringement Rule for Sound Recordings is no Longer in Vogue
  4. This Song Belongs To You And Me: Lawsuit Filed To Declare Woodie Guthrie’s Classic In The Public Domain
  5. Copyright does not monopolize facts – documentary filmmakers’ claim against book author and publisher fails
  6. Historical Facts and Copyright: the Maltz v. Witterick Case
  7. Fictional Claims: Why Kids Are Not Suffering With Canada’s Copyright Fair Dealing Rules (Michael Geist)
  8. Copyright Small Claims Court: Not Just a Dream
  9. Apple’s Patent Could Finally Put a Stop to iPhone Concert Photography
  10. MPAA Boss: Actually Being Good To Consumers Would Be Horrible For Hollywood
  11. The Official Star Trek Fan Film Guidelines Are Here and They Are Onerous
  12. As CBS/Paramount Continue Lawsuit Over Fan Film, It Releases Ridiculous & Impossible ‘Fan Film Guidelines’
  13. Unswayed by Axanar, CBS and Paramount offer 10 rules for fan film makers: New rules forbid unofficial merchandise, alcohol use, long episodes.
  14. Airbnb Faces Suit for Using Julia Child’s Name in a Contest 
  15. Boiler Plate Inked: Copyright Actions Brought by Tattooists Threaten Athlete Endorser Publicity Rights
  16. Kirtsaeng v. Wiley And The Purpose Of Copyright
  17. Censorship In The Guise Of Authorship: Harmonizing Copyright And The First Amendment (Hon. M. Margaret Mckeown)
  18. Trump Promises to Restore Washington Redskins’ Trademark on Day One of Presidency
  19. 5 Questions for Simon Tam, Founder of The Slants: Tam wants the Supreme Court to join his band’s case to the Redskins’ case. Curiously, he still thinks the Redskins’ name is racist.
  20. Brexit and IP: A Primer
  21. On the Charter, Freedom of Expression, and Scientific Research (Stephen Armstrong)
  22. Reading List: The Copyright Wars (Rebecca Tushnet)
  23. Hillary Clinton’s Intellectual Property Platform: Too Vague & Confusing
  24. New York Times reports plagiarism in Trump textbooks
  25. CafePress Takes Down T-Shirt Calling Donald Trump A Cheeto-Faced S—gibbon, Saying It Violates Frito-Lay’s Trademark
  26. Huckabee’s anti-gay-marriage rally leads to copyright suit, $25,000 payment: Huckabee’s still paying for a copyright snafu from his campaign’s early days.
  27. Russian Culture Minister Claims Netflix A U.S. Mind Control Effort
  28. Portrait of an artist dying intestate: How a Toronto gallery owner is negotiating the delicate matter of who owns Vivian Maier’s iconic art
  29. #OscarsLessWhite: the Academy just invited nearly 700 new members to improve diversity — but there’s still a long way to go
  30. How the Gawker Media Bankruptcy Will Work
  31. Good News at the Washington Post: Inside the paper Jeff Bezos bought –&– Donald Trump banned.
  32. No Light Between Diversity and Free Expression (John Palfrey)
  33. Privilege for patent and trademark agents now in force in Canada

COMMUNICATIONS & BROADCASTING

  1. CRTC commissioner departs after more than a year of legal battles
  2. Let’s Talk TV: CRTC Revises Policy Framework for Local and Community Television
  3. Six companies pay $1.23 million for making telemarketing calls to Canadians
  4. Bell Canada loses second attempt to limit competitor access to its fibre networks
  5. FCC Chairman Releases Summary of Media Ownership Reform Proposals – Little Change in Existing Ownership Rules, Reinstatement of JSA Ban 
  6. Dear Landlord: Don’t Rip Me Off When it Comes To Internet Access: When building owners get kickbacks from big providers it’s the tenants who lose (Susan Crawford)
  7. Comcast took $1,775 from man, only gave it back after he contacted media: Comcast wrongly debited early termination fee, provided no refund for 18 months.
  8. How Comcast and Charter are trying to fix their awful customer service: Two biggest cable companies pledge improvements at Senate hearing.
  9. Cable company overcharges might be even worse than you realized: Senate report compares billing and service records, finds massive overcharges.
  10. Senate Hearing Shows Cable Companies Routinely Overbill Customers, Do Little To Correct Errors
  11. European supreme court adds to Telefónica’s woes after Brexit slump: Court upholds antitrust decision as O2 owner struggles post UK referendum.
  12. Why ISPs’ fight against net neutrality probably won’t reach Supreme Court: There are no major questions for the Supreme Court to decide, some experts say.
  13. New FCC Online Public Inspection File Goes Live Today – Top 50 Market Radio Stations To Start Transition

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. How a file-sharing lawsuit against Rogers threatens your Internet privacy: Geist – Voltage Pictures asked the court to order Rogers to disclose the identity of one of its subscribers in a reverse class-action lawsuit.
  2. Canadian File Sharing Lawsuit Could Upend Copyright Privacy Protections (Michael Geist)
  3. EU-US Privacy Shield sent to national reps for approval—by next week: European Commission sends updated text to Article 31 and demands answer by Monday
  4. Judge Says FBI Can Hack Computers Without A Warrant Because Computer Users Get Hacked All The Time
  5. Federal Court: The Fourth Amendment Does Not Protect Your Home Computer (EFF)
  6. Crook who left his phone at the scene has “no reasonable expectation of privacy”: Judge says it’s OK that a phone found at a burglary leads to kidnapping evidence.
  7. Post Gag Order, Lavabit Founder Reveals Non-Secret That Feds Were After Ed Snowden’s Emails
  8. Russia’s new spy law calls for metadata and content to be stored, plus crypto backdoors: Snowden calls it “an unworkable, unjustifiable violation of rights.”
  9. Russia’s Problem (According To Russian Politicians): Not Enough Mass Surveillance
  10. EU data flows to China is next fight on privacy warriors hit list: MEPs want answers from Brussels on protecting personal data of EU citizens.
  11. Brexit. Privacy. What You Need to Know.
  12. Private right of action under Canada’s Anti-Spam Law (CASL)
  13. FTC Reaches $950,000 Settlement Over Location Tracking 
  14. FTC Updates Consumer Guidance for Online Tracking 
  15. Facebook Using Physical Location to Suggest Friends (Bruce Schneier)
  16. Facebook says it did ‘a test’ last year using people’s locations to make friend suggestions
  17. Facebook is using your phone’s location to suggest new friends—which could be a privacy disaster
  18. The Freedom of Information Act—and the Hero Who Pioneered It: Celebrating the curious and deeply unpopular political career of John Moss, godfather of the FOIA.
  19. I, Snowbot: For A Man Accused Of Espionage And Effectively Exiled In Russia, Edward Snowden Is Also, Strangely, Free.
  20. This paparazzi-proof scarf is the closest thing to an invisibility cloak

jon

News of the Week; June 22, 2016

GAMES

  1. Sony settling PS3 Other OS suit: Six-year court battle over removal of Linux installation option to end with payouts of up to $55 per affected owner
  2. Sony agrees to pay millions to gamers to settle PS3 Linux debacle: As many as 10 million PS3 console owners will be eligible for payment.
  3. No Man’s Sky Settles With Sky TV So It Can Have ‘Sky’ In Its Name
  4. Hello Games settles “secret stupid” legal dispute with Sky: Telecomms company’s problem with the title of No Man’s Sky took three years to resolve
  5. Trademark dispute with Sky broadcasting sought name change for No Man’s Sky: Dispute ends after “three years of secret stupid legal nonsense.”
  6. Epic sues German modder for selling Paragon hack
  7. Mount & Blade 2 dev will release gameplay code to support modders
  8. Bethesda implements Steam-linking to protect modders from piracy
  9. Professors File Brief Supporting Review of O’Bannon and Fixing Right of Publicity Mess
  10. Star Citizen’s refunds process just got more complicated: A provision allowing refund requests after a release date is missed by 18 months has been removed from its terms of service
  11. Crowdfunded Game Console Is Made Out of Tape, Cardboard, and Fake Circuits
  12. Fable Fortune Kickstarter canceled after private investor steps up
  13. Fable Fortunes closes Kickstarter in favour of private funding: Undisclosed sources to bring ex-Lionhead’s card game to life
  14. Overwatch losing ‘Avoid this player’ feature after top players can’t find games
  15. VR not ready for the mainstream – Fils-Aime: Nintendo of America president says the company will adopt VR once it’s mass market approachable
  16. Nintendo Is in Trouble and E3 Didn’t Help
  17. Major Gaming Industry Players Jump into VR at E3 2016
  18. Oculus and Valve send mixed messages on VR exclusivity
  19. Newell weighs in on VR exclusives: Valve head says tying development funds to specific hardware is bad for customers and developers
  20. A Third of Valve is Now Working on VR and the Next Generation of Headsets
  21. Fantastic Contraption adds built-in mixed reality and Twitch chat functions
  22. PlayStation VR demos hit stores starting tomorrow: Sony rolling out hands-on kiosks at hundreds of North American locations this month
  23. Sony promises all Playstation Neo games will work on PS4
  24. Sony is the real winner of E3 2016, says Facebook data
  25. Sky Sports Will Air Dedicated eSports TV Channel
  26. Facebook hires former pro player Snoopeh in bid for eSports stars
  27. Heads up Twitch, Facebook just hired gamer Snoopeh for its e-sports division
  28. Peter Moore and EA’s eSports masterplan
  29. Skillz is the biggest e-sports company gamers have never heard of
  30. At Least One Type Of Esports Betting Could Be Happening In Atlantic City Casinos Today
  31. Virtual Weapons Are Turning Teen Gamers Into Serious Gamblers: The boom in pro video gaming is fueled by $2.3 billion in online bets.
  32. E3 highlights surge in female game designers: After a handful of women show the way, some schools see more women entering field than men
  33. Square Enix chief champions development of premium mobile games: “It’s important for [the mobile] market to have quality premium games as well. If those kinds of games were a viable option, it would draw more developers to give that market a second look.”
  34. Daybreak shuts down servers for Planetside 1, Legends of Norrath
  35. Analysts give Tencent-Supercell thumbs up: Newzoo calls $8.6 billion for 84% of Clash of Clans developer “a good deal”; Superdata says acquisition “comes at an opportune time”
  36. Tencent acquires Supercell: Online giant picks up SoftBank’s share of Clash of Clans developer in deal valuing studio at $10.2 billion; SoftBank president resigns
  37. Vivendi ups Ubisoft share ownership to 20%, but delays takeover
  38. E3 Live completely disappoints fans: “I expected more, at least to play some more…I was like c’mon man, I didn’t come here to buy stuff”
  39. Scorpio is a beast, but Microsoft needs to explain it better: The company needs to find a coherent party line about Scorpio, One S and Windows 10, and stick to it
  40. Jeff Minter: iOS games ended up costing us money: Space Giraffe creator shares App Store angst
  41. Defender dev Eugene Jarvis on the bright future of arcade games
  42. The role of Space Invaders as the archetypal action videogame, and why its theme of ‘One Versus Many’ is so successful
  43. Going Down the Rabbit Hole: Simulation Theory, AI, & the Battle for Reality
  44. Warcraft, Angry Birds movies cashing in: Critically dismissed flicks poised to become the highest grossing game adaptations of all time
  45. Vice to launch new video game site headed by Giant Bomb’s Austin Walker
  46. Catching up with the guy who stole Half-Life 2’s source code, 10 years later: From Death by Video Game: can you love a game so much you must take its sequel?
  47. How Brexit could impact the UK games industry: From developers to retailers, this is what leaving the European Union would mean for one of the UK’s most important creative industries

DIGITAL

  1. DMCA wins big in record label lawsuit against Vimeo: Case questioned if DMCA gave immunity to providers for their users’ infringement.
  2. Appeals Court Gives Big Loss To Record Labels In Their Quixotic Lawsuit Against Vimeo For Lipdubs
  3. Global ad expenditures to reach $537BN in 2016: Global advertising expenditure across all platforms will grow 4.1% in 2016, reaching $537 billion, according to a survey by ZenithOptimedia.
  4. Twitch takes legal action against bot creators
  5. Twitch pledges to stamp out viewbot services: First lawsuit filed against sellers of bots that artificially inflate viewers, followers and chat activity
  6. Twitch Tries to Exterminate Bot Infestation With Legal Action
  7. Disappointing: Twitch Brings CFAA & Trademark Claim Against Bot Operators
  8. It’ll be very hard for terrorism victim’s family to win lawsuit against Twitter – Victim’s father: Twitter, Google, and Facebook profit off of terrorist propaganda.
  9. Judge Doesn’t Find Much To Like In ‘Material Support For Terrorism’ Lawsuit Against Twitter
  10. Blockchain Company’s Smart Contracts Were Dumb
  11. Data May Be Key in Microsoft-LinkedIn Probe, EU’s Vestager Says
  12. Apple and Microsoft reportedly vetoed a rifle emoji
  13. Feminist hacker barbie is finally a real thing: Barbie introduces a ‘Game Developer’ doll, and she’s even cooler than you thought.
  14. Mark Zuckerberg Needs to Dump Peter Thiel From the Facebook Board of Directors. He Won’t.
  15. What does Facebook think about board member Peter Thiel secretly funding lawsuits against a publisher? No comment (for now).
  16. Why Mark Zuckerberg Should Remove Peter Thiel From Facebook’s Board: The Facebook CEO needs to prove he believes in freedom of expression.
  17. Facebook sticks by Gawker attack funder Peter Thiel
  18. Facebook Still Deleting Non-Offensive Posts For Being Offensive
  19. Eshoo: Protecting people from lawsuits for speaking out
  20. ‘A shakedown against Canadians’: Hollywood still telling internet pirates to pay up – Critics say it’s time for federal government to rewrite rules for piracy notices
  21. GOP cuts off US House cameras, so Democrats Periscope gun control sit-in: Rep. Scott Peters turns to social media to broadcast protest.
  22. As Republicans Turn Off House Live Feed, Reps & C-SPAN Turn To Periscope And Facebook Live Video To Cover Sit In
  23. MPAA Happily Gets Into Bed With Russian State Censor Agency… To Protect Copyright!
  24. Beijing Regulators Block Sales Of iPhones, Claiming The Design Is Too Close To Chinese Company’s Phone
  25. E-books fair game for public libraries, says advisor to top Europe court – AG opinion: Digital lending should be subject to same rules as library loans.
  26. This Comment Was Sponsored By …: The Federal Election Commission can’t figure out what to do about paid speech online.
  27. Mobile Advertising Network InMobi Settles FTC Charges It Tracked Hundreds of Millions of Consumers’ Locations Without Permission: Company Will Pay $950,000 For Tracking Children Without Parental Consent
  28. The Art of Disclosure: Fashion’s Influence Economy and the FTC: As the importance of native advertising continues to grow, are brands and digital influencers coming clean with consumers about the deals that power fashion’s influence economy?
  29. Twitter is getting roasted for a new app that caters to celebrities and their problems
  30. Steve Ballmer Wants The Clippers To Launch Their Own Streaming Service
  31. Netflix overtakes YouTube in US
  32. YouTubers band together to form Internet Creator’s Guild: “There are lots of organisations that among the interests they have is supporting creators, but no organisation with that sole interest”
  33. Magic Leap’s Next Move? Bringing C-3PO to Your House
  34. The First Big Company to Say It’s Serving the Legal Marijuana Trade? Microsoft.
  35. Apple wants to kill a bill that could make it easier for you to fix your iPhone
  36. The Forrest Gump of the Internet: Ev Williams became a billionaire by helping to create the free and open web. Now, he’s betting against it.
  37. New York legislature passes bill legalizing daily fantasy
  38. How Fans Tune In to Sports on YouTube
  39. Artificial intelligence: ‘We’re like children playing with a bomb’: Sentient machines are a greater threat to humanity than climate change, according to Oxford philosopher Nick Bostrom
  40. Computers will overtake us when they learn to love, says futurist Ray Kurzweil

CREATIVITY

  1. New York Times Settles Copyright Case Over Thumbnail War Photos
  2. Using generic art that may evoke plaintiff is fair: Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, Inc. v. Rushmore Photo & Gifts, Inc, 2016 WL 3282197 (Rebecca Tushnet)
  3. U.S. Supreme Court Rules in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
  4. Supreme Court Revisits Copyright’s Attorney Fee Shifts–Kirtsaeng v. Wiley (Eric Goldman)
  5. The Supreme Court Instructs District Courts to Put Substantial Weight on the Reasonableness of a Losing Party’s Position in Determining Fees in Copyright Cases
  6. A Circuit Split at Last: Ninth Circuit Recognizes De Minimis Exception to Copyright Infringement of Sound Recordings 
  7. Access Copyright v. York U – The Final Trial Arguments Are Set to Unfold
  8. Screenwriters Accuse Christian Movie Studio Of 9th Commandment Violations Over General Script Ideas
  9. Open access: All human knowledge is there—so why can’t everybody access it?: We paid for the research with taxes, and Internet sharing is easy. What’s the hold-up?
  10. Scientific publishers are killing research papers: Pressure to publish short articles removes details, leaves readers confused.
  11. The shadowy war on the press: How the rich silence journalists
  12. Local news isn’t dead. We just need to stop killing it.
  13. Trump, Propaganda, And The Loss Of Media Authority: The G.O.P. nominee is spouting Orwellian double-speak, and the media can’t stop him.
  14. The challenges in covering Trump’s relentless assault on the truth
  15. This Harvard study is a powerful indictment of the media’s role in Donald Trump’s rise
  16. 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Ed Sheeran, Led Zeppelin… Are These Copyright Lawsuits a Good Thing for Music
  17. Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page spars with attorney over ‘Stairway’ plagiarism allegations
  18. Led Zeppelin ‘Stairway to Heaven’ copyright trial: Robert Plant says he has ‘no memory’ of watching Spirit play: Plant and guitarist Jimmy Page are accused of stealing their iconic riff from Spirit song ‘Taurus’
  19. Why “Stairway to Heaven” Doesn’t Infringe “Taurus” Copyright: analysis & demo of “scenes a faire” motif common to both
  20. Lawyers who yanked “Happy Birthday” into public domain now sue over “This Land – Attorneys: Song, published in 1945, should have passed into public domain in 1973.
  21. Eat Your Art Out: Intellectual Property Protection for Food
  22. Are Native American Pottery Designs Copyrightable?
  23. How it works: Understanding Copyright Law in the New Creative Economy (Rebecca Tushnet)
  24. Paramount Beats Musicians Guild in Lawsuit Over Outsourcing Film Scores: A judge figures out the meaning of “producer” and “employer” in Hollywood.
  25. Who Owns Star Trek?
  26. Can Plaintiffs Sue a “Celebrity Spokesperson”?
  27. White Supremacy and the Intractability of the Fight Over the Redsk*ns
  28. Vice Media Settles With Indie Band ViceVersa, Showing That Trademark Bullying Totally Works
  29. Broadway economics: Breaking down Broadway
  30. Why Are So Many Vogue Cover Stories Written by Men?
  31. In 60 days, drone journalism will be legally possible in any U.S. newsroom: “There are still challenges, and we haven’t even talked about state and local laws that have been piling up while the FAA lumbered toward today. But the future of drones in journalism is much brighter today than it has ever been.”
  32. ‘Hamilton’ And Copyright: Lin-Manuel Miranda Had His Eyes On Music History

COMMUNICATIONS & BROADCASTING

  1. Federal court dismisses Bell appeal in mobile television ruling
  2. Federal Court of Appeal Upholds CRTC Ruling That Bell Mobile TV Service Violated Telecom Law (Michael Geist)
  3. Ignore the Scare Tactics: The Real Future of Bell Investment in Fibre Networks (Michael Geist)
  4. Why the Federal Court Crackdown on Set-Top Boxes Threatens to Chill Canadian Tech Innovation (Michael Geist)
  5. Rogers Communications Inc. v. Châteauguay (City) (Supreme Court of Canada, June 16, 2016)
  6. The (In)effectiveness of Telecommunications Transparency Reports (Christopher Parsons)
  7. CRTC Creates a New Framework for Local Programming and News
  8. Consumer Groups Say AT&T, Comcast Violate Privacy Law By Hoovering Up Cable Box Data Without Full User Consent
  9. Study Finds That T-Mobile’s Binge On Is Exploitable, Unreliable, And Still Violates Net Neutrality
  10. Tim Wu Joins NY AG’s Office In Shaming ‘Abysmal’ Cable Broadband ISPs
  11. 23% of US Millennials are OTT-only
  12. Viacom Director Has Uphill Battle in Case Against Redstone
  13. Sumner Redstone moves to oust CEO Philippe Dauman, others from Viacom board

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Smile, you’re in the FBI face-recognition database; Driver license, passport, visa pics in database—despite no criminal affiliation.
  2. Mark Zuckerberg—paranoid or just sensible about the big, bad Web?
  3. How Hired Hackers Got “Complete Control” Of Palantir: Palantir hired a cybersecurity firm last year to test its digital defenses. A confidential report shows how the pro hackers were able to dominate the tech company’s network.
  4. This Russian technology can identify you with just a picture of your face
  5. Global Internet commission: Leave crypto alone, ditch opaque algorithms – Governments should agree on a list of “legitimate targets” for online attacks.
  6. Supreme Court Knocks A Little More Off The 4th Amendment; Gives Cops Another Way To Salvage Illegal Searches
  7. Eighth Circuit holds that accessing credit card magnetic stripe is not a ‘search’
  8. Handing over cell phone to police and giving password is consent to search
  9. “Guccifer” leak of DNC Trump research has a Russian’s fingerprints on it: Evidence left behind shows leaker spoke Russian and had affinity for Soviet era.
  10. Guest editorial: The DNC hack and dump is what cyberwar looks like – Elections are critical infrastructure that should be hands-off for governments.
  11. Apple’s Differential Privacy (Bruce Schneier)

jon

News of the Week; June 15, 2016

GAMES

  1. Riot uses LoL chatlogs to weed out toxic employees
  2. League of Legends admits to using chat-log analysis in employee reviews: Toxicity analysis looks for context, such as “using their [developer] authority.”
  3. Game publishers treading carefully at E3 in wake of Orlando tragedy
  4. The Division dev upgrades to permanent bans for first-time cheaters
  5. No more Mr. Nice Ubisoft: First-time Division cheaters now banned permanently – Stricter punishments come amid claims of improved cheat detection tools.
  6. New Xbox community features will create “virtual safe spaces”: “The anonymity of the internet doesn’t always lead to the best behaviour”
  7. Why PlayStation VR Will Dominate The Virtual Reality Market
  8. Valve releasing free virtual reality world-builder, Destinations
  9. Overwatch player count hits 10 million after three weeks
  10. League of Legends generates $150m a month – SuperData
  11. Report: Tencent’s Supercell takeover valued at $9 billion
  12. Why Lionhead sank beneath the weight of Fable Legends: “The original pitch was for a really cheap game – it certainly wasn’t the $75m we ended up spending…But as time wore on, there were various voices that made it more complicated.”
  13. Spider-Man leads Marvel’s “epic” new console strategy: Comic company moving away from movie tie-ins, says the future of Spider-Man games is with Sony and Insomniac
  14. Sony’s E3 surprises with God of War, Resident Evil VII VR: Kojima Productions’ Death Stranding, Insomniac’s Spider-Man, the return of Crash Bandicoot, and Days Gone can’t even crack the headline
  15. E3: EA focuses on sports, charities and indie devs
  16. Electronic Arts CEO: Competitive Gaming Is Here to Stay
  17. New Sports Related Games, $1 Million Madden Tournament Unveiled At E3
  18. Madden NFL 16 championships will be broadcast live on ESPN2: Another milestone for the rapidly growing eSports industry.
  19. Microsoft gets deeper into eSports with Arena for Xbox
  20. E3: Microsoft announces Xbox One S, Scorpio and Play Anywhere
  21. Why Scorpio and Xbox One S sales don’t actually matter: Phil Spencer explains why you shouldn’t think “that everything we’re doing is about selling you an Xbox console”
  22. Say goodbye to the way the game console market works: Microsoft’s Scorpio, Sony’s Neo make game consoles more like mobile phones or PCs.
  23. Minecraft Realms brings cross-platform play to Windows 10, iOS, Android, Gear VR: Mods and extensions will come later this year.
  24. Ubisoft CEO stresses creative independence as Vivendi takeover threat looms
  25. Bethesda banks on eSports with Quake Champions
  26. Does Overwatch have what it takes to become a popular eSport?
  27. Twitch’s E3 livestreams watched by a staggering 925K concurrent viewers
  28. Valencia CF Becomes First La Liga Club To Sign An eSports Team
  29. Meet the Plaid Parliament of Pwning, one of the world’s elite hacking teams
  30. Twitch’s 100 million viewers watched 800 million hours of esports in the last 10 months
  31. Report: ESL is the top eSports tourney broadcaster on Twitch (that’s not Riot)
  32. Assetto Corsa – Modding Forums Shutdown Update
  33. To run WoW legacy servers, Blizzard must reverse-engineer its own game
  34. How Will Wright and SimCityshaped the course of game dev history: “You can see traces of SimCity in many if not most of the games we play today, from casual social games to hardcore CRPG and strategy titles. Sid Meier, when asked in 2008 to name the three most important innovations in the history of electronic gaming, listed the invention of the PC, the Nintendo Seal of Quality… and, yes, SimCity.”
  35. What Does $1MM Buy in Game Development?
  36. The Warcraft fan’s dilemma: A movie, but it’s based on the 1994 DOS game?! – Orcs made it to the big screen—iconic characters, diverse combat, and epic stories didn’t.
  37. Court rules in favor of cloned tabletop game – No protection under US copyright law

DIGITAL

  1. Why I Quit Twitter — and Left Behind 35,000 Followers (Jonathan Weisman)
  2. Trump Supporters Hurl Anti-Semitic Twitter Attacks at ‘New York Times’ Editor
  3. NYT editor Jonathan Weisman blasts Twitter over anti-Semitic trolling
  4. Twitter won’t explain why it flip-flopped on NYT editor’s complaints of anti-Semitic abuse
  5. My Dinner With Peter Thiel: A window into the secret reality of Silicon Valley.
  6. Judge blasts Oracle’s attempt to overturn pro-Google jury verdict: Oracle’s cross-examination of Schwartz “focused on character assassination.”
  7. Appeals Court Trashes Prenda’s Appeal, Affirms Sanctions
  8. Prenda lawyers lose key appeal, will pay $230k sanction: “Courts started catching on to plaintiffs’ real business of copyright trolling.”
  9. Twitter, Facebook & Google Sued For ‘Material Support For Terrorism’ Over Paris Attacks
  10. Another chapter of the Google Books Copyright dispute – does the US Supreme Court decision affect Australia? 
  11. Weinstein Company Requests Takedown of Katie Couric Interviews Featured in Free Beacon Story: Free Beacon fighting the takedowns
  12. Another Day, Another Horrible Ruling That Undermines The First Amendment And Section 230
  13. Axl Rose DMCA Takedown Notices Illustrate the Difficulty With Safe Harbor Reforms – User-Generated Content and Fair Use Issues
  14. Apple opens its Siri voice assistant up to devs via new API
  15. Six Ways Site Design Can Potentially Render TOS Agreements Unenforceable
  16. Five subtle ways Facebook could influence the US presidential election this fall
  17. Donald Trump’s Response To The Orlando Massacre Will Make You Sick To Your Stomach (Tweets)
  18. Inside Donald Trump’s Twitter-Bot Fan Club
  19. Trump Implicitly Suggests That His DOJ Would Take Down Amazon For Antitrust
  20. How Clinton aims to trump Trump on Twitter: Her newly aggressive social media strategy aims to turn the presumptive GOP nominee’s own words against him.
  21. Scammers have already started trying to exploit Orlando shooting for bitcoins: Fake Twitter account for Pulse nightclub asks for “contributions” through scam site.
  22. The global village of violence
  23. EFF, Public Citizen Enter Legal Battle That Started With Defamation But Is Somehow Now All About Copyright
  24. Review Website Gets Hammered In Court–Consumer Cellular v. ConsumerAffairs (Eric Goldman)
  25. NC Supreme Court strikes down cyberbullying statue
  26. North Carolina State Supreme Court Strikes Down Cyberbullying Statute
  27. Newspaper Association Thinks FTC Should Force Readers To Be Subject To Godawful Ads And Invasive Trackers
  28. Red astroturf: Chinese government makes millions of fake social media posts – “50-cent” posters aim to distract from dissent rather than confront it.
  29. Music Royalties Initiative Unites YouTube, Spotify, Labels: Open Music Initiative, led by Berklee College of Music and MIT, aims to improve how artists and labels collect money from streaming
  30. Europe Is About To Create A Link Tax: Time To Speak Out Against It
  31. What the heck is ancillary copyright and why do we call it the Link Tax?: What the heck is ancillary copyright anyway? And why does it matter? And why do we keep calling it the link tax? All will be revealed within.
  32. Yes, Getting The US Government Out Of ‘Managing’ Internet Domain Governance Is A Good Thing
  33. Twitter forces password reset on millions of accounts, denies hack
  34. “Spam King,” who defied nearly $1B in default judgments, sentenced to 2.5 years: Sanford Wallace hijacked Facebook accounts to send 27M spam messages.
  35. Microsoft is buying LinkedIn for $26.2 billion: CEO Satya Nadella says the acquisition will be “key to our bold ambition to reinvent productivity and business processes.”
  36. Microsoft’s planned acquisition of LinkedIn is one of biggest ever in the tech industry
  37. LinkedIn CEO: Why the Microsoft deal won’t be a disaster
  38. Microsoft buys LinkedIn for $26.2 Billion – Antitrust Issues? 
  39. I’ve slept on it—and I’m still baffled at Microsoft buying LinkedIn for $26.2B – Analysis: Microsoft is buying the cow when all it wants is some milk.
  40. Is YouTube Building A New Music Industry?
  41. How Netflix Became Hollywood’s Frenemy: The streaming service is changing the way TV shows and movies get made—whether studios and networks like it or not.
  42. Whatever happened to MCNs?
  43. YouTube stars more popular than mainstream celebrities among teens
  44. YouTube Stars Form New Guild To Give Creators A Stronger Voice: One of YouTube’s most popular creators, Hank Green, launched the nonprofit to actively promote the interests of online video makers.
  45. Is Reddit Dead? Welcome to the Propaganda Machine.
  46. Twitter Invests $70 Million In Soundcloud: If you can’t buy a company, getting a stake in it is the next best thing.
  47. Snapchat Launches a Colossal Expansion of Its Advertising, Ushering in a New Era for the App: Unveils new API and $1 billion goal
  48. Is Virtual Reality going to transform cinema?: VR is slowly becoming the new norm and in twenty years time a lot of what we do will be accessed through virtual reality – so how it will affect the film world?
  49. Cyber insurance is changing the way we look at risk
  50. Movie written by algorithm turns out to be hilarious and intense
  51. How to Preserve Cultural Memory in the Digital Age

CREATIVITY

  1. Artist Rights and the Many Shapes of Censorship
  2. Steal This Riff: How To Fix Copyright Law And Set Musicians Free: Could Compulsory Sample Licenses Solve A Problem That Has Vexed Hip-Hop And Dance Musicians For Decades?
  3. Former Copyright Board Chair Vancise Takes Aim at the Board Critics (Michael Geist)
  4. Ruling From EU’s Top Court Confirms Copyright Levies Are A Ridiculous, Unworkable Mess
  5. Watch The President Use Fair Use To Support A Trade Deal That Undermines Fair Use
  6. New York Times Says Fair Use Of 300 Words Will Run You About $1800
  7. The Bezos Effect: How Amazon’s Founder Is ReinventingThe Washington Post – and What Lessons It Might Hold for the Beleaguered Newspaper Business
  8. Trump revokes Washington Post’s campaign press credentials
  9. How to Cover Donald Trump Fairly: A Style Guide
  10. Now Peter Thiel’s Lawyer Wants to Silence Reporting on Drumpf’s Hair
  11. Peter Thiel’s Gawker-Killing Lawyer Now Issuing Bogus Defamation Threats Over Story On Donald Trump’s Hair
  12. Peter Thiel’s Plan To Destroy Gawker Went Way Beyond Hogan’s Case
  13. Gawker filing for bankruptcy – Report: Kotaku owner chooses Chapter 11 over paying lawsuit judgment, could be sold to IGN parent Ziff-Davis
  14. Gawker declares bankruptcy, will auction itself off in wake of Hulk Hogan lawsuit: Chapter 11 filing would help shield the company from Hogan payment (for now).
  15. Did Led Zeppelin rip off “Stairway to Heaven?” Ooh, it makes me wonder: Jury trial starts Tuesday. Infringement is in the ear of the beholder.
  16. Beyoncé faces lawsuit over claims Lemonade trailer ‘copied’ ideas: Film-maker Matthew Fulks says two-thirds of the pop star’s album promo was based on his short film seen by one of her collaborators
  17. Ed Sheeran the latest target of copyright lawsuit
  18. Ed Sheeran Sued for $20M for Allegedly Copying Song Released by ‘X Factor’ Winner
  19. Bieber Fever running high, “is it too late now to say I’m SORRY?” – allegations of copyright infringement against The Biebs (aka Justin Bieber)
  20. Jimi Hendrix Portrait Denied Copyright Protection For Lack of Originality
  21. ‘Rephotographer’ Richard Prince Is Being Sued Again
  22. Celebrity Chef Sues to Cancel Contract Transferring His Right of Publicity
  23. Jesse Ventura’s $1.8M Legal Win Over ‘American Sniper’ Chris Kyle Overturned on Appeal
  24. Citigroup trademarks “THANKYOU” and sues AT&T for thanking clients: Not to be outdone by Citigroup, AT&T has applied to trademark “AT&T THANKS.”
  25. In re Tam: Federal Circuit Holds the Lanham Act’s Antidisparagement Provision Unconstitutional.
  26. Supreme Court Just Made It Easier For Patent Trolls
  27. Supreme Court says win for patent holders won’t embolden patent trolls: Enhanced damages should not be granted in “garden-variety cases,” justices rule.
  28. Muhammad Ali: The original rapper – Legendary emcee Chuck D of Public Enemy talks Ali’s impact on hip-hop
  29. New ESPN Series Shows How O.J. Simpson Changed Advertising—and It Changed Him: Hertz ads, not football, made ‘the Juice’ a superstar
  30. Canaries in the Elsevier Mine: What to watch for at SSRN
  31. Don’t Tell Me What Happens. I’m Recording It. – Chuck Klosterman asks: What is the future of TV?
  32. State of the News Media 2016 (Pew Research Center)
  33. How Le Monde transformed its business model to become a profitable news publisher
  34. Not The Onion: Morocco Bans Sharing Newspapers To Protect Publisher Business Models
  35. The definition of commercial speech

COMMUNICATIONS & BROADCASTING

  1. ‘No Netflix tax’, but the future of Cancon is up for debate, says heritage minister Melanie Joly
  2. CRTC improves support for local news
  3. CRTC partners with global agencies to enforce spam and telemarketing rules
  4. Judge orders interim ban on digital TV boxes over copyright claims from Bell, Rogers, Videotron
  5. Court Upholds Net Neutrality Rules On Equal Internet Access
  6. Appeals Court Fully Upholds FCC’s Net Neutrality Rules
  7. UNITED STATES TELECOM ASSOCIATION, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION AND UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
  8. After net neutrality loss, ISPs get ready to take case to Supreme Court: FCC won in all facets of today’s decision, but ISPs are not out of options.
  9. In shocking twist, senators scrutinize cable companies instead of FCC: Congress takes break from castigating FCC to focus on cable TV’s bad behavior.
  10. Viacom Has Few Options for Fighting National Amusements
  11. From radio waves to packets with software defined radio
  12. Why the Privacy Commissioner Doesn’t Need Legal Reforms To Require Transparency Reports (Michael Geist)
  13. 500 channels and nothing to see: The former head of Apple engineering really likes a new curated, app-based TV interface called Molotov — and sees a future business model in it.
  14. WIN v Nine Network Australia – Putting the ‘broad’ in ‘broadcasting’ 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. The RCMP Surveilled Thousands of Innocent Canadians for a Decade
  2. Canada’s Surveillance Crisis Now Hiding In Plain Sight (Michael Geist)
  3. FBI says utility pole surveillance cam locations must be kept secret: “Disclosure of even minor details about them may cause jeopardy,” bureau says.
  4. FBI Sues To Block Disclosure Of Surveillance Cameras Locations Because It Would Violate The Privacy Of Those Surveilled
  5. New Report: FBI Can Access Hundreds of Millions of Face Recognition Photos (EFF)
  6. Appeals Court: No Expectation Of Privacy In Credit Card Magnetic Strips
  7. What to Consider When Drafting or Reviewing a Privacy Policy
  8. The emerging ethical standards for studying corporate data: How Facebook’s “emotional contagion” controversy led to the company’s new research review policy
  9. What is Differential Privacy?
  10. Hackers invade Dems’ servers, steal entire Trump opposition file: Intrusion was so thorough it exposed almost a year’s worth of e-mail and chats.

jon

News of the Week; June 8, 2016

GAMES

  1. Fan-Made Star Wars Battlefront 3 Remake Approved For Steam – Don’t call it a comeback.: Fans have been working on a remake of the unreleased Star Wars Battlefront III, and it looks like it’s going to be released on Steam.
  2. The Paid Mods Question
  3. Maxis does away with gender boundaries in latest Sims 4update
  4. Maxis and GLAAD collaborate to remove gender restrictions from The Sims
  5. Chinese gov’t aims to tighten its hold on the mobile game market
  6. China tightens regulations around mobile games: Month-long process will root out undesirable content, adding yet more complexity to doing business in the world’s most populous country
  7. How an American company topped China’s mobile charts
  8. Sorry games industry, but VR won’t wait—Hollywood is coming for it: The likes of Take-Two might not believe in VR, but huge VFX studios like Framestore do
  9. Capcom bans pro player for sexual harassment: Noel Brown gone for the season after grabbing a woman on camera, second offense will result in lifetime ban
  10. eSports’ “path to profitability farther off than VR” for publishers – Pachter
  11. Why eSports Tournaments Make Great Venues for Research
  12. Spanish soccer club Valencia CF creates eSports team
  13. The Difficult History Of Videogames And Indigenous People
  14. Conflict mineral sourcing still hazy for games industry: Apple and Microsoft make significant improvements in their supply chains as Activision backslides; Time Warner and Facebook in apparent violation of SEC rules
  15. Overwatch Bans Thousands Of Cheaters: Blizzard takes a zero-tolerance stance on hacking.
  16. Overwatch surpasses 7 million players in just over a week
  17. Video game voice actors’ union calls on state regulator to improve working conditions
  18. SAG-AFTRA Asks for Investigation of Videogame Industry Over Vocal Safety Issues
  19. Frontier inadvertently drivesElite: Dangerous AI to create superweapons – “We don’t think the AI became sentient in a Skynet-style uprising!”
  20. Minecraft has sold over 100 million copies, says Mojang
  21. Mad Catz reports $11M loss following bad Rock Band 4 deal
  22. Vivendi buys out Guillemot family to seal Gameloft takeover
  23. Mohawk wants user reviews, sales, refunds removed from Early Access: Soren Johnson’s Offworld Trading Company postmortem highlights the tension between developer and consumer interests on Steam
  24. PayPal Refuses to Refund $50,000 to Twitch Donation Troll
  25. Sorry, the Xbox One isn’t going to be a DVR after all: Microsoft scraps plans to turn console into an over-the-air recorder.
  26. Tabletop games far outpace video games in pledge money, says Kickstarter
  27. Digital games to account for a third of console revenues in 2020 – PwC: “In some ways it’s surprising that physical game disks will continue to be a major force by 2020”
  28. Apple will allow subscriptions for games: App Store opening up option for all apps; revenue share for subscription devs will increase after a year
  29. ESA: The 50-plus gamer crowd has passed 40m in the US – 75% of the over 50 demographic plays games on a weekly basis; developers need to pay attention to this older audience
  30. Facebook signs deal to let users livestream Blizzard games
  31. Before Battlefield 1, EA Wasn’t Sure Young People Would Know WW1 Was A Thing
  32. How I connected with my autistic son through video games: A PlayStation game opened up a liberating world of play, interaction and co-operation for Keith Stuart and his young son. It continues to be a cornerstone of their relationship – and a place to have fun together as equals
  33. Surgeon Simulator Update Lets Players Go ‘Inside Donald Trump’: Make surgery great again.
  34. Computer scientists quantify just how hardSuper Mario Bros. is: Solving an arbitrary level belongs to a class of problems called PSPACE.
  35. The Incredibly Weird Story Behind Tetris
  36. Video games are evidence we’re living in a simulation, says Elon Musk: “The strongest argument for us being in a simulation is the following: 40 years ago, we had Pong. Two rectangles and a dot. Now, 40 years later, we have photorealistic 3D with millions playing simultaneously.” 

DIGITAL

  1. Russia Imprisoning Dozens Of Social Media Critics For ‘Hate Speech’
  2. How Donald Trump Hijacked the Authenticity of the Web: His credibility is zero, but by attacking political correctness he projects a true voice to his internet followers (David Weinberger)
  3. Two Separate Copyright Rulings Around The Globe May Finally Clear The Copyright Way For Sampling
  4. Madonna Gets Victory Over ‘Vogue’ Sample at Appeals Court: The 9th Circuit rules that a trivial taking isn’t enough to establish copyright infringement.
  5. De Minimis Music Sampling Isn’t Infringement–Salsoul v. Madonna
  6. The De Minimus Exception to Infringement is Now in Vogue for Sound Recordings
  7. VMG Salsoul LLC v. Madonna Louise
  8. Ciccone, United States Court Of Appeals For The Ninth Circuit, June 2, 2016
  9. Madonna’s Copyright Win Is Good News for Fans and Musicians
  10. Youtuber Sued Over Stanley Kubrick Movies Analysis
  11. Axl Rose tests the Streisand Effect by demanding Google removes fat photos: Singer’s heavy-handed attempt to suppress “fat Axl” meme hasn’t paid off.
  12. Donald Trump Meets Intellectual Property
  13. Another Entity Thinks A Random Bundle Of URLs Is A Legitimate DMCA Takedown Request
  14. California Ruling Against Facebook on Right of Publicity Blows Huge Hole in Section 230 Immunity
  15. WTF Is Going On With Section 230?–Cross v. Facebook (Eric Goldman)
  16. Another Bad Ruling In California Threatens To Massively Undermine Section 230 By Exempting Publicity Rights
  17. EFF Urges Supreme Court To Throw Out $399 Million Damage Award Against Samsung in Apple Smartphone Patent Case: ‘Total Profits’ Damage Awards For Infringing Design Patents Are Excessive, Unfair
  18. Digital Trademark and Design Patent Infringement
  19. Hacker Lexicon: What Is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act?
  20. Google’s fair use victory is good for open source (Pamela Samuelson)
  21. Judge Upholds Google’s Win Over Oracle in $9 Billion Trial Over APIs
  22. Oracle accused of cooking “cloud services” books to boost stock price: Accusations follow Oracle’s major defeat in API copyright suit against Google.
  23. Website blocking: saving Lotto Quebec from competition (Timothy Denton)
  24. How Binding Is Your Browsewrap Agreement?
  25. CurrentC—retailers’ defiant answer to Apple Pay—will deactivate its user accounts: The mobile payments scheme was distrusted before it even hit the big time.
  26. Warner Bros. DMCAs Insanely Awesome Recreation Of Blade Runner By Artificial Intelligence
  27. Here’s how Airbnb plans to tackle racism on the platform
  28. Here’s How Neo-Nazis Identify (((Jews))) on Twitter
  29. Putin’s Internet Trolls Mercilessly Smear Finnish Reporter Simply For Pointing Them Out
  30. Yelp Forced To Remove Defamatory Reviews–Hassell v. Bird
  31. Company Sues Customer For $1 Million, Claiming Yelp Review Was ‘Defamatory,’ Violated Non-Disparagement Clause
  32. Nest May Be The First Major Casualty Of Hollow ‘Internet Of Things’ Hype
  33. PwC: Internet Advertising Will Overtake Broadcast Advertising in the U.S. Next Year: Mobile to see biggest growth, report says
  34. The New Television: The next few years will see a massive shift of ads and attention from TV to mobile. A handful of companies, led by Facebook, are poised to make a killing.
  35. How YouTube May Now Be Worth $90 Billion (or More) on a Standalone Basis
  36. Facebook’s Race To Dominate AI
  37. Twitter Reportedly Held Merger Talks With Yahoo
  38. Cambridge’s Akamai will pay feds in Chinese bribery case
  39. Bad news for P.F. Chang -Court rules that all claims for 2014 data breach are not covered under its cyberinsurance! 
  40. The Ethical Quandary of Self-Driving Cars: When a crash is inevitable, autonomous vehicles will have to decide whom to collide with.
  41. Man v machine: can computers cook, write and paint better than us?: Artificial intelligence can now win a game, recognise your face, even appeal against your parking ticket. But can it do the stuff even humans find tricky?
  42. Can Artificial Intelligence achieve human-like consciousness?: A philosophical question — not a technical one.
  43. Software is still eating the world

CREATIVITY

  1. The Bezos Effect: How Amazon’s Founder Is Reinventing The Washington Post – and What Lessons It Might Hold for the Beleaguered Newspaper Business
  2. Hollywood Has a Huge Millennial Problem: 2016 is on pace to be the worst year for movies—by tickets bought per U.S. adult—since before the 1920s. What’s going on?
  3. The world’s tyrants clamp down on free speech — including against a king’s dog
  4. Under attack: Curbs on free speech are growing tighter. It is time to speak out
  5. Choosing Principles Over Publication: Psychology instructor withdraws book chapter after refusing to add language that he asserts a publisher demanded but he deemed too flattering to the textbook industry.
  6. Canada Post Drops Lawsuit Over Crowdsourced Postal Codes (Michael Geist)
  7. US District Court Finds Digitally Remastered Pre-1972 Sound Recordings Are “Derivative Works” Covered By Federal Law – Dismisses Suit against Broadcaster Seeking Over-the-Air Performance Royalties 
  8. Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’ to Be Scrutinized in Court in Copyright Case
  9. The Perversion Of Trademarks: Jose Mourinho Can’t Coach Man-U Yet Because Former Club Trademarked His Name
  10. Sid Vicious’s Photographer Sues Richard Prince for Copyright Infringement
  11. Appeals Court Burns Defamation Lawsuit Targeting ‘American Hustle’ Microwave Scene
  12. Tribune Publishing, now ‘tronc,’ issues worst press release in the history of journalism
  13. EU-Funded Study On The Cost Of Copyright Infringement Dismisses Key Real-World Factor As ‘Outside Its Scope’
  14. Our public institutions need fair use laws: We need reform to free libraries, archives and universities from unnecessary red tape.
  15. Why we’re terrified of fanfiction
  16. The ineffectiveness of publication bans
  17. Open access: All human knowledge is there—so why can’t everybody access it? – We paid for the research with taxes, and Internet sharing is easy. What’s the hold-up?

COMMUNICATIONS & BROADCASTING

  1. Manitoba Consumers Fear Price Hikes, Data Caps If BCE Buys MTS: Poll
  2. The TPP’s Impact on Canadian Culture Emerging as Political Issue (Michael Geist)
  3. Federal Court issues interlocutory injunction directed at retailers of set-top boxes loaded with copyright infringing applications
  4. Tom Wheeler accuses cable companies of shutting out minority TV channels
  5. Broadband CEOs Admit Usage Caps Are Nothing More Than A Toll On Uncompetitive Markets
  6. Time Warner Cable Internet speeds are “abysmal,” NY AG claims
  7. Using Text Messages in Promotions and Contests? – $8,500,000 Settlement Provides Reminder to Make Sure You are Aware of TCPA Obligations 
  8. ‘Just can’t get enough’: Half of Canadian TV subscribers use streaming services like Netflix too, survey says
  9. Netflix, Inc: A Growing Threat For Cable Companies
  10. Canada’s Privacy Commissioner clamps down on spam and the automated harvesting of electronic addresses 
  11. Fantasy-League Media: If you could draft an all-star team of entertainment and media assets and capabilities, who would you pick?

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Exclusive: Snowden Tried to Tell NSA About Surveillance Concerns, Documents Reveal
  2. Yahoo First Company To Publicly Acknowledge It Has Received National Security Letters
  3. Forty-One Secret Service Employees Punished For Illegally Accessing Congressman’s Private Data In Hopes Of Discrediting Him
  4. Appeals Court: As Long As The Government Has ‘Good Faith,’ It Can Root Around In Your Digital Files As Much As It Wants
  5. Turkish Constitutional Court: Monitoring Employee E-mail Accounts Does Not Breach Privacy Rights
  6. Mark Zuckerberg’s Twitter, Pinterest accounts compromised: Facebook denies hack of Zuck’s Instagram; LinkedIn 2012 password dump fingered.
  7. In 1971, Muhammad Ali Helped Undermine The FBI’s Illegal Spying On Americans

jon

News of the Week; June 1, 2016

GAMES

  1. Texas court affirms game mechanics not protected under copyright law
  2. How and why a group of modders have kept NHL 2004 on PC alive
  3. Twitch streamers can now create and share 30-second clips of your game
  4. GOG Connect will let users import select Steam games
  5. Online Harassment and Trolling in Virtual Spaces
  6. No Man’s Sky delay results in death threats for dev
  7. No Man’s Anger: A peaceful game’s delay sparks online hate – Why is a two-month pushback generating death threats?
  8. I Got Death Threats For Reporting On A Video Game Delay [UPDATES]
  9. Mojang: Minecraft is not an advertising platform
  10. Mojang bars companies and politicians from promoting themselves in Minecraft
  11. No Consoles For Old Men: Ageism In The Game Industry
  12. Accessibility in gaming should be the rule, not the exception
  13. Apple, Arbiters Of Art, Say Game About Surviving The Gaza Strip Isn’t A Game, Even Though It Is
  14. Payday 2 dev abandons controversial microtransactions
  15. PlayStation 4 sales exceed 40m worldwide
  16. PlayStation has become Sony’s cornerstone: PS4 is great, and PSVR/Neo will drive hype – but Sony’s success is also down to its competitors’ failures giving it a clear run at a thriving market
  17. Take-Two CEO: ‘There Is No Market’ For VR Right Now
  18. Seven months later, Valve’s Steam Machines look dead in the water: Sales of under 500,000 machines so far show an utter lack of market demand.
  19. Supercell “printing money” with Clash games – SuperData: Both Clash of Clans and Clash Royale are generating $100m a month as digital sales in April climbed 5% to $6.2 billion
  20. Starbreeze acquires Payday rights for $30 million in shares
  21. Microsoft lends Fable license to former Lionhead devs
  22. It’s been over a decade since Valve first promised Half-Life 2: Episode 3 – Franchise has now been in limbo longer than entire lives of fourth-graders.
  23. Pro Counter-Strike: GO team Faze leaves World Esports Association
  24. As eSports rise, look back at one of the world’s first video game tournaments: “It may seem extraordinary that you can now fill arenas with people who want to watch videogames…but it’s a perfectly reasonable outcome of what you could already see in 1972.”
  25. Bud Light’s confusing entry into esports is sending the wrong message
  26. Activision still committed to toys-to-life
  27. Report: Vivendi continues Gameloft takeover after winning shareholder support
  28. Vivendi succeeds in hostile Gameloft takeover
  29. For this gadgethead, the HTC Vive may force my Oculus Rift to collect dust: After one month—and a lot of Elite: Dangerous—I know which one’s better for me.
  30. Benchmark: Video Games Now Realistic Enough For Racing Games To Factor Into Racing Certs

DIGITAL

  1. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft agree to remove hate speech across the EU
  2. Top Internet Companies Agree To Vague Notice & Takedown Rules For ‘Hate Speech’ In The EU
  3. Google, Twitter, Facebook hate speech deal with EU is rash, say digi warriors: EDRi and Access Now warn against tech giants acting as online thought police.
  4. RPT-EU hate speech deal shows mounting pressures over internet content blocking
  5. Twitter Bans Obvious Putin Parody Account, Retreats After International Shaming
  6. Thailand Government Wants To Undermine Website Encryption, Hold ISPs Responsible For Third-Party Content
  7. Ontario Court Adopts New Cause Of Action To Combat Online Bullying
  8. This YouTube Star Got Sued, Raised $130,000, and Wants to Change the Site Forever: One of their own was in trouble. Now YouTube creators are fighting back
  9. Tunecore CEO: YouTube Is Not The Enemy – It’s A Goldmine Of ‘Found Money’
  10. GoFundMe For H3h3productions’ Copyright Suit Raises $100,000 From Philip DeFranco, Markiplier, PewDiePie
  11. YouTube Personality Files Bogus Copyright Infringement Lawsuit To Shut Up Two Critics
  12. Author Sues Publisher For Portraying eBook Licenses As ‘Sales’ To Pay Out Fewer Royalties
  13. Digital Deceit: Study Reveals Consumer Misconceptions About Ownership Rights
  14. Google Wins Trial Against Oracle, Saves $9 Billion
  15. Google beats Oracle—Android makes “fair use” of Java APIs: Oracle has spent many millions trying to get a chunk of Android, to no avail.
  16. Why Google’s victory in a copyright fight with Oracle is a big deal
  17. Why Google’s fair use victory over Oracle matters: Had Oracle won instead, a cascade of liability could have meant every Android phone owner in the world was breaching copyright law
  18. Big Win For Fair Use: Jury Says Google’s Use Of Java API’s Was Fair Use… On To The Appeal
  19. Google’s Fair Use Victory Is Good for Open Source (Pamela Samuelson)
  20. Thoughts on Google’s Fair Use Win in Oracle v. Google (Michael Risch)
  21. Who won Google VS Oracle? Developers won.
  22. Independent Musician Sues Justin Bieber & Skrillex For Copyright Infringement… Over A Sample They Didn’t Use
  23. Kraftwerk loses hip-hop music-sampling copyright case – German Supreme court: Kraftwerk copyright claim doesn’t outweigh “artistic freedom.”
  24. The German Constitutional Court on Sampling (31 May 2016)
  25. Fair Use In The Age Of Social Media
  26. Software patent post Alice world – Section 101 Patent Eligible Subject Matter – Enfish v. Microsoft, Fed. Cir. No. 2015-1244 (May 12, 2016)
  27. Google has increased its lead as the world’s top media owner and shows no signs of slowing
  28. Should it be legal to resell e-books, software, and other digital goods?: With e-book reselling heading to the EU Court of Justice, we examine the complexities of the law.
  29. The DMCA Should Not Be An All Purpose Tool For Taking Down Content; And It’s Espeically Bad For Harassment
  30. Why 3D scans aren’t copyrightable
  31. Youtube Threatens Legal Action Against Video Downloader
  32. Twitter’s Periscope Has A New Way To Deal With Trolls: Trial By Jury – An innovative moderation system will allow Periscope viewers to quickly zap abusive comments, while offering trolls a chance at redemption.
  33. Website for models can be sued for not warning users about rapists: Communications Decency Act doesn’t immunize Modelmayhem.com from legal liability.
  34. Government-Mandated Website Blocking Comes to Canada as Quebec’s Bill 74 Takes Effect (Michael Geist)
  35. News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2016 (Pew Research Center)
  36. Judge Says The FBI Can Keep Its Hacking Tool Secret, But Not The Evidence Obtained With It
  37. Why Netflix Isn’t a European Company
  38. Why can’t the Estonian president buy a song off iTunes for his Latvian wife?: Toomas Hendrik Ilves really, really wants a much more digitally integrated Europe.
  39. Bankruptcy Fight May Be The Least Of Team Prenda’s Concerns, As The FBI Comes Knocking
  40. ‘Black box’ no more: This system can spot the bias in those algorithms – Why was your loan denied? A university’s technique can shed some light
  41. I’m a black man. Here’s what happened when I booked an Airbnb.
  42. Facebook Wants to Help Sell Every Ad on the Web: The social network will show ads to non-Facebook users on other websites
  43. The inside story of Facebook’s biggest setback: The social network had a grand plan to connect millions of Indians to the internet. Here’s how it all went wrong
  44. The Playlist That’s Helping Spotify Win The Streaming Music Battle: Originally an experiment, Spotify’s Discover Weekly playlist now has twice as many listeners as Apple Music and Tidal combined
  45. Yahoo’s False Prophet: How Marissa Mayer Failed to Turn the Company Around
  46. The Myth of Sentient Machines: Digital computers might be fundamentally incapable of supporting consciousness.
  47. B.C. Court Grants Ex Parte Injunction Against Google and GoDaddy and Awards $1.2 in Damages in Internet Defamation Case 
  48. Microsoft gets into VR by letting others build HoloLens gear: Microsoft is opening up Windows Holographic at the perfect time.
  49. Beware the Trojan Horse: Elsevier’s repository pilot and our vision for IRs & Open Access
  50. Study Shows People Don’t Trust Robots – Unless They’re Carrying Cookies
  51. Internet trends report | Mary Meeker, KPCB | Code Conference 2016
  52. It’s Official: The ‘Internet’ Is Over

CREATIVITY

  1. Billionaire Peter Thiel funded Hulk Hogan lawsuit to take down Gawker
  2. Yes, A Billionaire Looking To Destroy A Media Organization Through Lawsuits Is A Big Deal Even If You Don’t Like The Media Organization
  3. Some Thoughts on Thiel’s Lawfare Against Gawker (Eric Goldman)
  4. How Can We Make You Happy Today, Peter Thiel?
  5. The legal campaign against Gawker has roots in the racist South
  6. Gawker Smeared Me, and Yet I Stand With It
  7. The Silencing of Japan’s Free Press
  8. CBS Beats Lawsuit Over Pre-1972 Songs With Bold Copyright Argument: A judge determines that remastered versions of old songs get copyright — and owners of the originals can’t stop the public performance of them.
  9. Maker of film critiquing Vancouver Aquarium wins right to appeal copyright ruling
  10. Star Trek Fan Film Axanar Lawyers Tell Court About JJ Abrams Claims Of Paramount Dropping Suit, Express Confusion
  11. Comic-Con, Costumes, and Copyright Concerns
  12. No Copyright in Facts
  13. Council of the European Union calls for full open access to scientific research by 2020
  14. Beyonce, Drake and the ‘Exclusives’ Explosion: How Streaming Has Changed the Way Albums Are Released
  15. The enduring whiteness of the American media
  16. Can Anyone Save The New York Times From Itself?: It’s been two years since Dean Baquet vaulted over Jill Abramson to claim the top editorial job, but the prospect of deeper change is still stirring at the 164-year-old Times. With longtime publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. seeking a successor, Baquet’s would-be replacements already jockeying for position, and drastic cuts looking all but inevitable, Sarah Ellison surveys the internal power players—past, present, and future—to see if any of them have answers to the existential questions plaguing the paper of record.
  17. Scientists show how we start stereotyping the moment we see a face
  18. How the Textbook Industry Tries to Hook Your Prof
  19. Open Letter on Ethical Norms in Intellectual Property Scholarship

COMMUNICATIONS & BROADCASTING

  1. CRTC reviewing controversial ‘zero-rating’ in internet plans: Inquiry has major implications for internet service, net neutrality advocates say
  2. Should broadband data hogs pay more? ISP economics say “no”: The idea has a certain logic—those who use more should pay more—but should it work IRL?
  3. Why Telecom Transparency Reporting in Canada Still Falls Short (Michael Geist)
  4. Why Bell’s Bid to Buy MTS is Bad News: Report Submitted to the Competition Bureau assessing Bell Canada Enterprises’ proposed bid to acquire Manitoba Telecommunications Services
  5. Bell customers to receive up to $11.82 million as part of Competition Bureau agreement: Agreement also requires Bell to donate approximately $800,000 to support public interest advocacy groups
  6. More Orphan Black, less Canadiana: An American on Canadian culture
  7. AT&T Falsely Blames The FCC For Company’s Failure To Block Annoying Robocalls
  8. ISPs and pay-TV lowest-rated industries, with Comcast worst in sector: Comcast ranks 289th out of 294 companies—and last in least-liked industry.
  9. Study: How Cable News Talks About Abortion – Anti-Choice Speakers And Misinformation Dominate Abortion Coverage On Evening Cable News
  10. Viacom in Turmoil: Will Shari Redstone Succeed in Seizing Control of Her Father’s Empire? 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Why Microsoft Is Suing the Feds Over Issues of Privacy and Security: President Brad Smith explains the company’s stance on searches and seizure of data in secret
  2. Privacy injunctions in the age of the Internet and social media: PJS v News Group Newspapers 
  3. Virtual assistants such as Amazon’s Echo break US child privacy law, experts say: Storing voice recordings of people younger than 13 via Alexa, Google Home and Siri appears to flout the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act
  4. How LinkedIn’s password sloppiness hurts us all: Second data dump lets hackers be 6 times better cracking future dumps.
  5. Uber Knows Too Much About You
  6. Doctors fire back at bad Yelp reviews — and reveal patients’ information online
  7. Cops can easily get months of location data, appeals court rules: Relying on third-party doctrine, Fourth Circuit finds for gov’t in US v. Graham.
  8. GCHQ and NSA routinely spy on UK politicians’ e-mails—report: Microsoft’s Office 365 and MessageLabs said to leave MPs’ e-mails open to snooping.
  9. Irish watchdog refers Facebook privacy case to Europe’s top court: EU-US data transfer debate intensifies as thorny “model contracts” are eyeballed.
  10. Surveillance technology has advanced far beyond the laws that govern it
  11. How Russia’s New Facial Recognition App Could End Anonymity: FindFace’s technology may one day allow anyone to identify you with their phone.
  12. How Genius annotations undermined web security: To comment on other people’s websites, Genius broke a 20-year-old browser security system
  13. Anonymized Data Really Isn’t Anonymous: Vehicle Data Can Easily Be Used To Identify You
  14. If, As Eric Holder Now Admits, Snowden Did ‘A Public Service,’ Why Does He Still Want Him In Jail?
  15. China Gets Its First ‘Right To Be Forgotten’ Lawsuit

jon

News of the Week; March 25, 2016

GAMES

  1. Seggie v. Roofdog Games Inc.: Who is the Author of Videogame Software for Copyright Purposes?
  2. Former Valve employee alleges unfair treatment and unethical practices, seeks $3.1 million in damages
  3. Take-Two Says Tattoo Artist Can’t Get Statutory Damages Because He Only Registered Copyright In 2015
  4. Paradox removes “White Humans” Stellaris mod: “We expect our modders to help us keep the comment sections free of any racial slurs”
  5. Paradox steps in to remove ‘inappropriate’ Stellaris mod from Steam
  6. Paradox’s removal of Stellaris’ “Whites Only” mod draws controversy: Developer says “disturbing” description, not mod content, led to the takedown.
  7. Nintendo issues copyright claims on Mario-themed Minecraft videos: Move highlights a culture clash between two very different online philosophies.
  8. Minecraft videos based on Super Mario DLC hit with copyright claims: 4J Studios’ official Wii U add-on was supposed to be exempt from Nintendo’s insistence on taking a cut of YouTubers’ revenue
  9. Oculus puts the kibosh on ‘hack’ that let Vive owners play Rift games
  10. Oculus introduces DRM that kills Revive mod
  11. Oculus breaks promise, uses DRM to kill app that let you switch VR systems
  12. Oculus Is Hurting VR’s Development By Supporting Walled Gardens, Closed Ecosystems
  13. Alan Yates Says Rift’s Core Features Are a “Direct Copy” of Valve’s VR Research
  14. Studio Wildcard will pay for ARK: Survival Evolved mod content – The creators of two new maps were paid “several months salary” and hired by the company
  15. CryEngine source code now available on Github
  16. Former exec speaks to the risk-averse nature of Disney’s game biz
  17. Apple backtracks, publishes politically sensitive iOS title as a game
  18. Former Valve employee alleges she was fired for being transgender: Plaintiff says Valve referred to her as “it” – she’s seeking $3.1 million in damages
  19. Professionalism and toxicity threaten eSports’ breakthrough
  20. Twitch signs on to stream the eLeague, TBS’ televised eSports venture
  21. Investors pour $4.5M more into eSports coaching tool startup
  22. EA Sports Is Betting Millions You’ll Watch This Guy Play ‘FIFA’: The video game titan wants to put the “sports” in “e-sports.”
  23. Pac-12 athletic conference to host collegiate eSports tournaments
  24. Uncharted 4 is a paragon of AAA accessibility: Naughty Dog describes the new features in its latest blockbuster that make it more open to gamers with disabilities
  25. Uncharted 4 was inspired by the industry’s struggle against crunch: Naughty Dog embraced “downbeat moments” and reconsidered the importance of fun, to the chagrin of certain fans
  26. Uncharted 4 Sold 2.7 Million Units In Its First Week
  27. Playing For The Future: How Video Games Are Leading Innovation
  28. Sony predicts 20m PS4 sales in FY2016
  29. Microsoft has finally found a legal path to publishing Minecraft on Chinese PCs: Long-awaited news serves as reminder of China’s resistance to Western software.
  30. Report: ISP now blocking online games in Morocco due to VoIP ban
  31. Google’s (Day)dream: ‘Hundreds of Millions of Users in a Couple of Years’ – Company says goal is to foster a “multi-billion dollar” VR ecosystem on Android
  32. Google Play is adding an Early Access section
  33. Rovio’s Angry Birds film has earned $150 million worldwide: But after a $400 million Sony marketing push, how much further does it have to fly to return a profit?
  34. Video: Raph Koster recounts a history of virtual worlds, from MUDS to MMOs
  35. Skill-based, first-person gambling game coming to Atlantic City casinos

DIGITAL

  1. Court Says Google Doesn’t Have A First Amendment Right To Drop A Site From Its Search Results
  2. Oracle-Google Dispute Goes to Heart of Open-Source Software
  3. Google’s closing argument: Android was built from scratch, the fair way – “Oracle took none of the risk, but wants all the credit, and a lot of the money.”
  4. Why the Very Silly Oracle v. Google Trial Actually Matters
  5. John McCain, Forgetting His Own Support Of Fair Use On YouTube, Tries To Use Copyright To Take Down His Own Ad
  6. Fox ‘Stole’ A Game Clip, Used It In Family Guy & DMCA’d The Original
  7. Fox In The Henhouse: Uses Someone Else’s YouTube Clip In Family Guy, Then Takes Down The Original
  8. Videos of Nintendo-backed Minecraft Mario DLC trigger copyright crackdown — from Nintendo
  9. NYU Sues YouTube For Reposting Video After Video Poster Sent DMCA Counternotice
  10. Copyright As Censorship: Questionable Copyright Claim Forces Indie Musician To Destroy All Physical Copies Of New Album
  11. H3h3Productions Sued For Copyright Infringement By MattHossZone, Spotlighting Fraught Issue Of Fair Use
  12. Web Sheriff Abuses DMCA In Weak Attempt To Hide Info Under UK High Court Injunction, Fails Miserably
  13. Why Is Twitter Sending Legal Letters Warning People About Tweeting About The Gagged Topic Of A ‘Celebrity Threesome’
  14. Sex lives of Britain’s rich and famous stay private, for now
  15. Sony Thinks It Can Charge An ‘Administrative Fee’ For Fair Use
  16. Revealed: How copyright law is being misused to remove material from the internet – When Annabelle Narey posted a negative review of a building firm on Mumsnet, the last thing on her mind was copyright infringement
  17. A Report on Notice and Takedown in Everyday Practice
  18. Linking and secondary liability for copyright infringement. A look into the Spanish approach.
  19. Google Goes On The Offensive Against Troll Armed With Old Mp3 Player Patent
  20. FTC Rules On Machinima Case: Is This The End Of Influencer Marketing?
  21. Three starts network-level ad blocking trial: UK mobile carrier moving ahead after months of talks with the advertising industry.
  22. When YouTube Pranks Break the Law
  23. Machine Bias: There’s software used across the country to predict future criminals. And it’s biased against blacks.
  24. On the Design and Ethics of Virtual Reality and Immersive Experiences
  25. New York Times staffer tweets out op-ed critical of Trump, faces anti-Semitic avalanche
  26. Digital Assistants Get Women’s Names—Unless They’re ‘Lawyers’
  27. Facebook apologized after fat-shaming a model—but the damage was already done
  28. UK Queen’s Speech: More, Faster Broadband… But It Will Be Censored And Spied On
  29. Self-Proclaimed ‘Badass Lawyer’ Loses Defamation Suit Against Parody Twitter Account
  30. ‘Badass Lawyer’ Loses Lawsuit Over Parody Twitter Account–Levitt v. Felton
  31. Law Firm Subpoenas Glassdoor For Negative Anonymous Reviews, Supercharges Streisand Effect With Its Response
  32. Malaysian Government Pushes For Broad Internet Censorship Bill Following Internet Reporting On Gov’t Corruption
  33. China’s scary lesson to the world: Censoring the Internet works
  34. Study: One Out Of Every 178 Posts To Chinese Social Media Is Government Propaganda
  35. Terrorists no longer welcome on OneDrive or Hotmail: The company is also funding research to detect terrorist content.
  36. Chile’s New Copyright Legislation Would Make Creative Commons Licensing Impossible For Audiovisual Works
  37. Principles For Reassuring Authors Of Ssrn-Posted Papers Under Elsevier’s Ownership
  38. Do You Love Music? Silicon Valley Doesn’t (Jonathan Taplin)
  39. You’re Entitled To Your Own Opinions, But Not Your Own Facts About Copyright, NY Times EditionTaplin’s False Choice Between Music And Technology (Annemarie Bridy)
  40. Former exec speaks to the risk-averse nature of Disney’s game biz
  41. Everything You Know About Artificial Intelligence is Wrong
  42. Guest commentary: The real threat of artificial intelligence
  43. How Technology Hijacks People’s Minds — from a Magician and Google’s Design Ethicist
  44. A Few Late-Night Thoughts About Hostility On Twitter And Other Anti-Social Media (James Grimmelmann)
  45. Media executives: stop saying ‘platform.’ It’s a meaningless and dangerous word.
  46. ICANN Won’t Even Be Accountable in Becoming Accountable 

CREATIVITY

  1. Silicon Valley Billionaire Peter Thiel Accused Of Financing Hulk Hogan’s Ridiculous Lawsuits Against Gawker
  2. Peter Thiel just gave other billionaires a dangerous blueprint for perverting philanthropy
  3. Peter Thiel, Gawker and why all of this could matter during a Trump presidency
  4. Gawker Fails to Persuade Judge to Retry Hulk Hogan Case
  5. Paramount Apparently Going To Drop Lawsuit Against Axanar Fan Film, Produce ‘Guidelines’ For Fan Films
  6. Beating studios to the punch, J.J. Abrams says Axanar suit will be “going away”: Star Trek director says suing “was not an appropriate way to deal with the fans.”
  7. NCAA Petitions Supreme Court to Protect Uses of Athletes’ Names & Likenesses
  8. How Kesha’s contract became her cage
  9. Heirs Go Crazy: Prince’s Estate And Copyright’s Termination Of Transfer – The fight over Prince’s estate will dig deep into copyright law for a very long time
  10. Photojournalist Being Sued For Publishing Image Of Aftermath Of Paris Attacks
  11. This Silicon Valley Billionaire Has Been Secretly Funding Hulk Hogan’s Lawsuits Against Gawker
  12. Cop sued for drawing gun on man filming him: “Hey. You gotta take your hand out of your pocket.”—”No. I haven’t done anything.”
  13. Journalists Arrested In Ferguson Promise Not To Promote The Settlement
  14. Appeals Court Muddies Trademark Nominative Fair Use Doctrine (Eric Goldman)
  15. Music Industry Rep Hired by Copyright OfficeCanada’s Copyright Lobby Revolving Door Raises Fairness Concerns Ahead of 2017 Review (Michael Geist)
  16. Awesome Stuff: Art & Copyright
  17. Louboutin Loses Battle to Protect Red Soles in Switzerland
  18. SKIO Music seeks to ensure the survival of creativity
  19. Copying Pictures, Evidencing Evolution: Copying — unoriginal, dull, and derivative by definition — can be creative, contested, and consequential in its effects. Nick Hopwood tracks Haeckel’s embryos, some of the most controversial pictures in the history of science, and explores how copying put them among the most widely seen.
  20. Netflix CCO Ted Sarandos on how his ‘disruptive’ methods are insuring the future of film
  21. Film Dialogue from 2,000 screenplays, Broken Down by Gender and Age
  22. How Piracy Became a Cause Celebre in the World of Academics

COMMUNICATIONS & BROADCASTING

  1. Ontario commissioner extends legal battle with CRTC chairman
  2. Netflix, Amazon given quotas for EU-produced video, face new tax: 20% quota from European regulators to ensure some content is European in origin.
  3. Let’s Talk: Bell won’t about cops snooping on customers
  4. George Burger: Who’s afraid of competition for high-speed Internet? You’d be surprised
  5. EFF/Copyright professors’ comment on FCC’s proposed set-top box rule (Rebecca Tushnet)
  6. Hollywood Writers & Copyright Scholars Point Out That Piracy Fears Over Open Set Top Boxes Are Complete FUD
  7. Reddit, Mozilla, Others Urge FCC To Formally Investigate Broadband Usage Caps And Zero Rating
  8. Charter explains why it doesn’t compete against other cable companies
  9. Once Again With Feeling: Cord Cutting Is Not A ‘Myth’
  10. Hollywood Writers: Set-Top Box Piracy Fears Are Overblown
  11. A Streaming Live Sports Service Could Be a Cable Killer
  12. AT&T’s data caps impose harshest punishments on DSL users
  13. Criminal Charges: Prison phones are a predatory monopoly. One family fought back — and won.
  14. How the Internet works: Submarine fibre, brains in jars, and coaxial cables – A deep dive into Internet infrastructure, plus a rare visit to a subsea cable landing site.

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Companies Not Saving Your Data
  2. Rogers reports marked decline in police requests for data: Telecom refused to release customer data without a warrant in 2015, after landmark Supreme Court ruling.
  3. Google strikes back at French global “right to be forgotten” order
  4. Google Appeals French Data Protection Authority’s Demand to Modify Search Results Worldwide
  5. Google To France: No You Don’t Get To Censor The Global Internet
  6. A principle that should not be forgotten
  7. Privacy Shield faces another setback after Eurocrats fail to agree on deal: Work on hammering out Safe Harbour replacement is progressing, EC insists to Ars.
  8. EU data protection chief: We have serious concerns about Privacy Shield – Watchdog prepares to weigh in on EU-US data sharing, calls on robust improvements.
  9. Identifying People from Their Metadata (Bruce Schneier)
  10. Focus: Are devices collecting information on you?
  11. You are being followed: The business of social media surveillance
  12. Anti-Choice Groups Use Smartphone Surveillance to Target ‘Abortion-Minded Women’ During Clinic Visits
  13. Right to Privacy: Does the Fourth Amendment Apply to Emails? 
  14. Were you a LinkedIn member in 2012?
  15. There Is No Such Thing as “Public” Data: And it’s not OK for researchers to scrape information from websites like OkCupid. (Woodrow Hartzog)
  16. Hack of Prince Philip’s e-mail in 1985 preserved by UK computing museum: Back then, hackers only came out to play at dusk because daytime dial-up was too pricey.
  17. Will the Spokeo v. Robins Supreme Court Ruling Favor Plaintiffs Or Defendants? Uh…
  18. Spokeo: Will U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision Impact Privacy Damages in Canada? 
  19. How the Pentagon punished NSA whistleblowers: Long before Edward Snowden went public, John Crane was a top Pentagon official fighting to protect NSA whistleblowers. Instead their lives were ruined – and so was his

jon