DIGITAL
- TikTok Teens and K-Pop Stans Say They Sank Trump Rally: Did a successful prank inflate attendance expectations for President Trump’s rally in Tulsa, Okla.?
- In the UK, social media use associated with COVID-19 conspiracy theories
- Four Black Creators File Suit Against YouTube, Alleging Racial Discrimination In Algorithm
- Jukin Media Steps In With Copyright Claim After Trump Posts Doctored Video Of Hugging Toddlers
- Trump’s Plan To Turn US Global Media Operations Into State-Sponsored Breitbart… Could Threaten The Open (And Encrypted) Internet
- Google, Amazon condemn Trump order cutting off foreign worker visas
- Civil Rights Organizations Call for Facebook Advertising Boycott
- Facebook Ordered to Turn Over Internal Investigation Documents to Massachusetts Attorney General
- Court Denies Facebook’s Motion to Stay Order Compelling Production of Documents
- Facebook pulls Trump campaign ads for featuring Nazi-associated image
- Facebook’s New Content Moderation Appeals Process
- Content Moderation At Scale Is Impossible: Facebook Kicks Off Anti-Racist Skinheads/Musicians While Trying To Block Racists
- Viral TikTok Video From Black Artist Kirby Prompts Pepsi To Rebrand ‘Aunt Jemima’ Products
- TikTok faces scrutiny from EU watchdogs over data practices: Last month, Dutch data-protection commission investigated company’s policies to protect children’s data
- Apple caters to China by pulling thousands of “unlicensed” iPhone games
- Apple is changing parts of its app review process after the Hey controversy
- Vice Calls Out Brands For Deeming George Floyd, ‘Black Lives Matter’ Content Unsafe For Advertising
- Instagram Unveils Suite Of Programming, Tools, And Resources In Honor Of Juneteenth
- Sweating the Details: Court Analyzes User Interface to Uphold Online Arbitration Clause
- Southern District Says the Post Is the Story: Paparazzo’s Cardi B snaps are fair use when it comes to lipstick and hurled shoes
- Snap Says It Reaches More 13 To 24-Year-Olds In The U.S. Than Facebook, Instagram, And Messenger Combined
- FTC COPPA Settlement with App Developer Highlights Penalty Policy Considerations
- Twin Proposals Would Reform Section 230’s Liability Protections and Broadly Affect Online Content
- President Trump Loves Section 230 for Himself, Just Not for Anyone Else
- Judge Sides With Twitter Over Devin Nunes In Case Over Satirical Internet Cow: Section 230 Removes Twitter From Frivolous Case
- Americans Would Probably Love Section 230—If They Understood It (Eric Goldman)
- Further Thoughts On Moderation v. Discretion v. Censorship
- “There’s Always a Tweet” Applies to Trump’s Anti-Social Media Rhetoric
- Risk Mitigation For Social Media Cos. In Light Of Trump Order
- Another Court Rejects Turo’s Eligibility for Section 230–Turo v. Los Angeles (Eric Goldman)
- Hello! You’ve Been Referred Here Because You’re Wrong About Section 230 Of The Communications Decency Act
- Online harms: what progress in the UK and EU?
- The Communication Decency Act and the DOJ’s Proposed Solution: No Easy Answers
- Social Media Posts During Turbulent Times: FAQs on Employee Rights and Employer Responsibilities
- Electronic Data exclusion cries out for Judicial Interpretation
- Using the internet to cause emotional distress is a felony?
- Google to start fact-checking Google Images
- Google pushes “text fragment links” with new Chrome extension
- Masked arsonist might’ve gotten away with it if she hadn’t left Etsy review
- Twitter terminates DDoSecrets, falsely claims it may infect visitors
- Kim Kardashian West Signs With Spotify For ‘Innocence Project’ Podcast
- CBD Advertisements: What Celebrity Influencers Need to Know
- Reviewing the Americans With Disabilities Act’s Application to Websites–Martinez v. SDCCU (Eric Goldman)
- Insights: Can YouTube’s $100M Black Lives Matter Program Fuel A New Generation Of Marginalized Creators?
- YouTube’s ‘Cobra Kai’ To Kick It At Netflix, Starting With Season 3
- YouTube Launches Virtual Summer Camp With Arts, Sports, And STEM-Related Content
- Select Management Signs Slew Of YouTube Stars, Including Kelsey Darragh, Aaron Burriss, Hey It’s Fei
- YouTube Introduces New Shoppable Ads, ‘Video Action Campaigns’ For High-Traffic Marketing Spots
- Jessica Alba Drops Beauty Interview Series On Newly-Launched YouTube Channel
- Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels • Week Of 6/22/2020
- Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 6/22/2020
- NBA All-Star Stephen Curry To Host YouTube Competition Special ‘Ultimate Home Championship’
- With YouTube Music, Google is holding my speakers for ransom
- Philip DeFranco Signs With Semaphore To Seek Out Licensing Opportunities
- Hulu’s NewFronts Presentation Unveils Interactive Ad Format ‘GatewayGo,’ Nielsen Ad-Targeting Integration
- Roku Kicks Off Virtual NewFronts With Tools To Help Advertisers Weather Pandemic
- Condé Nast Unveils Podcast Network, Tap-To-Buy Video Ad Product At First NewFronts Outing
- Whistle To Launch Social Video Network In Collaboration With Survivalist Host Bear Grylls
- Barstool Sports Touts 950K Views Per Day For Founder Dave Portnoy’s Day Trading Show, Launches Branded Content Division
- Can you 3D print Damascus steel? Pretty much, yeah
- The Coronavirus Laid Bare Our Empty Lip Service To Fixing The ‘Digital Divide’
- Five practical steps to ensure due process during virtual hearings
- TV writers, like all of us, are developing a love-hate relationship with Zoom
- The long, winding, technological road to GPS in every car
A.I.
- China Won’t Win the Race for AI Dominance: Authoritarians Love Data, but Innovation Matters More
- Police arrested wrong man based on facial recognition fail, ACLU says
- In A First, TikTok Lifts Veil On Inner-Workings Of #ForYou Page Algorithm
- Artificial Intelligence and the Boardroom Risk
- The artist and the algorithm: how YouTube is changing our relationship with music
- Endure and survive – The AI of The Last of Us
COMMUNICATIONS
- Pay to Link?: Canadian Heritage Minister Guilbeault Backs Bringing the Link Tax to Canada (Michael Geist)
- Heritage Minister raises possibility of link tax for internet companies (Michael Geist)
- Europeans vow to pursue digital tax plans after US “provocation”
- Charter seeks FCC OK to impose data caps and charge fees to video services
- FCC’s O’Rielly Musters A Tiny Bit Of Courage To Almost Acknowledge Trump’s Executive Order Is Unenforceable Gibberish
- AT&T Has Now Eliminated 41,000 Jobs Since Its $42 Billion Trump Tax Cut
- AT&T Says Being Misleading About ‘Unlimited’ Data Plans Was Ok, Because Reporters Told Consumers It Was Being Misleading
- The Fastest ISP In America Is Community Owned And Operated
- Yet More Layoffs Hit Sprint/T-Mobile, Despite Promises This Assuredly Wouldn’t Happen
- T-Mobile already trying to get out of merger conditions on 5G and hiring
- If T-Mobile’s giant outage affected you, now’s your chance to tell the FCC
- FCC Skeptical About Space X Satellite Broadband Claims
- FCC Seeks Further Comment on TRACED Act’s Traceback Consortium’s Role
- FCC Seeking Comment on the Origination of Programming by FM Translators
- Fifteen Year Drought Over: How the Defense in Evonik/PeroxyChem and T-Mobile/Sprint Successfully Litigated the Fix
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
- Publishers Sue Internet Archive for free access to E-books
- Second Circuit Declines to Decide if Human Skin Can Be a Tangible Medium of Expression under Copyright Law and Affirms Dismissal of Makeup Artist’s Lawsuit
- Second Circuit Avoids “Making Up” Copyright Ruling Finding Artist’s Claims Preempted
- Copyright and memes: Drake effect, exceptions to infringement
- Ninth Circuit Decision Solidifies the Importance of Adhering to Registration Formalities
- Get ready to explore the boundaries of copyright on a bike before the ECJ (Case C‑833/18 (Brompton))
- A ride towards copyright for functional designs: could the iconic Brompton folding bike enjoy copyright protection? The view from Milan
- Copyright: Text and Data Mining – New Rules?
- Political Campaigns and Unauthorized Music
- Software patentability in Canada and beyond
- Copyright Gets In The Way Of Chef Andres’ ‘Recipes For The People’; Because The DMCA Takedown System Is Still Broken
- Cheez-It Issues A Bogus DMCA Notice To Nuke A Picture It Didn’t Like, Receives Dozens Of Offensive Images In Response
- Copyright Filters And Takedowns Are Broken: Questlove Says YouTube Flagged Him For Playing His Own Tracks
- Amazon and Valentino v. Kaitlyn Pan: contractual breach and counterfeiting
- Kawhi Leonard’s Fight for the “Claw”: An Oregon Court Holds that Nike Owns the “Claw Design” Logo
- Too vague: Prince Harry and Meghan’s trade mark application refused
- Another blow for Meghan and Harry’s trade mark strategy? Let’s investigate…
- Harry & Meghan’s ARCHEWELL US trade mark – not as hopeless as some reports suggest
- Netflix Outsmarts POTUS On Space Force Trade Mark
- Don’t Let Your Trademark Go Up In Smoke: “smoking is cool” Branding Is Prohibited Under Canada’s Cannabis Act
- Supreme Court rules in favour of Apple on trademark debranding
- NOKIA v Kokiya: the letters of the law
- Restaurant Industry Insight – Registering a Descriptive Restaurant Name
- In the company of Jedi´s
- Unfair advantage? Burlington Arcade successful at CJEU
- Three key differences between U.S. and Canadian patent law that can affect patent filing strategies in Canada
- Dropbox’s Patents Invalidated for Patent-Ineligible Subject Matter
- U.S. District Court Again Finds Patents for Updating Toolbar Without User Intervention Invalid
- Federal Circuit: Prior Dismissal Bars Customer Lawsuits
- Non-Infringement Need Not “Be Actually Litigated” to Invoke Kessler Doctrine
- Non-Infringement Need Not Be “Actually Litigated” to Shield Accused Products From Infringement Liability in Subsequent Actions
- Regeneron v Kymab and the effect of claim scope on the requirement of sufficiency of disclosure
- Rights of patentee or general Welfare of the public: which way should the scales tilt?
- Lifecycle of a smart idea: Patent strategy – Optimising life sciences patents
- Aces of the skies – the patent dogfight between DJI and Autel
- FibroGen & Astellas v Akebia & Otsuka – Lord Justice Arnold returns to the Patents Court for monster six patent trial
- Federal Circuit Patent Update
- Fun summer inventions and patents
- A Brief History of Patents & Slavery In Honor of Juneteenth
- Intellectual property in the time of COVID-19
- Brexit: implications for holders of intellectual property rights and domain names
- IP Post-NAFTA: What CUSMA Coming into Force Means for Canadian IP Law
- Revised draft Guidelines operationalizing the Patented Medicines Regulations: notable changes
- Intellectual Property – Top tips for Directors
PRIVACY
- Double-double tracking: How Tim Hortons knows where you sleep, work and vacation: Tim Hortons is logging detailed location data of customers through its app — and many may not realize it’s happening at all
- It’s unconstitutional for cops to force phone unlocking, court rules
- Millions of documents from >200 US police agencies published in “BlueLeaks” trove
- Tech Companies Are Limiting Police Use of Facial Recognition. Here’s Why
- New York City Residents Turn City’s Traffic Cameras Into Cop-Watching Tools
- So Much For Going Dark: FBI Using Social Media, E-Commerce Sites To Track Down Suspects (Including Non-Lawbreakers)
- NIST Releases Cybersecurity Guidance for Manufacturers of IoT Devices
- Alleged Privacy Law Violations Create Potential $5 Billion Issue For Google
- High Court Protects Privacy of Googlers from Insolvency Probe
- Google LLC loses appeal against French Data Protection Authority decision before France highest administrative Court
- Chrome extensions with 33 million downloads slurped sensitive user data
- Top German Court Rules Facebook’s Collection And Use Of Data From Third-Party Sources Requires ‘Voluntary’ Consent
- Privacy Issues of U.S. Collection of Social Media Information from Visa Applicants
- Privacy Concerns Lead To Deletion Of All Data Collected By Norway’s Contact Tracing App
- FTC Pounces on Maker of Children’s App Menagerie
- Immediate Steps Needed to Prevent Your Pandemic WFH Savior Videoconferencing from Turning Into a Future Litigation Nightmare
- One Of The World’s Largest Web Tracking Companies Leaks Tons Of Personal Info From An Unsecured Server
- To evade detection, hackers are requiring targets to complete CAPTCHAs
- Crooks abuse Google Analytics to conceal theft of payment card data
- It’s Long Past Time To Encrypt The Entire DNS
- Is Data Privacy A Privilege? The Racial Implications Of Technology Based Tools In Government
CREATIVITY
- UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Declares Detention of Sri Lankan Author Violated International Law
- Police Memo Says Officers Raiding A Journalist’s Home Were Instructed To Turn Off Their Body Cameras
- Appeals Court Says California’s IMDb-Targeting ‘Ageism’ Law Is Unconstitutional
- Tennessean Newspaper Apologizes For Running “Horrific” and “Utterly Indefensible” Advertisement
- Advertising Falls within Commercial Activity Exception to Sovereign Immunity
- Reese Witherspoon and Draper James in COVID-19 Giveaway Suit
- Schrodinger’s Classified Info: Trump Argues John Bolton’s Book Is Both False & Classified
- In Defamation Law, Context is Everything.
- The Need For A Federal Anti-SLAPP Law Is Clear And Overwhelming
- ViacomCBS Says It Is In No Rush to Make Major Acquisition
- ‘Wunderkind’ London Art Dealer Arrested by FBI
- The “root-and-branch rethink” of the film and TV production industry
- French Constitutional Council Kills Government’s Brand New Hate Speech Law
GAMES
- Class action lawsuit brought against Apple over loot boxes: Loot boxes are indisputably gambling under California law, argues 100-member lawsuit
- Starting in July, iOS games will require gov’t approval to launch on China’s App Store
- California court dismisses Magic Leap lawsuit against competitor Nreal
- Magic Leap’s lawsuit against competitor Nreal thrown out of court: “From the beginning we’ve firmly stated that Magic Leap’s claims against Nreal are meritless,” says Nreal founder
- ‘The Sims’ Becomes An Outlet For Would-Be Protesters Who Cannot Attend Protests
- FDA First: Agency Approves Video Game Treatment For ADHD, Requires A Prescription
- Dozens of YouTubers, Twitch Streamers, And Gaming Executives Face Sexual Abuse Allegations
- Dying Light 2 writer Chris Avellone accused of sexual assault and harassment
- As streamers face harassment allegations, Twitch sees boycott threat
- Mass DMCA Takedown Requests Issued on Twitch
- A wave of abuse allegations sweeps the games industry
- Ubisoft and Insomniac face allegations over mistreatment of women
- Insomniac responds to allegations from former staff about culture of harassment
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla creative director leaves project: Takes leave of absence from Ubisoft after accusations of marital infidelity
- Ubisoft ‘deeply concerned’ with sexual assault allegations against multiple employees
- Industry’s abuse problem brought into focus by latest wave of allegations: Less than a year since high profile industry figures named, dozens of streamers, influencers and developers called out for abusive behaviour
- Hearthstone pro says he was blacklisted after spouse criticized Blizzard: Janne “Savjz” Mikkonen says he was punished because Christina Mikkonen “spoke up about the injust practices” of Blizzard
- Cheeky Devils left Red-faced – High Court rejects Manchester United’s procedural request in video game case
- Police cars removed from Epic Games’ Fortnite: The Wall Street Journal alleges that police vehicles were removed in response to the killing of George Floyd
- Valve looks to stem tide of racist bots in Team Fortress 2: After months of inaction, Valve quietly works to “mitigate the use of new and free accounts for abusive purposes”
- Bot mafias have wreaked havoc in World of Warcraft Classic
- Too little, too shy: The gaming industry’s response to #BLM | Opinion: Gaming companies want to get away with tokens of sympathy for #BlackLivesMatter — Don’t let them
- How the games industry can put its diversity pledges into action | Opinion: The industry’s diversity problems aren’t new, but willing developers have all the tools they need to take action
- Zynga launches $25 million charity fund to foster inclusion and diversity
- Kowloon Nights launches $2 million game investment fund for Black creators
- Former Microsoft employee accuses Mixer manager of racist comments: Milan Lee has a meeting with Microsoft’s Phil Spencer to discuss an experience that made him leave the company
- Microsoft is killing its game-streaming service, folding it into Facebook’s
- Microsoft is shutting down Mixer, redirecting its users to Facebook Gaming
- Microsoft Shutters Mixer, Looks To Shepherd Creators To Facebook Gaming As Part Of New Pact
- Microsoft announces the closure of streaming platform Mixer, will partner with Facebook Gaming
- Microsoft shutting down Mixer: Streaming service closing July 22 with partners being transitioned to Facebook Gaming; exclusive streamers like Ninja, Shroud free to leave
- Lone Echo developer Ready at Dawn acquired by Facebook
- Humble’s ‘Fight for Racial Justice’ bundle has raised over $4.3M for charity
- Humble Bundle raises £3.5m for Black Lives Matter: Bundle of more than 50 games and books was bought by 130,000 people
- App Imperialism: The Political Economy of the Canadian App Store (David Nieborg, Chris Young, Daniel Joseph)
- Guinness reinstates Billy Mitchell’s Donkey Kong, Pac-Man records
- Twitch sells CurseForge to Overwolf: Mod management platform will become stand-alone app supported by subscriptions, in-app advertising
- EA pledges tougher stance on toxicity with Positive Play Charter: The publisher has removed more than 3,500 player-created assets featuring “inappropriate and hurtful” language in recent weeks
- EA and the war against toxicity: Chief marketing officer Chris Bruzzo on why Electronic Arts is ramping up its efforts to stamp out hate speech in games
- Report: Microsoft could launch xCloud streaming service as part of Xbox Game Pass
- Xbox Series X difference will be immersion more than visuals, Spencer says: Head of Xbox talks about what will separate Microsoft’s next-gen, says cell phone-like All Access payment program will be “critical” this generation
- Lack of Smart Delivery won’t prevent PS5 owners from playing Cyberpunk 2077
- PlayStation posts bug bounty to track down PS4 and PSN security issues
- EA: “PS5 and Xbox Series X games will feel different, better and more visceral” – Chief Studios Officer Laura Miele on breaking down platform barriers, making games more inclusive, and COVID-19
- EA Sports renews exclusivity deal with La Liga for FIFA franchise: The extended deal includes a “joint commitment” to pushing further into esports
- The Sims 4 records peak high of 10 million monthly active users
- The Sims 4 hit 10m MAUs in the last quarter: EA’s six year old title also added 2.5m new players in the last two months, ahead of its relaunch on Steam
- EA is bringing seven games to the Nintendo Switch in the next 12 months: Including Burnout Paradise: Remastered and Apex Legends
- Evercade’s retro portable made me fall out of love with game cartridges
- Activision follows Crash Bandicoot remakes with the first new Crash game in a decade
- This War of Mine is now recommended reading for Polish high school students
- This War of Mine will be added to school reading list in Poland: “I don’t think we’ve ever encountered a game being officially included in the educational system on a national level as school reading”
- CEX staff report concerns as stores re-open: Employees take issue with inconsistent rules, no quarantine period on trade-ins, no reduction in opening hours
- Facebook prepares to wage war over release of Gaming app on iOS
- Apple repeatedly rejects Facebook Gaming app for App Store inclusion: Platform’s rules ban apps whose main focus is distributing other games
- Apple App Store Has Denied Hosting Facebook’s Standalone Gaming App At Least 5 Times Since February (Report)
- New App Store review processes will let devs challenge guideline violations
- Apple to allow developers to challenge App Store Review Guidelines: New systems will put devs in a stronger position to appeal Apple’s decisions and change problematic App Store rules
- Stadia Share launches in beta with Crayta in July: Creators will be able to generate shareable links directly to their game sessions
- The mystery Pokemon project being developed by Tencent is a cross-platform MOBA
- Cyberpunk 2077 has been delayed again—this time to November
- Cyberpunk 2077 delayed two more months: CD Projekt Red pushes release back to November 19 saying more time needed for balancing and bug fixing
- Population Zero and the dangers of Early Access hype: Three key lessons from a game made by a studio of 60 people, that had a very rough launch
- South Australian government extends 10% rebate to its games industry: The production rebate is the first of its kind to be extended to game developers in Australia
- Shawn Layden: “I would welcome a return to the 12 to 15 hour AAA game” – At Gamelab Live, the former PlayStation exec discussed the industry’s need to rethink the spiralling costs of AAA development
- Call of Duty: Mobile reaches 250m downloads after eight months – Sensor Tower estimates show sharp increase in revenue and downloads since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic
- Report: Digital games market revenue reached $10.2 billion in May (SuperData)
- Digital games spending reaches $10.2b in May as COVID-19 restrictions relax: Grand Theft Auto 5, Civilization 6 see PC spending surges thanks to free Epic Games Store release
- The Last of Us Part 2 smashes sales records | UK Charts: It beats Uncharted 4 to become Sony’s fastest-selling PS4 game
- Examining the indie ins and outs of today’s game distribution platforms
- Epic Games Store hit 61m MAUs during “The Vault” game giveaway: Epic’s Steam competitor reached 13m peak concurrent users during campaign in which Grand Theft Auto 5 was given away for free
- One tricky racing sim: Assetto Corsa Competizione is now on consoles
- ‘Fortnite’ To Test Full-Length Film Screenings With Christopher Nolan’s ‘Inception,’ ‘Batman Begins,’ ‘The Prestige’
- Fortnite is a masterclass in flexibility | Opinion: Epic’s battle royale is a cultural phenomenon due to a will to challenge fundamental ideas about what a game is and what its players want to experience
- FaZe Clan Takes Ownership Stake In Meal Replacement Shake Startup ‘CTRL’
- Cloud Gaming – Opportunities and Risks for eSports
- Igniting the fire of eSports regulatory reform
- Esports as sport
- EA: Playing ‘Star Wars: Squadrons’ in VR Will Be “more like being a real pilot”
- Facebook acquires Ready at Dawn: Oculus parent picks up Lone Echo franchise studio to work on VR content
- Oculus will start offering Quest software regardless of quality
- Oculus is winding down Oculus Go support to instead double down on Quest and Rift
- Oculus Go headset discontinued: VR company will stop adding developers’ apps and updates to Oculus Store this December, pledges to open up Quest distribution options
- Quest-curious VR devs will be able to officially bypass the Oculus Store in 2021
- The digitisation of Pokémon: The Pokémon Company’s Peter Murphy discusses the release of the new Isle of Armor DLC
- How playtesting influenced the last days of Control’s development
- Blog: Game composers and the importance of themes – Part 1
- Don’t Miss: A level designer breaks down The Last of Us 2’s trailer level
- Don’t Miss: The untold story of Lumines: Electronic Symphony
- Don’t Miss: What went right (and wrong) during Deadly Premonition’s development
- Video: High-performance animation transitions in Gears of War
- Video: Using deep learning to combat cheating in Counter-Strike
- Unity’s Learn Premium suite of game dev courses is now available for free
- Unity makes premium learning tools free on a permanent basis: More than 350 hours of online courses are now available to everyone due to ongoing impact of COVID-19
- Minecraft, King’s Quest, and more join the World Video Game Hall of Fame
- U.S. Patent no. 10,325,266: Rewarding classes of purchasers
Jon