News of the Week

News of the Week; February 24, 2021

By Jon Festinger on March 3, 2021

DIGITAL

  1. Ontario Superior Court denies certification of Cambridge Analytica class action
  2. Ontario Court Sets Out New Tort of “Harassment in Internet Communications”
  3. Anonymous internet commenter fails to set aside default judgment
  4. Yet Another Story Shows How Facebook Bent Over Backwards To Put In Place Different Rules For Conservatives
  5. Facebook to reverse Australia news ban after lawmakers alter bill
  6. Facebook Caves To Australia: Will Restore Links After Government Gives It More Time To Negotiate Paying For News Links
  7. Right to post: Australia calls Facebook blocks an assault on a sovereign nation: Health Minister Greg Hunt has turned up the rhetorical dial after Facebook blocked Australian news media this morning.
  8. Facebook news ban is “arrogant,” Australia will not be “intimidated,” PM says
  9. The Bizarre Reaction To Facebook’s Decision To Get Out Of The News Business In Australia
  10. Why Is Facebook’s Decision to Restrict News in Australia So Significant?
  11. Australian News Sites Shocked & Upset To Learn They Don’t Need To Rely On Facebook For Traffic!
  12. Facebook’s Australian News Ban Did Demonstrate The Evil Of Zero Rating
  13. Beware the Unintended Consequences: Some Warning Signs for Canada from the Australian Government Battle With Facebook (Michael Geist)
  14. The Complexity of Internet Content Regulation – A Conversation with CIPPIC’s Vivek Krishnamurthy (Michael Geist)
  15. Microsoft throws Google under the bus in European news fight
  16. The Librarian War Against QAnon
  17. TikTok Removed Nearly 350,000 Videos For Violating Election Policies
  18. New ‘TikTok For Black Creatives’ Incubator Unveils Inaugural Class Of 100 Creators
  19. Arizona’s $24-Million Prison Management Software Is Keeping People Locked Up Past The End Of Their Sentences
  20. YouTube Removes PewDiePie’s Cocomelon Diss Track, Citing Harassment And Child Safety Policies
  21. Is Mandated Sideloading The Answer To App Store Deplatforming?
  22. YouTube Will Begin Letting Underage Users Onto Its Flagship Platform — With Parental Supervision
  23. Five Things Platforms Can Do Today to Fight Disinformation
  24. Indian Government Requires Educational Establishments To Obtain Its Approval For The Subject Matter And Participants Of International Online Conferences And Seminars
  25. Tech groups sue Maryland to block new digital-ad tax from going into effect
  26. How Oregon’s Top Wildlife Official Got Sued Over His State’s Hunting App
  27. Is Section 230 Just For Start-ups? History Says Nope
  28. North Dakota’s New Anti-230 Bill Would Let Nazis Sue You For Reporting Their Content To Twitter
  29. Attacks On Internet Free Speech In Malaysia And Indonesia Demonstrate Why Section 230 Is So Important
  30. Content Moderation Case Study: Senator Asks YouTube To Block Al Qaeda Videos (2008)
  31. Content Moderation Case Study: Chatroulette Leverages New AI To Combat Unwanted Nudity (2020)
  32. The Grim Consequences of a Misleading Study on Disinformation: An influential study relies too heavily on news reporting – which has only recently acknowledged the social media manipulation problem at all.
  33. Social media manipulation by political actors now an industrial scale problem prevalent in over 80 countries – annual Oxford report
  34. Congressional Jawboning of Internet Services Isn’t Actionable–AAPS v. Schiff (Eric Goldman)
  35. Doctor Can’t Win Default Judgment Over Patient’s Yelp Review–Mirza v. Amar (Eric Goldman)
  36. An Account Suspension Case Fails Again–Perez v. LinkedIn (Eric Goldman)
  37. UK Supreme Court says Uber drivers are not independent contractors
  38. Uber: Bankrupt engineer Levandowski is hiding millions from creditors
  39. Maryland First State to Adopt Digital Ad Tax
  40. Hosts Of Gimlet Media’s ‘Reply All’ Step Down After Allegations Of Toxic, Anti-Union Behavior
  41. Can YouTube Teach Facebook A Better Way To Handle News Content In Australia And Beyond?
  42. YouTube Shutters 7 Remaining ‘YouTube Spaces’ Globally, Doubling Down On Pop-ups And Virtual Programming
  43. YouTube launches new destination for sports fans and expands its YouTube Select CTV offering
  44. YouTube Announces 2021 Slate Of More Than 30 Kids’ Originals
  45. YouTube TV To Offer $30 Add-On Bundle Comprising HBO Max, Showtime, And Starz
  46. This Week In Social Video: Mars Landing, Rick Lax, Happy Gilmore
  47. Spotify Will Enable Podcasters To Charge For Monthly Subscriptions, Slates Broader Rollout For Video Podcasts
  48. TikTok without filters
  49. TikTok Locks In Multiyear Partnership With UFC
  50. David Dobrik’s ‘Dispo’ App Reportedly Eyeing Series A Funding Round At $100 Million Valuation
  51. Logan Paul Sells $5 Million Worth Of NFTs Ahead Of His Pokémon Box Break
  52. MrBeast Says His Burger Brand Sold One Million Sandwiches In 2 Months
  53. Creator Community Standard Launches In-House Studio Offering Production Resources To All Digital Creators
  54. A Teenaged Tech CEO Tries To Sneak In After Curfew And Finds His Mom Waited Up For Him
  55. Internationalized domain names: definition, challenges, and status
  56. The bitcoin blockchain is helping keep a botnet from being taken down
  57. Virtual Currency Platform Settles NY AG Charges for Unlawful Trading
  58. Treasury Secretary Skeptical of Bitcoin
  59. SEC halts trading of iced tea company that pivoted to blockchain
  60. SEC Delists the Iced-Tea Company that Added “Blockchain” to Its Name
  61. The rise of the online divorce
  62. Another route for resolving technology disputes?
  63. Is Quantum Computing about to actually become useable – even useful?
  64. Roundup of Some Influential 1990s Internet Law Articles (Eric Goldman)

A.I.

  1. Copyright in works created by artificial intelligence: issues and Perspectives
  2. Artificial Intelligence and Patents: Inventing Inventors
  3. Takeaways | Requiring Human Inventorship – Opportunities to Advise Whether to Prohibit, Permit, or Require Listing an AI Algorithm as an Inventor – Eastern District of Virginia & European Patent Office
  4. Legal Aspects of Artificial Intelligence (v3.0)
  5. The AI research paper was real. The “co-author” wasn’t
  6. Google fires top ethical AI expert Margaret Mitchell: The tech giant claims Mitchell violated staff codes of conduct.
  7. AI and Privacy Are on a Collision Course
  8. AI can write a passing college paper in 20 minutes: Natural language processing is on the cusp of changing our relationship with machines forever.
  9. CMA continues its focus on digital markets with a call for evidence on the use of algorithms
  10. Will the Final Chapter Come? FDA’s Action Plan for Oversight of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning-Based Medical Software
  11. Trust, transparency and meaning: success factors in effective AI projects
  12. Video: Improving the AI of Mafia III

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. Court Tosses Devin Nunes’ Silly SLAPP Lawsuit Against CNN
  2. California can enforce net neutrality law, judge rules in loss for ISPs
  3. California Poised To Defeat Broadband Industry In Scrum Over Net Neutrality
  4. ‘Net Neutrality Hurt Internet Infrastructure Investment’ Is The Bad Faith Lie That Simply Won’t Die
  5. Comcast reluctantly drops data-cap enforcement in 12 states for rest of 2021
  6. AT&T and Frontier have let phone networks fall apart, Calif. regulator finds
  7. Cox’s bad customer service stymies users who don’t want upload speeds cut
  8. The DOJ/FCC ‘Fix’ For The T-Mobile Merger Is Looking More And More Like Theater
  9. Chattanooga Built Its Own Broadband Network. Now It’s The Top Ranked ‘Work From Home’ City In The US
  10. New Bill Tries To Ban Community Broadband. During A Pandemic.
  11. FCC Pressured To Let Libraries Bridge Broadband Access During The Pandemic
  12. Apple is already working on developing 6G wireless technology
  13. Apple beats Samsung in phone sales for first time since 2016
  14. Maryland Electric Cooperative Launches Broadband Subsidiary
  15. House Republicans propose nationwide ban on municipal broadband networks
  16. LG enters fray with Google, Amazon, Roku for TV operating system dominance
  17. China blocks BBC World News in Tit-for-tat move following CGTN Ban in UK
  18. ASA rejects a complaint that a Johnnie Walker ad encouraged immoderate drinking
  19. CARU Encourages Advertisers to Focus on Diversity and Inclusion
  20. Broadening the Definition of Express and Implicit Representation in Children’s Advertising

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Canadian consultation on extending the general term of copyright open through March 12
  2. Extra, extra, read all about it: new Canadian Bill proposes remuneration for use of journalistic works online
  3. Time to Pay the Copyright Piper? A Digital Media Platform Copyright Reckoning for Journalists is Upon Us!
  4. Meghan Markle gets summary judgment – but is she the sole author of her letter?
  5. Duchess of Sussex wins summary judgment in copyright and privacy claims
  6. Duchess of Sussex v Mail on Sunday & MailOnline
  7. HHJ Hacon decides ownership of Virtual Forensic Computing software created during course of employment.
  8. Karma: Twitch Replaces Live Metallica Concert With 8-Bit Music To Avoid Copyright Madness 
  9. Understanding the Boundaries of Using Copyrighted Learning Materials in Distance Learning 
  10. Hooray for the Public Domain: A prequel to The Great Gatsby sees the light of day!
  11. A Closed Book: No Past Infringement, No Reading Between the Lines into the Future
  12. Third circuit panel revises half-baked trade dress functionality decision
  13. 9th Circuit swivels on trade dress functionality doctrine in favor of iconic Herman Miller office chairs
  14. Apple Settles Trademark Opposition With PrePear Recipe App After The Latter Makes A Barely Perceptible Change In Logo
  15. A Registration is a Trump Card
  16. Peloton Seeks To Invalidate ‘Spinning’ Trademark Held By Trademark Bully
  17. FyreTV Porn Service Asks 11th Circuit Panel To Resurrect Dumb Trademark Suit Against Amazon Over FireTV
  18. USPTO Provides Guidance in View of ‘Booking.com’
  19. Trademark registrability of generic.com domain names following US Supreme Court decision on Booking.com
  20. Fairtrade Fortnight
  21. Protecting product appearance through trademark and design registrations
  22. Domain Name Dispute Resolution Options: Features, Benefits and Other Considerations for Selecting Between UDRP and URS
  23. Federal Circuit Clarifies When Appellate Review Triggers Patent Term Adjustment
  24. Federal Court Dismisses Limitation Period Defence in Patent Infringement Action under Section 8.2 of the PM(NOC) Regulations 
  25. Canadian courts are interpreting supplementary pharmaceutical patent protection more broadly than their EU counterparts
  26. Lack of enablement in Amgen v Sanofi and Regeneron
  27. Federal Circuit Axes Amgen Antibody Patents, Finding Lack of Enablement
  28. Judge Schofield Rejects Application of Rare Equitable Estoppel Defense
  29. 2G or Not 2G: Patent License Applies to Future Generation Wireless Networks
  30. Boom in M&A shifts semiconductor patent landscape 
  31. Patent Office Issues Guidance on Indefiniteness
  32. When is someone “authorised” to use a patented invention for the services of the Crown and therefore immune from patent infringement?
  33. John Deere Promised To Back Off Monopolizing Repair. It Then Ignored That Promise Completely.

PRIVACY

  1. Evidence of Harm Required To Advance Class Action Following Data Breach
  2. Uber Denial of Class Action – Alberta Court Denies Certification of Privacy Class Action
  3. Alberta court confirms competent Testator’s right to privacy
  4. Why Transparency Won’t Save Us
  5. Treasury Oversight Says IRS Should Consider Getting Warrants Before Buying Location Data From Data Brokers
  6. Ninth Circuit Sends Alexa Surreptitious Recording Case to Arbitration–Tice v. Amazon (Eric Goldman)
  7. Data Breach Plaintiff Doesn’t Have Standing in the Absence of Fraud or Identity Theft–Tsao v. Captiva
  8. The First Circuit Court of Appeals confirms government’s expansive authority to search electronic devices
  9. Think Before You Pack that Laptop—Searches at the U.S. Border May Compromise Personal and Corporate Data
  10. Microsoft says SolarWinds hackers stole source code for 3 products
  11. Global social media company should take measures to prevent app developers from transmitter users’ sensitive data
  12. Private firms can’t protect us from digital attacks. Government must step in.
  13. Post-IDFA Alliance forms to prepare for Apple privacy changes
  14. New browser-tracking hack works even when you flush caches or go incognito
  15. Clearview and Blackbaud – Where are we, how did we get here, and where are we going?
  16. To pay or not to pay: Another regulator weighs in on the decision to pay a ransom
  17. GDPR in practice for North American companies: Key takeaways from Jan 21. 2021 Webinar
  18. LAPD Asked Ring Users To Turn Over Footage Of Anti-Police Brutality Protests
  19. Firefox 86 brings multiple Picture-in-Picture, “Total Cookie Protection”

GAMES

  1. Oxford University Study Shows Small Correlation Between Playing Video Games And ‘Well Being’
  2. Illinois politician proposes a Grand Theft Auto ban
  3. New Illinois Bill Would Expand Restrictions on Video Games
  4. Case Study: How ADL Used Custom Consumer Research to Measure Harassment & Disruptive Behavior in Online Games
  5. Epic giving out virtual currency after loot box settlement
  6. Epic Games settlement awards in-game cash to Fortnite, Rocket League players
  7. Epic will pay off class-action loot-box settlement with in-game currency
  8. UK antitrust tribunal blocks Epic’s case against Apple
  9. Epic Games attacks Apple in antitrust complaint to EU: Apple’s position as a gatekeeper for what apps can appear on iPhones or iPads has already attracted EU antitrust scrutiny
  10. Valve gets dragged into Apple and Epic’s legal fight over Fortnite
  11. Apple turns to Valve for information in legal battle with Epic
  12. Valve pushes back against Apple’s attempt to rope it into the big Epic v. Apple dispute
  13. Bethesda faces lawsuit over Fallout 4 DLC: The company faces charges of deceit for not including its Creation Club in the game’s Season Pass, which could delay Microsoft’s ZeniMax takeover
  14. Class-action suit takes aim at Google Stadia’s 4K claims
  15. Google Faces Class Action Over Claims that all Stadia Games Support 4K
  16. Google Disbands Stadia Game Developers And Signals Potential For More Trouble Ahead
  17. Stadia Fallout: Nobody Can Address Stadia Games’ Bugs Because Google Fired All The Developers
  18. Luna, Amazon’s cloud gaming service, is no longer invite-only on some devices
  19. WallStreetBets agitator Keith Gill faces class action lawsuit over Gamestop Reddit Rally
  20. Robinhood says GameStop volatility was a “1 in 3.5 million” black swan
  21. GameStop, Musk, and the threat to decentralization (Andres Guadamuz)
  22. GameStop CFO resigns
  23. GameStop CFO Jim Bell resigns
  24. SEC Commissioner Peirce Reaffirms Agency Mission in Light of GameStop
  25. Microsoft Unveils Xbox Accessibility Guidelines Version 2.0
  26. Biden admin plans executive order to address chip-shortage woes
  27. Semiconductor shortage hitting console production to be investigated by White House
  28. Chip shortage may threaten PlayStation 5 supplies at Christmas
  29. PS5 DualSense drift — this teardown just revealed the cause
  30. Gran Turismo 7 for PS5 just hit a major delay
  31. Gran Turismo 7 delayed to 2022
  32. CD Projekt Red issues DMCA to prevent spread of stolen Gwent code
  33. CD Projekt issues DMCA takedowns to halt spread of illegally obtained source code
  34. Report: Some CD Projekt devs unable to work after ransomware attack
  35. Take-Two DMCA takes down reverse-engineered GTA source code
  36. Take-Two reportedly takes down reverse-engineered GTA3, Vice City source code
  37. What a woman games journalist experiences in a week
  38. Developer banned from Steam for naming studio Very Positive
  39. Steam’s new controller reporting lets devs know how their games are played 
  40. Burning Crusade Classic leaks ahead of BlizzCon
  41. Diablo II Resurrected tops BlizzCon announcement flurry
  42. Hardsuit Labs dropped as Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 developer
  43. Microsoft’s accessibility guidelines are a great start — but we can go further | Opinion
  44. Nvidia nerfs cryptocurrency mining capabilities on newest graphics card
  45. Here’s why Glu is an excellent strategic fit for EA
  46. EA, BioWare cancel Anthem’s sweeping overhaul
  47. BioWare cancels plans for Anthem rework, shifts focus to Dragon Age and Mass Effect
  48. Crusader Kings III helps Paradox to best financial year in history
  49. Paradox reports best year ever in 2020
  50. Paradox removes Hardsuit Labs as Bloodlines 2 developer, title delayed indefinitely
  51. Unity report shows mobile games ad revenue grew 8% in 2020
  52. January digital games spending reaches $11.6bn
  53. Super Mario 3D World holds off FIFA resurgence | UK Boxed Charts
  54. Valheim tops 500,000 concurrent players on Steam in under three weeks
  55. Valheim has sold over 3 million copies in 17 days
  56. Paradox reveals new subscription service for Crusader Kings 2
  57. Paradox rolls out Crusader Kings II subscription plan to make DLC more accessible
  58. Nintendo delivered a strong Direct, but fan impatience grows | Opinion
  59. GameMaker to add next-gen support
  60. HP acquires HyperX
  61. Soccer Manager gets £3m investment
  62. Notre Dame sitting out of EA Sports College Football for now
  63. EA completes $1.2 billion acquisition of Dirt developer Codemasters
  64. EA completes $1.2bn Codemasters acquisition and hopes to “revolutionise” racing games
  65. Thunderful acquires Bridge Constructor publisher Headup in €11m deal
  66. Thunderful acquires Bridge Constructor publisher Headup for $13.3 million
  67. Thunderful Group full-year revenues rise to $374m despite Q4 profit drop
  68. Bandai Namco take minority stake in Might & Magic dev Limbic Entertainment
  69. Roblox to begin trading shares in March
  70. VSPN reportedly considering IPO
  71. Bungie scaling up to expand Destiny ‘into additional media’ and create new IPs
  72. Bungie opening Amsterdam publishing office
  73. Instant mobile game platform Artie raises $10m seed fund
  74. Instant mobile game platform Artie secures $10 million in funding
  75. ‘LinkedIn for gamers’ Efuse raises $6m 
  76. BebopBee lands $2m in funding
  77. Netmarble acquires Kung Fu Factory 
  78. Netmarble US to acquire NBA Ball Stars dev Kung Fu Factory 
  79. Lucid Sight acquires multiplayer engine Colyseus 
  80. Fandom acquires digital games marketplace Fanatical
  81. Larian opens UK development studio to work on Baldur’s Gate 3 
  82. IronSource acquires playable and video advertisement platform Luna Labs
  83. Tencent grabs minority stake in TerraTech developer Payload Studios
  84. Saudi sovereign fund invests over $3 billion in major game publishers
  85. Saudi investment fund acquires shares in Activision Blizzard, Take-Two, and EA
  86. Live-action Twisted Metal TV series moving forward
  87. Cambrian’s new game design program launches in September
  88. Top Streamer Dr Disrespect To Release Comedic Memoir On March 30 
  89. Omaken Sports forms “Nordic powerhouse of esports” with Heroic acquisition
  90. OverActive plans Toronto esports arena: Owner of Toronto Ultra and Toronto Defiant says 7,000-seat, $500 million venue projected to be complete in 2025 
  91. YouTube Millionaires: For 17-Year-Old ‘Fortnite’ Enthusiast Ryft, “The Future Is Looking Very Bright”
  92. CAA Signs Fast-Growing Facebook Gaming Creator Zack ‘ZLaner’ Lane 
  93. Striker VR raises $4 million for VR gun peripheral
  94. Sony developing ‘next-generation VR system’ for PlayStation 5
  95. Sony announces new PSVR hardware for PlayStation 5
  96. Sony just confirmed PSVR 2 for PS5 — these are the biggest upgrades
  97. Next-Gen VR Dev Kits for PS5 Shipping Soon with “completely new VR format”
  98. Sony Confirms Next-Gen PSVR is Coming, New Controllers to Feature DualSense Tech
  99. PlayStation’s commitment is a huge boost to the VR market | Opinion
  100. Carmack: Facebook-Oculus Acquisition ‘Not A Perfect Outcome’ But Still ‘Correct’ For The Company 
  101. VR specialist NDreams becomes a third-party publisher with $2 million fund
  102. Making terms and acquisitions more accessible to users
  103. The legend of The Legend of Zelda 
  104. The secret to Final Fantasy XIV’s longevity lies in the room its devs are given to innovate
  105. Let them fight! Mortal Kombat red-band trailer gives fans what they want 
  106. Minit devs launch Minit Fun Racer, with all proceeds to go to charity
  107. Don’t Miss: In It To Minit – Designing a world of one-minute adventures
  108. Blog: A market status and design analysis of Autochess
  109. Blog: How game developers can tackle the climate crisis
  110. Blog: Urban Japan and megacities expert discusses Cyberpunk 2077 
  111. Blog: Writing slapstick and narrative as one
  112. Blog: My full time indie developer life – Year 4
  113. Don’t Miss: Blizzard’s postmortem of Diablo II
  114. Don’t Miss: Making Oxenfree’s narrative unfold like a free-flowing conversation

Jon

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News of the Week; February 17, 2021

By Jon Festinger on February 21, 2021

DIGITAL

  1. Beyond Defamation: Ontario Court Recognizes New Tort of Internet Harassment
  2. Expanding the Courts’ arsenal to combat online abuse – The new tort of harassment in Internet communications
  3. Conservative News Outlet Ordered To Pay More Than $250,000 In Legal Fees To Rachel Maddow, MSNBC
  4. Trump’s False Posts Were Treated with Kid Gloves by Facebook 
  5. Facebook goes nuclear, banning all news posts in Australia
  6. Big Tech opens wallet for publishers as Australian news code looms
  7. Google and Facebook grapple with news publishers, as Australia becomes a test case
  8. The Internet Is Splintering
  9. The world’s second-most popular desktop operating system isn’t macOS anymore
  10. Posing as Amazon seller, consumer group investigates fake-review industry
  11. There won’t be blood: Apple is making its syringe emoji a vaccine dose
  12. New report on Apple’s VR headset: 8K in each eye, potential $3,000 price tag
  13. Apple’s car project could put it on a collision course with Tesla
  14. New York Administrative Law Judge Determines That Online Security Services Are Subject to Sales Tax
  15. State lawmakers override veto, become first in nation to tax online ads
  16. Biden Administration Presses Pause on WeChat and TikTok Appeals
  17. Biden Administration Asks Federal Courts to Pause TikTok and WeChat Cases
  18. Twitter CFO Says Trump Is Banned In Perpetuity, Even If He Runs For Office Again
  19. Facebook has been helping law enforcement identify Capitol rioters
  20. Facebook Blocks News Viewing, Sharing In Australia, Faces Backlash From Emergency Services
  21. Zuckerberg responds to Apple’s privacy policies: “We need to inflict pain”: Meeting between Zuckerberg, Cook “resulted in a tense standoff.”
  22. Insights: Apple And Facebook Are Fighting For The Future As Much As For Now
  23. Inside the Making of Facebook’s Supreme Court: The company has created a board that can overrule even Mark Zuckerberg. Soon it will decide whether to allow Trump back on Facebook.
  24. The Copia Institute To The Oversight Board Regarding Facebook’s Trump Suspension: There Was No Wrong Decision
  25. Zuckerberg’s Grand Illusion: Understanding The Oversight Board Experiment
  26. Why We Filed A Comment With Facebook’s Oversight Board
  27. United States: towards the end of Internet intermediary immunity?
  28. New details emerge about Google’s payments to link to French news sites
  29. Why young designers are using social media to shame fast fashion copycats
  30. Twitter & India Still Arguing Over Whether Or Not Twitter Accounts Supporting Farmer Protests Need To Be Removed
  31. Instagram bans top anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over COVID falsehoods
  32. Orrin Hatch, Who Once Wanted To Destroy The Computers Of Anyone Who Infringed On Copyrights, Now Lies About Section 230
  33. Content Moderation Case Study: Valve Takes A Hands Off Approach To Porn Via Steam (2018)
  34. Content Moderation Case Study: Google ‘Removes’ German Residences From Street View By Request (2010)
  35. Section 230 Protects App Store from Liability for Apps With Loot Boxes–Coffee v. Google (Eric Goldman)
  36. Section 230 Applies to Articles by Huffington Post Contributors–Page v. Oath (Eric Goldman)
  37. Nvidia wants to buy CPU designer Arm—Qualcomm is not happy about it
  38. Nvidia acquisition of Arm under fire from Microsoft and Google
  39. Prosecutor charges former phone company employee in SIM-swap scheme
  40. WhatsApp messages – who is in control?
  41. Google flags its iOS apps as “out of date” after two months of neglect
  42. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide Last Week
  43. Top 50 Most Viewed U.S. YouTube Channels Last Week
  44. YouTube’s ‘Shorts’ TikTok Clone, With 3.5 Billion Daily Views, To Arrive In The U.S. This March
  45. YouTube Launches Bi-Weekly ‘Shorts Report’ To Bolster Its TikTok Competitor
  46. YouTube TV Readies Add-On Package With 4K, Offline Viewing, Unlimited Concurrent TV Screens
  47. YouTube Unveils 2021 Originals Slate Featuring Markiplier, Marques Brownlee, Jake Roper
  48. YouTube Will Expand Tipping Tool ‘Applause’ To More Channels, Is Testing Ecommerce Feature For Creators
  49. TikTok’s U.S. Ad Business Grew 500% In 2020, It Says
  50. ASA continues crackdown on influencer #ads as Love Island’s Luke M is the latest to fall foul of advertising rules
  51. SAG-AFTRA Ratifies New ‘Influencer Agreement’ Covering Creator-Generated Branded Content
  52. Grace Helbig, Mamrie Hart To Catch Up With OG YouTubers In Limited Podcast ‘How Ya Been?’
  53. Collectibles Marketplace Goldin Auctions Raises $40 Million, Pacts With Logan Paul For Pokemon Card Event
  54. Charli D’Amelio Builds On Dunkin’ Donuts Alliance With Second Signature Coffee Drink
  55. Emma Chamberlain Named Spokesmodel For PacSun
  56. This Week In Social Video: Super Bowl (Ad) Shuffle
  57. Disney+ Closes 2020 With 94.9 Million Subscribers, Expects To Hit 230 Million In 2024
  58. Apple TV+ acquires a “sci-fi courtroom drama” about a murderous robot doll
  59. After the failure of the Facebook Phone, get ready for a Facebook Watch
  60. Parler’s Found A New Host (And A New CEO)… For Now
  61. Parler says it’s back without “Big Tech” after being kicked off Amazon
  62. When Can Plaintiffs Serve Process Via Online Methods? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  63. Internet Law Year-in-Review for 2020 (Eric Goldman)
  64. An anniversary for great justice: Remembering “All Your Base” 20 years later

A.I.

  1. AI Update: USPTO Releases Report on Growth of Artificial Intelligence Applications
  2. IP law and strategy for AI – A European perspective
  3. AI Hiring Tools Present New Risks: What’s Next in the US
  4. Top Ten Legal Considerations for Use and/or Development of Artificial Intelligence in Health Care
  5. FDA Issues Long-Awaited Action Plan for Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning-Based Software As a Medical Device
  6. Video: The AI of Assassin’s Creed Origins

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. Vancouver’s TSN 1040 off the air after Bell suddenly pulls the plug: Vancouver’s most popular sports radio station shut down Tuesday morning, surprising fans and staff alike
  2. Bell abandoning all-sports format at radio stations in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Hamilton
  3. Why Laid Off Bell Sports Journalists Should Form A Worker Co-op: We cannot rely on legacy corporate media to save the journalism industry. It’s time to build something better.
  4. Circumventing Parliament: How Bill C-10 Dramatically Reduces Parliamentary Oversight and Review Over Broadcast Policy (Michael Geist)
  5. Texas Power, Phone Outages Again Highlight How Infrastructure Underinvestment Will Be Fatal Moving Forward
  6. Ajit Pai Tried To Strangle A Broadband Aid Program For Low Income Americans. Then A Pandemic Hit.
  7. State Laws Restricting Community Broadband Are Hurting US Communities During The Pandemic
  8. Are Social Media Services “State Actors” or “Common Carriers”? (Eric Goldman)
  9. FCC to Hold Hearing to Determine What Felony Conviction of Station Owner Means for License Renewal – What Does the FCC Character Policy Require of Broadcast Applicants?
  10. The Return of the Fairness Doctrine – What it Was and Why it Won’t Return
  11. The digital divide is giving American churches hell
  12. Dumb New GOP Talking Point: If You Restore Net Neutrality, You HAVE To Kill Section 230. Just Because!
  13. AT&T scrambles to install fiber for 90-year-old after his viral WSJ ad
  14. A 90 Year Old Shouldn’t Have To Buy A $10,000 Ad Just To Get AT&T To Upgrade His Shitty DSL Line
  15. Cox cuts some users’ uploads from 30Mbps to 10Mbps—here’s how to avoid it
  16. Frontier raises sneaky “Internet Infrastructure Surcharge” from $4 to $7
  17. Annoyance Builds At Elon Musk Getting A Billion In Subsidies For Starlink Broadband
  18. SpaceX plans Starlink phone service, emergency backup, and low-income access
  19. SpaceX Starlink passes 10,000 users and fights opposition to FCC funding
  20. FCC Prepares to Auction AM and FM Radio Construction Permits, Seeks Comments on Procedures
  21. Louisiana AG Sues Journalists To Keep Them From Obtaining Documents Detailing Sexual Harassment By Top Prosecutor
  22. CAN-SPAM Requires Falsity or Deception, But What Do Those Words Mean?–Rad v. US
  23. Kang v. PF Chang’s, Inc.: Reasonable Consumer Deception, or Just a “Crabby” Plaintiff?
  24. Who is leading the 5G patent race? A patent landscape analysis on declared SEPs and standards contributions
  25. A reckoning for the paparazzi and tabloid media

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. A consultation on how to implement an extended general term of copyright protection in Canada (Canada)
  2. Copyright Term Extension – March 12 2021 Deadline to Respond to Very Disappointing Document (Howard Knopf)
  3. Afraid to Lead: Canadian Government Launches Timid Consultation on Implementing Copyright Term Extension (Michael Geist)
  4. The Copyright Bill That Does Nothing: Senate Bill Proposes Copyright Reform to Support Media Organizations (Michael Geist) 
  5. Copyright Term Extension: To Life Plus 70 Years, But Not Beyond! Government Consultation on Copyright Term Extension Now Open
  6. Should We Require Human Inventorship? Submit Your Amicus Brief by March
  7. Is This Beverly Hills Cop Playing Sublime’s ‘Santeria’ to Avoid Being Live-streamed?: Police in Beverly Hills have been playing music while being filmed, seemingly in an effort to trigger Instagram’s copyright filters.
  8. Copyright and database rights in database schema: Software Solutions Ltd and others v 365 Health and Wellbeing Ltd and Smith
  9. Judiciary’s Approach to Moral Rights under Copyright Law
  10. H&M and Unicolors weave up at Copyright battle at US SC
  11. UK Courts find hidden voice in film authorship dispute
  12. Pan-European Design Protection: Considerations for the fashion sector post-Brexit 
  13. Utah Theme Park Sues Taylor Swift Over Album Title After Exploiting It 
  14. A Shoe-In? Fleet Feet Gives Injunction Appeal the Moot Boot
  15. Amazon keeps hitting the target… but not quite in a trade mark context 
  16. One too many Pink Ladies
  17. Tefal fails to secure trade mark protection for its red dot despite survey evidence 
  18. ‘It’s like milk but made for humans’: General Court overturns EUIPO’s refusal to register Oatly’s trade mark
  19. When is a slogan a trade mark?
  20. Random Jackass Attempts To Trademark ‘Mayor Of Mar-A-Lago’ In The Most Hilarious Way
  21. How life sciences companies can strengthen IP strategies through the use of trade secrets
  22. ITC Finds Trade Secret Misappropriation and Bars Electric Vehicle Batteries from SK Innovation—With Exceptions
  23. $6 Million Verdict Vacated in Flooring Tech Trade Secrets Row
  24. The Facts on Fax Machines: They’re Not Dead, They’re Indefinite
  25. Foreign Prosecution History: To Admit, Or Not To Admit, That Remains a Puzzle To Canadian Courts 
  26. Federal Court finds silodosin formulation patent valid but not infringed
  27. Patent application extensions of time in Canada
  28. Extensions of time in Canada: worth the trouble?
  29. Contradictory Positions Render Claims Indefinite 
  30. “Safe Harbor” Act May Save Pfizer From Infringement for Covid Vaccine Clinical Trials
  31. It Is Improper To Read a Claim in a Grammatically Incorrect Way Simply To Include a Disclosed Embodiment
  32. US patents: Body blow for antibodies 
  33. There’s no such thing as an international patent
  34. Everyday IP — Flushing out the facts: When was indoor plumbing invented?
  35. From Snail Mail to Streaming: The Netflix Intellectual Property Story
  36. Cloud Contracts: The Impact of Common Terms of Service Provisions on Intellectual Property Rights
  37. The link between intellectual property rights and business performance 
  38. IP law looms large over U.S.-China relations

PRIVACY

  1. France ties Russia’s Sandworm to a multiyear hacking spree
  2. North Korea may have hacked into Pfizer servers looking for COVID data
  3. Enough is enough ‎—‎ Governing the ungovernable
  4. Comments on the Clearview AI joint Report of Findings
  5. Big Brother’s Access Limited – Canadian Privacy Commissioners Rule Clearview AI’s Facial Recognition Tool in Breach of Canadian Privacy Laws
  6. Privacy trends to watch in 2021: Canada modernizes its private-sector privacy laws
  7. FTC Chair Rebecca Slaughter Outlines Data Privacy Enforcement Agenda
  8. FTC Settles Facial Recognition Data Misuse Allegations with App Developer
  9. Analyst: Tighter IDFA privacy rules on iOS spell short-term trouble for in-app ads
  10. Microsoft is seeing a big spike in Web shell use
  11. Microsoft: SolarWinds attack took more than 1,000 engineers to create – Microsoft reckons that the huge attack on security vendors and more took the combined power of at least 1,000 engineers to create.
  12. France: Russian state hackers targeted Centreon servers in years-long campaign
  13. Hacked Florida Water Plant Found To Have Been Using Unsupported Windows 7 Machines And Shared Passwords
  14. Minneapolis, Minnesota Becomes The Latest Major City To Pass A Facial Recognition Ban
  15. Amazon will use cameras and AI to monitor delivery drivers
  16. Gun Trafficking Investigation Shows The FBI Is Still Capable Of Accessing Communications On Encrypted Devices
  17. Google Pixel phones will soon track heart rate using only the camera
  18. Zoombombing countermeasures are ineffective in the vast majority of cases
  19. The Perfect Storm for Privacy and Adtech: How the End of the Cookie Era Will Reshape the Digital Marketplace
  20. Virginia is about to get a major California-style data privacy law
  21. Report: Google considering an iOS-style anti-tracking feature for Android
  22. Information Commissioner confirms conservatives illegally collected data to racially profile voters
  23. CBP Facial Recognition Program Has Gathered 50 Million Face Photos, Identified Fewer Than 300 Imposters
  24. Biometric Privacy in the Era of COVID-19: Facial Recognition Compliance for Airports and Airlines
  25. Cops can’t access $60M in seized bitcoin—fraudster won’t give password

GAMES

  1. Riot Games CEO sued by former assistant for sexual harassment
  2. Google Wins Motion to Dismiss Loot Box Class Action
  3. Nintendo reportedly raises damages sought in Colopl lawsuit to $47m
  4. Nintendo claims additional damages in White Cat Project lawsuit
  5. Latest Nintendo Direct event led by Zelda: Skyward Sword HD remaster
  6. Nintendo ends pandemic-driven Nintendo Direct hiatus with a remaster-filled showcase
  7. First PS5 drift class action lawsuit filed against Sony
  8. Epic Games’ Case Against Teenage Fortnite Cheater Finally Settles
  9. Epic files EU antitrust complaint against Apple
  10. Fortnite vs. Apple continues to escalate with new antitrust complaint
  11. Fortnite fight expands as Epic claims Apple broke EU competition law
  12. North Dakota lawmakers jump into Apple/Epic fight with new app store bill
  13. Coalition for App Fairness behind North Dakota bill against Apple: Money from the organisation co-founded by Epic Games paid for lobbyists to introduce new bill into state senate
  14. A North Dakota bill aiming to loosen Apple’s tight grip on iOS has failed
  15. Video Gaming/E-Gaming Law update, February 2021
  16. One Patent To Rule Them All | Podcast: We discuss the implications of Warner Bros’ Nemesis system patent, with Harbottle & Lewis’ Kostya Lobov
  17. PC versions of Grand Theft Auto reverse-engineered to raw source code
  18. New dev revives Six Days in Fallujah a decade after controversal announcement
  19. Six Days in Fallujah dev: “I don’t think we need to portray the atrocities” – Peter Tamte wants to tell the story  without politics, without addressing why the war started, or what war crimes were committed
  20. Hackers claim to have sold Cyberpunk 2077, Witcher 3 source code
  21. CD Projekt Red source code reportedly sells for millions in dark Web auction
  22. How close is too close? A look into the use of altered trade marks and third-party ‘patches’ in videogames
  23. US regulations reportedly prevented GameStop from cashing in on share surge
  24. Why didn’t GameStop sell some of its inflated stock during the bubble?
  25. Habbo: “The last month left a bruise on our community” – Sulake CEO Valtteri Karu on Habbo’s troubled migration from Flash to Unity, and how the firm aims to win back the trust of its players
  26. Why a “Black Panther moment” is not the answer to games’ diversity problem: Studio AC Games founder Adam Campbell on how improving representation in video games takes less effort, not more
  27. Niantic launches Black Developers Initiative, offers funding and mentorship
  28. Microsoft launches gaming accessibility testing platform for developers
  29. Microsoft updates Xbox Accessibility Guidelines to help devs make games for everyone
  30. Report: Microsoft testing web-based xCloud streaming ahead of public preview
  31. Xbox takes back-compat to new extremes, tricks old games to run faster
  32. Stadia staff lauded for “great progress” one week before closure
  33. Ex-Stadia developers dish on Google’s mismanagement and poor communication
  34. Report: Stadia boss praised first-party studios for ‘great progress’ days before closure
  35. Steam developer gets banned for “Very Positive” review trickery
  36. Eximius dev relaunching title after publisher dispute
  37. Amazon delays New World again
  38. Future of work in games: new EU-UK relationship brings renewed focus on immigration for the games industry
  39. Ampere: PS5 and Xbox Series X|S sales in line with, not ahead of, previous gen – But firm believes new PlayStation could sell up to eight million units by end of March, surpassing PS4
  40. PC hardware and accessories spending grew 62% in the US in 2020
  41. US game spending up 42% in January, says NPD
  42. Dreams of easy money create a risk of tough acquisitions | Opinion: As frothy valuations and predatory firms drive a wave of acquisitions, serious questions need to be asked about the chimeras being created
  43. Profits falter despite rising game sales at Sega Sammy
  44. Sega Sammy reports sharp income decline despite soaring game sales
  45. Supercell posts solid profits, despite fifth straight year of revenue decline
  46. Playtonic branches into game publishing with Playtonic Friends label 
  47. Yooka-Laylee developer Playtonic launches publishing division
  48. Asmodee acquires Board Game Arena
  49. Pole to Win acquires 5518 Studios
  50. Record year for Remedy despite no new game releases
  51. Remedy had a record financial year despite lack of new releases
  52. Valheim tops 1 million sales during first week on Steam Early Access
  53. Valheim has topped 2 million sales in under two weeks
  54. Human: Fall Flat has topped 25 million sales worldwide
  55. Trials of Mana remake tops 1 million digital sales and shipments 
  56. An acceleration of consolidation | This Week in Business
  57. Kwalee launches PC and console publishing arm
  58. Tilting Point sinks $60 million into Match 3D developer Loop Games
  59. Zynga delivers record annual revenues thanks to ‘forever franchises’
  60. Zynga still in the market for more acquisitions
  61. NaturalMotion working on cross-platform games as Zynga eyes growth on console, PC
  62. Asmodee acquires digital multiplayer board game platform Board Game Arena
  63. Starbreeze losses shrink to $15.8m as Payday continues to grow
  64. Thanks to Payday 2-driven stability, Starbreeze pushes ahead on Payday 3
  65. Netmarble doubles full-year profits for 2020
  66. Peter Molyneux’s studio 22cans suffers layoffs
  67. Colossi Games raises $2.5m in funding
  68. Colossi Games nets $2.5 million to boost production on debut mobile game
  69. What Do 140 Million ‘GTA 5’ Sales Mean For ‘GTA 6’?
  70. Bad Robot looking to be the rare Hollywood-and-games success story
  71. Last Of Us HBO series casts Pedro Pascal as Joel
  72. Dota 2 is getting a Netflix series: The eight-episode anime series will launch on March 25
  73. Twitch and Facebook Gaming set record highs in January
  74. The ‘GaaS or subscription service’ squeeze in games
  75. Striker VR Raises $4M to Bring Its Haptic VR Gun to Consumers – First Look
  76. Why The Medium embraced a local Polish setting for a global audience
  77. GoldenEye, Mario and how to succeed in the world of nostalgia
  78. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury launch 190% bigger than Wii U original | UK Boxed Charts
  79. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury | Critical Consensus
  80. Valheim is the endless Viking survival game we have craved for years
  81. Online fighting games during COVID: How rollback helps us connect
  82. The games of love: Our favorite couch co-op games to play with a partner
  83. Blog: Breaking down the essentials of live ops – Part 1
  84. Blog: Designing for a sense of mystery and wonder
  85. Blog: Designing touch controls for Human: Fall Flat
  86. Blog: How developers are dealing with toxic behaviour in social VR
  87. Blog: Video game music concerts in 2021
  88. Blog: Lessons learned from teaching game design

Jon

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News of the Week; February 10, 2021

By Jon Festinger on February 16, 2021

DIGITAL

  1. The Tort of Internet Harassment: A new tort with an extraordinary remedy
  2. Ontario Superior Court recognizes new cause of action addressing internet harassment
  3. Ontario Superior Court recognizes new tort for online harassment
  4. Court Refuses to Order Removal of Social Media Posts Alleging Employer was Racist
  5. Parler’s ownership offer to Trump and possible Russian ties probed by Congress
  6. Parler CEO says board fired him for planning to ban “neo-Nazi” groups
  7. Various States All Pile On To Push Blatantly Unconstitutional Laws That Say Social Media Can’t Moderate
  8. If We’re Going To Talk About Discrimination In Online Ads, We Need To Talk About Roommates.com
  9. 25 Years Later: A Celebration Of The Declaration Of The Independence Of Cyberspace
  10. Can A Community Approach To Disinformation Help Twitter?
  11. Facebook moves to scale down political content
  12. Google, Facebook tell SCOTUS it should be harder for you to sue them
  13. Indian Government Threatens To Jail Twitter Employees For Restoring Accounts The Government Wants Blocked
  14. Huawei Attempts To Rebuild Trust By Using… Fake Twitter Telecom Experts
  15. Without Twitter, Trump Is Left To Write Tweets He Would Have Said On Paper
  16. With Trump gone, Huawei tells Biden it’s not a security threat
  17. Not just Facebook: Snap, Unity warn Apple’s tracking change threatens business
  18. Soon, you may be able to change the default music service in iOS
  19. Sorry, small-phone lovers: The iPhone 12 mini was Apple’s 2020 sales flop
  20. Klobuchar targets Big Tech with biggest antitrust overhaul in 45 years
  21. Senators Warner, Hirono, And Klobuchar Demand The End Of The Internet Economy
  22. Platform mergers and antitrust: This paper sets out a framework for addressing competition concerns arising from acquisitions in big platform ecosystems.
  23. Lingerie Brand Adore Me Accuses TikTok Of Targeting Videos With BIPOC, Plus-Size, Disabled Models
  24. Oracle’s TikTok acquisition reportedly “shelved” indefinitely
  25. Trump And Oracle’s Dumb TikTok Cronyism Falls Apart
  26. 20-Year-Old Nashville Man Allegedly Shot Dead While Attempting YouTube Robbery Prank
  27. Sony picks up minor stake in From Software parent company Kadokawa Corporation
  28. Microsoft Offers To Break The Web In A Desperate Attempt To Get Somebody To Use Its Widely-Ignored Bing Search Engine
  29. Raspberry Pi OS added a Microsoft repo. No, it’s not an evil secret
  30. The Definitive Guide to Clickwrap
  31. We’re Living Our Lives On The Internet, And We Can’t Be Free If It Isn’t.
  32. Smartmatic Sues Two Trump Lawyers And Three Fox News Hosts For $2.7 Billion-Worth Of Defamation
  33. Now It’s The Democrats Turn To Destroy The Open Internet: Mark Warner’s 230 Reform Bill Is A Dumpster Fire Of Cluelessness
  34. Senators Propose Substantial Revisions to Section 230’s Protections for Online Providers
  35. Proposed Sec. 230 rewrite could have wide-ranging consequences
  36. The Many Reasons To Celebrate Section 230
  37. Section 230 Lets Tech Fix Content Moderation Issues. Congress Should Respect That
  38. How To Think About Online Ads And Section 230
  39. How Section 230 Makes My Life Better (A Celebration of Its 25 Year Anniversary) (Eric Goldman)
  40. Comments on the “SAFE TECH” Act (Eric Goldman)
  41. Content Moderation Case Study: Twitch Allows Users To Enable Emote-Only Chats (2016)
  42. Content Moderation Case Study: Twitter Attempts To Tackle COVID-related Vaccine Misinformation (2020)
  43. TikTok’s Sale To Oracle, Walmart Indefinitely Shelved, As Biden Administration Conducts Its Own Cybersecurity Review
  44. Instagram Building Vertical Scrolling Experience For Stories, Just Like TikTok
  45. Instagram Will Begin Making Reels Including A TikTok Watermark “Less Discoverable”
  46. Whalar Launches First All-Black Creator House, ‘The Crib Around The Corner’
  47. Former YouTube Employee Launches ‘BlackOakTV’ Streaming Service To Superserve Black Viewers And Creators
  48. Sports YouTuber KOT4Q Partners With Malka, Up North Management For Weekly YouTube Series
  49. YouTube’s lo-fi music streams are all about the euphoria of less
  50. MrBeast’s ‘MrBeast Burger’ Ghost Kitchen Concept Arrives In Canada
  51. David Dobrik Shows Off New $9.5 Million Mansion, Unveils Video Version Of ‘Views’ Podcast
  52. ASA upholds another complaint against an influencer social media ad
  53. In A First, Shopify To Integrate Checkout Technology Directly Within Facebook And Instagram
  54. Universal Music Yanks Catalog From Triller, Slams Service For Withholding Artist Payments
  55. Disney fires Mandalorian’s Gina Carano over “abhorrent, unacceptable” posts
  56. Netflix acquires the rights to all 22 Redwall books, plans film and series
  57. HBO Max signs “adult” cartoon series based on Scooby-Doo’s Velma
  58. New report on Apple’s VR headset: 8K in each eye, potential $3,000 price tag
  59. Texas Dept. Of Public Safety Issues Amber Alert For Victim Of Horror Doll Chucky
  60. Joint Chiefs of Tax Enforcement to Investigate Tax Fraud Arising Out of FinTech and Cryptocurrency
  61. A terabyte isn’t what it used to be—14% of Internet customers use more
  62. 25 years ago today, the internet declared its independence — for better and for worse
  63. ‘I’m Not a Cat,’ Says Lawyer Having Zoom Difficulties

A.I.

  1. Protecting AI Innovations Through Trade Secrets and Patent Protection
  2. A.I. and machine learning tools in financial services should expect regulatory scrutiny
  3. Apple’s car project could put it on a collision course with Tesla
  4. The Collision of AI’s Machine Learning and Manipulation: Deepfake Litigation Risks to Companies from a Product Liability, Privacy, and Cyber Standpoint
  5. In Defense of AI
  6. Why the resignation of the Dutch government is a good reminder of how important it is to monitor and regulate algorithms
  7. AI Regulation Under the New US Administration
  8. New UK AI Roadmap published
  9. Will AI Create More Problems Than It Solves in Recruiting?
  10. Amazon will use cameras and AI to monitor delivery drivers
  11. AI Update: The Future of AI Policy in the UK
  12. AI: cure for or cause of discriminatory outcomes in healthcare?
  13. FDA Publishes Action Plan for Oversight of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning-Based Medical Software
  14. Code Red: The FDA’s Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Action Plan Poses Potential Risks for Medical Device Makers
  15. U.S. Advances AI Innovation with NAIIA
  16. BAILII grants Oxford University unprecedented access to case data for AI analysis in historic agreement
  17. Video: The AI of Assassin’s Creed Origins
  18. MintzTech Connect Industry News: Spotlight on Turing Enterprises 

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. Conservative MP Files Amendment Calling on the Government to Withdraw Bill C-10 (Michael Geist)
  2. Why The Secrecy on Bill C-10?: How the Liberals Abandoned Their Commitment to Consultation, and Transparency in Pushing Their Broadcast Reform Bill (Michael Geist)
  3. Vancouver’s TSN 1040 off the air after Bell suddenly pulls the plug: Vancouver’s most popular sports radio station shut down Tuesday morning, surprising fans and staff alike
  4. Bell abandoning all-sports format at radio stations in Vancouver, Winnipeg, Hamilton
  5. Why Laid Off Bell Sports Journalists Should Form A Worker Co-op: We cannot rely on legacy corporate media to save the journalism industry. It’s time to build something better.
  6. DOJ Drops Ridiculous Trump-Era Lawsuit Against California For Passing Net Neutrality Rules
  7. Want a New Radio Station? FCC Proposes Procedures for a July 2021 Auction, Lists Channels to be Sold, and Imposes a Freeze on Certain Applications
  8. Authorities bust SIM-swap ring they say took millions from the rich and famous
  9. 16 States Ask The FCC What The Hell Is The Point Of The Verizon Tracfone Merger
  10. ISPs step up fight against SpaceX, tell FCC that Starlink will be too slow
  11. SpaceX plans Starlink phone service, emergency backup, and low-income access
  12. SpaceX Starlink passes 10,000 users and fights opposition to FCC funding
  13. SpaceX Starlink opens preorders, but slots are limited in each region
  14. Appeals Court Tells Lying Cop No ‘Reasonable’ Officer Would Think It’s OK To Tear Gas Journalists For Performing Journalism
  15. Big Game, Ad Claims: Reflecting on Super Bowl Advertising Tactics
  16. The Importance of Advanced Telecommunications Networks to Modern Healthcare
  17. ASA rules that Ladbrokes TV ad showed gambling behaviour that was socially irresponsible
  18. How Cubans make island Internet work for them

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Federal Court trusts technology to prove infringement
  2. Is This Beverly Hills Cop Playing Sublime’s ‘Santeria’ to Avoid Being Live-streamed?: Police in Beverly Hills have been playing music while being filmed, seemingly in an effort to trigger Instagram’s copyright filters. 
  3. Latest Anti-Accountability Move By Cops Involves Playing Music While Being Recorded In Hopes Of Triggering Copyright Takedowns
  4. Celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D sued for inking Miles Davis design? Tats crazy!
  5. Desire v. Manna Textiles (USCA, 9th Circuit): Holds only one statutory damages award available where defendant supplied infringing work to other defendants, even when those other defendants exploited infringing work.    
  6. Carlini v. Paramount Pictures Corp. (USDC, California): Court action brought alleging film “What Men Want” infringed plaintiff’s screenplay, finding access was insufficient and works were not substantially similar. 
  7. Be careful what you scrape from the HiQ v. LinkedIn decision 
  8. Sherlock Holmes and the copyright infringement claim
  9. Protect your moves – A mix of Intellectual Property and Dance
  10. Snippet Taxes Not Only Violate The Berne Convention, But Also Betray The Deepest Roots Of Newspaper Culture
  11. Why Is Congress Pushing For Locking Up More Culture? 
  12. SCOTUS Update – Google v. Oracle 
  13. Music – Royalty Rates for Digital Transmissions 
  14. Copyright year in review 2020 
  15. The growing role of domains in IP 
  16. What to Do when “Everything Sucks” 
  17. Utah Theme Park Sues Taylor Swift Over Album Title After Exploiting It
  18. Taylor Swift sued by Utah Theme Park for trademark infringement.
  19. Pearl Jamm changes name to Legal Jam…to avoid legal jam 
  20. SDNY Magistrate Judge Recommends that Rubik’s Cube Design is Not Functional 
  21. Hanes Pop Warner’s Way: Trademark Dispute Over Pop Warner Mark 
  22. How to Register a Common Shape as Your Trademark 
  23. Trademarks in 2020: notable cases and developments 
  24. Trade Secret Management in the United States: Top Ten Mistakes to Avoid 
  25. December 2020 COVID-19 Relief Bill Finally Closes the Streaming Loophole 
  26. Third Circuit Finds Pocky Trade Dress Functional, Not Protectable 
  27. There’s No Sugarcoating It: Pocky’s Cookie Design Trade Dress Is Functional
  28. The Doctrine of File Wrapper Estoppel in Canada: The Court of Appeal Hands Down its Decision 
  29. Evidence Supports Prior Art’s Public Accessibility but Not the Board’s Adoption of an Unpresented Theory of Anticipation
  30. Federal Circuit Clarifies Part of Patent Term Extension Equation 
  31. Federal Circuit Says Automated Systems Are Not Abstract when Tied to Improvements 
  32. The “Skinny Label” – The Federal Circuit Has Second Thoughts 
  33. No Patent Eligibility Reward for Customer Loyalty Program Computer System
  34. How to patent over-the-air (OTA) automotive technology 
  35. Federal Circuit Agrees to Reconsider Ruling in GSK v. Teva Drug Patent Case 
  36. When Fixing One Problem Creates Another: How Patent Infringement Arises Out of Product Repairs 
  37. Key Insights for Obtaining FinTech Patents
  38. Patents in 2020 – The year in review

PRIVACY

  1. Privacy class action not certified – Setoguchi v Uber B.V., 2021 ABQB 18
  2. Clearview AI’s Facial Recognition Tool Found to Violate Canadian Privacy Laws
  3. Exceptions from consent in PIPEDA: facial recognition, privacy and Clearview
  4. Privacy Commissioners Issue Report on Clearview AI’s Facial Recognition Tool
  5. Canadian Privacy Commission Says Clearview’s App Is Illegal, Tells It To Pack Its Things And Leave
  6. “Made in Canada” – What is happening to Privacy by Design under the CPPA?
  7. NYT Easily Tracks Location Data From Capitol Riots, Highlighting Once Again How US Privacy Standards Are A Joke
  8. Amazon Transparency Report Indicates Its Multiple IoT Devices Are Juicy Targets For Law Enforcement
  9. 11th Circuit: Future identity theft risk does not confer standing
  10. 11th Cir. Rejects Standing Due to Threat of Future Identity Theft & Further Deepens Circuit Split
  11. Calling SCOTUS: Eleventh Circuit Invites Supreme Court to Address Circuit Split on Article III Standing for Data Incident Plaintiffs
  12. Court Dismisses CCPA Claim Against Google
  13. Court denies tech company’s second request for COPPA claim dismissal
  14. California AG Becerra Tweets Endorsement for a Universal Opt-Out Tool
  15. Chastity Penis Lock Company That Was Hacked Says It’s Now Totally Safe To Put Your Penis Back In That Chastity Lock
  16. FTC Reaches Settlement with Digital Health App, Requires First Notice of Privacy Action
  17. Key Takeaways from the Recent Grindr Decision and “Tentative” $11M Fine
  18. The Bright Side of the Horrifying Story About a Hacked Water Treatment Plant
  19. Water Treatment System Hack is a Warning to Critical Infrastructure Organizations
  20. Breached water plant employees used the same TeamViewer password and no firewall
  21. Turf wars: confidentiality of live (sports) data
  22. Android barcode scanner with 10 million+ downloads infects users
  23. Google Pixel phones will soon track heart rate using only the camera
  24. Zoombombing countermeasures are ineffective in the vast majority of cases
  25. Report: Google considering an iOS-style anti-tracking feature for Android
  26. Cops can’t access $60M in seized bitcoin—fraudster won’t give password
  27. 2020 Privacy Law Year in Review

GAMES

  1. Riot Games CEO accused of sexual harassment in lawsuit from ex-employee
  2. Shadow of War publisher Warner Bros. has patented the series’ Nemesis system
  3. Super Nintendo World apparently took scenery from a Mario fangame
  4. Merritt killer gets PlayStation memory card back after win in Federal Court: Justice Zinn ruled removal order unreasonable – that inmate permitted to having a gaming system in their cell should also have a memory card
  5. Fischer v. Canada (Attorney General), 2021 FC 112
  6. G.I. Bro is a Go: Copyright Dispute Over Call of Duty Poster Survives Summary Judgement
  7. Activision Blizzard sued over Call of Duty character
  8. Call of Duty drives record year for Activision Blizzard
  9. Microsoft says terms of service mandate arbitration for Xbox controller suit
  10. Microsoft creates ‘Vault’ to temporarily house Bethesda parent ZeniMax
  11. PS5 DualSense controllers already have a drift problem – what you need to know: It’s not just the Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Cons anymore
  12. Advocating for accessibility in video games
  13. PS5’s DualSense controller also faces drift issues
  14. PS5 to launch in China in Q2 2021
  15. Warner Bros finally secures patent for Shadow of Mordor’s Nemesis system
  16. CD Projekt Red’s internal systems “compromised” following ransomware attack
  17. CD Projekt Red gets ‘cyberpunk’d’ – another ransomware attack
  18. Cyberpunk 2077 developer hit with ransomware attack
  19. Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt hit by ‘targeted cyber attack’
  20. MP proposes bill to make console scalping illegal amid PS5 and Xbox Series shortages
  21. Gaming sites are still letting streamers profit from hate
  22. Can you cheat to get ahead on Steam?
  23. Steam Becomes Available In China, Offers 53 Whole Games To Customers
  24. Lessons from GameStop: Small Investors “100% Don’t Care” About Risk
  25. Regulators forced to respond to GameStop Corp.’s historic yo-yo
  26. Robinhood Sued in Class Action, Alleging Website Inaccessibility and Discrimination Against Blind Users
  27. Another Speculation Is Possible: The Political Lesson Of R/WallStreetBets
  28. Amazon’s next CEO vows to help struggling Amazon Game Studios bounce back
  29. Bandai Namco switches management amid business unit shake-up
  30. Profits dip at Bandai Namco despite rising game sales
  31. Bandai Namco reports rising profits amid restructure
  32. Nintendo boss says diverse Switch playerbase will help it outsell the Wii
  33. Nintendo discusses Switch growth plans as console enters “middle of its lifecycle”
  34. Ori director criticises developers for overhyping games with “lies and deception”
  35. YouTube Releases Self-Certification Guide Specifically For Gaming Creators
  36. Terraria developer cancels Google Stadia port after YouTube account ban
  37. Stadia’s issues were clear from the start | This Week in Business
  38. Google’s shutdowns relegate streaming to “gaming of the gaps” | Opinion
  39. Digital downloads jumped 47% across Europe in 2020 | European Annual Report
  40. Animal Crossing continues to dominate UK retail | UK Boxed Charts
  41. Xbox Series S/X was the No.1 console of January | UK Monthly GfK Charts
  42. Assetto Corsa franchise reaches €100 million in lifetime sales
  43. Epic Games addresses speculation over IPO
  44. Epic Games’ ability to go to war with Apple stems from its financial freedom, says CEO
  45. Epic’s new tool promises high-fidelity human characters in under an hour
  46. Epic Games’ new MetaHuman Creator will let devs build hi-fi humans
  47. Super High-Fidelity Mario: The quest to find original gaming audio samples
  48. Sony now has a stake in parent of Dark Souls dev From Software
  49. Wildlife Studios launches Never Forget Games
  50. EA Sports Announces College Football Video Game Revival and Another Collegiate Athlete Persona Rights Piece of Legislation is Proposed in Congress
  51. EA continues its big mobile push with $2.1 billion Glu Mobile acquisition
  52. EA acquires Glu Mobile in $2.1 billion deal
  53. EA’s Andrew Wilson talks about the Glu acquisition
  54. Leaf Mobile: Kings of Green Mountain – Darcy Taylor on building a thriving business in the “green games” market, and what the $159m acquisition of East Side Games means for Leaf’s future
  55. Leaf Mobile confirms $125m acquisition of East Side Games
  56. Zynga posts record revenues, record net losses
  57. Digital makes up 85% of Take-Two’s $860.9 million in Q3 net revenue
  58. Maple Story and mobile expansion push Nexon to record revenues
  59. Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia remake postponed indefinitely
  60. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla leads Ubisoft’s biggest quarter ever
  61. Assassin’s Creed, Watch Dogs, and Just Dance push Ubisoft to new record highs
  62. Minecraft Dungeons has crossed 10 million players on all platforms
  63. Huuuge Games IPO to raise $442m
  64. Vertigo Games acquires location-based VR arcade platform SpringboardVR
  65. Mountaintop raises $5.5 million to accelerate development of its PvP shooter
  66. Homa Games raises $15m for hypercasual titles
  67. Candivore raises $12 million
  68. French mobile studio Homa nets $15 million to create hypercasual titles
  69. Unity reports record year despite losses
  70. Revenue, downloads, and MAUs all on the rise as Unity closes Q4
  71. Activision Blizzard closes out 2020 with rising revenue and profit
  72. Final Fantasy VII Remake and Marvel’s Avengers boost sales at Square Enix
  73. Mobile titles and domestic releases are driving revenue at Konami
  74. Mobile developer Wildlife opens new studio in California
  75. Match Masters dev Candivore nets $12 million to drive user acquisition
  76. Focus Home Interactive opens up new Deck13 studio in Montreal
  77. TinyBuild acquires three studios
  78. Totally Reliable Delivery Service dev among three studios acquired by TinyBuild 
  79. Nazara Technologies gets $13.7m in funding
  80. Latitude raises $3.3 million for its AI platform
  81. Pizza Club secures $1.5m investment from My.Games
  82. Focus Home Interactive is opening a Deck13 subsidiary in Montreal
  83. Kowloon Nights backs indies with funding deals for 23 titles
  84. Tencent buys minority stake in DayZ developer Bohemia Interactive
  85. Tencent acquires minority stake in Bohemia Interactive
  86. Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury review: Everything old is new again
  87. Here’s what ESRB’s ratings looked like in 2020
  88. “Arcades are a crucial part of the history of video games”
  89. E3 skipping in-person event again
  90. Newzoo’s Esports Trends to Watch in 2021
  91. Pokémon World Championships 2021 cancelled
  92. ‘Why was that focusing on Miranda’s butt?’ & other dev tales from remastering Mass Effect 
  93. “90 bugs left”: Rare devs talk about the nearly completed Goldeneye 007 remake [Updated]
  94. Blog: Set rotations in Magic The Gathering – A mobile F2P perspective
  95. Blog: Revisiting the fall of Resident Evil
  96. Blog: Building an arcade cabinet for the 21st Century 
  97. Video: The combat animations of Middle-earth: Shadow of War
  98. Don’t Miss: How Baldur’s Gate 3 first approached the RNG of D&D-inspired dice rolls
  99. Level Up: 33 Legal Tips for Game Developers and Publishers Part II

Jon

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News of Week; February 3, 2021

By Jon Festinger on February 7, 2021

DIGITAL

  1. 70% of top “civic” Facebook groups are toxic or violent, report finds
  2. Lawmakers take aim at insidious digital “dark patterns”
  3. Influencers told not to use ‘misleading’ beauty filters
  4. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos stepping down
  5. Jeff Bezos to leave Amazon CEO post after 27 years, become executive chair
  6. No, WallStreetBets isn’t robbing Wall Street to help the little guy
  7. WallStreetBets craze pushes dogecoin up 5x in 24 hours
  8. Facebook “Supreme Court” overrules company in 4 of its first 5 decisions
  9. Facebook Oversight Board decisions
  10. People Want Real Change From Facebook. Its ‘Supreme Court’ Isn’t Delivering.: The first decisions from the new Oversight Board have been issued. The results are underwhelming.
  11. Facebook Oversight Board’s First Decisions… Seem To Confirm Everyone’s Opinions Of The Board
  12. Every crazy thing that happened in Apple and Facebook’s privacy feud today
  13. Facebook makes the case for activity tracking to iOS 14 users in new pop-ups
  14. EU calls US$15.7bn Apple tax ruling ‘contradictory’: At the heart of the legal arguments are simple questions on where value is created and where it should be taxed
  15. Apple, Its Control Over the iPhone, The Internet, And The Metaverse
  16. Apple’s updated App Store guidelines clarify positions on recent controversies
  17. Latest FTC “Made in USA” Enforcement Includes Scrutiny of Hashtags
  18. Biggest MAGA Conference Threatens Politico With Bogus Lawsuit For Reporting On Conference Troubles
  19. Google settles federal gender and race discrimination charges for $3.8M
  20. Google Play bans open source Matrix client Element, citing “abusive content”
  21. A Wave of Online Services Have Suspended Accounts Associated with Trump and His Supporters
  22. TikTok Implements Prompts To Deter Users From Proliferating Misinformation
  23. TikTok Inks Multi-Faceted Partnership With British Ad And Marketing Giant WPP
  24. Australians May Soon Face Life Without Google
  25. Microsoft backs Australian law forcing Google to pay for news links
  26. Online Harassment Toward Women Is Getting Even More Insidious
  27. Dominion Sues Rudy Giuliani For $1.3 Billion Over False Statements About Its Voting Systems
  28. Professional Assholes Equate Consequences With ‘Cancel Culture’ To Obscure That They’re Finally Being Held Accountable
  29. Continued Access to Service Not Sufficient to Bind User to New Terms of Service–Stover v. Experian (Eric Goldman)
  30. Google and Twitter Defeat Lawsuit Over Account Suspensions/Terminations–DeLima v. Google (Eric Goldman)
  31. Politician Can Block Constituents at Twitter–If It’s a “Campaign” Account–Campbell v. Reisch (Eric Goldman)
  32. Selling Keyword Ads Isn’t Theft or Conversion–Edible IP v. Google (Eric Goldman)
  33. TripAdvisor Doesn’t Get Early Section 230 Dismissal–Putt v. TripAdvisor (Eric Goldman)
  34. No, Revoking Section 230 Would Not ‘Save Democracy’
  35. Removing Civil Rights Law From Section 230 Will Create Many New Problems, While Failing To Fix Existing Ones
  36. Columbia Law Professor Spews Blatantly False Information About Section 230 In The Wall Street Journal
  37. No Section 230 Has Nothing To Do With Horrific NY Times Story Of Online Stalker Getting Revenge For Decades’ Old Slight
  38. Content Moderation At Scale Is Impossible: Google Play Bans Video Player App Over ASS File Extension Support
  39. Content Moderation Case Study: Twitter Removes Account Of Human Rights Activist (2018)
  40. Content Moderation Case Study: GitHub Attempts To Moderate Banned Words Contained In Hosted Repositories (2015)
  41. CNN Ends Distribution Deal With Facebook Watch, Brings ‘Go There’ Series In-House
  42. YouTube’s new “Clips” feature lets users share 60-second clips of videos
  43. YouTube Will Let Viewers Share Custom Short Videos Cut From Creators’ Uploads And Livestreams
  44. YouTube Doubled Number Of TrueView Advertisers In Q4 2020, Earned $6.9 Billion
  45. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide Last Week
  46. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide Last Week
  47. Top 50 Most Viewed U.S. YouTube Channels Last Week
  48. Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels Last Week
  49. The Obamas To Host YouTube’s Black History Month Special, ‘Black Renaissance’
  50. YouTube Sets Series From Hillary Clinton’s HiddenLight Productions, Starring Patricia Bright
  51. Instagram Revamps User Interface For Stories Consumption On Desktops
  52. Snapchat Launches ‘Safety Snapshot’ Program To Educate Users On Data Security
  53. Teespring Goes Live With ‘Spring’ Rebrand, Has 450,000 Creators On The Platform
  54. Ryan Reynolds To Premiere Snapchat Series Alongside Will Smith’s Westbrook Media
  55. Amid Miami Move, Jake Paul Lists Infamous Calabasas Mansion For $7 Million
  56. Wheelhouse Launches ‘DNA’ Division For Digital And Audio Ventures, Inks 360 Deal With Nikita Dragun (Exclusive)
  57. Barstool Sports, NPR, Wondery Were Top-Earning Podcast Producers Of 2020 (Report)
  58. Netflix Is Testing A Sleep Timer That Will Automatically Stop Playback
  59. HBO Max To Offer Cheaper, Ad-Supported Subscription In Q2
  60. Apple TV+ Nabs Jared Leto, Anne Hathaway For Series About WeWork Saga

A.I.

  1. Artificial intelligence soon to be regulated in Canada?
  2. FTC Brings First BOTS Act Case Against Online Ticket Brokers
  3. FTC Sets Its Eye on Algorithms, Automated Tech, and AI-Enabled Applications
  4. FDA Releases Action Plan for Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning-Enabled Software as a Medical Device
  5. Boston Dynamics’ robot dog gets an arm attachment, self-charging capabilities
  6. Microsoft Patent: Chatbots Made From The Online Habits Of Dead People
  7. Patent Issues for Factory Automation Inventions in AI
  8. National Defense Authorization Act Propels National Strategy on AI Development
  9. AI and data protection – uncomfortable bedfellows?
  10. Three Considerations for AI Healthcare Application Developers and Users
  11. National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Office Launched as “Central Hub” for AI Research and Development
  12. Driving AI development: new UK AI roadmap released
  13. Artificial Intelligence: Landmark 2020 Developments and Rapid Business Adoption
  14. ICO Contributes To Briefing On AI And Healthcare

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. Bell Blasted For Taking $122m Labour Subsidy While Boosting Dividends
  2. AT&T & Verizon Got Billions From Government, Yet Laid Off 95,000 People In Just Five Years
  3. After Years Of Litigation, AT&T Customers Get A Measly $22 For Being Lied To Over ‘Throttling’
  4. Why victims of AT&T unlimited-data throttling get only $22 in settlements
  5. AT&T customer since 1960 buys WSJ print ad to complain of slow speeds 
  6. Antitrust Remedies in Highly Regulated Industries
  7. Xiaomi denies ties to China’s military, calls US ruling “unconstitutional”
  8. Cable ISP warns “excessive” uploaders, says network can’t handle heavy usage
  9. State reps try to ban Comcast data cap and price hikes until pandemic is over
  10. Comcast lifts uploads to 5Mbps amid complaints its low-income plan is too slow
  11. 27% Of Cable TV Subscribers Will Cut The Cord This Year
  12. Flash is dead—but South Africa didn’t get the memo
  13. Georgia Towns Sue Netflix In Flimsy Bid To Nab A Slice Of The Pie 
  14. The Wall Street Journal Kisses Big Telecom’s Ass In Whiny Screed About ‘Big Tech’
  15. A TV Broadcaster’s Guide to Where Washington Regulatory Issues Stand
  16. Fixed-satellite service operators may soon access new frequencies and routine licensing procedures
  17. How to Watch the Super Bowl in VR With Friends for Free

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. For the Want of a Nail – Copyright Claims Fail When Plaintiffs Can’t Show Ownership
  2. Thomson Reuters v. ROSS case will test limits on protections for subscription-based database: ROSS Intelligence alleges monopolistic, anticompetitive control over legal research market
  3. Bernie and his Marvelous Mittens. It’s all Good Fun Until a Copyright Lawyer Gets Involved 
  4. Anthropomorphized Characters Representing Human Emotions are Not Copyrightable
  5. Annotations that Accompany State and Local Laws are not Copyrightable
  6. Generalized Expressions of Scientific Facts and Generic Themes are Not Copyrightable 
  7. Spoofs, Parodies, Compatibility, and Comparisons: When Can Competitors Borrow from Each Other? 
  8. Music – The Scope of Protection
  9. The Lies Told About The EU Copyright Directive’s Upload Filters May Help Get Them Thrown Out In Court
  10. Japan Looks To Amend Copyright Law To Force Some Cosplayers To Pay To Cosplay 
  11. Pitch perfect appeal for James Arthur 
  12. Is your joint copyright work purple or red/blue?
  13. Mitigating Copyright Issues in Remote Learning
  14. Music Licensing in the Video Streaming Era
  15. Pocky Ruling Denies Trade Dress Protection for the Useful, Though Not Essential, Shape of Cookie 
  16. Third Circuit Panel Revises Half-Baked Trade Dress Functionality Decision
  17. Please Dough Not Use My Trademark 
  18. Much ado about ballet shoes – important designs case on copying 
  19. The Shape of Things to… Eat 
  20. The Federal Court of Appeal Upholds Finding that Trademark Use Can Be Established Without a Physical Presence in Canada. 
  21. Federal Court grants interlocutory injunction in trademark action for second time in six months
  22. Canadian Intellectual Property Office allows requests for expedited COVID-19 medical trademarks
  23. Taste, Smell, Hear, Touch, and See – Appealing to All Five Senses with Non-Traditional Trademarks
  24. Taylor Swift in ‘Evermore’ Trademark Lawsuit Over Utah Theme Park Name 
  25. Trademark Modernization Act Strengthens Rights of Brand Owners 
  26. The Trademark Modernization Act: Real Change to Address the Realities of Trademark Law 
  27. Brewery Industry Insight — A Play-on-Words Mark Prevailed
  28. Annual Reminder: You Can Probably Just Call The Super Bowl The Super Bowl
  29. A decision based on Aesthetics – UK IPO rules stylisation is enough to overcome confusion
  30. General Court finds no likelihood of confusion in BBQLOUMI opposition – Cypriot cheesemakers continue to struggle in EU trade mark courts
  31. Lady A vs. Lady A: (Trademark) Battle of the Bands
  32. TTAB Precedent No. 46: No Abandonment of A.W. SHUCKS
  33. Cannabis Trade marks and commercialisation in the US, UK and EU. 
  34. Minimalist trademarks: end of the road for uniqueness?
  35. Cybersquatting trends and strategies that brand owners need to know 
  36. Janssen’s abiraterone acetate and prednisone combination therapy patent found invalid
  37. When is There an “Actual Invention” Involving Computers?
  38. Office Actions: Options to consider when you need an extension of time to respond to the Patent Office
  39. Protecting innovations through patent due diligence and FTO analysis
  40. Data Breaches Ain’t Just About Privacy: Risking the Loss of Patent Rights by Data Breach with Subsequent Disclosure 
  41. All Hands On Deck: Ensuring Innovation, Not Just Patents, From All 
  42. Third Circuit Requires Patent Validity Analysis In Adjudicating Antitrust Causation
  43. Federal Circuit Finds Patent Infringed After Reversing Claim Construction That Violated “Grammatical Principles” to Cover All Embodiments
  44. Judge Hellerstein Upholds Infringement by Microsoft of Kaufman’s “And/Or” Patent  
  45. Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality Litigation Update: Defendants’ Motion to Stay Pending IPR Denied in AR Design Innovations’ Patent Case
  46. Update on Patent “Aggregation” Suit Against Fortress  
  47. Patent-Eligible Subject Matter
  48. Patent-Ineligible Subject Matter
  49. 2020 IP Law Year in Review: Patents – Executive Summary
  50. Snapshot: intellectual property for fashion goods in Canada 
  51. 14 States Are Now Considering ‘Right to Repair’ Legislation
  52. Is there Magic in those Mushrooms? Protecting Psilocybin and Other Actives from Magic Mushrooms 
  53. IP Litigation 2020 Year in Review

PRIVACY

  1. Clearview AI’s Facial Recognition App Called Illegal in Canada
  2. Not So Fast: Clearview Asks for Rehearing of Seventh Circuit Decision on Article III Standing for BIPA Class Action
  3. Michigan State Police Officials Are Dodging Public Records Obligations By Using Encrypted Messaging Apps
  4. Consent Standards under the Proposed Consumer Privacy Protection Act
  5. FTC’s allegations of misuse of facial recognition
  6. FTC Settles with Fertility-Tracking App Developer Regarding Health Data Disclosures
  7. 30% of “SolarWinds hack” victims didn’t actually use SolarWinds
  8. From first to sixth: Huawei’s phone business tanks thanks to US sanctions
  9. Police Chief Demands Holes In Encryption Because Some Cops Decided To Participate In The DC Insurrection
  10. States Gear Up to Limit Use of Biometrics and Biological Data
  11. Apple sets “early spring” rollout for iOS privacy changes
  12. Texas Immigration Lawyer Sues DHS, CBP Over Seizure And Search Of His Work Phone
  13. Why Does the Brand of My Phone Affect My Credit Rating?
  14. Data Security and Privacy Predictions for 2021: 6 Issues to Watch
  15. The government will guard Biden’s Peloton from hackers. What about the rest of us?
  16. Canadian Privacy Law 2020 Year in Review

GAMES

  1. Valve loses controller patent case, must pay $4m in damages
  2. Valve on the hook for $4 million over Steam Controller patent infringement
  3. Is Steam really conspiring to price fix?
  4. Riot Games pushes for arbitration in gender discrimination lawsuit
  5. Riot Games pushes gender discrimination case back towards arbitration
  6. Ubisoft Toronto co-founder Alexandre Parizeau departs Ubisoft
  7. Activision lawyers dismiss diversity hiring proposals as ‘unworkable’
  8. Game firms acknowledged by Human Rights Campaign for LGBTQ inclusivity
  9. Google closes Stadia’s dedicated game studios after less than 2 years
  10. Google shuts down first-party Stadia game studios to refocus as platform provider
  11. Google closing Stadia game studios, opening up tech to publishers
  12. Google Stadia Shuts Down Internal Studios, Changing Business Focus
  13. Google Shutters Stadia Game Dev Studio, Will Focus On Distribution And Tech
  14. Google eliminates Stadia’s internal development team
  15. What Stadia’s pivot tells us about the future of cloud gaming
  16. Google needs to think smaller about games streaming | Opinion
  17. Level Up: 33 Legal Tips for Game Developers and Publishers
  18. New supply chain attack uses poisoned updates to infect gamers’ computers
  19. Amazon Can Make Just About Anything—Except a Good Video Game: The company produces successful movies, TV shows, e-readers and speakers, but gaming has proven difficult to crack.
  20. Report: Mismanagement plagues Amazon’s struggling push into video games
  21. Amazon is reportedly spending nearly $500 million a year on its video game division
  22. Activision bans 60,000 Call of Duty: Warzone cheaters
  23. Goldeneye 007’s lost Xbox 360 remaster has leaked—as a full-game speedrun
  24. We have finally played the lost, official Goldeneye 007 remaster for Xbox 360
  25. Destruction AllStars review: Amazing PS5 car combat, in spite of speedbumps
  26. Sony says semiconductor shortage makes increased PS5 production difficult
  27. Sony reports ‘significant’ sales increase following PS5 launch
  28. The PlayStation 5 had sold 4.5 million units by the end of 2020
  29. Scalpers aren’t the main reason you can’t find a new console
  30. Activision Patent Seeks to Improve Esport Footage Sharing For Future Titles: A patent filed by Activision looks at ways to improve the esports experience with detailed data that could enhance the way broadcasts look.
  31. CD Projekt’s stock soars after Elon Musk tweets about Cyberpunk
  32. GameStop stock dips as apps like Robinhood restrict trading
  33. Discord Takes Over Moderation Of r/WallStreetBets Server As Facebook Shuts Down Popular Stock Trading Group
  34. Discord bans WallStreetBets as subreddit briefly goes private
  35. Robinhood blocking purchase of GameStop stock
  36. Robinhood denies automatically selling users’ GameStop shares
  37. Robinhood’s plan to “democratize finance” hit a GameStop-shaped speed bump
  38. Robinhood App Decides To Stop Helping The Poor Steal From The Rich
  39. Discord bans WallStreetBets for hateful conduct amid GameStop stock surge
  40. Hedge fund Melvin sustains 53% loss after Reddit onslaught
  41. Hedge fund Melvin Capital pulls out of GameStop trading
  42. GameStop stock story won’t have a happy ending | This Week in Business
  43. Canada’s answer to Robinhood Markets warns traders but won’t halt trading in speculative stock: Wealthsimple doesn’t plan to restrict trading as other brokerages have done in recent days, CEO says
  44. Multiple GameStop stock story adaptations reportedly in the works
  45. As Virgin Galactic gets swept up in GameStop mania, it gets back to flying
  46. AOC Examines Wall Street Over Twitch Stream
  47. How to protect your intellectual property in the games industry
  48. Tabletop Simulator devs face criticism for Google Translate-sourced translations
  49. Piracy: Does it matter? – People will try to steal your game in huge numbers, says Butterscotch Shenanigans’ Adam Coster — treat it as a design constraint
  50. EA signs multi-year license extension with UEFA to continue FIFA collaboration 
  51. EA extends UEFA exclusivity, working on multiple FIFA mobile games
  52. EA reveals new studio Full Circle, the developer taking on the next ‘Skate’: The studio is led by the former head of Xbox Live and staffed by the creators of the original ‘Skate’ games
  53. EA posts record-breaking bookings driven by Ultimate Team, Apex Legends
  54. EA reports record net bookings as Apex Legends, Ultimate Team exceed expectations
  55. EA Play now has 13 million players across all platforms
  56. Star Wars has made $3bn for EA
  57. EA has made $3 billion in net bookings from just Star Wars games
  58. EA “very, very confident” about BioWare’s future despite key departures
  59. EA sees “huge potential” in racing following Codemasters acquisition
  60. EA Sports returning to college football
  61. EA Sports revives college football games, but without NCAA involvement
  62. EA is getting back into college football without NCAA, player licenses
  63. Detroit: Become Human dev Quantic Dream sets up new studio in Montreal
  64. Microsoft requests EU approval for ZeniMax acquisition
  65. Sega Sammy splits video games and pachinko machines into separate companies
  66. Nintendo raises fiscal forecast as Switch closes in on 80 million lifetime sales
  67. Nintendo Switch sales overtake 3DS as Nintendo raises forecasts again
  68. Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold over 31 million copies in nine months
  69. Super Nintendo World Recreated in Minecraft: A Minecraft player is currently building an authentic replica of the upcoming Super Nintendo World theme park, complete with its rides and shops.
  70. Modded Game Boy looks like an Apple product, works as Apple TV Remote
  71. iOS 14.5 update adds DualSense and Xbox Series X controller support
  72. The Medium has already recouped production and marketing costs
  73. The Medium | Critical Consensus
  74. Valve updates Steamworks to make sharing patch notes easier
  75. The Epic Games Store amassed over 160 million PC users in 2020
  76. Spider-Man: Miles Morales has sold 4.1m copies
  77. 25 years later, Midway’s lost “MLB Jam” arcade game has been found
  78. A new $110 light gun for old Duck Hunts: Ars tests an HDTV-friendly option
  79. Why Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ 31 million sales are so incredible
  80. Animal Crossing: New Horizons returns to No.1 | UK Boxed Charts
  81. All game development is unsustainable | 10 Years Ago This Month
  82. How can Xbox encourage consumers to ‘swim upstream’? | Opinion
  83. Brawl Stars is Supercell’s fourth title to pass $1bn in lifetime revenue
  84. Epic Games Store’s 160 million users spent over $700m in 2020
  85. Navigating the new normal: Studio culture in the time of COVID
  86. Australian games industry delivers 29 percent revenue growth despite COVID-19
  87. Sumo Group acquires PixelAnt Games
  88. Sumo acquires Polish work-for-hire studio PixelAnt Games
  89. Plug In Digital acquires Black Shell’s catalogue
  90. Gearbox Entertainment joins Embracer Group in $1.3b deal
  91. Borderlands dev Gearbox acquired by Embracer Group in $1.38 billion deal
  92. Embracer Group acquires Aspyr Media for $100m
  93. Embracer acquires mobile developer Easybrain and independent studio Aspyr
  94. Embracer Group merges with Easybrain in $640m deal
  95. AppOnboard raises $20m for Buildbox engine
  96. AppOnboard nets $20 million to support ‘no-code’ mobile dev platform Buildbox
  97. Pocket Worlds closes $7m funding round
  98. Ninja Theory halts updates for new IP Bleeding Edge
  99. Ninja Theory’s Bleeding Edge is staying online but won’t receive new content
  100. Digital drives Capcom sales to $622m
  101. Rovio shuts down Hatch
  102. Australian developer revenues raise 29% to $140m
  103. Pocket Worlds raises $7 million to double down on social mobile games
  104. Netflix and Legendary partner on Tomb Raider series
  105. Rime pairs accessible gameplay with relatable loss | Why I Love
  106. Over 50 percent of esports followers likely to bet on esports in the US – Survey
  107. FaZe Clan Signs With UTA Amid Content Expansion Into Scripted, Podcasting, More
  108. Red Bull Launches AR Mobile Game Series With Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins, 4 Other Athletes
  109. Blog: Five insights from 3700 reviews of Cyberpunk 2077
  110. Blog: A level design analysis of BioShock Infinite – Part 5
  111. Blog: How randomness contributes to strategic thinking
  112. Blog: What I learned from doing a game jam every month for a year
  113. Blog: Analyzing Unexplored’s secret cyclic dungeon generation
  114. Video: The value of large spenders in free-to-play games
  115. Q&A: Lessons learned from five years spent on the Hitman series
  116. Don’t Miss: The creative challenges BioWare faced designing Mass Effect 3
  117. Don’t Miss: Gearbox on producing a bigger Borderlands
  118. Utility Patents – What Game Developers Should Know

Jon

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News of the Week; January 27, 2021

By Jon Festinger on February 1, 2021

DIGITAL

  1. YouTube Suspends Donald Trump Indefinitely, Demonetizes Rudy Giuliani
  2. Parler’s attempt to get back on Amazon Web Services rejected by judge
  3. Judge Easily Rejects Parler’s Demands To Have Amazon Reinstate Parler
  4. Court Rejects Parler’s Demand That Amazon Host Its Services (Eric Goldman)
  5. This site posted every face from Parler’s Capitol Hill insurrection videos
  6. Facebook calls in its Oversight Board to rule on Trump ban
  7. Facebook’s Oversight Board to Decide on Trump Ban
  8. Oversight Board Agrees To Review Facebook’s Trump Suspension
  9. Donald Trump Permanently Suspended from Twitter
  10. Insights: The Donald’s Digital Death Penalty—Deplatforming, Politics, And The Future Of Social Media
  11. Disingenuous, Lying, Whining, Bloviating, Insurrection Encouraging Senator Josh Hawley Given Pages Of Major Newspaper To Explain How He’s Being Silenced
  12. Parole Violator Who Raided Senate Building Sold Out By The GPS Unit Attached To Him For Previous Parole Violations
  13. Let’s fix Facebook’s content issues
  14. California Appeals Court Says Section 230 Immunizes Twitter From Banned User’s Lawsuit
  15. Dozens Of Human Rights Group Tell Congress: Do Not Gut Section 230 On Our Behalf; It’ll Do More Harm Than Good
  16. Twitter is opening up its full tweet archive to academic researchers for free
  17. De-platforming Is a Fix, But Only a Short-Term One
  18. Have Social Media Companies Become Too Powerful?
  19. Twitter launches ‘Birdwatch,’ a forum to combat misinformation
  20. Planning to Sue Twitter Over an Account Suspension? YOU WILL LOSE–Murphy v. Twitter (Eric Goldman)
  21. Website ADA Lawsuit Filed Against Golden State Warriors
  22. NLRB Approves Workplace Social Media Policy Limiting Employees’ Online Communications
  23. EFF Tells Louisiana Court Satire Is Still Protected Speech Even If The Government Doesn’t Get The Joke
  24. Unfiltered: How YouTube’s Content ID Discourages Fair Use and Dictates What We See Online (EFF)
  25. Big Tech worldwide nerulation: not if, but how
  26. Google agrees to pay French news sites to send them traffic
  27. Google: We’ll shut down Australian search before we pay news sites for links
  28. Google Threatens To Pull Out Of Australia Entirely; Australians Demand That It Both Stay And Pay News Orgs For Giving Them Traffic
  29. Court Tosses RICO Lawsuit Demanding $90 Million And The Dissolution Of Google For Supposed Anti-Conservative Bias
  30. Google Maps will soon show COVID vaccine locations
  31. Google takes Tilt Brush open source as official development comes to an end
  32. Sexual Harassment: Now Digital and Still Happening
  33. Silicon Valley Takes the Battlespace
  34. The history of the connected battlespace, part one: Command, control, and conquer
  35. Why Red Hat killed CentOS—a CentOS board member speaks
  36. Antitrust and the Tech Industry
  37. Role Reversal: Ninth Circuit Rejects Consumer’s Attempt to Enforce Updated Arbitration Provision in Website Terms of Use
  38. Former US Ambassador Sues Apple Because Telegram Users Are Making Him Feel Scared
  39. House Republicans Have A Big Tech Plan… That Is Both Unconstitutional And Ridiculous
  40. How Can Conservatives Fight Back Against Big Tech? For A Start, Just Be Sane Again.
  41. Not just MagSafe: Apple reminds users not to hold iPhones near pacemakers
  42. Apple reports double-digit sales booms for every product category in Q1 2021
  43. Loon’s bubble bursts—Alphabet shuts down Internet balloon company
  44. FTC Reaches Multi-Million Dollar Settlement With Ticket Brokers in its First BOTS Act Case
  45. Southwest Airlines Sues to Stop Web Scraping of Fare Information
  46. Labor Board Approves Carefully Crafted Social Media Policies
  47. FOSTA Survives Constitutional Challenge–US v. Martono (Eric Goldman)
  48. Comments on the “Protecting Constitutional Rights from Online Platform Censorship Act” (Eric Goldman)
  49. Lawyer Can’t Sue Google for Bad Client Review–Lewis v. Google (Eric Goldman)
  50. Content Moderation Case Study: Facebook Targets Misinformation Spread By The Philippines Government (2020)
  51. Content Moderation Case Study: Social Media Upstart Parler Struggles To Moderate Pornography (2020)
  52. Mirroring Qualifies for Section 230–Monsarrat v. Newman (Eric Goldman)
  53. An alternate dimension: Virtual influencers
  54. Instagram Launches Professional Dashboard For Creators Building Businesses
  55. The Number Of Channels Monetizing Via YouTube’s Partner Program Doubled In 2020, CEO Says
  56. YouTube Issues Significantly Expanded Guide To Self-Certification, Asks For Creator Feedback
  57. JoJo Siwa Allegedly Swatted By Paparazzi After Coming Out As Part Of LGBTQ+ Community
  58. Jake Paul Signs With Triller And Snoop Dogg-Owned ‘The Fight Club’ For April Boxing Bout
  59. Jake Paul To Battle UFC Fighter Ben Askren In Upcoming Triller Boxing Match
  60. Invite-Only Chat App Clubhouse To Develop Creator Monetization With Series B Funding
  61. Genflow, Which Helps enceruencers Build Their Own Brands, Raises $11 Million
  62. IAC’s Vimeo Raises $300 Million At $5.7 Billion Valuation, With Spinoff Slated For Next Quarter
  63. Vimeo Rolls Out Lead-Generation Integrations With Mailchimp, HubSpot, Constant Contact
  64. ‘Selma,’ ‘When They See Us’ Filmmaker Ava DuVernay Signs Exclusive Podcast Deal With Spotify
  65. Byte, Clash Merge To Take On TikTok
  66. Italian Data Protection Authority Orders TikTok To Block Underage Users Following Death Of 10-Year-Old Girl
  67. This Tiktok star uses astrology to predict bitcoin prices
  68. TikTok Testing Q&A Tool, Enabling Creators To More Seamlessly Respond To Viewer Inquiries
  69. TikTok Launches ‘Creator Portal’, A Hub For Educational Resources, Best Practices, More
  70. TikTok Helps Push 17-Year-Old Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” To No. 1 Billboard Debut
  71. TikTok To Lay Off Most Indian Staffers After Country Makes Ban Permanent (Report)
  72. Public Actors Without Public Values: Legitimacy, Domination and the Regulation of the Technology Sector
  73. A class for itself? On the worldviews of the new tech elite
  74. Evolving Trends in the Production and Distribution of Streaming Media
  75. Privacy, Digitalization, Rule of Law Some Contemporary Challenges
  76. Crypto Asset Regulation: Is the US or UK Keeping Up Best With This Emerging Market?
  77. Break the Backlog: The Durable Conclusions from the Online Courtroom Project

A.I.

  1. Valve’s Gabe Newell imagines “editing” personalities with future headsets: “Remember when Bob got hacked by Russian malware [and] ran naked through forests?”
  2. Facebook’s Post-Insurrection Purge Catches A Bunch Of Left Wing Accounts In Its AI Net
  3. Algorithms and consumer harm: CMA publishes new research paper and launches call for information
  4. Research and analysis – Algorithms: How they can reduce competition and harm consumers (Competition & Markets Authority, U.K.)
  5. A short primer on patenting AI and machine learning inventions at the European Patent Office
  6. Towards a deliberative framework for responsible innovation in artificial intelligence
  7. Sidewalk-robot startup celebrates 1 million deliveries
  8. Waymo CEO dismisses Tesla self-driving plan: “This is not how it works”
  9. AI and Life Sciences: Has protein folding been solved?
  10. AI Update: UK Parliament Research Briefing on AI in the UK Healthcare System
  11. Andrew Gray and the AI Boot Camp
  12. Scale AI Valued at $3.5B After Series D Fundraising Round

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. Report calls for powerful new federal body to regulate social media 
  2. Telecoms Paused PAC Spending To Insurrectionists, But Their Umbrella Lobbying Orgs Didn’t
  3. Democrat Jessica Rosenworcel replaces Ajit Pai, is now acting FCC chairwoman
  4. Rosenworcel Announces Staff Appointments
  5. New Interim FCC Boss Jessica Rosenworcel Will Likely Restore Net Neutrality, Just Not Yet
  6. SpaceX adds laser links to Starlink satellites to serve Earth’s polar areas
  7. CenturyLink, Frontier missed FCC broadband deadlines in dozens of states
  8. Outgoing FCC’s Last Act Is A Delusional Report That Pretends US Broadband Is Wonderful
  9. FCC Issues Declaratory Ruling on Pole Attachment Costs and Pole Replacements
  10. Biden Fires Steve Bannon Protege, Who Tried To Turn Voice Of America Into A New Breitbart
  11. Broadband Monopolies Keep Getting Money For Networks Never Fully Deployed
  12. AT&T eats a $15.5 billion impairment charge as DirecTV debacle continues
  13. AT&T may keep majority ownership of DirecTV as it closes in on final deal 
  14. New US rules target use of Chinese IT and communications goods and services 
  15. FCC Seeks Comment on Permitting Mobile Services in 12 GHz Band 
  16. FCC’s Annual Broadband Deployment Report Shows Digital Divide Closing
  17. Can public service broadcasting survive Silicon Valley? Synthesizing leadership perspectives at the BBC, PBS, NPR, CPB and local U.S. stations (Erik Martin)

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1.  Software-Generated “Infringement Report” Supports $262,931 in Remedies For Copyright Infringement
  2. Securing Copyright and Trademark Rights for Broadcasts and Promotions Related to NFL Championship Games and Super Bowl LV (55)
  3. Sony Music Entertainment v. Cox Communications (USDC, Virginia: January 12, 2021): Denies ISP’s post-trial motion to reduce $1 billion statutory damages award in copyright infringement action.
  4. The Tricky Issue of Joint Authorship in Copyright Works
  5. BMG, Aggressive Champion Of Copyright Enforcement, Accused Of Copyright Infringement By Jehovah’s Witnesses
  6. CASE-ing the Joint: The Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act
  7. Turns Out That Brexit Means Rotting Pigs’ Heads, And Losing An EU Copyright Exception
  8. Finds Alleged Parody Fails on Copyright Fair Use Factors but Passes Rogers Test to Avoid Trademark Liability
  9. Sports data rights in 2021: the outlook
  10. Trademarks in 2020: Notable Canadian trademark cases and developments 
  11. Are Trademark Injunctions Continuing their Awakening from Hibernation?
  12. Top 5 trademark considerations every cleantech entrepreneur should know 
  13. Pearl Jam v Pearl Jamm
  14. Proud to Be an American, God Bless The USA, But Not Functioning as A Trademark 
  15. What’s Cookin’? No Likelihood of Confusion Between Two KITCHEN Marks 
  16. Tommy Hilfiger invalidates trademark piggybacking on its iconic flag logo 
  17. Brizzy v. Vizzy: Molson Coors Obtains Cheers-Worthy Trademark Ruling at Fifth Circuit 
  18. “Lettuce Turnip the Beet” Pun on T-Shirts Not Trademark Use, Ninth Circuit Affirms 
  19. Trademarks and Expressive Works 
  20. Stay A Lot More Than Six Feet From The NFL’s Trademarks! 2021 Update on Super Bowl Advertising and Promotions 
  21. Laches and Acquiescence in Trademark Proceedings
  22. More ‘failure to function’ refusals in 2020
  23. Generic.com Terms are Not Ineligible for Registration 
  24. Trademark Law Updates – Fees, Fraud and Injunction Presumptions
  25. January 2021 Trademark Update 
  26. US Trademark Amendment Act Will Provide New Procedures for Challenging Use Claims
  27. UDRP on Gameroom.com: Facebook keeps its domain name
  28. How does Brexit affect European Trademark Rights?
  29. Can I keep my .eu domain name?
  30. Who’s on the Line?: Protecting Your Trade Secrets on Zoom Calls
  31. Pepper Spray Manufacturer’s Successful Self-Defense Reinforces Best Practices for Design Patents
  32. Rothy’s v Giesswein – English Court leaves a lasting mark on EU Community design rights 
  33. Federal Court of Appeal Cautions Against Use of Foreign Prosecution History 
  34. Federal Court of Appeal affirms summary judgment in patent prosecutions: Court also upholds interpretation of file wrapper estoppel in precedent-setting case
  35. Federal Court continues trend of granting summary judgment in appropriate patent proceedings
  36. Federal Court upholds validity of two patents pertaining to ELIQUIS
  37. Non-practicing entity’s allegations of patent infringement against oil sands producer /operator dismissed
  38. Choueifaty patent application found to possess patentable subject-matter
  39. Federal Court finds silodosin formulation patent valid but not infringed
  40. Patent Appeal Board Allows Dosage Regimen Claims – No Physician Skill Needed
  41. PMPRB proposes to modify Guidelines definition of “gap medicine” to include medicines sold by July 1, 2021
  42. Patentee’s Success Story in a Hatch-Waxman Litigation Case
  43. A New Application of an Abstract Idea Is Still Abstract: Court Affirms Dismissal Under § 101
  44. Patentee Cannot Cure Lack of Written Description by Reference To Matter Present Only Foreign Priority Application
  45. Happiest Baby’s SNOO patent Rocks Baby Automatically
  46. Illuminating insufficiency: the English Patents Court examines “Regeneron ranges”
  47. Regeneron Recast – Mr Justice Birss provides illuminating insight into the law of sufficiency
  48. UKIPO “Green Channel” – can the patent system encourage more innovation in green technologies?
  49. Cannabis: Patents in Europe
  50. Senate Passed New Legislation to Punish Foreign Individuals and Corporations for IP Theft
  51. Biden administration promises hard stance against Chinese IP abuses  
  52. Intellectual Property Issues for Foreign Enterprises Acquiring Chinese Companies
  53. Critical and curious terms from the world of Intellectual Property
  54. Top Enforcement Issues to watch in 2021

PRIVACY

  1. The CPPA’s Privacy Law Enforcement Regime
  2. ADT Tech Spied On Women For Four Years Before Getting Caught By Accident
  3. Britain Helps Children Learn From Home By Procuring Them Laptops Preloaded With Russian Malware
  4. North Korea hackers use social media to target security researchers
  5. Military intelligence buys location data instead of getting warrants, memo shows
  6. NYPD Still Blowing The Public’s Money To Keep The Public From Seeing The NYPD’s Misconduct Records
  7. New Yorkers Receive Postmortem Rights and Protection Against Digitization of Sexually Manipulated Content in New Right of Publicity Statute
  8. Chrome and Edge want to help with that password problem of yours
  9. Home alarm tech backdoored security cameras to spy on customers having sex
  10. Flo Period App Gets A Wrist Slap For Sharing Private Health Data
  11. United Kingdom: Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issues statement on SolarWinds Orion compromise
  12. Amazon Ring App Found To Be (Again) Exposing User Locations, Home Addresses
  13. Court approves grocery store data breach settlement
  14. Appeals Court Rejects Clearview’s Attempt To Dodge A State Lawsuit By Trying To Make It A Federal Case
  15. 2020 Privacy Year In Review

GAMES

  1. Québec law firm files latest Nintendo Switch Joy-Con drift lawsuit: Lambert Avocat seeking compensation for all Québec consumers who bought Switch controllers since August 2017
  2. European Commission called to investigate into Joy-Con drift
  3. BEUC calls for Joy-Con Drift investigation after receiving 25,000 complaints
  4. Valve on trial for allegedly infringing controller patents: The Steam Controller is accused of being based on a patent belonging to SCUF
  5. US Court dismisses Wargaming lawsuit against former employees
  6. Jagex disputes Plutos Sama’s claims of ownership: RuneScape dev calls RICO lawsuit against former owner “meritless,” says it was fully acquired by Carlyle Group
  7. Runescape developer Jagex has been acquired by The Carlyle Group
  8. FTC Reaches Settlement with Tapjoy for Allegedly Deceiving Consumers About In-Game Rewards
  9. Mobile Ad Company Settles FTC Charges Over Misleading In-Game Rewards
  10. Epic’s Fortnite v Apple dispute arrives in the UK
  11. How Final Fantasy VII Remake legitimizes sexuality and gender identity
  12. Twitch bans Donald Trump’s account indefinitely
  13. Twitch indefinitely suspends account of former U.S. President Donald Trump
  14. Twitch permanently bans Trump, will update policy after Capitol siege: Streaming site says recent events have raised concerns over “rhetoric that encourages violence”
  15. Twitch’s new harassment policy goes into effect today: What’s new
  16. Activision Is Resisting Diversity Hiring Push by America’s Unions
  17. Activision Blizzard says interviewing diverse candidates for every opening “unworkable”
  18. Scavengers Studio creative director accused of belittling, screaming at, groping employees
  19. Report: Scavengers Studio co-founder allegedly groped, screamed at employees
  20. Scavengers suspends co-founder Simon Darveau
  21. Scavengers CEO steps down, suspends creative director after abuse allegations
  22. MAGFest executive director resigns after accusations of abusive behavior
  23. So, Uh, What’s Up With GameStop’s Stock?
  24. GameStop stock hits new highs as Redditors and stock market short sellers wage war
  25. For Basically No Reason, Gamestop’s Stock Price Is Rollercoastering In A Tug Of War Being Fought On Reddit
  26. The complete moron’s guide to GameStop’s stock roller coaster
  27. A Fight Over GameStop’s Soaring Stock Turns Ugly: The denizens of the WallStreetBets subreddit helped push the flailing stock to dizzying heights – while a short seller alleged an accompanying harassment campaign.
  28. How WallStreetBets Pushed GameStop Shares to the Moon
  29. Discord bans r/WallStreetBets server (for hate speech)
  30. GameStop share price reaches record high amid Reddit-driven short squeeze
  31. GameStop shares continue to soar following Elon Musk tweet
  32. GameStop stock soars, craters, closes up
  33. GameStop stock up 135% in 24 hours, Biden administration “monitoring the situation”
  34. All eyes on GameStop stock: The White House is now ‘monitoring the situation’
  35. Google halts Play Store ‘review bombing’ by GameStop traders
  36. Google Play bans video app for standard “.ass” subtitle support
  37. The Pokémon Company takes measures against Sword and Shield hackers
  38. The Pokemon Company is clamping down on Sword, Shield, and Home hackers
  39. Rovio quietly shutters game streaming service Hatch
  40. EA forms new studio Full Circle to revive Skate franchise
  41. Codemasters directors to vote in favour of EA bid
  42. Codemasters’ directors vote in favor of $1.2 billion EA acquisition
  43. Huuuge Games IPO could raise almost $400m
  44. Developers should be wary of the IPO’s siren call | Opinion:
  45. As CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk woes turn legal, developers with an eye on the stock market should think carefully about doing business under that level of scrutiny
  46. Cyberpunk 2077’s launch month sets digital sales record despite refunds
  47. Was the Cyberpunk 2077 launch a perfect storm? | This Week in Business
  48. CDPR working to navigate physical Cyberpunk 2077 returns as refunds roll out 
  49. How India’s shifting political climate is influencing local game development
  50. Romania: Copyright Perspective – Legal nature of Video Games
  51. New York Times Decides Kids Are Playing Too Many Video Games During The Pandemic
  52. Dead by Daylight studio apologises following developer comments about colourblind mode
  53. Plex adds game-streaming as paid add-on, completely botches the landing
  54. Xbox Live price increase reversed after less than one day
  55. Microsoft’s rolled back its Xbox Live Gold price increase
  56. Xbox Live Gold price hike reversed, service to no longer be required for free-to-play games: After outcry, Microsoft reverses course and goes a step further
  57. Xbox U-turns on Gold subscription price hike after fan backlash
  58. Opinion: Xbox’s Gold pricing flipflop & Game Pass ramifications
  59. Xbox Series X|S launches help push Microsoft gaming revenue up 51%
  60. Microsoft earnings: Xbox hardware sales shot up 86% with Series X/S
  61. Xbox revenue up 51% in a quarter defined by Game Pass growth, Series X|S debut
  62. Xbox Game Pass driving revenue at Microsoft after crossing 18 million subscribers
  63. Here’s Every Game Coming to The PlayStation 5 And Xbox Series X In 2021
  64. Can the games industry keep its COVID customers?
  65. Epic Games Pushes Into Film With Funding For Animated Feature ‘Gilgamesh’
  66. Using player-avatar relations to make more engaging and successful games: Avatars can be the key to offering more intense and satisfying game experiences, and inspiring loyalty among players
  67. Steam ‘prologues’… do they really help?
  68. Hitman 3 surpasses its predecessor to claim No.1 | UK Boxed Charts
  69. Hitman 3 recoups project costs in under a week
  70. IO Interactive’s Hitman 3 made back its dev costs in a single week
  71. FIFA 21 was Europe’s best-selling boxed game in 2020
  72. Switch expanding the console market, says Interpret
  73. What a Wipeout spiritual successor can teach investors about games
  74. Capcom raises forecasts thanks to growing digital sales
  75. Capcom raises full year earnings forecast thanks to strong digital sales
  76. Resident Evil VIII gets May release date, massive preview, playable demo
  77. Digital sales now make up 91 percent of Focus Home Interactive’s revenue
  78. Hyrule Warriors drives record Q3 for Koei Tecmo
  79. Deep Rock Galactic has topped 2 million sales
  80. Konami restructuring internal departments, has not dissolved games development teams
  81. Tencent acquires minority stake in Dontnod
  82. Tencent picks up minority stake in Dontnod for $36.3 million
  83. Tencent invests 30 million euros into DONTNOD, funding self-publishing
  84. Sagard NewGen nabs minority stake in Flight Simulator dev Asobo Studio
  85. Blizzard absorbs acclaimed Activision studio as a dedicated “support” team
  86. Vicarious Visions merged into Blizzard
  87. Vicarious Visions is now a part of Blizzard Entertainment
  88. DualShockers acquired by GRV Media
  89. Jagex sold to Carlyle Group
  90. RuneScape publisher Jagex acquired by The Carlyle Group for at least $530 million
  91. Team 17 acquires Golf With Your Friends franchise for $16.4 million
  92. Team17 acquires Golf With Your Friends for £12m
  93. Nacon acquires Big Ant Studios for €35m
  94. Nacon acquires Cricket 19 developer Big Ant Studios for $42.5 million
  95. Azerion fully acquires Habbo Hotel developer Sulake
  96. Habbo developer Sulake to be fully acquired by Azerion 
  97. Imvu receives $35m investment
  98. Together Labs nets $35 million to fund avatar-based social platform IMVU
  99. MegaDev secures $1.9m for PC cheat platform Plitch
  100. Huuuge ambitions: How a $300m IPO will make the Polish mobile studio last forever
  101. Sagard NewGen acquires minority stake in Asobo Studio
  102. Tencent made record number of games M&A deals in 2020
  103. Tencent acquires majority stake in Klei Entertainment
  104. Games projects raised $23m on Kickstarter in 2020
  105. The rise of Fall Guys and how Mediatonic plans to take it higher
  106. The Esports Industry Grew; Now It’s Time For It To Grow Up
  107. PlayVS expands to Canada with GameSeta acquisition
  108. Epic pledges $20 million for Fortnite esports in 2021
  109. Rival Peak reaches 22m views
  110. GamersNexus’ Steve Burke overclocks his YouTube channel’s best comments
  111. Apple reportedly planning VR headset for next year
  112. Report: Apple’s VR headset will be a pricey, high-end niche standalone
  113. PSVR 2 could be the hottest VR headset yet | Patent Trawling
  114. Pokémon Crystal keeps us interested by telling us less | Why I Love
  115. The ‘fab four’ game marketing maxims to live by
  116. Blog: The scary secrets of horror design from Silent Hill 4
  117. Blog: Everything you need to know about LiveOps in 2021
  118. Blog: Microtransations and the race to the bottom
  119. Blog: Using data-driven lessons from Academia: School Simulator to understand discounts
  120. Blog: A design discussion on Death Stranding
  121. Video: Behind the massive crowds of Assassin’s Creed Unity 
  122. Video: The tech behind Inkle’s interactive film scripts
  123. Don’t Miss: The Cabal – Valve’s design process for creating Half-Life
  124. Don’t Miss: How Monster Hunter: World’s director breathed new life into the series
  125. The Last of Us Part II leads the 2021 DICE Awards nominations

Jon

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News of the Week; January 20, 2021

By Jon Festinger on January 24, 2021

DIGITAL

  1. YouTube Extends Trump Ban For Another Week, Citing Concerns About “Ongoing Potential For Violence”
  2. YouTube Removes Onision From Partner Program, Demonetizes His Channels Over Child Safety Concerns
  3. Facebook knew about violent extremists before insurrection, reports find
  4. Sheryl Sandberg Makes Disingenuous Push To Argue That Only Facebook Has The Power To Stop Bad People Online
  5. They Used to Post Selfies. Now They’re Trying to Reverse the Election.: Right-wing influencers embraced extremist views, and Facebook rewarded them.
  6. Inside Twitter’s Decision to Cut Off Trump
  7. The Capitol Rioters Are Giving Insurrection a Bad Name
  8. Disinformation creep: ADOS and the strategic weaponization of breaking news
  9. Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones but Words Incite a Riot
  10. I’m a First Amendment scholar – and I think Big Tech should be left alone
  11. No Political Advertising on Google, At Least Until After Inauguration Day
  12. Inauguration Has Happened, Google And Facebook Should End The Ban On Political Advertisements
  13. Social Media Platforms See 73% Drop In Election Misinformation After Trump’s Ban (Study)
  14. Dominion Voting Systems Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Former Trump Lawyer, Sidney Powell
  15. GitHub regrets firing Jewish employee who called Trump-incited mob “Nazis”
  16. Trump pardons engineer who copped to stealing a Google secret for Uber: Peter Thiel, Palmer Luckey, and others asked Trump to pardon Levandowski.
  17. Chinese Ad for Make-Up Wipes Pulled Over Charges of Sexism and Victim-Blaming
  18. Applying Uber v. Heller – Ontario Superior Court of Justice applies unconscionability doctrine to standard form arbitration clause
  19. Jonathan Zittrain on the Great Deplatforming
  20. 2021 Is the Year the Internet Gets Rewritten: As Silicon Valley flails to combat an insurrection at home, Europe is marching ahead with a plan to revise the web’s basic rulebook.
  21. Jack Dorsey Explains The Difficult Decision To Ban Donald Trump; Reiterates Support For Turning Twitter Into A Decentralized Protocol
  22. What motivates the motivated reasoning of pro-Trump conspiracists?
  23. Trump’s Facts-Optional Assault On Chinese Tech Continues With Blocking Of Xiaomi
  24. As Beijing Continues To Creep Into Hong Kong, Internet Censorship Begins
  25. Amazon offers Biden help to speed up vaccine distribution
  26. Judge Not Impressed By Parler’s Attempt To Force Amazon To Put It Back Online
  27. Parler CEO admits site may never recover from Amazon ban
  28. Parler’s CEO Promises That When It Comes Back… It’ll Moderate Content… With An Algorithm
  29. Ridiculous: Yale Law Prof Argues That Because Some In Congress Want More Moderation, That Makes Twitter A State Actor
  30. A Few More Thoughts On The Total Deplatforming Of Parler & Infrastructure Content Moderation
  31. Parler seems to be sliding back onto the Internet, but not onto mobile
  32. Parler Attempting to Come Back Online, Still Insisting The Site’s Motivation Is ‘Privacy’ Despite Leaking Details On All Its Users
  33. Questions Raised About Why Online Retailers Are Promoting Attack on Capitol Hill-Themed Products
  34. Hackers alter stolen regulatory data to sow mistrust in COVID-19 vaccine
  35. When Can a Politician Block Constituents on Social Media?–Garnier v. O’Connor-Ratcliff (Eric Goldman)
  36. Facebook Isn’t Liable for Account Hack/Hijack–Damner v. Facebook (Eric Goldman)
  37. The local politics of AirBNB’s ban on DC rentals
  38. Samsung’s top executive gets 30 months in prison for bribery
  39. Mobile Advertising Company Gets Flack from FTC for Failure to Deliver Upon Advertised Promises
  40. “Big Tech” under pressure – new Rules for Digital Platforms in the EU and UK
  41. UK government sets out final approach to regulating online harms
  42. Should my Will refer to Digital Assets
  43. Google says it’s closing the Fitbit acquisition—uh, without DOJ approval?
  44. Former FCC Boss Tom Wheeler Continues To Misunderstand And Misrepresent Section 230 And The Challenges Of Content Moderation
  45. Understanding the Controversy over Section 230
  46. Content Moderation Case Study: Dealing With Demands From Foreign Governments (January 2016)
  47. Content Moderation Case Study: Using Hashes And Scanning To Stop Cloud Storage From Being Used For Infringement (2014)
  48. The New Age of Content Moderation(?)
  49. Free Access To Academic Papers For Everyone In India: Government Proposes ‘One Nation, One Subscription’ Approach As Part Of Major Shift To Openness
  50. Indonesian Government Prioritizes Influencers — Alongside Healthcare Workers — In COVID Vaccine Rollout
  51. Influencer and brand under fire for failing to clearly identify marketing communication on TikTok (Jamella t/a GHD in association with Emily Canham)
  52. Influencer Marketing Guide
  53. 2020 Advertising Law Year in Review
  54. Netflix’s First Inclusion Report Lays Out Its Diversity Efforts, Shortfalls, Goals
  55. Netflix Soars Past 200 Million Subscribers, Clocked $25 Billion In Revenues Last Year
  56. ViacomCBS Sets March 4 Launch For Paramount+ Streaming Service
  57. CBS All Access is dead, long live Paramount+: “New” streaming service launches March 4
  58. Apple Looking To Monetize Podcasting Platform Via Subscription Service (Report)
  59. Apple pulls the plug on user-found method to sideload iOS apps on Mac
  60. Some Creators Are Making Millions Uploading Videos To Snapchat’s Spotlight
  61. YouTube Adds Safety Feature Targeting Comments With External Links
  62. YouTube Adds New Metric Letting Creators Track Video Performance Over 24-Hour Span
  63. The Dolan Twins, With 11 Million Subscribers, Resign From YouTube To Pursue Other Ventures
  64. YouTube Wonderkid ‘Like Nastya’ Topples 200 Million Subs Across Portfolio Of 14 Channels
  65. PC sales finally saw big growth in 2020 after years of steady decline
  66. Newly-Formed ‘Group Nine Acquisition Corp.’ Prices $200 Million IPO, Kicking Off Today
  67. Wattpad Acquired By Webtoon’s Parent Company ‘Naver’ In $600 Million Deal
  68. CAA Acquires Creative Agency ‘Tandem’ To Bolster Digital Partnerships, Branded Content Efforts
  69. Treasury nominee Yellen is looking to curtail use of cryptocurrency
  70. The internet didn’t kill counterculture—you just won’t find it on Instagram
  71. Rhode Island clarifies sales taxation of advertising software
  72. Zeros and Ones in 2021: Next Moves in the Digital Tax Debate
  73. Emoji Law Year-in-Review for 2020 (Eric Goldman)

A.I.

  1. Facebook will pay more than $300 each to 1.6M Illinois users in settlement
  2. WorkLife 2.0: A robot in control – should AI have a voice on the Board?
  3. Brainard weighs benefits and risks of using AI in financial services industry
  4. AI-powered text from this program could fool the government
  5. Microsoft invests in $30 billion driverless car company Cruise
  6. FDA Issues Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning Action Plan
  7. Five highlights from FDA’s new AI device regulation Action Plan
  8. House of Lords liaison committee report on AI published
  9. “AI in the UK: No room for complacency” and no room for a separate AI regulation
  10. The AI Council calls for a National AI Strategy: building public trust
  11. What You Need to Know About M&A and Investing in AI
  12. Blockchain, AI and Cloud in the Luxury Sector
  13. An interview with Cirio Advokatbyrå AB discussing artificial intelligence in Sweden

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. Federal Enforcement Agencies Remind Canadian Mobile App Companies of their CASL Obligationsl
  2. Fox News Needs To Accept Some Of The Blame For The Insurrection; But That Doesn’t Mean We Toss Out The 1st Amendment
  3. FCC fines white-supremacist robocaller $10 million for faking caller ID
  4. FCC Fines White Supremacist ~$10 Million for Spoofed RoboCalls
  5. In Departing Statement, FCC Boss Ajit Pai Pretends He ‘Served The People’
  6. As Ajit Pai exits FCC, Charter admits defeat on petition to impose data caps
  7. With Trump Loss, Charter Backs Off FCC Request To Allow Broadband Caps
  8. 3Mbps uploads still fast enough for US homes, Ajit Pai says in final report
  9. FCC’s new foreign ownership review rules set to take effect
  10. House Lawmakers Question Telecom Giants Over Broadband Price Gouging During A Pandemic
  11. Broadband Market Failure Keeps Forcing Americans To Build Their Own ISPs
  12. US declares Xiaomi a “Communist Chinese military company,” bans investments
  13. English Premier League wins latest round in battle over satellite decoder cards
  14. UK faces major telecoms regulation overhaul courtesy of the European Electronic Communications Code

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Foreign Certificate of Registrations of Copyright may not suffice to prove ownership of copyright in Canada
  2. How one musician took on the world’s biggest TV network over copyright—and won
  3. Ninth Circuit Panel Adopts “Asserted Truths” Doctrine in Holding Jersey Boys Musical Does Not Infringe Copyright 
  4. INSTA-FRAUD Instagram ‘Copyright Infringement’
  5. Martin v Kogan: High Court re-writes script as Kogan succeeds in copyright co-authorship retrial
  6. Why Software Developers Should Provide Licensees With Software Escrow Services 
  7. Getting Your Website Ready for the New Library of Congress Copyright Claims Board
  8. A Short Summary of the CASE Act (Tyler Ochoa) 
  9. Mixed reactions as copyright owners ring in 2021 with CASE Act
  10. In CASE You Missed It: Significant New Dispute-Resolution Process for Copyright Claims 
  11. New Stimulus Bill Creates Small Claims Copyright Court 
  12. Pepe the Frog 
  13. Knobbe Practice Webinar Series – Protecting User Interface Technologies
  14. Celebrated graffiti artist Futura sues The North Face for its FUTURELIGHT apparel line alleging copyright and trademark infringement 
  15. A COVID-19 fast-track for Canadian trademark applications 
  16. Canadian Trademark Law: 2020 Year in review 
  17. Year in Review – Key Trademark Cases from 2020
  18. The Case of the ‘Missing S’
  19. A not so EASY task after all – UKIPO finds EASY mark devoid of distinctive character 
  20. SCOTUS Refuses To Hear Case Between Jack Daniels And VIP Products Over Doggy Chew Toy
  21. Are Commercial Parody Dog Toys Subject to the Heightened Rogers Test, and Do They Qualify As Non-Commercial Works under the Trademark Dilution Revision Act? 
  22. Everything Old is New Again: Presumption of Irreparable Harm Restored to Third Circuit Trademark Cases Seeking Injunctive Relief 
  23. TTAB KO’s Mayweather PAST PRESENT FUTURE Trademark Application
  24. Trademark Modernization Act Becomes Law: Establishes Procedures to Remove Deadwood Registrations, Restores Presumption of Irreparable Harm, and Protects the Independence of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board
  25. Trade Mark Filings increase worldwide in 2019 
  26. A Trademark is Not a Copyright or a Patent 
  27. Manufacturers Must Not be Blind to Their Rights Against Counterfeiters
  28. Shoe design found valid and infringed in the UK Court’s last Community registered design case
  29. Case Study | Breach of Confidence by employees 
  30. Litigation finance helps companies keep their cool during trade secrets disputes 
  31. How Not to Build a Case of Trade Secret Misappropriation 
  32. Federal Court invalidates Janssen ZYTIGA® Patent
  33. Federal Court decision regarding glatiramer acetate finds one patent obvious and another valid and infringed
  34. PM(NOC) Invalidity Grounds May Extend Beyond NOA
  35. Federal Court continues recent trend of granting summary judgment in appropriate patent proceedings
  36. The new rules of Canadian patent litigation: Federal Court of Appeal affirms the viability of summary judgments in patent actions, upholds interpretation of file wrapper estoppel
  37. Recent Amendments to the Patented Medicines Regulations Declared Unconstitutional by Québec Superior Court
  38. Have any Patents Issued under the USPTO’s COVID-19 Prioritized Patent Examination Program?
  39. Patenting the 3D Bioprinting Innovations that Combat COVID-19
  40. Revenge of the Grammer Nerds: Grammatical Canons Overturn $8.6 Million Jury Infringement Verdict 
  41. No Reasonable Expectation of Success, No Obviousness 
  42. The China Pivot: Closing the “Back Door” to Trade Secret and IP Theft
  43. Rapid Rise in Blockchain Patent Filings in China
  44. Everyday IP – Brushing up: When were toothbrushes invented?
  45. UK-EU Trade Agreement and IP Rights
  46. Proposed University Technology Licensing Program Gets Nod from Justice Department
  47. Making the best of a bad year: Winning IP cases in 2020
  48. World Intellectual Property Indicators Report 2020
  49. 2020 Engineering & Technology Year in Review
  50. Importance of Protecting Intellectual Property in the Digital Age 
  51. 10 things every new IP counsel should do

PRIVACY

  1. Defunct Photo App Agrees to Erase Biometric Data in FTC Settlement
  2. FTC Settles Allegations of Deceptive Practices by Photo Storage App Provider
  3. FTC Takes Aim at Facial Recognition Claims in Latest Deception Settlement
  4. Tiktok faces lawsuit for violating children’s data privacy law in the UK
  5. Fired former data scientist Rebekah Jones arrested, tests positive for COVID-19
  6. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Vacates MD Anderson HIPAA Penalty
  7. CJEU rules that the UK’s “mass surveillance” regime is out of line with EU law
  8. The NSA warns enterprises to beware of third-party DNS resolvers
  9. Security firm Malwarebytes was infected by same hackers who hit SolarWinds
  10. How law enforcement gets around your smartphone’s encryption
  11. Beware of biometric data compliance pitfalls under BIPA
  12. Another Day, Another Location Data Privacy Scandal We’ll Probably Do Nothing About
  13. Oceans Apart? Mass Privacy Litigation in the US and Europe
  14. Key lessons from the first major GDPR fines for cyber breaches

GAMES

  1. CD Projekt faces a second class-action lawsuit over Cyberpunk 2077
  2. CD Projekt Red exec disputes Cyberpunk 2077 demo were “almost entirely fake”
  3. CD Projekt vows ‘vigorous’ defense as investors launch second Cyberpunk class action
  4. Inside Cyberpunk 2077’s Disastrous Rollout
  5. Epic Games takes legal action against Apple and Google in UK
  6. Epic submits claims against Google and Apple to UK Competition Appeal Tribunal
  7. “Loot boxes” and other in-game purchases: ASA launches consultation
  8. European Commission fines Valve, others $9.4 million for ‘geo-blocking’ games
  9. EU fines Valve and five publishers €7.8m for geo-blocking practices
  10. FTC Cracks Down on Mobile Gaming Middlemen Offering In-Game Rewards and Offers
  11. FTC reaches settlement over misleading mobile advertisements for in-game rewards, and warns of growing scrutiny towards today’s gaming gatekeepers
  12. FTC Pursues Advertising Network that Failed to Deliver In-Game Rewards in Exchange for Payment or Personal Information
  13. Planning a Super Bowl-themed Marketing Campaign? 5 Tips for Staying In Bounds
  14. ITC Threat for Gaming Companies Grows with PTAB Discretionary Denials
  15. Twitch’s Trump ban sustained after leaving office
  16. Nintendo blocks videos by Game & Watch hacker
  17. Nintendo uses copyright claims to take down Game & Watch hacking videos
  18. Nintendo Hates You: Gaming Giant Lobs A DMCA Nuke At Hundreds Of Fan Games
  19. Universal delays opening of Super Nintendo World again due to COVID-19
  20. Super Nintendo World opening on “indefinite hiatus”
  21. Analyst: The Nintendo Switch outsold every other console in 2020
  22. Chinese Switch sales expose a failure to counter the import market | Opinion
  23. Studios and designers: Are you sure that you own the intellectual property rights to your video games?
  24. Gaming the system: How GameStop stock surged 1,500% in nine months
  25. GAME details efforts to prevent PS5 scalpers
  26. Epic Games Store exclusivity muddles Hitman 3’s legacy DLC promise on PC
  27. IO Interactive assures Hitman 3 players will not have to repurchase previous entries
  28. Hitman III review: Let’s call it Hitman 2.5 and be fine with it
  29. Hitman 3 | Critical Consensus
  30. US environmental agency warns against Xbox Series X, PS5 energy consumption
  31. Report: Xbox’s “instant on” feature could consume 4 billion kWh by 2025
  32. Mobile gaming saw surge of new players in 2020
  33. Bungie is shutting down its Halo stats archive in February
  34. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor has lost its online features, including Vendetta missions
  35. Games investments reached $33.6bn in 2020
  36. InvestGame: 2020 game deals hit value of $33.6 billion across 664 transactions
  37. 2020 sees record US games spending at $56.9bn | US Annual Report
  38. NPD reveals the best-selling games of 2020 in the U.S.
  39. Battle.net gets a fresh coat of paint to improve navigation, accessibility, and more
  40. The triumph of mobile core games heralds a demographic shift | Opinion
  41. The Switch has officially shipped 1 million units in China
  42. Nintendo Switch accounted for 87% of consoles sold in Japan last year | Japan Annual Report
  43. Nintendo and GTA 5 come top in big year for Australia game sales | Australia Annual Report
  44. Nintendo continues to prop up UK games retail | UK Boxed Charts
  45. Ace Combat 7 has topped 2.5 million sales worldwide
  46. Puzzle Quest dev Infinity Plus Two acquired by 505 Games parent Digital Bros
  47. Playtech sells YoYo Games to Opera for $10m
  48. Opera buys GameMaker Studio maker YoYo Games for $10 million
  49. Opera opens new video game division and confirms YoYo Games purchase
  50. 505 Games acquires Infinity Plus Two
  51. Playtika IPO raises $1.88bn
  52. IPO plans value Krafton at up to $27bn
  53. Impending IPO values PUBG Studio parent Krafton at as much as $27 billion
  54. Casino game studio Huuuge looking to raise $150 million through IPO
  55. Savage Game Studios raises $4.4m
  56. Mobile developer Savage Game Studios nets $4.4 million for competitive shooter
  57. Miniclip acquires Online Soccer Manager studio Gamebasics
  58. Miniclip acquires Online Soccer Manager developer Gamebasics
  59. How MTG’s acquisition will fuel Hutch’s race to No.1
  60. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Blockbuster IP
  61. PC fan port of early Sonic games lets you zoom the camera way, way out
  62. How to localize a game video: A checklist for developers
  63. YouTube channel GameXplain accused of overworking and underpaying staff
  64. PewDiePie Signs Exclusive Facebook Distribution Deal With Jellysmack
  65. Leyline: “We don’t care about the money — we want to make the world better”
  66. Esports’ Wild 2020 Ride Culminates In 69 Percent Growth And A Continuing Rising Trend
  67. Kuato raises £4.5m, expands to VR
  68. Educational game studio Kuato nets $6.1 million to finance VR pivot
  69. Tilting Point opens studio in Russia to work on multiple projects
  70. The return of Peter Moore
  71. Industry vet Peter Moore returns to games as Unity SVP
  72. Peter Moore joins Unity as SVP and GM of sports and live entertainment
  73. Blog: The successful steps of Early Access games
  74. Blog: How can we improve support powers in RTS games? 
  75. Blog: Understanding the types of game currencies in mobile free-to-play
  76. Video: Next-level creature sound design
  77. Video: Unscoring the world of Kenshi
  78. Don’t Miss: Monolith Productions’ postmortem of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
  79. Don’t Miss: Building a ‘homebrew’ video game console

Jon

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News of the Week; January 13, 2021

By Jon Festinger on January 20, 2021

DIGITAL

  1. Trump deletes tweets after being banned from Twitter
  2. Donald Trump has finally earned a permaban from Twitter
  3. Not Easy, Not Unreasonable, Not Censorship: The Decision To Ban Trump From Twitter
  4. Facebook, Instagram ban Trump through at least Inauguration Day
  5. YouTube suspends Trump’s account, disables comments “indefinitely”
  6. Just-Formed Alphabet Union Condemns YouTube’s “Lackluster” Response To Pro-Trump Capital Mob
  7. Wednesday, January 6th: The Day The Game Of Politics Turned Into Insurrection
  8. Politics Is Not A Game
  9. Republican state lawmaker livestreamed himself in mob storming US Capitol
  10. FBI arrests Republican lawmaker who stormed Capitol with pro-Trump mob
  11. Republican lawmaker resigns after arrest for storming US Capitol
  12. Identifying Insurrectionists Is Going To Be Easy — Thanks To Social Media And All The Other Online Trails People Leave
  13. Insurrectionists’ social media presence gives feds an easy way to ID them
  14. Dominion Voting suing “kraken” lawyer Sidney Powell for $1.3B
  15. Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell banned from Twitter in QAnon purge
  16. Trump social media ban will feature in future antitrust hearings
  17. The real lesson of Trump’s social media silencing
  18. Trump Is Banned. Who Is Next?
  19. Reddit’s largest remaining Trump community banned for “inciting violence”
  20. Google bans Parler from Android app store
  21. Amazon cuts off Parler’s Web hosting following Apple, Google bans
  22. After white supremacists storm US capitol, Apple expands racial justice initiative
  23. Parler goes dark, sues Amazon to demand immediate reinstatement
  24. Parler’s Laughably Bad Antitrust Lawsuit Against Amazon
  25. Filing: Amazon warned Parler for months about “more than 100” violent threats
  26. Parler’s amateur coding could come back to haunt Capitol Hill rioters
  27. Trump, Parler, and the internet regulation fallout (Andres Guadamuz)
  28. Facebook says it’s blocking posts with the phrase “stop the steal”
  29. Big ISPs pause donations to 147 Republicans who tried to reverse Biden’s win
  30. Snowflake Josh Hawley Seems To Think The 1st Amendment Means Simon & Schuster Has To Give Him A Book Contract
  31. Some Thoughts On Twitter Pulling The Plug On Trump’s Account
  32. Irony: German Chancellor Merkel Upset At Twitter For Banning Trump; Meanwhile Germany Demands Social Media Blocks Dangerous Content
  33. More Plaintiffs (and Lawyers) Need To Be Reminded That YouTube Isn’t a State Actor–Divino v. Google (Eric Goldman)
  34. The First Amendment: Where it is Implicated, and Where it is Not
  35. A New Year, a new approach to digital regulation: the DSA and Online Harms
  36. SolarWinds malware has “curious” ties to Russian-speaking hackers
  37. “Baby-making machines”: Chinese tweet on Uighurs not against Twitter rules
  38. Twitter takes down China’s “baby-making machines” tweet on Uighur women
  39. Appeals Court: Just Because Someone Used An Email Account To Send Threats Doesn’t Make It An ‘Interstate’ Crime
  40. Mossack Fonseca & Co. v. Netflix Inc. (California: Central District December 23, 2020): In libel action concerning Netflix’s 2019 film The Laundromat, district court grants anti-SLAPP motion.
  41. PSA: If Someone Doesn’t Accept Your Friend Request, Do Not Threaten To Kill Them And Kick In Their Front Door
  42. Goliath Beater Roku Rockets Into ‘The Streaming Decade’
  43. Quibi’s $1.75B experiment ends with Roku acquisition for “less than $100M”
  44. Roku Has Officially Acquired Quibi’s Pricey Programming Library
  45. Internet Shutdowns in 2021 
  46. The Year That Changed the Internet
  47. New proposals for regulation of online platforms in Europe
  48. Dear Section 230 Critics: When Senators Hawley And Cruz Are Your Biggest Allies, It’s Time To Rethink
  49. New Op-Ed: People Who Understand Section 230 Actually Love It (Eric Goldman)
  50. Section 230 Year-in-Review for 2020 (Eric Goldman)
  51. Content Moderation Case Study: SoundCloud Combats Piracy By Giving Universal Music The Power To Remove Uploads (2014)
  52. Content Moderation Case Study: Yelp Attempts To Tackle Racism On Its Platform (2020)
  53. The Slope Gets More Slippery As You Expect Content Moderation To Happen At The Infrastructure Layer
  54. Everything Pundits Are Getting Wrong About This Current Moment In Content Moderation
  55. Twitter Bans Sci-Hub’s Account Because Of ‘Counterfeit Goods’ Policy, As Indian Copyright Case Heats Up
  56. Apple allegedly working with Hyundai on electric car for 2027
  57. Bummed about new Google Photos storage limits? Amazon Photos says “hi”
  58. A Google smart display with radar-based sleep tracking is reportedly happening
  59. How YouTube helps form homogeneous online communities
  60. YouTube Re-Teams With Demi Lovato For ‘Dancing With The Devil’ Docuseries
  61. YouTube Turns On Post-Roll Ads By Default On All 10-Minute, Monetizing Videos
  62. YouTube Names Dr. Garth Graham Global Head Of Healthcare, In Bid To Bolster Authoritative Health Content
  63. ‘#YouTubeBlack Voices Grant Program’ Unveils Inaugural Class Of 132 Creator Recipients
  64. MrBeast Smashes 50 Million Subs, Though Recent Videos Have Lost A “Ridiculous” Amount Of Money
  65. 100 Thieves Snags AT&T Sponsorship, Will Install Branded ‘Valorant’ Team Training Room
  66. Some Uber, Lyft drivers sue over California ballot measure: Lawsuit says Proposition 22 is unconstitutional because it limits right to organize
  67. Sway House Investment Spurs Tinder Founder Sean Rad To Seed $1 Million In ‘Versus Game’ App
  68. Music and Social Media – Times are changing for brands on TikTok
  69. TikTok Launches 3-Month Incubation Program For Black Creators
  70. TikTok Breakout Noah Beck Lands Reality Series At AwesomenessTV
  71. Context is key: ASA dismisses complaint against a Laphroaig whisky ad accused of linking alcohol with sexual activity
  72. After corporate blunders and setbacks, Intel ousts CEO Bob Swan
  73. Qualcomm will acquire chip company founded by Apple execs for $1.4 billion
  74. Nvidia’s next laptop GPU generation powers a leap to 1440p displays
  75. Nvidia’s takeover of Arm is being investigated by UK competition authorities
  76. UK competition regulator to investigate Nvidia’s takeover of Arm
  77. 2H 2020 Quick Links, Part 5 (Contracts, E-Commerce, Defamation, Censorship, & More) (Eric Goldman)

A.I.

  1. UKIPO patent guidance updated for DABUS judgment
  2. Landmark artificial intelligence legislation becomes law
  3. Eye on AI
  4. An interview with Covington & Burling discussing artificial intelligence in the United States
  5. New York City proposes regulating algorithms used in hiring
  6. AI Update: Provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act Signal the Importance of AI to American Competitiveness
  7. Why Big Tech Wants Your Body
  8. Remember Sony’s electric car from CES? Now it’s being road-tested
  9. Tesla’s main self-driving rival isn’t Google—it’s Intel’s Mobileye
  10. FRB Governor Promotes Financial Inclusion through AI
  11. One piece of optical hardware performs massively parallel AI calculations 

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. Ajit Pai offers mild criticism of Trump incitement, drops Section 230 plan
  2. In His Last Two Weeks, Ajit Pai Finally Finds A Backbone And Refuses To Move Forward With Trump’s Ridiculous 230 Attack
  3. Reminder – 2021 Will Include Some Off-Year Elections for State and Local Office – and FCC Political Broadcasting Rules Do Apply
  4. Big Telecom Wants A Cookie For Pausing PAC Donations After Hoovering Up Billions In Trump Favors
  5. AT&T kills off the failed TV service formerly known as DirecTV Now
  6. AT&T Is Restoring Its Bullshit Broadband Caps Because Apparently The COVID Crisis Is Over
  7. Jared Mauch didn’t have good broadband—so he built his own fiber ISP
  8. 6G Hype Is Already Getting Stupid, When 5G Hype Hasn’t Even Finished Disappointing Us Yet 
  9. A Few Reminders Before The Tired Net Neutrality Debate Is Rekindled
  10. Report: Tencent and Alibaba may get blacklisted by the Trump administration
  11. Radio, Radio: FM Radio Licenses Soon to be Available to Educational Institutions 
  12. Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation – Legal compliance reminder for mobile app industry 
  13. Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation – 2020 Year in Review

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Eleventh Circuit Says Netflix Series Does Not Infringe Copyrighted Memoir
  2. Ninth Circuit Holds Dr. Seuss-Star Trek Mashup an Infringement, Not a Parody
  3. This Mashup Is Not a Place You’ll Go – Seuss Copyright Will ‘Live Long and Prosper’
  4. Copyright Troll Richard Liebowitz Helps Protect Free Speech & Fair Use By Losing Yet Another Case
  5. Dickinson v. Ryan Seacrest Enterprises, Inc. (USCA, Ninth Circuit, Dec. 21, 2020): Dismissal of claims by Janice Dickinson over allegedly false portrayal of her in reality television series. 
  6. Copyright Royalty Board Announces SoundExchange Audits of Royalty Payments for Webcasters (Including Broadcast Simulcasts) and Other Digital Music Services
  7. Digital Collections: Reflections on copyright 
  8. Copyright Office Begins Review of Changes in Satellite Television Statutory License for Carriage of Local Television Stations
  9. Is 2021 the year for artists to sell their music catalogues? 
  10. Art law – Recent developments January 2021 
  11. Use My Likeness? Over My Dead Body! 
  12. Canadian Madrid Applications: Practice Note for Foreign Agents 
  13. Trademark litigation: a global guide 2021 – Canada 
  14. Louisville Courier-Journal Wins ‘Derby Pie’ Trademark Dispute
  15. USPTO v Booking.com: Whether a “.com” can transform a generic mark into a registrable trademark under the Lanham Act 
  16. The Trademark Modernization Act Establishes New Trademark Cancellation Procedures 
  17. United States: Key considerations in parallel criminal and civil trade secrets cases 
  18. Ten Trade Secret Resolutions to Keep for 2021 and Beyond 
  19. Court Rejects Attempt to “Stretch” Patent Claim Language 
  20. Watch What You Say! Prosecution History Estoppel in Canada 
  21. Election Ballot Verification – A Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Analysis 
  22. Patent Owner’s ex parte communications with members of Congress, the president, and PTAB APJs are sanctionable and the Board may craft its own reasonable sanctions 
  23. Patent protection in the time of COVID-19
  24. Why standard essential patents are now essential to you
  25. The Right to Repair in Massachusetts Rolls Forward 
  26. Not Patent Misuse to License U.S. Patents in Foreign Jurisdictions for “Administrative Convenience” 
  27. 10 Patent Prosecution, Litigation Practice Trends From 2020 
  28. What Was Old Is New Again In IP Litigation — Thanks To Suspected Russian State-Sponsored Hack
  29. What Were the Top Intellectual Property Stories in 2020? 
  30. Cloud computing: overview of IP issues
  31. The EU / UK Trade Agreement: Three myths busted – Intellectual property

PRIVACY

  1. Trends to watch in 2021 – Privacy: issues in a hyper-connected world
  2. Privacy and Our New Virtual World
  3. Internet-Connected Chastity Cages Hit By Bitcoin Ransom Hack
  4. DOJ, US Court System Latest To Announce They’re Victims Of The Massive Solarwinds Hack
  5. Proactive Steps to Address the Issues Raised after Cyberattack on U.S. Federal Judiciary’s Electronic Filing System
  6. The SolarWinds hack is stunning. Here’s what should be done
  7. FTC Settles With Photo App Over Use of Facial Recognition Technology
  8. New York and Others Settle with CafePress Over 2019 Data Breach
  9. Cops Love Body Camera Footage… When It Clears Officers Of Any Wrongdoing
  10. Fifth Circuit Tosses Child Porn Conviction Predicated On Unconstitutional Searches Of Three Cellphones
  11. Five Key Developments in the Privacy and Data Security Sector in 2020 and Five Predictions for 2021

GAMES

  1. ESA suspends political contributions after assault on U.S. Capitol
  2. ESA PAC to pause political contributions following insurrection at US Capitol
  3. Twitch suspends Trump account following insurrection at US Capitol
  4. Updated: Twitch, Discord suspend Trump-related accounts after Capitol assault
  5. Twitch removes popular emote after pro player’s support for Capitol Hill mob
  6. Twitch pulls Pogchamp emote over link to Capitol siege supporter
  7. Twitch removes PogChamp emote it says was “the face of… further violence”
  8. Riot and Bungie file lawsuit against Destiny 2 and Valorant cheat-maker 
  9. Riot Games and Bungie file joint lawsuit against cheatmakers
  10. Koei Tecmo says it will sue over bootleg Dead or Alive video
  11. Dangen Entertainment settles dispute with Protoculture Games
  12. Nintendo Appears To Be Using A Fan-Made Drawing Of Mario Without Artist’s Permission Or Credit
  13. Legal risks and implications of hyper-realistic videogames
  14. CD Projekt apologizes again for Cyberpunk 2077 on consoles
  15. CD Projekt faces scrutiny from consumer protection org over Cyberpunk 2077
  16. CDPR CEO blames “in-game streaming” for Cyberpunk’s console problems
  17. CD Projekt leadership vows no ‘obligatory overtime’ during Cyberpunk 2077 fixes
  18. Polish competition watchdog investigating Cyberpunk 2077
  19. Capcom confirms at least 16,000 people affected by Nov. data breach
  20. Personal information of 16,415 people compromised during Capcom security breach
  21. Capcom security breach compromised personal data of 16,415 people
  22. Take-Two officially ends pursuit of Codemasters following EA offer
  23. Take-Two withdraws bid for Codemasters following EA offer of $1.2bn
  24. Wolfenstein 3D + Super Monkey Ball = free Nazi-flattening fun!
  25. Payload Studios launches incubator for underrepresented developers
  26. FTC wary of Apple and Google “squeezing developers”
  27. The FTC slams Tapjoy over deceptive ads, pledges to keep ‘gatekeeping giants’ in check
  28. FTC Settles With Mobile-Game Platform for Misleading In-Game Advertisements
  29. FTC Pursues Advertising Network that Failed to Deliver In-Game Rewards in Exchange for Payment or Personal Information
  30. Federal Trade Commission orders Tapjoy to better police fraudulent advertising
  31. Peter Moore: FIFA Ultimate Team is a “long way” from gambling
  32. EA’s hold over Star Wars games ends with Ubisoft’s open-world announcement
  33. Lucasfilm Games taps Ubisoft Massive to create new open-world Star Wars title
  34. Lucasfilm re-establishes Lucasfilm Games as home for all its gaming titles
  35. Star Wars games are now housed under a revived Lucasfilm Games brand
  36. Disney brings back the Lucasfilm Games brand for future Star Wars titles
  37. Bethesda lands Indiana Jones license
  38. Bethesda, Lucasfilm tease new Indiana Jones video game
  39. Lucasfilm and Ubisoft partner on Star Wars game
  40. GameStop holiday sales down 3.1% in 2020
  41. GameStop: Fewer stores, ‘industry-wide decline’, supply woes led to holiday sales slide
  42. N95 masks, gamer style: Razer’s crazy face-mask prototype revealed
  43. Video Games & the Novel (Eric Hayot)
  44. Video games have replaced music as the most important aspect of youth culture
  45. Forget power fantasies: pandemic-era players crave companionship | Opinion
  46. What will a post-pandemic games industry look like? | This Week in Business
  47. Tencent confirms 1m Nintendo Switch shipments in China
  48. Amazon’s 2020 gaming best-sellers again led by gift cards, Switch games
  49. Nintendo Switch dominates Top Ten as lockdown boosts game sales | UK Boxed Charts
  50. 43 million games sold in the UK in 2020 | UK Annual Report
  51. Number of mobile gamers increased 50% in the UK due to COVID-19
  52. Core gamers generated 66% of mobile revenues in 2020
  53. Newzoo sees mobile marketing upheaval in 2021
  54. Nerts! is the free, pleasant six-player card game we could all use right now
  55. GameFly introduces movies-only subscription
  56. Tilting Point signs $10 million publishing deal with South Korean dev Storytaco
  57. Best Fiends publisher Playtika launches $1.6B IPO
  58. Playtika launches IPO, looks to raise as much as $1.6b
  59. Roblox to go public through direct listing, not IPO
  60. Roblox secures fresh $520 million investment, outlines plans for direct listing
  61. Turtle Beach acquires Neat Microphones
  62. Epic acquires Rad Game Tools
  63. Steam saw 21% more games sold in 2020
  64. Over 8 million demos played during 2020’s Steam Festivals (and other nifty Steam stats)
  65. How did Rust make $1 million in Steam revenue in a day – twice?
  66. Genvid targets “a huge opportunity for game developers” with Rival Peak
  67. The future is digital — right?
  68. What does 2021 hold for the African games industry?
  69. What I learned playing 30+ years’ worth of Jeopardy! video games
  70. Handheld hardships | 10 Years Ago This Month
  71. Twitter says gaming posts up 75% in 2020
  72. Streamer TheGrefg breaks Twitch peak concurrent viewership records
  73. Twitch, Facebook see best months for viewership yet in December
  74. Dolphin Entertainment acquires esports and game PR agency B/HI
  75. B/HI acquired by Dolphin Entertainment
  76. Financing in the Esports sector
  77. Oculus Quest 2 players make up nearly half of Rec Room’s 1 million VR-using MAUs
  78. Making Chestnut Grove (a game set in the pandemic) during the pandemic
  79. Blog: Deconstructing the product strategy of PC Building Simulator
  80. Blog: Have video games become products like any other?
  81. Blog: Studying physical elements of play 
  82. Blog: How many currencies should my game have?
  83. Blog: How studios can prevent unauthorized spending in games
  84. Don’t Miss: The challenges BioWare faced designing Mass Effect 3
  85. Don’t Miss: A 2014 Lucasfilm Games postmortem, told by those who lived it
  86. Don’t Miss: Leveraging physical animation to sell Force powers in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
  87. Video: The appeal of ‘legacy’ board games
  88. GI 100 | Game Changers

Jon

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News of the Week; January 6, 2021

By Jon Festinger on January 17, 2021

DIGITAL

  1. Bucking Trump, NSA and FBI say Russia was “likely” behind SolarWinds hack
  2. DoJ says SolarWinds hackers breached its Office 365 system and read email
  3. Pro-Trump reporter gloats over access to fleeing Hill staffer’s computer
  4. Court says Uber can’t hold users to terms they probably didn’t read
  5. Ticketmaster admits it hacked rival company before it went out of business
  6. Laura Loomer Loses Another Lawsuit Related to Her Twitter Ban–Illoominate v. CAIR (Eric Goldman)
  7. Defamation Law Can Slow the Plague of Fake News: Challenging falsehoods about voting machines is a good place to start. (Cass Sunstein)
  8. Cass Sunstein’s No Good, Horrible, Very Bad Idea For Using Defamation To Fight ‘Fake News’
  9. Study: Folklore structure reveals how conspiracy theories emerge, fall apart
  10. Women’s victimization by online hate impedes their democratic participation: LEAF
  11. Activist hedge fund advises Intel to outsource CPU manufacturing
  12. Why don’t PCs use error correcting RAM? “Because Intel,” says Linus
  13. 60 Minutes Episode Is Pure Misleading Moral Panic About Section 230; Blames Unrelated Issues On It
  14. Parler, Desperate For Attention, Pretends It Doesn’t Need Section 230
  15. Content Moderation Case Study: Dealing With Controversial & Sexual Fan Fiction (May 2007)
  16. WhatsApp gives users an ultimatum: Share data with Facebook or stop using the app
  17. Google and Facebook Sued for Antitrust Violations in the U.S
  18. Too big not to fail? Google’s antitrust woes
  19. Google employees announce union open to all Alphabet workers
  20. Google employees kick off union membership drive for 120,000 workers
  21. Amazon promises $2B for affordable housing projects near its corporate offices
  22. European Commission Unveils Sweeping Proposals to Regulate the Digital Sector
  23. Regulating the Internet, at Last? The Digital Markets Act and the Digital Services Act
  24. Use of fake identities found deceitful in commercial email — why not elsewhere on the Internet?
  25. UK blocks Assange extradition due to suicide risk, poor US jail conditions
  26. Judge Refuses To Extradite Julian Assange, Citing US Prison Conditions & Assange’s Mental Health
  27. Logan Paul Sued By Production Company Over Fallout From Aokigahara Video
  28. Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels • Week Of 12/28/2020
  29. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 12/28/2020
  30. Ars Technica’s 2021 Deathwatch—2020 was just the beginning
  31. After Months of Deadlock, Congress Extends Lifeline for the Arts and Entertainment Industry through the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program
  32. ASA publishes 12 month review of gender stereotyping rule in advertising
  33. Cryptocurrency stealer for Windows, macOS, and Linux went undetected for a year
  34. United States President’s Working Group on Financial Markets Releases Statement on Regulatory and Supervisory Considerations for Stablecoin Arrangements
  35. Synchronized violin players reveal uniqueness of human networks
  36. Seven Years Ago, CERN Gave Open Access A Huge Boost; Now It’s Doing The Same For Open Data
  37. 2H 2020 Quick Links, Part 4 (FOSTA) (Eric Goldman)

A.I.

  1. House of Lords Committee publishes new report “AI in the UK: No Room for Complacency”
  2. AI Council publishes roadmap for UK AI strategy
  3. When AI goes wrong, how will the courts determine why?
  4. Facial Recognition Technology Involves More Than Meets the Eye
  5. Artificial intelligence and transparency in the public sector
  6. How Smart Software And AI Helped Networks Thrive For Consumers During The Pandemic
  7. Waymo CEO: Building safe driverless cars is harder than rocket science
  8. Birds of a feather flock together, but patterns change with the mission
  9. You can’t unsee Tedlexa, the Internet of Things/AI bear of your nightmares 

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. Broadband Infrastructure Companies Ripe for M&A, Experts Say
  2. Pudding-Brained 5G Conspiracies Somehow Get Even Dumber 
  3. FCC Issues Ruling Limiting Call Volumes Permitted Under TCPA Exemptions
  4. FCC issues voluntary caller id authentication best practices for Voice service providers
  5. FCC Takes A Break From Not Caring About Consumers To Hassle Some Landlords Over Pirate Radio
  6. ViaSat Asks FCC To Investigate Space X For Space Pollution
  7. President Trump Issues Executive Order Banning Transactions Involving Eight Chinese Software Applications
  8. Comcast data cap blasted by lawmakers as it expands into 12 more states
  9. Lawmakers Complain About Comcast’s Bullshit Expanded Usage Caps
  10. Frontier agrees to fiber-network expansion in plan to exit bankruptcy
  11. Last-minute Brexit deal extends free flow of personal data to UK with 6 months

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. The Copyright Board Begins 2021 with Less Transparency and More Potentially Dysfunctional Delays
  2. UK Music Rights Group Demands Payment From A Pub That Isn’t Playing Any Music Because It’s Closed Due To COVID
  3. U.S. Amends the Copyright Act to Establish Copyright Small Claims Tribunal 
  4. Why You Should Be Cautious of the New Copyright Small Claims Court
  5. Dr. Seuss Enterprises, L.P. v. ComicMix LLC (USCA, 9th, 12.18.20): Unauthorized Dr. Seuss & Star Trek mash-up “Oh, the Places You’ll Boldly Go!” was not fair use of copyrights because the book did not parody or critique
  6. A New CJEU Judgment on Copyright-Related Geoblocking – One Step Forward or One Step Back in the EU Commission’s Fight Against Geoblocking? (Eric Goldman)
  7. 1925 Was an Annus Mirabilis for Culture
  8. Ferrari‘s Testarossa passes the “Test of Genuine Use” before CJEU 
  9. Battle of the Bentleys: Bentley Motors loses trade mark appeal against Bentley Clothing
  10. USA: 25% Fee hike for Trademark Applications via Madrid Protocol 
  11. US Trademark Modernization Act Provides New Relief to Trademark Owners
  12. Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 – Use It or Lose It 
  13. What to Know About the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020
  14. 2H 2020 Quick Links, Part 3 (Trademarks) (Eric Goldman) 
  15. Battle of the ballet shoes: UK court finds infringement of registered community design
  16. Software and Business Method Patents – How to Improve Your Chances?
  17. Court Interprets Purported Contour Lines in Design Patent Drawings as Claimed Features 
  18. No Simulating Alice Requirements: Application of Abstract Ideas Alone Cannot Transform Patent Ineligible Subject Matter 
  19. Twelve Cannabis Plant Patents and Counting 
  20. Looking for a patent database? Need a little Inspire-ation?
  21. Patent Licensors Can Prevent Challenges to Patent Validity
  22. 2021 Intellectual Property Primer: Cases to Watch this Year 

PRIVACY

  1. Child’s Play: Federal Judge Shuts Down Privacy Litigation Brought Against Tech and Toy Companies Alleging They Violated Kids’ Privacy Rights
  2. Government Users of Facial Recognition Software Sued by Plaintiff Alleging Wrongful Imprisonment Over Case of Mistaken Identity
  3. FBI Warns Assholes Are Now Combining Compromised IoT Devices With Swatting Because That’s The Hell We Now Live In
  4. Telegram feature exposes your precise address to hackers
  5. FTC Focuses on Privacy Practices of Social Media and Video Streaming Companies
  6. FTC’s Confusing Guidance on How Merchants Should Manage Their Consumer Reviews (Eric Goldman)
  7. Update on global privacy expectations of Video Teleconferencing companies
  8. Global Privacy Roundup: The World Beyond Europe and California
  9. Data Breach Litigation Without a Data Breach? Not So Fast Walmart Says…
  10. Federal Court Grants Preliminary Approval of First CCPA Settlement
  11. Portland’s Ban on Facial-Recognition Technology Takes Effect
  12. New York Temporarily Bans Facial Recognition Technology in Schools
  13. En Banc First Circuit Will Decide Whether Government Needs a Warrant to Put Pole Camera Outside Your Home
  14. Obscure Analytics Tool Helps Cops Make Sense Of All That Location Data They’re Grabbing Without A Warrant
  15. COVID-19 contact-tracing data is fair game for police, Singapore says
  16. Surprise! Singapore Backtracks On Privacy Pledge And Opens Contact Tracing Data To Police
  17. What the heck is a token, and is it considered personal information in California and Europe?
  18. 10 Areas Of Privacy Law That Look Ripe For Change In 2021

GAMES

  1. The Sinking City returns to stores as legal dispute over publishing rights continues
  2. CD Projekt gearing up for ‘vigorous action’ against investor lawsuit
  3. Apple removes 39,000 games from the App Store in China
  4. Apple removes 39,000 games from China store in biggest single-day takedown
  5. Microsoft calls for Xbox drift lawsuit to be handled by arbitration
  6. Koei Tecmo’s sites offline following cyber attack
  7. Netflix producer, Yoozoo Games CEO Lin Qi dead at 39 amid poisoning probe.
  8. Washington ALJ Rules Video Game Developer’s Attendance at Trade Show Created Substantial Nexus
  9. A closer look at Raw Fury’s publishing contract
  10. Tencent and Huawei resolve revenue share dispute
  11. Minecraft Earth shutting down
  12. Minecraft Earth is going dark at the end of June
  13. Saving video gaming’s source code treasures before it’s too late
  14. The SpongeBob SquarePants effect: Why THQ Nordic is doubling down on licenses
  15. Where do we go from here? Analysts give 2021 predictions
  16. Analysing the major mobile game design and feature trends of 2020
  17. 2020’s most disappointing games, as led by Blizzard’s WarCraft III: Reforged
  18. Quantifying the Xmas day video game sales bump
  19. Call of Duty: Mobile makes $14m in first week in China
  20. Football Manager 2021 has sold over 1 million copies in record time
  21. Animal Crossing: New Horizons ends 2020 at the top | UK Boxed Charts
  22. Fall Guys, Doom and Cyberpunk represent 2020 in Steam’s top earners of the year
  23. Polygon’s 50 most anticipated games of 2021
  24. The SpongeBob SquarePants effect: Why THQ Nordic is doubling down on licenses
  25. Ubisoft’s game subscription service now supports Google Stadia for free.
  26. Sony discontinues all but one PS4 model in Japan
  27. PS4 Pro and most other models discontinued in Japan
  28. Sony Pictures Developing 3 Movies, 7 TV Shows Based On PlayStation Games
  29. Tenet director Christopher Nolan is ‘definitely interested’ in adapting his films into games.
  30. Nintendo’s Power-Up Band—a physical key to Japan’s upcoming Super Nintendo World
  31. Nintendo acquires Next Level Games
  32. Nintendo acquires Luigi’s Mansion 3 developer Next Level Games
  33. Xbox once pitched an acquisition of Nintendo, and was met with laughter
  34. The SpongeBob SquarePants effect: Why THQ Nordic is doubling down on licenses
  35. Niantic acquires community gaming platform Mayhem
  36. Pokemon Go maker Niantic acquires community platform Mayhem
  37. Epic Games acquires shopping mall for new headquarters
  38. Spotify is the first nongaming app on the Epic Games Store, and Epic says it won’t be the last.
  39. Honor of Kings foresees a borderless, mobile future
  40. How Riot Games is gunning for its second big esports with Valorant.
  41. Blog: How I wasted time and money developing a game that earned $30
  42. Blog: Historians discuss Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
  43. Blog: An empathy-driven way to design games
  44. Video: Clint Hocking’s 2011 game design keynote
  45. Gamasutra’s Best of 2020: The top 10 game developers of the year

Jon

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News of the Week; December 30, 2020

By Jon Festinger on January 2, 2021

DIGITAL

  1. Ninth Circuit Says Amazon Isn’t “Seller” of Marketplace Items–State Farm v. Amazon (Eric Goldman)
  2. Amazon Acquires Podcast Network Wondery In Reported $300 Million Deal
  3. Amazon still hasn’t fixed its problem with bait-and-switch reviews
  4. European Union Rules: Facebook Hopes Limits on Apple, Too
  5. Facebook Isn’t a Constructive Public Trust–Cameron Atkinson v. Facebook (Eric Goldman)
  6. Chinese Government Sentences Journalist To Four Years In Jail For Reporting On The Spread Of The Coronavirus
  7. Reddit clone Voat, home to hate speech and QAnon, has shut down
  8. Computer repairman suing Twitter for defamation, seeks $500 million
  9. Repair Shop Owner Who Supposedly Had Hunter Biden’s Laptop Sues Twitter For Defamation… Has Lawsuit Tossed The Same Day
  10. Private party app pulled from App Store by Apple
  11. Ushering in a new age of accountability for big tech- UK government response to Online Harms White Paper consultation
  12. EU turns the screw on Big Tech: The Digital Services Act Package
  13. Revamp image rights to fight deepfakes (Andres Guadamuz)
  14. Washington State Attorney General’s Office Announces $65,000 Settlement with Online Retailer for Illegal Online Tobacco Sales
  15. Unimpressed Judge Tosses One Of Devin Nunes’ SLAPP Suits Against The Washington Post
  16. When You Can’t Innovate, You Litigate: Oracle Gleefully Takes Credit For Attacks On Section 230 And Google
  17. House overrides Trump veto, defying demand to repeal Section 230
  18. McConnell introduces bill tying $2K stimulus checks to Section 230 repeal
  19. Mitch McConnell Using Section 230 Repeal As A Poison Pill To Avoid $2k Stimulus Checks
  20. Coalition Of Internet Companies Who Are Decidedly Not ‘Big Tech’ Raise Their Voices About The Importance Of Section 230
  21. Who’s responsible for content posted on the Internet? Section 230, explained
  22. Section 230 Isn’t A Subsidy; It’s A Rule Of Civil Procedure
  23. 2H 2020 Quick Links, Part 2 (Section 230) (Eric Goldman)
  24. Content Moderation Case Study: Profanity Filter Causes Problems At Paleontology Conference (October 2020)
  25. Content Moderation Case Study: Understanding Cultural Context To Detect Satire (2020)
  26. Elsevier Wants To Stop Indian Medics, Students And Academics Accessing Knowledge The Only Way Most Of Them Can Afford: Via Sci-Hub And Libgen
  27. After 2020’s Crucial Role In Our Lives, Social Media Will Face A Far More Critical 2021
  28. Discord Raises $100 Million, Rolls Out Much-Requested Feature Amid Boom In User Acquisition
  30. TikTokers’ Collaborative ‘Ratatouille’ Musical To Star Wayne Brady, Tituss Burgess, Adam Lambert
  31. Google Is Testing A Search Feature That Exclusively Serves Short Videos From TikTok, Instagram
  32. MrBeast, Jimmy Fallon, MatPat, And More Join YouTube’s NYE Special ‘Hello 2021’
  33. ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ Was Watched By “Nearly Half” Of HBO Max Subscribers On Christmas Day
  34. TikTok Taps Brittany Broski, Lil Yachty To Host Live New Year’s Eve Festivities
  35. Ontario Amends Rules of Civil Procedure to Embrace Virtual Proceedings and Electronic Processes
  36. All I want for Christmas is an awesome new curriculum
  37. Divers recover a WWII Enigma Machine from the Baltic Sea

A.I.

  1. Google develops an AI that can learn both chess and Pac-Man
  2. House of Lords Committee publishes new report “AI in the UK: No Room for Complacency”
  3. Facial Recognition Helps New Jersey Cops Jail The Wrong Man For Ten Days
  4. 2020 In Review: An AI Roundup
  5. Why AI is so power-hungry

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. FCC Seeks Input on FM Booster “Zonecasting” Proposal 
  2. FCC Threatens Large Fines Against Landlords Who Allow Pirate Radio Broadcasts on Their Property 
  3. Congress Appropriates $7 Billion to Fund Broadband Initiatives
  4. Impact of Section 889’s Telecommunications and Video Surveillance Equipment Prohibitions on Federal Grant and Loan Recipients
  5. Verizon’s Latest 5G Innovation: A 5G ‘DSS’ Network That’s Slower Than 4G
  6. Comcast’s Pandemic Price Hike Bonanza Continues

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Ninth Circuit Provides Holiday Win to Copyright Owners with Fair Use Decision
  2. Neoprene Tote Bags: Watertight Not Copyright
  3. Corellium notches partial victory in Apple iOS copyright case 
  4. The Man With The Tiger Tattoo Prances Forward*
  5. Copyright Claims Board To Be Established; Criminal Streaming Law 
  6. Substantial similarity in copyright: It matters where you sue
  7. EUIPO report on online copyright infringement of film, TV and music – so what’s popular?
  8. 2H 2020 Quick Links, Part 1 (Copyright) (Eric Goldman)
  9. US Trademark and Copyright Reforms Accompany COVID-19 Relief 
  10. A brand story: Santa and Coca-Cola 
  11. Girl Scouts Continuing To Fight Boy Scouts Of America Over Trademarks, Branding 
  12. Congress Passes the Trademark Modernization Act
  13. Avoid New Trademark Email Scams
  14. Brexit – Are you prepared? Pending UK Trade Mark proceedings: 3 key points to remember 
  15. UDRP: hydroquébec.com 
  16. Design disputes: combatting copycats with a collection of IP rights – Freddy SPA v Hugz Clothing Ltd 
  17. Snapshot: procedure for design registration in USA
  18. Quebec Court finds price and revenue calculation provisions of amended PMPRB Regulations unconstitutional 
  19. Federal Circuit Finds Video Signal Conversion Claims Patent Ineligible 
  20. Senators Tell The USPTO To Remove The Arbitrary Obstacles Preventing Inventors (Especially Women Inventors) From Getting Patents 
  21. Why Everyone Is Patenting Software Inventions 
  22. Inventions behind the music: From Eddie Van Halen to Michael Jackson and beyond 
  23. Towards a Better Patent System for Europe: The Unified Patent Court (UPC)
  24. Chinese Court Rules that It Can Set Patent License Terms outside China 
  25. The Wuhan Submarine surfaces at Christmas, to be met by a Texan TRO
  26. Lewis Hamilton’s IP struggles highlight some important issues
  27. Cloud computing: A brief overview of intellectual property issues “in the cloud” 

PRIVACY

  1. Responding to the SolarWinds Breach: Compliance and Oversight Considerations
  2. ICO issues statement on potential data breaches resulting from the recent SolarWinds Orion cyber-attack
  3. United Kingdom: Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issues statement on SolarWinds Orion compromise
  4. Five Things to Do in Response to SolarWinds Compromise
  5. Marriott and BA fined a combined £38.4m for data security failures
  6. Tweeting Tardy: Twitter fined $500,000 for GDPR breach
  7. Canada: Watch out, GDPR – Canada proposes strict new privacy law framework backed by significant fines
  8. Brexit Deal Keeps EU-UK Data Flows Open as Parties Pursue Mutual Adequacy
  9. The Deal is There! EU-UK Trade Agreement Facilitates Data Transfers
  10. Brexit Deal Copied And Pasted Recommendations For Netscape, Outdated Encryption
  11. How your digital trails wind up in the hands of the police
  12. How Sweepstakes Compliance Can Save Your Reputation
  13. Can a litigant use an access request as a means of obtaining quasi-discovery?
  14. Still Not ‘Going Dark:’ Device Encryption Still Contains Plenty Of Exploitable Flaws
  15. 2020 had its share of memorable hacks and breaches. Here are the top 10
  16. The decade-long quest to stop “Spamford” Wallace

GAMES

  1. CD Projekt Red investors sue company over Cyberpunk 2077 debacle
  2. Apple reportedly warns devs of more app takedowns in Chinese App Store
  3. What makes for a good game publishing contract?
  4. Nier: Automata surpasses 5 million shipped
  5. Steam’s end of year bonanza gets ‘experimental’
  6. Blackstone makes big investment in mobile ad firm Liftoff
  7. Parents Who Gift Quest 2 to Kids Under 13 Years Old are in for an Unfortunate Surprise
  8. Games of the Year 2020 | Xbox Game Pass
  9. Moving Out | Games of the Year 2020
  10. Gamasutra’s Best of 2020: Kris Graft’s top 5 games (+1)
  11. Gamasutra’s Best of 2020: The top 10 games of the year

Jon

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News of the Week; December 23, 2020

By Jon Festinger on December 26, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. SolarWinds hack that breached gov networks poses a “grave risk” to the nation
  2. Microsoft is reportedly added to the growing list of victims in SolarWinds hack
  3. Microsoft president calls SolarWinds hack an “act of recklessness”
  4. A Cybersecurity Storm and Winds of Change: NY DFS requires all New York financial institutions to report effects of SolarWinds hack
  5. SolarWinds Fallout Warrants Vendor Pulse Check
  6. Russia’s hacking frenzy is a reckoning
  7. The Urgent Need to Assess and Respond to Russian Supply Chain Attacks
  8. Secret Agents Implicated In The Poisoning Of Opposition Leader Alexey Navalny Identified Thanks To Russia’s Black Market In Everybody’s Personal Data
  9. After riots, iPhone manufacturer says it “deeply regrets” exploiting workers
  10. Google Isn’t Liable for Allegedly Problematic Search Results–Diez v. Google (Eric Goldman)
  11. Google committed “antitrust evils,” colluded with Facebook, new lawsuit says
  12. Embarrassing: New Antitrust Suit Against Google Confuses WhatsApp Encrypted Backup Option With Giving Google A Backdoor
  13. Another Day, Another Antitrust Lawsuit For Google:
  14. Czech Search Engine Seznam Joins In the ‘Let’s Sue Google’ Fun, Seeks $417 Million in Damages
  15. Google kills Android Things, its IoT OS, in January
  16. Google, Facebook reportedly agreed to work together to fight antitrust probes
  17. FTC Seeks Information from Nine Social Media and Video Streaming Companies Regarding Their Data Collection, Use, and Advertising Practices
  18. FTC orders social media and video streaming companies to provide data on privacy practices
  19. TikTok Bars Content Promoting Multi-Level Marketing, Pyramid And Ponzi Schemes
  20. Alibaba Says It’s Not Going After Uighurs (At Least Not Yet)
  21. CDT Lacks Standing to Challenge Trump’s Anti-230 Executive Order (Eric Goldman)
  22. Americans For Prosperity Sue Commerce Department To Find Out Who Was Influencing NTIA’s Attack On Section 230
  23. Trump vetoes $740B defense bill, citing “failure to terminate” Section 230
  24. Apparently Trump Refuses To Allow The Government To Do Anything At All Until The Open Internet Is Destroyed
  25. Once Again, Section 230’s Authors Feel The Need To Tell Everyone That Section 230 Is Not The Evil You Think It Is
  26. Content Moderation Case Studies: Copyright Claims On White Noise (2018)
  27. Content Moderation Case Study: Using Copyright To Take Down A Transformative Criticism Video (2019)
  28. Twitter repeals retweet roadblocks, Facebook follows suit
  29. Dutch Prosecutors Say One Man Got Into Trump’s Twitter Account With ‘MAGA2020!’ Password
  30. Apple is allegedly working on a passenger car, breakthrough battery tech
  31. Musk says Apple passed on Tesla acquisition three years ago
  32. 2021 Predictions For YouTube, feat. D’Angelo Wallace, Rebecca Zamolo, And Hank Green
  33. NikkieTutorials To Lift Veil On Personal Turmoil, Triumphs In New YouTube Docuseries
  34. MrBeast Launches Nationwide, Delivery-Only Burger Chain
  35. Latest Drop From Creator-Focused Startup ‘Stir’ Will Help Nascent Vlogger Airrack Reach 1 Million Subs
  36. David Dobrik To Host ‘Peace Out 2020’ Year-End Special On Facebook Watch
  37. Emma Chamberlain Named Global Ambassador For New ‘Bad Habit’ Skin Care Brand
  38. 2HYPE’s ‘Jesser’ Drops Limited Edition Sneaker Collab With Champs Sports, Puma
  39. Scotty Sire Signs With Indie Rock Label Fearless Records, Drops Christmas Track
  40. The D’Amelio Family’s Eight-Episode Reality Series To Arrive On Hulu Next Year
  41. Netflix Testing Audio-Only Mode, Enabling Background Content Consumption
  42. Vice Becomes First Publisher To Launch Verified OnlyFans Account For Its ‘Munchies’ Brand
  43. Tesla Cybertruck Hot Wheels toy ships late—just like real Tesla cars
  44. How an obscure British PC maker invented ARM and changed the world
  45. Art, Technology and the Law: Capture by Paolo Cirio

A.I.

  1. Copyright and Privacy Legal Issues Resulting from the Rising Popularity of Artificial Intelligence Use
  2. AI Hospital Startup Olive Valued at $1.5B After Latest Funding Round
  3. Video: Building better AI sensory systems

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. BILL C-10: An Act to amend the Broadcasting Act and to make related and consequential amendments to other Acts
  2. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day 19: The Misleading Comparison to the European Union (Michael Geist)
  3. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day 20: The Case Against Bill C-10 (Michael Geist)
  4. Early Warnings: Canada’s Regulators Issue Warning Letters to Mobile App Companies
  5. We Had To Pass A Law To Stop Telecom Monopolies From Charging You ‘Rental Fees’ For Things You Already Own 
  6. Lawmakers Question Why FCC Is Throwing Taxpayer Money At Incompetent Telcos With History Of Fraud
  7. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr Again Misrepresents The Debate Over Section 230 
  8. FCC Seeks Comment on Modernized Equipment Marketing Rules
  9. With Terrible Federal Broadband Data, States Are Taking Matters Into Their Own Hands 
  10. New COVID Bill Includes Billions To Shore Up Broadband Access. But… 
  11. Next Generation Broadcast TV Services Promoted in ATSC 3.0 Order
  12. Big Changes Coming to Calling & Texting Legal Landscape? TCPA Update
  13. AT&T Pisses Off Everybody (Especially Christopher Nolan) For Launching Movies Straight To Streaming
  14. AT&T reportedly struggling to sell DirecTV at anything but a huge loss
  15. AT&T Is Sad Because Nobody Wants To Overpay For DirecTV
  16. Wonder Woman Forces AT&T & Roku To End Their Petty Squabbles
  17. Law banning “rental” fees for customer-owned routers takes effect Sunday
  18. Funding Europe’s broadband ambitions 
  19. UK Government Plans for an Online Safety Bill
  20. EU Publishes Proposal For Digital Services Act
  21. US government bans tech exports to top drone maker DJI

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Fair Use Permits Newspaper to Republish Photo Taken By Drone–Castle v. Kingsport Publishing (Eric Goldman)
  2. Dr. Seuss/Star Trek Mash-Up Not Fair Use, Ninth Circuit Rules
  3. The Mystery Of The Copyright On Sherlock Holmes’ Emotions Goes Unsolved Due To Settlement 
  4. The Copyright Office Will Not Weigh in on Philadelphia Phillies’ Copyright Dispute
  5. US COVID-19 relief bill would punish streaming of copyrighted content
  6. Congress (Once Again) Sells Out To Hollywood: Sneaks CASE Act And Felony Streaming Bill Into Government Funding Omnibus
  7. Senator Tillis Releases Massive Unconstitutional Plan To Reshape The Internet In Hollywood’s Image
  8. Congress creates new copyright court that could make trolling easier
  9. States can invoke sovereign immunity against claims of copyright infringement 
  10. To Die For – New York Recognizes Publicity Rights of Deceased Performers. 
  11. ‘Imagine’ This: John Lennon Would Have Received Post-Mortem Right to Publicity in New York
  12. Jackson v. Netflix, Inc. (California Central District, December 9, 2020): Dismissal of trademark & copyright claims. “Tiger King” marks in popular Tiger King series is protected by First Amendment.
  13. Fifth Circuit Says No Preliminary Injunction in Boozy Beverage Trademark Fight
  14. Cerverceria Modelo SA de CV v Marcon.
  15. Lemonade Beats Deutsche Telekom In French Court Over Use Of The Color Magenta
  16. The Court of Appeal Adds a Few More Shades to Canada’s Grey Market
  17. Brand protection: A comparison of U.S. and Canadian trademark systems 
  18. New Year, New Trademark Fees 
  19. US trade mark costs rise and Madrid Protocol grows
  20. Domain Name Lawsuits Are Stupid (and the Initial Interest Confusion Doctrine Is Too)–Wooster Floral v. Green Thumb (Eric Goldman)
  21. A Tale of Two Cookies: Third Circuit Dunks Cookie Stick Trade Dress Claims
  22. 4 Mass. Trade Secret Litigation Tips From Facebook Ruling
  23. Court Battle Between India’s SaaS Industry Leaders Being Fought in California 
  24. What to expect from Canada’s new examination guidelines for patentable subject matter – interview 
  25. Secret prior art: a trap for the unwary?
  26. US Courts Can Compel Parties to Transfer Ownership of Foreign Patents

PRIVACY

  1. C-11 – An Act to enact the Consumer Privacy Protection Act: Five top measures to get ready
  2. Where Things Stand: Update on the Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2020
  3. Making Connected Devices? Federal Privacy Commissioner Publishes Guidance for Manufacturers of Internet of Things Devices
  4. Pornhub squarely targeted in bipartisan bill to regulate sex work online
  5. A Major Wireless Network Flaw Is Still Being Exploited To Track User Locations
  6. Zero-click iMessage zero-day used to hack the iPhones of 36 journalists
  7. A New Antitrust Class Action Threat: Anticompetitive Invasion of Privacy
  8. Cyber litigation will be the new battleground in 2021
  9. Tracking the privacy issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic
  10. Schools Are Using Phone-Cracking Tech To Access The Contents Of Students’ Devices
  11. A Little Gloom for the Zoom Boom: FTC Settlement for Unfair and Deceptive Security Practices
  12. FTC Issues Orders to Nine Social Media and Video Streaming Service Companies Regarding Privacy Practices
  13. You Can’t Get There from Here: Did the EU Just Outlaw Almost All Transfers of Personal Data to the U.S.?
  14. Kazakhstan spies on citizens’ HTTPS traffic; browser-makers fight back
  15. The California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) – 2020 Year in Review
  16. Does a business have to provide a privacy policy directly to a consumer if it obtains the consumer’s data from a third party (i.e., purchases it)?
  17. Use of facial recognition technology increasing

GAMES

  1. Games Are Now Making More Than Movies And Sports Combined: Gaming sales are up to almost $180 billion per year.
  2. GamesIndustry.biz presents… The Year in Numbers 2020
  3. Digital gaming just had its best revenue month ever in November
  4. 31% of young UK gamers struggle to track spending on loot boxes: New report from Gambling Health Alliance says one in four gamers spend over £100 on randomised in-game items
  5. Blizzard Sued for “Wiretapping” World of Warcraft Website Visitors
  6. World of Warcraft Maker Hit with Privacy Invasion Class Action Lawsuit
  7. Gearbox reaches settlement with Bobby Prince over Duke Nukem music
  8. Jury Will Decide If Videogame Character Infringes a Wrestling Persona–GI Bro v. Call of Duty (Eric Goldman)
  9. Investors reportedly considering class action lawsuit against CD Projekt Red
  10. Sony removes Cyberpunk 2077 from PlayStation Store, promises refunds
  11. Sony Removes Cyberpunk 2077 from PS Store, Will Offer Refunds to PlayStation Players Who Already Bought It
  12. Sony pulls Cyberpunk 2077 from PlayStation Store
  13. Sony delists PlayStation version of Cyberpunk 2077, offers refunds to all owners
  14. Cyberpunk 2077 troubles cost CD Projekt founders more than $1bn
  15. Xbox offering full refunds for Cyberpunk 2077 but isn’t removing it from sale 
  16. Cyberpunk 2077 has sold over 13m copies
  17. Cyberpunk 2077 sales climb to 13 million copies despite launch issues
  18. Microsoft granting full refunds to anyone who purchased Cyberpunk 2077 digitally
  19. CD Projekt hasn’t discussed removing Cyberpunk from Xbox platforms
  20. CD Projekt Red Heaps Bullshit Via Tweet After Removing Game To Appease China
  21. CD Projekt now pledges to help refund retail copies of Cyberpunk 2077
  22. Red Candle Games announces launch of Devotion on GOG; GOG says it won’t list it
  23. Raw Fury publicly shares publishing agreement
  24. Read Raw Fury’s publishing terms (without signing your soul away first)
  25. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla takes Christmas No.1 as Cyberpunk 2077 falls to third | UK Boxed Charts
  26. Microsoft Flight Simulator has amassed over 2 million players in four months
  27. Nintendo and Sony share prices rise to record highs
  28. Miyamoto leads fans through Super Nintendo World—and it looks incredible
  29. BuzzFeed Launches First Mobile Game — A Mental Health-Inspired Endless Runner
  30. China introduces new age rating system
  31. An insider’s perspective on China’s new age ratings | Opinion
  32. “Simp,” “incel” part of newly banned insults on Twitch
  33. These People Helped Shape Video Game Culture in 2020: Designers, competitors, streamers, voice actors and labor activists have been working to make gaming more inclusive.
  34. Lost Sega arcade classics born anew in cute, $130 Astro City Mini
  35. 2020: Games boomed, but the industry was treading water | Opinion
  36. 2020: A year of success and responsibility
  37. Four takeaways from the GI 100 Game Changers | Opinion
  38. The Gaming Industry Generated 2 Million Sponsored Posts From 400,000 Creators This Year, Report Finds
  39. The Game Awards sets new viewership record with 83m livestreams
  40. Monster Hunter movie makes $2.2m in US opening weekend
  41. Human: Fall Flat sells 2m in China
  42. IP licensing for games: How to profit from brand injections
  43. Discord valued at $7bn as it raises $100m
  44. MAG Interactive acquired word game specialist Apprope
  45. MAG Interactive acquires mobile studio Apprope for $6 million
  46. Eneba raises $8m for online gaming marketplace
  47. Distributed computing startup Salad raises $3.2m
  48. Suikoden successor Eiyuden Chronicle was top video games Kickstarter of 2020
  49. Nordisk Games buys 40% of MercurySteam
  50. TikTok owner reportedly in talks to buy stake in Chinese mobile games publisher
  51. Tencent officially acquires Splash Damage parent Leyou in $1.5 billion deal
  52. Warframe studio “expects no changes” under Tencent ownership
  53. Microids announces in-house distribution arm
  54. Keywords acquires PR company Indigo Pearl and recording studio Jinglebell
  55. Unity partners with Snap to extend reach of Unity Ads and deliver Snap Kit integration
  56. Opinion: Game company acquisitions & the ‘growth stock bubble’
  57. Mass market, mystery boxes and metric-driven design: The legacy of FarmVille
  58. Making weirdness work: The sun-drenched horror of Paradise Killer
  59. Esports to debut as medal event at Asian Games 2022
  60. Esports Milestone: Esports Becomes A Medal Event At The Asian Games
  61. Esports Milestone: The Philadelphia Eagles Become The First NFL Team To Dive Into Esports
  62. Skillz goes public: Mobile esports platform is trading up 7% during its first day on the New York Stock Exchange
  63. NRG Esports Unveils New ‘Full Squad’ Content Brand Targeting Casual Gamers
  64. Twitch Signs Swedish ‘Fortnite’ Streamer Loeya To Exclusive Two-Year Deal
  65. Rebecca Zamolo Launches $8 Video Subscription Service Inside Of Her Mobile Game
  66. Microsoft Flight Simulator in VR: A turbulent start for wide-open skies
  67. A rare look at the compassionate game design of Shigeru Miyamoto
  68. Who’s playing what on PlayStation 5?
  69. Ars Technica’s best games of 2020
  70. Blog: 5 technical lessons learned making Art Sort in VRChat 
  71. Blog: Hands on – Predicting players’ thinking
  72. Blog: Developing Raji: An Ancient Epic and crossing the finish line
  73. Blog: A postmortem of Cogmind’s 2020 ARG
  74. Blog: Torchlight 3 – Data fixup war stories
  75. Best of 2020: Breaking linear character progression with Outer Worlds’ flaw system
  76. Best of 2020: How System Era overcame creative paralysis to fix Astroneer’s crafting system
  77. Best of 2020: The trends and events that defined the year for game devs
  78. Best of 2020: Level Design Analysis – Oxenfurt level in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
  79. Best of 2020: How Jackbox CEO Mike Bilder is grappling with quarantine-driven success
  80. Gamasutra’s Best of 2020: Bryant Francis’ top 10 games
  81. Gamasutra’s Best of 2020: Chris Kerr’s top 5 games
  82. Gamasutra’s Best of 2020: Alissa McAloon’s top 6(ish) games
  83. Animal Crossing: New Horizons | Games of the Year 2020
  84. The Last of Us Part 2 | Games of the Year 2020
  85. Yakuza: Like a Dragon | Games of the Year 2020
  86. 1997 – 2002 | Games of the Year 2020

J0n

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News of the Week; December 16, 2020

By Jon Festinger on December 24, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. Russian hackers hit US government using widespread supply chain attack
  2. ~18,000 organizations downloaded backdoor planted by Cozy Bear hackers
  3. DHS Cyber Warriors Issue Warning About Massive Hacking Campaign, Disclose They’ve Been Hacked A Day Later
  4. Security Researcher Reveals Solarwinds’ Update Server Was ‘Secured’ With The Password ‘solarwinds123’
  5. US diplomats’ brain injuries may be from covert microwave attack, experts say: Data from Russian experiments on pulsed RF energy offers best explanation.
  6. Fireeye victim of “state-sponsored” hacking
  7. Oracle joins Silicon Valley’s Texas exodus
  8. Huawei Is Crafting Facial Recognition Tech That Will Make It Easier For The Chinese Government To Target Citizens It Doesn’t Like
  9. Apple’s app store is an illegal monopoly, rival Cydia claims in suit
  10. Apple introduces privacy labels to make data mining transparent
  11. iPhone factory workers say they haven’t been paid, cause millions in damages
  12. Uber defends sexual assault victims’ privacy, gets fined $59 million
  13. Google and Amazon made to Toe the French Line? Oui!
  14. Digital regulation 2.0: UK and EU announce details of major reforms
  15. The Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act: A new era for online regulation within Europe
  16. Pinterest agrees to $22.5 million settlement in discrimination lawsuit
  17. Digital platforms – let the games begin!
  18. US law proposal could make streaming copyrighted material a felony
  19. Not This Again: Senator Tillis Tries To Slide Dangerous Felony Streaming Bill Into Must Pass Government Funding Bill
  20. Tillis Release Details Of His Felony Streaming Bill; A Weird Gift To Hollywood At The Expense Of Taxpayers
  21. Reddit Buys TikTok Competitor Dubsmash, Will Integrate App’s Video Creation Tools
  22. TikTok Introduces Extensive Policies Against Sexual Harassment, Dangerous Pranks
  23. The Christchurch shooter and YouTube’s radicalization trap
  24. Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Terrorist Attack on Christchurch Mosques on 15 March 2019
  25. People affiliated with French military used Facebook to meddle in Africa
  26. FTC Launches Investigation Into Facebook, Twitter, and Other Social Media Sites
  27. FTC kicks off sweeping privacy probe of nine major social media firms
  28. Facebook Violated Antitrust Laws, Say FTC and More than 40 States
  29. FTC’s Misses Opportunity To Understand Social Media; Instead Goes For Weird Fishing Expedition Against Odd Grouping Of Companies
  30. New Facebook advertising terms, new Apple iOS 14 privacy rules and updated cookie guidance: help!
  31. EU warns that it may break up Big Tech companies
  32. The Peril of Persuasion in the Big Tech Age
  33. NLRB Finds Executive’s Joking Tweet Violated Federal Labor Law
  34. AZ GOP Goes Full Bullshit: Claims It took Down Violence-Inciting Tweet Over Copyright Concerns
  35. ICE Withdraws Demand For Journalists’ Sources After Having Its Unconstitutional Demand Outed By BuzzFeed
  36. Facebook says hackers backed by Vietnam’s government are linked to IT firm
  37. People affiliated with French military used Facebook to meddle in Africa: It’s the first time Facebook has identified people affiliated with a Western government for sanction
  38. Facebook Testing ‘Super’, Which Lets Fans Pay To Interact With Their Favorite Creators On Stream
  39. Pornhub Purges 80% Of User-Uploaded Videos After Allegations Of Child Exploitation, Rape Content
  40. Millions of videos purged from Pornhub amid crackdown on user content
  41. Visa and MasterCard ban Pornhub over abusive videos
  42. 40 GirlsDoPorn victims sue Pornhub for hosting “sex trafficking” videos
  43. China fines Alibaba, Tencent unit under anti-monopoly laws
  44. Twitter To Sunset Periscope App In March After Years Of Declining Usage
  45. Disney+ drops Andor teaser, announces gazillion other Star Wars projects
  46. More Disney 2021 plans: Kate McKinnon as Elizabeth Holmes, Y: The Last Man on FX
  47. We’ve got our first real look at Loki as Disney drops lengthy teaser trailer
  48. Op-Ed: Social Media Companies Should Permanently Ban Political Advertising (Eric Goldman)
  49. Justice Thomas’ Anti-Section 230 Statement Doesn’t Support Reconsideration–JB v. Craigslist (Eric Goldman)
  50. As A Parting Shot, Tulsi Gabbard Teams Up With Paul Gosar To Introduce Yet Another Unconstitutional Attack On Section 230
  51. USA Today Publishes Yet Another Bogus OpEd Against 230, Completely Misrepresents The Law
  52. District Court Rejects CDT’s Challenge Of Trump’s Ridiculous Executive Order On Section 230
  53. Trump Appoints Unqualified Guy Who Hates Section 230 To Top Justice Department Role
  54. Smaller Internet Companies Say They’re Open To 230 Reform… To Keep Facebook From Being The Only Voice In The Room
  55. Lindsey Graham’s Latest Attack On Section 230: Reform It By 2023, Or We Take It Away
  56. Content Moderation Case Study: Facebook’s AI Continues To Struggle With Identifying Nudity (2020)
  57. Content Moderation Case Study: Vimeo Moderates Uploads Of ‘Commercial-Use’ Videos Using Unclear Guidelines (2009)
  58. Sony-Owned Anime Streamer Funimation To Buy Crunchyroll For $1.2 Billion
  59. Can Influencers’ Failure to Disclose Sponsorship Constitute False Advertising?–EIS v. WOW Tech
  60. YouTube Will Enable Viewers To Toggle Out Of Ads For Alcohol And Gambling
  61. After 6 Years, YouTube Supergroup O2L Reunites In The Name Of Charity
  62. R.I.P. Henri, le Chat Noir, angst-ridden feline YouTube star for the ages
  63. The D’Amelios, Marques Brownlee, Demi Lovato To Headline YouTube’s New Year’s Eve Special ‘Hello 2021’
  64. Helping your child make the best use of time online
  65. YouTube Greenlights ‘Creator Spotlights’ Docuseries, An Intimate Glimpse Into The Lives Of Top Stars
  66. David Dobrik’s Latest Venture, ‘The Hundred Thousand Dollar Puzzle,’ Sells 17,000 Units In One Hour
  67. Liza Koshy Signs Overall Deal With Jada And Will Smith-Founded Westbrook Inc.
  68. Walmart Looking To Turn Salaried Employees Into Social Influencers With Nascent ‘Spotlight’ Program
  69. Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, And Their New Podcast Company ‘Archewell Audio’ Sign Exclusive Deal With Spotify
  70. Google sees major services outages two days in a row
  71. The Google Home Max is dead—Google shuts down production
  72. Instagram Makes ‘Reels’ Shoppable, Bringing Ecommerce To Every Format On The App
  73. Giving by Taking Away: Big Tech, Data Colonialism and the Reconfiguration of Social Good
  74. 2021 NewFronts Will Stay Virtual, Be Immediately Followed By Podcast Upfronts
  75. Here Are Your 2020 Streamy Award Winners
  76. CentOS Linux is dead—and Red Hat says Stream is “not a replacement”
  77. Where do I go now that CentOS Linux is gone? Check our list
  78. VR meetings are weird, but they beat our current reality
  79. Stroll down memory lane with this 1996 instruction video on How To Internet

A.I.

  1. Arendt’s Algorithm: AI’s Disenfranchising Effect on Refugees as Examined through China’s Uighur Population (Gideon Salutin)
  2. How our data encodes systematic racism
  3. CDEI publishes review into bias in algorithmic decision-making
  4. From whistleblower laws to unions: How Google’s AI ethics meltdown could shape policy
  5. White House Finalizes AI Regulatory Framework and Directs Agencies to Develop Plans for AI Regulation and “Non-Regulation”
  6. Why CD Projekt used AI to localise Cyberpunk 2077
  7. Bias in algorithmic decision-making: recommendations from the UK’s Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation 

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day 15: Mandated Confidential Data Disclosures May Keep Companies Out of Canada (Michael Geist)
  2. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day 16: Mandated Payments and a Reality Check on Guilbeault’s Billion Dollar Claim (Michael Geist)
  3. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day 17: The Uncertain Policy Directive (Michael Geist)
  4. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day 18: The USMCA Trade Threat That Could Lead to Billions in Retaliatory Tariffs (Michael Geist)
  5. FCC Accused Of Falsely Inflating U.S. Gigabit Broadband Availability
  6. Deep Dive Shows FCC’s Covid Response Was Largely Theatrical Nonsense
  7. SpaceX won “rural” FCC funding in surprising places, like major airports
  8. Space X Gets $886 Million From FCC To Put Very Small Dent In U.S. Broadband Gaps
  9. Senator tries to block Frontier’s FCC funding, citing ISP’s various failures
  10. Consumer Groups Say The FCC Just Blew $9 Billion To Deliver Broadband To Already Served Rich People
  11. The Cost Of Broadband Is Too Damned High
  12. Can Broadband Policy Help Create A More Equitable And inclusive Economy And Society Instead Of The Reverse?
  13. Stupid Cable TV Retrans Feuds And Blackouts Make Their Way To Streaming TV
  14. AT&T sells Crunchyroll to Sony for $1.2B amid “streamlining” efforts
  15. Untouchable No More: Reinforcements Arrive for TCPA Defendants Battling the FCC’s Aggressive Expansion of the Statute
  16. The other shoe drops: court holds SCOTUS didn’t find TCPA unconstitutional after all
  17. The FCC Reverses Course—Finds Government Contractors Subject to the TCPA
  18. Georgia executive order requires telework, virtual conduct of business

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1.  Eve of destruction: Moral rights infringement and destroying works of art
  2. Two Turntables, No Microphone: Using Technical Diagram Is Not Copyright Infringement
  3. Brophy v. Belcalis Almanzar (California, Southern District 12.4.20): In lawsuit against Cardi B for using plaintiff’s back tattoo on cover of her album, court holds that transformative fair use is question for jury.
  4. Atlantic Recording Corp. v. Spinrilla, LLC (Georgia ND, 10.30.20): Court finds that streaming constitutes “public performance” under Copyright Act and that defendant did not qualify for safe harbor protections under DMCA.
  5. Lego’s copyright victory against Lepin in China
  6. Ancestry.com Sued Over Yearbook Pic Database
  7. Copyright Trolling/SEO Scam, Changing The Photo Credits On Wikimedia Commons
  8. Is Your Company Accidentally Granting Implied Copyright Licenses?
  9. House Passes PACER Bill As Budget Office Says It Will Cost Less Than $1 Million A Year To Provide Free Access To Court Documents
  10. US House passes bill to tear down judiciary’s paywall 
  11. APIs front and centre in age of digital interconnectivity 
  12. Why Canadian trademark owners should consider whether international registration is right for them 
  13. Trademarks Office to allow expedited examination for COVID-related goods and services 
  14. The Swiss Shield: A Trademark Registration Is a Defence to Damages Even if Later Invalidated 
  15. French Film Company Somehow Trademarks ‘Planet’, Goes After Environmental NGOs For Using The Word 
  16. A Rare Case of a Judge Relying on the Initial Interest Confusion Doctrine (Boo)–Nike v. Warren Lotas (Eric Goldman)
  17. Battling Bubbles: Beverage Behemoth Coors Defeats Upstart Future Proof’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction
  18. Dishonest Abe? Trademark Battle erupts over THE LINCOLN PROJECT
  19. Trade mark rights IN THE RED!
  20. Owner of ‘Derby Pie’ Trademark Sues Newspaper For Using The Term, Publishing Recipe 
  21. Tasty Trademarks: An Analysis of the Canadian Trademark Applications Covering Taste
  22. Trademarks: 1 registration for 107 member states and 123 territories: trinidad and tobago has joined the international trademark system
  23. Judge Upholds “Willful and Malicious” Trade-Secret Misappropriation Verdict in Produce Preservation Case
  24. Judge Rakoff Sanctions Patentee for Sharing Confidential Documents with Counsel in Overseas Trade Secret Case 
  25. Recently Filed Lawsuit by Trinseo Highlights the Potential for the Rapid Spread of Misappropriated Trade Secrets 
  26. Ontario Court Affirms the Enforceability of Patent No-Challenge Clauses 
  27. Federal Circuit Compels Transfer of Ownership of Japanese Patent Applications
  28. Today’s No Patent Challenge Provisions in License Agreements 
  29. What are the rules around software patents?
  30. The Unified patent court and unitary patent – Introduction
  31. Top Section 101 Patent Eligibility Stories of 2020
  32. The UK Supreme Court, patent infringement, and the challenges of judging IP cases: In conversation with Lord Neuberger
  33. World Trade Organization Considers IP Rights for Covid Vaccines
  34. Software development intellectual property joint ventures
  35. Intellectual property infringement on the rise

PRIVACY

  1. Oh, Canada! Government Proposes New Federal Privacy Law with Enhanced Individual Rights and Hefty Fines
  2. Privacy Limits on Employee Background Checks in Ontario
  3. What’s “So” Important: Computer Fraud and Abuse Act Gets a Close Look from SCOTUS
  4. Supreme Court Says Muslim Men Can Sue The FBI For Placing Them On The No-Fly List For Refusing To Become Informants
  5. Apple, Cloudflare Join Forces To Encrypt DNS
  6. New Report Shows Cellphone Encryption Isn’t Really Stopping Cops From Searching Phones
  7. Up to 3 million devices infected by malware-laced Chrome and Edge add-ons
  8. Brave browser-maker launches privacy-friendly news reader
  9. 4 major browsers are getting hit in widespread malware attacks 
  10. Regulatory Crackdown on Ransomware
  11. IoT Goes Federal under Newly Signed Law
  12. Yes, data privacy regulations apply to IoT devices too
  13. As Voice Recognition Technology Market Surges, Organizations Face Privacy and Cybersecurity Concerns
  14. RCMP commits to changes in how it collects, uses information about protesters
  15. Home Depot’s Agrees to Multistate Settlement Related to 2014 Breach – The Cost: $17.5 Million and Updated Cybersecurity Requirements
  16. Augmented reality and e-commerce: IP implications of a powerful alliance
  17. Biden Faces Early Test on Digital Trade With EU Privacy Talks
  18. Schrems II is a Board / CEO-Level issue because
  19. Top 5 Privacy Developments in 2020 and 5 More to Prepare for in 2021

GAMES

  1. Nintendo Hates You: DMCA Takedowns Of Game Music Continue While Nintendo Offers No Legit Way To Listen
  2. Germany Opens Legal Action Against Facebook Account Requirement for Oculus Headsets
  3. GOG backtracks on Devotion re-launch hours after it was announced
  4. The Strong Museum now includes decades of files from the LGBTQ Game Archive
  5. Copyright law is bricking your game console. Time to fix that
  6. British MPs want console scalping made illegal, call for more consumer protection
  7. UK Members of Parliament call for ban on bulk buying consoles
  8. Major Gaming Company Sued for Making Games Too Challenging
  9. Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony unite to create safer online spaces
  10. Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony release joint commitment to online safety
  11. Microsoft delays launch of EA Play on Game Pass Ultimate for PC until 2021
  12. CD Projekt offering refunds to Cyberpunk players on consoles after shaky launch
  13. Amid massive bugs, CDPR offers refunds for Cyberpunk 2077 on consoles
  14. CD Projekt: Polarizing Cyberpunk 2077 launch ‘the wrong approach’
  15. CDPR admits it “ignored the signals” of Cyberpunk 2077’s console issues
  16. Cyberpunk 2077 developers were “updating the last-gen version until the very last minute”
  17. Requests for refunds on Cyberpunk 2077 met with inconsistent response
  18. PC version of Cyberpunk 2077 now features an epilepsy warning
  19. Cyberpunk 2077’s Stream-Safe Setting Option For Its Music Failed To Keep Streamers Safe
  20. Cyberpunk 2077 launches with some real dystopia in tow | Opinion
  21. CD Projekt Red stock falls 29% in run-up to Cyberpunk 2077 launch
  22. Cyberpunk 2077 racked up 8m pre-orders, 74% were digital
  23. Cyberpunk 2077 already passed 1m concurrent users on Steam
  24. CD Projekt Red boasts 8 million preorders for Cyberpunk 2077
  25. CDPR estimates Cyberpunk 2077 has recouped development, marketing costs
  26. Cyberpunk 2077 developers promised full bonuses despite declining review scores
  27. CD Projekt Red apologises for not showing last-gen Cyberpunk 2077, offers refunds
  28. Cyberpunk 2077 is the second biggest retail launch of the year | UK Boxed Charts
  29. EA agrees $1.2 billion acquisition of Codemasters
  30. EA set to pay $1.2 billion for Codemasters and its stable of racing games
  31. Sky News reports EA has gatecrashed Take-Two’s Codemasters takeover
  32. EA outbids Take-Two to buy Codemasters Group for $1.2 billion
  33. EA to acquire Dirt developer Codemasters, scuppering Take-Two deal
  34. Publicity on the Pitch? Football Superstars vs EA Sports
  35. Keywords acquires High Voltage Software for $50m
  36. New Unity updates target programming, graphics, quality of life improvements 
  37. Steam gets ‘experimental’ with discovery
  38. Valve’s latest Steam Labs experiment is an expansive discoverability overhaul
  39. Valve upgrades News Hub from experiment to full-fledged Steam feature
  40. Inside ‘Browsing Steam’: the biggest change to Steam Discovery in recent history
  41. Steam breaks concurrent users record at nearly 25m
  42. Streamloots launches mental health support program for streamers
  43. Facebook Gaming creators have earned $50m in Stars in 2020
  44. 2020 has shown our lack of leadership | Opinion
  45. Maximizing the 2020 holidays for mobile user acquisition
  46. The Last of Us Part 2 dominates at The Game Awards
  47. Tilting Point pens $40 million UA team up with Gunship Battle: Total Warfare dev Joycity
  48. Five mobile games topped $1b in revenue this year – Sensor Tower
  49. Nintendo Switch is the best-selling console in Canada for 25 straight months
  50. Switch cracks down (further) on extreme discounting
  51. “Mass Effect Will Return:” Teaser trailer sets a new (old) direction for the sequel
  52. UK games industry made record $3.84 billion economic contribution in 2019
  53. Developers and publishers contributed £2.91bn to UK economy last year
  54. US games spending breaks November records at $7bn
  55. Report: PlayStation 5 breaks unit and dollar sales records for a new console launch month (NPD)
  56. PS5 makes its mark but Nintendo Switch holds No.1 in huge November for video games | EMEAA Charts
  57. The Nintendo Switch sold over 1.3m units in China this year
  58. Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console in November in the US, despite next-gen launches
  59. The Super-est SuperFX: An unmodified SNES, revved up with ray tracing [Updated]
  60. Subscription library Ubisoft+ is now on Google Stadia
  61. Stadia is now on iOS, but not through the App Store
  62. Dr. Seuss gets serious about games
  63. Ark Survival Evolved gets an animated series: David Tennant, Russell Crowe, Vin Diesel, Elliot Page among the cast of show coming in 2022
  64. Vin Diesel joins Studio Wildcard as executive producer on Ark
  65. Unity acquires 3D content creator RestAR
  66. Tilting Point invests up to $40m in UA funding for Gunship Battle: Total Warfare
  67. Steam introduces new discovery tools
  68. Rollic acquires matching game Onnect for $6m
  69. Zynga’s Rollic fully acquires Onnect from Chef Game Studio
  70. Zynga-owned Rollic acquires Onnect from dev Chef Game Studio for $6 million
  71. SteelSeries acquires KontrolFreek
  72. Fnatic raises over £2m in crowdfunding
  73. Roblox purchases digital avatar firm Loom.ai
  74. Roblox delays IPO to 2021
  75. Leyou shareholders approve Tencent takeover
  76. Bad Robot Games’ first in-house dev studio will create ‘cross-medium’ franchises
  77. J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Games Forms In-House Studio Led by Gaming Vet Mike Booth
  78. Control has surpassed 2 million sales 15 months after launch
  79. Pocket Mortys developer Big Pixel Studios is shutting down 
  80. Big Pixel Studios shuts down, impacting about 40
  81. Fortnite focuses in on boosting playability on lower-powered PCs
  82. Talent Firm Loaded Signs 16-Year-Old Fortnite Pro BenjyFishy
  83. Philadelphia Eagles Reach Multi-Year Deal with Esports Entertainment Group to Become NFL’s First Esports Tournament Club Provider
  84. Facebook Slashes Price of Oculus Rift S to $300
  85. Zynga veterans launch VR gaming company ForeVR
  86. VR Destination ‘Sandbox VR’ Emerges from Chapter 11 Bankruptcy After Reorganization
  87. Leaked Photos Reveal Possible Lenovo AR Glasses Ahead of CES 2021
  88. Niantic donated a total of $7m in 2020 to Black Lives Matter charities
  89. Make Way – ‘Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond’ Needs 180GB and Recommends Demanding Specs
  90. ‘Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond’ Review – War Never Felt so Bland
  91. We have a winner in the world’s first quantum chess tournament
  92. How Watch Dogs: Legion’s ‘play as anyone’ simulation works
  93. “No adaptation without interpretation” — turning Animal Farm into a game
  94. The Last of Us Part II dominates The Game Awards 2020
  95. The Game Awards’ Future Class highlights 50 people shaping the future of the game industry
  96. How beautiful voxels laid the way for Teardown’s heist-y framework 
  97. Blog: The not-so-secrets to success in the games industry
  98. Blog: Integrating Joustus in Shovel Knight: King of Cards – Part 3
  99. Blog: How to make a decent game trailer for less than $100 
  100. Blog: A postmortem of asynchronous 1v1 horror title Antithesis
  101. Blog: Softening polygon intersections in Blightbound 
  102. Blog: A BioShock Infinite level design analysis 
  103. Blog: Zen and the art of retro level design in Kudzu
  104. Blog: A look at the revenue, expenses and statistics of Starlight X-2
  105. Blog: What every game designer should know about human psychology
  106. Blog: A developmental look at game aesthetics
  107. Video: How embedded QA can improve games accessibility
  108. Video: Telling location-based stories in games
  109. Don’t Miss: From The Witcher 3 to Cyberpunk – The evolution of CD Projekt’s quest design
  110. Best of 2020: Nintendo Switch Game Sales – The Three Biggest Misconceptions
  111. Best of 2020: Creating the ever-improvising text adventures of AI Dungeon 2
  112. Best of 2020: How Dishonored and Assassin’s Creed designers craft iconic stealthy encounters
  113. Best of 2020: A look back at the 5-year development of Eastshade
  114. Best of 2020: How Blizzard, Ubisoft, and other studios went remote in the time of COVID-19

Jon

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News of the Week; December 9, 2020

By Jon Festinger on December 21, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. The FTC, 48 Attorneys General File Antitrust Lawsuits Against Facebook
  2. FTC, 47 states file suits to break up Instagram and WhatsApp from Facebook
  3. Feds say Facebook broke US law offering permanent jobs to H-1B workers
  4. Open Season: FTC & 48 Attorneys General File Separate Antitrust Lawsuits Against Facebook
  5. The tech industry needs regulation for its systemically important companies
  6. Trump Doubles Down On Threat To Defund Military Because People Are Mean To Him Online; Republicans Threaten To Override His Veto
  7. Trump Makes It Official: He’s Going To Pull Military Funding, Because Congress Won’t Kill The Open Internet
  8. Senator Tillis Is Mad That Twitter Won’t Testify About Copyright Infringement; Since When Is Twitter A Piracy Problem?
  9. Dead Celebrities and Digital Doppelgangers: New York Expands Its Right of Publicity Statute and Tackles Sexually Explicit Deepfakes
  10. Rebekah Vardy v Coleen Rooney: What next in the war of the WAGs?
  11. Court Again Enjoins Anti-TikTok Executive Order–TikTok v. US (Eric Goldman)
  12. Google parts with top AI researcher after blocking paper, faces blowback
  13. Google illegally spied on and retaliated against workers, feds say
  14. YouTube bans videos claiming Trump won
  15. Google and YouTube Aren’t “Censoring” Breitbart Comments–Belknap v. Alphabet (Eric Goldman)
  16. It’s Meshugenah to Operate a Streaming Mixtape Site–Atlantic v. Spinrilla (Eric Goldman)
  17. Section 230 Protects Amazon from Manufacturer’s Ad Copy–Brodie v. Amazon (Eric Goldman)
  18. CRM Software Vendor Didn’t Qualify for Section 230–Tan v. Konnektive (Eric Goldman)
  19. Biden’s Top Tech Advisor Trots Out Dangerous Ideas For ‘Reforming’ Section 230
  20. Content Moderation Case Study: Google’s Photo App Tags Photos Of Black People As ‘Gorillas’ (2015)
  21. Content Moderation Case Study: Scammers Targeting Scrabble Chat (2020)
  22. Reform The DMCA? OK, But Only If It’s Done Really, Really Carefully
  23. Pornhub under investigation by Visa, MasterCard amid abuse allegations
  24. Pornhub blocks uploads and downloads in crackdown on child-sexual-abuse videos
  25. Social media bet on labels to combat election misinformation. Trump proved it’s not enough
  26. Tackling misinformation: What researchers could do with social media data
  27. Toward a Digital Economy That’s Truly Collaborative, Not Exploitative
  28. 2021 predictions: increased regulation of online platforms
  29. Debate: Is open scholarship even possible with Zoom?
  30. After years of fighting it, Nest will work with Samsung’s SmartThings
  31. Amazon Sues Social Media Influencers for Promoting Counterfeit Goods
  32. Amazon and U.S. IPR Center announce “Operation Fulfilled Action”
  33. YouTube Finally Bans Content Endorsing Election Conspiracies
  34. YouTube Will Now Support ‘High Dynamic Range’ Video Quality For Live Streams
  35. YouTube Wants To Use Creators’ Data To See If Its Algorithms Target Marginalized People
  36. Influencer marketing Q&A
  37. Logan Paul Will Fight Floyd Mayweather In An Exhibition Match On February 20
  38. Juanpa Zurita, Kyle Exum, NikkieTutorials, More To Bestow First-Ever ‘Streamys Creator Honors’
  39. Charli D’Amelio Invests In Teen-Targeted Banking Startup ‘Step,’ Which Just Raised $50 Million
  40. How Much More Money Do Creators Make During the Holidays?
  41. Loren Gray, TikTok’s Fourth Biggest Creator, Debuts ‘&Always’ Jewelry Brand
  42. For Its Latest Drop, Startup ‘Stir’ Blindly Paired Creators To Collab On Custom Face Masks
  43. Brands Taking Stands: Six Non-Negotiable Tenets For 2021
  44. Where Netflix goes, the world follows – BBFC suggests that all streaming sites should introduce age-ratings in the UK
  45. AT&T, HBO Put Another Bullet In Antiquated Theatrical Release Windows
  46. Warner Bros. will release entire 2021 film slate in theaters and on HBO Max
  47. Georgia Court Streams Ridiculous ‘Kraken’ Lawsuit Hearing On YouTube; Then Tells People They Can’t Repost Recordings
  48. Federal Court System Pushes Back Against Free Access To Court Documents
  49. Trial by Webex, but Not Zoom?
  50. In narrow ruling, law firm escapes liability for not thwarting real estate cyber-scam
  51. B.C. Technology Sector Makes the Grade – But Not Yet Top of the Class
  52. Apple’s new AirPods Max over-ear headphones cost $549
  53. Apple’s Failure To Ensure Backwards Compatibility In Big Sur Leaves Developers Quite Sour
  54. Enrollment opens for Apple’s fee-reducing Small Business Program
  55. Google promises “spectacular” city GPS improvement with 3D building data
  56. New RISC-V CPU claims recordbreaking performance per watt
  57. Quantum device performs 2.6 billion years of computation in 4 minutes
  58. Google’s secretive Fuchsia OS is open for contributions
  59. Lidar startup goes public, makes founder a billionaire
  60. “A damn stupid thing to do”—the origins of C
  61. Grand theft GPU: $340,000 worth of RTX 3090s “fell off a truck” in China

A.I.

  1. Is Canada on the Brink of AI and Diagnostics Patent Rush?
  2. Use of patents in artificial intelligence: What does the new CIPO report say?
  3. Intellectual property rights to AI works: The EP proposal
  4. Artificial Intelligence and Creativity: Why We’re Against Copyright Protection for AI-Generated Output (Creative Commons)
  5. New York Schools Putting Students In The Crosshairs Of Tech That Targets Minorities, Thinks Broom Handles Are Guns
  6. Executive Order 13960 Establishes Government-wide Principles for its Use of AI
  7. AI Update: New Executive Order on Promoting the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Federal Agencies Pushes Developing Public Trust for Future Expansion
  8. Shining a Headlight on AI Blindspots
  9. Guidance on artificial intelligence and data protection
  10. This Arizona college student has taken over 60 driverless Waymo rides
  11. Uber abandons dreams of self-driving domination, sells self-driving unit
  12. The A.I. behind unique ‘interactive reality TV’ game Rival Peak
  13. Looking ahead to 2021: AI – A brave new world?

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day 11: The “Regulate Everything” Approach – Licence or Registration Required (Michael Geist)
  2. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day 12: The “Regulate Everything” Approach – The CRTC Conditions (Michael Geist)
  3. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day 13: The “Regulate Everything” Approach – Targeting Individual Services (Michael Geist)
  4. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day 14: The Risk to Canadian Ownership of Intellectual Property (Michael Geist)
  5. Broadcast Reform Bill Could Spell the End of Canadian Ownership Requirements (Michael Geist)
  6. The Trump FCC Has Failed To Protect Low-Income Americans During A Health Crisis
  7. GOP Confirms Unqualified Simington to FCC With Eye On Crippling Biden FCC
  8. GOP clinches 2-2 deadlock for Biden FCC as Senate approves Trump nominee
  9. With Simington Vote, The GOP And Big Telecom Maneuver To Cripple The Biden FCC
  10. McConnell pushes Trump nominee toward vote that would deadlock Biden FCC
  11. A New White House, a New FCC
  12. $125,000 FCC Penalty to Broadcaster for Tower Structure and Contest Rule Violations – Including Violation of Rule Against Broadcasting Seemingly Live Recorded Programming Without Informing Listeners
  13. FCC Starts Rulemaking on Possible Adoption of GeoBroadcast Solutions Zonecasting Proposal to Allow FM Boosters to Originate Limited Amounts of Programming
  14. FCC Terminates Proceeding to Dedicate TV Channel in Each Market to Unlicensed Wireless Use
  15. FCC acts on blocking one-ring scam calls
  16. SpaceX gets $886 million from FCC to subsidize Starlink in 35 states
  17. The FCC, 2.5 GHz Spectrum, And The Tribal Priority Window: Something Positive Amid The COVID-19 Pandemic
  18. Facing Massive Subscriber Defections AT&T Chooses: Rate Hikes & New, Bogus Fees
  19. Somehow, 5G Paranoia Is Only Getting Dumber
  20. Largest Auction for 5G Spectrum Starts Today! 
  21. What’s New in 5G – December 2020
  22. U.S. Broadband Speeds Jumped 90% in 2020. But No, It Had Nothing To Do With Killing Net Neutrality.
  23. Benton Study Again Shows How ‘Open Access’ Broadband Networks Can Drive Competition, Improve Service
  24. Colorado’s Broadband Internet Doesn’t Have to Be Rocky
  25. Insurer Can’t Mute TV Station’s Recovery for $25 Million Malpractice Claim
  26. Verizon has been leaking customers’ personal information for days (at least)
  27. Samsung finally starts its Android 11 rollout, three months after release 
  28. UK Government proposes laws to implement Huawei equipment ban and stricter telecommunications security controls
  29. A good day for UltraHD: HBO Max, The Lord of the Rings will stream in 4K HDR

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Linking and Copyright Law in the European Union – Where do we go from here?
  2. Another Court Says Embedding Instagram Photos May Be Fair Use–Boesen v. United Sports (Eric Goldman)
  3. 576 German Artists Want EU Copyright Directive Made Worse, With No Exceptions For Memes Or Mashups
  4. Nancy Pelosi Sells Out The Public: Agrees To Put Massive Copyright Reform In ‘Must Pass’ Spending Bill
  5. ACLU Tells Congress: Do Not Add Copyright Trolling Bill To Government Funding Bill
  6. Legendary MC5 Guitarist Wayne Kramer Doesn’t Like the Smell of Proctor & Gamble’s “Guitar Solo” Body Wash 
  7. Taking down copycat websites and defending against cybersquatting
  8. GSK v Teva – The Federal Circuit’s First Look at Skinny Labels and 35 U.S.C. 271(b)
  9. Deus ex Machina Motorcycles Pty. Ltd. v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (Cal., 10.23.20): Dismissal of trademark claims of Australian motorcycle brand against MGM for use of mark in The Sun Is Also a Star.
  10. The Bentley Clothing and Bentley Motors trade mark dispute: Take 2
  11. Can a Company Own ‘Enby’? Sex Toy Company Sues Black/Trans-Owned Company for Trademark Infringement 
  12. “Too many cooks… ‘Fit Kitchen’ trade mark infringed”
  13. “Naked” at the Federal Circuit 
  14. General Liability Insurer Must Defend Trademark and Other IP Claims 
  15. Tips When Using the Madrid Protocol to Register a Trademark in Canada
  16. Global brand expansion: Why Canadian trademark owners should consider whether international registration is right for them
  17. First Circuit Reversal Highlights Importance of Satisfying Trade Secret Definition
  18. Protecting trade secrets in the era of remote working 
  19. Patent Term Extension in Canada: an Overview of Certificates of Supplemental Protection
  20. 2020: A year of clarity for Canadian life sciences and software patents
  21. Canadian Intellectual Property Office issues new guidelines for reviewing patent applications
  22. Federal Court of Appeal clarifies standard for granting leave in NOC cases
  23. Employment Law and Patent Law Collide: Federal Circuit Rules that California’s Non-Compete Restrictions Also Limit the Scope of Patent and Invention Assignment Clauses
  24. Patent-Eligible Subject Matter in Biotech Should Recite More Than a “Telescope”
  25. Deciding Whether Your Software Is Patentable
  26. The UK Retains the Doctrine of Exhaustion of IP Rights After the Transition Period
  27. IP Litigation Quarterly Update: Q3 2020

PRIVACY

  1. A year featuring a flurry of Canadian privacy legislative reform
  2. CPPA: identifying the inscrutable meaning and policy behind the de-identifying provisions
  3. Long-awaited privacy reform welcomed by lawyers, could help bring national consistency
  4. ICE Sends Subpoena To BuzzFeed, Hoping To Force It To Turn Over Its Sources
  5. Patriot Act Used By The FBI To Collect Internet Browsing Data, Contradicting Claims Made To Oversight
  6. Florida State Police Raid Home Of COVID Whistleblower, Point Guns At Her & Her Family, Seize All Her Computer Equipment
  7. Nation-state backed hackers going after COVID vaccine supply chain
  8. COVID-19 vaccine data has been unlawfully accessed in hack of EU regulator
  9. Premiere security firm FireEye says it was breached by nation-state hackers
  10. NSA says Russian state hackers are using a VMware flaw to ransack networks
  11. Feds logged website visitors in 2019, citing Patriot Act authority
  12. Massachusetts Poised To Become The Next State To (Temporarily) Ban Facial Recognition Tech
  13. Federal Court Says Sanctions Are On The Way For Portland PD Over Violations Of Protest Restraining Orders
  14. CBP’s warrantless use of cell phone location data is under investigation
  15. After Being Notified Of Info It Should Have Already Been Aware Of, LAPD Bans Clearview Use By Investigators
  16. Provision Added To Defense Bill That Would Make Federal Officers Policing Protests Identify Themselves
  17. Cloudflare, Apple, and others back a new way to make the Internet more private
  18. New Privacy Requirements for App Developers Using the Apple App Store
  19. Settlement with App Developers Requires Limits on Collection and Use of Children’s Personal Information
  20. Zoom’s FTC Settlement a Good Guidepost to Avoiding Data Security Missteps
  21. FireEye cybersecurity tools compromised in state-sponsored attack
  22. Is an IP address considered personal information?
  23. Cyberattacks Discovered on Vaccine Distribution Operations
  24. German Court Orders Encrypted Email Service Tutanota To Backdoor One Account
  25. Lack of Standing: The Gift That Keeps on Giving for Defendants in Data Privacy Litigation
  26. FTC “Zooms” Into Settlement Agreement with Communications Company Over Concerns with its Security Practices
  27. Home Depot Enters Into Multistate $17.4 Million Settlement With State AGs Concerning Data Breach
  28. Satellite company to pay over $200 million for telemarketing violations
  29. International Data Transfers Post Schrems II: A Dance of Six Steps
  30. Are law firms considered “processors” or “controllers” of the personal data that they collect from third parties as part of a representation of a client? 
  31. Are barristers and solicitors “separate controllers” or “joint controllers?”
  32. Solutionism, Surveillance, Borders and Infrastructures in the “Datafied Pandemic” 
  33. Privacy in 2021: The Big Picture

GAMES

  1. Activision lawsuit accuses Netflix of poaching CFO 
  2. Activision sues Netflix for poaching former CFO: Suit alleges Netflix incited Spencer Neumann to break his contract to become CFO of Netflix
  3. Consumer rights groups launch joint investigation into Nintendo Switch Joy-Con drift
  4. Nintendo Plays ‘Control Inception’, Cancelling Splatoon Broadcast After Teams Protest Canceling Smash Bros. Tourney
  5. Ubisoft names VP of global diversity and inclusion to improve workplace culture
  6. Bale and Ibrahimovic’s responses to FIFA 21 echoes the complications of sports person’s image rights
  7. Cyberpunk 2077 features epileptic triggers
  8. Cyberpunk 2077 under fire for epileptic triggers
  9. Cyberpunk 2077 could trigger seizures in photosensitive players
  10. CD Projekt adding seizure warning to Cyberpunk after reporter finds multiple triggers
  11. Cyberpunk 2077 is equal parts beautiful and messy
  12. Highlights from the Foreign Investment Review Committee’s Town Hall with the Investment Review Division and Cultural Sector Investment Review
  13. Newsflash: Update on Epic Games’ dispute with Apple
  14. Epic Games is ditching in-person Fortnite events in 2021
  15. Twitch harassment policy update aims to focus less on intent, more on impact
  16. Twitch revises hateful conduct and harassment policy
  17. Twitch Institutes Sweeping Changes To ‘Harassment And Hateful Conduct’ Policies, Beginning Jan. 22
  18. Twitch removes ‘blind playthrough’ tag after feedback over ableist language
  19. BioWare studio GM and Dragon Age lead are both leaving company
  20. GM Casey Hudson, Dragon Age executive producer Mark Darrah depart BioWare
  21. Next-gen consoles helped raise GameStop’s November store sales by 16.5%
  22. GameStop has closed 462 stores so far this year, 783 in last two years
  23. Did Genshin Impact swipe an opportunity from under Nintendo’s nose? | Opinion
  24. Small developers and creators can now use FMOD Studio for free
  25. Modio raises $4 million to grow its cross-platform modding service
  26. Destiny 2 will open up cross-platform play in 2021
  27. Platform share, platform share, platform share!
  28. SIE head pushes back against claims that PlayStation is deprioritizing Japan
  29. How Young Horses leveraged PS5’s unique features in Bugsnax
  30. Xbox to expand cloud gaming beta to iOS and PC in 2021
  31. Xbox cloud gaming service hits iOS, Windows PCs in spring 2021
  32. Xbox Game Pass cloud streaming arrives for iOS, PC next spring
  33. Stadia expands to 8 more European countries
  34. Analyst: Research reveals 4 in 5 consumers don’t know what cloud gaming can offer
  35. Facebook launches Black Gaming Creator Program
  36. Ubisoft appoints former Uber D&I head as VP of global diversity and inclusion
  37. 72% of all 2020 mobile revenue generated by games at $81bn
  38. Digital Black Friday sales jump almost 50% over 2019 l UK Download Charts
  39. Honor of Kings once again tops mobile game spending charts in November
  40. World of Warcraft: Shadowlands sells 3.7 million copies in 24 hours
  41. Call of Duty has brought in $3 billion in past year
  42. Call of Duty made $3 billion for Activision in 12 months
  43. Fashion x Gaming: Fashion Catches the Gaming Bug
  44. Lumikai invests $1m in Bombay Play
  45. MTG acquires Hutch for an expected $375 million
  46. MTG acquires UK mobile studio Hutch Games for initial $275 million
  47. Kalypso Media fully acquires Realmforge Studios
  48. MyGames grabs minority stakes in three mobile studios
  49. Control has sold more than 2m units
  50. Aglet raises $4.5m for location-based sneaker game
  51. Tencent invests in Wizard Games
  52. ZeniMax Online Studios forms new satellite studio in San Diego
  53. Gfinity acquires Epicstream as it seeks growth amid financial troubles
  54. Starbreeze has paid off most of its creditors
  55. Payday maker Starbreeze settles debts with majority of creditors
  56. A word from a Destiny 2 acolyte | Why I Love
  57. A look back at the storied history of action RPG Torchlight
  58. Metal Gear Solid film reportedly will star Oscar Isaac
  59. FIFA 21 holds No.1 during Cyber Monday sales week | UK Boxed Charts
  60. Halo Infinite delayed to Fall of 2021
  61. Halo Infinite gets new fall 2021 release date
  62. Minecraft tops YouTube’s list of most watched games of 2020
  63. Not all Steam wishlists are created equal: GameDiscoverCo’s Simon Carless explores why developers are seeing wildly different conversion rates of wishlists after launch
  64. Manticore bolsters Core platform with ‘creator-friendly’ Perks monetization
  65. Manticore announces a 50% revenue share for users of its Core game creation platform
  66. Facebook Launches ‘Black Gaming Creator Program’ With Monthly Pay, Other Perks
  67. More Than 350 Gaming Creators Hit 10 Million Subscribers In 2020, YouTube Says
  68. Wendy’s Teams With Tfue, Myth, Flight23white, itsHafu, And xChocoBars For ‘Never Stop Gaming’ Menu
  69. Epic won’t hold in-person Fortnite events in 2021
  70. FaZe Clan Launches ‘FaZe Academy’ Talent Incubator, Through Which All Future Recruits Must Pass
  71. FTC Sues Facebook Over Alleged Monopolization – What it Could Mean for Oculus
  72. Wacom Unveils VR Pen Built for “the next creative future”
  73. A deep dive into the making of King of Cards’ Joustus mini-game
  74. Case study: making Core Defense a solo dev success
  75. Blog: Six mistakes that’ll drain the ‘Juice’ out of your game
  76. Blog: Understanding pain points in game design
  77. Blog: Using luck to your advantage in marketing
  78. Blog: Building a mono profiler for Unity
  79. Video: The cost of doing nothing about trolls
  80. Video: The efficient art direction of Tooth and Tail
  81. Best of 2020: How a new wave of developers are using voxels to create jaw-dropping worlds
  82. Best of 2020: Iran video games timeline – from 1970 to 2019
  83. Best of 2020: Leveraging physical animation to sell Force powers in Jedi: Fallen Order
  84. Best of 2020: How deeply personal RPG The Wagadu Chronicles explores new realms of Afrofantasy

Jon

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News of the Week; December 2, 2020

By Jon Festinger on December 13, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. Increased Web Page Accessibility Requirements for Private and Non-Profit Organizations in Ontario Come into Effect in 2021 and AODA Accessibility Report Due Date Extended
  2. Utter Insanity: Trump Lawyer Suggests Former Trump Cybersecurity Official Should Be ‘Taken Out And Shot’ For Saying The Election Was Secure
  3. Just As #DiaperDon Starts Trending, Trump Claims That Twitter Uses ‘Fake’ Trends, Calls For ‘Termination’ Of Section 230
  4. Trump Promises To Defund The Entire Military, If Congress Won’t Let Him Punish The Internet For Being Mean To Him
  5. Trump to Congress: Repeal Section 230 or I’ll veto military funding
  6. White House Still Pushing To Slip Section 230 Repeal Into ‘Must Pass’ Military Spending Bill
  7. Congress Decides To Ignore Trump’s Ridiculous Veto Threat If Military Authorization Doesn’t Wipe Out Section 230
  8. New Ebook on Zeran v. AOL, the Most Important Section 230 Case (Eric Goldman)
  9. Twitter To Relaunch Account Verification In 2021
  10. Pinterest shareholders sue firm over rampant gender, race discrimination
  11. Federal Court Strikes Down California’s Ban On ‘Offensive’ License Plates
  12. European regulator hits Apple with a fine over iPhone water-resistance claims
  13. Amazon to roll out tools to monitor factory workers and machines
  14. Amazon Web Services adds macOS on bare metal to EC2
  15. Amazon to pay employee bonus amid threat of Black Friday strikes
  16. Oracle vulnerability that executes malicious code is under active attack
  17. Cases against Facebook are reportedly coming… when FTC decides how
  18. Facebook Gaming Introduces Non-Gaming Content Hub For Partners Called ‘Hanging Out’
  19. Facebook’s libra currency to launch next year in limited format
  20. Lilly Singh, Liza Koshy, More Hosted Instagram Live Fundraisers For ‘Giving Tuesday’
  21. The Material Conditions of Platforms: Monopolization Through Decentralization
  22. 512(f) Claim Against Robo-Notice Sender Can Proceed–Enttech v. Okularity (Eric Goldman)
  23. Content Moderation Case Study: Reclaiming A Hashtag (2020)
  24. Is Free Speech Online About To Get A Lot Less Free?
  25. Salesforces buys Slack for $27.7bn
  26. Salesforce to acquire Slack in $27.7 billion deal
  27. Salesforce strikes deal to acquire Slack for $27.7 billion
  28. Snapchat Taps Michael Le, Dytto To Host Interactive Dance Series, With Potential For Viewers To Monetize (Trailer)
  29. How to restore moral and technical order in a time of misinformation
  30. As a Service | Selling to consumers using a subscription model
  31. Platform Regulation Should Focus on Transparency, Not Content
  32. New Tech Regulation for the UK? Sounds familiEUr…
  33. New York Passes Wide-Ranging Automatic Renewal (Subscription Model) Law
  34. The risks and rewards of influencer marketing
  35. Influencer Philanthropy and Social Media – What are the Rules, What are Best Practices?
  36. Bella Poarch, The #YouHaveTo Hashtag, “Savage Love” Top TikTok’s Biggest Trends Of 2020
  37. TikTok Users Can Now Auto-Skip Videos That Might Trigger Photosensitive Epilepsy
  38. TikTok Is Reportedly Testing 3-Minute Videos
  39. I Turn My Camera on. Notes on the Aesthetics of Tiktok
  40. YouTube Suspends ‘OANN’ From Monetization, Strikes Channel For Repeated COVID Misinformation
  41. YouTube Teams With British Vogue For ‘Masterclass’ Series Starring Fashion Experts, Influencers, More
  42. How old, ambient Japanese music became a smash hit on YouTube
  43. Creators Can Now Host Live Pre-Shows, Embed Trailers Ahead Of Their YouTube Video ‘Premieres’
  44. Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels • Week Of 11/30/2020
  45. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 11/30/2020
  46. YouTube’s Latest Original Is A Charitable ‘Secret Santa’ Exchange With AsapSCIENCE, Molly Burke, More
  47. Jake Paul Says He’s In Talks To Fight UFC Champ Conor McGregor
  48. Washington considers digital advertising tax
  49. Big Tech’s carbon problem: Energy-guzzling data centres and supply chains mean our online lives leave a heavy environmental footprint.
  50. Google, the Media Patron: How the Digital Giant Ensnares Journalism
  51. Is Google Really the Borg?
  52. ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ Becomes Netflix’s Most-Watched Limited Scripted Series, 4th Biggest TV Show Overall
  53. Taylor Swift Re-Teams With Disney+ For ‘Folkore’ Concert Documentary
  54. As organizations accelerate their digital transformation initiatives, they are increasingly embracing the power, affordability and versatility of open source software.
  55. Perpetually Missing from Tech Policy: ISPs And The IoT
  56. Choose your movies and also their endings!

A.I.

  1. DeepMind AI handles protein folding, which humbled previous software
  2. Amazon inquiry after Alexa accused of antisemitism
  3. Amazon’s Alexa accused of sharing anti-Semitic conspiracies, Holocaust denial
  4. The Time Has Come for International Regulation on Artificial Intelligence’
  5. A robot’s muse: when AI creates art
  6. AI inventors? Why should we care?
  7. Thinking outside the black box: explainable AI is coming into focus
  8. Artificial Intelligence and Recruitment – how to address the pitfalls
  9. Artificial intelligence, robotics and automation: The best or the worst thing to ever happen to humanity?
  10. The use of artificial intelligence: interesting technological developments in the legal and accountancy sectors
  11. AI can run your work meetings now
  12. The Full Automation Fallacy
  13. Speaking to algorithms? Rhetorical political analysis as technological analysis
  14. Deciding what’s fair
  15. A “Light Touch” Regulatory Framework for AI – Transparency at the Heart of AI Regulation
  16. Machines as Manifestations of Global Systems: Steps toward a Sociometabolic Ontology of Technology
  17. Artificial Intelligence, Aesthetics, and Future of Culture
  18. AI did it My Way

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day Six: The Beginning of the End of Canadian Broadcast Ownership and Control Requirements (Michael Geist)
  2. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day Seven: Beware Bill C-10’s Unintended Consequences (Michael Geist)
  3. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day 8: The Unnecessary Discoverability Requirements (Michael Geist)
  4. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day 9: Why Use Cross-Subsidies When the Government is Rolling Out Tech Tax Policies? (Michael Geist)
  5. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day 10: Downgrading the Role of Canadians in their Own Programming (Michael Geist)
  6. Ajit Pai announces departure from FCC after four-year deregulatory blitz
  7. Ajit Pai, Easily The Most Controversial FCC Boss In History, Will Step Down January 20
  8. Senate rushes to confirm Trump FCC nominee in order to hinder Biden admin
  9. FCC agenda meeting to evaluate items of interest for manufacturers and operators of radiofrequency equipment 
  10. FCC Makes More Spectrum Available in 5.9 GHz Band for Unlicensed Use 
  11. President-Elect Biden Announces FCC Transition Team 
  12. FCC Proposes $20,000 Fine for TV Station Program-Length Commercial in Children’s Programming
  13. FCC Adopts New Program Carriage Complaint Procedures
  14. Comcast Increases Prices And Bogus Fees In The Middle Of A Pandemic 
  15. Verizon, NYC Settle Lawsuit Over Verizon’s Empty Fiber Promises
  16. Verizon wiring up 500K homes with FiOS to settle years-long fight with NYC 
  17. In the Conversion to NextGen TV, Who is Responsible for the Content of the Simulcast Streams?
  18. More Subsidies Alone Won’t Fix What Ails U.S. Broadband
  19. Broadband and the UK’s National Infrastructure Strategy

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1.  Nicki Minaj Safeguards the Right for Artists to Experiment with Unlicensed Work
  2. Skateboard Graphic Artist Sues Jack Black, Tony Hawk, and The Berrics for Copyright Infringement of Skateboard Graphic Design
  3. PewDiePie’s “My Heart Will Go On”: A Case Study in the DMCA and YouTube’s Copyright Dispute Process (Part I)
  4. Peace does not get a chance
  5. Supermodel Sues for Alleged Unauthorized Use of Her Likeness 
  6. The EU Commission better get its skates on when it comes to copyright
  7. World’s Worst Copyright Troll, Richard Liebowitz, Suspended From Practicing Law
  8. ‘Tis The Season: Congress Looks To Sneak In Unconstitutional Copyright Reform Bill Into ‘Must Pass’ Spending Bill
  9. Circumventing technological protection measures and website blocking orders: An EU perspective
  10. Ferrari Wins Legal Case Against Designer Philipp Plein’s Use Of Its Supercars, But He Says It’s Not Over
  11. Philipp Plein Loses Court Battle Against Ferrari Over Illegal Use of Its Brand
  12. How the Freddy copycat fashion case opens up new options for designers
  13. Nevermind: Who Really Owns Nirvana’s Iconic Smiley Face Design? 
  14. From football stadiums to railway stations…covering the bigger picture with registered designs
  15. When Trademarks Get Messi: Likelihood of Confusion and Leo Messi’s Big European Trademark Win 
  16. Deus ex Machina Motorcycles Pty. Ltd. v. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.
  17. AMERICAN EAGLE found to infringe EAGLE RARE trade mark in the UK
  18. EUIPO: What’s in the name…………… Hamilton!
  19. A Butler cannot be Royal!
  20. Minimalist trademarks: trend to follow or end of the road for uniqueness?
  21. The Burberry case: influencers, rappers and VIPs, watch out for improper use and associations to reputed brands
  22. A guide to trade mark revocation for legacy brands
  23. Snap Removal in Trade Secret Cases
  24. Risks and rewards of trade secrets in Europe
  25. Patenting antibody-based biologics in Canada
  26. Federal Circuit Confirms That “Magnetic Fuzz” Is Too Fuzzy for a Patent Claim 
  27. Working from home — does it affect patent ownership for employee inventions?
  28. It’s a Date – Twitter Reply Proves Prior Art Publication Date 
  29. Effectively using experts in IP litigation part two: practice 
  30. (S)he´s making a list, (S)he´s checking it twice: An IP due diligence checklist for the holidays – or any time 

PRIVACY

  1.  Proposed Canadian Privacy Bill Introduces Fines and New Requirements for Private Organizations
  2. Understanding the Draft Consumer Privacy Protection Act: A Summary of the Key Changes Proposed
  3. French Gov’t Walks Back Proposal To Make Publishing Images Of Police Officers Illegal After Massive Protests Erupt Across The Nation
  4. Once more unto the breach: The Supreme Court weighs in on a circuit split on what constitutes a hack 
  5. New Orleans PD Finally Admits It Uses Facial Recognition Tech After Denying It For Years 
  6. Autonomous vehicles and big data: Managing the personal information deluge 
  7. Canada Re-enters the International Ring with Bold New Privacy Law Including Significant Fines
  8. Post-Schrems II: European Data Protection Board’s Recommendations Bring Further Clarity and Practical Steps Regarding International Data Flows
  9. Does Tor provide more benefit or harm? New paper says it depends
  10. The Supreme Court will finally rule on controversial US hacking law

GAMES

  1. Twin Galaxies attacks Billy Mitchell as a fraud in new legal claims
  2. Nicalis issues DMCA against free Cave Story games
  3. Subverse developer under fire for partnering with racist YouTuber Arch
  4. Supercell cancels Hay Day Pop
  5. Supercell shutting down Hay Day Pop after less than a year 
  6. ‘As abstract as killing people in a video game,’ doctor says of Alek Minassian’s mind
  7. The Legality of Loot Boxes: A Primer
  8. Fortnite’s Nexus War event could expose Twitch streamers to DMCA problems
  9. Travis Scott reportedly grossed roughly $20m for Fortnite concert appearance
  10. Fortnite’s Season 4 finale attracted a record 15.3 million concurrent players
  11. Marvel finale was Fortnite’s biggest event ever at 15.3m concurrent users
  12. Wallace & Gromit maker Aardman partners with Bandai Namco on new game franchise
  13. What are the biggest changes impacting the games industry?
  14. Survey finds gaming by Americans over 45 has spiked in 2020
  15. Remote work is here to stay — but it won’t be cheap or easy
  16. How meditation and cooperation shaped Vela Games
  17. The Witcher 3 is the bedrock of CD Projekt Red’s financials one last time
  18. Fall Guys developer Mediatonic opens new UK studio
  19. How ‘buoyant’ Sega Europe is helping Sega Sammy stay afloat
  20. EG7 acquires Daybreak
  21. MechWarrior developer Piranha Games acquired by EG7 for $24.2 million
  22. EG7 pens deal to acquire EverQuest and H1Z1 dev Daybreak for $300 million
  23. Uri Geller retracts 20-year ban on Kadabra Pokémon trading cards
  24. Super Nintendo World now opening in February
  25. Universal Studios Japan will open Super Nintendo World in February
  26. The PlayStation 5’s ‘Activities’ quick-select is Sony’s answer to common single player woes
  27. PS5 comes out top in massive month for console sales | UK Monthly Charts
  28. UK mobile game spending reaches new single-day record on Black Friday
  29. Black Friday physical game sales drop 20% over 2019 l UK Boxed Sales
  30. Worldwide digital games spending down 10% between Black Friday and Cyber Monday
  31. Console remains largest employer of development staff in the UK
  32. GTA5: A Living World Eyeing A Decade Of Rabid Play Instead Of Just A ‘Game’
  33. TinyBuild invests $3m in Secret Neighbor developer Hologryph
  34. Tinybuild sinks $3 million into Secret Neighbor developer Hologryph
  35. Saudi Arabian charity Misk acquires 33.3% stake in SNK
  36. Phoenix Labs expands to Montreal and LA
  37. Dauntless dev Phoenix Labs opens two new studios to support growth
  38. Remnant: From the Ashes tops 1.7 million base game sales in just over a year
  39. Marvel’s Avengers fails to meet Square Enix sales targets
  40. Playco charts a course to the billion-player mobile game
  41. Krafton to consolidate Pnix and Delusion Studio into new studio, RisingWings
  42. Was Activision Blizzard right to ignore mobile? | 10 Years Ago This Month
  43. Cyberpunk 2077 pre-orders “visibly higher” than any Witcher title
  44. CDPR will take down Cyberpunk 2077 streams & let’s plays aired before launch
  45. Dead Cells sells over 3.5m copies
  46. Dead Cells surpasses 3.5 million sold ahead of second DLC announce
  47. Genshin Impact made almost $400m in two months on mobile
  48. Genshin Impact wins iPhone Game of the Year
  49. Apple picks Genshin Impact as its iPhone Game of the Year 
  50. Google names Genshin Impact its best game of 2020
  51. Bigger Games raises $6 million for casual puzzle games
  52. Immortals: Fenyx Rising | Critical Consensus
  53. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 movie expected to start production in March
  54. That time Roger Ebert said games will never be as worthy as movies
  55. ‘Interactive reality TV’ project Rival Peak launches on Facebook
  56. We test Herman Miller’s $1,499 gaming chair: All business—to a fault
  57. The Game Theorists Raise Staggering $3 Million For St. Jude During 9-Hour YouTube Stream
  58. Food Publishers Surprisingly Didn’t Lean On Thanksgiving Video Content This Year
  59. Sega unveils never-before-seen prototype ‘Venus’ handheld
  60. BBTV Signs 5 International Gamers Who Count 23 Million Collective Subscribers
  61. Esports platform Smashgg acquired by Microsoft
  62. AR Mario Kart anchors Universal’s Super Nintendo World in February
  63. VR spending to pass $1bn in 2020
  64. Analyst: 2020 will see 6.4 million consumer VR headsets sold, spending surpass $1bn 
  65. Blog: A pre-postmortem about marketing
  66. Blog: Key ingredients for compelling video game characters 
  67. Q&A: Hand-painting the watercolor world of Dordogne
  68. Video: A look at Insomniac Games’ cache simulator
  69. Video: Lessons from Sony Interactive Entertainment’s localization process
  70. Don’t Miss: Using procedural destruction to unleash chaos in Control
  71. Don’t Miss: Why do devs love Slack, and how do they get the most out of it?
  72. Best of 2020: Rebuilding a classic in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition
  73. Best of 2020: Behind the dizzying ride to the top for Among Us

Jon

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News of the Week; November 25, 2020

By Jon Festinger on December 3, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. Twitter, Facebook Plan For Post-Trump Era
  2. Why it’s easy to hate Facebook but hard to leave
  3. Facebook AI catches 95% of hate speech; company still wants mods back in office
  4. Facebook Could See Antitrust Charges From Nearly 40 States Over Acquisitions Of Instagram, WhatsApp
  5. Advertisers Challenge Facebook’s Representations on Audience Targeting and Fraudulent Traffic
  6. Facebook Says Ads for Giving Tuesday Are OK, So Long as They Aren’t About Social Issues
  7. Disappointing: Netflix Decides To Settle With Chooseco LLC Over ‘Bandersnatch’ Lawsuit
  8. Instagram Adds Branded Content Tags To ‘Reels’, ‘Live’, Unveils Several Updates To ‘Branded Content Ads’ Format
  9. Age Gating on Instagram is Now a Bit Easier
  10. David Attenborough Departs Instagram Mere Months After Record-Breaking Foray
  11. White House Offers To Allow Renaming Confederate Bases… In Exchange For Getting Rid Of Section 230
  12. Content Moderation Case Study: Facebook Attracts International Attention When It Removes A Historic Vietnam War Photo Posted By The Editor-in-Chief Of Norway’s Biggest Newspaper (2016)
  13. Bad Analogy: Comparing Social Media To Guns
  14. AMD laptops have a hidden 10-second performance delay. Here’s why
  15. Apple security chief maintains innocence after bribery charges
  16. Apple moving forward with plan to limit “creepy” user tracking
  17. “We are giddy”—interviewing Apple about its Mac silicon revolution
  18. Mac mini and Apple Silicon M1 review: Not so crazy after all
  19. Snapchat Giving $1 Million Per Day To “Top” Creators With New Short Video Platform ‘Spotlight’
  20. BuzzFeed Acquires HuffPost In Stock Deal As Part Of Larger Pact With Its Parent, Verizon Media
  21. Creator-To-Consumer Vendor Gumroad Launches Monthly Memberships
  22. Wonder What’s Ahead For Film? Watch What WarnerMedia Does
  23. Nvidia developed a radically different way to compress video calls
  24. Will Parler Users Treat Its ‘Glitch’ That Hid Georgia Election Content The Same Way They Treated A Twitter Glitch?
  25. YouTube Defeats Lawsuit Over Cryptocurrency Scam–Ripple v. YouTube (Eric Goldman)
  26. After Quitting YouTube, Ingrid Nilsen To Launch Fragrance Studio ‘The New Savant’
  27. As Billie Eilish Hits 1 Billion Views, YouTube Unveils ‘Infinite Music Video’ Concept For “Bad Guy”
  28. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide Last Week
  29. Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels Last Week
  30. Snapchat Giving $1 Million Per Day To “Top” Creators With New Short Video Platform ‘Spotlight’
  31. Is Food The New Merch For Creators? And Are Ghost Kitchens The Next Frontier?
  32. MrBeast Launches New Channel, ‘Beast Philanthropy,’ To Raise Money For His Food Bank
  33. Inconceivable: TikToker Who Made Paint Mixing Very, Very Cool… Is Fired From Sherwin-Williams For Doing So
  34. Charli D’Amelio Has Amassed 100 Million TikTok Followers In One-And-A-Half Years
  35. A general introduction to the regulation of virtual currencies in USA

A.I.

  1. USPTO Releases Public Comments on AI
  2. Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property: Transatlantic Approaches
  3. Intellectual property strategies for data and artificial intelligence – ThinkHouse
  4. Florida Sheriff’s Pre-Crime Software Says D-Students And Victims Of Domestic Violence Are Potential Criminals
  5. AI & cybersecurity: reflections on a multidimensional relationship
  6. When AI sees a man, it thinks “official.” A woman? “Smile”
  7. AI Trends Part 1: IoT privacy and security risks
  8. AI in the boardroom: opportunities and challenges
  9. Robots invade the construction site 

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. Canadian Government introduces legislation that would fundamentally transform the broadcasting ‎system
  2. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day One: Why There is No Canadian Content Crisis (Michael Geist)
  3. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day Two: What the Government Doesn’t Say About Creating a “Level Playing Field” (Michael Geist)
  4. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day Three: Minister Guilbeault Says Bill C-10 Contains Economic Thresholds That Limit Internet Regulation. It Doesn’t. (Michael Geist)
  5. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day Four: Why Many News Sites Are Captured by Bill C-10 (Michael Geist)
  6. The Broadcasting Act Blunder, Day Five: The Narrow Exclusion of User Generated Content Services (Michael Geist)
  7. 10 Years Of U.S. Broadband Policy Has Been A Colossal Failure 
  8. ‘Activist’ Investor Elliott Management Sells Stake In AT&T After Encouraging Mass Firings
  9. AT&T raises DirecTV prices again amid customer losses and possible sale
  10. More Evidence FCC Claims That Killing Net Neutrality Would Boost Broadband Investment Were Bullshit
  11. FCC reallocates transportation safety spectrum for Wi-Fi use, endorses C-V2X for auto safety
  12. Ajit Pai’s FCC Does Something Good, Frees Wireless Spectrum The Auto Industry Had Done Little With
  13. Trump’s FCC Nominee Asked Fox News To Help Destroy Section 230 To Help Elect More Republicans
  14. Comcast raising TV and Internet prices, including a big hike to hidden fees
  15. UK government buys chunk of bankrupt Starlink competitor, OneWeb
  16. OneWeb exits bankruptcy and is ready to launch more broadband satellites

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1.  Using music in your business? Copyright fees proposed to increase
  2. Disney (Disney!) Accused Of Trying To Lawyer Its Way Out Of Paying Royalties To Alan Dean Foster
  3. Who Owns Vacation Photos of You? Probably Not You–Hubay v. Mendez (Eric Goldman)
  4. Hyperlinking: more control for copyright owners
  5. “Cultural misinterpretation” or designer’s freedom?
  6. Due diligence of copyright is key when purchasing a record label business
  7. Poland’s Bid To Get Upload Filters Taken Out Of The EU Copyright Directive Suddenly Looks Much More Hopeful
  8. Brexit and copyright: 6 key things to know
  9. Good News: Academics Can Make Their Articles Published In Top Journal Nature Freely Available As Open Access. Bad News: They Must Pay $11,000 For Each One 
  10. Bricks and mortar or is online in order? Federal Court of Appeal checks in to trademark use and hotel services
  11. UK High Court finds EAGLE RARE infringed by AMERICAN EAGLE
  12. Puma v Nike Footwear brands dispute FOOTWARE
  13. The Lord Chamberlain v Grant Harrold – British Queen blocks Royal Butler trade mark 
  14. Taiwanese Semiconductor Pleads Guilty, To Pay $60 Million Fine for Criminal Trade Secret Theft 
  15. Understanding compulsory licensing: a global overview 
  16. Recent Patent Developments in the Autonomous Vehicle Market 
  17. Common Patent Misconceptions – Myth #5 – Provisional Applications
  18. Printed Matter Is Patentable If It’s Functional, Not Just Communicative 

PRIVACY

  1. Canada Proposes Federal Privacy Law Overhaul – Key Takeaways 
  2. The dawn of Canadian Privacy Law 2.0: The Consumer Privacy Protection Act introduced 
  3. Attention, mall shoppers: your data is being collected!
  4. ‘You Have Zero Privacy’ Say RCMP Social Media Surveillance Documents Before Going On To Demonstrate Why
  5. US Military Is Buying Location Data From Data Brokers, Including Data Pulled From US App Users
  6. Portland, Maine Passes Facial Recognition Ban That Says The City Can Fire Employees For Violating It
  7. Seattle PD Detective Took Clearview Facial Recognition Tech For A Spin, Possibly Violating Local Laws
  8. Very Little Stands Between the U.S. and a Technological Panopticon
  9. Court Sends Wyze Labs Privacy Suit to Arbitration (Eric Goldman)
  10. Google is testing end-to-end encryption in Android Messages
  11. Make the Web Great Again (Andres Guadamuz) 

CREATIVITY

  1. Cryptocurrency Giant Binance Sues Forbes, Driving New Attention To Article About Binance’s Corporate Structuring

GAMES

  1. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Gareth Bale question use of likeness in FIFA
  2. Mine, Mine, Mine! Nintendo Neuters The Cool Ways People, Groups Are Using ‘Animal Crossing’
  3. Nintendo axes fan-run Smash tournament over online play mod
  4. Nintendo orders cancellation of Smash Bros tournament over mod use: The Big House’s first online competition scrapped due to modified Melee that enables smoother online play
  5. Nintendo lawsuit takes aim at yet another Nintendo Switch hack seller
  6. Nintendo suing yet another Switch hack reseller: Amazon seller taken to court in platform holder’s ongoing fight against “serious, worsening international problem” of piracy
  7. Super Mario Maker Wii U to be delisted, lose some online features in early 2021
  8. Nintendo issues new Animal Crossing guidelines to keep politics out of the game
  9. Nintendo publishes Animal Crossing guidelines for businesses: The platform holder asked organisations to “refrain from bringing politics” into New Horizons
  10. Next-gen consoles have few answers to Argentina’s longstanding reliance on piracy: Argentina’s gamers approach next-gen with uncertainty, due to rising prices and the difficulty of turning to the black market
  11. Bossa Studios confirms layoffs amid complaints against management
  12. Game Workers Unite UK rebrands to IWGB Game Workers
  13. Can game studios radically transform how they hire?
  14. Does Apple’s 15% platform cut change the game?
  15. Tim Sweeney on Apple’s 15% cut: “We’re not fighting for a lower commission” – Epic Games CEO says 30% commission “is not wrongful, it’s just a bad deal”
  16. Epic adds a subscription service to Fortnite
  17. Epic Games launches ‘Fortnite Crew’ monthly subscription plan
  18. Epic Games’ MegaGrants program surpasses $60m in financial support
  19. 100 Thieves Becomes First Brand To Take Over Fortnite’s Creative Hub
  20. Twitch’s No Good, Very Bad Time Continues: Part 2
  21. Twitch Co-Founder Kevin Lin Departs Company After 12 Years: “I Will Build Again”
  22. The New York Times Is Broadcasting Collaborative Crosswords On Twitch
  23. This Streamer Took The Sims’ Lack Of Diversity Into Her Own Hands — And Then Became An Advisor To EA
  24. EA publishes first annual Impact Report: Report includes company demographic breakdown; 50% of EA Studios leadership is female
  25. GamesIndustry.biz writer Rebekah Valentine wins Journalist of the Year at GameHERs Awards: First year of the GameHERs recognises “women in all aspects of gaming”
  26. Harassment costs this industry too much | Opinion: From dollars to basic human decency, the status quo of online multiplayer gaming is taking a heavy toll
  27. Square Enix confirms Avengers missed expectations
  28. Square Enix to implement permanent work-from-home program in December
  29. Square Enix shifts all eligible staff to permanent remote working
  30. Pokémon Go restores social distancing benefits to the game
  31. The $70 AAA price point — it’s about time | Opinion: No consumer is going to be enthused about a price rise, but 15 years of $60 has done no favours to either gamers or creators
  32. Bandai Namco invests $3m in avatars creator Genies
  33. The ultimate guide to selling your indie game: Network N’s James Binns laid out the strategy and tactics indies should follow to sell more games
  34. 5 years below minimum wage: the financial history of Awesomenauts dev Ronimo 
  35. Roblox files for IPO: Kid-focused, user-generated content platform has not yet turned a profit despite skyrocketing DAUs, bookings
  36. Lightfox Games raises $3.3m: March Gaming leads seed round to fund more accessible midcore games
  37. Seattle mobile studio Lightfox nets $3.3 million to bring debut title to market
  38. Report: Activision Blizzard laying off staff at Asia-Pacific offices
  39. More layoffs expected at Activision-Blizzard, this time at APAC offices: Company confirms around 30 employees face redundancy following announcement it needed to hire over 2,000
  40. Netease Q3 strengthened by multiple mobile game releases in China
  41. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War was the real No.1 last week | UK Digital Charts: Assassin’s Creed enjoyed one of its biggest weeks to-date
  42. Hitman developer IO Interactive teases Project 007: James Bond licence emerges from stealth and will be used to tell a brand new origin story
  43. Red Dead Online gets a stand-alone release
  44. Rockstar is turning Red Dead Online into a standalone game
  45. Crowded field of racers drives Codemasters revenues up
  46. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity ships 3 million
  47. Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin tops 500,000 digital sales and shipments
  48. Genshin Impact leads October digital game spending
  49. Piranha Games acquired by Enad Global 7
  50. Learning platform Kahoot acquires language game dev Drops for $50 million
  51. Keywords Studios acquires marketing agency G-Net Media
  52. Supercell invests $2.8m in 2UP Games
  53. As World of Warcraft enters the Shadowlands: “Why should it ever end?”: John Hight and Morgan Day share how the World of Warcraft team is still building on its MMORPG 16 years after launch
  54. Yakuza: Like a Dragon’s turn-based combat came from an April Fools joke that went too well
  55. Aiming to curb DMCAs, CDPR builds copyrighted music toggle into Cyberpunk 2077
  56. ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ Has A Built-In Mode For Content Creators That Disables Copyrighted Music
  57. Ridiculous: ‘Cyberpunk 2077’ Will Ship With A Mode Just To Help Streamers Avoid DMCA Notices
  58. The bulk of CD Projekt’s $27.9 million in Q3 revenue came from The Witcher 3
  59. Nvidia developed a radically different way to compress video calls
  60. Nvidia sidesteps the App Store to bring GeForce Now game streaming to iOS
  61. Analysis: Nvidia GeForce Now cloud gaming service comes to iOS
  62. Stadia plans to bypass App Store with web app iOS launch
  63. Google Stadia begins public iOS test in a few weeks: With Apple blocking games streaming via apps, Google moves Stadia to Safari as a web app
  64. Controller use on Steam has doubled in past two years
  65. Controller use on Steam has ‘more than doubled’ since 2018
  66. Steam beefs up DualSense support with LED, rumble, and more
  67. The anatomy of a Steam sale
  68. “The time is right to re-evaluate open worlds. We can do better”
  69. Unknown 9’s multimedia awakening
  70. The forgotten Flash Website movement (when websites were ‘the new emerging artform’)
  71. GeForce Now arrives on iOS via Safari: Nvidia gets around App Store’s game streaming policies with a beta version of browser-based offering, will soon add support for GOG storefront titles
  72. PS5 is biggest console launch in history
  73. PlayStation 5 delivers ‘biggest console launch ever’ for Sony
  74. PlayStation 5 sold almost six times as many units as Xbox Series X|S in Japan: Sony’s consoles sold 118,085 units in four days, while Microsoft’s machines sold 20,534 in six days
  75. Spider-Man: Miles Morales is PS5’s biggest launch game as Call of Duty grabs No.1 | UK Boxed Charts
  76. Scalpers and bots reportedly driving PS5 shortages
  77. Xbox Series X/S vs. PlayStation 5: Our launch-month verdict
  78. Microsoft: Bethesda Games Will Be ‘First, Best’ On Xbox, PC
  79. Xbox experimenting with how to pay studios for Game Pass “because we don’t think we have it figured out
  80. What agreements land games on Game Pass? Xbox head says they’re ‘all over the place’
  81. How to turn your Xbox Series X/S into an emulation powerhouse
  82. How one developer is sneaking emulators through a hole in the Xbox Store
  83. The Winner of the Console Wars is…Light Beer?
  84. JoJo Siwa, Loren Gray To Host 2-Day ‘Among Us’ Event
  85. TikTok developer launches publishing arm and casual gaming platform
  86. COVID-19 expected to boost investment in esports: But esports activity won’t go back to pre-pandemic levels for another year, some execs believe
  87. Esports company Blast receives £1.7m in funding from Edge Investments
  88. Insert Coin, the arcade documentary worth feeding all your quarters into 
  89. OpenBCI Announces Brain-Computer Interface Designed Specifically for VR/AR Headsets
  90. Video: Making compelling character interactions for VR NPCs
  91. Lost “Sega VR” game unearthed, made playable on modern VR headsets
  92. Veteran VR Studio of ‘Waltz of the Wizard’ Pausing PSVR Development Until Sony Addresses PS5 Roadmap
  93. Warner Music: “If artists want to be in the next James Bond, they should want to be in the next AAA game”
  94. Don’t Miss: How GoldenEye 007 set a new standard for video game AI
  95. Don’t Miss: Defining direction, writing, art and music on Yakuza 4
  96. Don’t Miss: The story behind Remedy’s viral dog mocap star
  97. Don’t Miss: Mapping out the subtle social cues throughout Hitman’s level design
  98. Don’t Miss: A PC game for consoles – Remaking Divinity: Original Sin
  99. Video: Bugsnax’s devs discuss launching on the PS5 
  100. Video: A deep dive into Ubisoft’s VR escape rooms
  101. Video: Breaking down the making of Teardown
  102. Video: The world generation tech behind Far Cry 5
  103. Blog: Is Apple’s platform fee reduction a PR move or sound investment?
  104. Blog: General tips for ‘Games as a Service’ indie games
  105. Blog: Power of storytelling in blockbuster casual games?
  106. Blog: The art of compelling quest design in Ghost of Tsushima
  107. Blog: The Impact of video game criticism
  108. Blog: Historians discuss Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
  109. Blog: Four hyper-casual prototype best practices
  110. Deep Dive: Evolving the UX/UI of A Total War Story: Troy using user testing & feedback
  111. Hugo Awards adds video game category for 2021
  112. Patenting video games in Europe – The EPO’s Board of Appeal decide in favour of Nintendo (T1504/17)
  113. U.S. Patent No. 10,532,290: Sharing recorded gameplay to a social graph

Jon

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News of the Week; November 18, 2020

By Jon Festinger on November 22, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. Amazon Sues Two TikTok, Instagram Influencers For Alleged Scheme To Sell Knockoff Designer Goods
  2. The Case Against Holding Amazon Liable for Third-Party Merchants’ Sales in its Marketplace (Eric Goldman)
  3. Massive, China-state-funded hack hits companies around the world, report says
  4. Hackers sponsored by Russia and North Korea are targeting COVID-19 researchers
  5. Russian Internet Research Agency Disinformation Activities on Tumblr: Identity, Privacy, and Ambivalence
  6. WHO Is Blocking Commenters From Even Mentioning Taiwan On Its Facebook Page
  7. Facebook Expands Access To ‘Rights Manager’ Video Copyright Tool, Rolls Out In-Stream Ads To 4 More Countries
  8. Facebook Can Block Scraper (For Now)–Facebook v. BrandTotal (Eric Goldman)
  9. Day After Senator Lindsey Graham Is Credibly Accused Of Trying To Undermine The Election, He Hosts Hearing Attacking Social Media For Undermining Election
  10. Trump Fires US Cybersecurity Director Chris Krebs After Krebs Debunks Trump’s Claims Of Election Systems Fraud
  11. US Cybersecurity Director Expecting To Be Fired After Refusing To Edit Page Debunking Election Hacking Myths
  12. Trump Campaign Gets Laughed Out Of Court For Claiming A Bunch Of Unvetted Webform Submissions Is ‘Evidence’ Of Voter Fraud
  13. Trump Campaign’s Ridiculous SLAPP Suit Against CNN Tossed Out Easily
  14. After Trump tweets Defcon hacking video, voting security experts call BS: Dozens of computer scientists say there’s “no credible evidence” of election fraud.
  15. Trump admin puts a hold on TikTok ban it seems to have forgotten about
  16. Trumpland Apparently Just Forgot About Its Manufactured TikTok Hysteria
  17. Commerce Department Remembers It Was Supposed To Ban TikTok; Says It Won’t Enforce For Now
  18. Insights: Social Media In The Post-Trump Era Headed To Splitsville
  19. The announcement of election results prompted the expected chorus of brands messaging about “unity,” but some opted to celebrate on social media.
  20. Facebook Extends Political Advertising Ban for Another Month, Including Advertising for Run-Offs
  21. Google to Extend Political Advertising Ban Through Year-End
  22. Google Pay relaunch transforms it into a full-fledged financial service
  23. Alphabet CEO: Plan to target EU commissioner was not “sanctioned” by me
  24. UK Politician Demands The Impossible: Social Media Companies Must Not Take Down Political Speech, But Must Block Disinformation
  25. Wish.com: sexually explicit in-app ads deemed offensive and inappropriately targeted
  26. Upload Filters And The Internet Architecture: What’s There To Like?
  27. Content Moderation Case Study: GoFundMe Addresses Controversial Fundraising Efforts (2020)
  28. Counterfeit Merch Is A Big Problem For Creators, And It’s Even Worse Than You Think.
  29. Markiplier, Ethan Nestor Bid Farewell To High-Concept ‘Unus Annus’ Channel — A Metaphor For Death
  30. Hulu raises Live TV price to $65, matching YouTube TV’s latest price hike
  31. Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels • Week Of 11/16/2020
  32. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 11/16/2020
  33. YouTube Is Serving Young Viewers Age-Inappropriate Ads, Videos With Little Educational Value, Study Finds
  34. YouTube Shelves Annual ‘Rewind’ Video Given Hardships, Heaviness Of 2020
  35. YouTube Launches ‘Audio Ad’ Format To Capture Background Content Consumers
  36. Steph Curry’s YouTube Series ‘5 Minutes From Home’ Is Becoming An Audible Original Podcast
  37. Trump-Endorsed Right-wing YouTube Channels See Rise In Viewership
  38. On The Podcast: Ninja Doesn’t Want To Be Called A ‘YouTuber’. Is He Right?
  39. YouTube Will Now Serve Ads On Channels That Aren’t Eligible For Its Partner Program — Though Creators Won’t Earn A Cut
  40. GitHub agrees RIAA claim is bunk, restores popular YouTube download tool
  41. Teespring Teams Up With YouTubers For Merch-Selling Cyber Monday Live Streams
  42. Audiovisual Media Services Directive – European Commission adopts guidelines on video-sharing platforms and the promotion of European works
  43. BuzzFeed Seeking Next Social Video Star In IGTV Competition ‘Show Off’
  44. ‘The Good Place,’ ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ Developer Tracey Pakosta Is Netflix’s New Head Of Comedy
  45. Instagram Gives Reels, Shop Permanent Spots On Nav Bar
  46. Instagram Finally Adds Ability To Search Platform Via Keyword
  47. TikTok’s ‘Hashtag Challenge Plus’ Ad Format Is Generating Billions Of Views For Brands
  48. ICE Briefly Becomes A Stranded Minor: Loses Its Twitter Account For Being Too Young
  49. Twitter Launches Stories-Like ‘Fleets’ Feature, With ‘Audio Spaces’ Soon To Follow
  50. What is Parler, and why is everyone suddenly talking about it?
  51. ‘Stop the Steal’ supporters, restrained by Facebook, turn to Parler to peddle false election claims
  52. What If Cambridge Analytica Owned Its Own Social Network? CA Backer Rebekah Mercer Admits She’s A Co-Founder Of Parler
  53. A history of Intel vs. AMD desktop performance, with CPU charts galore
  54. Beyond Screen Time: Identity Development in the Digital Age
  55. Nova Scotia’s eCourt platform is first online judicial dispute resolution service in Canada
  56. Why Does Silicon Valley Want to Reengineer Humans?: Human beings are not the problem. We are the solution.
  57. Japan-UK Trade Deal Shows How Controversial Digital Policies Can Be Slipped Through With Little Scrutiny Or Resistance

A.I.

  1. IP Rights and AI-Generated Works
  2. Amazon begins shifting Alexa’s cloud AI to its own silicon
  3. Video: Using AI to create interactive digital actors
  4. ICO publishes guidance on AI decision making
  5. Artificial intelligence and gender discrimination
  6. Artificial vision, white space and racial surveillance capitalism
  7. Technology vs Ideology: How Far will Artificial Intelligence and Distributed Ledger Technology Transform Corporate Governance and Business?
  8. AI revolution in medicine

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. Law Bytes Episode 69: Bram Abramson on the Government’s Plan to Regulate Internet Streaming Services (Michael Geist)
  2. Two Trump Defamation Claims Dismissed Including Claim Against TV Station for Political Attack Ad – What is the Relevance for Broadcasters? 
  3. How the Presidential Transition Will Affect the FCC
  4. Big TCPA News: Biden Announces FCC Transition Team that Includes Former Commissioner Clyburn 
  5. FCC Boss Pai Urged To Accept Trump Loss, Pause Dumb Attack On Social Media
  6. FCC takes spectrum from auto industry in plan to “supersize” Wi-Fi
  7. Broadband power users explode, making data caps more profitable for ISPs
  8. Digital Redlining: ISPs Widening The Digital Divide
  9. How Our Biggest ISPs Are Failing Students During COVID-19
  10. TV services head towards complex post-Brexit regulatory world
  11. FTC Tries to Clean Out 25 Fake Disinfectant Websites

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Boesen v. United Sports Publications, Ltd.: Court dismisses copyright claim, holding that publisher’s article that “embedded” Caroline Wozniacki’s Instagram post featuring plaintiff’s photograph constituted fair use. 
  2. Flo & Eddie, Inc. v. Pandora Media, Inc.: Court denies anti-SLAPP motion by owners of pre-1972 sound recordings created by The Turtles, holding Pandora’s failure to pay for use of recordings was not a speech right
  3. Artistic license and use of copyright in creative pursuits
  4. The Pose Is Prologue
  5. Despite RIAA’s Claim That YouTube-dl Is Infringing, Journalists Use It All The Time
  6. GitHub, EFF Push Back Against RIAA, Reinstate Youtube-dl Repository
  7. YouTube Seeks To Crack Down On COVID-19 Vaccine Conspiracies In Fact-Check Panels
  8. Donald Trump Argues That Use Of ‘Electric Avenue’ In Campaign Video Was Transformative
  9. Montgomery v. Holland: Second Circuit affirms dismissal of copyright infringement claim targeting 2014 television miniseries Rosemary’s Baby, holding it was not substantially similar to plaintiff’s short stories.
  10. Is Software Patentable?
  11. Scientific publishers propose installing spyware in university libraries to protect copyrights: The hypothetical plan to combat digital piracy called for the use of software to monitor those accessing academic material
  12. Proctorio used DMCA to take down a student’s critical tweets: “This is really a textbook example of fair use”
  13. Copyright rides to the rescue: Brompton Bicycle is protected by copyright
  14. Copyright: Online platform operators’ liability for users illegally uploading copyright material
  15. No Future for Copyright or Trade Dress Protection for Personal Planner Layout
  16. The First Step to Protecting Your Brand in Canada 
  17. EMPOWER-ing trademark infringement claims against public authorities
  18. Four Seasons Total Landscaping: trademark lessons from a bizarre political event 
  19. In a Galaxy Not So Far, Far Away: Millennial Falcon v. Millennium Falcon
  20. Can Clickbait Cause Confusion? Purchasing AdWord Did Not Constitute Trademark Infringement or an Unfair Trade Practice
  21. Will the growing second-hand market for fashion fuel trademark disputes?
  22. Hugo Boss And Art Teacher Reach ‘Amicable Solution’ Over ‘Be Boss, Be Kind’ Trademark Application
  23. Trademark everything: The not-so-secret world of celebrity IP
  24. Why Don’t Conservatives Care About Copyright?
  25. Food Industry Insight – The Trade Dress of a Cookie is Held to be Functional
  26. Ninth Circuit Rules That the Identification of a Trade Secret May Be Developed Through Discovery 
  27. Patent eligibility in Canada clarified with new Examination Guidelines
  28. CIPO’s new guidelines on patentable subject matter explained
  29. Presumed essential: CIPO clarifies its approach toward eligibility analysis following Federal Court decision 
  30. Canadian Patent Office Issues Guidance to “Cooperate” With Inventors of Computer-Based Inventions 
  31. Supreme Court to Decide Constitutionality of Patent Board 
  32. Moderna’s covid vaccine is promising news, but IP issues may mean the financial windfall it enjoys are limited
  33. Working with known materials in life sciences: Key patent considerations
  34. Canadian courts show trend of awarding higher costs in IP litigation
  35. Five things to know about protecting IP rights on Amazon 

PRIVACY

  1. “Publicity Placing the Plaintiff in a False Light” is the Newest Privacy Tort in Ontario
  2. Canada’s GDPR Moment: Why the Consumer Privacy Protection Act is Canada’s Biggest Privacy Overhaul in Decades (Michael Geist)
  3. Privacy Pressure Points: A Closer Look at Ten Consumer Privacy Protection Act Concerns (Michael Geist)
  4. Canada’s proposed new privacy law – Summary of business impacts
  5. The Canadian Government Proposes Significant Changes to Privacy Law: Key Features include New Requirements, Orders, Penalties and a Private Right of Action 
  6. Information privacy and security in a virtual learning world
  7. Appeals Court Says Baltimore PD’s Aerial Surveillance Program Doesn’t Violate The Constitution
  8. Federal Court Says State Regulation That Compels Production Of Code May Violate The First Amendment 
  9. Barbash v. STX Financing, LLC: Court dismisses adult entertainment host’s invasion of privacy and defamation claims against producers and distributors of film Hustlers
  10. How the U.S. Military Buys Location Data from Ordinary Apps: A Muslim prayer app with 98M downloads connects to a supply chain that sends people’s personal data to brokers, contractors & the military.
  11. Zoom Gets An FTC Wrist Slap For Misleading Users On Security, Encryption 
  12. Instructors And School Administrators Are Somehow Managing To Make Intrusive Testing Spyware Even Worse
  13. EU Data Protection Regulators Issue Critical Draft Guidance on Personal Data Transfers 
  14. Not Again! California Voters Enact California Privacy Rights Act: Now What?
  15. FTC requires video conferencing provider to safeguard against security risks 
  16. Election 2020: Looking Forward to What a Biden Presidency May Mean for Data Privacy and Data Privacy Litigation  
  17. ICO Fines Ticketmaster £1.25 Million for Security Failures 
  18. Marriott International, Inc. fined £18.4m for personal data breach by the UK ICO under the GDPR (reduced from £99.2m) 
  19. H&M hit with €35.3m fine for GDPR employee breach
  20. Resisting the rise of facial recognition
  21. Five months after the Schrems II decision, the EDPB has added long awaited clarity to the CJEU’s language regarding ‘supplemental measures’
  22. The iOS COVID-19 app ecosystem has become a privacy minefield
  23. Information privacy and security in a virtual learning world
  24. The Posthumous Privacy Paradox: Privacy preferences and Behavior Regarding Digital Remains

CREATIVITY

  1. Court of Appeal rules on the confidentiality of live sports data
  2. EU Court Backs Austrian Court, Says Local Libel Law Applies Everywhere In The World
  3. Conspiracy theories masquerading as news may be the biggest threat to our democratic world
  4. About Time: NY Governor Cuomo Signs Anti-SLAPP Law
  5. Freedom of Speech Gets a Big Boost With New York’s Passage of Widely Expanded Anti-SLAPP Law
  6. Devin Nunes Files Another SLAPP Suit; Sues The Washington Post Again
  7. COVID-19: Court Dismisses MLB Ticket Purchasers’ Action for Reimbursement After Shortened Season

GAMES

  1. Nintendo faces yet another Joy-Con drift lawsuit: An expert analysis noted that the drift is caused by “extensive wear on the pad surface on the interior of the Joy-Con”
  2. The dance-off ends: a (partial) resolution to Fortnite’s slurry of copyright lawsuits.
  3. Oxford University study finds playing games can positively impact emotional well-being
  4. Oxford University study shows video games can benefit well-being and mental health: But researchers call for more studies into this field, following its success in collaborating with EA and Nintendo­­­
  5. Pokémon Go raises its level cap for the first time in over four years
  6. Video game play is positively correlated with well-being (Niklas Johannes, Matti Vuorre, Andrew K. Przybylski)
  7. Court Upholds Gaming App’s Clickthrough TOS–Ball v. Skillz (Eric Goldman)
  8. Survey finds growing harassment among US gamers: ADL-Newzoo poll finds 68% of online multiplayer games experienced severe harassment in past six months, 22% said it made them quit playing certain games entirely
  9. Free to Play? Hate, Harassment and Positive Social Experience in Online Games 2020
  10. Ubisoft Singapore MD stepping down after misconduct allegations
  11. Ubisoft removes Singapore studio head: Hugues Ricour no longer leading Skull and Bones studio after report of sexual harassment, but remains with the publisher
  12. Global Game Revenues Up an Extra $15 Billion This Year as Engagement Skyrockets
  13. Judge dismisses Apple’s “theft” claims in Epic Games lawsuit
  14. Apple will halve App Store platform fees for smaller developers in 2021
  15. Apple drops its cut of App Store revenues from 30% to 15% for some developers
  16. Apple to cut down App Store share to 15% for small developers: The company’s new App Store Small Business Program means studios earning less than $1m a year in proceeds will benefit from a reduced commission
  17. Epic CEO: App Store changes offer ‘no relief to customers’ from ‘Apple Tax’
  18. Epic Games files against Apple Australia: Fortnite firm claims battle royale’s removal breaches Australian consumer law
  19. Apple settles with states for $113M over iPhone battery throttling
  20. Streamers protest Twitch DMCA policy with homemade video game noises: Beep beep beep. Pow! Schooooo… po-pow!
  21. Twitch eyes new tools, licensing deals after ‘understandably frustrating’ DMCA takedowns
  22. Twitch streamers report DMCA takedowns for in-game sound effects: Content creators report flags on sounds such as clock chimes, police sirens, bird noises, and wind
  23. Twitch Continues To Trip Over Itself In Response To DMCA Apocalypse
  24. Twitch’s No Good, Very Bad Time Continues: Part 1
  25. xQcOW, Pokimane Are Twitch’s Top-Earning Streamers Of 2020
  26. Twitch sees record viewership in October – Report: StreamElements and Arsenal find 1.6 billion hours watched on the platform last month, nearly doubling previous October
  27. EA launching FIFA spend-tracking tool: FIFA Playtime gives players an overview of how much time and money they’ve spent on FIFA 21, ability to set spending and Ultimate Team limits
  28. EA has loot boxed itself in with FIFA Ultimate Team | Opinion: Publisher is in the position of having to fix its gambling problem without admitting there’s a problem to fix
  29. EA must reconsider its FIFA goals | Podcast: The team discusses EA’s reluctance to acknowledge the resemblances of Ultimate Team to gambling, and the consequences that could bring
  30. FIFA 21 debuts at No.1 in the US for October in a first for the franchise: Nintendo Switch hardware sets a new dollar sales record for the month, surpassing the Wii in 2008
  31. Is a Tattoo Protected by Copyright? Is it Infringed if it Appears in a Computer Game? 
  32. Star Trek’s Space-Traveling Tardigrades Live Long and Prosper After Second Circuit Affirms Non-Infringement of Video Game Copyright
  33. Capcom says personal details of 350,000 potentially compromised after recent hack
  34. Capcom: Up to 350,000 people could be affected by ransomware leak
  35. Capcom confirms it was the victim of a ransomware attack: Employee personal information, sales reports, and other financial information was compromised
  36. Playrix: gameplay footage must be representative of the gaming experience
  37. Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla sees the franchise’s best launch sales so far: It sold more copies at launch than any other Assassin’s Creed game, and set a new record for Ubisoft PC launch sales
  38. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla beats Call of Duty in race for No.1 | UK Boxed Charts: It’s a massive, massive week for UK game sales
  39. Genshin Impact was the top-grossing mobile game worldwide in October: It brought in nearly $239m in player spending, beating out Honor of Kings
  40. Graffiti Games leaders launch Indie Game Coach: Alex Josef and Alex Van Lepp to provide free and low-cost resources, coaching, and consulting for new, independent developers
  41. How a Guilty Gear project contributed to the collapse of Skullgirls dev Lab Zero
  42. Epic releases thousands of What Remains of Edith Finch assets for free
  43. Epic Games acquires real-time animation firm Hyprsense: The company will collaborate closely with 3Lateral and Cubic Motion to “make content production more accessible”
  44. Half of US and UK players want more diverse characters in games: Research conducted by Newzoo shows that gamers want publishers to take an “active stance” on societal issues
  45. Respawn emphasises its no crunch policy: Accused of being too slow with content, Apex Legends game director says the studio “refuses to crunch the team”
  46. Animal Jam data breach exposes personal info of approximately 46m accounts: Emails, usernames, encrypted passwords, billing addresses, and real names were posted on public hacker forum
  47. Ubisoft Montreal staffers barricade on roof, escorted out by police
  48. Police operation underway at Ubisoft Montreal: Reported hostage situation may have been a hoax, police begin evacuating building
  49. Police say ‘hoax’ emergency call prompted Ubisoft Montreal studio scare
  50. The challenge and promise of DualSense | Opinion: PlayStation 5’s advanced haptic system is arguably the most interesting innovation of the new generation, but it creates a tricky marketing conundrum
  51. Discovery takeaways from the new PlayStation 5 store?
  52. Sony thinks cross-gen games will be ‘important’ for the next 3 years as players transition to PS5
  53. Demon’s Souls PS5 review: A gorgeous game worth dying (repeatedly) for
  54. Ghost of Tsushima passes 5m sold: Sucker Punch’s game is the fastest selling new IP for the PS4 from a Sony first-party studio
  55. Xbox Series X and S deliver Microsoft’s biggest ever console launch
  56. Xbox Series X|S is biggest console launch in Microsoft’s history: But Phil Spencer says platform holder still focused on player numbers of unit sales
  57. How will the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 benefit indies?: We speak to indie studios and publishers about the possibilities afforded by the new consoles
  58. Xbox Series S|X launch, big releases drive new records for UK broadband use: Service providers report new highs among Call of Duty updates and preloads, debuts of Destiny 2: Beyond Light and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
  59. Microsoft expects Xbox Series X and S to be in short supply until after holidays
  60. Microsoft expects Xbox Series X|S shortages until Q2 2021: CFO Tim Stuart points to summer next year for “the supply profile meeting the demand profile”
  61. Microsoft suggests higher AAA price-point is “warranted”: CFO Tim Stuart said that publishers need to “make the right decision for their content”
  62. The Falconeer: An unexpected jewel in the Xbox launch line-up
  63. Bethesda games will likely be “first or better” (not “only”) on Xbox
  64. Microsoft to begin testing Project xCloud in new regions including Australia and Japan
  65. Microsoft to roll out Project xCloud in four new markets: The cloud gaming beta is coming to Australia, Brazil, Japan, and Mexico this November
  66. What next-gen consoles really mean for audio: Sumo Digital discusses the audio tools that could be a game changer for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S
  67. Switch sets new October sales record in the U.S. as next-gen arrives
  68. The Switch had the second-best October sales in the US of any console ever: At over 735,000 units sold, it was outpaced only by the Wii in 2008
  69. Happy 20th Birthday To ‘No One Lives Forever’, The Classic PC Game That Can’t Be Sold Today Thanks To IP
  70. Why are there no James Bond games?: In the absence of new film No Time To Die, we explore 007’s ongoing absence from video games and the challenge of developing with a licence
  71. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla debuts with record launch week sales for the franchise
  72. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla doubles Odyssey’s player count at launch: The latest entry in Ubisoft’s series also saw record viewership on Twitch and YouTube
  73. Freshly founded Gunzilla Games aims to take on triple-A shooter development
  74. Gunzilla Games enters AAA shooter market with $25m in funding: After helping Warface developer Blackwood spin out from Crytek, Vlad Korolev is looking to build a studio from scratch
  75. The careful cultivation and localization of Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin: Edelweiss and XSeed discuss the historical Japanese roots of the in-depth rice farming sim, and the challenges of bringing it West
  76. PUBG Corp is bringing a new version of banned PUBG Mobile to India
  77. PUBG Corp. creating new PUBG Mobile for India to get around ban: Korean publisher establishes Indian subsidiary that will hire 100 people, pledges to invest $100 million into local gaming and entertainment industry
  78. Fortnite mulls monthly paid subscription
  79. New League of Legends character not based on real person, says Riot
  80. Grubhub Taps Addison Rae, CrankGameplays, More For Virtual Friendsgiving Promo On ‘Animal Crossing’
  81. Unity revenue up 53.3% year-over-year at close of first public quarter
  82. Unity shares first earnings following IPO with $201 million in Q3 revenue: On earnings call, CEO John Riccitiello addresses price hikes, COVID-19 impacts, future investments, and finding a casual audience
  83. Ghost of Tsushima has topped 5 million sales in under four months
  84. Fall Guys has sold over 10 million copies on Steam
  85. Fall Guys has sold more than 10 million copies on Steam alone
  86. Data deep dive: What’s the ‘long tail’ like for Steam games?
  87. Steam’s initial PS5 controller support doesn’t include the controller’s advanced haptics
  88. Zynga opens Austin studio to work on upcoming Star Wars project
  89. Zynga to open new studio in its Austin office: The new studio will focus on the development of NaturalMotion’s Star Wars game
  90. Google and My.Games launch mobile accelerator program
  91. My.Games launches cloud gaming service
  92. Thunderful acquires long-time LittleBigPlanet collaborator Station Interactive
  93. Thunderful acquires Station Interactive: Swedish development studio’s employees, IP, and assets will be incorporated into Thunderful Development
  94. As lockdowns lift, Tencent gaming revenues continue to rise: Online games revenues up 45% year-over-year, 8% quarter-over-quarter thanks to Honour of Kings, Peacekeeper Elite
  95. Paradox reports record quarterly revenues as Crusader Kings III sales top 1 million
  96. Embracer acquires 13 studios including Shadow Warrior dev Flying Wild Hog
  97. Embracer Group H1 sales up 132% to $524.2m: THQ Nordic and Koch Media parent reports growth across all divisions as it adds 13 new studios
  98. Thunderful Group intends to go public to raise cash for further acquisitions
  99. Thunderful Group prepares for IPO on NASDAQ First North Premier: Listing expected to raise close to $90 million for Swedish games firm, company valued at $395 million
  100. Female-led Queens Gaming Collective raises $1.5m: Gaming lifestyle company launches after seed round led by Bitkraft Ventures
  101. Mobile startup Lila Games raises $2.8m: Indian developer attracts investment from execs at Super Evil Megacorp and Machine Zone
  102. Conversation as the crewmate: Understanding the rise of Among Us: Barbie Koelker from conversation analysis platform Spiketrap explores Among Us’ growing popularity
  103. New toolbox shows teachers how to best use games in their classroom
  104. Wiggin acquires games law firm Purewal & Partners: Founder Jas Purewal is joining as partner, alongside his team
  105. All eyes on esports: staying ahead of the legal hurdles: As investment pours into the sector, legal firm Reed Smith offers advice to new companies seeking to avoid legal pitfalls
  106. The pandemic-fuelled esports boom: legal and regulatory considerations for investors
  107. NRG Esports Unveils Sprawling Content Creation “Castle” In Los Angeles
  108. Valve adds extensive developer commentary to Half-Life: Alyx
  109. Double win for Valve at 2020 VR Awards: Index headset won best hardware, while Half-Life: Alyx was crowned Game of the Year
  110. VR dev Resolution Games kicks off push into publishing with Odd Raven deal
  111. Resolution Games launches VR publishing arm: First partnership will bring Odd Raven Studio’s Carly and the Reaperman to Oculus Quest and Quest 2 next year
  112. Video: Lessons in developing functional artificial intelligence using VR
  113. Blog: The psychology of irresistible game offers
  114. Blog: 12 misconceptions that hurt the player experience
  115. Blog: Roguelike lessons horror games need to learn
  116. Blog: Spilt Milk Devlog 06 – Fascism Fighters 4000 (Part 1)
  117. Blog: What mechanics should you add to an Early Access game?
  118. Video: Porting your game to Oculus Quest
  119. Video: Why Survios builds new tech for games like Battlewake
  120. Don’t Miss: Looking back to Mark Cerny’s 2013 tech breakdown of the then-next-gen PS4
  121. Don’t Miss: Bad crediting hurts the game industry and muddles history
  122. Don’t Miss: How games like Super Mario Galaxy and Demon’s Souls handle subjective difficulty
  123. Don’t Miss: Inside the development of Supergiant Games’ Hades
  124. Q&A: Why Assassin’s Creed Valhalla did away with side quests
  125. The Last of Us Part 2, Hades dominate The Game Awards nominations: Sony received 22 nominations for its published games, including ten for The Last of Us Part 2
  126. U.S. Patent No. 10,471,357: Systems and methods for simulating a particular user in an interactive computer system

Jon

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News of the Week; November 11, 2020

By Jon Festinger on November 14, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. Amazon’s use of marketplace data breaks competition law, EU charges
  2. Antitrust: Commission sends Statement of Objections to Amazon for the use of non-public independent seller data and opens second investigation into its e-commerce business practices
  3. Facebook and Twitter struggle with online fury from Trump supporters
  4. Microsoft engineer gets nine years for stealing $10M from Microsoft
  5. QAnon Conspiracy Theorists Can’t Force YouTube to Carry Their Videos–Doe v. Google (Eric Goldman)
  6. United States v Google: A Re-Found Willingness to Regulate Technology Monopolies?
  7. Bot or Not? Authenticating Social Media Evidence at Trial in the Age of Internet Fakery
  8. Facebook’s latest attempt to slow disinformation means probation for groups
  9. YouTube Election Loophole Lets Some False Trump-Win Videos Spread
  10. How Well Did Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube Handle Election Misinformation?
  11. YouTube Touted Its Handling Of Election Misinformation. But Now It Says Videos Spreading Vote Tabulation Conspiracies, False Win Claims Are Fine.
  12. Google Photos is the latest “Unlimited” plan to impose hard limits
  13. Google Photos will end its free unlimited storage on June 1st, 2021: After 15 gigs, you’ll need to pony up for Google One
  14. Netflix files copyright claims against tweets criticizing movie, trailer
  15. Netflix Targets Critical ‘Cuties’ Tweets With Copyright Takedown Requests
  16. Netflix Gets Cute Using DMCA Notices To Take Down Tweets Critical Of ‘Cuties’
  17. Netflix Testing Pre-Programmed, Linear TV-Style Channel Called ‘Direct’ In France
  18. FCC General Counsel Issues Guidance on the Agency’s Section 230 Authority
  19. Section 230 Faces the Heat
  20. Content Moderation Case Study: Google Refuses A Law Enforcement Agency Demand To Remove A Video Depicting Police Brutality (2011)
  21. Content Moderation Case Study: Using Fact Checkers To Create A Misogynist Meme (2019)
  22. Ten Common Mistakes When Conducting Sweepstakes or Contest Promotions on Social Media
  23. If You Want an Enforceable Online Contract, You Better Keep a Good Chain of Evidence–Snow v. Eventbrite Eric Goldman)
  24. Emojis & The Law: An Interview with Professor Eric Goldman
  25. The Latest Influencer Hotspot Is An Abandoned California Ghost Town
  26. UK Wing Of TikTok Swears It Isn’t Helping The Chinese Government Oppress Uighur Muslims
  27. UK Advertising Regulator makes first ever ruling on disclosures required for commercial marketing via a TikTok video
  28. TikTok Predicted To Hit 1 Billion Users In 2021
  29. TikTok users troll Trump “voter fraud” reporting hotline en masse
  30. TikTok says it’s been waiting weeks for a Trump response on US ban
  31. Fullscreen To Be Dramatically Affected By WarnerMedia Layoffs
  32. Vimeo Raises $150 Million Amid Record Revenue Growth, Eyes Spinoff From Parent IAC
  33. Spotify May Be Eyeing Podcast-Only Subscription Tiers
  34. In Biggest Podcast Purchase Yet, Spotify Acquires Ad And Publishing Platform ‘Megaphone’ For $235 Million
  35. Patreon, Acast Partner To Help Podcasters Distribute Paywalled Content More Broadly
  36. Intel SGX defeated yet again—this time thanks to on-chip power meter
  37. Apple dishes details on its new M1 chip
  38. First ARM-based Mac laptops: MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro
  39. Update! Apple Announces New Privacy Disclosures Required Starting December 8
  40. Apple, Sony Reportedly Eyeing $300-$400 Million Acquisition Of Podcast Network Wondery
  41. Apple supplier Pegatron found using illegal student labor in China
  42. After IPO, BBTV Signs Parkour Athlete Nick Pro, Lifestyle Vlogger Francesca Farago, More
  43. Reebok Sits Down With Hit YouTube Franchise ‘Hot Ones’ For Footwear, Apparel Collaboration
  44. Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels • Week Of 11/09/2020
  45. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 11/09/2020
  46. The anatomy of Zoom fatigue
  47. Key Takeaways from New Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework by US Department of Justice
  48. The feds just seized Silk Road’s $1 billion stash of bitcoin
  49. US Seizes $1 Billion in Bitcoin Associated With Silk Road

A.I.

  1.  Patenting Artificial Intelligence in Canada, the UK and Europe: A Primer
  2. AI Application Examination: 5 Key trends
  3. Understanding the AI Patent Landscape
  4. Plans for new AI legal framework gather pace
  5. A global legal standard for Artificial Intelligence? The European Parliament proposes legislation
  6. AI and Climate Change: The Promise, the Perils and Pillars for Action 
  7. The De-democratization of AI: Deep Learning and the Compute Divide in Artificial Intelligence Research 
  8. Co-regulating algorithmic disclosure for digital platforms 
  9. Extending the framework of algorithmic regulation. The Uber case
  10. AI and health data: cracking the privacy code
  11. James Corden is a snarky AI that might take out humanity in Superintelligence 

COMMUNICATIONS

  1.  Cultural Uncertainty: A Closer Look at Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault’s Timeline For Internet Regulation (Michael Geist)
  2. Universal Broadband Fund and Telesat low Earth orbit capacity agreement (Government of Canada)
  3. Merger ‘Synergies’ Force T-Mobile To Pay $200 Million Fine For Sprint Falsehoods
  4. ESPN Lays Off 300 Staffers Amid Resource Shift Toward DTC, Digital Businesses
  5. No Chips? No Worries. Ninth Circuit Rejects FTC’s Petition for En Banc Review of Decision Holding that Qualcomm Has No Antitrust Duty to Deal with Rivals
  6. Fox News doubles down on calling Arizona for Biden
  7. The moment Fox News projected Joe Biden will win 2020 presidential election – video
  8. Ajit Pai urged to accept Trump loss and stop controversial rulemakings 
  9. D.C. Circuit Rejects Petitions to Strike Down FCC’s 2019 Unbundling and Resale Forbearance Order 
  10. FCC Opens Application Portal for $100 Million in Funding to Support Connected Care Services 
  11. FCC Adopts Order Expanding Unlicensed Wireless Operations in TV White Spaces 
  12. FCC Announces T-Mobile Will Pay $200 Million Penalty Resolving Sprint Lifeline Investigation
  13. Wireless 5G Networks in 2021
  14. There Is No ‘Race To 5G.’ And The U.S. Wouldn’t Be Winning Even If There Was
  15. Alphabet delivers wireless Internet over light beams from 20km away
  16. Improperly installed Ring doorbells are catching on fire
  17. Your Slingbox Will Be A Useless Brick In A Few Years 
  18. We Do Not Have the Internet We Deserve

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Game, set, match: Sometimes the photo is the story
  2. Federal Judge Rules Embedding of Instagram Post Containing Copyrighted Photo is Fair Use
  3. Embedding in a State of Flux: New York Courts Challenge Decade Old Reasoning from the Ninth Circuit
  4. Vallejo v. Narcos Productions LLC (USCA, Oct.27, 2020): Held that portions Netflix’s Narcos series are not substantially similar to journalist’s memoir regarding romantic relationship with Pablo Escobar
  5. Capote Charity Claims Copyright
  6. Anti-Cheat Student Software Proctorio Issuing DMCA Takedowns Of Fair Use Critiques Over Its Code
  7. Copyright Plaintiffs Can’t Figure Out What Copyrights They Own, Court Says ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (Eric Goldman)
  8. Canada’s Forever Register: Newfoundland Trademark Registrations
  9. Anita White Strikes Back With Second Trademark Suit
  10. He May be Undefeated in the Ring, but Floyd Mayweather Got Knocked Out at the Trademark Office.
  11. Augusta National Blazes a Trail to Registration of its Iconic Green Jacket
  12. “I sense a disturbance in the force” When Star Wars universe meets Trademark law: Millennial Falcon v Millennium Falcon
  13. Glossier’s Pink Pouch TM Registration Could Mean a Rosy Future for Non-Traditional Marks
  14. Alleged bait-and-switch selling found not to constitute trade mark infringement
  15. Aussie Brewer Keeps Digging Holes With Trademark Lawsuits, Now Owes Court Costs
  16. Trademark protection on e-commerce platforms
  17. Seeing Green – Post-Election Day 2020: State Trademarks for Cannabis Goods & Services
  18. TTAB Refuses Registration of .SUCKS 
  19. Trade Secret Strategies: Using Standstill Agreements to Resolve Disputes Out of Court
  20. Sedona Conference Publishes Commentary on Proper Trade Secret Identification
  21. Federal Court finds that discoverability principle applies to limitation periods under Section 55.01 of Patent Act
  22. The Impact of CIPO’s New Guidance on the Prosecution of Patent Applications Directed to Diagnostic Methods
  23. Canadian Intellectual Property Office issues Practice Notice regarding patentable subject matter
  24. 2020 Brings Growing Trend of Patent Cases Decided by way of Summary Trial
  25. Is the new toilet on the International Space Station patentable?
  26. Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality Patent Prosecution Update: 2020 Q3 Prosecution Statistics
  27. How to protect a user interface with a patent 
  28. Massachusetts Voters Overwhelmingly Support Expanded ‘Right To Repair’ Law 
  29. Proactive Protection: Intellectual Property Audits
  30. Under President Biden, IP evolution is much more likely than revolution
  31. WIPO Launches “WIPO Lex-Judgments” Database

PRIVACY

  1. Anonymous video analytics’ future uncertain after Canadian privacy regulators’ investigation
  2. Privacy Enforcement Update: Possible Collaboration Between the Competition Bureau and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner
  3. Mall real estate company collected 5 million images of shoppers, say privacy watchdogs
  4. Facial Recognition Company’s Employees Abused Tech To Sexually Harass Coworkers
  5. Software snoops on students during exams
  6. FTC Settles Complaint Against Zoom Regarding End-to-End Encryption
  7. Zoom Settles with FTC Over Deceptive Security Claims
  8. Zoom lied to users about end-to-end encryption for years, FTC says
  9. California Court Says Wiretap Target Should Have Access To Wiretap Documents
  10. Mississippi City Trying To Turn Residents’ Doorbell Cameras Into Law Enforcement Surveillance Network
  11. San Diego’s spying streetlights stuck switched “on,” despite directive
  12. EU Takes Another Small Step Towards Trying To Ban Encryption; New Paper Argues Tech Can Nerd Harder To Backdoor Encryption
  13. Surprise: Latest Draft Of The EU’s Next Big Privacy Law Includes Some Improvements
  14. Data Broker On The Hook For $5 Million After Abusing Its Access To North Carolina DMV Data
  15. Portland’s Facial Recognition Ban Won’t Stop Private Citizens From Rolling Their Own Tech To ID Cops 
  16. The DOJ Will Finally Allow Local Cops To Wear Body Cameras When Working With Federal Agencies
  17. California Voters Adopt the California Privacy Rights Act 
  18. California Ramps up Consumer Privacy Enforcement
  19. California Privacy Rights Act Passes – Dramatically Altering the CCPA
  20. Democratizing Platform Privacy
  21. Michigan Voters Add Constitutional Protections for Electronic Data and Communications
  22. Building a Robust Biometric Compliance Program in the US: A Five-Step Checklist
  23. Schrems II: Court Orders the DPC to Pay Majority of Costs

CREATIVITY

  1. Gun-Toting Couple Sues Photographer For Privacy Violation Over Photo They Used As Christmas Cards, After He Billed Them
  2. Using hate speech as an excuse
  3. China’s Hong Kong Protester-Targeting ‘See Something, Say Something’ Hotline Is A Big Success
  4. How Should Social Media Handle Election Polls That Turned Out To Be Misinformation?
  5. Xiaolu Guo: “The way we read has changed radically in the digital age” – The Chinese novelist on her book A Lover’s Discourse, her love of Roland Barthes, and why fragmented narratives best represent modern life.

GAMES

  1. Class action lawsuit accuses EA of changing game difficulty to push loot boxes
  2. EA faces yet another class-action lawsuit connected to loot boxes: EA calls claims “baseless,” says they “misrepresent our games”
  3. What’s Loot Got to do With It?
  4. Judge dismisses Apple’s claim of theft in Epic case: Court says ongoing legal battle should focus on breach of contract and anti-trust claims
  5. Judge says Apple isn’t entitled to extra monetary damages over Fortnite lawsuit
  6. SAG-AFTRA extends video game voice acting contract to November 2022
  7. Tommy Tallarico, Roblox come to agreement over “oof” sound effect: Popular death sound effect to be replaced in game, asset will be sold via Roblox store going forward
  8. Ubisoft apologises for ableist description in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: The publisher said it will address the issue in an upcoming update
  9. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla review: A Viking quest worth sinking your axe into
  10. Ubisoft removing UK journalist from Watch Dogs over “controversial remarks”: The Atlantic writer Helen Lewis voiced a character on an in-game podcast
  11. MiHoYo reportedly discloses Genshin Impact players phone numbers: The studio said they took “immediate action to fix the problem,” which should now be resolved
  12. EA renews UFC, NHL, NHLPA partnerships with fresh ‘multi-year’ deals
  13. EA extends UFC, NHL licensing deals: Publisher will have exclusive rights to MMA league’s games through 2030 while hockey deal is a “multi-year renewal”
  14. EA quarterly sales slide due to later FIFA, Madden launches: Full game sales for the second quarter halved but publisher still beats guidance, announces stock buyback and dividend plans
  15. FIFA leads renewed mobile strategy at EA: CEO Andrew Wilson says “six new FIFA titles” are in development on mobile for “new genres and new markets”
  16. EA: Apex Legends on track to become billion dollar franchise by March 2021
  17. EA Play crosses 6.5 million paying subscribers
  18. EA Play reaches 6.5 million paid subscribers, EA aims to double that within a year
  19. EA looks to revamp its mobile biz to tap into an ‘unbelievable exponential opportunity’
  20. Live games continue to lead at Take-Two as recurrent consumer spend jumps 56%
  21. NBA 2K21 drives Take-Two earnings: Revenues and bookings flat but net income hops as CEO Zelnick reports pandemic-driven engagement boost hasn’t let up at all
  22. Take-Two president “highly sceptical” about games subscriptions: Karl Slatoff tells investors services like Xbox Game Pass will become the primary way games are consumed
  23. Take-Two in talks to acquire Dirt dev Codemasters
  24. Take-Two confirms $994 million purchase of Dirt developer Codemasters
  25. Take-Two in talks to buy Codemasters: Racing publisher says it has discussed a deal that would value it at nearly $1 billion
  26. Take-Two bids to buy Dirt 5 publisher Codemasters for $973.8 million
  27. Take-Two acquisition of Codemasters expected to go through in early 2021: Both publishers’ board of directors approve the proposed deal, valuing Codemasters at £726 million
  28. Sega Sammy calls for 650 staff to voluntarily retire: Japanese publisher records extraordinary losses around structural reform
  29. Sega Sammy struggling to weather the pandemic despite strong game sales
  30. Sega Sammy raises forecasts, despite losses driven by COVID-19: Publisher expects structural reform and increased games sales to carry company through tough financial year
  31. Mobile games set new quarterly revenue record at Konami
  32. Grounded tops 5 million players in under six months
  33. Nexon posts its best Q3 ever thanks to mobile revenue surge: Mobile revenue up 140% thanks to The Kingdom of the Winds Yeon, KartRider Rush+ and V4
  34. ‘HD Games’ profit dips at Square Enix following Marvel’s Avengers launch
  35. Capcom says customer information is secure following cyber attack
  36. Ten risks associated with the new EU Digital Content Directive: Legal expert Sebastian Schwiddessen breaks down how buggy games at launch, shutting titles down early and more can violate consumers’ rights
  37. Dontnod to embrace self-publishing for multiple future titles: CEO Oskar Guilbert says the studio wants to be “as independent as possible” going forward
  38. Griffin Gaming Partners raises $235 million to invest in games
  39. Griffin Gaming Partners raises $235m for gaming investments: Gaming-focused VC firm run by Philip Sanderson, Peter Levin, and Nick Tuosto already invested in Discord, Skillz and more
  40. Enthusiast Gaming plans to list on NASDAQ: Parent behind The Escapist and Luminosity Gaming
  41. First impressions: How are reviewers reacting to the PlayStation 5?
  42. PlayStation 5 | Critical Consensus: Critics agree that Sony’s PS5 transcends on-paper comparisons to Xbox, and is the only new console that “feels” next-gen from the first moment
  43. No day one stock for retail as Sony focuses PS5 launch sales online: Platform holder urges PlayStation fans to order through retail partners’ websites
  44. The PlayStation 5 has a hidden Web browser; here’s how to find it
  45. Sony debuts PS5 games ad as part of “memorable” launch efforts: Travis Scott returns alongside Spider-Man, Gran Turismo, Demon’s Souls, Horizon and more
  46. Sony launches PS5 remote play app for the PS4 with next-gen looming
  47. The PlayStation 5 was even larger in initial design concepts 
  48. PlayStation 5 review: Not just a more-powerful PS4
  49. PlayStation 5 forgoes day one in-store launch as a COVID-19 precaution
  50. Sorry, you can’t move your discontinued copy of PT to the PS5
  51. PlayStation exec: Dual support for PS4 and PS5 planned for 3 years
  52. A tale of two consoles: Xbox Series X and S in review
  53. Xbox Series X/S review: Beautiful, powerful—but whatcha gonna play?
  54. If Xbox is Netflix, then PS5 is cinema | Console analysis: PlayStation’s new console is an extension of the games it makes
  55. The Different Strategies Of Microsoft And Sony’s Next-Generation Consoles: Choosing between a console is a more philosophical choice this generation
  56. First impressions of PS5 and Xbox Series X|S | Podcast: The team share their own experiences with the next-generation consoles on our latest episode, available to download now
  57. The last great console leap? | Opinion: Microsoft and Sony have different strategies, but they’re both launching consoles that feel less like a “clean break” with the past generation
  58. Xbox Series X|S | Critical Consensus: Reviewers like quality-of-life improvements on Microsoft’s new systems, but recommendations come with big caveats
  59. Microsoft: Xbox Series S does not hold back the next generation, it advances it – Platform holder explains why it dropped Xbox One X, rather than maintaining it as a low-end console
  60. Xbox: Next-gen battle will “not be a reflection of demand — it’ll be a reflection of supply” – Phil Spencer disregards tendency to declare ““a winner and… a loser” between sales of Xbox and PlayStation
  61. Report: Microsoft holding acquisition talks with a number of Japanese developers
  62. Spencer: Microsoft almost abandoned Xbox brand after the Xbox One launch
  63. Dev-friendliness, scalability at top of mind for Xbox development chief
  64. Some Amazon Xbox Series X pre-orders may not arrive until December: A Microsoft spokesperson said the company is “working tirelessly with retail partners to replenish Xbox hardware as quickly as possible”
  65. Nintendo raises forecasts as H1 profits triple to $2.8bn: Full-year Switch sales predicted to reach 24 million, five million units higher than previously expected
  66. Switch driving growth at Nintendo as console nears 70 million sales
  67. Google Is Giving YouTube Premium Subscribers A Free Stadia Controller, Chromecast Ultra
  68. Steam adds frictionless playtesting feature: The new tool will make playtests accessible directly from a title’s store page
  69. BioWare confirms Mass Effect remaster in 2021, new Mass Effect later
  70. Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Avengers push Square Enix H1 sales up 43%: Publisher’s HD Games division posts profits for the six-month period, but last quarter was in the red
  71. FIFA 21 and Star Wars: Squadrons come out top in October | EMEAA Charts: Nintendo Switch console sales up 77% in October 2020 vs 2019
  72. Watch Dogs: Legion knocks down FIFA 21 | UK Digital Charts: Ni No Kuni Wrath of the White Witch on Switch makes No.3
  73. Slight jump in boxed game sales as lockdown returns | UK Boxed Charts: Nintendo Switch games post strong week-on-week increases
  74. NPD says US consumers spent a record amount on games in Q3: $11.2 billion total for July-September span is up 24% on last year; market research firm expects Q4 to set records as well
  75. Descenders has sold over 250,000 units: Nearly 3.5 million people have played the biking title across all platforms, thanks to its success on Xbox Game Pass
  76. Hitman franchise crosses 70 million players in 20 years
  77. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla | Critical Consensus: Critics agree that Valhalla is one of the very best Assassin’s Creed games, but its underlying themes are tainted by Ubisoft’s year of scandal
  78. Spider-Man: Miles Morales review: New hero, same heroic gameplay
  79. Why do some games just… keep selling?
  80. The Game Developer’s Playlist: Full Throttle with Chandana Ekanayake | Outerloop Games co-founder shares how the 1995 biking adventure inspired him to get into games
  81. Light Brick, the once and possibly future Lego studio: Builder’s Journey studio co-founders say they spun out to be more agile and independent, but Lego Ventures backed them with an eventual reunion in mind
  82. Amber opens new studio in Montreal: New branch will focus on QA, localisation and engineering
  83. Epic is gauging interest in a Fortnite monthly subscription plan
  84. Epic Games gauging interest in monthly Fortnite subscription: If implemented, subscribers would receive Battle Pass, early access to free skins and regular V-Bucks
  85. Which publishers are the game subscription believers?
  86. Night Media Signs 6-Channel Family Gaming Empire FGTeeV
  87. After Mixer Closed, Ninja Chose Twitch Over YouTube Because He Didn’t Want To Be Known As “A YouTuber”
  88. Twitch Unveils Full Rundown For Saturday’s ‘GlitchCon’ — Its Virtual Reimagining Of TwitchCon
  89. Twitch Apologizes To Creators Hit By Mass DMCAs And Content Deletions, Says It’s In Talks With Record Labels
  90. Twitch explains confusing copyright crackdown, urges users to delete videos
  91. Twitch apologizes for handling of mass copyright claims: Streaming platform apologizes for giving streamers unhelpful warnings, little notice in face of avalanche of DMCA claims from record labels
  92. Esports brand Fnatic raises $10m: Also offering fans the chance to invest via $1.3m Crowdcube campaign
  93. Esports platform Edge raises $1.5m: Investment will be used for recruitment and improving its tech, which simplifies esports contracts, payments and more
  94. 100 Thieves To Enter Call Of Duty League With New Team, Los Angeles Thieves
  95. ESPN Confirms Future Shut Down of Esports Editorial Operations
  96. ESPN ends its daily esports coverage, laying off at least eight: Network to continue covering esports on a story-by-story basis following cost-cutting measures, layoffs
  97. Original founder re-acquires OpTic Gaming: Hector Rodriguez takes esports organization back after Immortals Gaming Club acquisition last year
  98. Fortnite reportedly returning to iOS via GeForce Now: An announcement from Nvidia is expected “before the winter holidays” the BBC reported
  99. Lifting the VR veil: How PlayStation 5 works with Sony’s last-gen headset
  100. It Took Just 5 Minutes Of Movement Data To Identify ‘Anonymous’ VR Users
  101. Composing the blockbuster soundtrack of Ghost of Tsushima: Written to reflect the game’s historical setting, Ilan Eshkeri discusses the creative and practical process behind the PlayStation exclusive’s music
  102. Video: Making great key art for your game’s front end
  103. Video: How to wrangle inflation in your online game economy
  104. Don’t Miss: A deep dive into Forza Horizon 3’s online co-op multiplayer
  105. Don’t Miss: How Onrush harnesses the chaos of a racing battle
  106. Don’t Miss: A 2013 snapshot of game developers’ motion control tips, lessons, and dreams
  107. Don’t Miss: Translating the humor & tone of the Yakuza games for the West
  108. Don’t Miss: What was it like programming Skyrim?
  109. Blog: How spreadsheets power civilian AI in Watch Dogs 2
  110. Blog: The argument for simpler games
  111. Blog: Combining 2D and 3D effects in Blightbound
  112. Blog: How to run offers in free-to-play (and avoid backlashes)
  113. Blog: Developing a tabletop game
  114. Analyst: The next-gen console race is Sony’s to lose
  115. U.S. Patent No. 10,478,735: Video game system with spectator mode hud
  116. U.S. Patent No. 10,509,461: Augmented reality video game systems

Jon

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News of the Week; November 4, 2020

By Jon Festinger on November 7, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. Facebook Charged Biden a Higher Price Than Trump for Campaign Ads: In swing states, Biden paid average ad rates of $34 compared with Trump’s average of $17 in July and August
  2. The Trump Camp Has Bought YouTube’s Masthead Ad 20 Times This Election—Including On Election Day
  3. What Twitter Did After Trump Said Democrats Are Trying to “STEAL” the Election
  4. Trump’s campaign and family boost bogus conspiracy theories in a bid to undermine vote count: Campaign sent estimated 9 million texts according to anti-robocall firm, some seeking money to launch voting challenges
  5. Court tosses constitutional challenge to Trump order on social media
  6. Facebook targeted in U.K. legal action over Cambridge Analytica
  7. Facebook sued by UK group over Cambridge Analytica breach
  8. Insights: Social Media Platforms’ Election-Protection Plans A Start, But Not Nearly Enough Change For Long-Term
  9. What The Election Means For Tech
  10. While Social Media Was Quick To Highlight And Limit The Spread Of False Claims Of Election Victory, Traditional Media Just Let It Flow
  11. Another Court Rejects Trump’s Censorial Anti-TikTok EO–Marland v. Trump (Eric Goldman)
  12. Judge: Trump Admin‘s TikTok ban would cause “irreparable harm” to creators
  13. Three TikTok Influencers Influenced A Judge To Block Trump’s TikTok Ban
  14. TikTok Countersues Triller, Says Its Tech Doesn’t Violate Patent
  15. TikTok Re-Ups Licensing Deal With Sony, Adding Marketing, Artist Discovery Components
  16. Nixon Scandal Resulted In A Law To Prevent The Politicization Of Antitrust Cases; Meanwhile Trump Uses His Politicized Antitrust Effort In Campaign Ad
  17. As Trump falsely claims victory, Twitter and Facebook counter misinformation
  18. How Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Reddit are handling the election
  19. Turkish President Sues Dutch Lawmaker Over A Bunch Of ‘Insulting’ Tweets
  20. U.S. Department of Justice Sues Google for Antitrust Violations
  21. Google Kills Nest Secure, Can’t Be Bothered To Explain Support Roadmap
  22. Senate hauls Zuckerberg, Dorsey into hearing to yell at them about tweets
  23. The Senate Snowflake Grievance Committee Quizzes Tech CEOs On Tweets & Employee Viewpoints
  24. A Digital Tech New Deal to break up Big Tech: Antitrust efforts in the US are not enough to counter the global power of Big Tech.
  25. NZ Supreme Court Gives A Mixed Bag Extradition Ruling To Kim Dotcom; Extradition Still Alive, But He Can Raise Procedural Issues
  26. Transparency Is Important; Mandated Transparency Is Dangerous And Will Stifle Innovation And Competition
  27. Constitutional Challenge to Trump’s Anti-230 EO Fails–Rock the Vote v. Trump (Eric Goldman)
  28. Free Market Advocate Switches Sides, Calls For Direct Government Interference In Online Moderation Decisions
  29. Trump campaign out $2.3 million after hack of Wisconsin GOP
  30. Changing Section 230 Won’t Fix Politicians’ Issues With Section 230
  31. Twitter, Facebook, Google Heads Testify on Section 230 and Local Journalism
  32. Your Problem Is Not With Section 230, But The 1st Amendment
  33. Snapchat Isn’t Liable for Its Speed Filter (Even if Section 230 Doesn’t Apply)–Maynard v. Snapchat (Eric Goldman)
  34. Creators Are Starting To Make A Lot Of Money On Facebook
  35. Facebook’s Handy Identity Crisis: Publisher or bulletin board? Can it really give up news sharing? Why the tech giant works hard to resist definition.
  36. Facebook Takes Aim at NYU Web Scrapers
  37. This microscopic 3D-printed Star Trek Voyager can move on its own
  38. Apple One, Apple’s answer to Amazon Prime, is finally launching
  39. On The Podcast: All The Reasons Why Quibi Didn’t Work
  40. A Quick Bite Post Mortem For For Quibi: Hollywood Still Doesn’t Get The Internet
  41. BEN Group Acquires YouTube Channel-Optimizing Browser Extension ‘TubeBuddy’
  42. YouTube Hits $5 Billion In Ad Revenue, 30 Million Premium And Music Subscribers In Q3
  43. YouTube Soundtracking Service Epidemic Sound Launches ‘Music Recommender’ Tool For Creators
  44. Ryan Kaji Becomes First YouTuber To Be Featured In Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade In Roughly A Century
  45. “Baby Shark” Overtakes “Despacito” To Become YouTube’s Most-Watched Video Of All Time
  46. Tati Westbrook Sued By Former Business Partner In Her Halo Beauty Vitamin Venture
  47. David Dobrik Links Up With Leonardo DiCaprio For Second Voter Registration Contest
  48. Google says it’s “committed” to Nest Secure but won’t ship any new features
  49. Senate hauls Zuckerberg, Dorsey into hearing to yell at them about tweets
  50. Netflix Raises Subscription Prices In The U.S., Causing Shares To Jump 4%
  51. Spotify CEO Says ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ Is No. 1 English Podcast, Has “Outperformed Our Expectations”
  52. Filtering feminisms: Emergent feminist visibilities on Instagra
  53. Creator Community Standard Beefs Up In-House Video Production With Acquisition Of Studio Mighteor
  54. The Ongoing Transformation of the Digital Public Sphere: Basic Considerations on a Moving Target
  55. Decentralize the feedback infrastructure! (Pedro Garcia Lopez)
  56. Revisiting the Black Box Society by rethinking the political economy of big data (Benedetta Brevini, Frank Pasquale)
  57. Dark pools and data markets: an exploration of the regulatory challenges
  58. The Janus faces of Silicon Valley
  59. Freedom of Expression and Alternatives for Internet Governance: Prospects and Pitfalls (Emma Ricknell)
  60. A Digital Tech New Deal: Digital Socialism, Decolonization, and Reparations for a Sustainable Global Economy (Michael Kwet)
  61. California votes against granting Uber and Lyft drivers employee status
  62. Who Needs to Tell the U.S. Internal Revenue Service About Their Cryptocurrency Activity?
  63. US Bank Crypto Services Proceed, Crypto Debit Cards Launch in US and Mexico, Blockchain Enterprise Developments, and Crypto Enforcement Continues
  64. Someone has transferred ~$1 billion from a bitcoin wallet quiet since 2015

A.I.

  1. A new way to plug a human brain into a computer: Via veins
  2. Acknowledging AI as an Inventor of IP – A Slippery Slope to Giving AI the Same Rights as Humans?
  3. AI use in U.S. criminal justice reinforced racialized decision-making: Law Commission of Ontario
  4. Racial Discrimination in Face Recognition Technology
  5. Legal and Ethics Checklist for AI Systems
  6. Draft Proposal for the Regulation of Ethical AI
  7. Weak Ties: The Urban History of an Algorithm
  8. Patent protection of machine learning and artificial intelligence inventions in Europe
  9. “Oh Jeeeesus”: Drivers react to Tesla’s full self-driving beta release
  10. Tesla raises “full self-driving” price from $8,000 to $10,000
  11. Connected cars must be open to third parties, say Massachusetts voters
  12. Content Moderation Case Study: Moderating An Anonymous Social Network (2015)
  13. Content Moderation Case Studies: Using AI To Detect Problematic Edits On Wikipedia (2015)
  14. Video: Character control with neural networks in Assassin’s Creed
  15. More Than a Feeling: Emotion detection doesn’t work, but it will try to change your behavior anyway (Frank Pasquale)
  16. No longer sci-fi: our bodies as computers 
  17. Apply for UK Government funding for robotic AI by 20 November 2020 

COMMUNICATIONS

  1.  Altering the broadcasting landscape – Canada’s Broadcasting Act to be amended
  2. Feds propose changes to Broadcasting Act that may raise $800 million from streamers: New regulations would ensure streaming platforms face same rules as traditional broadcasters
  3. Broadcasting Act Amendments
  4. The Government’s Internet Regulation Bill: Why Bill C-10 Will Mean a CRTC-Approved Netflix Service, Reduced Consumer Choice, and Less Investment in Canadian Culture (Michael Geist)
  5. Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault’s “Get Money from Web Giants” Internet Regulation Bill: An Unauthorized Backgrounder (Michael Geist)
  6. What’s Another Way Supporters of Mandated Facebook Media Payments Promote Their Position? Paid Facebook Advertising (Michael Geist)
  7. The tech antitrust problem no one is talking about: Americans pay more for broadband, have fewer choices than consumers in other countries.
  8. Monopolistic U.S. ISPs Take Full Advantage Of The Covid Crisis
  9. “Stay Home” robocalls to voters prompt FBI, FCC investigations
  10. FCC forces T-Mobile to pay $200 million fine for subsidiary Sprint’s fraud
  11. Time to Treat Broadband Like the Essential Service It Is
  12. The Enormous Cost Of Digital Inequality 
  13. Cable TV Execs Move Past Denial Stage, Now Fully Expect A ‘Cord Cutting’ Bloodbath
  14. FCC Approves All-Digital AM Radio Broadcasts
  15. FCC Establishes $9 Billion Fund to Support 5G Services in Rural America
  16. FCC to Lift Freeze on TV Station Technical Improvement Applications
  17. More on the FCC Rule Changes on Public Notice of Broadcast Applications and Required New Link on Station Homepages
  18. Comcast Tells Customers They May Lose Access To Comcast Channels If Comcast Can’t Agree With Comcast 
  19. What’s New in 5G – November 2020 
  20. Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2020 Made

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1.  Use Your Illusion: Rights in posthumous holographic performance
  2. Intellectual Property & Architecture – Copyright Protection in Focus
  3. Tenth Circuit Breathes New Life into a Spooky Skeleton Copyright Dispute 
  4. Protect Your Posts: New Group Copyright Registration Option for Online Blogs and Articles 
  5. The US election: a vote on IP?
  6. New Working Paper – Memes and Parasites: A discourse analysis of the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive 
  7. Canada: Official marks can lead to damages for infringement of regular trademarks, according to Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal 
  8. Procedures and strategies for anti-counterfeiting: Canada
  9. Ninth Circuit: Likelihood of Confusion Required to Sustain TM Counterfeiting Claim 
  10. Hallmark Win in Greeting Card Trademark Dispute: Court Finds Unauthorized Sale of Cards Meant for Destruction Infringing
  11. Neat infringement claim leaves whiskey competitor’s trade mark on the rocks
  12. Counterfeit luxury goods 
  13. Brand protection in the digital world 
  14. Distilling the value of corporate trademarks 
  15. Descriptive Use of a Registered Trademark is not Infringement
  16. Slogans as marks: when does a slogan function as a mark 
  17. Trademark Cancellation Is Appropriate Sanction for Misconduct
  18. Cookie Trade Dress Infringement Case Crumbles in Face of Functionality Challenge
  19. A Clear Need: To Allege Misappropriation, Identify Trade Secret 
  20. CIPO’s Patentable Subject-Matter Guidance – Same Code, Different Syntax 
  21. The Canadian Patent Office Releases New Guidelines: The Diagnostic’s Industry Should Be Cautiously Optimistic 
  22. Canadian Patents: What to Keep in Mind One Year After the Coming into Force of the New Rules? 
  23. The Intersection between Drop-Shipping and Patent Infringement 
  24. The Changing Patent Landscape in the Semiconductor Space 
  25. Size Matters in Obviousness Analysis 
  26. Marathon musings – Patenting running watch algorithms in Europe
  27. Five Patents You Should Know About for Halloween 2020
  28. Courtrooms and the America’s Cup – Patent infringement set to be the latest out-of-water battle 
  29. A “Bitterly Divided” Federal Circuit Declines to Stay Decision Invalidating Car Driveshaft Patent
  30. Clearing the 5G Patent Forest! 
  31. People With Silly Patents Would Really Like It If It Was Harder To Cancel Them
  32. Final PMPRB guidelines released 
  33. “Zombie” Privacy & IP Rights: Protecting the Rights to an Individual’s Image after Death: Part 1 of 2
  34. “Zombie” Privacy & IP Rights: Protecting the Rights to an Individual’s Image after Death: Part 2 of 2
  35. How Might New Supreme Court Justice Barrett Rule on IP Cases?

PRIVACY

  1. Alberta Court of Appeal rules that searches of electronic devices at the border are unconstitutional
  2. Cybersecurity Among Factors Driving Privacy Law Reform in Canada
  3. Use of Facial Recognition Software for Customer Analytics
  4. California Voters Approve New Data Privacy Law
  5. California Voters Pass Proposition 24 – the California Privacy Rights Act
  6. California Passes Proposition 24: California Privacy Rights Act to Become Law
  7. California Voters Approve Reworking of Landmark Consumer Privacy Law – What CCPA 2.0 Will Mean for Businesses and Consumers
  8. Clearview Resurfaces To Make Some Empty Promises About Keeping Cops From Abusing Its Tech
  9. Portland, Maine has voted to ban facial recognition
  10. Risks and Compliance Under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act: No Actual Harm Required for Private Cause of Action
  11. One Clear Message From Voters This Election? More Privacy
  12. Stanford Research Shows VR Users Can Be Identified Using Only 5 Minutes of Motion Data
  13. How the Upcoming Election Could Change Privacy Law in the U.S.
  14. Google’s Project Zero discloses Windows 0day that’s been under active exploit
  15. EFF Asks Government To Dump DHS’s Plan To Massively Expand Its Biometric Collections
  16. Senator Wyden Wants To Know If The NSA Is Still Demanding Tech Companies Build Backdoors Into Their Products
  17. ICO fines Marriott 18.4 million pounds for failing to secure customer data 
  18. A New Wave of Class Action Lawsuits is Targeting Online Customer Tracking
  19. UK Privacy Regulator Dramatically Reduces Fine for British Airways’ GDPR Violations 
  20. Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield Invalidated by Swiss Commissioner
  21. Dr. Strangenet—or, how I stopped worrying and embraced the WFH IT apocalypse

CREATIVITY

  1. Trump Appointee Removes ‘Firewall’ Preventing Administration From Meddling In VOA Reporting
  2. President-For-Life Hopeful Donald Trump Issues Executive Order Mandating ‘Patriotic’ Education For Kids
  3. Johnny Depp loses high-risk libel trial against NGN and Dan Wootton
  4. To Prevent Free, Frictionless Access To Human Knowledge, Publishers Want Librarians To Be Afraid, Very Afraid

GAMES

  1. Bandai Namco, AtGames resolve legal dispute: Judge dismisses lawsuit over Ms. Pac-Man rights, clearing way for re-release of AtGames’ Namco arcade microconsole
  2. EA fined €10m over loot boxes as Dutch court sides with gambling authority: District court unmoved by FIFA publisher’s defenses, denies its bid to keep fines from being made public
  3. Dutch judge rules that EA should be fined €500k every week until it removes FIFA loot boxes: FUT Had Been Deemed In Violation Of Gambling Rules
  4. Opening Pandora’s Loot Box? Canadian Class Action Lawsuit Over Loot Boxes May Provide Guidance On The Legality of Loot Boxes in Canada
  5. Sony legal threat compels PS5 faceplate company to cancel all orders: CustomizeMyPlates also had to rebrand from PlateStation5 following complaints from platform holder
  6. Judge rejects Google’s attempt to push Epic case to October 2022: Fortnite firm has suggested February 2021 as judge tells both companies to “get moving”
  7. Amazon patents method of grouping toxic players together online: Patent filing suggests gamers would be able to specify preferences for the behaviours they would accept
  8. Ubisoft investigating after ransomware group claims to have leaked Watch Dogs source code: 560GB code for Legion reportedly available online, could endanger anti-piracy measures
  9. Reports of Watch Dogs Legion source code leak prompts Ubisoft investigation 
  10. Take-Two Finds Less Success with Second Take on Copyright and Tattoos
  11. Randy Orton’s Tattoos Divide Courts as Gamers Prepare for PS5 and Xbox Series X
  12. 2020 is already a record year for games investment: $5.2 billion in investment in Q3 alone brings the year’s total to $9.9 billion so far
  13. Scopely raises $340 million at $3.3 billion valuation as mobile games thrive during pandemic
  14. Newzoo raises its annual games industry forecast for 2020 once again: COVID-19’s impact on the market expected to bring industry revenue to $174.9 billion this year
  15. Billy Mitchell’s Defamation Case Against Twin Galaxies Over ‘Donkey Kong’ High Score Can Go Forward
  16. Opportunity for Game Publishers & Developers: Over a Quarter of Western Lapsed Gamers Are Looking to Play Again
  17. Lab Zero founder Mike Zaimont suspended from work on Guilty Gear update
  18. Standing on the shoulders of Riot Grrrl: Story Juice and punk feminism in games: “When you can’t see your stories and perspectives in an industry, then you have to put them there,” says studio founder Dr Hannah Wood
  19. Game developers have too much job security | 10 Years Ago This Month
  20. Biden/Harris Campaign Deploys Custom ‘Fortnite’ Map To Teach Voters About Key Policies
  21. Old School Runescape breaks concurrent player record during Leagues II event
  22. Is the games industry open to working class people?
  23. Black representation in games | Podcast
  24. Twitch Marketing Promo Over Golden Emoji Goes Horribly Wrong After DMCA Nuclear Strike
  25. Hasan Piker’s Twitch Stream Is the Future of Election Night Coverage: Last night’s Twitch stream was so thoroughly modern that I was actually able to calm down.
  26. Elastic Audio announces Intonal, a new audio programming language for games: CEO Andrew Beck says Intonal would allow game sound design to be as reactive and adaptive as graphic design
  27. Pokémon Go’s 2020 revenues estimated at $1bn so far: Niantic game on course to record its best year ever, third biggest mobile game globally
  28. Digital and catalog sales continue to drive growth at Capcom
  29. Capcom’s games business rescues six-month results: Total revenue and profits increased despite the impact of COVID-19 on arcades and amusement centres
  30. Frostpunk board game raises over €2m on Kickstarter
  31. Guild Wars 2 pauses Steam plans to focus on expansion development
  32. Steam rolls out built-in playtest invite and management tool beta for devs
  33. The Lego Group helps Builder’s Journey dev Light Brick go independent 
  34. PUBG Mobile has ceased operations in India due to government ban: Tencent statement defends protection of user data — “we deeply regret this outcome”
  35. Tencent shutting down PUBG Mobile in India following government ban
  36. Tencent leads $25 million investment in Avakin Life dev Lockwood Publishing
  37. Tencent invests in Lockwood Publishing: Chinese tech giant leads a $25 million investment round in the Avakin Life creator
  38. Tencent-owned Honor of Kings is recording 100 million average daily active users
  39. Sega Sammy sells off arcade business as COVID takes its toll
  40. Sega Sammy sells arcade business Sega Entertainment to Genda Inc: Company says arcades suffered due to COVID-19; expects “extraordinary losses” for fiscal year related to the sale
  41. Gfinity cuts costs, seeks stability following another year of losses: Operating loss for the year was £5.5 million as company ponders acquisitions, partnerships, or sale
  42. Zynga posts record quarterly revenues, bookings: Social publisher sees even more acquisitions in its future as revenue, engagement metrics grow, but net loss remains
  43. Stillfront acquires collectible card game developer Everguild for $1.37 million
  44. Stillfront Group acquires Everguild for £1.06m: Studio collective expands into the CCG genre with Madrid-based developer
  45. Curve Digital acquires For the King developer IronOak Games
  46. Curve Digital acquires IronOak Games: Canadian studio behind For the King becomes Curve’s second studio acquisition
  47. UK startup Sugar closes £1.5m pre-seed round: Passion Capital leads investment in new firm offering finance to games studios wishin to avoid equity funding
  48. Phil Spencer: “Our motivation is not to turn everybody into a subscriber” – The Xbox chief renewed his commitment to retail and said Game Pass is not here to “take options away from people”
  49. Phil Spencer calls for more diverse leaders in games: Having “visible leaders” should be the industry’s focus, Xbox chief said, addressing the role Microsoft has to play against racial inequity
  50. Bethesda exec says an Xbox-exclusive Elder Scrolls is “hard to imagine”
  51. Bethesda, Microsoft Make Conflicting Statements About Game Exclusivity After Studio Purchase
  52. Microsoft tightens Xbox security to prevent DDOS attacks: Xbox players were being targeted through “random party invites” in multiplayer titles
  53. Xbox Party Chat security is being improved to protect IP addresses
  54. PlayStation boss prefers organic studio growth over ‘frenzied’ spending
  55. PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan on making PS5 more successful than PS4: “I’ve done them all, and this has easily been the most extraordinary PlayStation launch of any of them.”
  56. Sony expects PS5 to exceed PS4’s 7.6m launch sales this fiscal year: But CFO Hiro Totoki says each unit will make a “negative contribution to earnings for the time being”
  57. The big boost – PlayStation Plus & Fall Guys’ success?
  58. Does PlayStation need to buy more games studios? | Opinion: With Microsoft snapping up major studios and publishers in recent years, we consider the implications for Sony
  59. Sony reportedly puts a stop to third-party PS5 faceplate plans
  60. War Stories: How Nintendo sold the NES to a skeptical country
  61. Bringing more franchises to mobile is Activision Blizzard’s biggest opportunity, says COO
  62. Activision-Blizzard needs to hire 2,000 people to meet production demands: Publisher to beef up for franchise-focused strategy a year and a half after laying off 800
  63. Activision Blizzard reports $1.95 billion in revenue
  64. Activision Blizzard beats forecasts with $1.95 billion in Q3 net revenue
  65. Call of Duty drives Activision Blizzard revenues up 52% year-over-year: Modern Warfare reboot sets franchise record for first-year premium sales as engagement dips for Blizzard, King
  66. Far Cry 6, Rainbow 6 Quarantine delayed: Ubisoft pushes upcoming games into next fiscal year as it reports record profits for first half of year
  67. Live games keep cash flow steady as Ubisoft readies for big launches
  68. Some current-gen Ubisoft games are forward compatible on Xbox but not PlayStation
  69. Ubisoft ‘undertook profound actions’ to address studio culture concerns, says CEO
  70. Ubisoft’s strong earnings benefit from live service games and back catalog sales during pandemic
  71. Facebook’s cloud isn’t for the birds | Opinion
  72. CD Projekt Red’s stock fell 25% in two months amid Cyberpunk uncertainty: Negative stories about the production and release of Cyberpunk 2077 coincided with €2.5b decline in market cap
  73. CD Projekt attributes new Cyberpunk delay to working with current-gen consoles: Co-CEO Adam Kiciński apologizes to staff for “demeaning and harmful” comments about crunch during investor call
  74. CD Projekt: Cyberpunk crunch ‘not that bad’, ‘mostly’ hits QA, engineers, programmers
  75. Developer talent representation evolving alongside the industry: CAA head of games Derek Douglas discusses how Hollywood agencies have handled gaming over his 15-year career
  76. Friday the 13th: The Game winds down with final patch, end of dedicated servers
  77. Skate 3 returns to top three ten years after release | UK Digital Charts: But FIFA 21 remains at the top
  78. Soft opening week for Watch Dogs Legion and Pikmin 3 | UK Physical Charts: New Dark Pictures game breaks Top Ten
  79. What could game publishers be doing better?
  80. Gears Pop! to shut down as long-term support becomes unfeasible
  81. Light Brick Studio splitting off from Lego: Builder’s Journey developer goes indie with investment from Lego Ventures, will continue to work on Lego games
  82. Caspar Lee-Founded Fund Invests In Spanish Creator Monetization Startup ‘Streamloots’
  83. Oculus Quest 2 pre-orders were five times higher than Oculus Quest: Mark Zuckerberg sets a target of “ten million active units” to make Facebook’s VR platform self-sustaining
  84. PlayStation boss suggests the ‘meaningful’ future of VR is still years away
  85. Jim Ryan: “We’re more than a few minutes from the future of VR” – PlayStation’s CEO said VR will not be “meaningful component of interactive entertainment” until at least 2022
  86. Sony to give away adapters to allow VR use on PlayStation 5: PSVR is not compatible with the PS5 out of the box, but Sony will start shipping adapters for free from the end of October
  87. The PlayStation 5 only supports PlayStation VR for PS4 games right now
  88. Saved by Morrowind, striving for Starfield: Todd Howard and the story of Bethesda
  89. Blog: Breaking down the level design of Die Young: Prologue
  90. Blog: A study on modern mobile design
  91. Blog: What I learned after making an Among Us-like game in 10 days
  92. Blog: What is the Unity Asset Store and how to make money on it?
  93. Video: Designing the robot dinosaurs of Horizon Zero Dawn 
  94. Video: Creating Michelangelo’s David in VR
  95. Don’t Miss: The six year journey to Donut County
  96. Don’t Miss: Game dev advice for creating terrifying and memorable 2D monsters
  97. Don’t Miss: Building the PvE features in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
  98. Don’t Miss: Building a light-hearted puzzle game around Friday the 13th 
  99. Don’t Miss: 6 techniques to make game narratives more dynamic
  100. Video: Building a writer’s room for Life is Strange: Before the Storm
  101. Mobile game sales deep dive: Meteorfall: Krumit’s Tale
  102. Thanks To Fair Use, One Man Is Trying To Preserve Old School Video Game Manuals

Jon

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News of the Week; October 28, 2020

By Jon Festinger on October 31, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. Facebook Seeks Shutdown of NYU Research Project Into Political Ad Targeting: In letter this month, Facebook says the project violates provisions in its terms of service that prohibit bulk data collection
  2. No Robots, Spiders, or Scrapers: Legal and Ethical Regulation of Data Collection Methods in Social Media Terms of Service (Casey Fiesler, Nathan Beard, Brian Keegan)
  3. Facebook’s Threat To NYU Researchers Is A Mistake, But It’s The Inevitable Follow On To Overreaction To Cambridge Analytica
  4. Zuckerberg And Facebook Throw The Open Internet Under The Bus; Support Section 230 Reform
  5. Sacha Baron Cohen Demands Facebook Remove Conspiracies; Flips Out When Facebook Removes His Article With Conspiracy Images
  6. S.D.N.Y. Dismisses Defamation Case Arising Out of “Battle by Tweet”
  7. Yet Another Twitter Account Suspension Case Fails–Jones v. Twitter (Eric Goldman)
  8. Trump’s website defaced with claim that Trump admin created coronavirus
  9. Hacker says he correctly guessed Trump’s Twitter password—it was “maga2020!”
  10. Trumpist Republicans Latest Freakout A Total Self-Own, As They Reveal They Don’t Read What They Tweet
  11. Ninth Circuit Dumps Sentencing Enhancement Handed To Defendant For Opening Social Media Accounts For ISIS Sympathizers
  12. Iran behind supposed “Proud Boys” voter-intimidation emails, Feds allege
  13. Google Will Temporarily Ban Election-Related Advertising Once the Polls Close
  14. RIP Google Play Music, 2011 – 2020
  15. We’re Still Unsure If Instagram Grants Users a Sublicense to Embed Photos (Eric Goldman)
  16. President’s Promise to Limit 230 Immunity is Underway
  17. Section 230 – Everything You Love and Hate About the Internet
  18. Another Section 230 Reform Bill: Dangerous Algorithms Bill Threatens Speech
  19. Content Moderation Case Studies: Facebook Removes Militia Event Following A Shooting (August 2020)
  20. Content Moderation Case Study: Facebook’s Moderation Of Terrorist Content Results In The Removal Of Journalists’ And Activists’ Accounts (June 2020)
  21. DOJ Antitrust Case Against Google Draws Allusions to Landmark Microsoft and Standard Oil Cases
  22. Google’s Data Collection Practices Face Scrutiny in Recent Lawsuits
  23. YouTube Is Running Out Of Room For Political Ads
  24. YouTube Music To Hold All-Day Digital Fest Featuring Artists From Its Foundry
  25. YouTube Adds New Navigational Gestures To Mobile App, Thumbnail View For Video ‘Chapters’
  26. Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels • Week Of 10/26/2020
  27. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 10/26/2020
  28. RIAA Tosses Bogus Claim At Github To Get Video Downloading Software Removed
  29. GitHub boots popular YouTube download tool after RIAA claim
  30. Twitch’s Freak Out Response To RIAA Takedown Demands Raises Even More DMCA Questions
  31. Join The Fan Fiction Deep State And Watch This Latest Video That Addison Cain Really Doesn’t Want You To See
  32. Tubular Labs Debuts New Industry-Standard Viewership Metrics For Digital Video
  33. Invisalign Shares Soar Following Huge Quarter, With Substantial Jolt From Charli D’Amelio
  34. Startup ‘Kindred’ Wants To Help Socially-Conscious Influencers Speak With Greater Authority
  35. Amazon launches new Counterfeit Crimes Unit
  36. TikTok To Provide Greater Insight Into Video Takedowns With New Notification System
  37. Adult Card Game ‘What Do You Meme?’ Launches Official TikTok Edition
  38. TikTok Links Up with Shopify For Ad Integration Amid Social Commerce Push
  39. A Biden-Harris PAC Is Behind TikTok’s First Virtual Creator House
  40. YouTube Introduces New Icon For TikTok-Like ‘Shorts’ Tool, Shares Discovery Tips For Creators
  41. TikTok Partners With Associated Press To Display Live Election Results In ‘For You’ Feed
  42. Zoom Shuts Down NYU Event To Discuss Whether Zoom Should Be Shutting Down Events Based On Content
  43. The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart will return in new Apple TV+ series
  44. Apple develops alternative to Google search
  45. Insights: How To Avoid Quibi’s Gigantic Bust-Out In Your Own Startup
  46. BBTV Goes Public On Toronto Stock Exchange
  47. Bumble, the Popular Dating App, Eyes $6 Billion IPO
  48. Record Deals Are So Yesterday. Here’s The New Playbook For Musicians On The Internet.
  49. Spotify Inks Overall Podcast Deal With Talent Manager Scooter Braun
  50. Digital, Culture, Media and Sports Committee launches inquiry into the impact of streaming on the music industry
  51. Bot orders $18,752 of McSundaes every 30 min. to find if machines are working
  52. DOJ and IRS May Soon Begin Enforcement Actions Against Virtual Currency Tax Fraudsters
  53. PayPal Pushes Crypto Further into the Mainstream
  54. A general introduction to the regulation of virtual currencies in Canada
  55. SEC Resolves Digital Token Offering Case
  56. Bitcoin “Mixer” Operator Penalized by FinCEN for AML Violations
  57. Scanning the European Ecosystem of Distributed Ledger Technologies for Social and Public Good

A.I.

  1.  Bias behind bars: A Globe investigation finds a prison system stacked against Black and Indigenous inmates – Black & Indigenous inmates are more likely to get worse scores than white inmates, based solely on their race
  2. AI Predicts Aggressiveness of Early Stage Breast Cancer 
  3. USPTO publishes report on public views on artificial intelligence and IP Policy – US IP law adequate for now, until artificial general intelligence is reached? 
  4. UK Court Decision: Artificial Intelligence Machine Is Not An Inventor 
  5. Use of Aggregated Data in Artificial Intelligence Solutions
  6. Regulating AI: EU proposes legal framework for Artificial Intelligence 
  7. Don’t Miss: 7 examples of game AI that every developer should study 
  8. Don’t Miss: Looking back at Left 4 Dead’s dynamic AI 

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. Canadian News Media Lobby Group Calls for Creation of Government Digital Media Regulatory Agency (Michael Geist)
  2. Where is Canada’s News Media Lobby Promoting Its Link Licensing Plan for Facebook? On Facebook (Michael Geist)
  3. Senator wants Google, Facebook to pony up for local news
  4. Pai’s FCC squeezes in one more vote against net neutrality before election
  5. FCC Ignores The Courts, Finalizes Facts-Optional Repeal Of Net Neutrality
  6. The Trump Swamp Fights Itself Over Multi-Billion Dollar No-Bid Spectrum Grab
  7. Wall Street: Traditional Cable TV Sector ‘Unraveling’ In Wake Of Covid 
  8. As EU Starts To Draft Its Most Important New Online Law, The Digital Services Act, MEPs Want Basic Rights High On The Agenda
  9. TCPA Bites Political Speech Again: Trump Campaign Sued for Alleged Illegal Robotexts
  10. AT&T loses another 600,000 TV customers as it seeks buyer for DirecTV
  11. T-Mobile screwups caused nationwide outage, but FCC isn’t punishing carrier
  12. It’s Opposite Day At The FCC: Rejects All Its Own Legal Arguments Against Net Neutrality To Claim It Can Be The Internet Speech Police
  13. Congress, With Nothing Important On Its Hands, Seeks To Rush Through Nomination Of Anti-230 FCC Commissioner 
  14. We’re Already Hyping 6G When 5G Hasn’t Even Finished Disappointing Us Yet
  15. The Network: How a Secretive Phone Company Helped the Crime World Go Dark
  16. Stupid Use Of Profanity Filter Makes A Mess Of Virtual Paleontologist Conference
  17. FCC Proposes Expansion of Sponsor ID Rules to Require Disclosure of Foreign Government Support
  18. Community Broadband In The Age Of Covid

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1.  Enforcing Copyright Outside the Courtroom – The New Notice Regimes 
  2. FLVTO.biz Petitions SCOTUS To Hear Jurisdiction Argument In Stream-Ripping Lawsuit 
  3. Battle Lines Drawn Over Font Copyright Protection
  4. Tom Lehrer, Still Awesome, Releases Lyrics Into The Public Domain
  5. Armes v. Post: In action asserting co-authorship of Post Malone’s hit song “Circles,” court dismisses alleged co-authorship of recording, but denies motion to dismiss based on co-authorship of underlying composition. 
  6. SCOTUS Reaches for Cup of Java in Oracle v. Google Oral Argument
  7. New Working Paper – Memes and Parasites: A discourse analysis of the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive
  8. Canada’s Official Marks – A Public Nuisance? 
  9. Jack Daniel’s Petitions for Certiorari to Clarify Trademark Fair Use
  10. Monster Mash: Minor League Hockey Team Prevails Over Energy Drink Giant in Trademark Dispute
  11. One Restaurant Sends Cease And Desist To Another Over The Word ‘Juicy’ 
  12. Trade Secret Battle Waged in Legal Services Market
  13. Second Chances From the Second Circuit: Tiffany’s $21m Judgment Is Overturned and Remanded Back to the SDNY 
  14. Federal Court of Appeal affirms largest reported Canadian patent infringement award in history
  15. Navigating your Global Patent Prosecution Strategy under Canada’s new Patent Rules
  16. IP monitor: Claim construction revisited: Positive changes for applicants seeking to protect computer-related inventions
  17. Solving the ‘problem-solution’ problem for patent applicants: Choueifaty decision
  18. Can you patent software? 
  19. Spotlight On: Neulasta® (pegfilgrastim) / Fulphila® (pegfilgrastim-jmdb) / Udenyca® (pegfilgrastim-cbqv) / Ziextenzo® (pegfilgrastim-bmez) / Nyvepria™ (pegfilgrastim-apgf) 
  20. U.S. Court Values Cybersecurity Patents at Nearly $2 Billion, but Why?
  21. A Patentee’s Dismissed Lawsuit Will Preclude a Subsequent, Effectively Identical Suit in the Absence of Different Conduct, Different Alleged Violations or Litigants, or Different Subsequent Facts 

PRIVACY

  1. Sensitive Personal Information: Another Concept Borrowed From The GDPR
  2. Hacked Healthcare Provider Refuses to Pay Ransom, Attackers Target Psychotherapy Patients
  3. Advisories: “Brazen” Russian ransomware hackers target hundreds of US hospitals
  4. Data as Property?
  5. 2020 Data Privacy Compendium
  6. Top Five Tips to Protect Privilege in a Data Breach 

CREATIVITY

  1. Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner Threaten Defamation Suit Over Lincoln Project’s Non-Defamatory Billboards
  2. Dark Ironies: The Financial Times and Cambridge Analytica
  3. Appeals Court Reinstates Injunction Blocking Federal Agents From Assaulting Portland Journalists
  4. Demonstrating the Strength of the “Opinion Defense,” Rose McGowan Defeats Defamation Suit

GAMES

  1. EA hit with class action lawsuit in Canada over loot box usage
  2. EA Accused Of Running “Unlicensed, Illegal Gaming System”
  3. Billy Mitchell’s Donkey Kong high-score case will move forward to trial
  4. AOC’s Twitch stream is a milestone for games — and for politics | Opinion: Embarrassing copycats are inevitable, but Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez opened a new frontier by showing how to reach younger voters
  5. Twitch Deletes Content for Copyright Infringement Without Warning
  6. 2K Sports Could Have Avoided Its Un-Skippable Ads Backlash If The Ads Were Better Content
  7. Music industry organisations slam Twitch in open letter: The streaming giant denied the claims that its Soundtrack service is not fully licensed
  8. Epic refutes Apple’s theft claims as “implausible and deficient as a matter of law”: “Apple seeks to compare Epic’s conduct to stealing cash from a vault in ApplePark,” new legal filing argues
  9. Epic hits back at Apple, saying it ‘has no rights to the fruits of Epic’s labor’
  10. Casino Game App Settles Gambling Accusations for $6.5 Million
  11. Wasteland 3 removed “interactive use” of recreational drug for Australian release: InXile’s game was the only title out of 316 to be denied a certificate by the Australian ratings board in the last fiscal year
  12. “The industry has come of age — we take our responsibilities seriously”: UKIE’s Jo Twist on the right response to “a new phase of regulatory scrutiny” for the games industry
  13. Lifting the barriers for Black professionals in the games industry: Focusing on retention and promotion, the GamesIndustry.biz Academy looks at the barriers facing Black talent in games
  14. Microsoft’s game revenue up by $550 million as Xbox readies for Series X debut
  15. Microsoft quietly closes its final quarter before next-gen: Company projects 40% growth in hardware sales next quarter, constrained by supply
  16. Xbox Series boxes unboxed, revealing a series of Xboxes inside of boxes
  17. Microsoft explains how the Xbox Series S and X will shape up on day one
  18. Xbox Brazil host says she was fired to protect her from harassment: Microsoft says termination of Isadora Basile was unrelated to harassment, was instead due to increased focus on Xbox Wire
  19. Xbox muses xCloud expansion through ‘lower priced’ gear like streaming sticks
  20. All Xbox, 360, and One games playable on Xbox One work on Xbox Series X and S: Except the ones that require Kinect
  21. Phil Spencer: “You’re going to see lower-priced hardware as part of our ecosystem” – Xbox head suggests future tech could include streaming sticks, TV controllers for xCloud access
  22. Xbox wants more “E-rated content” to strengthen its portfolio: Phil Spencer also says its priorities for Game Pass put Chromebook, smart TV access above Switch or PS4
  23. First-party releases are driving sales and operating income at Sony
  24. PS4 shipments near 114m as new generation looms: More than 75% of all PlayStation revenue came from digital sources in the second quarter, with only 41% of games bought physically
  25. Clearing up which media apps will be available on PS5 at launch
  26. Sony delays PS5 launch title Destruction AllStars until 2021 
  27. Destruction AllStars delayed from PS5 launch: Sony pushes arena combat game’s debut to February, when it will be free to PlayStation Plus subscribers
  28. First 12 hours of PS5 preorders match first 12 weeks of PS4’s – CEO Jim Ryan: “It may well be that not everybody who wants to buy a PS5 on launch day will be able to find one”
  29. PlayStation’s new (web) store, genre viability & more
  30. Battle of the launch line-ups: What games make for a successful console launch?: How important are first-party games? What will be the key titles for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S? We look at the data
  31. 30 years later, Nintendo is localizing the first Fire Emblem game
  32. Control and Hitman 3 are heading to the Switch via the cloud
  33. Control, Hitman 3 receive streaming versions on Switch: Ultimate Edition of Remedy’s latest arrives today; both games will be free-to-start so players can test performance
  34. Nintendo’s new translation tune? What a Fire Emblem re-release means in 2020
  35. Nintendo drops price of single Joy-Cons in the US: Controllers get $10 price cut, as well as another color option for individual purchase
  36. Uplay+ rebrands to Ubisoft+, adding Luna and Stadia support by 2021: Ubisoft launches beta program on Amazon’s streaming service November 10 before hitting Google’s service by year’s end
  37. Ubisoft details next-gen improvements for its upcoming games: Most of the publisher’s upcoming titles releasing on current generation hardware will benefit from a free upgrade
  38. Ubisoft and Netflix partner on Assassin’s Creed live-action series: The deal also includes work on animated and anime series
  39. FIFA 21 retains No.1 in quiet week before the storm | UK Boxed Charts: Cadence of Hyrule sneaks into the Top 40
  40. Digital console spending up 40% last month thanks to wave of big releases – SuperData: NBA 2K21, Avengers, Tony Hawk, and Super Mario 3D All-Stars lead console spending for September
  41. Report: Latest Cyberpunk 2077 delay announcement blindsides its dev team
  42. Cyberpunk 2077, after going gold, gets delayed another month
  43. Cyberpunk 2077’s third delay pushes it to December 10: CD Projekt Red says it needs an extra three weeks to work on launch day patch
  44. CD Projekt Red devs speak out after Cyberpunk 2077 delay met with death threats
  45. Facebook quietly debuts cloud-streaming service for Facebook Gaming
  46. Facebook takes its first small steps into the world of cloud gaming: It’s not a new service, but cloud-powered games are playable on Facebook
  47. Facebook enters cloud streaming with free-to-play mobile games, playable ads: Jason Rubin explains the company’s plans to make the bottom line work, and how he expects streaming to change play patterns
  48. Deleting Facebook wipes out Oculus purchases: Users who have not linked their Facebook account to their VR headset yet are not impacted
  49. Facebook’s cloud-gaming offering focuses on free-to-play mobile games
  50. Analysis: Facebook gears up for ad-supported cloud gaming service
  51. Facebook’s cloud gaming push, why social gaming took off, more!
  52. “We need a real shift in the tide”: Black professionals on representation in the UK: As the UK celebrates Black History Month, we speak to developers, players and more about racial equality in the games industry
  53. Creative Director At Google Stadia Advocates Streamers Paying Game Devs And Publishers
  54. Google distances itself from Stadia creative director’s comments 
  55. Google distances itself from Stadia creative director Alex Hutchinson: Internet giant asserts that tweets about streamers paying royalties “do not reflect those of Stadia, YouTube or Google”
  56. Mojang games to require Microsoft account: All the titles from the Minecraft developer will be impacted by the change, including Minecraft Java Edition
  57. We need to talk about Steam & China
  58. Roblox player spending passes $2 billion on mobile: Sensor Tower estimates suggest half of that total arrived in the last 12 months
  59. Devolver Digital brings in licensing specialist to work on Fall Guys: Fée Heyer brings experience from Dunlop Sports, describes Mediatonic’s game as “a phenomenon rarely seen before”
  60. The constant tug of war between AAA developers and “the money people”: Massive Entertainment boss David Polfeldt discusses the instability of AAA and the influence of self-inflicted crunch
  61. Scopely acquires Genjoy: Match-three developer and its 150 employees add to Scopely’s presence in Spain
  62. Scopely acquires Spanish mobile studio Genjoy to expand match-3 roster
  63. Scopely raises $340 million to forge new partnerships in mobile games
  64. Scopely picks up $340 million in Series E funding: At least 14 investors lend support to Star Trek Fleet Command company
  65. Shotcall closes $2.2m seed round: The platform aims to connect content creators and their community by letting them play together
  66. Genshin Impact made $245m in its first month on mobile alone: This makes it one of the biggest mobile launches ever
  67. Riot Games appoints first ever chief marketing officer to help expand player base
  68. Call of Duty: Mobile has topped 300 million downloads
  69. Clever game dev tech is at the core of Watch Dogs Legion’s London
  70. Watch Dogs: Legion review: A meaningless mob, with mostly merry mayhem
  71. Watch Dogs Legion | Critical Consensus: Ubisoft’s latest draws largely warm reception as the play-as-anyone idea works, but critics split on how far that carries the game
  72. Uplay+ subscription rebrands as Ubisoft+ and adds multi-platform support
  73. Ubisoft and Netflix partner for live action Assassin’s Creed series
  74. How Indiana Jones, Rambo, and others ended up in 1980s Czechoslovak text-adventures
  75. Why bringing Donkey Kong 64 into the third dimension required a mental shift
  76. Building concept art workflows with neural net-powered ‘generative adversarial networks’
  77. Unity teams up with Lego to teach game development fundamentals
  78. MrBeast-Backed Gaming Venture Launches Backbone One, A Controller That Turns iPhones Into Consoles
  79. Cloud9 signs its first-ever all-woman esports roster: Valorant team formerly known as MAJKL becomes Cloud9 White, begins competing this week
  80. Tencent leads $100 million investment into Chinese esports company VSPN
  81. Tencent leads $100m Series B round in VSPN: Chinese esports firm eyes international expansion after growing to 1,000 employees in the space of four years
  82. VENN closes $26m Series A funding: The esports and gaming broadcast network secured Nexstar Media Group as an exclusive local television partner
  83. CS GO pro players banned for betting on themselves: The accused had accomplices that were placing identical bets
  84. Esports Entertainment Group to acquire Helix Esports and ggCircuit: The deal will be worth $43 million, Esports Entertainment Group teases more “near-term” acquisitions
  85. Not Just America: CEO Of Esports Org In India Says COVID-19 Resulted In Explosive Growth
  86. Trademarks and E-games
  87. VR lessons from Arizona Sunshine’s success: Vertigo Games dives into the strategies behind its virtual reality hit, and how it paved the way for future projects such as After the Fall
  88. Ubisoft’s VR Space Sim ‘AGOS: A Game of Space’ Launches Today
  89. How Agos A Game Of Space Will Turn Players Into A Spaceship: Will you be the benevolent AI spaceship guardian of the human colonists in the VR space sim Agos, or will you go homicidal like HAL?
  90. Tilt Five on working around the pandemic to deliver tabletop AR: CEO Jeri Ellsworth explains how the platform adapted its manufacturing and fundraising to COVID-19, and what the strategy is going forward
  91. Video: The lighting technology of Detroit: Become Human
  92. Video: How internal game jams can help art teams.
  93. Video: How Jagex has evolved to change with the times over 16 years
  94. Video: A better way of depicting war in games
  95. Video: Bridging community divides in cross-platform online games
  96. Blog: The Zynga analytics platform in 2020
  97. Don’t Miss: What Nintendo’s indie program looked like way back in 2014
  98. Don’t Miss: Why Clint Hocking wanted every NPC in Watch Dogs: Legion to be playable

Jon

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News of the Week; October 21, 2020

By Jon Festinger on October 24, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. Justice Dept. files long-awaited antitrust suit against Google
  2. What we know about the DOJ’s antitrust case against Google so far
  3. Bill Barr’s Google ‘Antitrust Inquiry’ Is A Weaponized Farce
  4. Trademark Genericide And One Big Way The DOJ Admits That Its Antitrust Lawsuit Against Google Is Utter Garbage
  5. Supporters Of Using Antitrust Against Big Tech Should Be Very Disappointed In How Weak The DOJ’s Case Is
  6. AOC makes explosive Twitch debut with over 435,000 Among Us viewers
  7. Facebook and the Group That Planned to Kidnap Gretchen Whitmer: Extremist groups and conspiracy theorists like to connect with each other just like everyone else.
  8. Facebook Is So ‘Biased Against Conservatives’ That Mark Zuckerberg Personally Agreed To Diminish The Reach Of ‘Left-Leaning’ Sites
  9. Cambridge Analytica’s Crime Was Not Violating Your Privacy Or Taking Data From Facebook, It Was A Massive Campaign Finance Scam
  10. Facebook to pause all political advertising—after the election
  11. Facebook Will Temporarily Ban All Political and Issue Advertising After the Presidential Election
  12. Facebook Abuses Trademark To Give New Prominence To Group Of Facebook Critics Who Are Trying To Shame Company Into More Moderation
  13. Facebook announces ban on anti-vaccination ads
  14. Facebook Bans Ads That Discourage People From Getting Vaccinated
  15. Facebook’s Oversight Board: what is it and will it make a difference?
  16. Six Russians accused of the world’s most destructive hacks indicted
  17. DOJ Says Trump’s Tweets Declassifying All Russia Investigation Docs Doesn’t Mean Anything; Judge Says They Better Go Ask Him
  18. Twitter abruptly changes hacked-materials policy after blocking Biden story
  19. Twitter Fixes Its Bad Policy On Blocking ‘Hacked’ Documents
  20. How Not to Cover Voter Fraud Disinformation: Journalists should treat systematic disinformation campaigns from President Trump no differently than from Russian propagandists and Facebook clickbait artists (Yochai Benkler)
  21. Court Says Trump Appointee Had No Authority To Fire Open Technology Fund Board; Says They Remain In Place
  22. How Zello Became A Recruitment & Organizing Tool For The Far Right
  23. CARU Says: Discord Is Not Directed At Children Under 13
  24. How a Road Trip Through America’s Battlegrounds Revealed a Nation Plagued by Misinformation
  25. Google search being searched for Anti-trust
  26. China Micro-Censors The VP Debate In The Most Hamfisted Way
  27. Mumbai Police Help Indian Prime Minister Modi Scrub BuzzFeed Of Images That Offended His Delicate Sensibilities
  28. Democracy & Dragons
  29. Against Platform Determinism
  30. Trolling for Truth on Social Media
  31. Global disinformation campaigns and legal challenges
  32. Hacking democracy: managing influence campaigns and disinformation in the digital age
  33. Global competition and the emerging challenge to open data
  34. The Law and Political Economy of Workplace Technological Change (Brishen Rogers)
  35. Where Platform Capitalism and Racial Capitalism Meet: The Sociology of Race and Racism in the Digital Society
  36. Wired Norms: Inscription, resistance, and subversion in the governance of the Internet infrastructure (Niels ten Oever)
  37. Replicating Silicon Valley? Law and Human Capital in the Making of China’s Tech Startups (Li-Wen Lin)
  38. Forget TikTok. IRS Inquiry Shows The Continued Abuse Of Location Data Is The Real Scandal.
  39. WeChat and TikTok Win Preliminary Injunctions Against Trump Administration’s Efforts to Ban the Apps
  40. Pakistan Reverses TikTok Ban, But Has Stipulations
  41. TikTok Unboxing Videos Are Driving Record Sales For Mini Brands, VIP Pets
  42. LinkedIn Isn’t a State Actor–Perez v. LinkedIn (Eric Goldman)
  43. DOJ Seizes Domains, Claiming They Pushed Iranian Disinformation; Should Raise 1st Amendment Concerns
  44. The GOP’s Blisteringly Hypocritical Road From Whining About Net Neutrality To Supporting Trump’s Idiotic Attack On Social Media
  45. While Trump Continues To Complain About 230, It’s Copyright Law That Once Again Actually Gets His Content Removed
  46. League Of California Cities Want Congress To Change Section 230… To Let Cops Spy On Everyone Using Social Media
  47. Section 230 Liability Shield Continues to Receive Scrutiny
  48. Section 230 Basics: There Is No Such Thing As A Publisher-Or-Platform Distinction
  49. Another Anti-Section 230 Bill? Sure, Why Not?
  50. Justice Thomas Writes a Misguided Anti-Section 230 Statement “Without the Benefit of Briefing”–Enigma v. Malwarebytes (Eric Goldman)
  51. Blatant Hypocrite Ajit Pai Decides To Move Forward With Bogus, Unconstitutional Rulemaking On Section 230
  52. FCC Announces Section 230 Rulemaking
  53. Chairman Pai: FCC to Address Social Media Immunity Under Section 230
  54. Jeffrey Toobin’s Zoom Dick Incident Is The Perfect Example Of Why We Need Section 230
  55. FCC trying to help Trump win election with Twitter crackdown, Democrats say
  56. FCC cites Title II in defense of helping Trump’s attack on social media
  57. FCC Too Afraid To Go On Record To Truly Support Trump’s Dumb Attack On Social Media
  58. Ajit Pai says he’ll help Trump impose crackdown on Twitter and Facebook
  59. Insights: With Zoom And Its Many Competitors, We’re All Livestreamers Now
  60. Ted Cruz Once Insisted That Net Neutrality Was The Gov’t Takeover Of The Internet; Now Demands That Twitter Host All Nonsense
  61. Republicans, Who Have Made Sure The Federal Election Commission Can’t Do Anything, File A Complaint About Twitter’s Moderation Practices
  62. Content Moderation Case Study: Facebook’s Internal ‘Hate Speech’ Guidelines Appear To Leave Protected Groups Unprotected (June 2017)
  63. Content Moderation Case Study: Apple Removes Games Containing Confederate Flags (June 2015)
  64. Content Moderation Case Study: Handling Trolls Invading A Community (1993)
  65. Assessment of the Code of Practice on Disinformation
  66. Instagram Agrees To New Measures To Curb “Hidden” Influencer Advertising In The U.K.
  67. Quibi Is Shutting Down
  68. Quibi streaming service shutting down after less than 1 year
  69. YouTube cracks down on QAnon conspiracists
  70. YouTube Bans Content Endorsing QAnon, Pizzagate
  71. YouTube Expands COVID Misinformation Policy To Ban Vaccine Conspiracies
  72. New Google Nest Hub experiment nixes the “Hey Google” voice hotword
  73. Google Chat goes free in 2021, while Hangouts loses features this month
  74. Google wants to turn YouTube into QVC with new shopping features
  75. Can You Avoid Creator Burnout By Working The YouTube Algorithm? Is More Actually Less? We Take A Look.
  76. YouTube Unveils First 5 Originals Produced By Its $100 Million ‘Black Voices’ Fund
  77. YouTube Gives Premium Subscribers Exclusive Access To Test New Features
  78. YouTube Testing Ecommerce Tools That Turn Creator Videos Into Product Catalogs
  79. Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels • Week Of 10/05/2020
  80. Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels • Week Of 10/12/2020
  81. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 10/05/2020
  82. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 10/12/2020
  83. Is The Creator-Owned “Smart YouTuber Mafia” A New Standard For Digital Content?
  84. Blast off with Scott Manley as he discusses his top 1,000 YouTube comments
  85. Google shuts down Trusted Contacts, its emergency location sharing app
  86. Google kills the Nest Secure, its $500 home security system
  87. David Dobrik, Emma Chamberlain, James Charles Lead This Year’s Pack Of Streamy Nominees
  88. MrBeast’s ‘Creator Games’ Sequel Sets YouTube Record With 1 Million Concurrent Viewers
  89. YouTube Exec Ryan Wyatt Says Valkyrae Is “The Fastest-Growing Livestreamer In The Entire World”
  90. France Passes Law Giving Child Influencers Same Protections As Young Actors, Models
  91. Snap Hits Record $50 Billion Valuation After Significant Q3 Growth In Revenue, DAUs
  92. Snapchat Launches ‘Sounds’, Enabling Users To Orchestrate Snaps, Stories With Licensed Music
  93. Teespring Will Now Let Creators Vend ‘Digital Products’, Like Photo Presets And Ebooks
  94. Reels Rolls Out New Content Discovery, Sharing Features
  95. Twitter Disables Core Functions To Prevent Spread Of Election Misinformation
  96. Joe Biden Taps Portal A For #ImVotingFor Influencer Campaign On Instagram, Twitter
  97. Twitter Will Turn Off Some Features to Fight Election Misinformation
  98. QAnon/8chan sites back online after being ousted by DDoS-protection vendor
  99. Google Music shuts down smart speaker support and music store
  100. Logan Paul’s Pokemon Card Unboxing Stream Gets 300,000 Concurrent Viewers, Raises $130,000 For Charity
  101. Facebook Unveils Free Tool Enabling Creators To Test Video Post Performance Before Publishing
  102. Spotify Now Lets Podcasters Use Its Entire Music Library In Their Shows
  103. Riot Games and Spotify team up
  104. Brooklyn-Based Startup MSCHF Wants To Pay Influencers To Take Down “Evil” Brands
  105. Stupid Use Of Profanity Filter Makes A Mess Of Virtual Paleontologist Conference
  106. IBM to split into two companies by end of 2021
  107. Insights: Could The Streaming Services Killing Movie Theaters Save Them Instead?
  108. Netflix Nixes Free Trials In U.S.
  109. ‘Ratched’ Hooks 48 Million Viewers In 28 Days, Becoming Netflix’s Most-Watched Debut Of 2020
  110. Following Staff Exodus, Bon Appetit Relaunches YouTube Channel With 8 New And 3 Returning Hosts
  111. Apple pays $288,000 to white-hat hackers who had run of company’s network
  112. Microsoft thumbs its nose at Apple with new “app fairness” policy
  113. Trickbot—the for-hire botnet Microsoft attacked—is scrambling to stay alive
  114. 1980s MTV is back, sort of: Apple launches Apple Music TV channel
  115. Coordinating office space: Digital technologies and the platformization of work
  116. Targeting Ontological Security: Information Warfare in the Modern Age
  117. We’re touching our smartphones more than ever. And it’s changing the ancient connection between the body and the brain
  118. The pernicious contagion of misinformation: False statements – about Covid-19 and so much else – spread like a virus online. Scientists should study them like one.
  119. The Internet is full of business cats: Dealing with the breakdown of the work/home divide
  120. A giant cat picture was just discovered among the Nazca Lines: Archaeologists haven’t yet located an accompanying giant meme caption.
  121. Another Significant Cryptocurrency Decision: SEC v. Kik Interactive Inc. and Token Offerings Under the Securities Laws
  122. Unpacking the DOJ’s cryptocurrency guidance: Enforcement priorities and industry implications
  123. DOJ’s Evolving Framework for Cryptocurrency Enforcement
  124. The US Department of Justice issues Cryptocurrency Enforcement Framework forecasting increased scrutiny of activities involving cryptocurrency
  125. Chinese City Issues Digital Currency in Pilot Program
  126. A Map for the New World of Blockchain
  127. New Export Controls: Emerging Technologies
  128. New Centre for Media, Technology and Democracy launched at McGill University’s Max Bell School of Public Policy

A.I.

  1. Waymo finally launches an actual public, driverless taxi service
  2. The Unforeseen Benefits of Driverless Transport during a Pandemic
  3. Trustworthy artificial intelligence 
  4. Are we being too hard on HAL? Some thoughts on the legal need for “explainable” artificial intelligence. 
  5. AI and Your Legal Analysis
  6. Artificial Intelligence Licensing: What You Need to Know
  7. The Losers of automation. How the introduction of robotics changed the European occupational class structure
  8. To Surveil and Predict: A Human Rights Analysis of Algorithmic Policing in Canada
  9. Expanding Biometric Class Actions Beyond Illinois 
  10. AI and the fight for inventorship – DABUS patent knocked out in UK High Court
  11. ‘Machines set loose to slaughter’: the dangerous rise of military AI 
  12. Human Judgment in algorithmic loops: Individual justice and automated decision‐making
  13. Algorithmic Censorship by Social Platforms: Power and Resistance
  14. Is Facebook too big to know? The Markup has a plan (and a browser) to wrap its arms around it: The CBP will pay Americans to monitor the choices that tech company algorithms are making for them.
  15. Artificial intelligence – from principles to practice
  16. Doctor Alexa will see you now – regulating artificial intelligence in healthcare
  17. USPTO Releases Report on Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property Policy
  18. Government Data Practices as Necropolitics and Racial Arithmetic
  19. Artificial Intelligence improves clinical trials
  20. Legal industry ramping up adoption of artificial intelligence, says AI platform partner

COMMUNICATIONS

  1.  How Can Linking to an Article be Immoral When the Media Source Itself Does the Posting? (Michael Geist)
  2. How Can Linking to an Article be Immoral When the Media Source Itself Does the Posting, Part 2: A Day in the Life of the Toronto Star on Facebook (Michael Geist)
  3. Forget Link Licensing and Cross-Subsidies: When it Comes to Tech, Canada Should be Focused on Competition Law and Tax Policy (Michael Geist) 
  4. Class dismissed: CRTC finds OneClass in violation of Canada’s anti-spam legislation
  5. NASA and Nokia are putting a 4G network on the moon
  6. AT&T plans thousands of layoffs at HBO, Warner Bros., rest of WarnerMedia
  7. AT&T Is Taking An Absolute Bath On Its DirecTV Merger
  8. AT&T Gives Up On DSL, Leaving Many Out Of Broadband’s Reach 
  9. Comcast says gigabit downloads and uploads are now possible over cable
  10. Verizon’s New ‘Nationwide’ 5G Isn’t Nationwide, Barely Faster Than 4G
  11. Successful 5G implementation
  12. Half Of Smartphone Users Incorrectly Think They Already Have 5G
  13. FCC Adopts Final Rule Formalizing Team Telecom Foreign Ownership Review
  14. FCC Adopts Rules Codifying Foreign Investment Process
  15. The November Election and the FCC: Predictions for Five Key Policies
  16. Wisconsin Gets Wise To Foxconn’s Grift, Blocks New Subsidies
  17. Employees Say Foxconn & Donald Trump’s Wisconsin Factory Scam Was An Absurdist Hellscape 
  18. Access to Infrastructure: using existing ducts and pipes to install new fibre broadband
  19. Five Bar Owners Arrested In France For Not Logging Internet Use By Patrons Using Bars’ WiFi Connections

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Supreme Court of Canada to Hear York University/Access Copyright Appeals
  2. Justice Luc Martineau is new chair of Copyright Board of Canada
  3. Google gets mixed reception in Supreme Court clash with Oracle: Justices held a low-tech telephone session in one of the biggest software fights in American history on Wednesday
  4. Google’s Supreme Court faceoff with Oracle was a disaster for Google 
  5. IP Alert | Supreme Court Hears Arguments in “Copyright Case of the Century”
  6. Supremes won’t review the morality of whitewashing graffiti art
  7. Denial of Certiorari Leaves in Place Ninth Circuit En Banc Decision Finding No Infringement in “Stairway to Heaven”
  8. hiQ Labs v. LinkedIn Corp., the Web Scraping Saga Continues
  9. Music in Podcasts – As Podcasts Shut Down Following Infringement Notices, Looking at the Required Music Rights
  10. 512(f) Claim Survives Motion to Dismiss–Brandyn Love v. Nuclear Blast America (Eric Goldman)
  11. By the Book: Unauthorized Material Doesn’t Forfeit Training Guide’s Copyright Protection
  12. Nicki Minaj’s Experimentation with Tracy Chapman’s Classic “Baby Can I Hold You” Qualifies as a Fair Use Under Copyright 
  13. NY Art Disputes Highlight Fame’s Role In Copyright Suits 
  14. “Can’t Hold Us” Liable: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Win Affirmance in Copyright Suit
  15. We Interrupt This Hellscape With A Bit Of Good News On The Copyright Front 
  16. DMCA Takedown Notices: A New Opponent for Twitch Streamers 
  17. Twitch blasts streamers with vague, unhelpful DMCA takedown emails
  18. Lessons from a pandemic: long-term impacts on Canadian trademark practice 
  19. The Cousteau Society, Inc. v. Cousteau: Court holds granddaughter of Jacques-Yves Cousteau cannot escape trademark infringement based on unauthorized use of Cousteau’s trademarks in film projects and materials.
  20. Microsoft Wields Its IP For Good, Cripples Botnet Via Trademark Litigation 
  21. Will Disney’s newest Toy Story 4 character go ‘caboom’?
  22. Boston University students launch “F*ck It Won’t Cut It” campaign, University files a Trademark application
  23. Lehman Brothers is Gone but Not Abandoned 
  24. EU: What does Brexit mean for EU trade marks and designs?
  25. Comparative aspects of trademark dilution between the United States and China
  26. Versace ripped off the Canucks’ spaghetti-skate logo 
  27. Depreciation of goodwill with cannabis trademarks 
  28. Determined not to tumble: British Gymnastics’ trade mark dispute and IP protections for sports properties
  29. The Third Circuit Shares Some Food for Thought on the Bounds of Trade Dress Protection 
  30. Court of Appeal Upholds Interim Injunction in Trade Secrets Case
  31. How to Keep Trade Secrets Secret
  32. New Trade Secret Protections in China
  33. Protection of store layout under IP law
  34. Protecting Recipes and Food as Intellectual Property
  35. $644-million award for patent infringement upheld on appeal; Accounting of profits remedy removes “economic incentive to infringe”
  36. IP monitor: Quebec Superior Court dismisses application for disavowal of a IP monitor – Quebec Superior Court dismisses application for disavowal of admissions of patent invalidity
  37. Federal Court Freezes Out Motion to Vary Injunction in Patent Case
  38. US Patent Boss Says No Evidence Of Patents Holding Back COVID Treatments, Days Before Pharma Firms Prove He’s Wrong
  39. Federal Circuit Restores Induced Infringement Verdict Against Teva
  40. Watch Out: The Patent Maximalists Are On The Warpath To Destroy Innovation And Empower Patent Trolls 
  41. Applying the Broadest Reasonable Interpretation of the Claim in Light of the Specification, Federal Circuit Revives Claims in Heart Valve Patent
  42. Why Is My Company Being Sued For Patent Infringement In Waco, Texas?
  43. Beyond borders: Extraterritorial reach of Australian patents
  44. Inadequate Translation of a Non-English Application Leads to US Patent Invalidation
  45. Skinny Label Does Not Prevent Finding of Induced Infringement 
  46. Expert Testimony Stricken Where Expert Did Not Show Non-Infringing Alternatives Were Available in the United States 
  47. Worried about being sued for patent infringement in multiple jurisdictions? Three ways to gain control 
  48. New Grape Varieties – Raisin Awareness of Plant Patents 
  49. High Stakes: Protecting Your Cannabis Intellectual Property 
  50. Nobel Prize 2020: A Chemistry Patent Attorney’s View 
  51. Key IP Agreements for Startups
  52. Blowing away the competition: design evolution, and what it’s like to be Head of IP at Dyson

PRIVACY

  1. Canadian privacy and data protection basics for emerging companies
  2. Sask. privacy commissioner finds clinic’s loss of Dictaphone with patient info was privacy breach
  3. Location Data Obtained By CBP Comes From Phone Apps, Is Capable Of Tracking People On Both Sides Of The Border
  4. H&M fined €35.3m under GDPR for ‘Return to Work’ practices
  5. Fancy Bear imposters are on a hacking extortion spree
  6. COVID-19 Is Driving The Uptake Of Chess — And Of Surveillance Tools To Stop Online Players Cheating
  7. Adblockers installed 300,000 times are malicious and should be removed now
  8. Privacy as an aggregate public good
  9. United States: California Privacy Rights Act – what you need to know
  10. Schrems II Series: United States Defence 
  11. In wake of the Schrems II, CNIL challenges use of Microsoft cloud storage to host public health data lakes (the Health Data Hub case – Part 1)
  12. Judge Shuts Down Vallejo PD’s Illegally-Obtained Stingray
  13. SF Chronicle Op-Ed: “Prop. 24 is the Wrong Policy Approach, at the Wrong Time, via the Wrong Process” (Eric Goldman)
  14. The Right to be Forgotten

CREATIVITY

  1. Quebec court acquits fiction author of child pornography charges
  2. DOJ Is Suing Melania Trump’s Ex-Friend Over Her Book, Despite Never Being A Government Employee
  3. Administration Officials (Again) Break The Law By Investigating Voice Of America Journalist For ‘Anti-Trump Bias’
  4. Devin Nunes Asks Appeals Court To Invalidate Bedrock Supreme Court 1st Amendment Ruling
  5. ICE Spent Your Tax Dollars Dragging A Journalist Through The Internet Sewer Over A Mistake She Apologized For
  6. Federal Judge Ridiculously Says That Holding A Sign Telling People Cops Are Ahead Is Not Free Speech

GAMES

  1. Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against EA in Canada Over Loot Boxes
  2. EA facing Canadian class action lawsuit over loot boxes: Two plaintiffs seeking damages as suit calls out “unlicensed, illegal gaming system” in over 60 titles
  3. Mark Sutherland and Shawn Moore v. Electronic Arts Inc. (Notice of Civil Claim The Supreme Court of B.C., September 30, 2020)
  4. Rune 2 lawsuit alleges deliberate sabotage from Bethesda, ZeniMax
  5. ZeniMax, Bethesda, Roundhouse added to lawsuit over Rune 2: Ragnarok accuses companies involved in Human Head demise and Roundhouse formation of sabotaging Rune 2 and a game based on the Oblivion Song comic
  6. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is running an Among Us stream to drive voter turnout
  7. AOC makes explosive Twitch debut with over 435,000 Among Us viewers
  8. AOC’s debut Twitch stream is one of the biggest ever: And she’s genuinely pretty good at Among Us
  9. 439,000 People Watched Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Take On Top Content Creators In ‘Among Us’
  10. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Storms Twitch: More than 400,000 people tuned into AOC’s stream of a marathon Among Us session with representative Ilhan Omar and Twitch luminaries.
  11. US Rep Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez’s Twitch stream drew 439k peak viewers: Among Us stream with fellow Representative Ilhan Omar and popular Twitch streamers saw highest peak of any politician on Twitch
  12. AOC’s record-breaking Twitch stream is the future of politics: Young, tech-savvy, meme-literate, and accessible
  13. Twitch purges videos after “thousands” of requests from music labels: Streaming site offers content creators the ability to delete all videos as it issues “a one-time warning to learn about copyright law”
  14. Women and gamers of color detail experiences with online harassment in games like Call of Duty
  15. More allegations surface against Rooster Teeth’s Ryan Haywood: Former Achievement Hunter host described as “predatory,” allegedly taking advantage of power imbalance to solicit sexual favours from young women
  16. A lawyer’s perspective on the industry’s abuse problem: Toxic family notions, favoritism and lack of regulation all lead to abuse, says legal expert Siobhán Crawford
  17. Summer video game reveals showed record number of female protagonists: But Feminist Frenquency’s annual analysis warns this may be a “one-off statistical anomaly”
  18. Liar Liar, Mobile Game Ads Under Fire — ASA Bans Misleading Ads for Mobile Games
  19. Epic vs. Apple is losing PR steam | Opinion: Sensible rulings in Epic’s legal dispute with Apple have pared the case back to its core question — and shown just how disruptive Epic’s demand really is
  20. Take-Two Opposes Trademark For An Entertainment Company Running An Axe-Throwing Facility
  21. NBA 2K21 adds unskippable ads to loading screens: 2K Sports introduces new monetization method to latest basketball title weeks after launch
  22. Players slam 2K after publisher inserts unskippable ads into NBA 2K21
  23. Sega takes flak for releasing Golden Axe prototype made ‘under crunch conditions’
  24. Sega criticised for launching Golden Axe prototype created “under crunch conditions”: Sega edited the Steam page and said in a statement that it “didn’t mean to dredge up painful memories”
  25. Bungie cease and desist pulls Destiny 2 cheat tool offline
  26. GameStop’s Microsoft partnership reportedly lands it a cut of digital Xbox revenue
  27. Microsoft will give GameStop a share of Xbox’s digital revenues
  28. Xbox’s GameStop deal: lifeline or table scraps?
  29. Microsoft will share digital revenues with GameStop on every Xbox it sells: Investment advisor says retailer will even get a share of DLC sales if physical game was purchased from another company
  30. Microsoft confirms Xbox Series X|S launch titles: 30 games will be “fully optimized” for next-gen system upon release, none exclusive to next-gen
  31. Xbox Series X unleashed: Our unrestricted preview
  32. Phil Spencer: Xbox could recoup Bethesda acquisition without PlayStation releases
  33. Xbox head: Bethesda purchase wasn’t to keep games away from other platforms – While each game’s platforms will be decided case-by-case, Phil Spencer says Elder Scrolls doesn’t need to be on PlayStation to recoup costs
  34. What happened with Microsoft’s Switch publishing experiments? 
  35. Nintendo Nukes ‘Zelda’ Fan Game, As Per Usual
  36. Switch game discovery – look on the bright side?
  37. Nintendo Switch shines on Amazon’s Prime Day | UK Boxed Charts: 29 out of the Top 40 jumped in sales week-on-week
  38. One-third of US gamers surveyed plan to buy a next-gen console this year: Baird finds purchase intent for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S roughly equal, Call of Duty expected to top holiday sales
  39. The PlayStation 5 user interface is an instant hub that prioritizes gameplay
  40. PlayStation 5 UI revealed: “Activity” shortcuts, picture-in-picture
  41. PlayStation Store to drop PS3 content and Wishlists on desktop and mobile: PS Vita and PSP games will also be gone as part of incoming store revamp
  42. PlayStation clarifies how its voice chat reporting tool will work on PS5
  43. Future PS5 updates will optimize cooling based on data from individual games
  44. PS5 will use downloadable updates to control game-by-game fan speed
  45. Google Stadia’s free demos could prove the value of game streaming
  46. Amazon Luna is live, and it’s already out-streaming Google Stadia
  47. Luna, Amazon’s take on cloud-based gaming, launches in (limited) early access
  48. Growth in UK games industry fastest ever recorded: Games development headcount is at an all-time high of 18,279 in the UK
  49. Lessons in community building from EVE Online
  50. YouTube: Among Us videos reached 4bn views in September – Video platform’s report shows US as largest audience, but viewers flooding in from around the world
  51. Unity creates Social Impact Division to support non-profits
  52. Unity launches Social Impact Division backed by $67m fund: New division will provide grants for work in education, sustainability, and health and well-being
  53. FIFA download launch sales spike 31% over last year | UK Digital Charts: Overall sales down only slightly over last year’s entry
  54. EA Motive boss: ‘player autonomy’ is key to studio’s future
  55. Avengers assembles September sales chart heavy on new releases: Square Enix’s latest just one of seven games debuting in the top 20 as NPD’s total US game sales for the month rise 10% year-over-year
  56. Marvel’s Avengers’ next-gen version delayed to 2021 to ensure product quality: Crystal Dynamics is taking its time after initial launch that “was not without turbulence”
  57. Report: China-owned mobile studio Playtika is chasing an IPO in the U.S.
  58. Mobile game publisher Playtika files to go public in window for game IPOs
  59. Playtika files IPO draft: Publisher behind Best Fiends, June’s Journey has confidentially submitted preliminary paperwork to go public
  60. MAG Interactive reports $25 million in sales: Revenue at the mobile games company also grew 28% from June to August 2020
  61. Game rental shop GameFly acquired by Alliance Entertainment group
  62. GameFly sold to distributor Alliance Entertainment: New owner says it will expand US rental-by-mail service’s selection of games, as well as hardware, accessories, and collectibles for sale
  63. ‘Fortnite’ Taps J Balvin For Latest In-Game Concert In Honor Of Halloween
  64. New nonprofit organisation Hit Save to support games preservation: The community-driven organisation is based in the US but will operate globally
  65. Z Event raises €5.7m for Amnesty International: The live streaming event broke the record for the most money raised for charity on Twitch
  66. Talent Firm Loaded Adds Pro Gamer Maria ‘Chica’ Lopez To Starry Roster
  67. Facebook Gaming Streamer Avori Henderson Signs With Ford Models’ New Esports And Gaming Division
  68. Blizzard winding down development on StarCraft II after over a decade
  69. Blizzard no longer developing new content for StarCraft 2: Developer will continue to issue balance fixes and work with partners on esports
  70. New ex-Blizzard game studio formed to pick up a fallen RTS mantle
  71. Ex-Blizzard devs land $4.7m for new studio Frost Giant 
  72. EVOS Esports closes $12m Series B round: Southeast Asia-focused esports firm has raised more than $16m in its lifetime
  73. Devolver Digital acquires Serious Sam dev Croteam
  74. Devolver Digital acquires Serious Sam developer Croteam: Publisher further cements partnership following decades of publishing deals
  75. How the Nemesis system got an indie makeover in Star Renegades
  76. Ubisoft Connect announced as a ‘refreshed’ replacement for Uplay and Ubisoft Club
  77. Overcoming AR’s limitations with Mario Kart Live Home Circuit: Velan Studios president Guha Bala on reinventing Nintendo’s best-selling racing franchise for augmented reality
  78. Sony Unveils ‘Spatial Reality Display’ with Eye-tracking for Glasses-free 3D Viewing: Priced at $5,000 and launching in November
  79. PSVR Not Compatible With PS5 Camera, New Japanese Bundles Include Adapter for PS4 Camera
  80. Oculus Quest 2 quietly drops support for Oculus Go games
  81. Facebook Develops Hand Tracking Method to Touch Type in VR Without a Keyboard
  82. Cliff Bleszinski may return to games development “slowly and cautiously”: Fall Guys and Among Us has given Gears of War designer hope as he reflects on the mistakes of Boss Key Productions
  83. Devolver brings in head of licensing to put Fall Guys ‘on the licensing map’
  84. Ken Williams doesn’t know how his design philosophy could work today: Sierra On-Line co-founder talks about his new book, disconnecting from the games industry, and what’s changed since he left nearly 25 years ago
  85. Tides of Chaos: How Baldur’s Gate 3 tackles the pure RNG of D&D-inspired dice rolls
  86. Learn how Supergiant brought Hades’ hand-painted characters to life
  87. Rocket League’s appeal isn’t rocket science | Why I Love
  88. Blog: Networking into the games industry as a new grad
  89. Blog: The in-app purchase merchandising playbook – Part 1 
  90. Video: How Criterion Games improved its studio leadership
  91. Video: Why your game community is now a marketing asset
  92. Video: The developers of Ghostrunner discuss the making a cyberpunk platformer
  93. Don’t Miss: The undying allure of the Metroidvania
  94. Don’t Miss: Crafting GoNNER’s modular abilities
  95. Don’t Miss: How the developers of New Vegas took back Fallout
  96. Don’t Miss: Crafting Danganronpa to surprise players
  97. Don’t Miss: The designer is god–or the devil–in The Talos Principle
  98. Q&A: Designing for seasons in bumbling platform royale Fall Guys
  99. Data Deep Dive: Meteorfall: Krumit’s Tale on Steam
  100. New non-profit Hit Save! wants to help preserve video games and their history
  101. The Video Game History Foundation is working to save our source code
  102. French charity steam Z Event raises $6.7 million for Amnesty International
  103. U.S. Patent no. 9,492,740: Remote and/or distributed equipping of video game characters
  104. U.S. Patent No. 10,625,156: Method and system for sharing video game content

Jon

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News of the Week; October 14, 2020

By Jon Festinger on October 17, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. Facebook and the Group That Planned to Kidnap Gretchen Whitmer: Extremist groups and conspiracy theorists like to connect with each other just like everyone else.
  2. Facebook Doesn’t Have a Duty to Prevent a Murder–Godwin v. Facebook (Eric  Goldman)
  3. Twitter, Facebook face blowback after stopping circulation of NY Post story
  4. Court Says Twitter Must Unmask User Whose Bogus Document Jumpstarted Seth Rich Conspiracy Theory
  5. Twitter Attempts To Add A Bit Of Friction In Run Up To The Election
  6. Facebook bans Holocaust denial amid rapid rise in “deceptive” content
  7. Facebook to pause all political advertising—after the election
  8. Facebook Will Temporarily Ban All Political and Issue Advertising After the Presidential Election
  9. Facebook Abuses Trademark To Give New Prominence To Group Of Facebook Critics Who Are Trying To Shame Company Into More Moderation
  10. Facebook Bans Marketing Firm for Engaging in “Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior”
  11. Facebook announces ban on anti-vaccination ads
  12. How Not to Cover Voter Fraud Disinformation: Journalists should treat systematic disinformation campaigns from President Trump no differently than from Russian propagandists and Facebook clickbait artists (Yochai Benkler)
  13. China Micro-Censors The VP Debate In The Most Hamfisted Way
  14. Wisconsin blames Foxconn, says $3 billion factory deal is off
  15. Democracy & Dragons
  16. Against Platform Determinism
  17. Trolling for Truth on Social Media
  18. EU targets Big Tech with “hit list” facing tougher rules
  19. Forget TikTok. IRS Inquiry Shows The Continued Abuse Of Location Data Is The Real Scandal.
  20. WeChat and TikTok Win Preliminary Injunctions Against Trump Administration’s Efforts to Ban the Apps
  21. DOJ Seizes Domains, Claiming They Pushed Iranian Disinformation; Should Raise 1st Amendment Concerns
  22. While Trump Continues To Complain About 230, It’s Copyright Law That Once Again Actually Gets His Content Removed
  23. League Of California Cities Want Congress To Change Section 230… To Let Cops Spy On Everyone Using Social Media
  24. Section 230 Liability Shield Continues to Receive Scrutiny
  25. Clarence Thomas Doesn’t Like Section 230, Adding To His Anti-Free Speech Legacy
  26. Content Moderation Case Study: Facebook’s Internal ‘Hate Speech’ Guidelines Appear To Leave Protected Groups Unprotected (June 2017)
  27. Content Moderation Case Study: Handling Off Platform Harassment On Platform (June 2020)
  28. Assessment of the Code of Practice on Disinformation
  29. YouTube Expands COVID Misinformation Policy To Ban Vaccine Conspiracies
  30. Google wants to turn YouTube into QVC with new shopping features
  31. Can You Avoid Creator Burnout By Working The YouTube Algorithm? Is More Actually Less? We Take A Look.
  32. YouTube Unveils First 5 Originals Produced By Its $100 Million ‘Black Voices’ Fund
  33. YouTube Gives Premium Subscribers Exclusive Access To Test New Features
  34. YouTube Testing Ecommerce Tools That Turn Creator Videos Into Product Catalogs
  35. Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels • Week Of 10/05/2020
  36. Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels • Week Of 10/12/2020
  37. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 10/05/2020
  38. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 10/12/2020
  39. F-Factor CEO Sues Influencer Alleging Defamation and More
  40. France Passes Law Giving Child Influencers Same Protections As Young Actors, Models
  41. Teespring Will Now Let Creators Vend ‘Digital Products’, Like Photo Presets And Ebooks
  42. Reels Rolls Out New Content Discovery, Sharing Features
  43. Twitter Disables Core Functions To Prevent Spread Of Election Misinformation
  44. Twitter Wins Another Account Suspension Case–Wilson v. Twitter (Eric Goldman)
  45. Joe Biden Taps Portal A For #ImVotingFor Influencer Campaign On Instagram, Twitter
  46. Twitter Will Turn Off Some Features to Fight Election Misinformation
  47. Logan Paul’s Pokemon Card Unboxing Stream Gets 300,000 Concurrent Viewers, Raises $130,000 For Charity
  48. Facebook Unveils Free Tool Enabling Creators To Test Video Post Performance Before Publishing
  49. Spotify Now Lets Podcasters Use Its Entire Music Library In Their Shows
  50. Brooklyn-Based Startup MSCHF Wants To Pay Influencers To Take Down “Evil” Brands
  51. IBM to split into two companies by end of 2021
  52. Insights: Could The Streaming Services Killing Movie Theaters Save Them Instead?
  53. Netflix Nixes Free Trials In U.S.
  54. Following Staff Exodus, Bon Appetit Relaunches YouTube Channel With 8 New And 3 Returning Hosts
  55. Apple pays $288,000 to white-hat hackers who had run of company’s network
  56. Microsoft thumbs its nose at Apple with new “app fairness” policy
  57. Coordinating office space: Digital technologies and the platformization of work
  58. Targeting Ontological Security: Information Warfare in the Modern Age
  59. The pernicious contagion of misinformation: False statements – about Covid-19 and so much else – spread like a virus online. Scientists should study them like one.
  60. Another Significant Cryptocurrency Decision: SEC v. Kik Interactive Inc. and Token Offerings Under the Securities Laws
  61. New Export Controls: Emerging Technologies
  62. A Lawyer’s Duty of Technological Competence
  63. How Linus Torvalds Invented Today’s Work From Home Paradigm In 1991

A.I.

  1.  Waymo finally launches an actual public, driverless taxi service
  2. Trustworthy artificial intelligence 
  3. Are we being too hard on HAL? Some thoughts on the legal need for “explainable” artificial intelligence.
  4. Artificial Intelligence: the key to successful decommissioning in the North Sea? 
  5. The Losers of automation. How the introduction of robotics changed the European occupational class structure 
  6. To Surveil and Predict: A Human Rights Analysis of Algorithmic Policing in Canada 
  7. Smart cities | How AI is boosting understanding of urban dynamics 
  8. Human oversight, individual rights and AI systems in the workplace in the UK
  9. Behavior trees and the future of intelligent control 

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. The Guilbeault Internet Plan: Leave it to the CRTC and Copyright Board of Canada to Get Money from Web Giants (Michael Geist)
  2. AT&T plans thousands of layoffs at HBO, Warner Bros., rest of WarnerMedia
  3. AT&T Is Taking An Absolute Bath On Its DirecTV Merger
  4. With 42,000 Layoffs Since 2017, AT&T Plans Thousands More Layoffs At HBO, Time Warner
  5. AT&T has trouble figuring out where it offers government-funded Internet
  6. AT&T Gives Up On DSL, Leaving Many Out Of Broadband’s Reach
  7. As COVID Highlights U.S. Broadband Failures, State Bans On Community Broadband Look Dumber Than Ever
  8. Comcast says gigabit downloads and uploads are now possible over cable 
  9. Successful 5G implementation
  10. Verizon “nationwide” 5G ready for iPhone 12—don’t expect a big speed boost
  11. Verizon forced to pull ad that claimed firefighters need Verizon 5G
  12. SpaceX gets FCC approval to bid in $16 billion rural-broadband auction 
  13. FCC’s Pai Puts Final Bullet In Net Neutrality Ahead Of Potential Demotion
  14. Access to Infrastructure: using existing ducts and pipes to install new fibre broadband

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Google gets mixed reception in Supreme Court clash with Oracle: Justices held a low-tech telephone session in one of the biggest software fights in American history on Wednesday
  2. Google’s Supreme Court faceoff with Oracle was a disaster for Google 
  3. IP Alert | Supreme Court Hears Arguments in “Copyright Case of the Century” 
  4. hiQ Labs v. LinkedIn Corp., the Web Scraping Saga Continues
  5. 512(f) Claim Survives Motion to Dismiss–Brandyn Love v. Nuclear Blast America (Eric Goldman) 
  6. By the Book: Unauthorized Material Doesn’t Forfeit Training Guide’s Copyright Protection 
  7. Graffiti artists see victory under Visual Artists Rights Act claim 
  8. Nicki Minaj’s Experimentation with Tracy Chapman’s Classic “Baby Can I Hold You” Qualifies as a Fair Use Under Copyright 
  9. “Can’t Hold Us” Liable: Macklemore & Ryan Lewis Win Affirmance in Copyright Suit
  10. Obtaining Copyright Registrations for Blogs and Social Media Posts Just Got Easier 
  11. Kanye’s Twitter Rant Flags Issues with Copyright Ownership in Music Deals 
  12. Lehman Brothers is Gone but Not Abandoned
  13. EU: What does Brexit mean for EU trade marks and designs? 
  14. Versace ripped off the Canucks’ spaghetti-skate logo
  15. Depreciation of goodwill with cannabis trademarks 
  16. Dior loses PRETTY SAVAGE trade mark dispute in the United Kingdom
  17. If Something Is Advertised As A Knockoff Product… Is It No Longer Counterfeiting?
  18. Court of Appeal Upholds Interim Injunction in Trade Secrets Case
  19. How to Keep Trade Secrets Secret 
  20. Court Finds that Trade “Secrets” Aren’t Secret on Zoom Call 
  21. $644-million award for patent infringement upheld on appeal; Accounting of profits remedy removes “economic incentive to infringe”
  22. IP monitor: Quebec Superior Court dismisses application for disavowal of a IP monitor – Quebec Superior Court dismisses application for disavowal of admissions of patent invalidity 
  23. Federal Court Freezes Out Motion to Vary Injunction in Patent Case
  24. US Patent Boss Says No Evidence Of Patents Holding Back COVID Treatments, Days Before Pharma Firms Prove He’s Wrong
  25. Beyond borders: Extraterritorial reach of Australian patents
  26. Skinny Label Does Not Prevent Finding of Induced Infringement 
  27. New Grape Varieties – Raisin Awareness of Plant Patents 
  28. In Memory of Guitarist Eddie Van Halen; 10 Musical Patents You Should Know: The Saxophone, Electric Guitar, Electric Double Bass, Concertina and “Band in a Box” – Who Invented These Musical Instruments? 
  29. Promoting the Progress of Science: Written Description and Enablement 
  30. High Stakes: Protecting Your Cannabis Intellectual Property 
  31. 2020 Supreme Court Intellectual Property Case Review

PRIVACY

  1. Canada’s New Cybersecurity Certification Goes Live
  2. Undocumented backdoor that covertly takes snapshots found in kids’ smartwatch: The X4, made and jointly developed in China, raises concerns.
  3. Law Enforcement Also Using ‘Reverse’ Warrants To Obtain Google Searches
  4. FBI Sent A Special Task Force To Portland To ‘Exploit’ Phones Taken From Protesters
  5. Now you can enforce your privacy rights with a single browser tick
  6. United States: California Privacy Rights Act – what you need to know
  7. Five Eyes Countries Band Together To Complain About Facebook And End-To-End Encryption
  8. Schrems II Series: United States Defence
  9. Schrems II – what next for data transfers? 
  10. Office of Foreign Assets Control: Making or Facilitating Ransomware Payments May Violate U.S. Sanctions 

CREATIVITY

  1. Administration Officials (Again) Break The Law By Investigating Voice Of America Journalist For ‘Anti-Trump Bias’
  2. Devin Nunes Asks Appeals Court To Invalidate Bedrock Supreme Court 1st Amendment Ruling
  3. ICE Spent Your Tax Dollars Dragging A Journalist Through The Internet Sewer Over A Mistake She Apologized For
  4. Federal Judge Ridiculously Says That Holding A Sign Telling People Cops Are Ahead Is Not Free Speech

GAMES

  1. Professional Splatoon player arrested for alleged sexual assault of a minor: Japanese esports organization Creatives parts ways with player
  2. Console hackers are shocked after DOJ arrests prominent mod-chip makers
  3. Blizzard workers in France called to strike over closure of Versailles office
  4. Nintendo forces rebranding for adult entertainer “Pokeprincxss”
  5. Nintendo issues cease and desist against influencer and adult entertainer Pokeprincxss: Social media personality rebrands after trademarking her name and selling merchandise bearing Pokémon characters
  6. From Game Boy to 3DS: The legacy of Nintendo’s handhelds: Analysts, developers and former Nintendo staff look back at the why the platform holder dominated the portable gaming space for over three decades
  7. Judge denies request to force Fortnite back on iOS App Store pending trial
  8. Apple Does Not Need to Return Fortnite to App Store, Judge Rules: Fortnite’s parent company, Epic Games, had broken its contract with Apple, a federal judge found. The case goes to trial next year.
  9. Epic Games vs Apple trial set for May 2021: It’s uncertain at this stage whether the trial will be conducted in person or virtually
  10. Epic vs. Apple judge warns of ‘serious ramifications’ for console makers
  11. Epic vs Apple case may have “serious ramifications” for Nintendo, PlayStation and Xbox: Court order prevents Apple from blocking Unreal Engine until dispute is settled but Fortnite remains banned on iOS
  12. Xbox Elite Series 2 added to Microsoft controller drift lawsuit: The updated lawsuit also shed light on what’s allegedly causing the drift
  13. DiRT 5 and our first Xbox Series X “enhanced” tests: 120Hz saves the uneven ride
  14. UK regulator bans misleading Homescapes, Gardenscapes pin puzzle ads
  15. Game Over With Hefty Fine in Gaming Patent Clash
  16. Hyper casual developer Voodoo wins copycat case against Zynga’s Rollic Games
  17. ASA bans misleading Homescapes, Gardenscapes ads: Despite pin puzzles being present in the game, UK ad authority concluded Facebook posts were not representative of the overall gameplay
  18. Amazon cancels free-to-play shooter Crucible
  19. RIP to Crucible, Amazon Games’ first PC shooter: 2020-2020
  20. Amazon ends Crucible development for good: Servers will shut down on November 9, just over five months after launch
  21. Gaming will be a frontline in China’s censorship drive | Opinion: China’s censorious tendencies have begun to creep overseas through commercial pressure, and games companies are in the authorities’ sights
  22. Staff say Twitch has a chronic problem with racism, sexism, and indifference
  23. Twitch staff call the company out on sexual assault, racism, more: Employees from throughout the streaming platform’s history describe a culture of indifference to inappropriate, unsafe, and abusive behavior
  24. How Twitch failed to create a safe space for staff and streamers | Podcast: Latest episode delves deeper into the stories of sexual assault and racism at the company behind the leading streaming site
  25. Following His Grand Return To Twitch, Ninja Signs With CAA
  26. Rooster Teeth’s Ryan Haywood and Adam Kovic let go amid ‘explicit photos’ scandal: The Achievement Hunter and Funhaus hosts reportedly sent inappropriate unsolicited photos to fans
  27. Retaining and fostering women in the games industry: Victoria Setian gave a GDC Summer talk addressing how to fight discriminatory attitudes in the workplace and develop female talent into leadership
  28. Normalizing depression in the games industry: Chris Charla, Mike Wilson, and Callum Underwood talk about their own struggles with depression, what’s worked for them, and changing attitudes within the industry
  29. Successful indie devs on coping with failure, imposter syndrome
  30. UK National Videogame Museum awarded grant to ensure its short-term survival
  31. Survey: 35% of gamers have a subscription service – 9% of current subscribers already pay for multiple gaming services while 71% would consider multiple subs, according to global poll of 13,000+ consumers
  32. Report: Microsoft will deploy browser workaround to bring Game Pass to iOS
  33. Microsoft exploring browser workaround to bring Xbox Game Pass to iOS: Meanwhile, former App Store boss says Apple Arcade violates the same policies blocking Game Pass and Stadia
  34. Here’s how backwards compatible titles will look on the Xbox Series S and X
  35. Report: Xbox game streaming will land on iOS in 2021 using Web workaround
  36. Xbox Game Studios has a record year heading into console launch
  37. New Microsoft Store principles take a dig at Apple: Company also explains why it will not apply these app fairness principles to Xbox store
  38. 72% of US next-gen pre-order customers chose PS5: 29% of the respondents to a VGM study said they tried to pre-order a next-gen console but were not able to do so
  39. PlayStation 5 will only leave 10 old PS4 games in the back-compat dust
  40. Sony details limits of PS5 backward compatibility: 10 PS4 titles including Hitman Go and Afro Samurai 2 will not play on PS5, while new PS5 HD Camera won’t work in place of PS4’s PlayStation Camera
  41. Apple touts the new iPhone 12 and its 5G as a game changer for mobile games
  42. Analyst predicts Switch will outsell PS5, Xbox Series X/S this Christmas: NPD’s Mat Piscatella also says US games spending could be on course for a record year at over $50 billion
  43. Nintendo reducing price of individual Joy-Cons in Japan: No word yet on whether price drop will be reflected in other markets
  44. FIFA 21 | Critical Consensus: The new FIFA has the lowest Metacritic average in the series’ history — but does a game with a license to print money have any reason to evolve?
  45. FIFA physical sales continue to fall sharply | UK Boxed Charts: But digital will likely tell a different story
  46. Celebrity endorsement? How did Burger King’s sponsorship of Stevenage F.C. lead to Lionel Messi appearing in a Burger King-branded football shirt?
  47. Star Wars Squadrons stays on target to beat Crash Bandicoot | UK Digital Charts: EA’s flight shooter does significantly better as a digital release
  48. Super Mario 3D All-Stars dominates September, even without digital | GSD Monthly Chart: Nintendo Switch consoles continue to sell well across Europe
  49. Super Mario 3D All-Stars was Japan’s biggest-selling game in September: Nintendo compilation sold nearly five times more copies than Marvel’s Avengers
  50. Mario Kart Live is a fun, if flawed, excuse to race around the house
  51. Roblox quietly submits draft registration for proposed public offering
  52. Virtuos acquires CounterPunch Studios and opens Montreal branch
  53. Virtuos acquires CounterPunch Studios, opens Montreal studio: Los Angeles animation specialist will be integrated into Virtuos’ global team while new Canadian team will focus on concept art
  54. Embracer Group issues new shares to raise money for future acquisitions: Company completes issue of shares worth over $648 million
  55. My.Games buys controlling stake in mobile studio Deus Craft for $49.1M
  56. My.Games buys a controlling stake in Deus Craft: Deal for the Grand Hotel Mania could rise from $14m to $49m based on earnout targets
  57. MyGames buys minority stake in hyper-casual studio Mamboo Games
  58. My.Games buys minority stake in Mamboo Games: Partnership enables Russia-based games publisher to expand hypercasual department
  59. Level-5 has virtually halted operations in North America
  60. Beamable, once known as Disruptor Beam, files for bankruptcy
  61. Beamable files for bankruptcy: The studio formerly known as Disruptor Beam reported $3.4 million in liabilities
  62. Nag Studios raises $1m in pre-seed funding: Stockholm-based company to grow its team as it works to build a “digital super bowl”
  63. Unknown number of layoffs at GameSpot following Red Ventures deal
  64. Rockstar buys Ruffian Games, rebrands to Rockstar Dundee: Companies have been working together on unspecified titles for the last year
  65. 505 Games officially ends production on Indivisible: Publisher will release final Switch update following dissolution of Lab Zero Games
  66. Com2us buys Out of the Park Developments: South Korean development and publishing company plans to turn historically PC franchise into a mobile one
  67. Crackdown 2 dev Ruffian Games is now a Rockstar Games studio
  68. Report: Ni No Kuni dev Level-5 winds down North American presence
  69. Unity launches Game Growth Program to help indie mobile devs flourish
  70. Kids vs. Zombies dev Donut Lab raises $1.6 million
  71. Russian mobile studio Donut Lab raises $1.6 million: Level-Up leads funding round to support upcoming game Kids vs Zombies
  72. Voodoo to release mobile games in China through The9: Shanghai-based firm has received licenses to release two of the French developer’s games so far
  73. Tencent proceeds with Huya and DouYu merger: The agreement is expected to close during the first half of 2021
  74. Tencent-owned Sharkmob opens triple-A studio in London
  75. 10mg: invading Steam with microgames to make a point
  76. The weirdest Steam refund messages (& lessons for game devs!)
  77. YouTube Newcomer Overwatch League Brings Record 1.55 Million Viewers For 2020 Grand Finals
  78. Esports March On: Nike Jumps In With Glitzy Ad While Forbes Ponders If Esports Will Be Our New Pastime
  79. Esports organisation RektGlobal secures $35m in funding: Summit Partners invests into firm as new debt capital partner
  80. Nag Studios nets $1 million to create esports games
  81. Honour of Kings professional league welcomes first all-female team: Fire Leopard will compete in the King G-League starting next year
  82. Gfinity begins formal sales process: A “formal sales process” is underway following a difficult year for the UK esports firm
  83. Newzoo reduces its esports market forecast for 2020 for the third time: Firm attributes revision to lack of in-person attendance at esports events due to ongoing pandemic
  84. How to get on the good side of media & streamers
  85. How Arthurian tragedy drives the design of Pendragon
  86. How pinball made us better RPG developers — and vice versa: Zen Studios COO Mel Kirk on what the pinball specialist learned by leaving its comfort zone with two RPG titles
  87. An in-depth analysis of IAP pack design in free-to-play mobile games
  88. Early Among Us character concepts depict the birth of the bean
  89. Still There examines how far one can run from grief | Why I Love
  90. Don’t Miss: The Door Problem of Combat Design
  91. Don’t Miss: The making of Crackdown 2
  92. Don’t Miss: How Playground imports real skies into Forza Horizon
  93. Don’t Miss: How Brawlhalla built a fighting game community from the ground up
  94. Video: Facing down failure as a freelancing game dev
  95. Video: Game art remastered – From Crash, to Kerrigan, to Corley Motors
  96. Video: Bridging the gap between UX and game design
  97. Video: An accessibility Q&A with EA’s Karen Stevens
  98. Blog: Game composers and the importance of themes – Part 5
  99. Blog: How do you know when you need ray-tracing?
  100. Blog: How to Judge Game Design With Achievement Analytics

Jon

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