DIGITAL
- Ontario Superior Court denies certification of Cambridge Analytica class action
- Ontario Court Sets Out New Tort of “Harassment in Internet Communications”
- Anonymous internet commenter fails to set aside default judgment
- Yet Another Story Shows How Facebook Bent Over Backwards To Put In Place Different Rules For Conservatives
- Facebook to reverse Australia news ban after lawmakers alter bill
- Facebook Caves To Australia: Will Restore Links After Government Gives It More Time To Negotiate Paying For News Links
- 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.
- Facebook news ban is “arrogant,” Australia will not be “intimidated,” PM says
- The Bizarre Reaction To Facebook’s Decision To Get Out Of The News Business In Australia
- Why Is Facebook’s Decision to Restrict News in Australia So Significant?
- Australian News Sites Shocked & Upset To Learn They Don’t Need To Rely On Facebook For Traffic!
- Facebook’s Australian News Ban Did Demonstrate The Evil Of Zero Rating
- Beware the Unintended Consequences: Some Warning Signs for Canada from the Australian Government Battle With Facebook (Michael Geist)
- The Complexity of Internet Content Regulation – A Conversation with CIPPIC’s Vivek Krishnamurthy (Michael Geist)
- Microsoft throws Google under the bus in European news fight
- The Librarian War Against QAnon
- TikTok Removed Nearly 350,000 Videos For Violating Election Policies
- New ‘TikTok For Black Creatives’ Incubator Unveils Inaugural Class Of 100 Creators
- Arizona’s $24-Million Prison Management Software Is Keeping People Locked Up Past The End Of Their Sentences
- YouTube Removes PewDiePie’s Cocomelon Diss Track, Citing Harassment And Child Safety Policies
- Is Mandated Sideloading The Answer To App Store Deplatforming?
- YouTube Will Begin Letting Underage Users Onto Its Flagship Platform — With Parental Supervision
- Five Things Platforms Can Do Today to Fight Disinformation
- Indian Government Requires Educational Establishments To Obtain Its Approval For The Subject Matter And Participants Of International Online Conferences And Seminars
- Tech groups sue Maryland to block new digital-ad tax from going into effect
- How Oregon’s Top Wildlife Official Got Sued Over His State’s Hunting App
- Is Section 230 Just For Start-ups? History Says Nope
- North Dakota’s New Anti-230 Bill Would Let Nazis Sue You For Reporting Their Content To Twitter
- Attacks On Internet Free Speech In Malaysia And Indonesia Demonstrate Why Section 230 Is So Important
- Content Moderation Case Study: Senator Asks YouTube To Block Al Qaeda Videos (2008)
- Content Moderation Case Study: Chatroulette Leverages New AI To Combat Unwanted Nudity (2020)
- 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.
- Social media manipulation by political actors now an industrial scale problem prevalent in over 80 countries – annual Oxford report
- Congressional Jawboning of Internet Services Isn’t Actionable–AAPS v. Schiff (Eric Goldman)
- Doctor Can’t Win Default Judgment Over Patient’s Yelp Review–Mirza v. Amar (Eric Goldman)
- An Account Suspension Case Fails Again–Perez v. LinkedIn (Eric Goldman)
- UK Supreme Court says Uber drivers are not independent contractors
- Uber: Bankrupt engineer Levandowski is hiding millions from creditors
- Maryland First State to Adopt Digital Ad Tax
- Hosts Of Gimlet Media’s ‘Reply All’ Step Down After Allegations Of Toxic, Anti-Union Behavior
- Can YouTube Teach Facebook A Better Way To Handle News Content In Australia And Beyond?
- YouTube Shutters 7 Remaining ‘YouTube Spaces’ Globally, Doubling Down On Pop-ups And Virtual Programming
- YouTube launches new destination for sports fans and expands its YouTube Select CTV offering
- YouTube Announces 2021 Slate Of More Than 30 Kids’ Originals
- YouTube TV To Offer $30 Add-On Bundle Comprising HBO Max, Showtime, And Starz
- This Week In Social Video: Mars Landing, Rick Lax, Happy Gilmore
- Spotify Will Enable Podcasters To Charge For Monthly Subscriptions, Slates Broader Rollout For Video Podcasts
- TikTok without filters
- TikTok Locks In Multiyear Partnership With UFC
- David Dobrik’s ‘Dispo’ App Reportedly Eyeing Series A Funding Round At $100 Million Valuation
- Logan Paul Sells $5 Million Worth Of NFTs Ahead Of His Pokémon Box Break
- MrBeast Says His Burger Brand Sold One Million Sandwiches In 2 Months
- Creator Community Standard Launches In-House Studio Offering Production Resources To All Digital Creators
- A Teenaged Tech CEO Tries To Sneak In After Curfew And Finds His Mom Waited Up For Him
- Internationalized domain names: definition, challenges, and status
- The bitcoin blockchain is helping keep a botnet from being taken down
- Virtual Currency Platform Settles NY AG Charges for Unlawful Trading
- Treasury Secretary Skeptical of Bitcoin
- SEC halts trading of iced tea company that pivoted to blockchain
- SEC Delists the Iced-Tea Company that Added “Blockchain” to Its Name
- The rise of the online divorce
- Another route for resolving technology disputes?
- Is Quantum Computing about to actually become useable – even useful?
- Roundup of Some Influential 1990s Internet Law Articles (Eric Goldman)
A.I.
- Copyright in works created by artificial intelligence: issues and Perspectives
- Artificial Intelligence and Patents: Inventing Inventors
- 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
- Legal Aspects of Artificial Intelligence (v3.0)
- The AI research paper was real. The “co-author” wasn’t
- Google fires top ethical AI expert Margaret Mitchell: The tech giant claims Mitchell violated staff codes of conduct.
- AI and Privacy Are on a Collision Course
- AI can write a passing college paper in 20 minutes: Natural language processing is on the cusp of changing our relationship with machines forever.
- CMA continues its focus on digital markets with a call for evidence on the use of algorithms
- Will the Final Chapter Come? FDA’s Action Plan for Oversight of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning-Based Medical Software
- Trust, transparency and meaning: success factors in effective AI projects
- Video: Improving the AI of Mafia III
COMMUNICATIONS
- Court Tosses Devin Nunes’ Silly SLAPP Lawsuit Against CNN
- California can enforce net neutrality law, judge rules in loss for ISPs
- California Poised To Defeat Broadband Industry In Scrum Over Net Neutrality
- ‘Net Neutrality Hurt Internet Infrastructure Investment’ Is The Bad Faith Lie That Simply Won’t Die
- Comcast reluctantly drops data-cap enforcement in 12 states for rest of 2021
- AT&T and Frontier have let phone networks fall apart, Calif. regulator finds
- Cox’s bad customer service stymies users who don’t want upload speeds cut
- The DOJ/FCC ‘Fix’ For The T-Mobile Merger Is Looking More And More Like Theater
- Chattanooga Built Its Own Broadband Network. Now It’s The Top Ranked ‘Work From Home’ City In The US
- New Bill Tries To Ban Community Broadband. During A Pandemic.
- FCC Pressured To Let Libraries Bridge Broadband Access During The Pandemic
- Apple is already working on developing 6G wireless technology
- Apple beats Samsung in phone sales for first time since 2016
- Maryland Electric Cooperative Launches Broadband Subsidiary
- House Republicans propose nationwide ban on municipal broadband networks
- LG enters fray with Google, Amazon, Roku for TV operating system dominance
- China blocks BBC World News in Tit-for-tat move following CGTN Ban in UK
- ASA rejects a complaint that a Johnnie Walker ad encouraged immoderate drinking
- CARU Encourages Advertisers to Focus on Diversity and Inclusion
- Broadening the Definition of Express and Implicit Representation in Children’s Advertising
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
- Canadian consultation on extending the general term of copyright open through March 12
- Extra, extra, read all about it: new Canadian Bill proposes remuneration for use of journalistic works online
- Time to Pay the Copyright Piper? A Digital Media Platform Copyright Reckoning for Journalists is Upon Us!
- Meghan Markle gets summary judgment – but is she the sole author of her letter?
- Duchess of Sussex wins summary judgment in copyright and privacy claims
- Duchess of Sussex v Mail on Sunday & MailOnline
- HHJ Hacon decides ownership of Virtual Forensic Computing software created during course of employment.
- Karma: Twitch Replaces Live Metallica Concert With 8-Bit Music To Avoid Copyright Madness
- Understanding the Boundaries of Using Copyrighted Learning Materials in Distance Learning
- Hooray for the Public Domain: A prequel to The Great Gatsby sees the light of day!
- A Closed Book: No Past Infringement, No Reading Between the Lines into the Future
- Third circuit panel revises half-baked trade dress functionality decision
- 9th Circuit swivels on trade dress functionality doctrine in favor of iconic Herman Miller office chairs
- Apple Settles Trademark Opposition With PrePear Recipe App After The Latter Makes A Barely Perceptible Change In Logo
- A Registration is a Trump Card
- Peloton Seeks To Invalidate ‘Spinning’ Trademark Held By Trademark Bully
- FyreTV Porn Service Asks 11th Circuit Panel To Resurrect Dumb Trademark Suit Against Amazon Over FireTV
- USPTO Provides Guidance in View of ‘Booking.com’
- Trademark registrability of generic.com domain names following US Supreme Court decision on Booking.com
- Fairtrade Fortnight
- Protecting product appearance through trademark and design registrations
- Domain Name Dispute Resolution Options: Features, Benefits and Other Considerations for Selecting Between UDRP and URS
- Federal Circuit Clarifies When Appellate Review Triggers Patent Term Adjustment
- Federal Court Dismisses Limitation Period Defence in Patent Infringement Action under Section 8.2 of the PM(NOC) Regulations
- Canadian courts are interpreting supplementary pharmaceutical patent protection more broadly than their EU counterparts
- Lack of enablement in Amgen v Sanofi and Regeneron
- Federal Circuit Axes Amgen Antibody Patents, Finding Lack of Enablement
- Judge Schofield Rejects Application of Rare Equitable Estoppel Defense
- 2G or Not 2G: Patent License Applies to Future Generation Wireless Networks
- Boom in M&A shifts semiconductor patent landscape
- Patent Office Issues Guidance on Indefiniteness
- When is someone “authorised” to use a patented invention for the services of the Crown and therefore immune from patent infringement?
- John Deere Promised To Back Off Monopolizing Repair. It Then Ignored That Promise Completely.
PRIVACY
- Evidence of Harm Required To Advance Class Action Following Data Breach
- Uber Denial of Class Action – Alberta Court Denies Certification of Privacy Class Action
- Alberta court confirms competent Testator’s right to privacy
- Why Transparency Won’t Save Us
- Treasury Oversight Says IRS Should Consider Getting Warrants Before Buying Location Data From Data Brokers
- Ninth Circuit Sends Alexa Surreptitious Recording Case to Arbitration–Tice v. Amazon (Eric Goldman)
- Data Breach Plaintiff Doesn’t Have Standing in the Absence of Fraud or Identity Theft–Tsao v. Captiva
- The First Circuit Court of Appeals confirms government’s expansive authority to search electronic devices
- Think Before You Pack that Laptop—Searches at the U.S. Border May Compromise Personal and Corporate Data
- Microsoft says SolarWinds hackers stole source code for 3 products
- Global social media company should take measures to prevent app developers from transmitter users’ sensitive data
- Private firms can’t protect us from digital attacks. Government must step in.
- Post-IDFA Alliance forms to prepare for Apple privacy changes
- New browser-tracking hack works even when you flush caches or go incognito
- Clearview and Blackbaud – Where are we, how did we get here, and where are we going?
- To pay or not to pay: Another regulator weighs in on the decision to pay a ransom
- GDPR in practice for North American companies: Key takeaways from Jan 21. 2021 Webinar
- LAPD Asked Ring Users To Turn Over Footage Of Anti-Police Brutality Protests
- Firefox 86 brings multiple Picture-in-Picture, “Total Cookie Protection”
GAMES
- Oxford University Study Shows Small Correlation Between Playing Video Games And ‘Well Being’
- Illinois politician proposes a Grand Theft Auto ban
- New Illinois Bill Would Expand Restrictions on Video Games
- Case Study: How ADL Used Custom Consumer Research to Measure Harassment & Disruptive Behavior in Online Games
- Epic giving out virtual currency after loot box settlement
- Epic Games settlement awards in-game cash to Fortnite, Rocket League players
- Epic will pay off class-action loot-box settlement with in-game currency
- UK antitrust tribunal blocks Epic’s case against Apple
- 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
- Valve gets dragged into Apple and Epic’s legal fight over Fortnite
- Apple turns to Valve for information in legal battle with Epic
- Valve pushes back against Apple’s attempt to rope it into the big Epic v. Apple dispute
- 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
- Class-action suit takes aim at Google Stadia’s 4K claims
- Google Faces Class Action Over Claims that all Stadia Games Support 4K
- Google Disbands Stadia Game Developers And Signals Potential For More Trouble Ahead
- Stadia Fallout: Nobody Can Address Stadia Games’ Bugs Because Google Fired All The Developers
- Luna, Amazon’s cloud gaming service, is no longer invite-only on some devices
- WallStreetBets agitator Keith Gill faces class action lawsuit over Gamestop Reddit Rally
- Robinhood says GameStop volatility was a “1 in 3.5 million” black swan
- GameStop, Musk, and the threat to decentralization (Andres Guadamuz)
- GameStop CFO resigns
- GameStop CFO Jim Bell resigns
- SEC Commissioner Peirce Reaffirms Agency Mission in Light of GameStop
- Microsoft Unveils Xbox Accessibility Guidelines Version 2.0
- Biden admin plans executive order to address chip-shortage woes
- Semiconductor shortage hitting console production to be investigated by White House
- Chip shortage may threaten PlayStation 5 supplies at Christmas
- PS5 DualSense drift — this teardown just revealed the cause
- Gran Turismo 7 for PS5 just hit a major delay
- Gran Turismo 7 delayed to 2022
- CD Projekt Red issues DMCA to prevent spread of stolen Gwent code
- CD Projekt issues DMCA takedowns to halt spread of illegally obtained source code
- Report: Some CD Projekt devs unable to work after ransomware attack
- Take-Two DMCA takes down reverse-engineered GTA source code
- Take-Two reportedly takes down reverse-engineered GTA3, Vice City source code
- What a woman games journalist experiences in a week
- Developer banned from Steam for naming studio Very Positive
- Steam’s new controller reporting lets devs know how their games are played
- Burning Crusade Classic leaks ahead of BlizzCon
- Diablo II Resurrected tops BlizzCon announcement flurry
- Hardsuit Labs dropped as Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 developer
- Microsoft’s accessibility guidelines are a great start — but we can go further | Opinion
- Nvidia nerfs cryptocurrency mining capabilities on newest graphics card
- Here’s why Glu is an excellent strategic fit for EA
- EA, BioWare cancel Anthem’s sweeping overhaul
- BioWare cancels plans for Anthem rework, shifts focus to Dragon Age and Mass Effect
- Crusader Kings III helps Paradox to best financial year in history
- Paradox reports best year ever in 2020
- Paradox removes Hardsuit Labs as Bloodlines 2 developer, title delayed indefinitely
- Unity report shows mobile games ad revenue grew 8% in 2020
- January digital games spending reaches $11.6bn
- Super Mario 3D World holds off FIFA resurgence | UK Boxed Charts
- Valheim tops 500,000 concurrent players on Steam in under three weeks
- Valheim has sold over 3 million copies in 17 days
- Paradox reveals new subscription service for Crusader Kings 2
- Paradox rolls out Crusader Kings II subscription plan to make DLC more accessible
- Nintendo delivered a strong Direct, but fan impatience grows | Opinion
- GameMaker to add next-gen support
- HP acquires HyperX
- Soccer Manager gets £3m investment
- Notre Dame sitting out of EA Sports College Football for now
- EA completes $1.2 billion acquisition of Dirt developer Codemasters
- EA completes $1.2bn Codemasters acquisition and hopes to “revolutionise” racing games
- Thunderful acquires Bridge Constructor publisher Headup in €11m deal
- Thunderful acquires Bridge Constructor publisher Headup for $13.3 million
- Thunderful Group full-year revenues rise to $374m despite Q4 profit drop
- Bandai Namco take minority stake in Might & Magic dev Limbic Entertainment
- Roblox to begin trading shares in March
- VSPN reportedly considering IPO
- Bungie scaling up to expand Destiny ‘into additional media’ and create new IPs
- Bungie opening Amsterdam publishing office
- Instant mobile game platform Artie raises $10m seed fund
- Instant mobile game platform Artie secures $10 million in funding
- ‘LinkedIn for gamers’ Efuse raises $6m
- BebopBee lands $2m in funding
- Netmarble acquires Kung Fu Factory
- Netmarble US to acquire NBA Ball Stars dev Kung Fu Factory
- Lucid Sight acquires multiplayer engine Colyseus
- Fandom acquires digital games marketplace Fanatical
- Larian opens UK development studio to work on Baldur’s Gate 3
- IronSource acquires playable and video advertisement platform Luna Labs
- Tencent grabs minority stake in TerraTech developer Payload Studios
- Saudi sovereign fund invests over $3 billion in major game publishers
- Saudi investment fund acquires shares in Activision Blizzard, Take-Two, and EA
- Live-action Twisted Metal TV series moving forward
- Cambrian’s new game design program launches in September
- Top Streamer Dr Disrespect To Release Comedic Memoir On March 30
- Omaken Sports forms “Nordic powerhouse of esports” with Heroic acquisition
- 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
- YouTube Millionaires: For 17-Year-Old ‘Fortnite’ Enthusiast Ryft, “The Future Is Looking Very Bright”
- CAA Signs Fast-Growing Facebook Gaming Creator Zack ‘ZLaner’ Lane
- Striker VR raises $4 million for VR gun peripheral
- Sony developing ‘next-generation VR system’ for PlayStation 5
- Sony announces new PSVR hardware for PlayStation 5
- Sony just confirmed PSVR 2 for PS5 — these are the biggest upgrades
- Next-Gen VR Dev Kits for PS5 Shipping Soon with “completely new VR format”
- Sony Confirms Next-Gen PSVR is Coming, New Controllers to Feature DualSense Tech
- PlayStation’s commitment is a huge boost to the VR market | Opinion
- Carmack: Facebook-Oculus Acquisition ‘Not A Perfect Outcome’ But Still ‘Correct’ For The Company
- VR specialist NDreams becomes a third-party publisher with $2 million fund
- Making terms and acquisitions more accessible to users
- The legend of The Legend of Zelda
- The secret to Final Fantasy XIV’s longevity lies in the room its devs are given to innovate
- Let them fight! Mortal Kombat red-band trailer gives fans what they want
- Minit devs launch Minit Fun Racer, with all proceeds to go to charity
- Don’t Miss: In It To Minit – Designing a world of one-minute adventures
- Blog: A market status and design analysis of Autochess
- Blog: How game developers can tackle the climate crisis
- Blog: Urban Japan and megacities expert discusses Cyberpunk 2077
- Blog: Writing slapstick and narrative as one
- Blog: My full time indie developer life – Year 4
- Don’t Miss: Blizzard’s postmortem of Diablo II
- Don’t Miss: Making Oxenfree’s narrative unfold like a free-flowing conversation
Jon