DIGITAL

1. Alphabet’s legal chief, David Drummond, comes under the spotlight following new allegations about his personal conduct
2. My Time at Google and After
3. Ex-Google Staffer Says After Split With Chief Legal Officer David Drummond: ‘Hell Does Not Begin To Capture My Life’
4. Google defends tracking cookies—some experts aren’t buying it
5. Google Play app with 100 million downloads executed secret payloads
6. Former Google engineer Levandowski indicted for stealing trade secrets
7. Top MPAA Lawyer, Mastermind Behind Its Plan To Attack The Internet, Arrested On Blackmail And Sexual Assault Charges
8. Facebook likely knew about Cambridge Analytica much earlier than we thought
9. Facebook bans ads from The Epoch Times after huge pro-Trump buy: By hiding its multimillion-dollar dark money ad spend, the organization bypassed Facebook’s political advertising transparency rules.
10. Facebook’s Weird Pointless Auditless Audit Of Political Bias On Its Platform
11. Russian Troll Farm Tries Again To Sue Facebook, Despite Having Its Original Complaint Dismissed On 230 Grounds
12. Ninth Circuit Releases Another Important CDA Section 230 Opinion With Broad Application – Automated Content Recommendation and Notification Tools Do Not Make Social Site the Developer of User Posts 
13. Gutting Section 230 Will Harm The Most Marginalized
14. Decision to Dismiss Suit Seeking to Hold Facebook Liable for Hamas Attacks Affirmed by the Second Circuit
15. Internet Presence Creates Exposure For Discrimination Claims Under California Law 
16. California State Court Tosses Spam Suit
17. Facebook tightens rules for U.S. political advertisers ahead of 2020 election
18. Ninth Circuit Denies En Banc Re-Hearing of Facebook First Amendment Challenge—TCPA Constitutionality Fight Headed to the Supremes? 
19. Guy Sues Facebook For Violating Basically All The Laws, For Shutting Down His Account And For Everything Else Bad Facebook Has Ever Done
20. Tracking online hate groups reveals why they’re resilient to bans
21. Australia plans to block sites hosting extremist content during attacks
22. YouTube disables 210 accounts spreading misinformation about Hong Kong
23. Google shutters more than 200 YouTube channels amid Hong Kong protests
24. YouTube Disables 210 Channels For Spreading Misinformation About Hong Kong Protests
25. YouTube is now labeling videos in Hong Kong uploaded by publishers with government or public funding
26. Amid Objective Content Controversies, Susan Wojcicki Defends “Openness” Of YouTube Platform
27. Google Agrees To Meet With The YouTubers Union, But Says It Won’t “Negotiate Their Demands”
28. The YouTube Radicalization Pipeline Exists, And It’s Driving Users Toward Increasingly Alt-Right Content (Study)
29. YouTube Expands New “Borderline Content”-Hunting Algorithm To The U.K.
30. China (Yes, China) Complains About Attack On Its ‘Free Speech Rights’ After Twitter/Facebook Boot Propaganda Accounts
31. Twitter Says No More Ads From State-Controlled News Media
32. Book publishers sue Audible to stop new speech-to-text feature
33. YouTube Updates Child Safety Policies To Remove Adult-Themed Videos Aimed At Kids
34. YouTube flags robot battle videos as “animal fights”
35. Probably Speech, Maybe Free: Toward a Probabilistic Understanding of Online Expression and Platform Governance – Applying a probablistic statistical framework to First Amendment questions (Mike Ananny)
36. Macron claims deal to end digital service tax fight with the US
37. Why Is MLB Claiming Revenue From Obviously Fair Use Videos On YouTube?
38. PewDiePie reaches 100m subscribers: Long-running YouTuber is the first individual to achieve this milestone
39. PewDiePie Hits 100 Million Subscribers, And Surprisingly, YouTube Pays Him Tribute
40. YouTube Embraces PewDiePie After Two-Year Cold Shoulder, Congratulates Him On 100 Million Subs
41. YouTuber Olly Thorn Raises $100,000+ By Livestreaming Shakespeare Readings 24/7 For 4 Days
42. Netflix-like pirate sites offered more video than the real Netflix, feds say
43. Netflix To Screen Scorsese’s $159 Million ‘The Irishman’ And 9 Other Films In Theaters This Fall
44. Anti-vaxxer livestreamed alleged assault on pro-vaccine lawmaker
45. James Charles Leaks Own Nude Photo Amid AT&T Hack Affecting Several Creators
46. IP Legal Considerations for Live Streaming
47. NY Times Goes Off On Amazon Because Some People Are Publishing Fake George Orwell Books
48. Hundreds of “banned” goods still for sale on Amazon, report finds
49. Amazon Prime Video Signs Distribution Deal With Altice Europe
50. EU data economy: legal, ethical & social issues
51. Agreement Amongst Competition Authorities of the G7 Countries on the Digital Economy
52. California arms traffickers used Snapchat to market illegal weapons: Recent investigations show that in the Bay Area, social media is playing a significant role in firearms sales
53. Snapchat Turns to Sneaker Culture in New ‘Kick Life’ Original Series: Dedicated to exploring what it truly means to be a sneakerhead.
54. TikTok Reportedly Piloting New Ad Product, An Audience Network, In Asia
55. What3words Is A Clever Way Of Communicating Position Very Simply, But Do We Really Want To Create A Monopoly For Location Look-ups?
56. Apple’s $44 Billion Drop Shows Growing Cost of Reliance on China
57. Maybe don’t keep your Apple Card in a leather wallet, Apple warns
58. Spotify matches Apple Music’s 3-month trial
59. Eminem’s music publisher claims Spotify owes millions in royalties for ‘Lose Yourself’ and other songs
60. Audiomack Announces Official Partnership With Warner Music Group: The streaming service’s first deal with a major label will focus on identifying and elevating new talent
61. Lululemon Launches ‘Sweatlife’ Podcast in Partnership With Makers
62. FameBit Founders Raise $2.2 Million For Podcast Advertising Startup ‘Podcorn’
63. NAD Gives Online Review Promotion a Negative Grade
64. Bosch Pulls Social Media Post Over Charges of Sexism
65. Companies Are Not Complying With the Safe Harbor Provision of the DMCA 
66. Section 230 Protects HOA for Publishing Meeting Minutes–Eagle Ridge Townhouse Ass’n v. Snapp (Eric Goldman)
67. Thinking About Restricting Online Reviews? FTC: Think Again
68. Building Buzz: Facebook Dominates In Audience Views for Three Highly-Anticipated TV Shows Coming This Fall
69. Why people keep falling for viral hoaxes
70. Nashville Trump Supporter Fired Over Facebook Post Wins Trial
71. Instagram, Facing Pressure From Facebook, Is Testing Back-To-Back Ads In Stories (Report)
72. Facebook is developing a new standalone Snapchat-like messaging app called ‘Threads’
73. Facebook Is Developing ‘Threads,’ An Instagram-Adjacent Messaging App That Automatically Shares Location, Battery Life Data (Report)
74. What’s not to like about Instagram’s latest test? 
75. Opinion: With This Statement, I Give Notice That Instagram Owns Your Soul – People posting a pseudo-legal declaration may believe they’re in a two-way dialogue with the company. The opposite is true.
76. YouTube TV To Sell Add-Ons For AMC-Owned Acorn TV, Urban Movie Channel
77. Beauty Giant Estée Lauder Now Allots 75% Of Its Digital Marketing Budget To Influencers
78. ASA rules against BetIndex Ltd
79. Vevo announces new ROUNDS urban series
80. Alleged “snake oil” crypto company sues over boos at Black Hat
81. Company Sues Blackhat Because People Mocked Their Sponsored Presentation And Called It Snake Oil
82. Judge savages self-proclaimed bitcoin inventor Craig Wright
83. FTC Permanently Bans Operators of Cryptocurrency MLM 
84. 3 Key Takeaways: Emerging Issues & Trends: Blockchain for In-House Counsel
85. The Circuitous International Travel of Your Data
86. No longer up in the air? Cloud transaction regulations are released
87. Bernie Su’s Livestreamed Interactive Sci-Fi Series ‘Artificial’ Brings Twitch Its First Emmy
88. Protocols, Not Platforms: A Technological Approach to Free Speech
89. The Barlowian Internet: The Faults Of The Internet Are Also Its Opportunity, But It’s Up To Us To Embrace Them

A.I.

1. Singularity: how governments can halt the rise of unfriendly, unstoppable super-AI
2. Do Citizens Have A Right To See The Algorithms Used By Publicly-Funded Software?
3. Why We Should Teach Kids to Call the Robot ‘It’: As a new generation grows up surrounded by artificial intelligence, researchers find education as early as preschool can help avoid confusion about robots’ role
4. Music to regulators’ ears? Antitrust, RPM, and AI
5. Robotic thread is designed to slip through the brain’s blood vessels: Magnetically controlled device could deliver clot-reducing therapies in response to stroke or other brain blockages.
6. 2019: A Bot Odyssey 
7. The rise of CGI influencers: getting real about the virtual within the fashion industry
8. In Memoriam: My Dear Friend and Colleague Ian Kerr (Michael Geist)

COMMUNICATIONS

1. The Cultural Lobby Demands for Internet Taxes and Fees: The Forgotten Piece in Canada’s Lower Wireless and Internet Cost Puzzle (Michael Geist)
2. DOJ’s plan to make Dish the fourth major carrier has a fatal flaw
3. The FCC has no idea how many people don’t have broadband access
4. Insights: You Can’t Always Get The Bandwidth You Want, But You’re Probably Getting The Bandwidth You Need
5. FCC Does Something Right: Proposes Making Suicide Prevention Hotline A Three Digit Number
6. NY Investigates Frontier Communications As US Telcos Slowly Implode
7. When a Broadcast Advertiser Becomes A Political Candidate, What is a Station to Do? 
8. FCC Seeks Comment on Verizon Petition for Declaratory Ruling on County’s Recurring Fees for Small Wireless Facilities in Public-Rights-of-Way
9. Cable industry fights plan to require robocall-detection technology
10. Anti-Robocalling Principles Established by State Attorneys General
11. Anti-Robocall Principles Agreed to by Carriers and State AGs 
12. State attorneys general and carriers announce collaboration to stem illegal robocalls 
13. State attorneys general work with telecom giants to address robocalls
14. US phone carriers make empty, unenforceable promises to fight robocalls
15. FCC Charges Stations With Unlawful Use of Emergency Alerts in Promos and Programming
16. New UK Regime for Telecoms Contract Changes and What To Expect in Ireland 

PRIVACY

1. Limitation Period for Damages Claims under Personal Information Protection Act (Alberta)
2. Millions Of Biometric Records Collected By Companies And Governments Left Exposed On The Web
3. How insurance companies are fueling a rise in ransomware attacks
4. Ninth Circuit Says Warrantless Device Searches At The Border Must Be Limited To Searches For Contraband
5. Ring has more than 400 police “partnerships,” company finally says
6. Unrollme Inc. Settles with FTC Over Allegedly Deceptive Email Practices 
7. FTC Unrolls Settlement Over Privacy Violations
8. Rogue ‘Smart’ Ovens Again Highlight How Dumb Tech Is Often The Smarter Choice
9. Cuckoo for Cookies 
10. Interlopers in Things? IoT devices may be used as backdoors to your network
11. CCPA Privacy FAQs: If a business receives a data subject access request, does it have to provide the specific pieces of personal information that it collected about the consumer?
12. Mitigating Franchisor Exposures for Systemwide GDPR Compliance through Cyber Insurance
13. The Myth of Consumer Security (Bruce Schneier)

CREATIVITY

1. Jeffrey Epstein Used a Bullet and a Dead Cat to Intimidate Vanity Fair Editor Graydon Carter: Report
2. Why ‘Vanity Fair’ Story Left Out Abuse Allegations Against Epstein
3. State Rep Tries To Bring Criminal Harassment Charges Against Journalists For Being Journalists
4. Missouri Attorney General Claims The First Amendment Allows Him To Withhold Public Records
5. SLAPP Threats Don’t Even Need To Become Lawsuits To Be Effective: Cop Gets Columnist Fired For Pointing To Picture Of Him With Racists
6. New Government Documents Reveal That Backpage Was Actively Helping Law Enforcement Track Down Traffickers
7. Court Rejects Plaintiff’s Attempt To Seal His Entire Lawsuit Against A Website That Publishes Court Documents
8. District Court: No negligent misrepresentation claims in smart TV privacy suit 
9. Don’t Let The Bret Stephens Bite: NY Times’ Hypocritical ‘Free Speech’ Columnist Flips Out After Being Called A Bedbug
10. Rutgers Forces LA High School To Change Logos Due To Its ‘R’ Trademark
11. The Man With the Tiger (and Snake) Tattoo Redux
12. Canadian Brewery Changes Name Of Brew Due To Peanut Butter Company Bully That Doesn’t Ship In Canada
13. The Patent And Trademark Office Is Apparently Branching Out Into The Immigration Enforcement Business
14. Never again advertising with women who do not know how to park cars and men who are incapable of raising children?
15. 4 lessons from the ASA’s first bans on sexist ads 
16. The Estate of Stanley Kauffmann v. Rochester Institute of Technology
17. New York State Bans Floating Digital and Flashing Billboards
18. Planning to Use Digitally Altered Photos of Your Competitor’s Product in Your Advertising?

GAMES

1. Blizzard sues over “brazen” Warcraft clone: World of Warcraft maker taking InstantFuns to court due to Glorious Saga, saying the game’s content “is almost entirely copied”
2. New allegations of sexual assault surface against established game devs
3. Developers sound off after abuse accusations: People across the industry offer support to victims, perspective and calls to action for the rest of their peers
4. Tetrageddon Games developer warns women about Skyrim composer: Nathalie Lawhead says Jeremy Soule raped them, took advantage of an industry newcomer’s situation
5. More developers come forward with accounts of emotional abuse and sexual assault: Nathalie Lawhead’s account prompts Zoë Quinn, Adelaide Gardner, more to speak out about their experiences in the industry
6. Night in the Woods devs cut ties with Alec Holowka after abuse allegations
7. Riot Games settles gender-discrimination class action lawsuit 
8. Riot Games reaches preliminary settlement in class action lawsuit over gender discrimination: “Gender discrimination (in pay or promotion), sexual harassment, and retaliation are not systemic issues at Riot”
9. Ion Fury retains controversial in-game content after all: Facial cleanser name is in, slur is out, company still donating to Trevor Project and mandating sensitivity training
10. Sony clamps down on Vita hacking: Despite console’s slow death, Sony moves to protect its interests in Japan with anti-hacking firmware update
11. Mixer streamers can now earn cash for recommending Xbox Game Pass
12. Six men arrested over alleged Counter-Strike match fixing: Australian police say offences could lead to up to ten years in prison
13. Better with the cloud? Stadia gets the “fastest” Football Manager sims
14. Another Bad PR Sign: Indie Developer Shuns Epic Store, Saying ‘My Word Means Something’
15. Darq developer offers Epic revenue to charity if given non-exclusivity: Unfold Games offers to let the gaming community choose which organisation would receive donations
16. Australian police make arrests as part of investigation into esports match fixing
17. Twitch’s cuts of payments to esports teams is benefiting YouTube
18. OG wins Dota 2’s International for second straight year: Valve’s premiere esports competitions sees back-to-back champs for the first time
19. Benjamin ‘DrLupo’ Lupo Inks Multi-Year Equity Deal With Esports Conglomerate ReKTGlobal
20. Ninja defamed?
21. Accessibility Unlocked offers support to disabled developers in Australia and New Zealand: New group also wants to raise more awareness about accessibility issues for players
22. Restoring trust in Star Wars Battlefront II: Design director Dennis Brännvall reflects on the fallout from the loot box controversy, and how DICE has won back the community
23. DICE cancels new Battlefield V multiplayer mode to focus on eradicating bugs
24. DICE cancels Battlefield V competitive mode to focus on bug fixes: Battlefield still bug crushing nine months after release
25. Celebrity Entertainer Sues Over Video Game Avatar 
26. The joyful representation of The Sims: EA Maxis senior producer Michael Duke on creating studio longevity, improving representation, and building a lasting franchise
27. Modified DayZ receives MA15+ rating in Australia: Bohemia Interactive’s changes satisfy the Australian Classification Board
28. Video Game Age Ratings in Online Retail: Legal Requirements for Merchants
29. Emulator aims to keep Flash games alive and kicking after official support ends
30. New publisher Modern Wolf commits to “ethical development practices”: UK-based indie publisher has a zero tolerance policy on crunch, will champion developers from underrepresented regions
31. Nintendo continues marginal improvements to ethical mineral sourcing: Switch maker says it’s “putting smiles on the faces of our supply chain,” but efforts to ensure it isn’t funding human rights abuses far from complete
32. Hands-on: The Switch Lite is a smaller, more comfortable handheld
33. Nintendo removes credit card payment option from Wii U, 3DS eShop in EU and UK
34. Nintendo Wii U, 3DS eShops to stop accepting credit cards in UK, EU: Credit card purchases can still be made through Nintendo accounts
35. The future for platform holders is cooperation, not just competition | Opinion: Companies like Sony and Microsoft will always seek a competitive advantage, but the clear lines of the console wars are all but gone
36. Microsoft’s Age of Empires studio will oversee the IP rather than develop games 
37. Microsoft’s Age of Empires studio won’t be developing games: Shannon Loftis’ newly-created studio is focused on oversight of teams like Forgotten Empires, Relic
38. Bungie – “We need to dispel the notion Activision was some prohibitive overlord”: Destiny 2 developer discusses whether the game’s big changes this year were related to splitting from its original publisher
39. Google Play Store design refresh aims to boost game discoverability
40. Game stores: you need more real-time charts!
41. Play Ventures raises $40 million to fuel game-focused VC fund
42. Playtika acquires Best Fiends developer-publisher Seriously
43. Playtika acquires Best Fiends developer Seriously: Seriously’s “mobile first” entertainment strategy drove it to $69m revenue last year
44. Grand Theft Auto V is back on top in the EMEAA charts: The drought of major new releases leaves the door open for Rockstar once again
45. UK Charts: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe takes No. 1 (but it should be Minecraft, again) – For second week running, listing anomaly denies Minecraft top spot, despite being best-selling game for the week
46. ISFE: EU games industry worth over €21bn – Consoles account for 47% of revenue in France, Germany, Spain, and UK
47. MatPat’s Alternate Reality Game ‘The Theorist Gateway’ Has Amassed 400,000 Unique Players
48. Scopely announces Barcelona and Dublin expansion: Just two years since opening Barcelona office, mobile dev plans to triple its presence in the city
49. Razer and Tencent partner to further cloud gaming ambitions
50. Tencent partners with Razer for cloud gaming hardware, overseas expansion: Collaboration aims to have gaming hardware compatible with Tencent Cloud launched by year’s end
51. Play Ventures closes first funding round at $40m: Led by Rovio investment, VC fund raises $10m more than initial targets
52. Hatch and Vodafone partner to bring 5G mobile game streaming to Germany
53. Valve tweaks bug bounty program after ‘mistakenly’ turning away researchers
54. Valve says turning away researcher reporting Steam vulnerability was a mistake
55. Steam no longer allowing payments in Argentinian pesos: Storefront error cites “government laws,” but currency depreciation may be at the heart of payment block
56. Ubisoft exec claims Valve needs to modify Steam’s ‘unrealistic’ business model
57. Ubisoft exec criticises Steam’s “unrealistic” business model: “It doesn’t reflect where the world is today in terms of game distribution,” says VP of partnerships and revenue
58. “I spent 300 days on the road last year meeting developers”: Meet Kowloon Nights, the games fund that wants its partners to leave it behind
59. LCG Entertainment relaunches Telltale Games brand: New owners are “working very hard” to avoid mistakes of previous management
60. Telltale Games, the studio behind The Walking Dead, has been reanimated
61. Like a zombie, the Telltale brand is coming back from the dead
62. Warner Bros. Interactive to Open San Diego Studio Focused on Mobile Games
63. Warner Bros. forms new free-to-play mobile studio in San Diego
64. Warner Bros opens new mobile studio in San Diego: Branch will be led by Boston studio boss Tom Casey and specialise in free-to-play games
65. Using UI as a means to tell a story, convey emotion, and create personality
66. Video: A soft skills survival guide for game developers
67. Video: The three phases of designing Episode’s interactive fiction
68. Video: Inside the transmedia storytelling of Final Fantasy XV
69. Fumito Ueda on weaving empathy into victory in Shadow of the Colossus
70. 20 years after Seaman, Saito reflects on creativity and making new, strange things
71. World of Warcraft is hearthing back home again with Classic
72. Ancestors – The Humankind Odyssey: Critical Consensus – Patrice Désilets’ Panache Digital leaves the critics intrigued and ultimately frustrated with a unique game that refuses to hold the player’s hand
73. Don’t Miss: Taking the sting out of failure in Supergiant’sPyre
74. Don’t Miss: The story behind Remedy’s viral dog mocap star
75. Don’t Miss: How Remedy rewrote its engine tech to makeAlan Wake
76. Don’t Miss: Creating the free-flowing text conversations inMr. Robot:1.51exfiltrati0n
77. How we balanced our game for beginners and for pros
78. Blending comedy with capitalism in The Outer Worlds: Obsidian’s senior designer Brian Heins also discusses why tougher moral choices are more interesting
79. Bhad Bhabie Joyriding Game ‘Ride or Die!’ Geared Around Stealing Cars, Outrunning Cops
80. Bhad Bhabie Pacts With BBTV Interactive On Mobile Car Game ‘Ride Or Die!’
81. Blog: Creating Merchant of the Skies from announcement to Early Access launch
82. Blog: A primer on sound design for video games
83. Blog: Depiction of war in games – can you do better?
84. Blog: Second looks at snowballing
85. Creating a narrative focused mission design document: A Last of Us example
86. ‘Why all of our games look like crap’: One dev’s lessons in art style
87. Review: Control is Remedy’s best game yet—and a ray tracing masterpiece
88. C’mon and SLAM: How Oculus tackled portable, 6DOF tracking for the Quest
89. Oculus’ former head of mobile VR has left Facebook
90. Oculus VR loses its head of mobile: Max Cohen left this month, after leading Gear VR, Oculus Go, and starting push toward Oculus Quest
91. Indie Dev Experiment Brings Google Lens to VR, Showing Real-time Text Translation
92. VRGO Mini is Small Form Factor VR Locomotion Peripheral, Kickstarter Now Live
93. Telling Lies: Critical Consensus: Her Story creator Sam Barlow delivers critically acclaimed follow-up, but Telling Lies still lives in the shadow of its predecessor
94. PlayStation Productions joins the Uncharted movie as another director exits
95. PlayStation Productions is now working on the Uncharted movie: Sony’s new unit joins the producing team after film project loses yet another director
96. Metro 2033 movie in the works: Gazprom Media producing a feature film based on the novel that spawned 4A Games’ post-apocalyptic shooter franchise
97. Staffsource: Ars staffers reminisce on the games that made them gamers
98. The ten best console racing games of all time
99. Our favorite gaming studios, expos, museum exhibits—in a photo blowout
100. First International Gaming Summit on Mental Health set for October
101. Gamescom: Opening Night Live attracts 500,000 viewers – Another record-breaking year for Gamescom is topped off by newfound digital engagement of 100 million video views
102. U.S. Patent no. 9,656,167: Pre-play and post-play video game character presentation and equipping 

Jon

DIGITAL

1. White House proposal would have FCC and FTC police alleged social media censorship
2. White House Once Again Circulating A Draft Executive Order On Social Media Bias
3. Be Careful What You Wish For In Asking Silicon Valley To Police Speech Online
4. Four Democratic Candidates Call on Walmart to Stop Selling Guns
5. TikTok is fuelling India’s deadly hate speech epidemic: In small-town India, TikTok videos are a new hate speech minefield. Thousands of videos are being removed as users exploit the wild growth of the social network
6. New Report Further Clarifies Foxconn’s Wisconsin Deal Was An Unsustainable Joke
7. Fox News Commentator Calls For A ‘Backlash’ Against Big Tech… Because Wikileaks Released His Phone Number
8. UK Moves To Give Regulators Power To Fine Internet Companies 5% Of Revenue If They Can’t Wave A Magic Wand And Make Bad Content Disappear
9. If You Lament The State Of Politics Today, Lament The Loss Of Aereo
10. Republicans suspend Twitter ad spending after boneheaded video takedown
11. Twitter backs down, allows McConnell to post video of protestor threats
12. What’s in a Tweet? Employer does not have to pay Settlement Funds After Grievor takes to Twitter
13. Twitter’s latest test lets users subscribe to a tweet’s replies
14. Has Twitter Declared You Dead?
15. Giant Copyright Troll, Malibu Media, Sued By Investors
16. Elsevier Says It’s Infringing To Link To Sci-Hub; Hypocrite Elsevier Links To Sci-Hub All The Time
17. Elsevier Tries To Lie About University Of California’s Contract Negotiation; UC Shows Its Receipts
18. Top University Of California Scientists Tell Elsevier They’ll No Longer Work On Elsevier Journals
19. Amazon workers in Minnesota walk off the job over parking issues
20. Schoolchildren in China work overnight to produce Amazon Alexa devices: Leaked documents show children as young as 16 recruited by Amazon supplier Foxconn work gruelling and illegal hours
21. Senators demand Amazon explain how junk winds up in “Choice” listings
22. Amazon says its facial recognition can now identify fear
23. Amazon unveils first batch of casting for The Wheel of Timeadaptation
24. ESRP Rebukes Yoga Company for Stretching the Truth About Influencers
25. Russian State Watchdog Tells YouTube To Stop Sending Push Notifications About Mass Protests
26. New Study Demonstrates YouTube’s Role In Far-Right Radicalization, Spread Of Conspiracies In Brazil
27. ‘We can’t reach the women who need us’: the LGBT YouTubers suing the tech giant for discrimination
28. YouTube should stop recommending garbage videos to users
29. Ex-Googler Recently Held Up As A ‘Whistleblower’ And ‘Proof’ Of Anti-Conservative Bias At Google, Actually Supported Richard Spencer, Racist Skinheads
30. Dennis Prager Peddles Complete Nonsense About ‘Google Censorship’ In The WSJ
31. LGBTQ YouTubers Hit Google With Lawsuit For Alleged Discrimination: Eight video creators say that have been unfairly targeted and demonetized by YouTube.
32. LGBTQ YouTubers are suing YouTube over alleged discrimination: Including suppressing video recommendations and demonetization
33. YouTube Unequally Applies Policies, Giving Favor To Creators Who Bring In Big View Counts, Content Moderators Say
34. YouTube lets biggest stars off the hook for breaking rules, moderators say
35. YouTube Testing Program That Lets Certain Demonetized Channels File Immediate Appeals Via YouTube Videos
36. LAPD Investigating YouTuber Brooke Houts For Hitting Her Dog On Camera
37. In Wake Of Brooke Houts Incident, PETA Asks Platforms To Enact Zero-Tolerance Animal Abuse Policy
38. YouTube Rolls Out ‘Super Chat’ Feature To 19 Additional Countries
39. Tech firms face fines for harmful videos from regulator Ofcom
40. Half Of Teens Turn To YouTube For News, Preferring Influencers Over Traditional News Organizations (Study)
41. YouTube Debuts First Shoppable AR Ad With Beauty Vlogger Roxette Arisa And MAC Cosmetics
42. YouTube tests letting ad bans be appealed by filming a YouTube video: Making it easier for creators to earn money
43. New Jersey Attorney Ethics Opinion Blesses Competitive Keyword Advertising (…or Does It?) (Eric Goldman)
44. Apple locks new iPhone batteries to prevent third-party repair, report says
45. The Apple Card is launching soon – here’s how to apply for one directly from your iPhone
46. Goldman Sachs, bank of the rich and powerful, is dipping into subprime lending with Apple Card
47. Apple’s new credit card comes with forced arbitration—here’s how to opt out
48. Apple Music For Artists Launches, Rivalling Spotify’s Analytics Tools
49. Apple TV+ Gives First Glimpse At Billion-Dollar Originals Slate With ‘Morning Show’ Teaser, Starring Jennifer Aniston
50. FAA Bans Recalled MacBook Pros From Flights
51. FAA tells airlines MacBook Pros with defective batteries can’t fly
52. Microsoft cuts Office 2019 one-time licenses through Home Use Program
53. Spotify’s pitch to podcasters: valuable listener data: Spotify for Podcasters comes out of beta today
54. Facebook Shielded by CDA Immunity against Federal Claims for Allowing Use of Its Platform by Terrorists 
55. Biometric Class Action Against Facebook Greenlit by Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
56. Finding Article III Standing, Ninth Circuit Declines to Do an About-Face in Illinois Biometric Privacy Class Action against Facebook 
57. Ninth Circuit finds Article III standing in case alleging Facebook violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act
58. Ninth Circuit Allows Class Action Challenging Facebook’s Facial Recognition Technology Under Illinois BIPA
59. Senate Members Ask DOJ to Take Action as Number of Website Accessibility Lawsuits Continues to Rise
60. Facebook Tests Selling Subscriptions To Tastemade Plus, CollegeHumor’s Dropout, BritBox
61. In strategy shift, Facebook seeks to pay millions to license news
62. Facebook wants to be relevant in news again, and it’s willing to pay millions to bring back publishers: The company is building a new news effort
63. Instagram Is Rolling Out The Ability To Natively Pre-Schedule Grid Posts, IGTV Videos
64. Snapchat to Raise $1 Billion to Further Build Content, Gaming, and AR
65. Snapchat Decides to Raise $1bn for Filters, Content, Acquisitions: The company owes its financial escalation to some of its AR lenses like the baby lens and gender-change filters which had gone viral.
66. Snap announces Spectacles 3 with an updated design and a second HD camera: They’re $380 and go on sale in November
67. Snap Unveils Third Generation Of $380 Spectacles, With Two Cameras To Create AR Effects
68. Revealed: how Monsanto’s ‘intelligence center’ targeted journalists and activists – Internal documents show how the company worked to discredit critics and investigated singer Neil Young
69. Google Maps AR Navigation comes to iPhones and Android devices
70. Owners of defective 2016 Google Pixels can now claim up to $500
71. Google is giving students three months of YouTube Premium for free: Or YouTube Music Premium, which is a less good deal
72. Students Can Now Snag Three Free Months Of YouTube Premium And YouTube Music
73. YouTube Rolls Out ‘Super Chat’ Feature To 19 Additional Countries
74. Google, Cookies, and Cy-Pres-Only Settlements 
75. Now you can use Android phones, rather than passwords, to log in to Google*
76. Vice Appoints Former Munchies Exec Cliff Gulibert To Oversee All Digital Video Production
77. Liza Koshy Gets Glam As Beauty Brand C’est Moi’s Very First Ambassador
78. U.K. Vlogger Marina Joyce Found Safe By Police After Going Missing For 10 Days
79. U.S. Navy Taps Kevin ‘VSauce2’ Lieber, Jake Koehler, William Osman For Inaugural Influencer Campaign
80. Social Good Creators: Ashley Villa Is Changing The World For Female Entrepreneurs
81. Did a trainee social worker’s offensive social media postings render him unfit to practice?
82. Police say there is no danger after Twitch HQ threatened
83. Twitch launches beta for all-in-one streaming app Twitch Studio
84. Twitch has released its own broadcasting software: This is the company’s first broadcast offering
85. Netflix Signs Reported $300 Million Overall Film, TV Deal With ‘Game Of Thrones’ Creators
86. Game of Thrones creators sign $200 million Netflix deal to make exclusive shows and films: They’re also still helming Star Wars films for Disney
87. HBO Max Adds Millennial Comedy to Lineup of Originals
88. HBO Orders Female-Led Skateboarding Comedy From Crystal Moselle, Lesley Arfin
89. HBO Is About to Spend $1.5 Billion on…Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men?: Fledgling streamer casting a wide sitcom net—but will this leave it unable to secure another big hit, as Seinfeld invites a bidding war?
90. Blogger says she got an injunction for a post published five days earlier
91. Uber’s no-good, terrible-rotten bad Q2 loses more than $5 billion
92. Uber, losing billions, freezes engineering hires
93. At Defense Distributed, few glimpses of life after Cody Wilson: Court cases and social media spats continue over 3D-printed guns.
94. What a future without social media ‘likes’ could mean for the industry
95. The Hidden Risks Associated with Social Media Background Checks 
96. Companies Are Not Complying With the Safe Harbor Provision of the DMCA 
97. Regulation of Digital Platforms in Australia and UK
98. The Endless, Invisible Persuasion Tactics of the Internet: Online shopping turns your brain against you, but you can fight back.
99. UK consumers switch to online streaming en masse
100. Cody Wilson pleads guilty to lesser charge, will register as sex offender
101. NY Times Publishes A Second, Blatantly Incorrect, Trashing Of Section 230, A Day After Its First Incorrect Article
102. Cyber restraints of trade in the new era of digital markets 
103. To Cajole to Threaten: How Best to Curb Online Counterfeiting 
104. Transferring or cancelling a domain in USA
105. EU Court Determines Responsibility for Social Plug-ins on Website
106. Embedded EthiCS: Integrating Ethics Across CS Education
107. The guy behind the ‘Storm Area 51’ Facebook event is hosting an alien-themed festival
108. Geeky license plate earns hacker $12,000 in parking tickets

A.I.

1. AI researchers have a plan to pay patients for data
2. Artificial Intelligence and Bias: Social Impacts of a Technical Solution
3. Why AI needs more social workers, with Columbia University’s Desmond Patton
4. Video: Using AI to build a better future for game art production
5. All watched over by machines of loving grace: A critical look at smart contracts (Andres Guadamuz)
6. Putin’s robo-nauts prepare for lift-off: Russia’s space agency releases eerie footage of human-like android Fedor as he gets ready to join the International Space Station crew next week
7. A Tesla owner implanted the RFID chip from her Model 3’s keycard into her arm: Keyless entry
8. Elon Musk’s Neuralink: Both an evolution and a plan for radical change
9. Law in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
10. Intellectual Property and Artificial Intelligence in the UK
11. Breaking down the rich and complex AI of Hitman

COMMUNICATIONS

1. CRTC Establishes New Internet Code For Consumers
2. CRTC’s latest report shows price decline in communications services
3. CBC News: High cost of internet access leaving low-income families behind, report finds
4. Competition Bureau Study on the Broadband Industry Paints a “Largely Positive Picture”
5. It’s Back: The Netflix Tax Debate Returns for the 2019 Election (Michael Geist)
6. Postmedia Announces Refinancing Transaction
7. AT&T Employees Took Bribes To Plant Malware On Company’s Network
8. CBS and Viacom merger: ‘It’s not a surprise, but it is a big deal’
9. Courts Again Shoot Down FCC For Ignoring The Law, Making Up Stuff
10. Ajit Pai loses another court case as judges overturn 5G deregulation 
11. FCC Opens the 2.5 GHz Band for 5G Wireless Services
12. Trump admin reportedly drafting order to counter social media “bias”: The proposal would reportedly put the onus of content regulation on the FCC.
13. Texas AG Joins Lawsuit Against T-Mobile, Showing Bipartisan Opposition To Mindless M&As
14. Frontier network outages get worse in NY, triggering state investigation
15. Verizon: 5G speeds on low-spectrum bands will be more like “good 4G”
16. Verizon demands $880 from rural library for just 0.44GB of roaming data
17. Comcast Wireless Joins Verizon In Charging You More For HD Video
18. Verizon selling Tumblr to WordPress.com owner, but porn ban won’t go away
19. Verizon Selling Tumblr to Company That Owns WordPress
20. With Tumblr Sale, Verizon Continues To Stumble In Bungled Pivot Away From Telecom
21. Verizon sues city to avoid paying 5G fees, says the FCC has its back 
22. Utility Provider Settles Call Recording Lawsuit for $3.7 Million 
23. Trump Administration Issues Interim Rule Banning Agencies’ Procurement of Telecom Equipment and Services from Huawei, ZTE and Other Designated Chinese Companies 
24. Federal Government Further Banned from Using Huawei 
25. Huawei announces its first operating system, HarmonyOS 
26. Ofcom Consultation on the protection of TV and radio programme participants

PRIVACY

1. Class Action Lawsuit Hopes To Hold GitHub Responsible For Hosting Data From Capital One Breach
2. Whitney Cummings shares NSFW pic on Twitter after ‘foolish dorks’ attempt to extort her
3. Airline tracks Twitter user’s real-world ID, publishes her flight number: Southwest Airlines finally relents, after first insisting flight numbers aren’t PII.
4. Ring Is Teaching Cops How To Obtain Doorbell Camera Footage Without A Warrant
5. California Judges Nuke Two More SFPD Warrants Used To Search A Journalist’s Home And Office
6. Unsealed Warrants Show SFPD Officer Told Judges He Was Targeting A Journalist, But Judges Approved Them Anyway
7. Personal Email Management Service Settles FTC Charges over Allegedly Deceptive Statements to Consumers over Its Access and Use of Subscribers’ Email Accounts 
8. Makers of Head Impact Sensors Avoid FTC Enforcement Headache
9. Warren: FTC’s $125 cash option in Equifax settlement “misled” customers
10. I Tried Hiding From Silicon Valley in a Pile of Privacy Gadgets: Avoiding digital snoops takes more than throwing money at the problem, but that part can be really fun.
11. Google “Street View” Wiretap Allegations Settled for a “Modest” $13 Million 
12. Microsoft contractors hear phone sex and more while reviewing Cortana, Skype audio
13. They Grow Up So Fast These Days: Facial Recognition Tech Edition
14. Consumer Reports Finds Numerous Home Routers Lack Even Basic Security Protections
15. Found: World-readable database used to secure buildings around the globe
16. These companies claim to provide “fair-trade” data work. Do they?: Companies like CloudFactory, iMerit, and Samasource promise data sets provided by workers who are well paid and cared for. It’s not an easy business.
17. You’ve Been Hacked: Board Cybersecurity Liability and Risk Management
18. Woman accused of Capital One hack had stolen data from 30 companies, authorities say
19. Hack in the box: Hacking into companies with “warshipping”
20. Will technology return shame to our society?
21. Enforcement under the GDPR – the new paradigm
22. Indian Counseling Company Files Criminal Complaint Against Blogger Who Informed It About A Sensitive Data Leak
23. Hacker site’s incriminating database published online by rival group

CREATIVITY

1. A long and winding road: Canada nears the end of an ambitious project to modernize patent, trademark and industrial design laws
2. Blacklock’s Tendentious and Tenacious Litany of Litigation – the Latest (Lack of) Developments (Howard Knopf)
3. Judge Dismisses Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Defamation Lawsuit Against The New York Times
4. Combating Hate Speech Through Counterspeech
5. Universal pulls The Huntafter most recent deadly mass shootings [Updated]
6. Appeals Court Says Banana Costume Is Infringing
7. City of Phanatic Love: Phillies Face Lawsuit Over Beloved Mascot
8. Chequered flag to Ferrari: Competitors back to the drawing boards after Ferrari copyright ruling 
9. Reaping What They Sowed: Recording Industry Now Quite Upset About Copyright Run Amok
10. DC Opposes Trademark Application For ‘Algorithmic Justice League’ For Some Reason
11. Brewery In Wales Changes Name Of 2 Beers After Fight With Hugo Boss
12. North Carolina Court Says Retaliatory Arrests Over Protected Speech Are Cool And Legal
13. NAAG Asks VOD Providers to Shield Kids From Tobacco Imagery
14. Oops: Japan Anti-Piracy Proposals Probably Violate Its Constitution
15. Keep Shining Upon Us, Our Guiding Star – Prof. (Dr.) Shamnad Basheer (1976 – 2019)
16. IP rights in art in United Kingdom – England & Wales (England & Wales)
17. IP Top 10 July: Copyright Infringement is a… Dark Horse

GAMES

1. Ubisoft loses Rocksmith patent suit: Judge dismisses publisher’s claim against music tutorial software maker Yousician with prejudice
2. Twitter Data Shows Major Increase in Gaming Engagement on Platform 
3. US tariffs on video game consoles imported from China delayed to December
4. US delays tariff on game consoles: Trump says extra tax on some electronic products made in China won’t go into effect until December 15 to lessen impact on holiday shopping
5. Game revenues rise as Tencent enjoys end of China’s approvals freeze: Chinese publisher released ten mobile games in Q2 2019, compared to just one last year
6. Tencent doubling down on season passes as mobile titles drive revenue
7. Trump’s video game scapegoating feels downright nostalgic | Opinion: In an era when the industry’s real problems are internal and divisive, a flashback to being united against an external foe feels deceptively good
8. Walmart pulls video game ads — but not guns — after El Paso shooting
9. Walmart tells staff to pull violent game ads and demos, but guns still for sale
10. Walmart Reportedly Removing Violent Game Ads, Will Still Sell Guns: Despite the lack of evidence video games cause violence.
11. Walmart, ESPN pull violent game marketing following shootings
12. Walmart taking down violent video game demos, displays: Signs, displays containing “violent images or aggressive behavior” removed in wake of shootings; retailer still sells guns
13. ESPN, ABC delay Apex Legends tournament broadcast in wake of shootings
14. ESPN, ABC pull Apex Legends tournament show in wake of mass shootings: Broadcasters say decision was made “out of respect for the victims”
15. You’re Not Helping: ESPN Delays ‘Apex Legends’ Broadcast After 2 Mass Shootings
16. Strauss Zelnick says if violent games caused gun violence, he wouldn’t sell them – Take-Two CEO: “I wouldn’t choose to market substances that would cause people to get sick”
17. G2A responds to Unknown Worlds’ accusations, calling them slander
18. G2A fudges own history in response to developer complaint: Developer retracts accusations against marketplace, but remains frustrated with key reseller
19. Subnautica dev demands G2A pay $300,000 to cover lost chargebacks: Studio calls for controversial marketplace to honour its offer of 10x compensation
20. Twitch links to ‘porn account’, other Fortnite streamers via Ninja’s abandoned channel
21. Twitch backtracks after accidentally showing porn on Ninja’s old page
22. Twitch CEO apologizes after lengthy porn stream promoted on Ninja’s old page
23. Twitch CEO Apologizes To Ninja After His Defunct Account Was Used To Promote A Porn Stream
24. Ninja’s New Cross-Platform Video Strategy Since Leaving Twitch For Mixer
25. Insights: With Ninja’s Nifty Mixer Move, Live Streaming Leaps To Its Next Era
26. Newzoo: Fans watched 81.8m hours of the Fortnite World Cup across Twitch, YouTube – Official YouTube channel beat out official Twitch channel for viewership hours during finals
27. $3 million Fortnite winner—and his parents—become latest swatting targets
28. UTA Signs 21-Year-Old Twitch Newcomer BrookeAB
29. eFootball transfers: Juve and Man U snub FIFA to sign for PES 
30. UMG Media to acquire esports event company, Activate Entertainment
31. Statespace raises $2.5 million for esports training platform: Seed round was led by First Mark Capital, with participation from Expa, Lux Capital and WndrCo
32. Industry veterans launch payment platform for esport tournament winnings: “We want to help publishers…be more efficient by removing their hands-on time expediting the payments,” says Prize Payments CEO
33. Riot’s League Championship Series announces partnership with Honda
34. Epic is being sued over a security issue that left Fortniteplayer data exposed
35. Epic Games hit with class action suit over Fortnite security breach
36. Australian ratings board working to completely ban DayZfor promoting cannabis
37. DayZ refused classification in Australia after Five Star Games submission: Five Star Games has confirmed it was denied classification for DayZ’s retail release in Australia — the game is still available digitally
38. Bohemia Interactive will modify all versions of DayZ to avoid Australia ban
39. DayZ will be modified worldwide to lift Australian ban: Bohemia Interactive confirms it will be tweaking zombie hit to avoid isolating Australian players
40. FTC Gathers Video Game Industry to Talk Loot Boxes 
41. Loot boxes a matter of “life or death,” says researcher: Academics discuss their studies and concerns surrounding game monetization at FTC workshop
42. Epic Games commits to loot box transparency across portfolio: THQ Nordic also weighs in on ESA pledges: “We do not plan to implement casino-styled mechanics in our games”
43. Animoca Brands acquires digital collectibles marketplace Quidd for $5 million
44. Loots details new live streaming platform for the “TikTok generation”: Monetisation firm says its Twitch rival will open up new commercial opportunities for younger streamers
45. Valve turns to hands-on moderation to solve Steam Workshop woes
46. Devs are now required to contact Valve for release date changes on Steam
47. Valve addresses release date exploit for Steam’s Popular Upcoming List
48. Valve now requires moderator approval for some Steam Workshop submissions
49. THQ Nordic confirms new Saints Row title after strong Q1: The publisher also said that development of Dead Island 2 is now being led by Dambuster Studios
50. THQ Nordic acquires Darksiders dev Gunfire and racing studio Milestone
51. THQ Nordic buys Milestone Interactive for €44.9m in cash: Acquisition of Italian racing studio could almost double in value based on earnouts
52. THQ Nordic acquires Darksiders developer Gunfire Games: Value of the deal for Gunfire’s 63 staff and IP catalogue was not disclosed
53. THQ Nordic strengthens portfolio with Goodbye Kansas Game Invest acquisition: Goodbye Kansas Game Invest has five investments in early stage games companies, deal includes royalty rights to Biomutant
54. Managing the evolving state of Destiny 2: ‘the game cannot grow infinitely forever’
55. Bungie: Working on Destiny 2 “starting to wear people down” – Working practices for Annual Pass will be changed in third year to break out of “unsustainable development cycle”
56. Report: Riot Games workforce divided on diversity and inclusion push
57. One year later, Riot leadership, employees, say things are improving: Chief diversity officer Angela Roseboro reflects on a year of change as current and recent employees confirm efforts
58. Ustwo: Giving creativity the attention it deserves – Ustwo Games’ CCO and CEO discuss how to not lose creative people to business meetings
59. 2K confirms sending private investigators to Borderlands streamer’s house: A rep said the company has been investigating SupMatto for nearly a year.
60. Take-Two investigating streamer over Borderlands 3 leaks: Publisher says Twitch and YouTube user SupMatto has “a history of profiting from infringing our copyright”
61. Kawhi Leonard dunking on the Raptors was the only screen time they got in new NBA 2K trailer
62. Sharkmob on balancing social responsibility against revenue: “It’s not only about taking social responsibility, it’s also about the team being proud of what they make,” says CEO
63. Infinity Ward says Modern Warfare isn’t political, debates how it ever could be: Game’s directors stress that upcoming Call of Duty reboot focuses on “thematic things” not current politics
64. Activision Blizzard’s Q2 net revenue falls year-over-year to $1.4 billion
65. Activision Blizzard sees sagging sales, profit, engagement
66. Key metrics dip for publisher in second quarter as it prioritizes investments it expects to pay off in back half of the year
67. Activision Blizzard’s net-revenue down year-over-year in Q2 2019
68. Imperator: Rome plus multiple game expansions lift Paradox’s Q2 – Swedish publisher posts record Q2 revenues as long-term investments begin to pay off
69. Swedish studio Isbit Games shuts down after running out of funds
70. Isbit Games shut down: Former CEO Ben Cousins confirms Zlatan Legends studio closed its doors in June after running out of money
71. Fig to pay Wasteland 3, Psychonauts 2 investors lump sum following Microsoft purchase
72. Xbox head: Cloud gaming is inevitable but ‘years and years’ away from mainstream
73. Multi-platform games from Xbox-owned studios must ‘make sense for the franchise’
74. Xbox considers multi-platform options for some first-party studios
75. Microsoft: Cloud gaming is “inevitable” but “years” from mainstream
76. Mojang cancels Minecraft’s big graphics overhaul after performance struggles
77. Mojang ends development on Minecraft’s Super Duper Graphics Pack: Feature announced at E3 2017 “proved too technically demanding to implement as planned”
78. After two years of delays, Minecraft’s visual upgrade has been canceled
79. Singularity 6 secures $16.5 million to fund tech and game development
80. Square Enix shutting down Star Ocean: Anamnesis in the West after little over a year
81. Report: Parent company of publisher Annapurna Interactive is exploring bankruptcy 
82. Singularity 6 lands $16.5m investment: Former Riot devs’ social simulation studio scores Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz
83. Industry veterans launch hyper casual development outfit JaffaJam: New Zealand-based studio looks to “perfect the way free-to-play games are made and monetised”
84. Madden 20 just about squeezes into EMEAA Charts’ Top 10: Yes, Grand Theft Auto V is still No.1
85. EA SPORTS Madden NFL 20 Scores Early With Biggest Ever Digital Launch in Its First Week on Sale
86. FIFA 19 and New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe are best-selling games in Europe this year: Physical sales data paints uniform picture of European consumers
87. UK spent £1.6bn on video games in the first half of 2019
88. NetEase revenue and profit up in Q2 following strong international performance: “We will continue exploring overseas market opportunities and growing our games business on a global scale,” says CEO
89. Nexon profits tumble in Q2 despite rising revenues: FIFA Online 4 drove Korean market, but China was the publisher’s single biggest region
90. Spilt Milk Studios cancels upcoming sci-fi MMO, Lazarus
91. The Final Fantasy XIV team is reworking base game content to be ‘more compact’
92. What Sharp’s IGZO display technology will mean for the Nintendo Switch
93. Dr. Mario World continues to lag after first month: Mobile puzzler falls well-below bar set by previous Nintendo titles
94. “Blast processing” in 2019: How an SNES emulator solved overclocking
95. Discord is launching in-server streaming later this month with new ‘Go Live’ feature
96. No More Robots: “I’m just doing D&D, but in a Discord server” – Mike Rose on the marketing tactics that drove the small publisher to $3m revenue, and why Xbox Game Pass is good for sales (for now)
97. Growing the industry with evening-sized games: Former Chinese Room lead Andrew Crawshaw on his romantic metal-detecting adventure that explores how people define success
98. Sean Murray calls No Man’s Sky Beyond the game’s “2.0” version—we believe it
99. Virtual reality streaming company Vreal has closed its doors
100. VR streaming platform Vreal shuts down and lays off staff: “We were definitely ahead of our time,” says virtual reality startup
101. Video: Designing great room-scale VR interactions theVacation Simulator way
102. Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell departs Facebook
103. Nate Mitchell leaves Oculus: Mitchell becomes the last of the VR outfit’s original co-founders to leave Facebook
104. Blow out your knee? Hope your surgeon’s got a VR headset
105. UCLA Surgical Training Study Shows VR Beats Traditional Training by 130%
106. British Airways testing VR headsets for first-class passengers this year
107. XRDC Innovation Report reveals games remain the top focus for AR/VR/MR devs
108. Unity brings Create with Code, Unity Teach programs out of beta: Educational initiatives enter classrooms to teach coding, offer sharing platform for educators
109. Discoverability: A ‘hot or not?’ genre guide
110. Video: A decade of improving the approachability of fighting games
111. Blog: Understanding the reality of game development
112. Blog: Avoiding helplessness – The worst feeling in games
113. Blog: The big game branding 101
114. Blog: Lessons learned from the development of Vicious Circle
115. Blog: 7 must-read books for game designers
116. Blog: Ancient Greek punishments as hypertexts
117. Blog: How music enhances virtual presence – Part 2
118. Blog: How to make a casual mobile game
119. Watch Age of Wonders: Planetfall’s lead dev discuss updating the series for a new age
120. Like a boss: The secrets behind great boss design
121. How moving from 2D to 3D shaped the design of Risk of Rain 2
122. Creature in the Well’s limiting, limitless unknown: Flight School Studios creative director Adam Volker shares how a two-person team turned constraints into creativity
123. How Astroneer creates an enjoyably unsafe space – Why I Love: Student game developer Aden Webb explores the mood-building design decisions of System Era’s survival sandbox
124. Don’t Miss: How data miners shed light on P.T.’s ghost story
125. Don’t Miss: Training players right, so they don’t hate learning to play
126. Don’t Miss: Exploring the secret depths of Bubble Bobble’s design
127. After 24 years at id, Tim Willits is now Saber Interactive’s chief creative officer
128. The hottest new board games from Gen Con 2019
129. Are We Living in a Computer Simulation? Let’s Not Find Out: Experimental findings will be either boring or extremely dangerous.
130. U.S. Patent No. 9,259,652: Time-shifted multiplayer game 
131. U.S. Patent No. 9,616,329: Adaptive learning system for video game enhancement 

Jon

DIGITAL

1. Sites could be liable for helping Facebook secretly track your web browsing, says EU court
2. Court of Justice of the European Union Press Release No 99/19 Luxembourg, 29 July 2019 Judgment in Case C-40/17 Fashion ID GmbH & Co. KG v Verbraucherzentrale NRW eV
3. Russian Interference and Data Privacy: Facebook Stockholders Demand Section 220 Inspection to Investigate Wrongdoing of Board and Senior Management
4. The FTC is investigating Facebook. Again
5. FTC Announces Record-Breaking Facebook Settlement
6. FTC unfriends Facebook
7. FTC Sues Cambridge Analytica for Deceptive Practices 
8. Facebook Enters into Data Privacy Violation Settlement Agreement 
9. FTC Hits Facebook With an Unprecedented Fine for Privacy Violations and a Rigorous Order on Privacy Governance
10. Business Takeaways from the FTC $5 Billion Settlement with Facebook
11. What’s Next After Facebook’s Record $5 Billion Fine and Cambridge Analytica? 
12. Cambridge Analytica made “ethical mistakes” because it was too focused on regulation, former COO says: “…we forgot to pause and think about, ethically, what was going on.”
13. The Great Hack Wasn’t A Hack And Big Tech’s Problems Aren’t Really About Big Tech
14. FTC Hands Down 5 Billion Dollar Penalty To Facebook
15. Facebook Just Paid a $5 Billion Fine for Privacy Breaches. Now it Wants Access to Your Brain.
16. Please break up Facebook, cofounder asks regulators: They say that breaking up is hard to do, but Hughes really wants to try.
17. Facebook to Settle with SEC for $100 Million 
18. Privacy group asks court to reconsider FTC’s $5 billion Facebook deal: The settlement does nothing to address the underlying issues, EPIC says.
19. What Facebook’s next 20 years will look like: is this the future of US privacy? 
20. Facebook is Making Progress on Its Mind Reading Headset: Facebook really wants to get inside your head.
21. Facebook is funding brain experiments to create a device that reads your mind: Big tech firms are trying to read people’s thoughts, and no one’s ready for the consequences.
22. NY Times Calls Out Politicians For Lying About Section 230
23. Congressman Who Was Sued For Blocking Constituents On Social Media Now Also Wants To Undermine Section 230
24. Second Circuit Issues Powerful Section 230 Win to Facebook in “Material Support for Terrorists” Case–Force v. Facebook (Eric Goldman)
25. Facebook Defeats Pro Se Consumer Privacy Suit–Hassan v. Facebook (Eric Goldman)
26. Facebook reached out to Netflix, Disney on new TV device, report says: The device will reportedly use the same tech as Facebook Portal.
27. Facebook Wants Disney, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, and HBO’s Streaming Services On Its Upcoming Connected TV Device (Report)
28. GitHub access restricted in Iran, Syria, and Crimea due to sanctions
29. Disney to Integrate Hulu Scripted Originals Team Under Dana Walden
30. Facebook announces Libra cryptocurrency – Congress responds
31. Regulators Dislike Facebook’s Entry into Cryptocurrency Market, Calling “Libra” an AML Threat
32. Facebook’s Libra Prompts Federal Draft Legislation 
33. Facebook And Instagram Ban User Posts Selling Alcohol And Tobacco
34. Teenage Instagram Users Are Exposing Their Personal Information To Access The Platform’s Business Analytics (Report)
35. Instagram Permanently Suspends Roughly 30 Meme Accounts With Millions Of Followers
36. Why Conservatives Allege Big Tech Is Muzzling Them: Google and Facebook aren’t infringing on the right’s freedom of expression, but insisting otherwise is politically convenient.
37. The future of the decentralized web
38. International Law and Cyber Activity: Why are a set of governing norms needed?
39. Full Social Media Disclosure Now Required for U.S. Visas
40. CJEU rules that unauthorized (non-trasformative) sampling can infringe a phonogram producer’s rights and German free use is against EU law (Eleonora Rosati)
41. Chinese vlogger who used filter to look younger caught in live-stream glitch
42. Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard sues Google for ad censorship
43. Presidential Candidate Tulsi Gabbard Sues Google, Using All The Same Debunked Legal Theories Others Have Tried
44. People forged judges’ signatures to trick Google into changing results
45. Why Is Trump Seeing Red Over France’s ‘Google Tax’?: French unilateral efforts to fix loopholes in global tax rules are adding fuel to the trans-Atlantic trade spat.
46. Chrome continues to wind down Flash support with latest browser update
47. Missouri Senator Proposes Bill Banning YouTube’s Autoplay, Facebook And Twitter’s Infinite Scroll
48. Proposed US law would ban infinite scroll, autoplaying video: The features drive addiction by exploiting our brains, Sen. Josh Hawley says.
49. Josh Hawley Wants To Appoint Himself Product Manager For The Internet
50. Can YouTubers really unionize?: Yes, and no. They at least have the support of a really big one.
51. Popular Stream-Ripping Site Declines To Play Whac-A-Mole With YouTube
52. YouTube videos with kids get three times as many views as videos without kids: A new study has found
53. YouTube Videos Featuring Young Children Get Triple The Views Of Videos That Don’t (Study)
54. A Week in the Life of Popular YouTube Channels: Analysis of videos posted finds that children’s content – as well as content featuring children – received more views than other videos
55. YouTube video takedowns of harmful content haven’t hurt revenue: Alphabet CFO Ruth Porat says the company’s doing just fine.
56. YouTube’s New Feature Requires Creators To Self-Rate How Ad-Appropriate Their Videos Are
57. YouTube Stays Uncharacteristically Silent On New 24-Hour Music Video Viewership Record
58. YouTube Creator Group Teams With Europe’s Largest Trade Union To Launch ‘FairTube’ Initiative
59. All Def Digital Has Reportedly Filed For An ‘ABC’ — An Alternative Procedure To Bankruptcy
60. Bustle Digital Shelves Gawker Relaunch, Lays Off Site’s Staff
61. Apparently, More Than 64,000 People Paid $50 To Watch Jake Paul And Tana Mongeau Get Married
62. Consumers Can’t Understand the Online Contracts They “Agree” To. Now What?
63. After SEC Approval, YouNow Integrates ‘Props’ Crypto Tokens Into Livestreaming Ecosystem
64. Iran’s Government Gives the Official Nod to Crypto Mining
65. Cryptocurrencies: practical considerations in insolvencies 
66. NBCUniversal Streaming Service To Launch In April 2020, Will Feature ‘The Office’ And Original Content From Sky Studios
67. NBC Pacts With Twitter For Exclusive 2020 Tokyo Olympics Live Programming
68. Lilly Singh’s NBC Talk Show To Bow Sept. 16, Names Comedy Vet John Irwin Showrunner
69. Vice Media In Talks To Acquire Refinery29
70. NBA Renews China Digital Deal With Tencent
71. Music crowdfunding website PledgeMusic goes offline amidst bankruptcy proceedings: The company shut down operations earlier this year after not delivering funds to 
72. Why A ‘Clever Hack’ Against Nazis Shows How Upload Filters Have Made Copyright Law Even More Broken
73. Everything Cops Say About Amazon’s Ring Is Scripted or Approved by Ring
74. Amazon writes scripts for cops to sling Ring home cameras, report says
75. Amazon’s Free Doorbell Cameras Only Cost Law Enforcement Agencies Their Dignity And Autonomy
76. New Campaign Demands End to Amazon’s Partnerships with Police: People can sign a petition urging their local government to forbid police partnerships with surveillance companies like Amazon’s Ring.
77. Could Oberdorf Open the Door to Infringement Liability for Amazon 
78. Wisconsin Court Holds Amazon Can Be Strictly Liable for Marketplace Items–State Farm v. Amazon (Eric Goldman)
79. The L.A. Times’ disappointing digital numbers show the game’s not just about drawing in subscribers – it’s about keeping them
80. HBO, The Walking Dead, And Star Trek Grab Comic-Con Spotlight On Social Video
81. Virtually every Apple business grew in every region this quarter—except the iPhone
82. Apple acquires Intel’s 5G smartphone modem business for $1 billion
83. Apple acquires the bulk of Intel’s smartphone modem business for $1 billion
84. Insights: Netflix Tumbles But Who Can Take Advantage?
85. Netflix is not a tech company
86. Netflix Is Asking Android Users For Permission To Track Their Physical Movements
87. WarnerMedia greenlights a retelling of The Odyssey for HBO Max: Based on Madeline Miller’s take on the original epic poem
88. Snapchat launches ‘instant’ tool for creating vertical ads
89. The ugly side of Snapchat and Instagram filters
90. PinkNews has tripled revenue over the last year, driven by Snapchat
91. Duolingo partnered with Twitch to help you learn languages better: Now you have no excuse to avoid the owl
92. Casey Neistat’s 368 Hits Stride With Brand Collabs, Including Ongoing Pact With Adobe
93. Nerdy Craigslist founder wants to change the world — starting with your news: Craig Newmark is a self-proclaimed nerd and reformed jerk. Now he’s putting money behind his politics.
94. Bytedance Confirms It’s Developing A Smartphone, But Says That’s Not Because Of TikTok
95. Sony Music Revenue Up 11%, Streaming Soars 27% in First Quarter
96. Spotify’s Q2 2019: 108m subscribers, €1.67bn revenues, and a €76m net loss
97. Thinking about our digital afterlives
98. The Death Of Ownership: Educational Publishing Giant Pearson To Do Away With Print Textbooks (That Can Be Resold)
99. Trump threatens retaliation against France over digital service tax
100. The Superiority of the Digital Service Tax over Significant Digital Presence Proposals (Wei Cui)
101. Redbox Automated Retail, LLC v. Disney Enterprises, Inc.
102. Cyber laundering: What are some key challenges in detection and regulation?
103. Now Even Funerals Are Livestreamed—And Families Are Grateful
104. Chinese vertical dramas made for phone viewing show the future of mobile video

A.I.

1. No authors at all, or too many to count? – AI and IP
2. DeepMind AI predicts acute loss of kidney function two days in advance, study shows
3. AI’s current hype and hysteria could set the technology back by decades
4. 6 ways AI is making an impact on video games: AI has changed the way video games work, and it’s slated to change that even more. NPCs beware.
5. Video: A dev’s guide to testing game AI
6. One chip to rule them all: It natively runs all types of AI software
7. It’s Sentient: Meet the classified artificial brain being developed by US intelligence programs

COMMUNICATIONS  

1.  Telecom Regulatory Policy CRTC 2019-269: The Internet Code
2. CRTC’s new Internet Code of Conduct falls short of expectations
3. Soon you’ll be able to watch PBS on YouTube
4. DOJ Approves T-Mobile/Sprint Merger Based on Third-Party Divestiture Agreement Involving Dish Network 
5. DOJ Prepares To Sign Off On An Elaborate T-Mobile Merger Plan That Isn’t Likely To Work
6. It’s official: US government approves T-Mobile/Sprint merger
7. The DOJ’s Plan To ‘Fix’ The T-Mobile Merger Isn’t Going To Work
8. AT&T loses nearly 1 million TV customers after raising DirecTV prices
9. AT&T Loses 1 Million Video Users After Spending Billions On Mergers To Dominate Video
10. AT&T kills DirecTV Now brand name as TV subscribers leave in droves
11. TV networks sue nonprofit to kill free TV service: Locast, an AT&T-funded nonprofit, retransmits local TV over the Internet. 
12. Court Will Decide If AT&T Is Liable For Cryptocurrency Theft Caused By Shoddy Security
13. Inside CEO John Stankey’s ‘Action-Oriented’ Approach to Reposition WarnerMedia
14. To protect its satellites, France outlines ambitious space-weapons program
15. Looking at Equal Opportunities – When Does the Appearance of a Political Candidate on a Broadcast Program Trigger Equal Time Obligations? 
16. Advertising is a cancer on society
17. Proposed Broadcast Industry Equal Employment Opportunity Reforms Receive Significant Media Attention
18. Cord Cutting Is Setting Records In 2019

PRIVACY

1. FaceApp, the Methuselahn faced Cloud of privacy concerns
2. Terms of Use: Disarming Ourselves, Arming Russia and China 
3. Hackers Seize Control Of Bulgarian Tax Agency, Sprinkler System
4. Siri records fights, doctor’s appointments, and sex (and contractors hear it)
5. Apple contractors ‘regularly hear confidential details’ on Siri recordings: Workers hear drug deals, medical details and people having sex, says whistleblower
6. Privacy Tip #200 – Iranian Backed Hacking Group Using LinkedIn To Deliver Malicious Documents 
7. Hacker ID’d as former Amazon employee steals data of 106 million people from Capital One
8. Capital One Gets In On The Data Breach Action, Coughs Up Info On 100 Million Customers To A Single Hacker
9. San Mateo Dumps Red Light Camera Program After A Decade Of Continuous Failure
10. ICO Issues First Intentions to Fine Under the GDPR 
11. UK – New ICO guidance on the use of cookies and similar technologies
12. An Increasing Regulatory Focus on Cookies: Time to Review Your Compliance?
13. Capital One Data Breach Compromises Data of Over 100 Million
14. Post GDPR world – cross-border data privacy best line of defence
15. Cookie consent: update one year post-GDPR
16. William Barr Turns Up The Heat On The DOJ’s Anti-Encryption Rhetoric
17. Unsealed Warrant Shows SFPD Officer Misled Court About Journalist’s Occupation
18. You can go claim at least $125 from the Equifax settlement right now
19. You’re probably not going to get your $125 from the Equifax settlement: Equifax has somehow found a way to make the settlement even more disappointing.
20. City Of Orlando Kicks Amazon’s Facial Recognition Tech To The Curb
21. NYPD Screws Up Again; Hands Out Even More ‘Secret’ Facial Recognition Docs To Researchers
22. Louisiana declares state of emergency in response to ransomware attack
23. The Newest Growth Market For License Plate Readers Is Those A——s Running The Local Homeowners Association
24. Once More With Feeling: ‘Anonymized’ Data Is Not Really Anonymous
25. Privacy Perils: Bluetooth Blues
26. Who have you been giving your name and number to? A cautionary tale
27. WannaCry slayer, malware author Marcus Hutchins sentenced to time served
28. 200 million devices—some mission-critical—vulnerable to remote takeover
29. Cybersecurity officials warn state and local agencies (again) to fend off ransomware
30. FTC Seeks Comments on COPPA
31. FTC Announces COPPA Rule Review
32. FTC Seeks Comments on Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act Rule 
33. Preparing for the inevitable hack: Experts in cybersecurity say businesses that handle personal information need to know that protecting themselves from liability is not a matter of if a data breach occurs but when.
34. Op-Ed: How data privacy laws could make the criminal justice system even more unfair
35. The CPSC Releases Framework of Safety for the Internet of Things 
36. Interaction Between Privacy and Competition Law in a Digital Economy
37. Intellectual Property and Technology News (North America), Q2 2019: The government in your cloud
38. Data Protection update – July 2019

CREATIVITY

1. Watch Hong Kong demonstrators pack airport, sing protest song from ‘Les Misérables’: The tune has become a universal anthem of protesters, “Do you hear the people sing? Singing a song of angry men?”
2. Attacks on the media in Hong Kong threaten democracy
3. Covington teen’s $250M suit against the Washington Post dismissed
4. As Expected: Covington HS Teen’s Lawsuit Against The Washington Post Is Dismissed
5. Covington student’s defamation case against Washington Post is dismissed
6. Judge dismisses suit against Washington Post filed by teen who faced-off with Native American activist in DC
7. Defamation Lawsuit Against The Washington Post Has Been Dismissed: Teen claimed he was misrepresented, but a judge ruled that was not supported “by the plain language in the article.”
8. $250 Million Lawsuit Against The Washington Post Dismissed: Federal judge dismissed suit of student Nick Sandmann after the Post wrote about his confrontation with a Native American activist earlier this year.
9. Court Dismisses Democrats’ Nutty Lawsuit Against Russia, Wikileaks And Trump Associates
10. CJEU rules that freedom of information and of the press cannot justify a derogation from the rights of copyright holders beyond allowed exceptions and limitations (Eleonora Rosati)
11. CJEU rules that use of a protected work for the purpose of reporting current events does not, in principle, require authorization (Eleonora Rosati)
12. Aussie court finds media outlets liable: Winkler
13. Iron Man’s Iron Defense 
14. Katy Perry loses ‘Dark Horse’ Trial:…Jury Says It’s A Rip-Off
15. Katy Perry Flame’d: Dark Horse infringes Joyful Noise Copyright
16. Andy Warhol Foundation Wins Copyright Lawsuit Over Prince Portrait & More Art World Headlines
17. Horizon Comics Productions, Inc. v. Marvel Entertainment, LLC.
18. Copyright Troll Richard Liebowitz May Have Cost His Client A Ton Of Money, And Set An Expensive Precedent For Copyright Trolls
19. Rock Stars Form Lobbying Group to Counter Tech Giants’ Power
20. Liverpool FC Also Apparently Attempted To Trademark Widely Used Chant By Football Fans
21. Fans, Indie Soccer Clubs Slam Liverpool FC For Trying To Trademark ‘Liverpool’
22. The World’s Most Ridiculous Trademark Dispute Is Now Over: Yosemite Gets Its Names Back
23. Canadian Competition Bureau updates Intellectual Property Enforcement Guidelines
24. Kawhi Leonard v. Nike, Inc.: Copy, derivative work or distinct work?
25. Copyright Infringement Claims Against Just Fresh Restaurant Prove Stale
26. Intellectual Property Protection for Recipes
27. K-Pop’s Big China Problem: Chinese stars are spinning off in their own orbit as politics gets in the way of profit.
28. UFC Broadcast Partner Goes Pay-Per-View And Pushes Fans To Piracy
29. Sweden vs. ASAP Rocky: The rapper has unwittingly stumbled into a bitter debate over race, crime, immigration, and the future of the country’s famed welfare state.
30. IP rights in art in USA – New York (New York)
31. Intellectual Property and Technology News (North America), Q2 2019: Supreme Court Corner Cases we are following
32. Woman dies in Alaska trying to reach famed bus from book

GAMES

1. British Gambling Commission: Industry should be “proactively dealing” with skin betting – Loot boxes still aren’t gambling but concerns raised over similarities and companies that fail to police secondary markets
2. Addicted to Loot: Recent developments in gaming addiction and gambling concerns in the UK
3. SEC Issues No-Action Letter for Gaming Tokens 
4. GTA dev Rockstar Games under fire from UK tax watchdog
5. Rockstar hasn’t paid UK corporation tax in ten years, claims investigative think tank: Grand Theft Auto V developer also issued claims worth over £42 million in Video Game Tax Relief
6. No Shellebration for Turtle Rock Studios 
7. Heroes Charge into Copyright Battle 
8. “It ain’t over till the Old Lady sings” – Konami, Juventus and the licensing of IP for use in sports video game content
9. CD Projekt Red promises “no disrespect” in religious-themed Cyberpunk 2077 quests: Polish studio “doesn’t want to avoid religion as a topic” but acknowledges player choices could cause controversy
10. Doomed: Bethesda’s Classic Doom Re-Releases Are Fixed, But Demonstrate Again That We Don’t Own What We Buy
11. Classic Doom games vanish, reappear on Xbox One with features missing
12. Bethesda removing mandatory login from Doom re-releases after fan backlash
13. Bethesda says online requirement for Doom re-releases was a mistake
14. Joke game removed from Steam after offering bribes to customers: Cyerprank 2069 offers collectors edition of Cyberpunk 2077 for “funniest review”
15. A bug has tanked Team Fortress 2’s Steam Marketplace economy  
16. Creators Going Pro: YouTube Gets Viewers Into The Mind Of Gamer Rez And His ‘Fortnite’-Loving Family
17. PUBG Corp says it has buried the hatchet with Fortnite dev Epic Games
18. PUBG. Corp says Epic is “one of our best partners” despite previous lawsuit attempt: Studio director Brian Corrigan dismisses notion of animosity between two companies
19. The Epic Games Store has started rolling out cloud saves
20. Epic Game store adds cloud saves: Feature active for a handful of titles, storefront says more work needed before it can be adopted on a larger scale
21. Understanding the success of Fortnite: A UX and psychology perspective
22. On YouTube’s Biggest Channels, Videos With Keywords Like ‘Fortnite,’ ‘ASMR’ and ‘Insane’ Get Higher Views
23. Immortals Gaming Club reportedly selling Houston Outlaws for $40m: Deal expected to close in August to keep Immortals from owning two Overwatch League teams at once
24. Strafe raises $3m for esports hub app: Seed round led by Bitkraft Esports Ventures
25. Bulkhead Interactive announced $650,000 investment into esports: Battalion 1944 dev expands esports offering and suggests more future investment
26. Winner of the Fortnite World Cup took home $3m: Kyle Giersdorf, 16, won the solo competition, winners of the duos tournament received 1.5m each
27. The Fortnite World Cup | A Record-Setting Tournament
28. The ‘Fortnite’ World Cup Finals Drew More Than 2 Million Concurrent Viewers
29. FaZe Clan Brings In First Female Member, 13-Year-Old Deaf ‘Fortnite’ Pro Ewok
30. Ninja is writing a book that will teach you to become an ‘unstoppable’ gamer: He’s also co-writing a graphic novel that will showcase his ‘unmatched wits and skill.’
31. Rocket League gets license approval in China: Tencent partnership leads to free-to-play release of Psyonix’s car soccer hit
32. Qualcomm and Tencent team up for future mobile game devices and content 
33. Whoever wins the console wars of tomorrow, Microsoft will profit | Opinion: Satya Nadella sees a future where every game “platform” will ultimately run on Azure’s infrastructure
34. Microsoft CEO: Partnership with Sony was driven by the PlayStation maker
35. Microsoft: Cloud partnership “all driven by Sony”: The deal means Microsoft is “dependent” on Sony’s success, according to CEO Satya Nadella
36. The PlayStation 4 has shipped 100 million units faster than any other console
37. Putting the PS4’s 100 million sales in context: 67 months to hit 9 figures is the fastest-ever pace for a home console.
38. PlayStation 4 software revenue dips as hardware shipments hit major milestone
39. US tariffs on Chinese goods could raise PlayStation console prices, warns Sony  
40. Facebook migrating Instant Games away from Messenger
41. Facebook Instant Games moves off Messenger: New game reviews re-opening after three-month hiatus
42. Zynga sees best mobile bookings and revenue in company history for Q2: Mobile publisher raises year-long guidance following record performances from Empires & Puzzles, Merge Dragons! and mobile Words With Friends
43. Pokemon Go surpasses 1 billion downloads worldwide
44. Slitherine enters contract with Dstl to develop games for UK military: Wargaming developer to create dedicated versions of Command Modern Air/Naval Operations, Flashpoint Campaigns
45. Tilting Point invests $30 million in Mino as Cat Gamelaunches worldwide
46. Tilting Point invests $30m into Mino Games’ Cat Game: This marks the publisher’s largest user acquisition investment so far
47. Mail.Ru’s My.Games grows revenues to $116.9 million in Q2: But suffers $10 million impairment charge as Obsidian co-developed MMO Skyforge falters
48. Focus Home Interactive’s Q1 revenue up 49% YOY: World War Z accounted for nearly half of the publisher’s sales last quarter
49. Star Trek Fleet Command surpasses $100m in lifetime revenue: Mobile game is publisher Scopely’s fastest-growing mobile title
50. No More Robots reaches $3m in lifetime revenue: Manchester-based publisher reaches milestone one week after launch of Nowhere Prophet
51. Bigben Interactive acquires French development studio Spiders
52. Automation enters administration and cancels Mavericks: Proving Grounds
53. Kickstarter veterans on how to run a successful crowdfunding campaign: YoYo Games’ Ross Manthorp explains seven key crowdfunding lessons from GameMaker Studio 2 developers
54. EA expects The Sims 4 to deliver net bookings on par withApex Legends
55. Live services brought EA $2.5 billion in net bookings in the last 12 months
56. Nearly half of EA’s unit sales are now digital: Publisher’s quiet first quarter headlined by growing digital dominance
57. Switch driving sales at Nintendo as ‘foreign exchange losses’ cut profits
58. Nintendo recasts Fire Emblem: Three Houses voice actor after abuse confessions
59. Fire Emblem beats Wolfenstein to the top of the UK charts: Nintendo published four of the top ten games in the UK last week
60. Nintendo’s 3DS plans remain unchanged as unit and software sales slow
61. Both digital and packaged game sales on the rise at Sega Sammy
62. Wolfenstein: Youngblood Review: A co-op spin-off does Wolfenstein better and worse than ever.
63. Fire Emblem Three Houses: Critical Consensus: Critics heap near unanimous praise for the strategy RPG’s return to console
64. Grand Theft Auto V leads a static top three in the EMEAA charts: Team Ninja’s Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 was the only new entry in the combined physical and digital chart
65. Dragalia Lost becomes second highest-grossing Nintendo mobile game: Game still sits well behind Fire Emblem Heroes, but continues trend of high spend per install
66. Amazon is ending Prime Video support on the Wii U
67. Amazon reportedly ends Prime Video on Wii U, launches it for VR: Company offering a $25 credit toward Fire TV services for Wii U Prime users
68. Bandai Namco opening Barcelona mobile studio: Bandai Namco Mobile will focus on creating and marketing games outside the Asian market
69. The irony of Oddworld: Lorne Lanning on crunching to make games about the exploitation of workers
70. There is no typical Curve game: Publishing director Simon Byron explains how the indie publisher tries to keep surprising and introduces new signing Autonauts
71. Creating terrifying, memorable 2D monsters
72. Video: A game programmer’s guide to the dark secrets of RNG
73. Watch two of Elsinore’s devs discuss the tragic Shakespeare simulator
74. Don’t Miss: Balancing the old with the new in Monster Prom’s fandom-friendly DLC
75. Unity valuation hits $6 billion following latest investment deal
76. Latest Unity investment values company at $6 billion: Tender offer of $525 million more than doubles valuation for game dev engine outfit
77. Video: Niantic founder examines the state & future of AR games
78. Schell Games receives $900,000 for HistoryMaker VR from government grant 
79. US Department of Education awards $900k to Schell Games for VR education: Grant from Small Business Innovation Research program will assist with development of HistoryMakerVR
80. HP Reverb Still ‘Sold Out’ as Reports of Display Issues Continue
81. Zuckerberg to Shareholders: ‘Quest is selling as fast as we can make them’
82. Cloudhead Games’ VR sleight of hand: Designer Antony Stevens and senior programmer Cameron Oltman talk Aperture Hand Labs, and where hand tech is headed now
83. Devcom set to thrive in close alliance with Gamescom: Nico Balletta on what being backed by the organiser of Gamescom means for the future of Devcom
84. Creating a vegetation system that reacts to the environment
85. Learn, reset, repeat: The intricacy of time loop games
86. Improving the depiction of mental illness in Vampire: The Masquerade
87. Don’t Miss: How devs deal with making enemies that feel ‘okay’ to kill
88. Don’t Miss: The Blue Shell and its discontents (Ian Bogost)
89. Making the bizarre, hilarious world of Trover Saves the Universe
90. Q&A: Behind the new open-ended design of Wolfenstein: Youngblood
91. Video: How 20XX survived and thrived in Early Access
92. Making the most interesting licensed games through self-sabotage: John Wick Hex director and writer Mike Bithell shares his strategy for finding good partners to make interesting licensed projects
93. EarthNight’s quest for epic yet accessible: Cleaversoft’s Rich Siegel on why he made it less punishing for novices late in the process
94. Blog: Considerations when writing music for games
95. Couples that play Mario Kart together stay together: A survey finds playing Mario Kart keeps the romance alive. And Call of Duty and Skyrim aren’t bad for love either.
96. U.S. Patent No. 9,061,205: Music video game with user directed sound generation 

Jon

DIGITAL

1. Facebook Embeds ‘Hidden Codes’ To Track Who Sees And Shares Your Photos
2. Facebook To Face Record $5 Billion FTC Settlement Related To Cambridge Analytica Scandal
3. Facebook’s FTC fine will be $5 billion—or one month’s worth of revenue: Fine will settle privacy investigation triggered by Cambridge Analytica scandal.
4. FTC Approves Record $5 Billion Settlement with Facebook 
5. FTC Approves $5 Billion Fine Against Facebook for Privacy Violations
6. The FTC And Facebook: Why The $5 Billion Fine Is Both Too Little And Too Much
7. Facebook denies allegations that you make friends on Facebook: Facebook responds with blanket denials to DC’s Cambridge Analytica suit.
8. Here’s What Facebook Says About Camera Privacy on Quest & Rift S
9. Germany Cashes Out, Hits Facebook With Fines For Failing To Comply With Its Ultra-Vague ‘Hate Speech’ Law
10. Laura Loomer Files Defamation Suit Against Facebook For Calling Her ‘Dangerous’ When Booting Her From The Platform
11. There’s a big problem with Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency
12. House Representatives Ask Facebook to Halt Moving Forward with its Cryptocurrency
13. Donald Trump blasts Facebook’s Libra, demands strict regulation
14. Donald Trump: Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies aren’t money – The US president said he’s not a fan of Facebook’s Libra, and demands digital coin companies seek a banking charter
15. Anti-money laundering rules for cryptocurrency dealers finalized by Canadian government
16. A Global Review of the Regulatory Considerations Relating to Crypto-Asset Trading Platforms 
17. By Clicking Continue…
18. Affirmed: President Trump Cannot Block Critics on Twitter
19. Second Circuit Affirms Judge Buchwald in Trump Twitter Case 
20. Second Circuit Holds That Blocking Users’ Access To Presidential Twitter Account Violates First Amendment 
21. Trump can’t block his critics from the @realDonaldTrump Twitter account, says the Second Circuit (and the First Amendment)
22. Right-wingers say Twitter’s “bias” against them should be illegal
23. Following Trump Ruling Against Twitter Blockade, AOC Sued For Her Blocks On Twitter
24. Comments on the Hikind v. Ocasio-Cortez Lawsuit Over AOC’s Twitter Blocks (Eric Goldman)
25. America’s Road to Reputational Ruin: The decline in U.S. soft power didn’t start with Trump, but he accelerated it this week with his racist tweets.
26. Twitter launches the ‘Hide Replies’ feature, in hopes of civilizing conversations
27. Twitter is changing Twitter.com to be more like mobile app
28. Microsoft warns 10,000 customers they’re targeted by nation-sponsored hackers: Hacking remains a tool of choice for influencing elections, company warns.
29. Ninth Circuit Upholds Arbitration Provision in Online Consumer Contract
30. Can an employer be vicariously liable for an employee’s racist Facebook post?
31. Censored Chinese search project is “terminated,” Google rep testifies
32. GOP Puts Google Search On Trial In DC
33. Why Is The Washington Post Publishing Blatantly False Propaganda About Section 230?
34. Former Content Moderator Explains How Josh Hawley’s Bill Would Grant Government Control Over Online Speech
35. 1H 2019 Quick Links, Part 4 (Section 230, Content Moderation) (Eric Goldman)
36. IBM’s Ridiculous Opportunism: Sells Out Section 230 To Sell More Filters
37. The Third Circuit Joins The Ninth In Excluding E-Commerce Platforms From Section 230’s Protection
38. Section 230 Is Not Exceptional, It Is Not Unique, It Is Not A Gift: It’s The Codification Of Common Law Liability Principles
39. Gab, Mastodon And The Challenges Of Content Moderation On A More Distributed Social Network
40. The Sixth Circuit Also Makes A Mess Of Section 230 And Good Internet Policy
41. Three Years Later: 1st Amendment Challenge Over DMCA’s Anti-Circumvention Provisions Can Move Forward
42. Large and Diverse Coalition Issues a Statement of Principles to Help Evaluate UGC Liability Reform Proposals (Eric Goldman)
43. ICO’s McDougall Warns Adtech Sector that Change Is Needed 
44. Senator Graham Spreads A Bunch Of Nonsense About ‘Protecting Digital Innocence’ Online
45. Netflix Removes Controversial Suicide Scene From ’13 Reasons Why,’ Citing Medical Experts
46. Netflix U.S. Subs Drop in Q2 After Price Hikes, Company Blames Global Forecast Miss on Content Slate
47. The Toxic Potential Of YouTube’s Feedback Loop
48. American kids would much rather be YouTubers than astronauts
49. YouTube stars wish YouTube had more competition from other platforms
50. Creators Say Competition Would Force YouTube To Be Better — But Right Now, There Are No Competitors
51. YouTube Megastar KondZilla, With 50 Million Subscribers, Drops Trailer For New Netflix Series
52. YouTuber Ray Diaz Arrested For Allegedly Assaulting His Underage Girlfriend
53. YouTube Finally Demands Specificity From Copyright Claimants
54. YouTube Begins Blocking Stream-Ripping Sites
55. At VidCon, YouTube Announces Addition Of Channel Membership Levels, ‘Super Stickers,’ More Merch Shelf Vendors
56. TikTok took over VidCon, and YouTube is next: YouTube offers what TikTok can’t – stability
57. YouTube is adding more ways for creators to make money: New merch, membership, and chat features
58. YouTube is launching educational playlists that won’t include algorithmic recommendations
59. The Dodo Launches Children’s-Focused YouTube Channel With 3 Original Series
60. Glad Challenges YouTube Vet Grace Helbig To Create An Instagram-Worthy Dish While Offroading
61. Creators Going Pro: For Musicmaking Duo NEFFEX, YouTube Opened All The Doors To A Full-Time Career
62. Kian And JC To Launch $25,000 ‘Big Brother’-Style Series With 13 YouTuber Contestants
63. Cracking The YouTube Algorithm In 2020
64. American kids would much rather be YouTubers than astronauts: Becoming an astronaut ranked last among five professions.
65. StyleHaul’s Former VP Of Accounting And Finance Indicted For Embezzling $22 Million
66. RTL Group Consolidates 3 European MCNs Under The Divimove Banner
67. BroadbandTV Corp. Partners with Snapchat to bring new Creator Shows to Life
68. These Brands Dominated Social Video Through The First Half of 2019 (Study)
69. James Charles, Emma Chamberlain Among 25 Most Influential People On The Internet, Per ‘Time’
70. Ryan Toys Review Scrubs Up With Colgate For Children’s Oral Care Collection
71. Joey Graceffa’s ‘Escape The Night’ Spawns Actual Escape Room In L.A. This August
72. You could be a celebrity without knowing it if you have 30,000 followers on social media 
73. New Study Points Out What A Boon Sports Streaming Piracy Could Be To Leagues
74. Netflix Hires BBC Studios’ Jackie Lee-Joe as Chief Marketing Officer
75. EFF Posts New White Paper On Stingray Device Capabilities
76. Doing the right thing: accessibility and OTT broadcasters 
77. Hulu To Get A Little More Delicious With 24 Shows From Tastemade
78. Disney Shutters FX Networks’ Nascent Streaming Service FX+ After Acquiring It In March
79. VidCon To Host Inaugural Asian Summit In Singapore, Will Return To London In February
80. FBE Launches Interactive Content Lab, Will Produce 12 TV Pilots Alongside Eko
81. Quibi Acquires Projects From ‘Glee’ Alum Darren Criss, WWE
82. NBC News to Produce Two Daily Shows for Jeffrey Katzenberg’s Quibi
83. Quibi Acquires First News Program In Reported 8-Figure Deal With NBC
84. Patreon Announces $60 Million Funding Round, With Participation From Creators Hannibal Buress, Serj Tankian
85. Microsoft Teams is now officially bigger than Slack
86. Microsoft opens first flagship store in Europe: Announcement of location on Oxford Circus comes alongside £1m grant to train young community members in digital skills
87. Gartner, IDC agree that PC sales are up—but they don’t agree what a PC is
88. EU Looking To Regulate Everything Online, And To Make Sites Proactively Remove Material
89. Amazon Teams With Colorado Police, US Postal Service On Sting That Catches Zero Package Thieves
90. 27 Top Twitch Streamers Host Amazon Prime Shopping Stream ‘Twitch Sells Out’
91. Amazon Music Unlimited is growing faster than Apple Music or Spotify, report says
92. Spotify Pacts With Disney to Launch Hub With Music From Movies, TV Shows
93. Spotify And Disney Partner To Bring Mouse House Magic With New ‘Disney Hub’ Playlists
94. International family law: is WhatsApp the future for serving court papers?
95. OurPact returns to App Store, reviving debates about Apple’s impartiality
96. Apple reportedly planning to fund creation of exclusive original podcasts
97. Apple is planning to buy up original podcasts with exclusivity in mind
98. Patchwork of digital taxes intensifies
99. US Trade Representative Initiates Section 301 Investigation of France’s Digital Services Tax
100. Lawmaking for the Internet of Things
101. The Failure Of Courts/Regulators To Understand The Difference Between Infrastructure Providers And Edge Providers Is Going To Be A Problem
102. WIPO Now Gets Into The Extrajudicial, Zero Due Process, Censorship Act Over Sites It Declares ‘Infringing’
103. Insights: As Our Cultural Lives Go Fully Digital, How Will We Signal What We Care About?
104. Tech journalism’s ‘on background’ scourge
105. Browse the Bookshelf of U.S. Case Law: Announcing the CAP Case Browser
106. Justice John Paul Stevens, dead at 99, promoted the Internet revolution

A.I.

1. Steam embraces machine learning with interactive recommendation tool
2. Steam launches Steam Labs to house feature experiments: First three test projects all involve new ways to discover games, including a machine learning recommendation feature
3. Steam uses machine learning for its new game recommendation engine
4. Devs express optimism, caution over Steam interactive recommender
5. Australian researchers just released the world’s first AI-developed vaccine and it could prevent another horror flu season
6. California’s BOT Disclosure Law, SB 1001, Now In Effect 
7. ‘Robot’ umpire calls first professional baseball game with one hitch and no controversy
8. Neuralink: Elon Musk’s Elusive Brain-Computer Firm Just Made a Big Reveal
9. Elon Musk’s Neuralink Takes Baby Steps to Wiring Brains to the Internet
10. Musk’s newest startup is venturing into a series of hard problems
11. Elon Musk announces another price hike for “full self-driving” package
12. Facebook and CMU’s ‘superhuman’ poker AI beats human pros: ‘It can bluff better than any human.’
13. Facebook AI Pluribus defeats top poker professionals in 6-player Texas Hold ’em
14. Ford-VW alliance means more EVs for Europe, joint Argo AI investment
15. Artificial intelligence (AI) designs metamaterials used in the invisibility cloak: The research team led by professor Rho of POSTECH developed a simultaneous inverse design of metamaterials via deep learning
16. MIT whiz kids got a robot to take on the viral #BottleCapChallenge
17. Atlantic League coach ejected for arguing over automated strike zone just one inning into robot umpire era
18. How GoldenEye 007 set a new standard for video game AI
19. How AI companies can avoid ethics washing
20. Blizzard unleashes Google’s DeepMind AI against European Starcraft II players: Experimental AlphaStar agent will play anonymously, but only against gamers who opt into test matches
21. Brains scale better than CPUs. So Intel is building brains

COMMUNICATIONS

1.  EFF Hits AT&T With Lawsuit Over Sale Of User Location Data
2. AT&T Breaks Another Merger Promise In Making ‘Friends’ Exclusive
3. AT&T Will Now Filter Robocall Spam, If You Pay Them Extra
4. ‘Smoking gun’: Huawei staff employment records link them to Chinese military agencies
5. The Drama Around Huawei: Can U.S. Companies Do Business with the Chinese Chipmaker?
6. Cheap as chips? Controversial judgment could have significant implications for the global wireless communications industry
7. HBO Communications Chief Quentin Schaffer to Exit After 39 Years
8. Google Joins Talks In Bid To Salvage T-Mobile Merger
9. Charter gets final approval to stay in NY despite breaking merger promise 
10. 5G’s Latest Problem: Summer Temps Are Causing 5G Phones To Overheat
11. The latest barrier to 5G speeds? The summer: Hands-on report says “persistent overheating” issues plague 5G hardware.
12. Last Woman Standing: Belittled by Viacom and CBS executives and insulted by her own father, Shari Redstone now sits atop a $30 billion media empire.
13. Fortune favours the bold broadcaster? 
14. The Impact of PDR Network LLC v. Carlton & Harris Chiropractic
15. Ajit Pai’s new gift to cable companies would kill local fees and rules
16. FCC Makes $100 Million Available for Telehealth Experiments
17. FCC Proposes a Three-Year Pilot Program to Fund “Connected Care” Telehealth Applications
18. FCC Set to Commercialize Educational Broadband Service Portion of 2.5 GHz Band to Enable 5G
19. FCC Considers Restrictions on Arrangements Between Building Owners and Broadband Providers
20. FCC gives ISPs another $563 million to build rural-broadband networks
21. West Virginia’s Biggest Telco Says Broadband Business ‘Unsustainable’ 
22. FCC Seeks Comment on Actions to Promote Broadband Deployment and Competition in Apartment and Office Buildings 
23. FCC Revises Broadcast Signal Carriage Election Notices for Cable, Satellite, and Other Multichannel Video Providers 
24. FCC Makes Significant Changes to Its Children’s Television (KidVid) Rules
25. Actions Taken at July Meeting – FCC Adopts Changes to Children’s Television Rules and to TV MVPD Carriage Election Notices Procedures  
26. FTC Announces Robocall Crackdown
27. FCC Chairman proposes rules addressing spoofed texts and international robocalls 
28. All Bark and No Bite? FCC Proposes Rule To Ban Spoofing of Text Messages and Foreign Robocalls 
29. FCC Holds Summit on Implementation of SHAKEN/STIR Call 
30. 2.5 GHz EBS Spectrum to Be Commercialized, Opened to TribalNations

PRIVACY

1. British Airways and Marriott Face Record-Breaking GDPR Fines
2. British Airways faces record-breaking GDPR fine after data breach: The ICO wants to fine the airline £183 million
3. GDPR Shows its Teeth – UK Pursuing Record Fines for Data Breaches, Emphasizes Accountability 
4. A Fine Mess: the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office’s proposed GDPR fines
5. Russian Spy Discovers The Hard Way How Much His Smartphone’s Metadata Reveals About His Activities
6. How U.S. Tech Giants Are Helping To Build China’s Surveillance State
7. DEA tracked every opioid pill sold in the US. The data is out – and it’s horrific: Just three drug makers and six distributors were behind the flood.
8. Office 365 declared illegal in German schools due to privacy risks
9. German state bans Office 365 in schools, citing privacy concerns: Schools in Hesse will have to rely on non-cloud software
10. Revealed: This Is Palantir’s Top-Secret User Manual for Cops – Palantir user manual gives unprecedented insight into how the company logs and tracks individuals.
11. Former Content Moderator Explains How Josh Hawley’s Bill Would Grant Government Control Over Online Speech
12. Google workers listen to your “OK Google” queries—one of them leaked recordings
13. Can I buy a phone that doesn’t use anything from Google or Apple?: Steve does not like firms slurping up his data, so wants a device that respects his privacy
14. Eavesdropping flaw prompts Apple to suspend Walkie-Talkie app
15. Wiretap Report Says Courts Are Seeing Fewer Wiretap Requests, Fewer Convictions Linked To Wiretaps
16. Collecting employee data: Privacy and data protection concerns are gaining increasing prominence in the workplace
17. NAD Recommends Baby Monitor Improve Disclosure of Information Gathering
18. New UK ICO guidance on cookies and similar technologies 
19. Here’s How To Harness Facebook’s New Privacy Updates To (Sort Of) Control Who Has Your Personal Data
20. CCPA Privacy FAQs: If I post a “do not sell my personal information” link on my website, and opt those consumers that select it from receiving behavioral advertising cookies, have I complied with the CCPA?
21. Reducing the risk of ransomware attacks
22. Privacy concerns over viral photo apps are totally valid. But they’re also often overblown.: The panic about FaceApp’s old-person filter isn’t wrong, exactly. It’s just tinged with xenophobia and devoid of context.
23. A Recap of the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Amending the California Consumer Privacy Act
24. No Shirt, No Shoes, No Facescan, No Service: Welcome To 21st Century Convenience Store Shopping

CREATIVITY

1. In Canada and elsewhere, freedom of speech is on the endangered list
2. Cameras should be welcomed in Canadian courtrooms: Forstner
3. Canada’s election advertising rules have changed – here’s what you need to know
4. Judge Castel: Plaintiffs Fail to State Claim Against Ja Rule for Fyre Festival 
5. Claims of False Advertising and Unfair Competition Are Not Disparagement or Defamation 
6. Danish court orders car dealer to compensate Chinese artist Ai Weiwei
7. Rights in sports data
8. NY AG settlement resolves deceptive practices action with ticket resale companies 
9. SPLC Asks Court To Toss Proud Boy Founder’s Defamation Lawsuit By Asking ‘Where’s The Lie?’
10. Congress Moving Forward With Copyright-For-Censorship ‘Small Claims’ Act
11. WIPO copyright treaty to be adopted in Uzbekistan
12. Branding and marketing clearance is the new punk rock
13. Alitalia Pulls Commercial Featuring Actor in Blackface
14. TD Bank N.A. v. Hill
15. Tackling the registration of copycat company names and domain names
16. California Student-Athletes Would Like to Remind You, “It’s My Name, Don’t You Forget!”
17. The helicopter team that films the Tour de France is one of a kind
18. Sound, Noise, Distinguish? The relationship between sound and intellectual property law (Shane Burke)
19. 1H 2019 Quick Links, Part 5 (Censorship, Defamation) (Eric Goldman)

GAMES

1. Former College Basketball Players Sue Fortnite Creators for Use of “Running Man” Dance
2. ESA Steps In With Amicus Brief In Support Of Activision Versus Humvee
3. Would freedom of speech beat loot box legislation? | Opinion: A look back at the Supreme Court’s 2011 ruling on video game violence suggests the First Amendment defense may not play out the same way a second time
4. German researchers propose treatment for gaming addiction: Clinical trial of 143 finds promising remission rate using cognitive behavioral therapy
5. Losing yourself in virtual worlds can have good as well as negative effects: Psychologist Pete Etchells chats with Ars about his first book, Lost in a Good Game.
6. Yogscast CEO Mark Turpin resigns following sexual harassment allegations: Turpin apologises for “error of judgement” as second sexual harassment case hits Yogscast in as many weeks
7. Ion Maiden becomes Ion Fury following Iron Maiden trademark lawsuit 
8. Battlegrounds has been banned in Jordan due to negative impact on players
9. Gears 5 to drop depictions of smoking after urging from Truth Initiative
10. The Coalition partners with Truth Initiative, cuts smoking from Gears 5: Rod Fergusson – “I’ve been against smoking from the beginning”
11. Why is there no smoking in Gears 5? It depends on who you ask: Either way, you won’t see cigars dangling from COG mouths any time soon.
12. Red Candle won’t be re-releasing Devotion (yet) following China controversy
13. Red Candle Games will not re-release Devotion “in the near term”: Developer apologizes again for artwork mocking Chinese president, but hopes to “rebuild trust”
14. Respawn will deal with Apex Legends cheaters by making them fight each other
15. Respawn working on matchmaking Apex Legends cheaters with other cheaters: Studio upping anti-cheat resources, working on spam and cheat detection using machine learning
16. Overwatch’s new cheat detection will end matches when cheats are used
17. Blizzard testing automatic shutdown for Overwatch matches where players are cheating: But game’s director Jeff Kaplan promises rule-abiding players will not be punished in any way
18. Ubisoft criticised for sourcing Watch Dogs Legion music through Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s HitRecord: Developers and composers decry use of audience compositions as ‘exploitative spec work’
19. Ubisoft Once Again Crowdsourcing Content For Video Game, Once Again Gets Unwarranted Backlash
20. Ubisoft defends Watch Dogs HitRecord partnership amid spec work criticism
21. Ubisoft puts kibosh on Assassin’s Creed XP-farming exploit
22. Ubisoft bans XP farming quests in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s story creator: Coincidently, publisher continues to sell permanent XP boosts as in-game purchases
23. Ubisoft: “Nobody has dared do anything with a granny before” – EMEA Director Alain Corre on Watch Dogs, Tom Clancy, and the dream of creating a game with one billion players
24. Odyssey and Siege push Ubisoft to a better-than-expected quarter
25. Ubisoft sees PC, digital sales share increase in Q1: Publisher continues anticipating quieter first half as it preps for big releases, UPlay+ later this year
26. Ubisoft’s Uplay+ subscription library launches this fall with 100+ games
27. How to spot an exploitative mobile game publishing deal — from a former publishing CEO
28. Blog: Charting the record $9.6B games investment over the past 18 months
29. ‘Reality-focused’ game dev Surrogate secures $2 million in funding
30. UK publisher Merge Games creates $4 million indie game fund
31. Kickstarter suspends funding campaign for online gameRAW over honesty concerns
32. Ratio of successful Kickstarter projects at highest since Double Fine Adventure: ICO Partners breaks down ongoing maturation of crowdfunding projects with H1 2019 update
33. Kickstarter suspends over ambitious MMO inspired by GTA Online: “We require projects to be honest and clearly presented, and this project failed to meet that standard,” says Kickstarter
34. Blog: Crowdfunding and video games – A 2019 mid-year update
35. Blog: Crowdfunding and tabletop games – A 2019 mid-year update
36. Minecraft Earth’s closed beta: This augmented reality needs more augmenting
37. Want to be more creative? Playing Minecraft can help, new study finds
38. Video Games can Increase Creativity, but with Caveats (Jorge Blanco-Herrera, Douglas Gentile & Jeffrey Rokkum)
39. Jo Twist: Games industry needs to “step up” to fight cultural bias – UKIE CEO warns critics and publishers to be careful with their language, says games are “an easy target because we’re new”
40. Under fire from game devs, G2A proposes new ‘Key Blocker’ tool
41. G2A proposes key-blocking tool: But controversial marketplace wants at least 100 developers to register interest before it begins development
42. How does the games industry get rid of G2A? Eliminate game keys altogether: The only way to stop key resellers is to stop selling keys, but will the industry take such a radical step?
43. Wube Software takes up G2A on offer to pay back ten times its chargeback fees: Studio has racked up $6,600 in chargebacks for Factorio, also encourages players to pirate rather than buy via G2A
44. GOG puts Heaven’s Vault up for sale after declining to sell the game at launch
45. Jason Kingsley: Epic is “paying through the nose” to build its store – Rebellion founders discuss change of heart on Epic Store exclusivity
46. Epic awards Blender Foundation $1.2m grant: Epic MegaGrants-fueled support to help bolster Blender creation suite
47. RetroArch will be Steam’s biggest emulation launch yet, coming July 30
48. Steam Labs is Valve’s new home for experimental Steam features
49. Controversial freelance firm Fiverr opens game services store
50. Fiverr adds dedicated gaming store: Freelancer hiring platform includes sections for development and streaming services
51. Stadia’s dev partners program has received more than 4,000 applications 
52. Google’s Dead Wrong If It Thinks Broadband Caps Won’t Hurt Game Streaming
53. PlayStation’s former portfolio strategy head is now tackling game licensing at Disney
54. Disney hires former PlayStation portfolio boss to head up games licensing: John Drake says it’s an “amazing time” to bring the worlds of Star Wars, Marvel and Fox to video games
55. Video: The importance of finding your platform champions
56. RuneScape dev Jagex says sale is possible, but not set in stone
57. Jagex denies reports it has been sold: Suggested sale by owner Fukong “remains one of various possible outcomes”
58. Smartphone maker Rokit launches $50 million game development fund
59. Smartphone maker ROKiT announces $50m indie dev fund: Selection committee of industry veterans established, up to $500,000 per project on offer
60. Tencent launches app for streaming PC games to smartphones: League of Legends only game currently available, but more expected soon
61. Twitch growth dips as Fortnite viewership continues to decline: Riot Games surpasses Epic Games as most-watched publisher in Q2 2019
62. Fortnite streaming hours drop for fourth straight quarter: Biggest battle royale games all show declines but Epic’s hit remains most watched title on streaming platforms
63. Epic awards $1.2 million to Blender Foundation through Epic MegaGrants program
64. Don’t Miss: 20 difficult games worth revisiting and learning from
65. League of Legends dominates South Korean PC cafés: Riot Games’ hit accounted for almost 40% of hours played last month as Path of Exile made a strong first impression
66. Riot extends deadline for removal of Echo Fox shareholder following racist remarks: Esports organisation was instructed to oust shareholder two months ago or face “formal action” from LCS
67. Esports Upstart 100 Thieves Names Retail Vet Doug Barber VP Of Brand And Apparel
68. Don’t Miss: Memoirs of a video producer who put Madden in Madden
69. Nearly three-fourths of gamers prefer Netflix-style subscription for cloud games: Broadband Genie: 86% say they expect cloud purchases of games to be cheaper than digital or physical copies
70. Nintendo deletes popular Mario Maker 2 level for unexplained reasons
71. Dr Mario World is the lowest grossing Nintendo mobile launch so far: But Sensor Tower says puzzle game is on par with latest Candy Crush release
72. Nintendo reaffirms its toy-maker identity | Opinion: Ventures into mobile games and streaming might have clouded Nintendo’s self-image — but the company is still first and foremost a toy-maker
73. Switch owners say Joy-Con controllers are prone to drifting after just months
74. Evidence points to another Switch hardware revision on the horizon
75. Nintendo releasing new Switch with longer battery life: Tweaked model of flagship console will last up to nine hours – two more than Switch Lite
76. The Switch may be getting a new processor and flash storage
77. New standard Switch model will improve battery life 40 to 80 percent
78. Nintendo is boosting Switch battery life through a slight hardware refresh
79. The industry is still “developing games in a bubble”: FlavourWorks’ Jack Attridge says Conan O’Brien’s Clueless Gamer videos are proof of how inaccessible games have become
80. “In the past, YouTubers were very problematic… Suddenly they became our allies”: How streaming can benefit storytellers, and the “serious problem with people not even finishing our games”
81. CAA Signs Comedic Gaming Collective ‘Neebs Gaming’ (Exclusive)
82. Control, alt, degree: Trinity Western to launch game development program this fall
83. Big PC sales continue to rock EMEAA charts: GTA V back in the lead alongside resurgence of Borderlands games
84. UK digital charts: Sales and anticipation lift Borderlands 2, Pre-sequel once more – Crash Team Racing holds on for one more week, before being dethroned by GTA V
85. Gearbox wants crossplay in Borderlands 3, but it won’t launch with it
86. UK Charts: Super Mario Maker 2 scores third consecutive No.1 – But Crash is snapping at Nintendo’s heels
87. German consumers spent €4.4bn on video games in 2018: Mobile and consoles have overtaken PC as nation’s most popular games platforms
88. MTG has invested $11m in games companies this year: H1 deals include Dorian, Tonk Tonk Games and Sviper
89. Merge Games announces $4m indie publishing and marketing fund: UK publisher looking for multi-platform titles to support as it celebrates 10th anniversary
90. Indie publisher Private Division splits from Swedish dev The Outsiders
91. Video: Living the freelancing dream while avoiding the nightmare
92. NetEase acquires minority stake in Behaviour Interactive: Partnership to help enhance Chinese game giant’s research and development efforts
93. LuckyHammers shuts down: 70 employees affected by closure of Montreal-based studio
94. Private Division has parted ways with Darkborn developer, The Outsiders: Publisher confirms split at end of last year, but financially supported dev for “several months” afterwards
95. NetEase nabs minority stake in Dead by Daylight dev Behaviour Interactive
96. Terraforming Mars dev LuckyHammers has closed down
97. Outsourcing studio Pole to Win expands with Montreal office
98. Surrogate raises $2m in seed round: Funding will go toward development of “Surrogate Reality” portfolio of games
99. Sports Direct now owns 84% of GAME: Shares in UK games retailer will be removed from London Stock Exchange by August 12
100. GameStop taps design firm R/GA to help keep its stores relevant
101. GameStop plans to renovate stores, pilot new store concepts: Troubled retailer hopes to draw customers back in with local esports competitions and retro-only branches
102. Pixion Games raises $2m toward mobile esports development: Seed funding to focus on core PvP experiences, expansion of “lunchtime esports”
103. Spiritfarer wants to talk to you about death: Thunder Lotus CEO William Dubé and creative director Nicolas Guérin on the game’s conception and the personal stories that built it
104. Lego Star Wars: Rise of TT Games: Game director James McLoughlin talks us through the evolution of the Lego games as the studio comes full circle with The Skywalker Saga
105. Boom-shaka-laka: Call of Duty’s new “Gunfight” mode is like NBA Jam with guns
106. The aggressive resource management of Doom Eternal
107. Blog: The secrets of dynamic difficulty adjustment
108. Blog: Finding the fun in monetizing Archero – Part 3
109. ‘Things will go wrong’: The challenge of Dauntless’ day-one crossplay
110. Don’t Miss: Designing Baba is You’s delightfully innovative rule-writing system
111. Designing experimental game Cultist Simulator for commercial success
112. Rumor: Apple Reportedly Suspends Work on Consumer AR Headset
113. Overcooked 2 named Game of the Year at Develop:Star Awards: Sumo Digital, Playground Games take home multiple prizes in inaugural event
114. Pokemon Detective Pikachu is the second highest grossing video game movie ever
115. Blog: How music enhances virtual presence – Part 1
116. Detective Pikachu becomes the highest-grossing video game movie: Film has brought in over $436m worldwide as five remaining territories push it over record set by Warcraft
117. The Man in the High Castle creator to produce TV series based on Warhammer 40,000: Games Workshop, Big Light Productions partner for live action series, entitled Eisenhorn
118. Atari 2600 rarity Extra Terrestrials goes on sale for $90,000
119. U.S. Patent No. 5,805,784: Computer story generation system and method using network of re-usable substories 
120. Fashion in games: Why it matters
121. Pakistani Minister Congratulates Pilot For Miraculous Save In Retweet Of GTA V Video

Jon

DIGITAL

1. Twitter Will Now Hide, Suppress Spread Of Government Officials’ Tweets That Violate Its Guidelines
2. Twitter clarifies special rules for tweets by world leaders like Trump
3. Boris Johnson, UK’s Answer To Trump, Offers A Masterclass In How To Use The Dead Cat Strategy Combined With A Google Bomb
4. Chinese Border Agents Now Installing Malware On Foreigners’ Cellphones
5. Deceptive marketing in the spotlight: Ticketmaster to pay Competition Bureau penalty of $4.5 million
6. Retailers all but beg FTC to take action against Google, Amazon
7. D-Link agrees to new security monitoring to settle FTC charges
8. Amazon confirms it keeps your Alexa recordings basically forever
9. Amazon can be held liable for defective third-party products on its platform, court rules: A potentially damaging precedent for the company
10. Amazon Might Be Liable for Defective Marketplace Items (But Only When It Tries to Warn Consumers)–Fox v. Amazon (Eric Goldman)
11. Taylor Swift To Headline Amazon’s Prime Day Concert Livestream
12. It’s not that we’ve failed to rein in Facebook and Google. We’ve not even tried: The tech giants use our data not only to predict our behaviour but to change it. But we can resist this attack on democracy (Shoshana Zuboff)
13. Researchers crack open Facebook campaign that pushed malware for years: Facebook removes pages following discovery of a campaign that hid in plain sight.
14. Facebook Defeats Alabama Injunction for Lack of Jurisdiction–Facebook v. KGS (Eric Goldman)
15. Ninth Circuit Rejects Facial Recognition Claim Against Facebook 
16. Facebook To Start Handing User Info To French Government So It Can Start Punishing People For Being Stupid
17. Facebook’s new terms of service explains how ads get targeted: There are also new details on user rights to uploaded content and when you can appeal a ban
18. As Facebook cracks down on hate speech, it’s also re-evaluating another policy: Nipples
19. Libra: A centralised wolf in decentralised sheep’s clothes
20. Facebook gets more official pushback on Libra
21. BuzzFeed’s ‘Good Advice Cupcake Show’ To Be Facebook Watch’s First Animated Series
22. Senator Lindsey Graham To Host Special ‘But Think Of The Children Online!’ Moral Panic Hearing
23. We Should Probably Stop Blaming Technology For The Failings Of Human Beings
24. Google announces new subsea cable ‘Equiano’, connecting Africa and Europe
25. Gmail’s API lockdown will kill some third-party app access, starting July 15
26. The End Of The Open Internet: Cory Doctorow’s Op-Ed From The Future
27. CNIL Publishes Action Plan Regarding Online Targeted Advertising 
28. Bringing competition to the digital age: Commissioner Matthew Boswell intends that the Competition Bureau be a leading enforcement agency in the digital economy
29. Is ‘This Time Different’ Concerning Big Internet Dominance?
30. State Judge Prefers Prior Restraint To The First Amendment, Orders Blogger To Delete Supposedly Defamatory Posts
31. Crazy Copyright Suit Over Gigi Hadid Posting A Photo Of Herself To Instagram Shows Absurdity Inherent In Photo Copyrights
32. Gigi Hadid “Obliterates” copyrights with fair-use bazooka
33. “But It’s on the Internet!” You Still Need a License to Use that Photo! 
34. Are GIFs Subject to Copyright?
35. Trump Thinks That The Government Can And Should Sue Internet Companies Because He Doesn’t Like The People Who Work There
36. Inside Story On The War On Backpage Raises All Sorts Of Legal Questions
37. California’s Bot Transparency Law Goes into Effect on July 1, 2019 
38. Will California’s New Bot Law Strengthen Democracy?
39. California Court Finds Section 230 Protects Decision to Suspend and Ban Twitter Account 
40. Section 230 Protects Snapchat from Liability for Cyberbullying–Grossman v. Rockaway Township (Eric Goldman)
41. WSJ Op Ed Warns: Killing Section 230, Kills The Internet
42. Yes, The EU Copyright Directive Does Have A Few Good Ideas — But They Need To Be Implemented Properly
43. Latest Linkwrap on FOSTA’s Aftermath (Eric Goldman)
44. Reddit ‘Quarantines’ Pro-Trump Subreddit Over Anti-Police Threats: Users allegedly threatened law enforcement ordered to find Republican senators
45. The Trump Campaign Spent Hundreds Of Thousands To Take Over YouTube’s Masthead
46. YouTube promises users more control over recommendations
47. YouTube Vet Philip DeFranco Hits Play On ‘Rogue Rocket’ Channel With New Correspondents, Deeper Dives
48. 30,000 followers makes you an Internet “celebrity,” says UK ad regulator
49. The Internet broke today: Facebook, Verizon, and more see major outages
50. FTC, FDA Caution E-Cig Companies About Influencer Marketing
51. FTC Continues Enforcement of Unfair and Deceptive Online Activities
52. FTC Announces First Actions Enforcing The Consumer Review Fairness Act 
53. Netflix Pledges to Cut Back Smoking Depictions in Original Productions After Group Blasts ‘Stranger Things’
54. Gabby Douglas, Dashawn Jordan, Giannis Antetokounmpo To Attend VidCon As Part Of First Nike Sponsorship
55. Jony Ive will depart Apple to start his own company
56. Apple Design Guru Jony Ive to Depart to Form Independent Firm
57. iPhone and iPad designer Jony Ive is leaving Apple after 27 years
58. Report describing Jony Ive’s Apple exit gains a sharp response from Tim Cook
59. Apple Music Tops 60 Million Subscribers, Including Users on Free Trials
60. Samsung CEO calls Galaxy Fold launch failure “embarrassing”
61. Russell Simmons’ All Def Digital Is Shutting Down, According To Sources 
62. Spotify Shuts Down Ability for Independent Artists to Upload Music Directly
63. Spotify Signs Deal To Get Footloose With Kevin Bacon In Upcoming Comedy Podcast
64. Tidal Launches Enhanced Credits Feature
65. Instagram Will Integrate Ads Into ‘Explore’ Tab Over Coming Months
66. The Streaming TV Sector Still Doesn’t Realize Exclusives Will Drive Users Back To Piracy
67. Quibi Snags ‘Hunger Games’ Alum Liam Hemsworth For Thriller Amid $1 Billion Content Push
68. Patenting Trends in Blockchain Innovations
69. You too could now 3D print a Lamborghini Aventador at home: If you had some impressive STEAM physics, engineering and manufacturing skills, that is
70. ICANN eliminates .org domain price caps despite lopsided opposition
71. eSignature and ePayment News and Trends
72. Tech competence should be required
73. Batten Down the Hatches: Digital Tax Nor’easter Coming This Fall 
74. Microsoft is teasing Windows 1.0 and other 1980s software
75. You Don’t Own What You’ve Bought: Microsoft’s Books ‘Will Stop Working’

A.I.

1. When it comes to AI regulation, Canada can do better: Countries are considering the guiding philosophies
2. Are You Talking To A Bot? – New CA Law Makes Disclosure the Best Option 
3. Is There Anybody Behind That Bot? 
4. Schools Are Using ‘Aggression Detecting’ Mics That Are Set Off By Coughing, Slamming Locker Doors To Head Off The Next School Shooting
5. The first AI capable of simulating the universe works so well it’s scary
6. FaceTime feature in iOS 13 feigns eye contact during video calls
7. Mini neural networks mimic the human cerebrum
8. I Welcomed Our New Robot Overlords At Amazon’s First AI Conference
9. Signs from above: Drone with projector successfully trolls car AI
10. AI Isn’t Making The Criminal Justice System Any Smarter
11. Endless AI-generated spam risks clogging up Google’s search results: A ‘tsunami’ of cheap AI content could cause problems for search engines
12. The future of AI research is in Africa: In the last few years, the machine-learning community has blossomed, applying the technology to challenges like food security and health care.
13. The hidden labor supporting algorithms: “Ghost Work” reveals labor structures masked by technology
14. Blog: Creating the the AI of Sea of Thieves – Part 4

COMMUNICATIONS

1. What is the Point of the Broadcast and Telecom Legislative Review if the Government Has Already Decided What It Intends To Do? (Michael Geist)
2. Canadian CEO Penalized for His Company’s CASL Breaches
3. Sinclair Faces Expanded Probe For Shady Behavior During Tribune Merger
4. Supreme Court Declines to Decide whether FCC Orders Bind District Courts
5. House votes to block Ajit Pai’s plan to kill San Francisco broadband law
6. Former Head Of Ajit Pai’s Broadband Advisory Council Is Headed To Prison For Fraud
7. Pai’s FCC Crushes Rules That Brought More Broadband Competition To San Francisco
8. T-Mobile enemy Dish could help save the T-Mobile/Sprint merger: Dish could resell T-Mobile/Sprint network access in deal to save merger.
9. Frontier customer bought his own router—but has to pay $10 rental fee anyway
10. NASA, NOAA, and the Navy Tell The FCC Its 5G Plan Will Harm Weather Forecasting 
11. The Press Needs An Intervention When It Comes To Over-Hyping 5G

PRIVACY

1. Now TikTok is facing a UK investigation over children’s data
2. SCHREMS 2.0 – the demise of Standard Contractual Clauses and Privacy Shield? 
3. Superhuman says it will disable email read receipts by default after privacy controversy: Pixel tracking is still an option, but it’ll be limited
4. Taser maker says it won’t use facial recognition in bodycams
5. Axon Ethics Board Pulls Plug On Facial Recognition Tech Being Added To Its Body Cameras
6. Deepfake revenge porn distribution now a crime in Virginia
7. Deepfakes and Other Disinformation Pose Growing Business Threats, Say WilmerHale Lawyers
8. Author pulls software that used deep learning to virtually undress women
9. Somerville, Massachusetts Becomes The Second US City To Ban Facial Recognition Tech
10. These are a few of our favorite IoT: NIST finalizes Internet of Things cyber guidance
11. Watching Me, Watching You – IoT Camera Hacks Surge
12. Another Report Shows The GDPR Benefited Google And Facebook, And Hurt Everyone Else
13. New York Data Privacy Law
14. New York Senate Considers Sweeping New Privacy Bill That Would Create a Fiduciary Duty to Consumers 
15. Maine Enacts Broadband Privacy Law
16. Hackers Have Been Stealing User Data From Global Cell Networks Since 2012
17. Benefit of the but-for bargain: Assessing economic tools for data privacy litigation
18. Ryuk, Ryuk, Ryuk: Georgia’s courts hit by ransomware
19. Georgia courts (mostly) shrug off ransomware attack
20. Florida LAN: Someone clicks link, again, giving Key Biscayne ransomware
21. New ransomware infections are the worst drive-by attacks in recent memory
22. “We need to up our game”—DHS cybersecurity director on Iran and ransomware
23. Documents Show The NSA’s Abuse Of Its Phone Records Collection Continued Right Up Until Its Decision To Pull The Plug
24. Department of State Requests Social Media Profile Identifiers
25. Smile, Your City Is Watching You: Local governments must protect your privacy as they turn to “smart city” technology.
26. Here We Go Again: Trump Administration Considers Outlawing Encryption
27. Standard Contractual Clauses and EU-US Privacy Shield – Under scrutiny
28. Cookie consent – What “good” compliance looks like according to the ICO

CREATIVITY

1. SCOTUS: Lanham Act’s Ban on Registration of “Immoral or Scandalous” Marks Unconstitutional
2. Why the U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision to Allow Federal Registration of FUCT Impacts Every Day Businesses
3. UMG Tries To Block O-Town’s Trademark Application Over Its Motown Record Label
4. Gibson Guitar Declares Shift In IP Enforcement After Most Recent Public Backlash
5. NBC and Carrie Underwood Face Lawsuit Over NFL Sunday Night Football Theme Song
6. Banning harmful gender stereotypes in advertising – what you should know
7. Brazilian court bans subway performers 
8. College Forgets How The First Amendment Works; Targets Its Own Student Newspaper With A Public Records Request
9. The Root weeds out ebony’s Lanham Suit
10. Zion Williamson’s Legal Battle with His Former Marketing Agency
11. Andy Warhol’s “Prince Series” Ruled Fair Use
12. Second Circuit Holds New York’s Met Museum Can Keep Picasso’s The Actor
13. Who Owns the Law? Supreme Court to Decide if State Governments Can Copyright Legal Texts
14. U.S. Supreme Court to Review Copyrightability of Privately-Produced Annotated State Statutory Compilations 
15. Inaccurate Copyright Application, Without a Plausible Excuse from the Copyright Owner, Leads to Invalidation of Registration
16. Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreements and the Harmonisation of Copyright Law at International Level: Lessons to be Learned from the TTIP (Christophe Geiger)
17. 1H 2019 Quick Links, Part 1 (Copyright & More) (Eric Goldman)

GAMES

1. Bots and Cheaters Lose as League of Legends is awarded a $10 Million Payout 
2. Esports contract dispute: Seeking to set an industry standard
3. Industry tells UK lawmakers it wants more research into gaming disorder: Commons committee not left reassured following latest immersive and addictive technologies inquiry hearing
4. Adolescents and loot boxes: links with problem gambling and motivations for purchase (David Zendle, Rachel Meyer & Harriet Over)
5. Digital Minister Margot James defends loot boxes: But MP calls for more research into link between gaming and gambling, and says firms with aggressive monetisation should be “brought into line”
6. Man sentenced to 2 years in prison for 2013 DDoS attack against Daybreak
7. Man behind Daybreak Games DDoS sentenced to two years in prison: Series of attacks against formerly-Sony Online Entertainment, Battle.net, Dota 2, others also asked to pay $95,000 in damages
8. “The games industry has some maturation to do in understanding data protection law”: Information Commissioner tells Parliament it will audit publishers and developers as it works on Age Appropriate Design Code
9. Chinese government revokes business license of Devotionpublisher Indievent
10. Chinese government reportedly revokes Indievent’s business license: Devotion publisher previously cut ties with developer Red Candle Games following discovery of in-game art mocking Chinese president
11. DrDisrespect returns to Twitch after ban over E3 livestream: Guy Beahm was widely criticised for streaming from a public bathroom during E3 2019
12. Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm offers statement after E3 bathroom filming fiasco: Beahm says “laws/repercussions of filming in the bathroom” simply didn’t occur to him
13. Dr DisRespect Apologizes For Public Bathroom Stream, Teases Twitch Return Next Week
14. Mordhau developer denies plans for gender/diversity toggle after describing plans for said toggle
15. Mordhau developer denies it was planning a “toggle” for diversity [Updated]
16. Wolfenstein: Youngblood will not be altered for German release – International version of the game will be available in Germany, complete with Nazi imagery
17. Indie Developers Change Game Name Over Bethesda Trademark Dispute 
18. Epic pledges to cover refund costs for crowdfunded Epic Games Store exclusives
19. The Gaming Platform Wars Are Beginning To Screw Up Crowdfunding Games
20. The Game Outcomes Project isn’t returning for its 2018-19 edition
21. Don’t Miss: The Game Outcomes Project: Learning how teams succeed and fail
22. Super Mario Maker 2: Critical Consensus – A complete and well-rounded experience universally praised by critics
23. Nintendo Does The Nintendo: ‘Mario Royale’ Fan Game Becomes ‘DMCA Royale’… And Is Now Dead
24. Dear Nintendo: Here Are Some Ways You Could Be A Little More Cool, Man
25. Miyamoto: Costs and dwindling appeal make new adventure games a hard sell
26. Steam works wonders for the retail PC market – 10 Years Ago This Month: Valve buddies up with GameStop, BioWare talks industry maturity, and the expensive peripheral trend cools off
27. Indie developers suggest Steam Summer Sale confusion is hurting their games: Misreading of “Grand Prix” promotion seems to be causing spike in wishlist removals.
28. Paradox exec: Steam’s 30% fee is “outrageous”
29. Devs hit by Steam promo confusion as games are pulled from Wishlists 10
30. Valve clarifies Steam Sale event after devs chart declining wishlists
31. Epic Games will foot refund bill for Shenmue III, future crowdfunded exclusives
32. Shenmue 3 dev to offer backer refunds over Epic Games Store exclusivity
33. Angry Shenmue III backers can get refunds after Epic Game Store move
34. Shenmue 3 PC backers will get refunds over Epic exclusivity: Ys Net and Deep Silver will reimburse backers who expected a Steam key for the game
35. Video: Darkest Dungeon’s ‘camp counselor’ approach to community management
36. Maybe Epic’s Claims For Exclusivity Strategy To Benefit The Gaming Industry Isn’t Entirely Crazy
37. Developers call for players to pirate their games rather than buy from G2A: Studio and publisher behind Descenders decry controversial retailer’s sponsored ads, Rami Ismail backs them up
38. Editor Roundtable: What’s up with game subscription services?
39. EA: “I struggle with the perception that we’re just a bunch of bad guys” – Behind the big blockbusters, EA is offering very friendly deals for indie developers — EVP Matt Bilbey tells us why
40. Antonick v. Electronic Arts, Inc. 
41. EVE players are plotting revenge after alien invasion mostly just annoyed everyone: Though initially terrifying, the Drifter Invasion of EVE Online quickly became tedious and boring.
42. Street Fighter characters to be used in Osaka police recruitment ads: Capcom consents to have iconic characters used to recruit “cyber-crime” investigators
43. Google Stadia exec isn’t worried about data caps—but he probably should be
44. Stadia purchases and saves will remain accessible, even if a publisher pulls support
45. Stadia head: Devs, publishers, and players aren’t ready for a subscription-only platform 
46. PlayStation Vue applies a $5-a-month increase to all live TV plans
47. Sony considers turning to studio acquisitions as competition rises
48. Jim Ryan says Sony is looking at studio acquisitions: “Companies new to the games industry looking at the market with hope is something we definitely welcome”
49. Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo Say Trump Tariffs Will Make Game Consoles Hugely More Expensive
50. Gumi lays off 32 with closure of Gumi Europe
51. Free-to-play studio Redhill Games secures $11.4 million investment
52. Square Enix: “We always look out for new IP” – President Yosuke Matsuda on Avengers, Final Fantasy VII, game streaming and its commitment to new projects
53. This GTA 6 ‘leak’ is detailed, but almost certainly fake
54. Farming Simulator 19 sold over two million copies
55. Focus Home reports record year as Farming Simulator 19passes 2 million sold
56. Age of Empires series still attracts more than a million players each month: “And the numbers keep going up,” almost 15 years after the last full game
57. Call of Duty League adds LA, Minnesota slots: LA’s Immortals Gaming Club to compete under OpTic Gaming brand
58. Riot Games teams up with Nielsen to measure brand exposure for esports sponsors: “We have the opportunity to help monetise Riot Games’ platform and validate this growing market”
59. YouTube Millionaires: ‘QJB,’ One Of YouTube’s Longest-Running Gaming Channels, Says Staying Consistent Is The Key To Keeping Fans
60. Nexon becomes majority owner of fledgling Swedish studio Embark
61. Age of Empires series brings in over 1 million players each month
62. Weather Factory on the advantages of being “weird and divisive”: Co-founder Lottie Bevan talks about scrapping the studio’s plans based on a single tweet, and how open development keeps experimental games on track
63. Remedy obtains publishing rights to Alan Wake: Remedy talks up possibility of multiplatform release for the cult Xbox 360 favourite
64. Report: Microsoft still planning a low-cost, streaming-focused Xbox
65. Remedy has acquired the publishing rights to Alan Wakefrom Microsoft
66. Village Roadshow has acquired the television and film rights to Myst
67. id Software’s origin story set to become USA Network TV series
68. Guidemaster: Is Valve Index the best virtual reality system to buy in 2019?
69. Valve is exploring ‘several ways’ of doing untethered Index VR
70. Valve is already exploring “untethered” Index VR hardware: Gabe Newell placed new headset alongside Half-Life and Steam as a “milestone” for the company
71. Valve to release Index 3D models to aid VR headset and controller mods
72. Valve Index makes VR prettier, but it’s the controllers that steal the show
73. Valve releases CAD files for Index headset: Modeling, design files aim to encourage mod-ability, including “frunk” accessories
74. Digital Minister wants UK Games Fund to continue: James declares £5m financing initiative a success but extension depends on next government spending review
75. South East, London, North West, and Scotland are largest UK dev centres, TIGA reveals: Over half of UK industry based outside London and South East
76. Series: Your Story Universe developer Endless Entertainment lays off 7 staff
77. Entrepreneurs educate by gamifying the law
78. U.S. Patent No. 4,738,451: Multi-player, multi-character cooperative play video game with independent player entry and departure 
79. Why Clint Hocking wanted every NPC in Watch Dogs: Legion to be playable
80. Tilting Point promises more than $20 million for UA costs in CookApps publishing deal
81. Artifact’s pricing and value didn’t quite line up, says consulting designer
82. Zachtronics games are now free for public schools and educational nonprofits
83. The complicated process of porting Graveyard Keeper to consoles and mobile
84. Blog: Charting the pacing of Uncharted 2 – Part 2
85. Blog: Historians discuss Total War: Three Kingdoms
86. Blog: How game developers can get the most out of Discord
87. Blog: MVP like Nintendo in 1980
88. Summer Games Done Quick closes 2019 event with $3 million raised for MSF

Jon