DIGITAL
- Supreme Court rules key part of law against child-luring via internet is unconstitutional
- Canada Supreme Court Rules That Privacy is Not An “All-or-Nothing Concept”
- R. v. Morrison (2019 SCC 15)
- 49 Dead and Dozens Wounded in New Zealand Terror Attacks That Were Livestreamed on Facebook
- Facebook: No one reported NZ shooting video during 17-minute livestream
- The New Zealand Massacre Was Made to Go Viral: The attack marks a grim new age of social media-fueled terrorism.
- Social media sites struggle to contain video of New Zealand shooting
- One Video Of The Christchurch Massacre Was Uploaded To YouTube Every Second
- New Zealand ISPs Say They’re Blocking Sites That Fail to Remove Christchurch Shooting Video
- NZ declares massacre video “objectionable,” arrests people who shared it
- 4chan, 8chan blocked by Australian and NZ ISPs for hosting shooting video
- If You Think Big Internet Companies Are Somehow To Blame For The New Zealand Massacre, You’re Wrong
- Americans Built Tech for China’s Sinister “Re-Education Camps”: MIT and Yale – and possibly Microsoft – are helping build China’s surveillance state.
- Vladimir Putin signs sweeping Internet-censorship bills: Publishing “unreliable socially significant information” can lead to big fines.
- Terrified Of The Internet, Putin Signs Laws Making It Illegal To Criticize Government Leaders Online
- Court Dismissed Lawsuit Brought Against Social Media Companies Alleging An Anti-Conservative Conspiracy
- People Call On YouTube, Facebook, Twitter To More Stringently Monitor Hate Content Following Christchurch Shooting
- Using Networks To Govern Network Problems
- FTC Takes Hard Line On Fake Paid Reviews
- YouTube Creators Are Trying To Move On From ‘Subscribe To Pewdiepie’
- Arizona Woman Who Ran Popular Kids’ YouTube Channel Arrested On 7 Counts Of Child Abuse
- YouTuber Adam22 Held At Gunpoint While Livestreaming, Suspect In Custody
- YouTube Tattooist Romeo Lacoste On Inappropriate Messages To Young Fans: “Some Are Real, And Some Are Fabricated”
- After YouTube Disables Comments On ‘Special Books By Special Kids’ Organization’s Channel, Founders Say It’s Discrimination
- YouTube Will Require Content Owners To Give Timestamps When They Copyright Claim A Video
- Blackpink are first K-Pop artist with 20m YouTube subscribers
- YouTube creators are using a hilarious tactic to combat copyright policies
- Axel Voss Says Maybe YouTube Shouldn’t Exist
- Sephora Severs Product Partnership With YouTuber Olivia Jade In Wake Of College Bribery Scandal
- Lilly Singh Lands Late-Night TV Slot On NBC, Will Host ‘A Little Late With Lilly Singh’
- Disney now owns 21st Century Fox, X-Men, and most of Hulu
- LSO bencher candidates leverage Twitter to promote platform, engage readers
- Devin Nunes’ ludicrous $250 million lawsuit against Twitter, explained
- “He’s literally suing an imaginary cow”: Late-night hosts mock Nunes
- Rep. Devin Nunes Sues Internet Cow For Saying Mean Things About Him Online
- @DevinCow Now Has More Twitter Followers Than Devin Nunes
- US Huawei Blackballing Efforts Stall Due To Lack Of ‘Actual Facts’
- Court Tosses Antitrust Claims That Internet Giants Are Biased Against Conservatives–Freedom Watch v. Google (Eric Goldman)
- Thai Government Uses Fake News Law To Lock Up Opposing Party Leaders
- Political agreement reached on Online Platform Regulation
- Google Hit With $1.7 Billion Fine in Europe for Abusing Advertising Dominance
- The EU fines Google $1.69 billion for bundling search and advertising: Showing Google Ads above Custom Search results lands the company in hot water.
- How Google influences the conversation in Washington
- Social Video App ‘Firework’ Emerges From Beta, Enabling Creators To Film Horizontal And Vertical Clips Simultaneously
- Spotify vs. Apple: the latest updates
- Spotify’s EU antitrust complaint could be a serious threat to Apple
- Ahead of Streaming Launch, Apple’s Iron-Clad Secrecy Is Reportedly Stressing Out Hollywood
- Apple Objects To Norway Political Party’s Logo Claiming Potential Customer Confusion Over Trademark
- Apple Watch accurately spotted heart condition 34% of the time in study
- How Canadian Copyright Reform Could Support the Government’s Supercluster Investment (Michael Geist)
- News Organization Like Reuters Supporting The EU Copyright Directive Is A Shameful Support For Censorship
- The 2012 Web Blackout Helped Stop SOPA/PIPA And Then ACTA; Here Comes The 2019 Version To Stop Article 13
- Proposed EU Copyright Directive shifts balance of responsibilities between rights holders and platforms
- As Recording Industry Announces Massive Growth, Why Do We Need Article 13 Again?
- Internet Blackout Coming To Show The EU Parliament It’s Not Just ‘Bots’ Concerned About Article 13
- Silicon Valley’s Fingerprints Are All Over the College Bribery Scandal
- Ethics before algorithms: Technology needs to be used ethically and sometimes not at all
- Europe’s silver bullet in global AI battle: Ethics – EU experts hope ‘trust’ will prove to be the bloc’s competitive edge.
- Bill Gates Compares Artificial Intelligence to Nuclear Weapons
- There’s a Power Struggle Inside Google to Control Superhuman AI: If DeepMind builds a superhuman AI, who will control it?
- A Quarter of Europeans Trust AI More Than Politicians: They’d rather ditch human politicians and put robots in charge, according to new research.
- Washington Prison Management Software Setting People Free Too Early, Keeping Other People Locked Up Too Long
- New Google App Describes Objects To Blind People
- When Google Fiber Abandons Your City as a Failed Experiment
- Supreme Court Reverses Google Settlement But Ducks Ruling on Its Fairness
- Facebook Had A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
- Mark Zuckerberg discovers privacy
- Facebook Blames Protracted Outage on a ‘Server Configuration Change’
- Insights: Has All Of “Social Media,” Not Just Facebook, Reached A Pivot Point?
- Online ‘Reputation Management’ Company Brags About Abusing Copyright Law To Take Down Bad Reviews
- Bogus DMCA Takedown Targeting Indian Copyright Blog Demonstrates The Problems Of Notice And Takedown
- Japanese Government Puts Restrictive Copyright Amendments On Hold Over ‘Internet Atrophy’ Worries
- $900 Robot Commits Adorable Seppuku, Showing Again How In The Modern Era You Don’t Own What You Buy
- Ninth Circuit Tells Online Services: Section 230 Isn’t For You
- It’s time to start caring about “VR cinema,” and SXSW’s stunners are proof
- Oculus grabs Beat Saber as an Oculus Quest launch title
- Oculus “phasing out” Rift, launching $399 Rift S this spring
- Oculus: “It’s no longer a burden to get into virtual reality”
- Do Adjacent Organic Search Results Constitute Trademark Infringement? Of Course Not…But…–America CAN! v. CDF (Eric Goldman)
- Viacom’s Awesomeness Inks Deals To Distribute 18 Flagship Series, Films Internationally
- Netflix Won’t Be Integrated Into Apple’s Forthcoming Video Service, CEO Says
- ‘Subscription Fatigue’: Nearly Half of U.S. Consumers Frustrated by Streaming Explosion, Study Finds
- Two Examples of How Courts Interpret Emojis (Eric Gold
- More Kardashian Drama: A Legal Fight Over Ownership of the Kimoji Emoji Set–Liebensohn v. Kardashian
- Insider is finding new revenue on Snapchat from old Facebook news-feed videos
- Facebook’s ‘Red Table Talk’ Garners Daytime Emmy Nomination
- Myspace apparently lost 12 years’ worth of music, and almost no one noticed
- Snapchat ramps up UK pitch, but ad buyers remain unconvinced
- Instagram just took advantage of Amazon’s biggest weakness: Amazon’s failure in “discovery shopping” is Instagram’s opportunity, as its users can now shop inside the app.
- Art Law & More Instagram
- Republican Devin Nunes sues Twitter, users over attacks
- No, Twitter Is Not Completely Removing Likes And Retweets — But Here’s Why It’s Hiding Them
- Twitter wants workforce to be at least 5% black, 5% Latinx by the end of this year
- When online harassment doesn’t follow the rules
- Security Researcher Discovers Flaws In Yelp-For-MAGAs App, Developer Threatens To Report Him To The Deep State
- Patreon Launches Tiered Pricing for Creators, Introduces Rates for Micropayments
- Patreon Launches 3 New Creator Plans — ‘Lite’, ‘Pro’, And ‘Premium’ — That Vary By Features And Fees
- Kickstarter employees launch unionization effort
- Building an inclusive studio culture begins with retention
- Tech support: law firms lining up to take advantage of tech boom
- Plenty of likes for defamation reform in a digital world
- Can I Use This Song In My Podcast? It Depends.
- D-Wave 2000Q hands-on: Steep learning curve for quantum computing: Reconceptualizing a problem is the hard part, but the end is rewarding.
- California Becomes 20th State To Push ‘Right to Repair’ Legislation
CREATIVITY
- NMPA Publishers File $150M Lawsuit Against Peloton Over Unlicensed Music by Drake, Ariana Grande & More
- Peloton is being sued for using music without permission in its video fitness classes
- Competition Bureau Releases Updated Enforcement Guidelines on Abuse of Dominance and Intellectual Property
- So you think you can dance? Copyright protection of dance moves
- Protected or Unprotected: The Supreme Court Hears Iancu v. Brunetti
- Supreme Court Clarifies the Rules for Enforcing Copyrights
- NYC’s New Tourist Trap Claims the Rights to Every Photo You Take Inside of It
- Miss Vanjie! Miss Vanjie!: What RuPaul’s Drag Race Can Teach Us About Fair Use Under Copyright
- Florida College Asked Local Sheriff To Declare Faculty Member’s Artwork Obscene
- Monster Energy Loses Trademark Opposition As UK IPO Mentions That The Letter ‘M’ Isn’t Distinctive
- Captain Marvel Presents Complicated Political Messages Worth Examining
- Report: James Gunn has been un-fired from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
- Holy Rocket Raccoon! James Gunn Is Back onGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 [Updated]
- James Gunn Is Doing Both Guardians 3 and Suicide Squad 2
- Adnan Virk Agrees Not To Sue ESPN After He Gets New Job
- Report: In Bollywood, Movie Piracy Is Largely Carried Out By Rival Publishing Houses
MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY
- Cable lobby seeks better reputation by dropping “cable” from its name: American Cable Association is now “America’s Communications Association.”
- Verizon Confirms That Yes, 5G Will Cost You Extra
- NBA commissioner ‘surprised’ by changes after AT&T, Time Warner merger: “They are going to have to retool their packages so they are able to connect directly with that younger fan base,” said the head of the NBA.
- ISPs strike deal with Vermont to suspend state net neutrality law
- Hearing On New Net Neutrality Law Once Again Conjures Up A Greatest Hits Of Nonsense
- Ajit Pai’s plan for phone location data never mentions the word “privacy”
- AT&T and Comcast claim “anti-robocalling milestone” with new Caller ID tech
- Why, Exactly, Do We Still Trust Telecom Megamerger ‘Synergy’ Promises?
- It Ends Today: FCC’s Disastrous Solicited Fax TCPA Rules Now Officially Withdrawn
- Smartphone Stops Arrow When Absurdly Lucky Man Tries to Photograph Attacker
SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY
- Appeals Court: Stored Communications Act Privacy Protections Cover Opened And Read Emails
- Federal Court Blocks Washington State’s Unconstitutional Cyberstalking Law
- Sharing Computers and Sharing Space: Privacy interests persist
- United States Federal Trade Commission strikes one for children’s privacy
- Burn After Reading? – DOJ Loosens Previous Ban on Secretive Messaging Apps
- How hackers pulled off a $20 million bank heist
- “Severe” ransomware attack cripples big aluminum producer
- Senate Judiciary Committee Holds Hearing on GDPR and CCPA
- A new rash of highly covert card-skimming malware infects ecommerce sites
- Nasty WinRAR bug is being actively exploited to install hard-to-detect malware
- Travelers Beware – Compelled to Open Your Phone?
- Urgent Message: Privacy Shield Notices Need Updating Before No-Deal Brexit Withdrawal Date
GAMES
- Community management post-Christchurch massacre | Opinion: Veteran product manager James Kozanecki says the industry can no longer dismiss toxic behavior as harmless trolling
- The Culling: Origins’ servers are being switched off in May
- ‘No console required’: Google unveils streaming game platform, ‘Stadia’
- Google jumps into gaming with Google Stadia streaming service, coming “in 2019”
- Google Reveals Stadia Streaming Console
- Google unveils first details of Stadia streaming service
- Google’s new Stadia streaming service will let you play video games without downloading them
- Hands on with Google Stadia: It works, but is that enough?: Playing Assassin’s Creed on a Chromebook is neat but only part of the story.
- Google Stadia supports the Xbox Adaptive Controller
- Google Is Better Positioned For Cloud Streaming Than Anyone, But Don’t Expect The World Just Yet: Google isn’t afraid to shut down projects when they don’t work.
- ‘Care more about your streamers’ advises Magic: The Gathering Arena dev
- Google Made Chromecast Cool Again
- Google’s New Cloud Gaming Platform ‘Stadia’ Comes With Major Features Built Specifically For YouTubers
- Google Stadia has promise, but GDC failed to address its biggest obstacles | Opinion: The GI team weighs in on bandwidth, business models, and the potential link between accessibility and diversity
- Stadia’s biz dev director talks challenges, opportunities in new age of cloud games
- Phil Harrison: Stadia starts an “inevitable and one-way shift” away from consoles: Google VP also addresses concerns about bandwidth caps and those cryptic game teases shown before the keynote
- Opinion: Chez Stadia – Google’s new cloud platform
- Snapchat Said to Launch Gaming Inside Its App
- Snapchat Will Reportedly Launch An In-App Gaming Platform Next Month
- Snapchat to unveil gaming platform next month – Report
- Report: Snapchat’s rumored game platform to be announced in April
- Axiom Verge getting its physical Wii U release after ongoing legal battle
- The high cost of a Wii U retail release: Limited Run Games and BadLand Publishing give their sides of the falling out over a Wii U physical version of Axiom Verge, and why it’s finally launching
- Axiom Verge producer files suit against BadLand Publishing for $200k: Dan Adelman alleges publisher hasn’t paid share of European distribution earnings, flaked on promise of healthcare fund for developer’s ill son
- Four Indian cities ban PUBG Mobile: Battle royale game suspected of triggering violent behaviour, police have already arrested players
- Mukti: Acknowledging the grim reality of human trafficking in India – UnderDogs founder and CEO Vaibhav Chavan discusses his hope to raise awareness of a growing problem
- Loot boxes aren’t the problem but how we use them is, says legal expert: “The key is how we use these mechanics, not whether we use them,” says Will Bucher
- Epic says its Game Store is not spying on you
- Epic’s Tim Sweeney addressees privacy concerns for the Epic Games Store
- Julian Gollop defends Epic Games Store exclusivity for Phoenix Point: Developer assures that refunds will be offered to those who don’t want to use Epic, or Steam keys if they wait a year
- Epic Games Store roadmap outlines cloud saves, achievements, user reviews
- Epic responds to accusations of Steam data mining: Sweeney says issue stems from “our rush to implement social features in the early days of Fortnite”
- Epic offers support for third-party key sales — but not for exclusives: Tim Sweeney reveals Epic Game Store roadmap, but concedes it will have to compete on games to compensate for lack of features
- Devs can now sell Epic Game Store keys on the Humble Store
- Epic Games announces $100m MegaGrants program, launches free Online Services tools
- Epic expands its dev grants program with $100M in Epic MegaGrants
- Quantic Dream, Ubisoft lead next wave of Epic Games Store exclusives
- Remedy, Quantic Dream, and other devs sign on for Epic Games Store exclusives
- Google unveils first-party game studio led by Jade Raymond
- Epic CEO: “You’re going to see lower prices” on Epic Games Store
- “Energizing Times”: Microsoft to “go big” at E3 in response to Google Stadia
- Games for Change debuts new accelerator program for ‘social impact’ games
- Carlos Santana Smashed A TV With A Bat Because The Phillies Were Playing Fortnite During Games
- Kicking off the streaming wars | Opinion: GDC 2019: Industry giants have decided that the medium’s future lies in streaming – but success is far from assured even for enormous players like Google and Amazon
- Steam Link Anywhere beta drops Steam Link’s local-wifi-only restriction
- Any Steam game can now use Valve’s low-latency, DoS-proofed networking
- Steam Link Anywhere lets you take your PC gaming with you
- Steam devs can now use the networking APIs created forCS:GO and Dota 2
- Steam removes “off-topic review bombs” from overall game review scores
- Steam user reviews will no longer count ‘off-topic review bombs’
- Microsoft is bringing Xbox Live to iOS and Android
- Xbox Live is coming to iOS and Android, but not Switch (yet) – GDC 2019: Microsoft reveals new cloud services and packages for games studios
- Cuphead is heading to the Nintendo Switch with Xbox Live support
- Cuphead will bring Xbox Live to Switch: Microsoft plans to add features from its online service to Nintendo’s platform with a post-launch update to StudioMDHR game
- Minecraft is joining Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass lineup
- Pokemon Go’s PvP was designed to appeal to players new and old–and it worked
- Facebook launching new Gaming Tab: Update will make all gaming content accessible from main navigation, serve as new hub for streaming
- Nvidia moves toward global rollout for GeForce Now cloud platform
- Unity unveils new ties to Nvidia RTX pipeline, takes shots at Unreal
- Epic lays plans for Unreal Engine ray tracing and physics revamps
- Unity and Nvidia partner to launch real-time raytracing tech
- Unity partners with Havok to roll out new physics systems
- Unity partners with Tencent for China, cloud gaming services
- Unity partnering with Tencent to help its devs make waves in China
- Tencent shares reach six month high after difficult 2018
- Tencent Music financials reveal revenues grew by 72.9% in 2018
- Devs share an inside look at Armello’s games-as-a-service success
- How indie devs can form their own worker cooperative
- 3 indie leaders share tips on keeping your small studio afloat without a hit
- Call of Duty Mobile announced for iOS, Android, made by China’s Tencent
- Call of Duty: Mobile will launch outside of China: Activision and Tencent unveil free-to-play title, confirm launch in North America, South America and Europe
- The next Zelda game on Switch is an indie mash-up with Crypt of the Necrodancer
- Suda51: Grasshopper team “stronger” for Travis Strikes Again experience – Grasshopper’s CEO may use the experience for a full sequel to the divisive Switch spin-off
- Unknown Nintendo Game Gets Digitized With Museum’s Help, Showing The Importance Of Copyright Exceptions
- UK Charts: Slow start for The Division 2: However, Ubisoft’s new action game makes No.1
- Atari VCS console delayed following spec boost: Console will now be cooler and quieter, the manufacturer states
- Discord evolves verified servers with new community tools
- When and what to culturalize?: Netmarble US president Simon Sim lays out the Marvel Future Fight company’s approach to adapting games and monetization for new markets
- Update: Lucasfilm Games job postings apparently not linked to studio revival
- Chet Faliszek and Kimberly Voll form co-op game studio Stray Bombay
- Chet Faliszek and Kimberly Voll form Stray Bombay Company: Former Valve writer and Riot Games designer launch their own co-op focused development studio
- Former Valve designer, writer dishes on his new “co-op” game studio – Joined by ex-Riot dev: “Chet said one sentence. I said, ‘Oh my god. That’s the game.'”
- Left 4 Dead’s developers are Back 4 Blood with new spiritual successor
- Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery grosses $110m in first year: Mobile RPG becomes most successful game from Jam City
- Netflix Getting Its First Capcom Anime Series
- Wargaming announces new IP in built with Amazon game tech: World of Tanks developers partners with Frag Lab on “next generation” free-to-play shooter
- Mega Crit’s Slay the Spire has sold 1.5m copies
- A Letter To The Apex Legends Player I Probably Disappointed
- EA opens ‘multi-million dollar’ esports broadcast studio
- EA builds its own esports broadcast studio: New facility “signals EA’s commitment to competitive gaming for years to come,” will host tournaments, esports-focused shows
- NPD: Anthem was the best-selling game in February
- EA: People want inclusive games with friendlier communities
- Team spaces in Call of Duty esports league reportedly cost $25m each: Preparations begin for franchised, city-based competition around Activision’s flagship shooter
- The Simpsons Producers Worked With Riot Games On An Upcoming Esports Episode
- 5th Planet closes Nottingham studio: CEO says “now is the time to take the consequences” for underperforming games as it lays off 14 people
- Doodle Jump Space Chase dev’s closure was third wave of layoffs since November: 5th Planet Games repeatedly slashed headcount at its Nottingham studio before shutting it down outright
- “We need to move away from short-form VR experiences”: NDreams’ VP of development Tom Gillo discusses the company’s plans to become a AAA VR developer
- ‘Beat Saber’ Sells Over One Million Copies
- Beat Saber has crossed 1 million sales in under a year
- Beat Saber sells over 1m copies: Milestone was reached in February across PSVR, Steam, and Oculus Home
- Oculus Quest’s powerful, portable VR, as proven by the fun of Beat Saber
- The Oculus Rift S is a new PC VR headset with built-in tracking
- Hands-on with the new $399 Oculus Rift S: More pixels, zero webcams, better fit
- Rohrer: Make fewer consumable games, more ‘unique situation generators’
- The U.S. Army is building a giant VR battlefield to train soldiers virtually
- Corporations, not consumers, drive demand for HP’s new VR headset
- God of War leads BAFTA Games Award nominations
- God of War leads BAFTA nominations: Sony’s epic in the running for 10 prizes, while Red Dead Redemption 2, Florence and Return of the Obra Dinn are up for six
- Blind Squirrel lands $5M in funding to self-publish its first game, Drifters
- Shadow Warrior developer Flying Wild Hog acquired by Supernova
- Bomber Crew dev Runner Deck acquired by Catalis
- Double Eleven acquires VooFoo Studios: UK developer and publisher adds Mantis Burn Racing studio for undisclosed fee
- Turtle Beach acquires PC peripherals company Roccat
- Asteri acquires Prima Games: Strategy guide brand leaves behind physical releases, looks to help developers gather player feedback on unfinished titles
- UK games retail: Prices continue to rise as supermarket power wanes
- Blog: Engaging players through ritual
- Wargroove dev demystifies game development by involving its community
- Video: Unpopular opinion: All narrative is linear
- How Neopets has influenced a generation of game developers
- Games for Change Accelerator to offer funding and support for social impact games
- Blockchain Games and Collectibles – Patents and Other Legal Issues
- U.S. Patent No. 7,628,688: Game apparatus, game control method, recording medium and program
- Former EA and THQ exec Danny Bilson to helm USC Games program
- Return of the Obra Dinn takes Grand Prize at the 21st IGF Awards!
- God of War wins Game of the Year at the 2019 Game Developers Choice Awards
Jon