DIGITAL
- 70% of top “civic” Facebook groups are toxic or violent, report finds
- Lawmakers take aim at insidious digital “dark patterns”
- Influencers told not to use ‘misleading’ beauty filters
- Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos stepping down
- Jeff Bezos to leave Amazon CEO post after 27 years, become executive chair
- No, WallStreetBets isn’t robbing Wall Street to help the little guy
- WallStreetBets craze pushes dogecoin up 5x in 24 hours
- Facebook “Supreme Court” overrules company in 4 of its first 5 decisions
- Facebook Oversight Board decisions
- 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.
- Facebook Oversight Board’s First Decisions… Seem To Confirm Everyone’s Opinions Of The Board
- Every crazy thing that happened in Apple and Facebook’s privacy feud today
- Facebook makes the case for activity tracking to iOS 14 users in new pop-ups
- 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
- Apple, Its Control Over the iPhone, The Internet, And The Metaverse
- Apple’s updated App Store guidelines clarify positions on recent controversies
- Latest FTC “Made in USA” Enforcement Includes Scrutiny of Hashtags
- Biggest MAGA Conference Threatens Politico With Bogus Lawsuit For Reporting On Conference Troubles
- Google settles federal gender and race discrimination charges for $3.8M
- Google Play bans open source Matrix client Element, citing “abusive content”
- A Wave of Online Services Have Suspended Accounts Associated with Trump and His Supporters
- TikTok Implements Prompts To Deter Users From Proliferating Misinformation
- TikTok Inks Multi-Faceted Partnership With British Ad And Marketing Giant WPP
- Australians May Soon Face Life Without Google
- Microsoft backs Australian law forcing Google to pay for news links
- Online Harassment Toward Women Is Getting Even More Insidious
- Dominion Sues Rudy Giuliani For $1.3 Billion Over False Statements About Its Voting Systems
- Professional Assholes Equate Consequences With ‘Cancel Culture’ To Obscure That They’re Finally Being Held Accountable
- Continued Access to Service Not Sufficient to Bind User to New Terms of Service–Stover v. Experian (Eric Goldman)
- Google and Twitter Defeat Lawsuit Over Account Suspensions/Terminations–DeLima v. Google (Eric Goldman)
- Politician Can Block Constituents at Twitter–If It’s a “Campaign” Account–Campbell v. Reisch (Eric Goldman)
- Selling Keyword Ads Isn’t Theft or Conversion–Edible IP v. Google (Eric Goldman)
- TripAdvisor Doesn’t Get Early Section 230 Dismissal–Putt v. TripAdvisor (Eric Goldman)
- No, Revoking Section 230 Would Not ‘Save Democracy’
- Removing Civil Rights Law From Section 230 Will Create Many New Problems, While Failing To Fix Existing Ones
- Columbia Law Professor Spews Blatantly False Information About Section 230 In The Wall Street Journal
- No Section 230 Has Nothing To Do With Horrific NY Times Story Of Online Stalker Getting Revenge For Decades’ Old Slight
- Content Moderation At Scale Is Impossible: Google Play Bans Video Player App Over ASS File Extension Support
- Content Moderation Case Study: Twitter Removes Account Of Human Rights Activist (2018)
- Content Moderation Case Study: GitHub Attempts To Moderate Banned Words Contained In Hosted Repositories (2015)
- CNN Ends Distribution Deal With Facebook Watch, Brings ‘Go There’ Series In-House
- YouTube’s new “Clips” feature lets users share 60-second clips of videos
- YouTube Will Let Viewers Share Custom Short Videos Cut From Creators’ Uploads And Livestreams
- YouTube Doubled Number Of TrueView Advertisers In Q4 2020, Earned $6.9 Billion
- Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide Last Week
- Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide Last Week
- Top 50 Most Viewed U.S. YouTube Channels Last Week
- Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels Last Week
- The Obamas To Host YouTube’s Black History Month Special, ‘Black Renaissance’
- YouTube Sets Series From Hillary Clinton’s HiddenLight Productions, Starring Patricia Bright
- Instagram Revamps User Interface For Stories Consumption On Desktops
- Snapchat Launches ‘Safety Snapshot’ Program To Educate Users On Data Security
- Teespring Goes Live With ‘Spring’ Rebrand, Has 450,000 Creators On The Platform
- Ryan Reynolds To Premiere Snapchat Series Alongside Will Smith’s Westbrook Media
- Amid Miami Move, Jake Paul Lists Infamous Calabasas Mansion For $7 Million
- Wheelhouse Launches ‘DNA’ Division For Digital And Audio Ventures, Inks 360 Deal With Nikita Dragun (Exclusive)
- Barstool Sports, NPR, Wondery Were Top-Earning Podcast Producers Of 2020 (Report)
- Netflix Is Testing A Sleep Timer That Will Automatically Stop Playback
- HBO Max To Offer Cheaper, Ad-Supported Subscription In Q2
- Apple TV+ Nabs Jared Leto, Anne Hathaway For Series About WeWork Saga
A.I.
- Artificial intelligence soon to be regulated in Canada?
- FTC Brings First BOTS Act Case Against Online Ticket Brokers
- FTC Sets Its Eye on Algorithms, Automated Tech, and AI-Enabled Applications
- FDA Releases Action Plan for Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning-Enabled Software as a Medical Device
- Boston Dynamics’ robot dog gets an arm attachment, self-charging capabilities
- Microsoft Patent: Chatbots Made From The Online Habits Of Dead People
- Patent Issues for Factory Automation Inventions in AI
- National Defense Authorization Act Propels National Strategy on AI Development
- AI and data protection – uncomfortable bedfellows?
- Three Considerations for AI Healthcare Application Developers and Users
- National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Office Launched as “Central Hub” for AI Research and Development
- Driving AI development: new UK AI roadmap released
- Artificial Intelligence: Landmark 2020 Developments and Rapid Business Adoption
- ICO Contributes To Briefing On AI And Healthcare
COMMUNICATIONS
- Bell Blasted For Taking $122m Labour Subsidy While Boosting Dividends
- AT&T & Verizon Got Billions From Government, Yet Laid Off 95,000 People In Just Five Years
- After Years Of Litigation, AT&T Customers Get A Measly $22 For Being Lied To Over ‘Throttling’
- Why victims of AT&T unlimited-data throttling get only $22 in settlements
- AT&T customer since 1960 buys WSJ print ad to complain of slow speeds
- Antitrust Remedies in Highly Regulated Industries
- Xiaomi denies ties to China’s military, calls US ruling “unconstitutional”
- Cable ISP warns “excessive” uploaders, says network can’t handle heavy usage
- State reps try to ban Comcast data cap and price hikes until pandemic is over
- Comcast lifts uploads to 5Mbps amid complaints its low-income plan is too slow
- 27% Of Cable TV Subscribers Will Cut The Cord This Year
- Flash is dead—but South Africa didn’t get the memo
- Georgia Towns Sue Netflix In Flimsy Bid To Nab A Slice Of The Pie
- The Wall Street Journal Kisses Big Telecom’s Ass In Whiny Screed About ‘Big Tech’
- A TV Broadcaster’s Guide to Where Washington Regulatory Issues Stand
- Fixed-satellite service operators may soon access new frequencies and routine licensing procedures
- How to Watch the Super Bowl in VR With Friends for Free
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
- For the Want of a Nail – Copyright Claims Fail When Plaintiffs Can’t Show Ownership
- Thomson Reuters v. ROSS case will test limits on protections for subscription-based database: ROSS Intelligence alleges monopolistic, anticompetitive control over legal research market
- Bernie and his Marvelous Mittens. It’s all Good Fun Until a Copyright Lawyer Gets Involved
- Anthropomorphized Characters Representing Human Emotions are Not Copyrightable
- Annotations that Accompany State and Local Laws are not Copyrightable
- Generalized Expressions of Scientific Facts and Generic Themes are Not Copyrightable
- Spoofs, Parodies, Compatibility, and Comparisons: When Can Competitors Borrow from Each Other?
- Music – The Scope of Protection
- The Lies Told About The EU Copyright Directive’s Upload Filters May Help Get Them Thrown Out In Court
- Japan Looks To Amend Copyright Law To Force Some Cosplayers To Pay To Cosplay
- Pitch perfect appeal for James Arthur
- Is your joint copyright work purple or red/blue?
- Mitigating Copyright Issues in Remote Learning
- Music Licensing in the Video Streaming Era
- Pocky Ruling Denies Trade Dress Protection for the Useful, Though Not Essential, Shape of Cookie
- Third Circuit Panel Revises Half-Baked Trade Dress Functionality Decision
- Please Dough Not Use My Trademark
- Much ado about ballet shoes – important designs case on copying
- The Shape of Things to… Eat
- The Federal Court of Appeal Upholds Finding that Trademark Use Can Be Established Without a Physical Presence in Canada.
- Federal Court grants interlocutory injunction in trademark action for second time in six months
- Canadian Intellectual Property Office allows requests for expedited COVID-19 medical trademarks
- Taste, Smell, Hear, Touch, and See – Appealing to All Five Senses with Non-Traditional Trademarks
- Taylor Swift in ‘Evermore’ Trademark Lawsuit Over Utah Theme Park Name
- Trademark Modernization Act Strengthens Rights of Brand Owners
- The Trademark Modernization Act: Real Change to Address the Realities of Trademark Law
- Brewery Industry Insight — A Play-on-Words Mark Prevailed
- Annual Reminder: You Can Probably Just Call The Super Bowl The Super Bowl
- A decision based on Aesthetics – UK IPO rules stylisation is enough to overcome confusion
- General Court finds no likelihood of confusion in BBQLOUMI opposition – Cypriot cheesemakers continue to struggle in EU trade mark courts
- Lady A vs. Lady A: (Trademark) Battle of the Bands
- TTAB Precedent No. 46: No Abandonment of A.W. SHUCKS
- Cannabis Trade marks and commercialisation in the US, UK and EU.
- Minimalist trademarks: end of the road for uniqueness?
- Cybersquatting trends and strategies that brand owners need to know
- Janssen’s abiraterone acetate and prednisone combination therapy patent found invalid
- When is There an “Actual Invention” Involving Computers?
- Office Actions: Options to consider when you need an extension of time to respond to the Patent Office
- Protecting innovations through patent due diligence and FTO analysis
- Data Breaches Ain’t Just About Privacy: Risking the Loss of Patent Rights by Data Breach with Subsequent Disclosure
- All Hands On Deck: Ensuring Innovation, Not Just Patents, From All
- Third Circuit Requires Patent Validity Analysis In Adjudicating Antitrust Causation
- Federal Circuit Finds Patent Infringed After Reversing Claim Construction That Violated “Grammatical Principles” to Cover All Embodiments
- Judge Hellerstein Upholds Infringement by Microsoft of Kaufman’s “And/Or” Patent
- Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality Litigation Update: Defendants’ Motion to Stay Pending IPR Denied in AR Design Innovations’ Patent Case
- Update on Patent “Aggregation” Suit Against Fortress
- Patent-Eligible Subject Matter
- Patent-Ineligible Subject Matter
- 2020 IP Law Year in Review: Patents – Executive Summary
- Snapshot: intellectual property for fashion goods in Canada
- 14 States Are Now Considering ‘Right to Repair’ Legislation
- Is there Magic in those Mushrooms? Protecting Psilocybin and Other Actives from Magic Mushrooms
- IP Litigation 2020 Year in Review
PRIVACY
- Clearview AI’s Facial Recognition App Called Illegal in Canada
- Not So Fast: Clearview Asks for Rehearing of Seventh Circuit Decision on Article III Standing for BIPA Class Action
- Michigan State Police Officials Are Dodging Public Records Obligations By Using Encrypted Messaging Apps
- Consent Standards under the Proposed Consumer Privacy Protection Act
- FTC’s allegations of misuse of facial recognition
- FTC Settles with Fertility-Tracking App Developer Regarding Health Data Disclosures
- 30% of “SolarWinds hack” victims didn’t actually use SolarWinds
- From first to sixth: Huawei’s phone business tanks thanks to US sanctions
- Police Chief Demands Holes In Encryption Because Some Cops Decided To Participate In The DC Insurrection
- States Gear Up to Limit Use of Biometrics and Biological Data
- Apple sets “early spring” rollout for iOS privacy changes
- Texas Immigration Lawyer Sues DHS, CBP Over Seizure And Search Of His Work Phone
- Why Does the Brand of My Phone Affect My Credit Rating?
- Data Security and Privacy Predictions for 2021: 6 Issues to Watch
- The government will guard Biden’s Peloton from hackers. What about the rest of us?
- Canadian Privacy Law 2020 Year in Review
GAMES
- Valve loses controller patent case, must pay $4m in damages
- Valve on the hook for $4 million over Steam Controller patent infringement
- Is Steam really conspiring to price fix?
- Riot Games pushes for arbitration in gender discrimination lawsuit
- Riot Games pushes gender discrimination case back towards arbitration
- Ubisoft Toronto co-founder Alexandre Parizeau departs Ubisoft
- Activision lawyers dismiss diversity hiring proposals as ‘unworkable’
- Game firms acknowledged by Human Rights Campaign for LGBTQ inclusivity
- Google closes Stadia’s dedicated game studios after less than 2 years
- Google shuts down first-party Stadia game studios to refocus as platform provider
- Google closing Stadia game studios, opening up tech to publishers
- Google Stadia Shuts Down Internal Studios, Changing Business Focus
- Google Shutters Stadia Game Dev Studio, Will Focus On Distribution And Tech
- Google eliminates Stadia’s internal development team
- What Stadia’s pivot tells us about the future of cloud gaming
- Google needs to think smaller about games streaming | Opinion
- Level Up: 33 Legal Tips for Game Developers and Publishers
- New supply chain attack uses poisoned updates to infect gamers’ computers
- 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.
- Report: Mismanagement plagues Amazon’s struggling push into video games
- Amazon is reportedly spending nearly $500 million a year on its video game division
- Activision bans 60,000 Call of Duty: Warzone cheaters
- Goldeneye 007’s lost Xbox 360 remaster has leaked—as a full-game speedrun
- We have finally played the lost, official Goldeneye 007 remaster for Xbox 360
- Destruction AllStars review: Amazing PS5 car combat, in spite of speedbumps
- Sony says semiconductor shortage makes increased PS5 production difficult
- Sony reports ‘significant’ sales increase following PS5 launch
- The PlayStation 5 had sold 4.5 million units by the end of 2020
- Scalpers aren’t the main reason you can’t find a new console
- 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.
- CD Projekt’s stock soars after Elon Musk tweets about Cyberpunk
- GameStop stock dips as apps like Robinhood restrict trading
- Discord Takes Over Moderation Of r/WallStreetBets Server As Facebook Shuts Down Popular Stock Trading Group
- Discord bans WallStreetBets as subreddit briefly goes private
- Robinhood blocking purchase of GameStop stock
- Robinhood denies automatically selling users’ GameStop shares
- Robinhood’s plan to “democratize finance” hit a GameStop-shaped speed bump
- Robinhood App Decides To Stop Helping The Poor Steal From The Rich
- Discord bans WallStreetBets for hateful conduct amid GameStop stock surge
- Hedge fund Melvin sustains 53% loss after Reddit onslaught
- Hedge fund Melvin Capital pulls out of GameStop trading
- GameStop stock story won’t have a happy ending | This Week in Business
- 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
- Multiple GameStop stock story adaptations reportedly in the works
- As Virgin Galactic gets swept up in GameStop mania, it gets back to flying
- AOC Examines Wall Street Over Twitch Stream
- How to protect your intellectual property in the games industry
- Tabletop Simulator devs face criticism for Google Translate-sourced translations
- 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
- EA signs multi-year license extension with UEFA to continue FIFA collaboration
- EA extends UEFA exclusivity, working on multiple FIFA mobile games
- 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
- EA posts record-breaking bookings driven by Ultimate Team, Apex Legends
- EA reports record net bookings as Apex Legends, Ultimate Team exceed expectations
- EA Play now has 13 million players across all platforms
- Star Wars has made $3bn for EA
- EA has made $3 billion in net bookings from just Star Wars games
- EA “very, very confident” about BioWare’s future despite key departures
- EA sees “huge potential” in racing following Codemasters acquisition
- EA Sports returning to college football
- EA Sports revives college football games, but without NCAA involvement
- EA is getting back into college football without NCAA, player licenses
- Detroit: Become Human dev Quantic Dream sets up new studio in Montreal
- Microsoft requests EU approval for ZeniMax acquisition
- Sega Sammy splits video games and pachinko machines into separate companies
- Nintendo raises fiscal forecast as Switch closes in on 80 million lifetime sales
- Nintendo Switch sales overtake 3DS as Nintendo raises forecasts again
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons sold over 31 million copies in nine months
- 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.
- Modded Game Boy looks like an Apple product, works as Apple TV Remote
- iOS 14.5 update adds DualSense and Xbox Series X controller support
- The Medium has already recouped production and marketing costs
- The Medium | Critical Consensus
- Valve updates Steamworks to make sharing patch notes easier
- The Epic Games Store amassed over 160 million PC users in 2020
- Spider-Man: Miles Morales has sold 4.1m copies
- 25 years later, Midway’s lost “MLB Jam” arcade game has been found
- A new $110 light gun for old Duck Hunts: Ars tests an HDTV-friendly option
- Why Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ 31 million sales are so incredible
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons returns to No.1 | UK Boxed Charts
- All game development is unsustainable | 10 Years Ago This Month
- How can Xbox encourage consumers to ‘swim upstream’? | Opinion
- Brawl Stars is Supercell’s fourth title to pass $1bn in lifetime revenue
- Epic Games Store’s 160 million users spent over $700m in 2020
- Navigating the new normal: Studio culture in the time of COVID
- Australian games industry delivers 29 percent revenue growth despite COVID-19
- Sumo Group acquires PixelAnt Games
- Sumo acquires Polish work-for-hire studio PixelAnt Games
- Plug In Digital acquires Black Shell’s catalogue
- Gearbox Entertainment joins Embracer Group in $1.3b deal
- Borderlands dev Gearbox acquired by Embracer Group in $1.38 billion deal
- Embracer Group acquires Aspyr Media for $100m
- Embracer acquires mobile developer Easybrain and independent studio Aspyr
- Embracer Group merges with Easybrain in $640m deal
- AppOnboard raises $20m for Buildbox engine
- AppOnboard nets $20 million to support ‘no-code’ mobile dev platform Buildbox
- Pocket Worlds closes $7m funding round
- Ninja Theory halts updates for new IP Bleeding Edge
- Ninja Theory’s Bleeding Edge is staying online but won’t receive new content
- Digital drives Capcom sales to $622m
- Rovio shuts down Hatch
- Australian developer revenues raise 29% to $140m
- Pocket Worlds raises $7 million to double down on social mobile games
- Netflix and Legendary partner on Tomb Raider series
- Rime pairs accessible gameplay with relatable loss | Why I Love
- Over 50 percent of esports followers likely to bet on esports in the US – Survey
- FaZe Clan Signs With UTA Amid Content Expansion Into Scripted, Podcasting, More
- Red Bull Launches AR Mobile Game Series With Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins, 4 Other Athletes
- Blog: Five insights from 3700 reviews of Cyberpunk 2077
- Blog: A level design analysis of BioShock Infinite – Part 5
- Blog: How randomness contributes to strategic thinking
- Blog: What I learned from doing a game jam every month for a year
- Blog: Analyzing Unexplored’s secret cyclic dungeon generation
- Video: The value of large spenders in free-to-play games
- Q&A: Lessons learned from five years spent on the Hitman series
- Don’t Miss: The creative challenges BioWare faced designing Mass Effect 3
- Don’t Miss: Gearbox on producing a bigger Borderlands
- Utility Patents – What Game Developers Should Know
Jon