News of the Week; February 17, 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