News of the Week; January 20, 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