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  • Welcome Cohort 1, UBC Foundations of Digital Media

    Welcome to the website for the UBC flavour of Foundations of Digital Media. Am excited to meet you tomorrow and evolve this course together. The course has been taught in various forms at the Centre for Digital Media for a decade. Hardly an old dog, but nevertheless there are new tricks to be had. Let’s […] Read More

News of the Week; October 7, 2020

By Jon Festinger on October 11, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. US House committee says Amazon, Google, Apple, Facebook engaged in monopolistic behavior: Investigation recommends stronger antitrust actions, but requires Congressional approval for further action
  2. House: Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Google have “monopoly power,” should be split
  3. Congress Issues Antitrust Report on Large Tech Platforms
  4. Should Big Tech Be Setting the Terms of Political Speech?
  5. Step into My Parler: Suspected Russian Operation Targeted Far-Right American Users on Platforms Including Gab and Parler, Resembled Recent IRA-Linked Operation that Targeted Progressives
  6. Shaking Up the Internet: An Update
  7. Publishers worry as ebooks fly off libraries’ virtual shelves
  8. 4th Circuit Finds Jurisdiction Over Foreign Website Operator Who Never Worked in or Visited the United States
  9. US Commerce Department Identifies Prohibited Transactions with WeChat But Implementation Delayed
  10. Trump Administration’s Bans on WeChat and TikTok Temporarily Enjoined by Federal Courts
  11. Further TikTok Developments: D.C. District Court Blocks Commerce’s TikTok Ban
  12. Coronavirus misinformation: quantifying sources and themes in the COVID-19‘infodemic’ (SarahEvanega, MarkLynas, JordanAdams, KarinneSmolenyak)
  13. A new study shows how Trump and the RNC duped traditional media into covering mail-in voter fraud
  14. New Study: Once Again, The Mainstream Media Is A Bigger Problem In Spreading Disinformation Than Social Media
  15. Mail-In Voter Fraud: Paper Shows Disinformation Campaign Surrounding Risk Of Voter Fraud Associated With Mail-In Ballots Follows An Elite-Driven, Mass Media Model – Social Media Plays A Secondary Role
  16. QAnon shows that the age of alternative facts will not end with Trump
  17. Snapchat Has Registered 1 Million Voters, And 65% Of Them Are Gen Z
  18. hiQ Labs, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp.
  19. US Labor Department investigates Microsoft’s efforts to improve diversity – Microsoft: “Our continued focus is to work hard to consider and develop the broadest range of qualified candidates for opportunities”
  20. Megaupload Lawsuits Remain on Hold Until 2021, Or (Much) Later
  21. Congressional Republicans With No Strategy On Pandemic, Healthcare, Societal Problems… Have Decided That The Internet Is The Real Problem
  22. Why Are Senate Democrats Helping Move Forward Trump’s Strategy Of Attacking The Internet?
  23. Donald Trump Now Wants To Repeal Section 230, Which Will Actually Make The Stuff He Complains About Worse
  24. Because Congress Apparently Has NOTHING AT ALL IMPORTANT To Work On, It Introduced TWO MORE Section 230 Bills Yesterday
  25. Jim Jordan Releases Yet ANOTHER Anti-230 Bill (Yes Another One)
  26. Reps. Gabbard And Gosar Introduce Ridiculous House Companion To Ridiculous Anti-230 Senate Bill From Senator Kennedy
  27. Section 230 Preempts Another Facebook Account Termination Case–Zimmerman v. Facebook (Eric Goldman)
  28. Content Moderation Case Study: Sensitive Mental Health Information Is Also A Content Moderation Challenge (2020)
  29. Content Moderation Case Study: Suppressing Content To Try To Stop Bullying (2019)
  30. Thank you for posting: Smoking’s lessons for regulating social media: Former Facebook executives admit they used the tobacco industry’s playbook for addictive products. Perhaps it can also be used to undo the damage.
  31. Hiding hate speech: political moderation on Facebook
  32. Facebook and Fake News in the “Anglophone Crisis” in Cameroon
  33. Facebook bans QAnon entirely, says previous crackdown wasn’t enough
  34. Facebook Pulls Trump Ads Connecting COVID-19 to the Acceptance of Refugees
  35. Facebook Expands Restrictions on Election-Related Advertising and Prohibits Ads Promoting Militarized Social Movements
  36. Facebook’s latest “groups” disaster will only make it more toxic
  37. Facebook Internal Memo Reveals Challenges Social Media Companies Face In Protecting Democracy
  38. Internet Shutdown: Is It Violation of Fundamental Rights?
  39. The (Potentially) Shifting Landscape of Online Marketplace Liability
  40. John McAfee arrested, indicted on tax evasion charges, sued for fraud
  41. Triller Has Inflated Active User Counts, Former Staffers Say
  42. How Amazon hid its safety crisis: Robots. Prime Day. Holiday peak. Internal records show Amazon has deceived the public on rising injury rates among its warehouse workers.
  43. If You’re Going To Sue YouTube For Infringement, Maybe First Don’t License Your Music To YouTube Or Setup Fake Accounts To Upload Your Own Works
  44. YouTube Revamps Retention Analytics To Give Creators More Data About How Their Videos Perform With Viewers
  45. YouTube Music Spins Up Global Charts Based On Video View Count
  46. YouTube Music drops monthly fee for Chromecast support
  47. 73% Of Brands Are Upping Their Influencer Marketing Spend (Report)
  48. Snap Doubles Down On Docuseries, Unscripted Originals With New Shows From Kevin Hart, Loren Gray 
  49. David Dobrik’s ‘Dispo’ Raises $4 Million Seed Round From Alexis Ohanian, Vlog Squad Members, More
  50. Instagram Expands Shoppable Ads To IGTV—And, Later This Year, To TikTok Competitor Reels
  51. How AMC Used Social Video To Keep ‘The Walking Dead’ Fans Living This Summer
  52. Spotify Will Now Enable Podcasters To Generate Shareable ‘Promo Cards’ For Social Media
  53. How Much Money Are Creators Making On TikTok’s $1 Billion Creator Fund?
  54. From selling songs to engineering experiences: exploring the competitive strategies of music streaming platforms
  55. Open Access Faces Many Problems; Here’s One That The Indispensable Internet Archive Is Helping To Solve
  56. Trapped-ion quantum computer sets new mark for quantum volume
  57. Sourcegraph: Devs are managing 100x more code now than they did in 2010
  58. Our New Monetization Experiment: Coil & The Web Monetization Protocol
  59. Can I keep my .eu domain name after the post-Brexit transition period?
  60. Court holds $100 million Kin coin offering violated federal law
  61. Form 1040 Cryptocurrency Question is New for 2020
  62. Owner Of Bitcoin Exchange Convicted of international conspiracy to commit money laundering and racketeering
  63. “Life Moves Pretty Fast”: a decade on from bitcoin, English law confronts cryptoassets
  64. Court Rules That Sales of Digital Tokens Were Illegal Unregistered Securities Offerings

A.I.

  1. High Court confirms that the class of inventions created by AI machines is not patentable
  2. Patents Court Determines Machines Can’t be Inventors
  3. High Court Holds that AI Machines Cannot Be Inventors, Further Paving Way for Legislative Phase of the DABUS Saga 
  4. Focusing on Value: Viewing AI Through an IP Lens
  5. Thaler v Comptroller-General: Part 2 – What now for AI inventions following Thaler?
  6. Toyota’s ceiling-mounted robot is like GLaDOS for your kitchen
  7. Palantir Presentations Show How The LAPD Is Able To Turn Tons Of Garbage Data Into Ineffective Policing
  8. After Years Of Claiming It Doesn’t Use Facial Recognition Software, The LAPD Admits It Has Used It 30,000 Times Since 2009
  9. SITREP: With “Skyborg,” Air Force hopes to give pilots a “loyal wingman”
  10. The laughing policebot: automation and the end of policing
  11. Getting into the engine room: a blueprint to investigate the shadowy steps of AI ethics
  12. Artificial intelligence – machine or real contractual partner? 
  13. Will AI replace humans? The GPT-3 Guardian op-ed shows the humans have a continuing, but evolving, role.
  14. Advising AI Start-Ups 

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. What Happened to Canada’s Innovation Agenda?: How Innovation Policy Has Been Sidelined By Cultural Policies and Misplaced Provincial Prioritization of Patents (Michael Geist)
  2. Guide to Doing Business in Canada: CASL
  3. Mississippi Says AT&T Took $283 Million For A Network It Never Fully Deployed
  4. AT&T kills DSL, leaves tens of millions of homes without fiber Internet
  5. AT&T offloading DirecTV could be a “fire sale” as company weighs low bids
  6. Report Says 20 Million U.S. Broadband Complaints Went Unresolved Last Year 
  7. The real risks of 5G
  8. Buying Verizon 5G Home is even harder than finding a Verizon mobile 5G signal
  9. Verizon Is Still Abusing The Hell Out Of The Word ‘Unlimited’
  10. SpaceX has launched enough satellites for Starlink’s upcoming public beta
  11. Order Responding to Net Neutrality Court Decision Circulated for Consideration at FCC’s October Meeting 
  12. FCC Formalizes Foreign Investment Review Process

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1.  Fake News, Fake Views and the Parody Exception
  2. Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. (SCOTUS Oral Arguments Transcript, October 7, 2020)
  3. Oracle Is Wrong About Having Permission To Reimplement Amazon’s API. But They Shouldn’t Need It.
  4. The Supreme Court hears Oracle v. Google tomorrow—here’s what’s at stake
  5. Copyright Owner Claims Ownership Over Depicting Emoji Symbols in Multiple Colors–Cub Club v. Apple (Eric Goldman)
  6. Does Copyright Literally Protect Source Code Figuratively? 
  7. Nikola issues copyright takedowns against critics who use rolling-truck clip
  8. Nikola’s Plan To Combat Its No Good, Very Bad Month Appears To Be Using Copyright To Silence Critics 
  9. Knowingly Removing Photographer’s Credit Costs Buzzfeed Under DMCA
  10. Hugo Boss Opposes Artist’s ‘Be Boss, Be Kind’ Trademark For Merch 
  11. Toy Story 4’s Duke Caboom Crashes into Evel Kneivel’s Son 
  12. Breaking news: the queen monitors trade mark filings
  13. David Dobrik Looks To Be Cooking Up ‘Doughbrik’s Pizza’ Business, Per Trademark Filings 
  14. The Fit Kitchen Case and the value of trade marks
  15. Supreme Court Settles Long-Standing Circuit Split on Trademark Damages: Willful Infringement Is Not a Prerequisite for Awarding a Trademark Infringer’s Profits
  16. Spolar v. Discovery: Court refuses to restrain Discovery from broadcasting documentary about last photograph of Lincoln, finding prior restraint and that plaintiffs failed to establish claim for misappropriation of trade secrets. 
  17. DOJ Indictment of Chinese Hackers for Break-Ins at 100 Companies Reinforces The Importance of Protecting Trade Secrets and Implementing Security Protections 
  18. Revisiting Supreme Court Nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Recent Trade Secret Opinion
  19. Federal Court of Appeal affirms largest reported Canadian patent infringement award in history
  20. Patentability of Computer-Implemented Inventions in Canada – The Amazon Saga Continues
  21. Federal Court rejects problem-solution approach, opening field for computer-implemented inventions
  22. Challenges for Extended Reality (XR) Companies in Patent Prosecution and Litigation 
  23. Lithium-ion battery separators – crucial patent developments
  24. GSK v. Teva – Induced Infringement Liability Despite Skinny Label 
  25. GSK vs. Teva: Induced Infringement, Skinny Labels and Fat Damages
  26. Skinny Labelling on Generic Drugs Does Not Avoid Induced Infringement of Patents Covering Non-Indicated Uses
  27. Former Patent Litigator Becomes Federal Judge And Begins Advertising For Patent Trolls To Come To His Court (And They Have In Droves) 
  28. US Patent Law Year in Review: October 2019 – September 2020
  29. Guide to Doing Business in Canada: Intellectual property
  30. Democratising Knowledge: Transforming Intellectual Property and Research and Development
  31. Jim Murphy’s Article “5 Areas of Intellectual Property You Should Focus on Now,” Featured in Built In

PRIVACY

  1. A decision by the Québec Access to Information Commissioner highlights the importance of compliance with both ‎federal and provincial privacy legislation
  2. 40% of data breach records insufficient – Canadian Privacy Commissioner releases findings on data breach register inspections
  3. Four Million Downloads and Counting: Everyone Should Install the COVID Alert App (Michael Geist)
  4. European Court of Justice Invalidates EU-US Privacy Shield Framework 
  5. Mass claims for data breaches: if Lloyd v Google doesn’t open the floodgates then perhaps the DCMS will?
  6. Give up Google, don’t hit ‘accept all’: how to fight for your privacy – In Privacy Is Power, professor Carissa Véliz has made a shocking survey of how much intimate data we are surrendering. But she has a plan to fight back
  7. Paying ransomware demands could land you in hot water with the feds
  8. Biggest Ransomware Attack Yet Crippled U.S. Hospitals Last Weekend
  9. U.S. Government Warns Companies of Legal Risk for Paying Ransom to Cybercriminals
  10. Palantir, Big Data’s scariest, most secretive unicorn, is going public. But is its crystal ball just smoke and mirrors? 
  11. U.S. Government Publishes White Paper Following Schrems II Decision 
  12. In the Aftermath of Schrems II, an Irish Court Temporarily Allows Facebook’s Data Transfers to the US to Continue
  13. US responds to Schrems II judgment 
  14. The Privacy Shield Sunk, but Is There a Life Raft for the Standard Contractual Clauses? Strategies for Transferring Personal Data Across the Atlantic from a Post-Schrems II Europe 
  15. Right to privacy: will reliance on WhatsApp messages in misconduct proceedings be a breach of the right to privacy? 
  16. What Does the Legislature Have to Show for Its CCPA Amendments in 2020? Not Much 
  17. Consumer Reports Study Shows California’s Privacy Law Is A Poorly-Enforced Mess
  18. Over 50 Privacy Professionals & Experts Oppose Prop. 24 (Eric Goldman)
  19. UK Tribunal To Decide Whether Gov’t Agencies Can Continue To Pretend There’s A Residency Requirement For FOI Requests

CREATIVITY

  1. Judge Refuses To Dismiss Batch Of Nicholas Sandmann’s Media Lawsuits In The Laziest Defamation Ruling I’ve Ever Seen
  2. Texas Grand Jury Indicts Netflix For ‘Lewd Exhibition’ Of Children In Its Movie ‘Cuties’
  3. NY Times Editorial Pages Mess Up Again: Publishes Chinese Official’s Ridiculous Defense Of Stifling Freedom In Hong Kong
  4. Court Gives Vanilla Ice Cream False Advertising Claims a Frosty Reception

GAMES

  1. Nintendo wins $2m in lawsuit against Team Xecutor resellers: UberChips.com ordered to cease sale of Switch hack devices and destroy all remaining stock
  2. Genuine Enabling Tech’s Lawsuit Alleging Patent Infringement by Nintendo Wii and Switch Products Dismissed
  3. Mother and son seeking $5m in latest Joy-Con drift lawsuit against Nintendo: Plaintiff argues platform holder has not done enough to address Switch issue and does not warn about drift in marketing
  4. Depicting Randy Orton’s Tattoos in a Video Game Could Be Copyright Infringement–Alexander v. WWE 2K (Eric Goldman)
  5. Take-Two Going To Trial Over Yet Another Tattoo Artist Claiming Copyright On Athlete Bodies
  6. Epic Games and Apple will head to trial in May 2021
  7. What lessons can be learnt from Voodoo’s action against Rollic? | Opinion: Harbottle & Lewis’ Kostya Lobov looks at what the casual games giant’s victory means for fighting clones
  8. 20% of Ubisoft staff don’t feel respected or safe at work, reveals internal survey
  9. Designer accuses Ember Labs of underpayment, unfulfilled promises: Ember Labs spokesperson says studio has paid all invoices, “never promised a certain salary”
  10. Nexus Mods bans political content until after next US presidential inauguration: “We have neither the time, the care or the wish to moderate such things”
  11. UK Government launches consultation on loot boxes
  12. WBIE head says Rowling is “entitled to express her personal opinion”: Hogwarts Legacy publisher’s David Haddad tells employees anti-trans Harry Potter author “has the right to hold her opinions”
  13. The thing about trolls is they regenerate | 10 Years Ago This Month: It’s time to tell the scary story of Edge Games, Tim Langdell, and the trademark dispute that would not die
  14. Burger King, Stevenage and my FIFA confusion
  15. Rare, Playground Games and Ninja Theory unite for Women of Xbox UK: Rare’s Louise O’Connor discusses the new initiative, which kicks off with a video series that starts today
  16. Aaron Greenberg: “Does the price of a game even matter, if it’s in Game Pass?”: Xbox games marketing GM responds to question over whether Microsoft will raise game prices
  17. Apex Legends brings cross-play to PS4, Xbox One, and PC next week
  18. Download-free demos via xCloud is (somewhere) on Xbox’s to-do list
  19. Sony expects PS5 to sell more than 7m units by April: PlayStation president Jim Ryan says “the value is obvious” when it comes to $70 price point for games
  20. PS5 will change Sony’s Japanese button standards: Next PlayStation switches menu confirmation button from O to X to bring Japan in line with other regions
  21. Astro’s Playroom devs played a key part in the creation of the PS5’s DualSense
  22. PlayStation 5 runs cool and quiet, according to initial hands-on reports
  23. The first PlayStation 5 teardown reveals some hardware secrets
  24. PlayStation 5 teardown offers an up-close look at the next-gen console
  25. Has Xbox changed discoverability with its new store?
  26. Hardware launches and pre-orders desperately need a shake-up | Opinion: Retailers and manufacturers have failed consumers with the botched, badly-managed launches of consoles and graphics cards in recent weeks
  27. Chromecast with Google TV won’t support Stadia until 2021: Google’s new replacement for Stadia-compatible dongle won’t officially have game streaming for several months, but Stadia Android app can be sideloaded
  28. Antstream can stream over 1,200 retro games for $10 a month
  29. Blizzard delays World of Warcraft’s Shadowlands expansion: Release moved to later in the year for additional polish and balancing
  30. Capcom tries again with Monster Hunter Stories 2 — but why?: Capcom slips another quarter into the machine and makes a play for Japan’s kids market
  31. Sky: Children of the Light has topped 50 million installs worldwide
  32. Starbreeze says Payday 3 development is underway, this time using Unreal Engine
  33. Report: Roblox readies to go public in early 2021
  34. Roblox’s user-generated game platform could go public at $8 billion valuation
  35. Roblox reportedly is preparing to go public: Children’s gaming platform expects an $8 billion valuation
  36. Rovio CEO Kati Levoranta will leave the company at the end of 2020
  37. Thirdverse secures $8.5m in Series A funding: The Japanese studio, previously known as Yomuneco, is currently working as publisher on inXile’s Frostpoint VR
  38. Riot Games shuts Sydney office and scraps OPL esports league
  39. Riot Games closes Sydney office: Company confirms ten employees impacted by the closure
  40. Report: Call of Duty publisher Actvision Blizzard to shut down French office
  41. Activision Blizzard closing France office – Report: Publisher pulling the plug on marketing, customer service and localizing office that had hundreds of employees
  42. Thunderful Group acquires UK developer Coatsink for $29.8 million
  43. Tencent grabs ‘major stake’ in GTFO developer 10 Chambers
  44. Tencent takes “a major stake” in GTFO studio 10 Chambers: Swedish dev from veterans of Payday needed “more muscle” to realise its ambitions for co-op shooter GTFO
  45. Genshin Impact censors “Hong Kong” and “Taiwan” in in-game chat: But Niko Partners’ Daniel Ahmad explains why this is common to all Chinese-developed games
  46. Genshin Impact becomes biggest international launch for a Chinese game: The free-to-play RPG is the second top-grossing app on iOS in China, only beaten by the Chinese version of TikTok
  47. Genshin Impact hit 17m mobile downloads in four days
  48. Genshin Impact made $60m in its first week on mobile alone: Sensor Tower MiHoYo’s open-world adventure was the second-highest grossing mobile title worldwide during its launch week
  49. Mortal Kombat 11 has topped 8 million sales in under two years
  50. I played 15 hours of Baldur’s Gate 3 early access, and I want them back
  51. Star Wars Squadrons impressions: A heavy asterisk at launch for PC players
  52. Mario’s early levels wear out their welcome in Super Mario Bros. 35
  53. Interior Night’s mission to turn non-gamers into gamers: We speak to CEO Caroline Marchal about the nuanced narrative of upcoming Microsoft exclusive As Dusk Falls
  54. Some Epic Games Store games can now be purchased through GOG Galaxy 2.0
  55. GOG Galaxy 2.0 to sell Epic Games Store titles: The client will offer games that were previously exclusive to Epic’s platform
  56. Chat Filtering exits Steam Labs testing, is now a bonafide Steam feature
  57. Valve adds chat filter after successful Steam Labs test: The new tool hides hateful language from people you don’t know by default in Steam Chat
  58. ‘Resident Evil’ Reboot: Kaya Scodelario, Robbie Amell, Hannah John-Kamen, Neal McDonough & More To Star In Origin Story Adaptation
  59. Twitch Reinforces Guidelines Surrounding Terrorist, Violent Extremist Content
  60. Facebook Gaming surpassed one billion hours watched in Q3: Twitch viewership cools somewhat after pandemic spike, while YouTube and Facebook continue stready rise
  61. Twitch Launches ‘Soundtrack’, A Library Of 1 Million Licensed Songs For Streamers
  62. Twitch signs exclusive deal with CohhCarnage: Variety streamer agrees to multi-year pact that will have him livestreaming full-time on the platform
  63. Streamer Ben ‘CohhCarnage’ Cassell Re-Signs To Twitch In Exclusive, Multi-Year Deal
  64. Activision Blizzard esports CEO Pete Vlastelica is stepping down
  65. OWL Commissioner and Activision Blizzard Esports CEO Pete Vlastelica steps down: Vlastelica first took on the commissioner role last year following the departure of Nate Nanzer
  66. G-Loot secures $56m in new investment for expansion plans: Swedish esports firm closes a huge round for its democratic esports tournament platform
  67. Tilting Point acquires TerraGenesis from Edgeworks Entertainment
  68. ‘Star Wars: Squadrons’ Review – The New Top Gun of VR Dogfighters
  69. ‘Star Wars: Squadrons’ VR FAQ – Supported Headsets, Comfort Settings, Min Specs & More
  70. Google officially ends support for Daydream VR
  71. Going in-depth with Nintendo’s augmented reality Mario Kart RC car
  72. Niantic launches new Pokemon Go initiative to help small businesses hit by COVID
  73. The history of Galloping Ghost, the USA’s largest classic arcade
  74. The player-focused design and development of battle royale breakout Spellbreak
  75. Hades makes endless struggle entertaining | Why I Love: Lucid Tales co-founders dive into what elevates Supergiant Games’ underworld roguelike
  76. The strange flexibility of boundaries in strategy games
  77. Push and pull: How to build an in-game economy – Unity Technologies’ Julie Shumaker explains how to knit together the key components of a robust and engaging game economy
  78. Blog: What to expect when you’re expecting (a content creator)
  79. Blog: Using statistics to design balanced dice
  80. Blog: Switch & Steam discount strategies? Here’s some good ones
  81. Blog: Notes from the Q&A sessions with Steam
  82. Blog: Estimating platform revenues – a discovery conundrum!
  83. Blog: Tips and advice for pitching your game to a publisher 
  84. Blog: Moving to 170 mini remote offices while maintaining your culture
  85. Blog: Should game devs become YouTubers to get (more) successful?
  86. Video: Maintaining your mental health while working in games
  87. Video: Brenda Romero’s hidden histories of women in programming
  88. Video: The data-driven game design of Rainbow Six Siege
  89. Video: Working in games with chronic illness
  90. Video: Best practices for accessible in-game communication
  91. Don’t Miss: Interior Mapping – rendering real rooms without geometry
  92. Don’t Miss: The buzzer-beating bug fix that saved Crash Bandicoot
  93. Don’t Miss: Spilling data-driven indie marketing secrets with No More Robots’ Mike Rose
  94. Don’t Miss: Double Fine’s in-depth postmortem of Costume Quest 2
  95. U.S. Patent no. 9,498,706: System and method for providing an enhanced research game mechanic

Jon

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News of the Week; September 30, 2020

By Jon Festinger on October 3, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. Microsoft boots apps out of Azure used by China-sponsored hackers
  2. Trump likely overstepped authority with TikTok ban, judge rules
  3. Judge Rejected Ban On TikTok Because Trump’s DOJ Can’t Show Any Real National Security Threat
  4. Court Enjoins Trump Administration’s Attempt to Kick TikTok Out of App Stores–TikTok v. Trump (Eric Goldman)
  5. The Politics and Optics of the TikTok Ban: Data privacy and security concerns are not TikTok specific
  6. Judge grants TikTok a reprieve, ban will not go into effect tonight
  7. Court Says Trump’s Plan To Block TikTok Can’t Go Into Effect Yet
  8. TikTok And The DOJ Still Fighting It Out In Court Despite Oracle ‘Deal’
  9. Judge gives Trump admin. Friday deadline to delay or defend TikTok ban
  10. TikTok and the First Amendment: TikTok users have free speech rights—and courts should pay attention.
  11. Restrictions Affecting WeChat and TikTok: Now Clearly Defined, But Facing Legal Challenges
  12. Further TikTok Developments: Commerce Identifies and Prohibits Certain Transactions Effective Sept 27
  13. On The Podcast: As YouTube Tests A TikTok Competitor, It Wants You To Remember It’s ALWAYS Been About Short Videos
  14. The New US Restrictions on WeChat Usage
  15. Internet terms and conditions: Second Circuit declines to enforce arbitration agreement accessible through browsewrap hyperlink
  16. Disinformation, QAnon efforts targeting Latino voters ramp up ahead of presidential election
  17. Study Finds ‘Single Largest Driver’ of Coronavirus Misinformation: Trump – Cornell researchers analyzing 38 million articles about the pandemic found President Trump was the largest driver of the “infodemic.”
  18. Facebook needs to enforce misinfo rules against Trump, Biden campaign says
  19. Former Facebook manager: “We took a page from Big Tobacco’s playbook”
  20. Facebook Sued For Not Preventing A Bunch A White Guys With Guns From Traveling To A Protest To Shoot People
  21. Facebook’s long-awaited oversight board to launch before US election: Body will be able to overrule some content moderation decisions and plans to be ready to hear user appeals next month
  22. The Social Dilemma Manipulates You With Misinformation As It Tries To Warn You Of Manipulation By Misinformation
  23. Alphabet, shareholders settle in lawsuits over sexual harassment at Google
  24. YouTube celebrates Deaf Awareness Week by killing crowd-sourced captions
  25. YouTube Unveils New Tools To Thwart Misinformation About Mail-In Voting
  26. Text Message-Based Social Platform ‘Community’ Onboards President Obama
  27. Charges filed in hack that caused NFL athlete’s nude pics to be posted on Twitter
  28. Apple backs down on taking 30% cut of paid online events on Facebook
  29. Epic, Spotify, and others take on Apple with “Coalition for App Fairness”
  30. Chernin Entertainment To Develop Spotify Podcasts For Film, TV In First-Look Deal
  31. China Blocks Wikimedia From WIPO… Because There’s A Taiwanese Wikimedia Chapter
  32. Time to decolonise the Internet (Andres Guadamuz)
  33. Germany Drops Idea Of ‘Pre-Flagging’ Legal Uploads, Which Could Have Stopped EU Copyright Filters Blocking Memes, Parodies, Quotes And Creative Commons Material
  34. Hate speech: can we all agree on a definition?
  35. Justice Department Releases Its Dangerous & Unconstitutional Plan To Revise Section 230
  36. Part I: The History and Evolution of Section 230
  37. Part II: Section 230 and Proposals for Revision – Some Critical Commentary on Executive Branch Updates
  38. Sen. Graham Cares More About Trolls Than Section 230 (Comments on Online Content Policy Modernization Act) (Eric Goldman)
  39. I See This Stupid New Section 230 Bill, And I Say It’s A Stupid Section 230 Bill
  40. Why Do Republican Senators Seem To Want To Turn Every Website Into A Trash Heap Of Racism & Abuse?
  41. Content Moderation Case Study: Twitter’s Algorithm Misidentifies Harmless Tweet As ‘Sensitive Content’ (April 2018)
  42. Content Moderation Case Study: Ask.fm Responds After A Teen’s Suicide Is Linked To Bullying On The Site (August 2013)
  43. Covid ‘long haulers’ have nowhere else to turn — so they’re finding each other online
  44. The Need For A Robust Critical Community In Content Policy
  45. Josh Hawley Is A Lying Demagogue Who Has Built A Fake Fantasy World About ‘Evil Big Tech’
  46. The Biden campaign wants to take back YouTube: Biden is courting YouTubers ahead of the election
  47. How a Slacker Frog in an MS Paint Zine Became a Villain for the Alt-Right: In the new documentary “Feels Good Man” filmmakers Angelini and Jones carefully examine Pepe the Frog’s fraught and fascinating legacy.
  48. Conceptualising technology, its development and future: The six genres of technology
  49. The commodification of time and memory: Online communities and the dynamics of commercially produced nostalgia
  50. Lifestyle Enclaves in the Instagram City?
  51. Meet OnlyTweets, The Unofficial Twitter Feature That Lets Creators Monetize Their Feeds
  52. Proposed EU rule may mean you can finally delete some apps from your phone
  53. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 9/28/2020
  54. Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels • Week Of 9/28/2020
  55. David Dobrik’s Tesla Giveaway Has Driven A Staggering 82,000 Voter Registrations Thus Far
  56. Insights: An Agent’s Advice On How Creators And Brands Can Navigate Social Media’s Messiest Moment
  57. Senator asks DHS if foreign-controlled browser extensions threaten the US
  58. TikTok Is Now Sponsoring A NASCAR Driver
  59. Digital Marketplace The Lobby Wants To Be “QVC Meets TikTok”
  60. How Internet-connected voter check-in devices can create election chaos
  61. OCC Clarifies Status of Stablecoins, US Agencies Procure Blockchain Applications, Solutions Launch on Hedera Hashgraph and VeChain, DOJ Targets Darknet Markets
  62. Coinbase doubles down on anti-politics stance with exit package offer
  63. D-Wave releases its next-generation quantum annealing chip
  64. Feels Good Man, a film that truly gets how things are passed across the Internet

A.I.

  1.  To Surveil and Predict: A Human Rights Analysis of Algorithmic Policing in Canada (Kate Robertson, Cynthia Khoo, Yolanda Song)
  2. Virality, Algorithms, and Illiberal Attacks on the Press: Legitimation Strategies for a New World
  3. Human Says No: AI Can’t Be Patent Inventor, Rules High Court Judge
  4. Should the legal definition of “inventor” encompass an AI machine? The position following “DABUS”
  5. Thaler v Comptroller-General: Part 1 – AI systems cannot be an inventor under the Patents Act 
  6. UK High Court Denies DABUS Appeal 
  7. Is AI leaving IP behind? HMG consults 
  8. Artificial Intelligence Licensing: What You Need to Know
  9. Patent application strategies in the field of artificial intelligence based on examination standards 
  10. Deep fakes, inventorship and ethics – WIPO revised issues paper on Artificial Intelligence
  11. Artificial Intelligence and its challenges for Intellectual Property 
  12. Episode 2: Ulrike till, Director of the division of Artificial Intelligence policy at the World Intellectual Property Organisation 
  13. Considerations and Challenges Regarding Patents for Drug Discovery Using Artificial Intelligence 
  14. Employment Law Red Flags in the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Hiring 
  15. California Intelligence Center’s Facial Recognition Searches Are Turning Good Evidence Into Illegally-Obtained Evidence 
  16. Can Algorithms Violate Fair Housing Laws?: Landlords increasingly use screening services to weed out renters. Advocates say both landlords and the algorithms should be accountable when things go wrong.
  17. ICE Is Hauling In More Data Than Ever And Palantir Is Helping It Turn Data Into Detainments
  18. Intel, Heidelberg University team up to bring Radeon GPU support to AI
  19. Deep algebra for deep beats: The beautiful sounds of musical programming 
  20. Ofqual and the Algorithm 
  21. Uber case highlights risks of automated decisions about employees
  22. New ICO guidance on AI: Privacy by design saves retro-fitting later

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. An Anti-Digital Agenda: Forget the Digital Policy Reboot, the Government Just Hit Delete Instead (Michael Geist)
  2. “Get Money from Web Giants” Grows: Canadian Heritage Minister Guilbeault Says Government Working on a New Data Tax (Michael Geist)
  3. Guilbeault’s Bogus Billion Dollar Claim: What the Data Actually Says About Canadian Film and TV Production (Michael Geist)
  4. Cord Cutting Has Utterly Exploded During the Covid Crisis
  5. The EU Makes It Clear That ‘Zero Rating’ Violates Net Neutrality
  6. Verizon, AT&T to pay $127M for allegedly overcharging government agencies
  7. Telecom providers support Federal Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold lowering of wholesale rates
  8. Hypocrite FCC Commissioner Cheers On Zoom Block Usage By Person He Disagrees With; While Insisting Social Media Shouldn’t Block People
  9. FCC Keeps Using Bogus Data To Claim It’s Closing The ‘Digital Divide’ 
  10. FCC Adopts New Rules on Transparency and Timeliness of Foreign Ownership Review 
  11. Stacked Deck?: Trump Nominates Judge that Has Already Ruled on TCPA’s ATDS Definition to Supreme Court Just In Time For Facebook ATDS Appeal 
  12. Senator Blumenthal Warns AT&T Not To Make Wireless Privacy A Luxury Option
  13. Report Notes Musk’s Starlink Won’t Have The Capacity To Truly Disrupt U.S. Telecom 
  14. Ubiquitous technologies and 5G development. Who owns the rarest technologies?
  15. Smart cars, cities and 5G – what does the future hold for the IoT and connectivity 
  16. Will the Passing of Justice Ginsburg Impact the Future of the TCPA?

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1.  Access Copyright v. York University – Update on Supreme Court – Replies Have Been Filed (Howard Knopf)
  2. The Outpost – Mass Copyright Litigation (Howard Knopf)
  3. How To Be Funny And Not A Jerk In A Cease And Desist Notice, From The Doobie Brothers
  4. Bill Murray Responds To Doobie Bros. Copyright Letter With Snark, No Offer To Pay For Use Of Song 
  5. Threats with a smile: The cease-and-desist letter in a time of social media
  6. Federal District Court Rules Nicki Minaj’s Remake of Tracy Chapman Song Protected by Fair Use
  7. Celebrities v. Paparazzo Copyright in Photographs of Themselves
  8. Supreme Court denies copyrightability of Georgia code annotations 
  9. Federal Court of Appeal upholds Hilton’s right to use the Waldorf Astoria trademark in Canada: Ruling says registered trademark can be enforced even if there is no physical presence in country
  10. Not all pun and games: Federal Court not amused with cannabis company’s brand parody
  11. Woof: Jack Daniels Takes Fight Over Doggy Chew Toy To The Supreme Court
  12. BrewDog’s ‘Elvis Juice’ Now An Approved Trademark In The UK, But Not the EU
  13. Burger King Fights Proxy War Against McDonald’s Over Hungry Jack Trademark Dispute
  14. Back of the net: Messi scores definitive victory in a nine-year legal dispute over his trade mark
  15. Royal opposition
  16. High Court rejects appeal to register Jaguar Land Rover shape marks
  17. No defence for the Defender – Land Rover loses trade mark shape battle with Ineos
  18. Second Circuit Reverses Tiffany & Co.’s $21 Million Judgment Against Costco Wholesale Corporation
  19. Pizza & Chicken finger lickin’? 
  20. Is Western Sahara a no-go for trademark protection? 
  21. Trade-secret protections are getting stronger – and other IP trends chemical companies need to know 
  22. Defining design life: The importance of precision
  23. Federal Court of Appeal affirms largest reported Canadian patent infringement award in history 
  24. 8 important life sciences IP issues for innovators doing business in Canada
  25. Federal Court finds Eli Lilly’s tadalafil dosage form and process patents invalid
  26. Federal Court Finds CIPO Examination Practice Out of Line with Supreme Court Precedents 
  27. Problem Found with Problem-Solution Approach to Claim Interpretation 
  28. Egenera Inc. v. Cisco Systems Inc. 
  29. Inventiveness+? Divergent theories of the “inventive concept” in patent-eligible subject matter 
  30. An Old Method Using an Old Product From a New Source Is Not New
  31. Actual Definitions Can Help Avoid Erroneous Constructions of Patent Claims
  32. Speedfit’s Treadmill Patent “Runs Into” On-Sale Bar Invalidity Due to Collateral Estoppel Stemming from a Prior Litigation on a Different Patent
  33. IPR Estoppel: It’s Not A Second Bite at the Apple if You Didn’t Get a First Bite
  34. Drug Patent Invalid Due to Poor Quality Translation 
  35. Finding Claims Non-obvious Was Not Error, It Was the Application of the Proper Evidentiary Standard
  36. When Are Recombinant Proteins Structurally Different Than Their Natural Counterparts?
  37. If Patents Are So Important To Innovation, Why Do Innovative Companies Keep Opening Up Their Patents Rather Than Enforcing Them?
  38. Ninth Circuit Overturns FTC-Requested Injunction Against Refusal To License Standard Essential Patents
  39. Implementers of Standard Essential Patents in Germany Must “Clearly and Unambiguously” Express Their Willingness to Take a License Under Fair, Reasonable, and Non-Discriminatory Terms 
  40. Intellectual Property Rights in Recipes and Food
  41. Purchasing intellectual property by way of an asset sale and purchase

PRIVACY

  1.  Federal Court finds reasonable Health Canada’s decision that enantiomer of previously approved drug not entitled to data protection
  2. Court of Appeal for British Columbia might recognize common law tort of breach of privacy
  3. Sask. privacy commissioner finds clinic’s loss of Dictaphone with patient info was privacy breach 
  4. When coffee makers are demanding a ransom, you know IoT is screwed
  5. The High Privacy Cost of a “Free” Website: Trackers piggybacking on website tools leave some site operators in the dark about who is watching or what marketers do with the data 
  6. Clouds without borders: the dangers of non-localized cloud contracts
  7. EU Still Asking For The Impossible (And The Unnecessary): ‘Lawful Access’ To Encrypted Material That Doesn’t Break Encryption
  8. DHS Probably Didn’t Clone Phones To Intercept Protesters’ Communications 
  9. Ex-eBay employees to plead guilty in “bloody pig mask” cyberstalking case 
  10. Mapping power and jurisdiction on the internet through the lens of government-led surveillance
  11. U.S. Government White Paper to Help Companies Address the EU’s National Security Concerns in Schrems II
  12. Unspoken truths about Schrems II 
  13. U.S. Government issues white paper regarding EU-U.S. personal data transfers 
  14. The EU personal data transmission guarantees have universal application: Schrems v Facebook
  15. Out of Control: Failing EU Laws For Digital Surveillance Export 
  16. Portland City Council Passes Strongest Ban on Facial Recognition in US 
  17. Inspector General’s Report Confirms CBP Contractor Was Hacked, Resulting In Sensitive Info Making Its Way To The Dark Web 
  18. Home A-Drone: Surveillance Invited into Our Houses
  19. An Early Recap of Privacy in 2020: A US Perspective 
  20. California Governor Vetoes Genetic Information Privacy Act 

CREATIVITY

  1. Court of Queen’s Bench judge upholds bylaw banning trailer ads that blight southern Alberta vistas
  2. A Deaccessioning Decision Tree Grows in Brooklyn—Selling Museum Art in Hard Times
  3. Judge Vyskocil: Tucker Carlson’s “Extortion” Jab Was Hyperbole, Not Defamation

GAMES

  1. Take-Two sued over use of tattoos in WWE 2K: A judge has ruled that a trial will be required to decide whether it constitutes copyright infringement
  2. WWE 2K maker Take-Two heading to trial after copying tattoo artist’s work
  3. Alexander v. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.
  4. Alexander v. Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.: Memorandum And Order of September 26, 2020
  5. Nintendo’s lawsuit against Switch hack seller to land it $2 million in damages
  6. Supercell to pay $8.5 million over patent dispute with F2P dev Gree
  7. Epic and Apple don’t want Fortnite dispute settled by a jury 
  8. Epic vs Apple judge calls for trial by jury: Trial could begin in July 2021 at the earliest, still no ruling on whether Fortnite can return to iOS
  9. Apple and Epic’s big anti-trust showdown likely to take place next summer
  10. Epic Games goes to battle with Apple and Google: The dispute so far
  11. Apple v. Epic hearing previews a long, hard-fought trial to come
  12. Breaking Down the Epic v. Apple Fight
  13. Epic and Apple decline trial by jury: Apple withdraws demand for jury from countersuit as both firms look to court to settle Fortnite dispute
  14. Loot Boxes in Video Games – A Call for Evidence
  15. EA under fire for promoting FIFA loot boxes in toy catalogue: Ad encourages children to use virtual currency FIFA Points to open more Ultimate Team card packs
  16. Cyberpunk studio breaks promise, forces overtime on developers
  17. CD Projekt backtracks on anti-crunch commitments ahead of Cyberpunk launch
  18. CD Projekt Red reportedly enforcing mandatory crunch on Cyberpunk 2077: Studio head Adam Badowski assures “everyone is well compensated for every extra hour they put in”
  19. Michel Ancel denies link between departure and Ubisoft abuse scandal: Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot reportedly renewed his trust towards Ancel in August, despite the creative director being under investigation
  20. Genshin Impact removes controversial anti-cheat system: PC players expressed concerns for their privacy as the game’s anti-cheat program would always run in the background
  21. India unlikely to revoke PUBG ban: Government official says violence is the main issue now ties to Chinese giant Tencent have been severed
  22. Cloud streaming has larger carbon footprint than downloads, physical games: However, PlayStation study reveals that streaming has lower comparable emissions for games played under eight hours
  23. Amazon is muscling into cloud gaming with Luna 
  24. Amazon announces streaming gaming service Luna, launching next month
  25. Amazon announces new cloud gaming service, Luna: Early access launches soon on Fire TV, PC, Mac, and iOS web browser
  26. Amazon Luna servers will run Windows games directly on Nvidia T4 GPUs
  27. How Amazon’s Luna cloud gaming service compares to Stadia, xCloud, and GeForce Now: Amazon’s jumping into an increasingly crowded market
  28. Google’s new $50 Chromecast won’t support Stadia until sometime in 2021
  29. Zynga is shutting down FarmVille after over a decade
  30. FarmVille—yes, the original—is finally meeting its demise
  31. Zynga to sunset FarmVille after 11 years: The publisher’s most formative product will be shut down at the end of this year
  32. Glu Mobile opens e-commerce platform within Design Home: Design Home Inspired lets players buy real “home décor accessories” in-game
  33. Google to make third-party app store use easier with Android 12: But it’s also doubling down on its requirements that it get a 30% cut of Play Store sales
  34. Google announces crackdown on in-app billing, aimed at Netflix and Spotify
  35. Analysts and publishers say the boom in game sales is here to stay: Corporate heads and industry analysts expect at least some of the increased revenue of 2020 to stick around going forward
  36. ShopTo warns PS5 preorders may not arrive for launch: Retailer says Sony isn’t sending enough systems to cover initial preorders
  37. Xbox launching app for remote gameplay on iOS: Android version came out in beta just a few days ago
  38. The first Xbox Series S/X 1TB storage expansion card costs $220
  39. The 1TB storage expansions cards for the Xbox Series S and X will cost $220
  40. Xbox Series X previews report shorter load times, 802GB of usable storage: Quick Resume feature lets users quickly swap between multiple games
  41. Xbox Series X hands-on: The big back-compat dive begins
  42. Starting in November, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will include EA Play
  43. Japan is Xbox’s fastest growing market: Microsoft is aiming for simultaneous product launches for Japanese market; cloud streaming expected to launch in Japan in first half of 2021
  44. With Xbox Live MAUs up 82%, Phil Spencer calls Japan Xbox’s ‘fastest growing region’
  45. Phil Spencer: Microsoft ‘absolutely’ plans on releasing future console hardware
  46. Microsoft won’t try to buy industry dominance | Opinion: Microsoft was expected to buy control of the games biz from the start — the Zenimax acquisition echoes those times, but today’s Microsoft is a much smarter company
  47. Epic Games acquires SuperAwesome to create a range of ‘kid safe’ services
  48. Epic Games acquires SuperAwesome: The deal will see the two companies work together on “kid-safe” online services
  49. Krafton merging with PUBG Corp: Parent company of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds developer will claim PUBG Corp’s publishing and support teams, leaving development team to operate independently
  50. Worldwide digital games market: August 2020
  51. Two Mafia games break Top Ten, but Mario remains in charge | UK Boxed Charts: Super Mario 3D All Stars is the biggest game of September
  52. Nintendo Switch dominates in September | UK Monthly Charts: Mario games and Switch consoles perform strongly, but FIFA’s absence is felt
  53. Among Us drives record Discord installs: Discord’s daily downloads worldwide have reached around 800,000
  54. Niantic makes most Pokémon Go pandemic changes permanent: But the developer will also revert some of the game’s temporary bonuses this October
  55. The social media strategy behind Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout – Oliver Hindle explains how Mediatonic rapidly grew its hit game’s Twitter to one million followers
  56. Tekken franchise surpasses 50 million sales
  57. Rocket League tops 1 million concurrent players after free-to-play switch
  58. Rocket League passes 1m concurrent players: Psyonix reaches a new milestone as its competitive driving/football hybrid goes free-to-play
  59. Innersloth cancels Among Us 2 because the first game has become so popular
  60. Sumo Group acquires development studio Pipeworks to break into the U.S.
  61. Sumo Group acquires Pipeworks for $100m: Deal for Oregon-based studio adds 134 people to Sumo’s global workforce, and indicates ambitions to expand into the US
  62. Armada Interactive declares bankruptcy: Coffers run dry for Finnish mobile PvP studio four years after securing its first seed funding
  63. How former Techland staff plan to “cut the crap” from publishing: Untold Tales promises shorter and more transparent publishing agreements as it seeks single-player narrative-driven games
  64. Live-action Yakuza movie is in the works: Sega partners with 1212 and Wild Sheep for adaptation based on the franchise
  65. Tribeca Film Festival issues call for games submissions: Tribeca Games Award introduced alongside newly-formed games advisory board including Geoff Keighley, Hideo Kojima, Sam Lake
  66. Insomniac re-casts Peter Parker’s face model in Spider-Man Remastered: Ben Jordan to replace John Bubniak due to closer resemblance with voice actor Yuri Lowenthal
  67. A guide to designing transformative, empowering experiences: Robin Arnott and Heather Ray look into the many ways to create impactful games that evoke a wide range of emotional responses
  68. Streamers NarcolepticNugget And Dysmo Sign With Up North Management
  69. Gaming Company Settles SEC Charges for Sales of Unregistered Tokens
  70. UTA Taps Activision’s Eugene Wu To Work On Esports Brand Partnerships
  71. The US Navy paid $2m to marketing company to assist with foray into esports: Young & Rubicam, now VMLY&R, to promote Navy’s image, expand awareness, and ultimately up recruitment
  72. Facebook’s virtual reality push is about data, not gaming
  73. Oculus imaginaries: the promises and perils of Facebook’s virtual reality
  74. Outer Wilds’ existential loneliness is engaging, entertaining | Why I Love: Lovable Hat Cult’s Patrick Jarnfelt explores Mobius Digital’s curiously uplifting story of a doomed solar system
  75. Lessons from a year of running Remnant: From the Ashes
  76. Q&A: Lair of the Clockwork God devs on the infinite hustle of indie development
  77. Blog: A Space Moguls map screen retrospective
  78. Blog: Amazon’s Luna, what’s on the Steam front page, and more on discoverability
  79. Blog: Historians discuss A Total War Saga: Troy
  80. Blog: Understanding detective game design – Puzzles vs. story
  81. Blog: Which do you need – a UX designer, game designer, or both?
  82. Blog: Creating my facts-first game metrics website GameDataCrunch
  83. Video: Building teams that can prevent abuse
  84. Video: How game companies can do better philanthropy
  85. Video: Designing game communities for kindness
  86. Video: The business of fair play
  87. Video: How Star Renegades borrowed the Nemesis system for a turn-based RPG
  88. Don’t Miss: Evolving the combat design of id Software’s Doom Eternal
  89. Don’t Miss: ‘Make me think, make me move’: Doom’s deceptively simple design
  90. Don’t Miss: How Jackbox CEO Mike Bilder is grappling with quarantine-driven success
  91. Don’t Miss: The real story of Torchlight’s music
  92. Don’t Miss: How Insomniac built Marvel’s Spider-Man to do whatever a spider can
  93. 50 standout indie games nominated in this year’s IndieCade Awards
  94. Game Pink event to raise money for the National Breast Cancer Foundation
  95. U.S. Patent no. 9,533,229: Custom reward for viral help in game

Jon

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News of the Week; September 23, 2020

By Jon Festinger on September 26, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. Facebook Has Been a Disaster for the World: How much longer are we going to allow its platform to foment hatred and undermine democracy?
  2. StopHateForProfit Campaign Enlists Celebrities for 24 Hour Facebook and Instagram Freeze
  3. Facebook vows to restrict users if US election descends into chaos
  4. Facebook warns privacy rules could force it to exit European market
  5. Google could face federal, state antitrust suits next week, reports say
  6. Google Maps gets a COVID-19 layer
  7. Companies can track your phone’s movements to target ads
  8. Experts Say Internet Shutdowns Don’t Thwart Protests
  9. The TikTok ‘Deal’ Was A Grift From The Start: Accomplishes None Of The Stated Goals; Just Helps Trump & Friends
  10. Everything we know so far about Oracle not actually buying TikTok
  11. Blowback Time: China Says TikTok Deal Is A Model For How It Should Deal With US Companies In China
  12. China Calls TikTok Deal ‘Extortion’; Says It Will Not Approve
  13. Judge Issues Preliminary Injunction Saying That The US Cannot Block WeChat, Says The Ban Raises 1st Amendment Concerns
  14. Court blocks Trump’s WeChat ban from taking effect today
  15. Executive Orders on Pause: WeChat and TikTok Bans Temporarily Suspended
  16. Commerce Department’s Ban on WeChat and TikTok Mobile Applications Delayed on Eve of Implementation
  17. WeChat Executive Order Enjoined Because (Of Course) It’s Unconstitutional–WeChat Users v. Trump (Eric Goldman)
  18. Walmart and Oracle Deal with TikTok and WeChat Lawsuit Delay Commerce’s Ban on Transactions with WeChat and TikTok
  19. Details Of Unconstitutional WeChat/TikTok Ban Actually Would Make Users Of Those Apps Less Secure, Not More
  20. US Commerce Department Identifies Prohibited Transactions Involving WeChat and TikTok
  21. US-EU-UK Export Controls and Sanctions Alert The Commerce Department Announces Prohibitions on TikTok and WeChat – September 2020
  22. Department of Commerce Notices on Prohibited Transactions Relating to WeChat and TikTok
  23. TikTok Bans Ads For Diet Pills And Fasting Apps, Restricts Other Weight-Related Ads To Users 18+
  24. Impending WeChat ban won’t actually ban users from WeChat, DOJ says
  25. WeChat Users Fighting To Block Trump’s Executive Order Banning The App In The US
  26. Trump admin orders TikTok, WeChat gone from app stores on Sunday
  27. On The Podcast: Snapchat Really Is Planning To Take On TikTok
  28. Trump approves Oracle, TikTok deal “in concept”
  29. Trump Tentatively Approves Oracle, Walmart Deal For 20% Of TikTok
  30. Twitter Isn’t Liable for Defamatory Impersonation Account–Brikman v. Twitter (Eric Goldman)
  31. Trump Still Hates The 1st Amendment: Meeting With State Attorneys General To Tell Them To Investigate Internet Companies For Bias
  32. Facial Recognition Database Vendor May Not Qualify for Section 230–Vermont v. Clearview
  33. Online Content Policy Modernization Act Duplicates Existing Senate Republican Proposal to Limit Section 230 Liability Protections
  34. Justice Department sends its Section 230 rewrite to Congress
  35. Authors Of CDA 230 Do Some Serious 230 Mythbusting In Response To Comments Submitted To The FCC
  36. Court Rejects Clearview’s First Amendment, Section 230 Immunity Arguments
  37. Senator Lindsey Graham Must Be Desperate For Donations; Announces Terrible Bill That Mashes Up Bad 230 Reform With Bad Copyright Reform
  38. California Cities Voting On Ridiculous Resolution Asking Congress For Section 230 Reform… Because Of Violence At Protests?
  39. Busting Still More Myths About Section 230, For You And The FCC
  40. Content Moderation Case Study: Twitter Freezes Accounts Trying To Fact Check Misinformation (2020)
  41. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter Agree To Adopt Shared Harmful Content, Brand Safety Policies
  42. YouTube Facing $3 Billion Class Action Suit In The U.K. Alleging Collection Of Underage User Data
  43. Former YouTube Content Moderator Sues Company After Developing Depression, PTSD Symptoms
  44. FTC Signals Intent to Focus on Use of Social Media Bots in Advertising
  45. Political Digital Ads: Disclosure, Free Speech, and Legislation
  46. Who Done It?: Royal Seas Cruises to Face Bench Trial on Issue of Arbitrability After Plaintiff Denies Visiting Website
  47. YouTube Bringing More Human Mods Back To Work After Coronavirus-Related Pause
  48. Patient dies after ransomware attack reroutes her to remote hospital
  49. $100,000 in bribes helped fraudulent Amazon sellers earn $100 million, DOJ says
  50. User-generated video sharing platforms subject to new obligations
  51. Content Moderation Case Study: Usenet Has To Figure Out How To Deal With Spam (April 1994)
  52. Instagram Doubles Maximum ‘Reels’ Length To 30 Seconds
  53. Wayback Machine and Cloudflare team up to archive more of the Web
  54. Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels • Week Of 9/21/2020
  55. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 9/21/2020
  56. YouTube Creators Are Taking A New Approach To Make Sure Their Fans Are ‘Good To Vote.’ And It’s Working.
  57. YouTube Feeds K-pop Fervor With Next Original Series—An Inside Look At Weeklong Convention KCON:TACT
  58. Mozilla Is Trying To Dissect YouTube’s Recommendation Algorithm Using Data Donated By Viewers
  59. Facebook Extends 4-Year-Old ‘Rights Manager’ Video Copyright Tool To Still Photography
  60. Quibi Reportedly Seeking A Buyer After Lackluster First Months
  61. Cryptocurrency: Theft and Asset Recovery
  62. Cryptocurrency Tax Laws & What to Know in 2020
  63. The First Cryptocurrency Bank
  64. UK Government Consultation on the Promotion of Cryptoassets
  65. Blockchain and Digital Assets News and Trends Achieving Digital Transformation and Securing Digital Assets
  66. OCC Issues Clarification on Stablecoin Custody Services
  67. Lenovo begins selling OEM Ubuntu PCs to the general public

A.I.

  1. The Cruel New Era of Data-Driven Deportation
  2. YouTube Will Now Harness Machine Learning To Auto-Apply Video Age Restrictions 
  3. Bridging the Gap: Automated Facial Recognition Technology in Police Surveillance
  4. Cop arrests apparently sleeping Tesla driver going 93mph
  5. How algorithms discern our mood from what we write online: Researchers and companies are harnessing computers to identify the emotions behind our written words.
  6. Inventor or creator: How is AI’s rapid development influencing the evolution of IP protection?
  7. Lessons in ‘Ethics by Design’ from Britain’s A Level algorithm 
  8. UKIPO launches ‘AI and IP Call for Views’
  9. AI inventors at the UKIPO and EPO
  10. Patently Obvious? AI as an Inventor After DABUS
  11. Artificial intelligences as extended minds. Why not? 
  12. Artificial (un)intelligence and the U.S. military: Will they make better decisions than humans — or worse? 
  13. Poverty Lawgorithms: A Poverty Lawyer’s Guide to Fighting Automated Decision-Making Harms on Low-Income Communities 
  14. Current and future regulatory landscape for AI and machine learning in the investment management sector 
  15. Are we being too hard on HAL? Some thoughts on the legal need for “explainable” artificial intelligence.
  16. Artificial Intelligence and Telework: Security Measures to be Taken 

COMMUNICATIONS

  1.  Why It’s Time to Reboot Canada’s Failed Digital Agenda (Michael Geist) 
  2. “Get Money From Web Giants”: Why Canadian Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault’s Top Legislative Priority is Risky Business (Michael Geist)
  3. Trump Nominates Guy Who Wants To Police Speech Online To Be The Next FCC Commissioner
  4. DOJ Continues Its Quest To Kill Net Neutrality (And Consumer Protection In General) In California 
  5. FCC Releases Draft Order Formalizing “Team Telecom” Process
  6. FCC Holds that Fax Broadcasters are Solely Responsible for TCPA Violations When They Deceive Advertisers 
  7. Facebook and the United States Submit Briefs in Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid
  8. Comcast shut off Internet to hundreds, saying they were illegally connected 
  9. Verizon Buys Tracfone As U.S. Wireless Gets Even More Consolidated
  10. AT&T Whines That The T-Mobile Merger Consolidated Too Much U.S. Spectrum In One Place
  11. T-Mobile amassed “unprecedented concentration of spectrum,” AT&T complains
  12. T-Mobile hits back at AT&T and Verizon after spectrum-hoarding accusations 
  13. AT&T Says It’s Eyeing ‘Wireless Discounts For Ads.’ But It’s Not Going To Be What You Think.
  14. The Geopolitics of 5G
  15. Major overhaul of UK telecoms regulation to go ahead by the end of December 2020
  16. Old TV set interfered with village’s DSL Internet each day for 18 months

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1.  Mandatory copyright tariffs – Uncharted territories
  2. Nicki Minaj’s “Artistic Experimentation” with a Tracy Chapman Song “to Seek License Approval” Qualifies as a Fair Use Under Copyright
  3. LEGO Blocks Out ZURU in Copyright Dispute Over Minifigures
  4. Schwartzwald v. Oath Inc.: Court dismisses photographer’s copyright claim against HuffPost, finding media site’s altered reproduction of photographer’s viral “crotch shot” of Jon Hamm constituted fair use.
  5. Corbello v. DeVito: Court rules musical Jersey Boys did not infringe biography, holding musical depicts historical facts not protectable by copyright law and author cannot claim work was fictional for copyright protection.
  6. It’s September 21st And Demi Abejuyigbe Has Another Great September 21st Video For Charity, Marred By Copyright Takedowns
  7. Should an Advertising Agency Display Client Work on its Website After the Relationship Ends?
  8. Federal Court of Appeal does not disturb lower court’s finding of ‘use’ for hotel services
  9. Company Owning ‘Evel Knievel’ Rights Sues Disney Over ‘Toy Story 4’ Amalgam Parody Character
  10. Banksy’s “Flower Thrower”-n off the EUTM register
  11. Banksy’s trade marks at risk as artist loses legal battle over registration of Flower Thrower mural
  12. Controlling Black Lives Matter: the battle to trademark a movement
  13. No love for XOXO application
  14. Battle of the b(r)ands: Lady A vs Lady A 
  15. USPTO Warns of Email Scam Targeting Trademark Owners
  16. “Brands will be more and more resource-challenged”: five predictions for the future of IP practice 
  17. Dior loses PRETTY SAVAGE trademark dispute in the United Kingdom 
  18. Cannabis, BLM and FCUK — dealing with moral objections to UK trade marks
  19. Economic link puts an end to lengthy dispute: Gugler France’s decade-long trade mark campaign
  20. Who will reign Supreme in the battle for the trade marks? 
  21. Seventh Circuit Upholds $140 Million Compensatory Damages Award and Caps Punitive Damages at $140 Million in Trade Secret Case
  22. Guarding Trade Secrets and Rethinking IP Indemnity Risks in the New OSS/Open Source World 
  23. Designer panel: is being copied ever good news? 
  24. The Federal Court of Appeal Upholds $640 Million Accounting of Profits Award for Patent Infringement 
  25. Federal Court finds a problem with problem-solution 
  26. VirnetX v. Apple: Delay of Five Months Justifies Denial of Motion to Amend Judgment of More Than $400 Million 
  27. Canadian Patent Office’s approach to computer-implemented inventions rejected by Federal Court
  28. COVID-19 and the compulsory licensing of patents 
  29. Publication of Part of Complex Invention Does Not Prevent Joint Inventorship 
  30. Justice Ginsburg’s Dissents – in Patent Law 
  31. The Impact of Intellectual Property on Virtual Reality 
  32. WIPO’s Global Innovation Index breaks new ground as brand value included for first time
  33. IP monitor: CIPO announces fee increases beginning January 1, 2021 
  34. Blockchain & IPR a breakthrough collaboration

PRIVACY

  1. B.C. Court of Appeal confirms there is no “federal common law” privacy tort, but suggests the existence of a provincial privacy tort is an “interesting question”
  2. The Times They Are A Changin’ Canadian Privacy Law in the Private Sector
  3. Canadian privacy law reform is coming – are you ready?
  4. A tip from a kid helps detect iOS and Android scam apps’ 2.4 million downloads
  5. The fight over the fight for California’s privacy future
  6. The Uncertain “State” of US Data Protection Law: California Leads the Way
  7. Government Warns of New Cyber Threats Targeting U.S. Businesses
  8. USPS Regrets Its Transparency, Asks FOIA Requester To Remove 1,200 Pages It Forgot To Withhold
  9. New York AG Announces Settlement with Dunkin’ Regarding Data Breach Lawsuit
  10. House Passes Bill To Address The Internet Of Broken Things
  11. Telegram messages are a focus in newly uncovered hack campaign from Iran
  12. Portland Passes Ban On Facial Recognition Use By City Agencies And Private Businesses
  13. Preparing for the Next Front in Biometric Class Actions: Portland’s Facial Recognition Ban
  14. Californians: VOTE NO ON PROP. 24, The California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) (Eric Goldman)
  15. OFAC sanctions Iranian cyber threat group
  16. Fourth Circuit Appeals Court Seems Skeptical That Baltimore’s Aerial Surveillance System Violates The Fourth Amendment 
  17. Irish Data Case Against Facebook Could Complicate All Data Transfers to the US 
  18. Impact of Swiss Privacy Shield Inadequacy Decision 
  19. GDPR Hot Issues: Cookies, Data Transfers, and Enforcement Trends

CREATIVITY

  1. Human Rights Organization Issues Press Freedom Alert Over UK Government’s Refusal To Speak To Critical Journalists
  2. Return to upward trend seen in 2017 of defamation claims taken in the Circuit Court
  3. SDNY Relies on “Simple Reading” of Label to Dismiss False Advertising Claim
  4. Alan Dershowitz Files SLAPP Suit Against CNN; Says Not Airing More Of What He Said Is Defamation
  5. How do music festivals adapt to a pandemic? They Fest in Place, of course
  6. How To Avoid Acquiring Fake Art

GAMES

  1. Voodoo wins plagiarism lawsuit against Zynga-owned Rollic Games: Judge rules that Istanbul-based firm’s Wood Shop copies key elements of Voodoo carpentry game Woodturning
  2. Supercell ordered to pay $8.5 million for infringing Gree’s patents: Texas jury found Clash Royale developer infringed four patents, fine could be increased by up to three times
  3. Nintendo sued for planned obsolescence over Joy-Con drift: French organisation found controllers suffer from premature wear of the electronic circuits and an airtightness defect
  4. UK Government launches call for evidence on loot boxes: Inquiry seeks to examine concerns over whether randomised monetisation mechanics can lead to problem gambling
  5. FTC Group Up On Loot
  6. Apple presses court to deny Epic’s request for lift on Fortnite ban: iPhone maker reiterates argument that this situation is of Epic’s own making, says Fortnite firm is “a saboteur, not a martyr”
  7. Epic Games: Fortnite is doing fine, actually
  8. Clash of Game Companies: Lessons learned from GREE and Supercell Dispute
  9. Microsoft set to acquire Bethesda parent ZeniMax for $7.5B
  10. Microsoft purchases Bethesda Softworks in industry-changing acquisition
  11. Microsoft buys ZeniMax Media and The Elder Scrolls dev Bethesda for $7.5 billion
  12. What happens to Bethesda’s multi-platform games under Microsoft?
  13. Bethesda x Xbox – what does it mean for ‘regular’ game devs?
  14. Xbox buys Bethesda parent ZeniMax for $7.5bn: Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo exclusivity agreements to be honored, future releases to be decided on a case-by-case basis
  15. ZeniMax Media won’t be the last of Microsoft’s game dev acquisitions
  16. Microsoft is open to still more games acquisitions – CEO Satya Nadella: “We will always look to grow inorganically where it makes sense”
  17. Frictional Games’ Amnesia: The Dark Descent, A Machine for Pigs are now open source
  18. Report: Trump admin looking into Tencent’s US gaming investments
  19. Report: Riot Games, Epic Games come under US Gov’t scrutiny over Tencent ties
  20. Trump administration reportedly questions Epic, Riot about Tencent investment: Both companies said to have received letters from Committee on Foreign Investment in the US following executive order against WeChat
  21. Epic leads $15m funding round in Manticore Games: Core platform “exemplifies” the user-generated future of video games, Epic says
  22. Epic is offering $10 coupons to Rocket League players that use the Epic Games Store
  23. Activision says Call of Duty account hack reports are false: Publisher assures it investigates all privacy concerns, but reiterates that players should protect online accounts
  24. Games industry a “prime target” for cyber attacks: Data shows there were 3,072 DDoS attacks in games over the course of one year
  25. Ubisoft Bows To Monster Energy To Rename An Upcoming Game Horribly
  26. Ubisoft apologises after male-only Assassin’s Creed promo video: Publisher has since re-edited and released a version showcasing the female protagonists of the best-selling series
  27. Hammer drops on hackers accused of targeting game and software makers
  28. BTS To Debut Exclusive “Dynamite” Music Video Inside ‘Fortnite’
  29. Nintendo 3DS discontinued
  30. Nintendo winds down 3DS production after almost a decade
  31. The end of the 3DS marks an inflection point for portable gaming
  32. A fond farewell to the weird and wonderful Nintendo DS
  33. Super Mario 3D All-Stars beats Avengers to No.1 | UK Charts: Nintendo’s compilation celebrating Mario’s 35th anniversary is the third biggest launch of the year in the UK
  34. You can now stream your Xbox One games to your Android phone for free: Microsoft opens up Xbox remote play streaming to everyone with new Android app beta
  35. The new Xbox App for smartphones will create a ‘unified Xbox experience’
  36. We are in possession of a working Xbox Series X
  37. Xbox Game Pass has topped 15 million subscribers
  38. Google debuts first Stadia Makers recipients in pitch for indie support
  39. Microsoft still determined to get Xbox Game Pass on iOS: Xbox boss Phil Spencer also says the platform holder plans to “leave ZeniMax alone” following $7.5 billion acquisition
  40. Microsoft’s Game Pass now has over 15m subscribers: That’s up from 10 million as of April 2020
  41. Xbox chief Phil Spencer confident xCloud will gain iOS support
  42. Microsoft wants to replenish more water than it consumes by 2030
  43. Microsoft commits to becoming “water positive” by 2030: The company wants to replenish more water than it uses by the end of the decade
  44. China is ready for the PS5 and Xbox, even if Sony and Microsoft aren’t ready for China | Opinion: Imported next-gen consoles are already available for pre-order in China, says Apptutti’s Daniel Camilo
  45. Spider-Man Remastered won’t get physical PS5 release: PS4 save files from Marvel’s Spider-Man also won’t carry over to the PS5 version
  46. PlayStation’s Jim Ryan: “We want to give gamers certainty that they’re buying a true next-generation console”
  47. PlayStation 5 backwards compatible with most PS4 titles, but nothing older: System will not be able to play PS3, PS2, or PS1 games
  48. Sony makes it official: PlayStation 5 won’t natively support PS1, PS2, PS3
  49. PlayStation 5 already selling out at some retailers: Sony will open direct pre-orders by invitation tomorrow
  50. PS5 retailers have many fewer Digital Edition systems for preorder
  51. Sony promises more PS5 pre-order stock for retailers: Platform holder apologises for confusion after major stores sold out one day before pre-orders were supposed to begin
  52. PlayStation 5 demand and miscommunication cause pre-order chaos
  53. SIE has now successfully tested thousands of PlayStation 4 games on PS5
  54. Sony sees another three to four years of life in the PlayStation 4
  55. Amazon is telling those who pre-ordered PS5s they may not get them at launch: Cautionary email cites “high demand” as retailers, Sony sell out of pre-orders
  56. Apparent prototype photos show Sony’s canned “PlayStation phone” followup
  57. Editor roundtable: As next-gen heats up, which game console has the edge?
  58. NPD analyst says higher next-gen prices shouldn’t hurt sales
  59. Firing the starting pistol on the next generation | Opinion: The details of November’s launches are now in the wild — for once, this will be a console race with no clear winner from the start
  60. Game streaming start-up Playco lands $100m in Series A funding: Zynga co-founder, ex-DeNA director, Game Closure co-founder and senior producer raise money for browser-based approach
  61. CD Projekt “shortened” Cyberpunk’s campaign over length complaints: Too many players failed to reach the end of The Witcher 3’s story, so Cyberpunk 2077 will take less time to finish
  62. The average cost to acquire a mobile game user plummeted this year: Liftoff – But the cost to convert that user into a paying player has been on the rise over the last two years
  63. Metacore gets €25m investment from Supercell: Finnish studio has rebranded from Everywear Games, and launched its first game today
  64. Unity valued at $13.7 billion following $1.3 billion IPO
  65. Unity valued at $13.7bn after successful IPO: Engine provider raised $1.3 billion through sale of shares on New York Stock Exchange
  66. Nanobit acquired by Stillfront in $100 million deal
  67. Stillfront Group acquires Nanobit for at least $100 million: Acquisition expands Stillfront’s portfolio into narrative lifestyle RPGs
  68. Keywords acquires development studio Heavy Iron for $13.3 million
  69. Keywords splashes $13.3m on Heavy Iron Studios acquisition: Co-development studio most recently worked with Crystal Dynamics on Marvel’s Avengers
  70. Bandai Namco acquires Unknown 9 developer Reflector Entertainment
  71. Bandai Namco acquires Unknown 9 developer Reflector Entertainment: Purchase of Montreal developer continues publisher’s goal to produce 50% of its content outside of Japan
  72. Core dev Manticore Games raises $15 million, thanks in part to Epic Games
  73. Bunch raises $20m toward multiplayer social platform expansion: Investment led by General Catalyst, included Take-Two, Ubisoft, Supercell, EA, and Riot
  74. Beyond COVID-19: Lessons from an unprecedented global challenge: EGDF president and ISFE chairman are encouraged by the industry’s response to crisis, but the way forward is far from certain
  75. Football Manager 2020 sees 1 million players in first days of Epic Games Store free week
  76. Free Football Manager scores 1m new players on Epic Games Store: The 2020 entry in Sports Interactive’s football management sim franchise is currently free on Epic’s shop
  77. Hades has sold over 1 million copies in under two years
  78. Spellbreak hits 5 million players in under three weeks
  79. Super Mario 3D All-Stars | Critical Consensus
  80. Luck is a failing strategy for developers | Opinion: Leverage Partnership’s David O’Connor shares a cautionary tale about indies whose first game was a smash hit
  81. Digital Schoolhouse expands to Nigerian classrooms with Kucheza partnership: Kucheza Games will help UKIE-backed initiative deliver computer science lessons in Nigeria
  82. Avatars and artists: Musical mash-ups in gaming
  83. Riot signs deal for League of Legends toys: Multi-year agreement with Paw Patrol toy maker Spin Master should see action figures hit shelves in fall of 2021
  84. Twitch Experiments With Intrusive Ads That Piss Off Its Most Important Asset, Its Talent
  85. Twitch’s Most-Subscribed Streamer, ‘NickMercs’, Re-Ups With FaZe Clan For 3 More Years
  86. Mobile Premier League raises $90m in funding: The esports mobile gaming platform is looking to expand outside of India
  87. Legend of Grimrock leaves no stone unpressed | Why I Love: Worm Jazz developer Yu He explains how the 2012 dungeon crawler was designed to draw players in
  88. Directing The Outer Worlds’ first narrative expansion The Peril on Gorgon
  89. Q&A: Why Apex Legends players are so in love with Skull Town
  90. Blog: Game composers and the importance of themes – Part 4
  91. Blog: Why 2021 will be a landmark year for cloud gaming
  92. Blog: What does cross-platform mean to you?
  93. Blog: Rules for a future-proof 2D render order
  94. Blog: Combating toxicity in online games
  95. Blog: Designing a thrilling enjoyable arcade experience for VR
  96. Blog: How to better represent older characters in your game
  97. Don’t Miss: Inside the development of Supergiant Games’ Hades
  98. Don’t Miss: The evolutionary process of building Rayman Origins
  99. Don’t Miss: How Prey gives players space to tell their own stories
  100. Don’t Miss: How Supergiant Games adds new deities to Hades’ pantheon
  101. Don’t Miss: Ray Muzyka’s Baldur’s Gate II postmortem
  102. Video: Everything you wanted to know about unionizing your workplace
  103. Video: Preventing online harassment in games by studying social media’s failures
  104. Video: Behind Riot Games’ Player Dynamics design philosophy
  105. Video: How company leaders can tackle systemic inequality in the game industry
  106. Video: How Pendragon went from side project to full Arthurian adventure
  107. Video: How the Duolingo team balances profits and ethical design
  108. NantWorks, LLC v. Niantic, Inc.
  109. U.S. Patent no. 9,555,334: System and method for managing virtual worlds mapped to real locations in a mobile-enabled massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG)
  110. U.S. Patent no. 9,561,433: Providing event rewards to players in an online game

Jon

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News of the Week; September 16, 2020

By Jon Festinger on September 20, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. Publishers Are Taking the Internet to Court: In a lawsuit against the Internet Archive, the largest corporations in publishing want to change what it means to own a book.
  2. Sweeping internal Facebook memo: “I have blood on my hands”
  3. Facebook’s latest hollow effort to fight climate change denial
  4. Trump vows not to extend TikTok deadline beyond September 15
  5. TikTok Rejects Microsoft Buy, Instead Names Oracle As “Trusted Tech Partner”
  6. Oracle’s TikTok non-acquisition seeks Treasury, White House approval
  7. Oracle, one of Donald Trump’s favorite companies, wins TikTok deal
  8. The TikTok Oracle Grift: Insiders Admit They Went Hunting For A Tech Company The President Liked
  9. Oracle Doesn’t Buy TikTok, But Gets A Lucrative Hosting Deal, And Trump & Friends Will Pretend This Means Something
  10. Court Refuses To Block Trump Exec Order On TikTok As Requested By TikTok Employee After DOJ Says He Can Still Get Paid
  11. TikTok Denies That Joining ‘Creator Fund’ Diminishes Views, Stays Mum On How Money Is Distributed
  12. YouTube Unveils TikTok Competitor ‘Shorts,’ Launching In Beta This Week
  13. NAD Clarifies Material Connection Disclosure Requirements for TikTok Videos Gone Viral
  14. TikTok Empress Charli D’Amelio Launches Account At Rival App Triller
  15. Insights: What TikTok’s Debacle Means For The World’s Fastest-Growing Social Media Site, And Everyone Else
  16. White House Insisted It Had 16,000 Complaints Of Social Media Bias Turned Over To The FTC; The FTC Has No Record Of Them
  17. Trump and Twitter are on likely showdown path with expanded misinfo rules
  18. Russian state hackers are targeting Biden and Trump campaigns, MSFT warns
  19. Rush Limbaugh downplaying hurricane Irma may have decreased evacuations
  20. Defying crackdowns, QAnon continues its relentless global spread
  21. Sex Trafficking Lawsuit Against Craigslist Moves Forward–ML v. Craigslist (Eric Goldman)
  22. PayPal Blocks Purchases Of Tardigrade Merchandise For Potentially Violating US Sanctions Laws
  23. Google faces US$3bn UK suit over use of children’s data: It’s the first class action suit in Europe brought against a tech firm on behalf of children, according to the claimants
  24. YouTube unlawfully violates kids’ privacy, new $3.2B lawsuit claims
  25. Blogger’s Descriptions of Domestic Violence Protected by Freedom of Expression
  26. Facebook To Limit The Number Of Digital Ads Businesses Can Run At Once
  27. Price gouging and defective products rampant on Amazon, reports find
  28. Amazon To Begin Hosting Podcasts, Sets Exclusive Series With DJ Khaled, Dan Patrick, More
  29. Could A Narrow Reform Of Section 230 Enable Platform Interoperability?
  30. Fight For The Future Wants To Help You Tell The FCC Where To Shove The NTIA’s Anti-Section 230 Petition
  31. An Interview on Why Section 230 Is On the “Endangered Watch List” (Eric Goldman)
  32. Content Moderation Case Study: Detecting Sarcasm Is Not Easy (2018)
  33. Content Moderation Case Study: Pinterest’s Moderation Efforts Still Leave Potentially Illegal Content Where Users Can Find It (July 2020)
  34. Content Moderation Case Study: Twitter Removes Account For Pointing Users To Leaked Documents Obtained By A Hacking Collective (June 2020)
  35. International Human Rights Law Is Not Enough to Fix Content Moderation’s Legitimacy Crisis
  36. The First Hard Case: Zeran V. AOL And What It Can Teach Us About Today’s Hard Cases
  37. Addison Cain Really Doesn’t Want You Watching This Video About Her Attempts To Silence Another Wolf Kink Erotica Author
  38. Addison Rae Heads To Hollywood With Starring Role In ‘She’s All That’ Remake
  39. Disney+ Adds Co-Viewing Feature ‘GroupWatch’
  40. Disney+ On Track To Surpass Sister Streamer Hulu’s U.S. Subscribers By 2024
  41. Instagram Testing ‘Reels’, ‘Shop’ Tabs On Homepage To Bolster Creators’ Livelihoods
  42. Logan Paul Says His ‘Maverick’ Merch Brand Made Between $30 And $40 Million In Its First Year
  43. Which NFL Teams Won The Offseason On Social Video?
  44. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 9/14/2020
  45. Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels • Week Of 9/14/2020
  46. YouTube Appeals To Advertisers With More Performance, Prediction Metrics For TV Ads
  47. YouTube’s New ‘Dynamic Lineups’ Ad Tool Lets Marketers Buy Against Granular Topics, Cultural Moments, More
  48. Revisiting the spectacular failure that was the Bill Gates deposition
  49. Gwyneth Paltrow’s pseudoscience Goop series renewed on Netflix
  50. Rooster Teeth, Michael B. Jordan Pledge To Increase Representation For Season 2 Of ‘gen:LOCK’
  51. False equivalencies: Online activism from left to right (Deen Freelon, Alice Marwick, Daniel Kreiss)
  52. Legal Aspects of Digital Transformation
  53. European Commission formally opens in-depth state aid investigation into Belgian virtual betting
  54. Wealthsimple Digital Assets Inc. Becomes Canada’s First Registered Crypto Asset Platform
  55. Nvidia to acquire processor and software design company Arm for $40 billion
  56. Nvidia buys ARM Holdings from SoftBank for $40 billion
  57. Nvidia will keep ARM licensing “neutral,” wants to license GPU tech, too
  58. Nvidia RTX 3080 review: 4K greatness at $699—and good news for cheaper GPUs
  59. Microsoft declares its underwater data center test was a success
  60. Zooming In On The Flaws Of Virtual Court
  61. The agile dream – contracting for uncertain outcomes

A.I.

  1.  YouTube’s Plan to Silence Conspiracy Theories: From flat-earthers to QAnon to Covid quackery, the video giant is awash in misinformation. Can AI keep the lunatic fringe from going viral? 
  2. Artificial Intelligence fuels TikTok’s popularity; but could that very asset prevent its sale? 
  3. Safety driver in 2018 Uber crash is charged with negligent homicide: Prosecutors decided not to prosecute Uber in 2019. 
  4. Tackling Bias Issues in Artificial Intelligence
  5. AI and algorithms: Why the human touch is important
  6. When to Give Legal Rights to AIs? When They Can Dream 
  7. Are you ready (and protected) for the AI healthcare revolution?
  8. Artificial Intelligence in Construction: Part I
  9. Automakers and regulators must educate consumers on mobility AI
  10. UKIPO calls for views: AI and IP 
  11. Another consultation on AI and opens … this time in the UK
  12. AI ruined chess. Now it’s making the game beautiful again
  13. War Stories: How Forza learned to love neural nets to train AI drivers
  14. Building AI to fight to the beat in roguelike shooter BPM: Bullets Per Minute 

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. Court rejects Bell, Rogers appeals of CRTC decision on internet wholesale rates
  2. Court rejects Bell, Rogers appeals of CRTC decision on wholesale internet rates: Big telecom companies ordered to pay court costs for smaller ISPs on other side of case
  3. Weakening Net Neutrality: How the Government’s Internet Regulation Plan Abandons the Principle of Equal Treatment of Content Online (Michael Geist)
  4. No Policies on Real Issues and Harmful Policies on Non-Issues: How the Government Bungled the Internet Regulation File (Michael Geist)
  5. Trump replaces FCC member in bid to push through Twitter/Facebook crackdown
  6. FCC Formally Kills Rules That Would Have Brought Competition To The Cable Box
  7. Apparently The New Litmus Test For Trump’s FCC: Do You Promise To Police Speech Online
  8. AT&T wants to put ads on your smartphone in exchange for $5 discount
  9. AT&T hopes you’ll forget its years-long fight against accurate broadband maps
  10. Over At Politico, The AT&T Monopoly Gives Tips On Fixing A Broadband Problem It Spent Thirty Years Creating
  11. T-Mobile Merger Approval Violated Every Last One Of the DOJ’s Updated ‘Antitrust Principles’
  12. Verizon to buy TracFone, expanding big carriers’ control of prepaid industry
  13. New Google Fiber plan: $100 for 2Gbps, plus Wi-Fi 6 router and mesh extender
  14. NTIA Gives Green Light to FCC to Expand Commercial Use of Federal Mid-Band Spectrum
  15. The FCC Slated to Take Further Steps to Combat Robocalls
  16. Rule Banning Chinese Telecommunications Equipment Is Released
  17. 5G in rural areas bridges a gap that 4G doesn’t, especially low- and mid-band
  18. Yet Another Study Shows U.S. 5G Over Promises, Under Delivers
  19. Further clarity on the public benefit test and terms of a Code Agreement 

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1.  This Copyright Fair Use Opinion Discusses Jon Hamm’s Crotch 25 Times–Schwartzwald v. Oath (Eric Goldman) 
  2. Publishing a Cropped Shot of Jon Hamm’s Crotch is Fair Use Under Copyright Law
  3. In Another Instagram Embedding Decision, SDNY Finds Use of Image of Cardi B Fair
  4. Performing a DNA Test on Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts”: Joint Works and Derivative Works Under Copyright 
  5. A Closer Look at a Troubling Anti-Scraping Ruling from Spring – Compulife Software v. Newman
  6. Moral rights: why should developers care?
  7. Schwartzwald v. Oath Inc.: Dismissal of photographer’s copyright infringement claim against HuffPost, finding media site’s altered reproduction of photographer’s viral “crotch shot” of Jon Hamm constituted fair use. 
  8. This Week at The Ninth: Jersey Boys and Restroom Doors
  9. Jersey Boys Don’t Cry: No Copyright Protection for Facts “Based on a True Story”
  10. Corbello v. DeVito: Court rules that Broadway’s Jersey Boys did not infringe on plaintiff’s copyright of Tommy DeVito’s biography, holding musical depicts historical facts that are not protectable by copyright law
  11. Hall v. Swift: Court denies dismissal of claim over Taylor Swift’s song Shake It Off, holding that it cannot conclude merger doctrine applies, & plaintiffs sufficiently alleged protectable selection & arrangement to support claim.
  12. UMG Recordings, Inc. v. RCN Telecom Services: Court finds plaintiffs sufficiently pled contributory & vicarious infringement against ISP by alleging failure to terminate subscribers’ accounts after millions of copyright notices.
  13. Small photo credit removal may result in big damages
  14. Public Performance Rights (and Wrongs), the use of pop music in political campaigns
  15. Copyright Companies Want Memes That Are Legal In The EU Blocked Because They Now Admit Upload Filters Are ‘Practically Unworkable’
  16. Is It Broken and Should We Fix It? A Discussion of the Copyright Office’s Report on Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
  17. Trademark “Services” Online Finally Defined in Canada by Federal Court of Appeal
  18. Federal Court of Appeal Confirms Use of a Trademark with “Hotel Services” can be Established Without Brick and Mortar Hotels in Canada 
  19. “I’ll Have the B.C. VQA, Sub-GI Certified Pinot” — Promoting B.C. Wines Through Legal Recognition of Our Unique Wine Regions 
  20. AB InBev And Patagonia Trademark Dispute Will Proceed To Trial
  21. Brewery Industry Insight – Different Parties May Register the Identical Mark for Beer and Restaurant Services
  22. Craft Brewing Trade Mag Argues Beer Is The Most IP Product Ever, Ignores History Of The Industry
  23. Banksy’s Weakass Attempt To Abuse Trademark Law Flops, Following Bad Legal Advice
  24. A Right Royal Rejection: “Royal Butler” Trade Mark Application Denied in the UK
  25. The Unique Challenges Of Protecting A Law Firm Brand 
  26. BMW v. Premier Alloy Wheels (UK): breach of settlement agreement purported to stop intellectual property infringement
  27. Pigment of our imagination? Colour trademarks could be inherently distinctive
  28. Colour Purple is not for Protection (via Passle)
  29. A Refresher on the Importance of Trademarks and Trade Dress in the Food and Beverage Industry
  30. Trade Mark success for the gymnastics National Governing Body
  31. Economies are battered but many major offices set for record trademark numbers 
  32. Trade Secrets Regulations: interim injunction preventing use of confidential information
  33. ITC Administrative Law Judge Decision Implicates Scope of Trade Secret Protections
  34. An introduction to Trade Secrets: What they are and why they matter to your business
  35. Fact-Specific Inquiry: Deciding Between Trade Secret and Patent Protection 
  36. Federal Court invalidates tadalafil dosage patent finding dose selection to be routine 
  37. Patent Trial and Appeal Board obligated to articulate a satisfactory explanation for its actions
  38. Common Patent Misconceptions – Myth #4 – Disclosures
  39. Claim Construction and Prosecution History Estoppel Require Viewing Patent and Prosecution History as a Whole 
  40. Less is more when seeking patent protection for chemical compounds possessing a therapeutic effect
  41. Essential guidance on patenting software-based inventions at the EPO
  42. Patent Infringement Suit Alone Does Not Justify Anonymous Filing
  43. A Brief History of Virtual Reality, in Patents 
  44. I’m an academic, get me out of patents: Strategies for promoting patenting among academics and researchers
  45. IP due diligence – The art of leaving nothing to chance
  46. 3D printing and IP: Lessons from the EPO’s ‘Shaping Tomorrow’ conference
  47. Assistant Attorney General Describes “New Madison” Approach to Antitrust and Intellectual Property Law

PRIVACY

  1. Personal data handling and processing in Canada
  2. British Columbia Court of Appeal upholds certification of data breach class action
  3. Keeping Criminal Background Checks in Check: Privacy Law Limits on Employee Criminal Background Checks in B.C.
  4. Assessments Of Privacy-Related Factors: The New Bread And Butter For Quebec Organizations Processing Personal Information?
  5. Ninth Circuit Appeals Court May Have Raised The Bar On Notifying Defendants About Secretive Surveillance Techniques
  6. California Enacts the Genetic Privacy Information Act
  7. Portland adopts strictest facial recognition ban in nation to date
  8. Amazon Is Quietly Fighting Against a Sweeping Facial Recognition Ban in Portland
  9. FDPIC finds that Swiss-US Privacy Shield does not offer adequate level of data protection
  10. Schrems II fall-out: Irish DPC reportedly to order suspension of Facebook data transfers to the U.S.
  11. European Data Protection Board Forms Two New Taskforces to Address Schrems II Aftermath
  12. Privacy Shield invalidated and use of appropriate safeguards (including Standard Contractual Clauses) require case by case assessments (Facebook Ireland and Schrems)
  13. City of Portland Bans Private Entities From Using Facial Recognition Technologies
  14. California Legislature Passes Bill Requiring Social Media Companies to Obtain Parental Consent for California-based Children Under 13
  15. Private Eyes & Public Profiles: The Ethics of Using Social Media in Investigations
  16. New guidance on the concepts of controllers, processors and joint controllers
  17. F for Failure: Takeaways from the Cyberattack on Miami-Dade County Public Schools 

CREATIVITY

  1. DOJ Tries To Step In To Trump Defamation Case To Get It Dismissed; Claims His Statements About Alleged Rape Were Part Of His Presidential Duties
  2. Third Circuit Strikes Down Transit Authority’s Ban on Political Advertising
  3. Don’t risk your health to see Tenet, which is uber-fun but still just a movie
  4. French language requirements in Québec: Part 4 – Public signs, posters and commercial advertising
  5. London’s largest Bronze Age hoard on show for first time

GAMES

  1. Lawsuit over Atari 2600 Copycat Is Going to Trial
  2. Ubisoft renamed Immortals Fenyx Rising after trademark dispute: Upcoming game given current name after Monster Energy opposed trademark application for original title Gods & Monsters
  3. Twitch apologizes for offensive Hispanic Heritage Month emotes: Emote modifiers including sombreros and maracas “clearly missed the mark” and were inappropriate, streaming platform says
  4. Apple asks to block iOS Unreal Engine development in new court filing
  5. Apple claims Epic started legal battle to ‘reinvigorate interest’ in Fortnite
  6. Apple allows streaming games on iOS, but there’s a catch
  7. Apple’s updated iOS App Review Guidelines basically put the kibosh on Stadia, xCloud
  8. Ubisoft CEO issues apology for past misconduct ahead of Ubisoft Forward event
  9. Ubisoft CEO addresses abuse scandal, Elite Squad controversy: Yves Guillemot apologizes for failing to protect victims, condemns “anyone using our game as a proxy for hate or toxicity”
  10. Ubisoft adds Riders Republic, Prince of Persia remake to early 2021 lineup: Publisher plans Immortals Fenyx Rising and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World re-release for this holiday season, Rainbow 6 World Cup event next summer
  11. Private data gone public: Razer leaks 100,000+ gamers’ personal info
  12. Razer apologises for exposing 100,000 customers’ personal data
  13. Trans games professionals explore Tell Me Why’s landmark depiction of trans identity
  14. Darewise: “We have a social responsibility” to provide alternatives to game violence – Why the former AAA developers are focusing on social interactions and collaboration in Life Beyond
  15. Mediatonic’s plan to exile Fall Guys cheaters to a cheaters-only queue backfired
  16. Gaming engagement begins to return to post-pandemic levels in Europe: GameTrack survey finds that players spent an average of 1.5 more hours per week on games during lockdown
  17. EA to replace Origin with EA Desktop as services rebrand continues
  18. EA To Rebrand Its Origin Platform As It Bows Out Of The PC Gaming Platform Wars
  19. EA furthers its strategy for “frictionless,” “democratized” gaming
  20. Take-Two CEO questions cloud gaming hype, claims tech won’t be transformative
  21. Strauss Zelnick doubts cloud gaming will transform the industry: Take-Two CEO questions the logic that removing the console or PC dramatically expands gaming’s audience
  22. US labor agency finds merit in Kickstarter termination complaint: NLRB says union organizer has a case in claiming he was illegally fired by the crowdfunding platform
  23. Roblox launches digital civility curriculum to teach students about online safety
  24. Roblox wants to teach kids how to spot fake news and be safe online: Firm rolls out free ‘digital civility’ course with 20 hours worth of educational content
  25. Cloud streaming support is being added to over 150 Xbox Game Pass Ultimate titles
  26. Codemasters: “It would be naive to think costs remain the same” on next-gen – But CEO Frank Sagnier is optimistic as Dirt 5 is positioned as a key title in Xbox Series, PS5 launch line-up
  27. Series S redefines “next-gen” – and throws down a gauntlet to Sony | Opinion: Microsoft shows its    commitment to disrupting the market as the $299 Series S questions the concept of console generations
  28. Xbox updates privacy settings, promises more transparency about data collection: Platform holder will no longer collect data from voice search, will allow users to opt-in to additional diagnostics sharing
  29. PlayStation 5 event: $499 with a disc drive, $399 without, on Nov. 12
  30. PlayStation 5 priced at $399 & $499, but it won’t see a cohesive global launch
  31. PlayStation 5 will cost $500, all-digital version is $400: Both consoles launch November 12 in select regions, November 19 worldwide
  32. Sony embraces increased next-gen software pricing: Demon’s Souls and Destruction All Stars will cost $70 as PlayStation 5 console exclusives
  33. Sony pushes back on reports that it’s reducing PS5’s launch availability
  34. Sony denies rumors that PS5 production has been cut over chip manufacturing issues
  35. Sony: “We have not changed the production number for PlayStation 5” – Hardware maker denies reports it has cut production by 4 million units
  36. Sony rolls out PS Plus Collection for PS5 launch: Subscribers will be able to download more than 15 PS4 games to play on the new console
  37. Sony reportedly using air freight to move PlayStation 5 to US retailers: Use of pricier transit could be due to factors including need for more production time, higher demand, COVID-19
  38. Analysis: Sony banks on PlayStation Studios to deliver winning console generation
  39. First-party PlayStation 5 games priced from $49 to $69, with some also coming to PS4
  40. GameStop reportedly preparing Xbox, PS5 payment plans: Struggling retailer aims to make next-gen consoles more affordable with its own alternative to Xbox All Access
  41. The Next Generation Of Video Game Consoles Could Be The Beginning Of GameStop’s Death
  42. Console options without disc drives could be GameStop’s final death knell
  43. Control snafu shows how one publisher is struggling with next-gen upgrades
  44. Report: Nintendo Switch has sold more than 15m units in Japan – While Animal Crossing New Horizons has apparently shifted more than 5.6m copies in the region
  45. Mario Kart Tour more than doubled Nintendo Account user base to 200m: Platform holder also planning more movies and TV projects, hints at next console
  46. Super Mario 3D All-Stars review: A bare-bones nostalgia warp zone – It’s no more and no less than three of the best 3D platformers ever made.
  47. Apple One subscription bundles Apple Arcade with other Apple services
  48. Apple bundles Apple Arcade in with other subscription services via Apple One: Individuals can get Apple Arcade, Music, and TV+ for $15/month
  49. Introducing Apple One, Apple’s subscription bundle answer to Amazon Prime
  50. Feds seize OnePlus Buds, mistaking them for “counterfeit” AirPods
  51. CBP So Confused It Seizes Clearly Labeled OnePlus Earbuds, And Falsely Claims They’re Counterfeit Apple Airpods
  52. Asobu: Putting Japan’s indies on the international map
  53. Asobu launches support initiative to help Japan’s indie scene flourish
  54. Gameloft looks to diversify with The Other Guys acquisition
  55. ViacomCBS sells Metacritic, GameSpot, others to Red Ventures in $500 million deal
  56. Niko Partners: 75% of China’s 720 million gamers live outside the biggest cities
  57. Addicting Games acquires Mope.io game: US site spends undisclosed seven-figure sum on browser and mobile title with 72 million players
  58. Black Desert Online has amassed almost $2 billion in revenue since 2014
  59. Black Desert Online has made $1.7bn in revenue to date: Pearl Abyss reports its five-year-old MMO has brought in around $700m in the last 17 months
  60. Slime Rancher tops 3 million sales in just over three years
  61. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 sells 1 million copies in less than two weeks
  62. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is the biggest UK launch for the series since 2003: With digital, it is probably the biggest launch ever
  63. Rocket League’s life as a free to play game starts September 23
  64. E-sports pros have “dream” jobs—but game publishers have all the power
  65. Ninja Returns To The Platform That Started It All — Twitch — In Exclusive, Multi-Year Deal
  66. Twitch Unveils ‘Versus,’ Which Lets Anyone Create, Manage, And Livestream Their Own Esports Competition
  67. Twitch Tests Automated Mid-Roll Ad Format To The Dismay Of Several Top Creators
  68. Guild Esports’ IPO Announcement
  69. Farming Simulator League: Bringing agriculture and gaming together
  70. Oculus users who violate Facebook rules may lose access to VR content: Violations can include using pseudonyms or providing an inaccurate date of birth
  71. Facebook to discontinue Oculus Rift S, will no longer develop PC-only VR hardware
  72. Facebook’s Oculus Quest 2 leaks ahead of official reveal
  73. Facebook leak reveals Oculus Quest 2 as a 4K standalone VR headset
  74. Oculus Quest 2 launches in October for $299
  75. Review: We do not recommend the $299 Oculus Quest 2 as your next VR system
  76. Ubisoft is making Assassin’s Creed, Splinter Cell titles for Oculus: Titles will be platform-exclusive, developed by Ubisoft’s Red Storm Entertainment
  77. Over 35 Oculus Quest games have generated revenue in the millions
  78. Facebook announces Oculus Quest 2, discontinues Rift and original Quest: New standalone headset ships October 13, costs $300 for a 64GB model, $400 for 256GB
  79. Embracer Group enters VR market with purchase of Arizona Sunshine dev Vertigo
  80. Koch Media acquires Vertigo Games for €50m
  81. Blog: Procedural map generation in The Riftbreaker
  82. Blog: A half-decade sales analysis of Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
  83. Blog: Designing non-violent games
  84. Blog: The road to Ruinarch – Part 2
  85. Blog: A King of Cards: Joustus deep dive – Part 1
  86. Blog: A deep dive into Dwerve’s dynamic 2D lighting
  87. Blog: The hidden art of pacing – Part 3
  88. Blog: Xbox goes for lock-in with All Access
  89. Don’t Miss: The making of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
  90. Don’t Miss: What did the devs of 2009 imagine video games would look like in 2020?
  91. Don’t Miss: The long shadow of Super Mario Bros.
  92. Don’t Miss: Spelunky and why it’s okay for game designers to be mean
  93. Don’t Miss: The challenges BioWare faced designing Mass Effect 3
  94. Video: Tips for jumpstarting creativity and finishing your games
  95. Video: Strategies for small developers launching their first game
  96. Video: Unearthing Japanese arcade history for historical preservation
  97. Video: Designing social play for Sky: Children of Light
  98. Video: Learn how to better use emotion in game design

Jon

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News of the Week; September 9, 2020

By Jon Festinger on September 13, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. TikTok Employee Files Motion That Could Mark First Judicial Look At Trump’s Executive Order
  2. White House Supposedly Blocked Walmart From Buying Tiktok Because It Would Prove Its Rationale For Forcing A Deal Was Bullshit
  3. If We’re So Worried About TikTok, Why Aren’t We Just As Worried About AdTech And Location Data Sales?
  4. Trump Gets Mad That Twitter Won’t Take Down A Parody Of Mitch McConnell; Demands Unconstitutional Laws
  5. Bill Barr’s ‘Antitrust Crackdown’ Of Google Is Going To Be A Weaponized Farce
  6. There’s a partisan schism over the timing of a Google antitrust lawsuit
  7. Google Updates Ad Policies Related to “Sensitive Events”
  8. Right-wing media thrives on Facebook. Whether it rules is more complicated: Untangling the influence of right-wing media is hard, especially with limited data.
  9. Facebook Moves to Limit Election Chaos in November
  10. Facebook Says it Will Limit Election Advertising in the Week Before the U.S. Election
  11. Facebook Paying Users To Shut Down Their Accounts For Science Ahead Of The 2020 Election
  12. Facebook Watch Hits 1.25 Billion Monthly Users, Company Says
  13. Facebook complains, Apple responds: iOS 14’s big privacy change gets postponed
  14. Facebook’s plan to prevent election misinformation: Allowing it, mostly
  15. There Are Many Serious Concerns About Facebook. Why the Australia News Fight Isn’t One of Them (Michael Geist)
  16. It’s Time To Regulate The Internet… But Thoughtfully
  17. Pentagon’s review of controversial $10B contract was a sham, Amazon claims
  18. E-commerce: Amazon held liable for damages caused by defective product sold on its online marketplace
  19. Amazon Is Strictly Liable for Marketplace Items, Reinforcing That Online Marketplaces Are Doomed–Bolger v. Amazon (Eric Goldman)
  20. In China, GitHub Is a Free Speech Zone for Covid Information: As COVID news was increasingly trapped behind the Great Firewall, the programming platform became a refuge from censorship. It may not last long.
  21. China plans new data policy in response to Trump admin’s “bullying”
  22. Court Denies TRO Seeking to Remove Facebook’s “Russia State-Controlled Media” Label–Maffick v. Facebook (Eric Goldman)
  23. Another Roundup of Online Contract Formation Cases (Eric Goldman)
  24. GOP Senators Release Latest Truly Stupid Section 230 Reform Bill; Would Remove ‘Otherwise Objectionable’; Enable Spamming
  25. The Copia Institute’s Comment To The FCC Regarding The Ridiculous NTIA Petition To Reinterpret Section 230
  26. 512(f) Claim Fails in the 11th Circuit–Johnson v. New Destiny Christian Center (Eric Goldman)
  27. Twibel Lawsuit Fails–Ganske v. Mensch (Eric Goldman)
  28. The User Always Loses: How did the Internet get so bad?
  29. Content Moderation Case Studies: Stopping Malware In Search Leads To Unsupported Claims Of Bias (2007)
  30. Intermediary Liability And Responsibilities Post-Brexit
  31. E-Voting App Maker Voatz Asks The Supreme Court To Let It Punish Security Researchers For Exposing Its Flaws
  32. UK government’s Digital Services Tax misses its target: Apple and others share the weight of 2% tax aimed at major tech firms with developers, sellers, and advertisers
  33. Big tech companies want to help get you back in the office: They are offering services to track employees, arrange tests, and record results.
  34. Legal Concerns With Influencers’ Tattoos On Social Media: The Ball Is Still In The Air, And The Ink Is Not Dry
  35. Made-For-Kids YouTube Content Seeing Big Year-Over-Year Growth
  36. YouTube TV Scores NFL Carriage, Launches New ‘Sports Plus’ Add-On
  37. David Blaine’s ‘Ascension’ Soars To 770K Concurrent Viewers, Making It YouTube’s Most-Watched Live Original
  38. YouTube To Produce Originals Supporting Indie Music Venues Affected By COVID
  39. YouTube, ‘Glamour’ To Premiere Docuseries About Triumphs, Tragedies Of Women’s Gymnastics (Trailer)
  40. In Latest Stunt, MrBeast Gifts Nascent YouTuber 1.7 Million Subscribers — And Counting
  41. FTC Sues Celebrity Endorsers Over Their Role in Alleged Deceptive Advertising Campaign
  42. Snapchat Launches Permanent Public Profiles, Audience Analytics (Exclusive)
  43. Rooster Teeth’s Podcast Network ‘The Roost’ Inks Ad Sales, Merch, Distro Deal With CollegeHumor
  44. Vimeo Revamps User Profiles To Help Video Professionals Nail Down Job Prospects
  45. TikTok Competitor Triller Forms Advisory Board With Top Female Music Execs
  46. TikTok Partners With 20 Tech Providers To Help Advertisers Create, Measure Their Campaigns
  47. Former TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer Seems Like A Baller. Maybe He Left Because He Didn’t Want To Have A Boss.
  48. Senate Banking Committee Shows Continued Interest in Cryptoassets
  49. Academic Study Says Open Source Has Peaked: But Why?
  50. Alternatives for the Internet: A Journey into Decentralised Network Architectures and Information Commons
  51. The world to come: A digital dystopia – One of the few certainties of our time is that digital platforms will continue to thrive. The only question is quite how far their logic will penetrate our lives.
  52. Augmented reality could be the geology classroom’s killer app
  53. What If Technology Belonged to the People?: We need non-market, publicly-owned alternatives to big tech. Here’s how we get it.
  54. A field comes of age: tracking research on the internet within communication studies, 1994 to 2018
  55. Exclusion and inclusion in identification: regulation, displacement and data justice

A.I.

  1. A Face-off: New Privacy Class Actions target facial recognition software
  2. How to gather Data Legally for training AI Data Model?
  3. Reliance on Machine Translations Warrants Denial of IPR Petitions 
  4. Artificial Intelligence and Trends in Patenting
  5. Students, Parents Figure Out School Is Using AI To Grade Exams And Immediately Game The System 
  6. NIST Outlines a Set of Principles for Explainable AI
  7. New Regulatory Guidance in the UK on AI and Data Protection
  8. A Light Touch Regulatory Framework for AI
  9. A Light Touch Regulatory Framework for AI – Part 2: Classification of AI Solutions

COMMUNICATIONS

  1.  Canadian Heritage Minister Guilbeault Says Social Media Sites Linking to News Content Without Payment is “Immoral” (Michael Geist)
  2. As Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault Plans Link Taxes and Internet Content Regulation, Where Is Navdeep Bains? (Michael Geist) 
  3. America Needs To Stop Pretending The Broadband ‘Digital Divide’ Isn’t The Direct Result Of Corruption
  4. AT&T’s current 5G is slower than 4G in nearly every city tested by PCMag 
  5. AT&T Is Astroturfing The FCC In Support Of Trump’s Dumb Attack On Social Media 
  6. Ajit Pai touted false broadband data despite clear signs it wasn’t accurate
  7. Pai FCC Ignored Falsely Inflated Broadband Numbers To Pat Itself On The Back
  8. FCC identifies promising opportunities to expand spectrum resources for unmanned aircraft systems
  9. FCC Dismisses Petition for Reconsideration of Reexamination of Noncommercial Licensing Policy – Next Step, Window for New Applications?
  10. FCC Proposes $163,912 Fine Against BarrierFree for Overstating its Broadband Deployment
  11. Top memory and display suppliers drop Huawei after new US restrictions
  12. What’s New in 5G – September 2020
  13. Taking 5G to work, in offices, and on the factory floor—will it help? 

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1.  Access Copyright and York U File Responses in SCC (Howard Knopf)
  2. The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency(“Access Copyright”) And -York University: Response Of York University To Application For Leave To Appeal Of The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency
  3. The Copyright Board’s New $757,548.50 (+?) Website – Finally an Apparently Functional Search Engine – but Otherwise Disappointing at Best and Problematic at Worst – And Still NO CANLII Presence (Howard Knopf)
  4. Can’t “Shake It Off” Yet: Court Denies Taylor Swift’s Motion to Dismiss Copyright Infringement Lawsuit 
  5. Music Choice v. Copyright Royalty Board: D.C. Circuit determines that Board erred in determination that services offered were categorically excluded from lower royalty rate for pre-existing service providers set forth in DMCA.
  6. Not Your Grandfather’s Internet Royalties? DMCA Favorable Rates Might Apply to Internet Offerings 
  7. Ninth Circuit: Under the “Asserted Truth Doctrine” (f/k/a “Copyright Estoppel”) Authors of Nonfiction Cannot Later Claim a Work is Fictional to Pursue a Copyright Case
  8. Astor-White v. Strong: 9th Cir. affirms that, after three amended complaints, plaintiff was still unable to plausibly allege defendants copied or appropriated protectable expression from TV series Empire.
  9. Jackson v. Roberts: 2nd Cir. affirms that right of publicity claim brought by 50 Cent against Rick Ross, based on Ross’s sampling of 50 Cent’s hit song “In Da Club” in a promotional mixtape, is preempted by Copyright Act.
  10. No Remix: Copyright Act Preempts Right of Publicity Claim
  11. A Copyright Suit against Netflix’s Stranger Things 
  12. Bain v. Film Independent, Inc.: Court dismisses claims against actress, finding her use of portions of film not yet widely released in her acting reel to be transformative fair use.
  13. Michael Skidmore v. Led Zeppelin et al., Case No. 20-142 (S.Ct. 2020)
  14. What 11th Circ. Guitar Ruling Means for Copyright Litigants 
  15. Do Those Plans Infringe on My Plans? Depends Where You Are
  16. The Next Register Of Copyrights Must Realize That Copyright Serves The Public 
  17. Out of the Ordinary: Requirements for Describing Goods and Services in Canadian Trademark Applications 
  18. “Terrible Towel” Lawsuit a Good Reminder to Consult a Trademark Lawyer
  19. Honda and Microsoft caught in a trademark race 
  20. Apples and Prepears: The perception of protective brands 
  21. The Queen is not amused, The Royal Butler is refused (via Passle) 
  22. Goodwill Hunting
  23. Nike are successful in registering FOOTWARE (via Passle)
  24. Tiffany v. Costco: Descriptive words over trademark exclusivity 
  25. Competitive Keyword Advertising Still Isn’t Trademark Infringement, Unless…. –Adler v. Reyes & Adler v. McNeil (Eric Goldman) 
  26. Influencer marketing and TM infringement
  27. USPTO prioritises certain COVID-19-related trademark and service mark applications 
  28. No trade secret protections for information discussed via open zoom call 
  29. Playing Fair: Protect Trade Secrets from Business Partners
  30. Don’t Play Chicken With Court Orders: COVID-19 Is No Excuse for a Terminated Franchisee to Continue Using the Franchisor’s Intellectual Property and Trade Secrets
  31. Use of Infringing Product, Misappropriated Trade Secrets May Continue – for a Licensing Fee
  32. A UDRP case involving a .CEO domain
  33. Purposive test applies to construction of patent claims: Federal Court
  34. A significant Federal Court decision supporting patent eligibility of software inventions in Canada
  35. Second Kick at the Can: Post-Grant Proceedings Involving Canadian Patents
  36. Judge Rakoff Refuses to “Ice” Diamond Patent Inequitable Conduct Allegations
  37. Unwired Planet v Huawei and Huawei/ZTE v Conversant [2020] UKSC 37
  38. Exclusion Orders: How an International Trade Commission Investigation Can Protect Patented Products from Infringing Imports
  39. Spotlight: standard-essential patents in United Kingdom
  40. The Federal Circuit Expressly Declares that Juries Determine the Standard-Essentiality of Patent Claims 
  41. Trapped: insufficiency deals the final blow to Regeneron’s ground-breaking transgenic mouse patents 
  42. Patent Office Issues Binding Memorandum Concerning Use Of Applicant Admitted Prior Art 
  43. Using patents to establish alternative business models, built around licensing

PRIVACY

  1. Saskatchewan Introduces New Legislation: The Fiduciaries Access to Digital Information Act
  2. A New Privacy Law for Ontario? Towards a “Made-in-Ontario” Response to Global Developments
  3. How Bill 64 Will Impact The Research Sector
  4. Government’s ‘Reverse’ Warrant Rejected By Two Consecutive Federal Judges
  5. The FBI botched its DNC hack warning in 2016—but says it won’t next time
  6. FBI Horrified To Discover Ring Doorbells Can Tip Off Citizens To The Presence Of Federal Officers At Their Door
  7. Online voting vendor Voatz urges Supreme Court to limit security research
  8. UK Privacy Regulator Issues Code for Online Services Likely to be Used by Children
  9. Eyes Everywhere: Amazon’s Surveillance Infrastructure and Revitalizing Worker Power
  10. NSA spying exposed by Snowden was illegal and not very useful, court says
  11. Ninth Circuit Says NSA’s Bulk Phone Records Collection Was Illegal, Most Likely Unconstitutional
  12. Another Florida Appeals Court Says Compelled Passcode Production Violates The Fifth Amendment
  13. Uber Criminal Complaint Raises the Stakes for Breach Response
  14. Individual Criminal Liability for Failure to Disclose Data Breach Establishes a New Level of Risk for Companies and Executives 
  15. Pandemic Surveillance and Racialized Subpopulations: Mitigating Vulnerabilities in COVID-19 Apps 
  16. Unique Cyber Vishing Threat Emerges 
  17. President Trump Signs Into Effect a Policy for Space Cybersecurity 
  18. How Are Governments Reacting to the Invalidation of Privacy Shield?
  19. Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield No Longer Considered Adequate by Swiss DPA 
  20. What Is the Worst Type of Online Privacy Policy … and Why Does it Matter? 

CREATIVITY

  1. Moritz v. Universal City Studios LLC: Denys arbitration of dispute concerning Fast & the Furious spinoff, Hobbs & Shaw, holding arbitration provisions in prior production contracts for franchise did not cover spinoff. 
  2. Council of Europe issues media freedom alert over UK government blacklisting of investigative journalists: Formal warning comes as government claims environmental protesters are a threat to press freedom
  3. Trump’s Paris art “shopping spree” caused staffers a headache and lessons to learn about checking provenance
  4. California musicians rejoice as governor ratifies new legislation on employment classification
  5. New California Law Makes it Easier for Certain Musicians, Writers, Photographers and Content Providers to Be Deemed Independent Contractors
  6. French Government To Make Insulting Mayors A Criminal Offense

GAMES

  1. Apple is now seeking damages from Epic Games over breach of contract
  2. Apple goes on offensive in Epic Games lawsuit: Apple’s official login system will work with Fortnite “indefinitely” but users are encouraged to update Epic accounts
  3. Apple pauses plans to end ‘Sign In with Apple’ support for Epic Games accounts
  4. Apple says Epic’s Fortnite payment scheme “is theft, period.”
  5. Epic is attempting to have Fortnite reinstated on the App Store
  6. Epic asks court to force Fortnite back onto the iOS App Store
  7. Epic Games wants court order to reinstate Fortnite on iOS: Unreal firm files another preliminary injunction to “stop Apple from retaliating” during antitrust case
  8. Plaintiff Epic Games, Inc.’s Notice Of Motion And Motion For A Preliminary Injunction And Memorandum Of Points And Authorities In Support Thereof
  9. Google distances itself from Epic versus Apple legal dispute
  10. Google requests court not connect it to Apple vs Epic: Firm says it has yet to be officially served a complaint, but will challenge “based on circumstances unique to Android”
  11. Epic Games commits to live concert series in Fortnite: Company has constructed a state-of-the-art soundstage in Los Angeles to host events
  12. ‘Fortnite’ Spins Up ‘Spotlight’ Series Of Weekly In-Game Concerts
  13. Data Transmission Patent Asserted Against Amazon and Blizzard is Partially Invalidated
  14. Amazon imagines a genre-blended New World for MMOs: Scot Lane describes how action RPGs, survival titles, and Twitch influenced the PvP combat of Amazon’s upcoming foray into the MMO space
  15. Abdin v CBS: Second Circuit affirms dismissal of copyright action alleging that Star Trek: Discovery series infringed Tardigrades video game, holding that parties’ works are not substantially similar as matter of law.
  16. Paradox QA staff allege poor treatment: Company’s shutdown of publishing QA department last year leads to report of mismanagement, ignored concerns
  17. EA removes intrusive ads from UFC 4 following fan complaints
  18. EA removes new in-game ads from UFC 4 after player complaints: Publisher patched in promos that flashed on screen during action replays
  19. Coffee Stain expands Levelling the Playing Field to fund racially diverse studios: Publisher also makes its third investment through the program, in Happy Broccoli Games
  20. Indian dev unveils FAU:G in the wake of government’s PUBG Mobile ban: Ncore Games’ new title will feature current Chinese-Indian border dispute as a setting
  21. PUBG responds to India’s ban on PUBG Mobile: PUBG Corp withdraws license to run PUBG Mobile in India from Tencent, will self-publish franchise instead
  22. Cloud gaming revenue to reach $585m in 2020: Revenue generated by the cloud gaming market is expected to reach $4.8 billion by 2023
  23. Sony May Just Be Loosening The Reins As Gaming Brings In A Plurality Of Its Revenue
  24. Marvel’s Avengers shows how a “beta” can be a pitfall | Opinion: Early reviews express surprise at the full game being good after disappointing “beta” weekends — suggesting a gigantic failure on the publisher side
  25. Marvel’s Avengers defeats Tony Hawk and NBA to claim No.1 | UK Charts: But it’s the biggest Tony Hawk’s game since its heyday
  26. Game Creator Has His YouTube Video Of Game Demonetized Over Soundtrack He Also Created
  27. What’s wrong with the games industry, and how to fix it: At Devcom, Kate Edwards highlighted the main issues affecting game creators, and what the industry can do to address them
  28. Remaining Lab Zero staff laid off following dev exodus
  29. Lab Zero Games lays off remaining employees: Skullgirls studio turns to redundancies following staff exodus over alleged behaviour of owner Mike Zaimont
  30. Kotaku UK shutting down: Rights reverting to G/O Media as Future Publishing decides not to renew licensing deal
  31. Duke Nukem throws a spanner in the Gearbox | 10 Years Ago This Month: Borderlands studio revives Duke Nukem Forever, dooming itself to a decade (and counting) of legal battles
  32. Madden NFL 21 sells 20% more copies in first week than last year’s game: EA’s latest football sim tops early numbers of a predecessor that had produced “the most successful year in franchise history”
  33. Colin Kaepernick returns to Madden NFL: EA Sports makes free-agent quarterback available for the first time since Madden 18
  34. Colin Kaepernick hits the field in Madden NFL 21 without actual NFL deal
  35. Microsoft Flight Simulator: 1 million pilots so far, flying 1 billion miles
  36. Microsoft Flight Simulator attracts 1 million players in just over two weeks
  37. Report: Nintendo boosting Switch production to meet consumer demand
  38. Report: Nintendo increases Switch production targets again – Platform holder wants to make 30m units this year as it asks devs to get games 4K ready
  39. Nintendo’s next Mario Kart title is a mixed reality racer set in your living room
  40. Super Mario 3D All-Stars brings three high-res ports to Switch
  41. Super Mario 3D All-Stars is already Amazon’s second biggest game of 2020: Nintendo release is behind only Animal Crossing on the US storefront less than a week since its announcement
  42. Barrage of games coming for Super Mario Bros.’ 35th anniversary: Nintendo reveals limited time release of Super Mario 3D All-Stars with four more Mario products debuting by March
  43. Nintendo eShop policy change gives shoppers more time to cancel pre-orders
  44. With profit and revenue on the rise, CD Projekt heaps praise on The Witcher 3
  45. The Witcher 3’s next-gen debut promises free upgrade for current-gen owners
  46. CD Projekt Red confirms next-gen version of The Witcher 3: New version of the blockbuster RPG will be sold as a standalone product, but available as a free update to existing owners
  47. Wargaming UK rebrands as DPS Games to reflect global growth
  48. What can the games industry learn from Netflix and Spotify?: During our recent Changing Channels conference, experts discussed the impact of subscriptions on the world of entertainment
  49. Cloud gaming not ready for disruption – Report: Juniper Research sees streaming game services as a subset of a subscription service market that will hit $8 billion in 2023
  50. Can influencer-branded game stores work?
  51. Game Discoverability Now: Are the ‘store wars’ really upon us?
  52. Microsoft confirms next-gen pricing and launch dates, touts new financing options
  53. The compact Xbox Series S launches Nov 10 with promises of ‘next-gen performance’
  54. Xbox Series S confirmed by Microsoft after next-gen Xbox price leak
  55. Xbox Series S finally announced, priced at $299: Official video shares specs, console will launch November 10 and is digital only
  56. Microsoft confirms $499 Xbox Series X for Nov. 10
  57. Xbox Series X will sell for $499: Console launches November 10 with pre-orders starting September 22; All Access subscription price is $35 monthly for two years
  58. Xbox’s next-generation strategy threatens to disrupt the console business l Opinion: Xbox Series S and Game Pass could change console gaming forever. Maybe.
  59. EA Play is being added to Game Pass Ultimate at no extra cost
  60. EA Play added to Xbox Game Pass at no extra cost: Ultimate and PC subscribers will gain access to over 60 of the FIFA publisher’s titles
  61. Xbox All Access seems like one of the best deals in gaming
  62. Assassin’s Creed Valhalla bumps up release date to match next-gen Xbox launch
  63. GameStop continues to post heavy losses amid pandemic, end of console cycle: Retailer saw an adjusted net loss of $92 million in Q2, though global e-commerce sales spiked
  64. GameStop will close another 400 to 450 stores this fiscal year: It’s already closed 388 stores year-to-date
  65. Despite pandemic and its reboot, GameStop says it’s ready for next-gen demand
  66. CI Games opens internal studio Hexworks to develop Lords of the Fallen 2
  67. Wasteland 3 | Critical Consensus: InXile’s warmly received new RPG is a sign that Microsoft’s run of studio acquisitions is starting to pay off
  68. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 PC impressions: No pretending for this Superman
  69. Marvel’s Avengers | Critical Consensus: The critics found much to like in Crystal Dynamics’ campaign, and rather less in Square Enix’s ambitions to make its own Destiny
  70. Shenmue returns again—this time as a Crunchyroll, Adult Swim anime
  71. The Soulcalibur still burns | Why I Love: Namco’s Dreamcast fighter ushered in the era of better-than-arcade ports and built friendships in competitive communities that last to this day
  72. Masterpiece: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
  73. From Pong to Civilization: How I made “one more turn” work on consoles
  74. Esports Milestone: Guild Esports Looks For London Stock Exchange Listing
  75. David Beckham-backed Guild Esports sets sights on London IPO: Esports firm eyes £50m valuation when it floats on the London Stock Exchange later this year
  76. Facebook Gaming Signs Esports Pro ‘King’ Richard Nelson (Exclusive)
  77. Esports team brings University of Waterloo athletics into the digital age: UW will compete in Rocket League, Overwatch and League of Legends
  78. Changing the game: women in esports
  79. As Esports Go Mainstream, Some Important Lessons for Brands
  80. Rocket League drops PS Plus and Switch Online services for online play: Psyonix’s game will remove paywall from multiplayer on PlayStation and Switch when it transitions to free-to-play
  81. Facebook halts Oculus Quest sales in Germany amid privacy concerns
  82. Blog: Dynamic map elements in RTS games
  83. Blog: The hidden art of pacing – Part 2
  84. Blog: Building Cogmind’s ambient soundscape
  85. Blog: A Neon Climber postmortem
  86. Blog: A launch postmortem of Dungeons of Edera
  87. Video: Cultivating female talent in big-budget studios
  88. Video: How a newbie solo dev landed their game on Xbox Game Pass
  89. Video: Inside the physical animation of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
  90. Video: Using project management to tame the chaos of game dev
  91. Don’t Miss: Deaf accessibility in video games
  92. Don’t Miss: What was it like developing for the Dreamcast?
  93. U.S. Patent no. 9,582,147: Inserting game objects through contactless communication
  94. In Major Blow To Sony’s Upcoming PlayStation 5, Microsoft Announces PlayStation 6
  95. Gaming historian Curt Vendel dies at 53: Atari Museum founder, Atari Flashback designer, and “an unquestioned giant in computer history” died unexpectedly August 30

Jon

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News of the Week; September 2, 2020

By Jon Festinger on September 5, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. French language requirements in Québec: Language used in commercial publications, including websites and social media
  2. Internet terms of use: Ninth Circuit enforces arbitration agreement accessible through browsewrap hyperlink
  3. Third Circuit Upholds Public School Student’s First Amendment Rights
  4. Infringing Polish Website Isn’t Subject to Personal Jurisdiction in the United States–AMA v. Wanat
  5. Why potential claimants should take care with DMCA takedown demands
  6. Are Changes to the DMCA on the Horizon?
  7. AT&T backs Trump plan, demands “neutrality” on Facebook, Amazon, and Google
  8. Hypocritical AT&T Makes A Mockery Of Itself; Says 230 Should Be Reformed For Real Net Neutrality
  9. Supreme Court To Courts And Federal Agencies Trying To Rewrite Section 230: Knock It Off
  10. Section 230 Preempts Another FOSTA Claim–Doe v. Kik (Eric Goldman)
  11. Lindsey Graham Says We Need To Get Rid Of Section 230 To Sue ‘Batshit Crazy’ QAnon. That’s Not How Any Of This Works.
  12. My Comment To The FCC Regarding The Ridiculous NTIA Petition To Reinterpret Section 230
  13. A Paean To Transparency Reports
  14. Content Moderation Best Practices for Startups
  15. Content Moderation Case Study: Amazon Alters Publishing Rules To Deter Kindle Unlimited Scammers (April 2016)
  16. Calif. App. Court (4th Dist) Rejects Jurisdictional Challenge in Website Accessibility Case
  17. TikTok CEO quits as company reportedly plans sale to Microsoft, Walmart
  18. Sway House TikTokers Bryce Hall, Blake Gray Charged With Throwing Parties In Violation Of L.A. Health Orders
  19. Native TikTok Tools May Create Liability for Brands and Influencers
  20. TikTok: now to the copyright and political issues
  21. Facebook threatens to block news-sharing in Australia
  22. Facebook Says It Will Block News Sharing In Australia If Murdoch’s Social Media Tax Becomes Law
  23. Trump administration forces Facebook and Google to drop Hong Kong cable
  24. Amazon deletes anti-union listing, watches workers’ “secret” social groups
  25. iOS 14 will “severely impact” monetisation opportunities, Facebook says: Changes in privacy policy on Apple devices could mean a 50% drop in ad-driven revenue coming from Facebook’s Audience Network
  26. Sordid genealogies: a conjectural history of Cambridge Analytica’s eugenic roots
  27. Top Republican deletes tweet with doctored Biden video footage
  28. The Market for Fake Reviews
  29. Facebook apologizes to users, businesses for Apple’s monstrous efforts to protect its customers’ privacy: New iOS update will rob people of personalized ads, wails antisocial giant
  30. Apple won’t let Facebook tell users about 30-percent Apple tax on events
  31. Facebook Will Open Beta Of VR Social Platform ‘Horizon’ To (Some) Public Users In Coming Weeks
  32. Facebook and Other Tech Giants ‘too Big to Fail’
  33. Australian Court Says Using a Zipper-Mouth Emoji Can Be Defamatory–Burrows v. Houda (Eric Goldman)
  34. Australian Court Says Zipper Mouth Emoji Might Be Defamatory
  35. Google Declines to Remove Ads that Contain Election-Related Misinformation
  36. Google Maps now shows traffic lights at intersections
  37. We Ran Our Online Election Disinformation Simulation Game And There’s Plenty To Be Worried About
  38. As Speakers At The RNC Whined About Big Tech Bias, You Could Only Watch The Full Convention Because Of ‘Big Tech’
  39. Elon Musk is one step closer to connecting a computer to your brain: Neuralink has demonstrated a prototype of its brain-machine interface that currently works in pigs.
  40. Brain-Computer Interfaces Are Coming. Will We Be Ready? (Rand Corporation)
  41. Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Insanely Stupid Lawsuit Against Facebook
  42. The internet of protest is being built on single-page websites
  43. Content Moderation Case Study: Facebook Responds To A Live-streamed Mass Shooting (March 2019)
  44. Snapchat Is The Biggest Media Company Whose Content You’ve Never Watched–But That’s About To Change
  45. Patreon Raises $90 Million At $1.2 Billion Valuation: “The Stigma Of The Starving Artist Is Going To Fade Away”
  46. Global Digital Pandemic Responses: Reflections on Four Country Case Studies
  47. Fairphone users can buy new camera without replacing the phone itself
  48. Xiaomi’s “third-generation” under-display camera looks nearly invisible
  49. Going all-in on remote work: The technical and cultural changes
  50. TikTok And Teespring Team Up For Creator Merch Sales Integration
  51. TikTok Tells Users To Treat Themselves With Second Wave Of Free ‘Small Gestures’
  52. China announces new export rules that could prevent sale of TikTok
  53. Franchesca Ramsey Tapped To Host IAB’s ‘Podcast Upfront’, Which Has Registered 2,500 Attendees
  54. Rhett & Link Launch ‘Vote Like A Beast’ Registration Campaign Ahead Of Presidential Election
  55. SuperBam To Reclaim 10 Billion Views’ Worth Of AdSense For YouTube, TikTok, Twitch Creators By End Of 2020
  56. YouTube Reverses MoistCr1TiKaL, Markiplier Community Guidelines Strikes, Says They Were “An Over-Enforcement Of Policies”
  57. Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels • Week Of 8/31/2020
  58. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 8/31/2020
  59. David Blaine’s Balloon-Powered YouTube Stunt Postponed To Sept. 2
  60. How to Approach Legal Issues With CGI Influencers — Keep in mind virtual endorsements and brand sponsorships
  61. In Savvy Brand Deal, Charli D’Amelio Gets Signature Drink On Dunkin’ Donuts Menu
  62. Emma Chamberlain Premieres ‘Styled By Emma’ Makeover Series On IGTV
  63. Netflix Un-Paywalls ‘Bird Box,’ ‘The Two Popes,’ First Ep Of ‘Stranger Things’ To Tempt More Subscribers
  64. What the History of TV Can Teach Us about Netflix
  65. “This is the day”: Disney+ announces The Mandalorian season 2 premiere date
  66. The evolution and accountability of Diversity and Inclusion within the tech industry
  67. ASA finds numerous code breaches following monitoring operation on children’s websites
  68. After Years of “Silencing, Repression, and Retaliation” at This Software Company, Workers Decided to Organize
  69. Risk Shifts in the Gig Economy: The Normative Case for an Insurance Scheme against the Effects of Precarious Work
  70. Collaboration Houses: How Technology & A Pandemic Have Created Entirely New Ways To Go To College

A.I.

  1. Algorithmic policing risks intensifying systemic racism, harm privacy and Charter rights: report
  2. To Surveil and Predict: A Human Rights Analysis of Algorithmic Policing in Canada
  3. Tesla with Autopilot hits cop car—driver admits he was watching a movie
  4. Algorithms and the impact of decisions made using AI
  5. Reckoning and Judgment the Promise of AI
  6. Computer Says No: Can Algorithms Be Fair?
  7. The Paradox of Algorithmic Transparency
  8. The politics of algorithmic governance in the black box city
  9. Google offers to help others with the tricky ethics of AI
  10. Remedies for Algorithmic Tacit Collusion
  11. Musk says that Neuralink implants are close to ready for human testing
  12. Facing Novel Legal Issues Concerning Facial Recognition Technology in 2020
  13. What do organisations thinking of using facial recognition software need to do following the Court of Appeal judgment in R (Bridges) v CC South Wales ?
  14. Faceoff! UK appellate court finds police use of facial recognition technology contravenes laws
  15. Court of Appeal hands down judgment in facial recognition case
  16. Automated facial recognition: a controversial future tool for fighting crime
  17. AI analysis: How traffic works in Cities: Skylines
  18. Algorithms and employment law: what do you need to know?
  19. Law and Tech Collide: Foreseeability, Reasonableness and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems
  20. SAL Law Reform Committee Reports on Artificial Intelligence
  21. Robot Will Take Your Job: Innovation for an Era of Artificial Intelligence 
  22. NIST looks to shine a light on the ‘black box’ with its white paper on explainable AI
  23. NIST Seeks Comment on Proposed Framework for “Explainable” Artificial Intelligence 
  24. Is AI part of the new sports media landscape? 
  25. Philosophy in The Light Of AI 
  26. Podcast: Explaining Artificial Intelligence with Terry Bergin QC and Quentin Tannock 
  27. Don’t Miss: Bringing Washington D.C. to life – The AI of The Division 2 

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. D.C. Circuit Casts Doubt on FCC’s Authority to Impose Merger Conditions
  2. Yet Another Study Shows U.S. 5G Is Far Slower Than Many Other Nations
  3. SpaceX seeks FCC broadband funds, must prove it can deliver sub-100ms latency 
  4. U.S. Cable Broadband Monopolies Close In On 70% Broadband Market Share 
  5. Small Satellite Operators’ C-Band Challenge Rejected by FCC
  6. Wireless Carriers Once Again Fight Efforts At More Accurate Wireless Availability Maps
  7. Bankrupt OneWeb gets FCC approval for another 1,280 broadband satellites
  8. AT&T Now Trying To Ditch DirecTV After Bungled Merger Spree
  9. AT&T reportedly trying to sell DirecTV after massive customer losses
  10. No Miracles Here: FCC Denies Wakefield’s Request to Vacate ViSalus Waiver Order But $925MM Judgment Still Stands
  11. Government Grant Recipients May Not Acquire Certain Chinese Telecommunications Products
  12. FAR Council Amends Interim Rule on Chinese Telecommunications Ban to Update Certification Requirements 

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1.  Arts On (the) Line: Copyright Protection of Digital Performances for Presenters, Agents & Managers
  2. Word To Politicians: “Please [Do] Stop The Music”
  3. Fleshing out the copyright in a tattoo 
  4. Bad Faith Scraping of Photos carries a Big Cost
  5. Liability for Copyright Infringement Attaches if Conduct Exceeds Scope of License
  6. Regulations and the surge of software patent applications in the U.S. 
  7. Grey Market Goods – Coty and Costco Battle it Out in Québec 
  8. Tiffany v. Costco: the use of a trademark not as a trademark but in a descriptive sense
  9. Costco wins appeal against Tiffany – Tiffany and Co et al v Costco Wholesale Corp, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 17-2798. 
  10. KFC Presses Pause on IT’S FINGER LICKIN’ GOOD Slogan
  11. Aldi, Brewdog Brand War Ends In The Best Possible Way: Collaboration
  12. Comparing Apples to Pears 
  13. TENET: a twist in Time 
  14. Beyoncé’s BLUE IVY CARTER Mark in the Pink as TTAB Dismisses Opposition
  15. The Terrible Towel Is A Formidable Foe: Steelers’ Licensor Sues Maker of Terrible Masks
  16. The Land Rover Defender: a classic shape certainly, but a “badge of origin”?
  17. Difficult terrain: trade mark protection for 3d shapes
  18. Don’t Fall Victim to Bogus Trademark Registries
  19. Food Industry Insight – Overcoming Trademark Genericism with D’Ingenuity and Le Creativity
  20. Why you should designate Canada – and a Canadian agent – in your next Madrid application 
  21. The future of global licensing for digital standards?
  22. What’s in a name? Global brand owners make socially-conscious changes
  23. Strategic Considerations at the Intersection of Patent and Trade Secret Protection
  24. Delaware Court of Chancery: Companies Must Maintain Trade Secret Confidentiality in a Remote World
  25. Seventh Circuit Sends Health Care Software Company Plaintiff Back to District Court for $660 Million (or More) Reduction in Damages Award in Trade Secrets Case
  26. Pot Got Your Tongue? Company Alleges Former COO Disclosed Trade Secrets to Competitors
  27. You can’t do that! Federal Court quashes the “problem-solution” basis for rejecting claims
  28. No Solution? No Problem! The Federal Court of Canada puts a dagger in the “Problem-Solution” Approach to Patent Claims Construction
  29. “Problem-Solution” Claim Construction by Patent Office Does Not “Compute” 
  30. Federal Court clarifies Canadian approach to subject-matter eligibility for computer patents 
  31. Federal Court clarifies the assessment of patent-eligible subject matter in Canada
  32. What the Choueifaty Decision Means for Software Patents in Canada 
  33. Court Dismisses Intel’s and Apple’s Federal and State Antitrust Claims Against Patent Assertion Entities, Albeit with Leave of Court to Amend the Complaint
  34. UK Supreme Court affirms courts’ rights on IP licensing issue
  35. Dismissal on Procedural Grounds May Bar Claims for Later Infringement Under Res Judicata
  36. Res Judicata on Procedural Grounds Precludes Similar Claims Arising After Prior Judgment
  37. Inventorship, Unlike a Claim, is a “Nose of Wax”
  38. Landmark UK Supreme Court decision grants UK courts power to set the global royalty rate for standard essential patents
  39. Unwired Planet v Huawei – UK courts can determine global FRAND licensing terms
  40. Unwired Planet v Huawei – Supreme Court decision
  41. Unwired Planet vs Huawei – is it a victory for SEP holders?
  42. U.K. Supreme Court Affirms Global FRAND Rate-Setting Procedure in U.K. National Courts 
  43. UK Supreme Court Upholds Power of the UK Courts to Determine Global FRAND Licenses
  44. Last Week in the Federal Circuit (August 24-28): No Judicial Estoppel from Inventorship About-Face 
  45. Pointed Tip is Not a Substantially Flat Surface
  46. Clear Claim Language Trumped Written Description in Construction
  47. USPTO Sued Over Discretionary Denials 
  48. USPTO Issues Guidance on “Applicant Admitted Prior Art” in IPRs
  49. Canceled Patent Claims Do Not Entitle Former Patent Owner to a Refund 
  50. Antitrust Plaintiffs Complain of Patent “Thickets”
  51. Upper and Lower Claim Limitations Leave Patent Owner Feeling Down
  52. How Administrative Law Became the Hottest Topic in Patent Disputes at the Federal Circuit
  53. Valuing Patented Inventions in Litigation
  54. 5 developments you may not have realised are potentially patentable
  55. In review: key recent IP developments and trends in Canada 
  56. Intellectual Property Enforcement at the International Trade Commission

PRIVACY

  1. Ontario government launches consultations on establishing provincial privacy regime for private sector
  2. Ontario Government Seeks Input for Private Sector Privacy Legislation
  3. Privacy developments: OPC Privacy Guide for Businesses and Ontario privacy consultation
  4. China’s Efforts To Hide Its Muslim Concentration Camps Helped Reporters To Find Them
  5. The Fourth Amendment Downs ‘Video Voyeurism’ in Kraft SpaGate Case
  6. Can individuals claim damages for loss of control over their personal data
  7. U.S. Customs Opens Mass Searches of Data on Confiscated Traveler Smartphones, Computers
  8. Feds can’t ask Google for every phone in a 100-meter radius, court says
  9. Wait, Amazon’s New Wearable Needs to See Me in My Underwear?: Amazon says your semi-nude pictures will be automatically deleted from its servers after 3D body images are rendered.
  10. Amazon Halo will charge a subscription fee to monitor the tone of your voice
  11. The EU Is Launching a Market for Personal Data. Here’s What That Means for Privacy
  12. What Are GeofenceWarrants?
  13. Financial Data Aggregator Faces Consumer Privacy Suit over “Surreptitious” Collection of Banking Information
  14. U.S. issues warning on North Korean hackers targeting banks worldwide
  15. Bridgefy, A Messaging App Hyped As Great For Protesters, Is A Security Mess
  16. Mass Biometric Scanning Of Students Is COVID-19’s Latest Dystopian Twist
  17. If A College Is Going To Make COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps Mandatory, They Should At Least Be Secure
  18. Social Media Data Leak Raises Concerns Over Data Scraping
  19. Bad Faith Scraping of Photos carries a Big Cost
  20. CCTV and data privacy
  21. Hackers are exploiting a critical flaw affecting >350,000 WordPress sites
  22. Children’s Privacy Check-Up
  23. Back to School Special: But I’m Just an Ad Network! Am I Subject to Children’s Privacy Laws?
  24. Back to School Special: Is My Multi-Age Platform Subject to Child Protection Requirements?
  25. App Law and Future Changes to iOS Privacy
  26. The Dark Side of the Mooc?: the Rise of Edtech in Times of Covid-19: a Data Protection Challenge for Universities
  27. Remote Learning During Pandemic Brings Privacy Risks
  28. Schrems Strikes Again: Battery of New Data Privacy Complaints Raise Compliance Questions for EU-U.S. Data Transfers

CREATIVITY

  1. Judge Rakoff Clears Sarah Palin’s Defamation Lawsuit Against NY Times for February Trial
  2. Appeals Court Says Not Allowing Federal Officers To Pepper Spray Journalists Makes Law Enforcement Too Difficult
  3. The First Amendment Protects the Marketing Term “Vegan Butter”–Miyoko’s v. Ross (Eric Goldman)
  4. Covid Is Accelerating a Global Censorship Crisis
  5. Tinpot Administration Is Apparently ‘Building Dossiers’ On Journalists Who Criticize Trump
  6. Trump Wants To Replace FTC Chair Whom He Can’t Replace, Because The FTC Is Reluctant To Go After Trump’s Social Media Enemies
  7. How to (not) get rich quick: factors used to quantify damages awards in defamation cases
  8. Sixth Circuit Considers Public Employee’s Off-the-Clock Social Media Post in First Amendment Case
  9. Legal battle over artist’s legacy begins in London’s High Court
  10. TV Ratings for Biden and Trump Signal an Increasingly Polarized Nation: Fox News dominated ratings for the Republican convention, and MSNBC was the clear No. 1 for the Democrats’ gathering.
  11. Planning to Show a Toddler in Your Distilled Spirits Advertising?
  12. Burger King Wins “Whopper” of a Case: Federal Court Finds No Promise of Method of Preparation in Advertisements for Meatless Burger
  13. Picasso painting vandal who was “seeking fame” is jailed for 18 months
  14. “Stonehenge Lego” scale model reveals the pagan monument’s unique soundscape

GAMES

  1. Want to Write a Story About Tardigrades in Space? Make It So!–Abdin v. CBS (Eric Goldman)
  2. Abdin v. CBS (USCA 2nd Cir., August 17, 2020)
  3. Bugs in Space? Star Trek Plotline Does Not Infringe Tardigrade Video Game
  4. Gaming emote litigation: plaintiffs test different causes of action as battle ensues over Fortnite emotes
  5. Atlanta Rapper Claims “Soul Jah Boi” Dance in NBA 2K19 Infringes His Copyright
  6. China-linked mobile games including PUBG Mobile have been banned in India
  7. Apple terminates Epic’s developer account as promised: However, Unreal Engine on iOS remains unaffected thanks to restraining order
  8. Apple has terminated Epic Games’ App Store account
  9. Apple terminates Epic’s App Store access following Fortnite dispute
  10. iOS users no longer able to update Fortnite following App Store altercation
  11. ‘Fortnite’ maker Epic faces uphill antitrust battle with Apple
  12. On Monopolies, Apple, and Epic
  13. Today, Apple made changes to its app review process to save face with devs
  14. App Store tweaks ease bug fix process, let devs pitch App Store Guidelines changes
  15. Ubisoft removes Black Lives Matter image from Tom Clancy game’s terror group
  16. Ubisoft apologizes after Tom Clancy mobile game co-opts BLM movement
  17. Ubisoft apologizes for ‘insensitive and harmful’ Elite Squad imagery: Publisher says it will remove “raised fist” from cinematic portraying protest movement as terrorist organization
  18. Marvel’s Avengers sets new beta download record on PlayStation
  19. Ubisoft (temporarily) suggests no PS1, PS2, or PS3 backwards compatibility for PS5
  20. 2K Games supports NBA protests in the wake of Wisconsin shooting: “We strongly support the players and leagues using their platform to demonstrate against the shooting of Jacob Blake”
  21. Fall Guys cheating loophole leads to blanket Family Sharing ban
  22. Consumers Sue Mobile App Maker Over Loot Boxes
  23. More Video Game Art Is Being Sanitized, Likely To Appease China
  24. Opinion: Why Ronald Reagan’s appearance in Call of Duty is drawing criticism
  25. Accessibility in games with AbleGamers’ Greg Haynes – GDC Podcast ep. 12
  26. Big Fish Games lays off 250 staff
  27. Xbox brings in Bungie veteran to keep delayed Halo Infinite on track: Joseph Staten, who worked on the original trilogy, now leading work on the upcoming shooter’s campaign
  28. 343 Industries appoints Halo veterans to ensure Infinite launches in 2021
  29. We need to take Steam wishlist quality more seriously
  30. Steam Labs’ latest experiment brings Chat Filtering to Steam and participating games
  31. Electronic Arts’ subscription service EA Play is live on Steam
  32. Unity debuts new tool to help devs submit games to multiple Android storefronts
  33. Microsoft Flight Simulator players are flying into Hurricane Laura: Virtual storm chasing
  34. Sony begins invite-only, one-per-customer PS5 pre-orders: But platform holder still offers no indication of release date or price
  35. Ratchet & Clank is the unlikely star of the PS5 line-up | Opinion: The 18 year-old series has become the poster child for what a new generation can do
  36. New PlayStation exclusives and first-party studios key in Sony’s PlayStation strategy
  37. Sony ponders potential PS to PC ports
  38. PlayStation 5’s paltry back-compat stance seemingly confirmed by Ubisoft
  39. Report: AT&T no longer looking to sell off Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
  40. European market generated €21.6 billion in revenue in 2019: The best selling game of 2019 in Europe was FIFA 20, the ISFE reported
  41. The finer points of Mario Kart 8 on the Switch, explained by a pro
  42. Rocket League won’t require PS Plus or Nintendo Switch Online after free-to-play shift
  43. Gamezop raises $4.3m in Series A financing: Funding round led by Bitkraft Ventures to be used toward Southeast Asian, Latin American expansion
  44. Deep Silver parent company Koch Media opens two publishing offices in Asia
  45. Koch Media opens publishing offices in Tokyo and Hong Kong: New subsidiaries will allow Koch to publish games in Japan, South Korea, China and Southeast Asia
  46. Crayta’s cloud-driven dream to democratize game development: Unit 2 Games and Crayta’s Indie Fund developers discuss the platform’s inception and hopes for an accessible future
  47. Craft, art, and science: Three ways of teaching game design – How can educational institutions best teach prospective designers in a way that prepares them for work in the industry?
  48. New Dragon Age still on track to exist, no release date given
  49. Incredible Ratchet & Clank gameplay demo reveals PS5’s SSD difference
  50. When should we expect launch prices and dates for 2020’s new consoles?
  51. UK Charts: Soft week for physical sales despite new releases – Madden and Project Cars fail to ignite boxed market as Animal Crossing reigns again
  52. Biden campaign launches official Animal Crossing: New Horizons yard signs
  53. Biden presidential campaign rolls out yard signs in Animal Crossing
  54. Animal Crossing Continues To Be An Innovative Playground As Biden Campaign Begins Advertising On It
  55. Sweden’s MAG Interactive acquires mobile trivia dev Sventertainment
  56. Planet Zoo dev Frontier has a new publishing label: Frontier Foundry
  57. CD Projekt Red climbs to record market cap on Witcher mobile AR game: Pokémon Go-style title drives 8% jump, leaves CDPR’s market cap €1b higher than Ubisoft
  58. Huuuge Inc. preparing for an IPO: Polish free-to-play gaming company looking to go public on the Warsaw Stock Exchange
  59. Eiyuden Chronicles Kickstarter raises more than $4.5m: Suikoden developers’ crowdfunding campaign for a new JRPG brings in site’s third highest video game total ever
  60. Keywords acquires game marketing agency Maverick for $4.7 million
  61. What hypercasual mobile game publishers look for in developers: Supersonic Studios’ Nadav Ashkenazy explains what it takes to get your hypercasual game published
  62. Shaping a warm welcome for wholesome games: Matthew Taylor and James Tillman explain how the Wholesome Games Direct came about, and why curating games based on feeling was a success
  63. Interactive storytelling platform Dorian raises $3.25 million in funding
  64. Tencent and Ziff Davis partner to relaunch IGN China: Chinese games giant will operate media outlet, site will be editorially independent of Tencent Group
  65. Leyou Technologies confirms ongoing acquisition talks with Tencent: If completed, Tencent will privatise parent of Warfare developer
  66. CAA Signs Prominent Gamers Alpharad And The Completionist
  67. StreamElements unveils recipients of Creator Diversity Fund: The $100,000 fund was divided between 20 Twitch content creators from underrepresented backgrounds
  68. David Dobrik Launches Twitch Channel By Giving Away $1,000 For Every ‘Warzone’ Win
  69. BitKraft Ventures raises $165m VC fund: The games- and esports-focused VC firm already has a portfolio of 50 companies
  70. Dota 2’s The International 10 prize pool has hit a record-breaking $34,396,000 (and counting): The most lucrative esports tournament ever held
  71. First Cycling Esports World Championships announced
  72. Game devs and eSport teams — how to protect your brand assets with trade marks
  73. Facebook Halts Sale of Rift & Quest in Germany Amid Regulatory Concerns
  74. Oculus halts headset sales in Germany: Facebook says it’s a temporary move and will continue supporting existing owners in the country
  75. Facebook renames its AR/VR studio collective to Facebook Reality Labs: Oculus Studios will retain its name, and Oculus branding remains
  76. Crusader Kings 3 | Critical Consensus: Paradox Interactive updates its defining franchise, and the critics are hailing the result as a potential Game of the Year
  77. Cyberpunk 2077 lands 5 awards including top honors at Gamescom 2020
  78. Cyberpunk 2077 tops Best of Gamescom awards: CD Projekt Red cleans up with five wins for upcoming title, including Best of Show, Best PC Game, and Best RPG
  79. Blog: The key features of stealth games 
  80. Blog: Cloudpunk creator Marko Dieckmann talks cyberpunk, voxel art, and indie development
  81. Blog: The hidden art of pacing – Part 1
  82. Blog: Why knowing how to focus and not to scope creep is an essential skill
  83. Blog: Democratizing PySpark for mobile game publishing
  84. Blog: Finding retention influencers in Destiny
  85. Video: Robin Hunicke’s Q&A about working together, apart, in dynamic times
  86. Video: An inside look at the making of Hardspace: Shipbreaker
  87. Video: How procedural environmental destruction works in Control
  88. Video: Making the designer-writer collaboration work in game dev
  89. Video: Crafting the crafting system in Astroneer
  90. Don’t Miss: The nuts and bolts of Fable III
  91. Fall Guys costume auction raises $1 million for UK charity Special Effect
  92. Fall Guys bidding contest raises $1 million for SpecialEffect: Aim Lab, G2 Esports, Mr Beast, and Ninja won the Fall Guys bidding contest and will get in-game skins
  93. U.S. Patent no. 9,597,601: Method for displaying chat window applied to network game

Jon

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News of the Week; August 26, 2020

By Jon Festinger on August 29, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. Surprise: Report Claims Facebook Has Been Driving White House TikTok Animosity
  2. TikTok Sues Trump Administration, Reveals It Has 100 Million U.S. Users
  3. TikTok sues Trump to challenge US government restrictions
  4. TikTok Files Suit to Prevent U.S. Ban of its Mobile Application
  5. TikTok sues Trump admin., says ban is unconstitutional and political
  6. US administration takes on Chinese social media
  7. Tim Wu Joins The Ban TikTok Parade, Doesn’t Clarify What The Ban Actually Accomplishes
  8. The Clock is Ticking on TikTok, 90 Days to Divest
  9. LinkedIn sued by iPhone users for breach of data privacy
  10. Fourth Circuit Dramatically Expands Scope of Personal Jurisdiction for Website Operators
  11. Appeals Court: City Employee’s Horrific Facebook Posts About Tamir Rice Shooting Were Likely Protected Speech
  12. Does Facebook Still Sell Discriminatory Ads?
  13. iOS 14 privacy settings will tank ad targeting business, Facebook warns
  14. Facebook claims iOS 14 will harm developers that rely on ad-driven revenue
  15. Arizona State University Sues Facebook With Bogus Trademark Claim To Try To Stop COVID Parties Account
  16. After Lawsuit is Filed, Instagram Deletes Account Promoting Parties at Arizona State University
  17. Takeaways from The Weather Channel Settlement over Location Data Practices
  18. Two Suspects Arrested Following Brutal Hollywood Attack Against Three Trans Influencers Of Color
  19. The Future of American Industry Depends on Open Source Tech
  20. Content Moderation Knowledge Sharing Shouldn’t Be A Backdoor To Cross-Platform Censorship
  21. Content Moderation Case Study: Nextdoor Faces Criticism From Volunteer Moderators Over Its Support Of Black Lives Matter
  22. Content Moderation Case Study: US Army Bans Users For Asking About War Crimes On Twitch & Discord (July 2020)
  23. Content Moderation And Human Nature
  24. Washington Court Says First Amendment Protects Teen’s Emoji-Laden Rant About Her Mother
  25. Section 230 Protects Craigslist from Sex Trafficking Claims, Despite FOSTA–JB v. Craigslist (Eric Goldman)
  26. Court Orders Rightsowner to Withdraw DMCA Takedown Notices Sent to Amazon–Beyond Blond v. Heldman (Eric Goldman)
  27. Message Board Operator Isn’t Liable for Third-Party Posts (DUH)–East Coast Test Prep v. Allnurses (Eric Goldman)
  28. How I’m Teaching My “Internet Law” Course Online (Eric Goldman)
  29. Historic Charges: First Enforcement Action Filed by New York Department of Financial Services Under Cybersecurity Regulation
  30. The Conscience of Silicon Valley: Jaron Lanier warned us all about the evils of social media. Too few of us listened. Now, in the most chaotic of moments, his fears—and his bighearted solutions—are more urgent than ever.
  31. Napster sold for a song to UK virtual events company
  32. Apple market value tops $2tn: iPhone maker is first publicly-listed US company to reach this milestone
  33. Apple’s iOS 14 Requires New Opt-in Consent for Advertising Identifiers
  34. Apple apologizes to WordPress, no longer requires free app to add purchases
  35. US government built secret iPod with Apple’s help, former engineer says
  36. China trade war could push iPhone contractor Foxconn to build in Mexico
  37. Last-minute California ruling means Uber and Lyft won’t shut down today
  38. Former Uber security chief faces criminal charges for hiding 2016 breach
  39. Genealogy Giant Tagged for Iffy Auto-Renewal Policies
  40. Tesla stock reaches $2,000 amid soaring interest in EV companies
  41. Complex Launches First Tabletop Game Inspired By Hit ‘Hot Ones’ YouTube Series
  42. HBO Max cranks up the Widevine DRM, leaves Linux users in the cold
  43. A Chrome feature is creating enormous load on global root DNS servers
  44. Family Vlogger Landon Clifford, Of ‘Cam & Fam’ Channel, Has Passed Away At Age 19
  45. YouTube Terminates LeafyIsHere’s Channel For Repeated Violations Of Harassment Policies
  46. YouTube Took Down Most Videos Ever In A Single Quarter After COVID Altered Its Moderation Approach
  47. YouTube Unveils List Of Year’s Top ‘Direct Response’ Ads As Format Continues To Flourish
  48. YouTube Millionaires: Benji Krol Brings His 11 Million TikTok Followers To YouTube
  49. BTS Reclaims YouTube Record With 3 Million Concurrent Viewers For “Dynamite” Music Video Premiere
  50. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 8/24/2020
  51. Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels • Week Of 8/24/2020
  52. Los Angeles Cuts Sway House’s Power, Water To Stop Them From Having Parties
  53. Insights: Crunchyroll Shows How To Build A Giant Audience For A “Niche” Channel
  54. Back to School Special: Recordings, Photos, Kids, and Parental Consent
  55. Has The Pandemic Shown That The Techlash Was Nonsense?
  56. Blockchain and Digital Assets News and Trends
  57. Tech Company and its CEO charged for fraud and registrations violations in connection with a $5 million Initial Coin Offering
  58. US Justice Department seizes cryptocurrency from three terror finance cyber-enabled campaigns
  59. Calif. App. Court (1st Dist) Rejects Claims Against Digital Currency Exchange Regarding Unsupported Currency
  60. Twitter to SEC: FTC Steamed Over Violated Consent Decree
  61. The Ethics of Social Media “Friendship”
  62. The death of Legal Tech?
  63. Understanding DNS—anatomy of a BIND zone file
  64. How Zeynep Tufekci Keeps Getting the BigThings Right
  65. Pixel Pioneer Passes

A.I.

  1. Appeals court hands down the UK’s first judgment on automated facial recognition
  2. The term ‘ethical AI’ is finally starting to mean something
  3. Data-Informed Predictive Policing Was Heralded As Less Biased. Is It?
  4. British Grading Debacle Shows Pitfalls of Automating Government
  5. Regulation of Artificial Intelligence in Europe and Japan
  6. NIST Publishes Proposed Principles for “Explainable” AI Systems
  7. AI Standards Update: NIST Solicits Comments on the Four Principles of Explainable Artificial Intelligence and Certain Other Developments
  8. NIST Seeking Comments on Draft AI Principles
  9. NAIC adopts principles for trustworthy artificial intelligence in insurance that support the avoidance of proxy discrimination against protected classes
  10. AI: Security and Privacy Risks with Big Data

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. Bizarre Court Ruling Helps Cable Broadband Monopoly Charter Tap Dance Around Merger Conditions
  2. AT&T, T-Mobile fight speed tests that could prove their coverage maps wrong
  3. Commerce Department Further Restricts Huawei Access to U.S. Technology Abroad and Expands Reach of Entity List
  4. Zombie BlackBerrys! QWERTY BlackBerry Android phones are coming back
  5. Regulators Are Ignoring How Low Orbit Satellite Broadband Is Trashing The Night Sky
  6. Boys And Girls Club Backtracks After Folks Ask Why It’s Helping A Cable Monopoly Lobby The FCC
  7. FCC’s 5G Fast Plan Gains Momentum
  8. 5G in US averages 51Mbps while other countries hit hundreds of megabits
  9. The FCC begins streamlined processing of licensing applications for small satellites
  10. FCC Overhauls Its Broadband Data Collection Rules and Modernizes its Broadband Mapping
  11. FCC Seeks Comment on Developing 2021 Annual Broadband Deployment Report
  12. Running a friends-and-family promotion in Canada? Cruel, cryptic CASL strikes again 

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. On the Barefoot Contessa, Peppermint Bark, and the Volitional Conduct Requirement for Copyright Infringement
  2. Virtual Reconstruction Of Ancient Temple Destroyed By ISIS Is Another Reason To Put Your Holiday Photos Into The Public Domain 
  3. Mango v. Buzzfeed: On claim that media site violated DMCA by publishing photographer’s work without permission 2nd Cir. holds plain language of DMCA does not require evidence of infringement by third party.
  4. Buzz-sawed: Give Copyright Credit or Face Statutory Damages, Fees, Costs 
  5. To Embed or Not to Embed?: A New Challenge to Embedding Images From Social Media
  6. Basset v. Jensen: Artist prevails on summary judgment against production company after her home used as set for pornographic films resulted in unauthorized use of her copyrighted works appearing in background.
  7. Waite v. UMG Recordings, Inc.: In class action involving termination of grants of copyrighted sound recordings, court rulrd that “gap grants” are terminable under Section 203 of the Copyright Act.
  8. Genius Media Group v. Google LLC: Court dismisses suit against Google for copying and using content from lyrics website Genius in search engine results, finding state law claims preempted by Copyright Act. 
  9. In Da Courts: Second Circuit Affirms Lower Court Ruling in Rick Ross vs. 50 Cent Copyright Feud
  10. Copyright Troll Richard Liebowitz Reveals His Retainer Agreement: He Gets Most Of The Money
  11. Judge Recommends Copyright Troll Richard Liebowitz Be Removed From Roll Of The Court For Misconduct In Default Judgment Case
  12. Copyright Wars – Episode I: The Fandom Menace?
  13. Open Source Software: Litigation Windfall or Landmine?
  14. Copyright Board Ordered to Take a New Look at Streaming Services Rate Structure
  15. New Cost-Efficient Copyright Registration Option for Influencers and Bloggers
  16. Quebec Superior Court declines to issue a Norwich order to identify the supplier of grey market perfumes
  17. Apple Goes In Even Harder Against Prepear Over Non-Apple Logo
  18. Trademarks and the obligation of use
  19. Common misconceptions when managing trademarks internationally 
  20. Defender vs. Grenadier
  21. Look into Local Connotations for Your Proposed Trademark 
  22. Race to the Top: Trademark Litigation in the Equine Industry
  23. Second Circuit Vacates Tiffany’s $21 Million Win Over Costco
  24. Diamonds are Forever, but Tiffany’s $21M Trademark Win is Not
  25. Understanding the nuances of trademark use in various ARIPO jurisdiction
  26. Where’s my world trademark?
  27. How A Non-U.S. Trademark Applicant Establishes a Bona Fide Intent to Use in U.S. Commerce
  28. Brew Dog, Aldi Get Into Brand Battle With Good Nature, Not Cease And Desists 
  29. As the craft beer market goes mainstream, how should brand owners go about protecting their trade marks?
  30. Danger on the Horizon: Detecting Early Signs of Trade Secret Theft by Competitors 
  31. First Circuit Reverses Trade Secret Misappropriation Verdict Even Though Employee Stole Company Information
  32. Workplace Confidential: Preventing Former Employees from Using Your Trade Secrets
  33. No License, No Chips, No Problem: Ninth Circuit Vacates Injunction in FTC v. Qualcomm 
  34. Unwired Planet v Huawei – Supreme Court decision
  35. Admitted Art Ruled Out as IPR Trial Ground Reference
  36. Black Box Structure Insufficient for MPF Element
  37. Standard Essential Patent Licensing Practices Do Not Violate Antitrust Laws
  38. Supreme Court decision in Unwired Planet v Huawei and Conversant v Huawei and ZTE
  39. Unwired Planet v Huawei and Conversant v Huawei & ZTE – Supreme Court Judgment 2020
  40. “Half-Liquid” is Wholly Indefinite
  41. Improved Method of Operating a Flow Cytometry Apparatus Is Not Abstract 
  42. Standard Essentiality Is a Question for the Fact Finde
  43. Golden Rules for Drafting Enforceable US Claims
  44. Promoting the Progress of Science: How Clinical Stage Patent Strategies Can Bring New Pharmaceuticals to Market 
  45. CJEU rules that “pay-for-delay” agreements may be anti-competitive
  46. Intellectual Property Intel: Understanding the Impact of Bankruptcy on a Company’s Most Valuable Assets 
  47. Bipartisan “Advancing America’s Interests Act” Seeks to Curtail Intellectual Property Enforcement at the International Trade Commission

PRIVACY

  1. Responding to cyber-attacks – lessons for Saskatchewan municipalities from recent data breaches
  2. Ontario announces major privacy consultation – privacy laws in Canada’s two largest provinces may soon change
  3. Ontario signals the coming of commercial privacy legislation
  4. De-identify, Anonymize and De-index: New Verbs and New Obligations!
  5. Manufacturers of internet of things devices: guidance from the Canadian Federal Privacy Commissioner
  6. Massachusetts Top Court Says Cops Need Warrants To Engage In Long-Term Video Surveillance Of People’s Houses
  7. Unredacted suit shows Google’s own engineers confused by privacy settings
  8. VoLTE Flaw Lets A Hacker Spy On Encrypted Communications For A Measly $7,000
  9. “DeathStalker” hackers are (likely) older and more prolific than we thought
  10. Secret Service Latest To Use Data Brokers To Dodge Warrant Requirements For Cell Site Location Data
  11. Bridgefy, the messenger promoted for mass protests, is a privacy disaster
  12. The Battle Continues: 101 Complaints are Filed Against Companies Transferring Data to the United States
  13. Police Monitoring Of Social Media Sparks Concerns In Black And Brown Communities
  14. California Fusion Center Tracked Anti-Police Protests, Sent Info To 14,000 Police Officers
  15. College contact-tracing app readily leaked personal data, report finds
  16. Court of Appeal gives guidance on digital records held on electronic devices in criminal proceedings
  17. UK Says South Wales Police’s Facial Recognition Program Is Unlawful
  18. Have retailers disclosed whether they “sell” personal information?
  19. Uber ex-security chief charged with covering up data hack: Prosecutors say Uber attempted to hide a massive breach as a sort of favour hackers did to the company by identifying a flaw in its computer networks
  20. NSA Releases Helpful Guidance for Limiting Location Data Exposure
  21. The CCPA Regulations Are Now Final, But They’re Not Exactly What The Attorney General Proposed
  22. Frequently Asked Questions: Privacy and Cybersecurity Issues Arising from the Virtual Learning Environment
  23. Schrems II – What Next for International Data Transfers?
  24. Schrems II Could Disrupt US Courts’ Common Ground on eDiscovery and Data Transfers from Europe
  25. Do most retailers take the position that the use of third party behavioral advertising cookies is, or is not, the “sale” of personal information?
  26. Consumer Reports Study Shows Many ‘Smart’ Doorbells Are Dumb, Lack Basic Security
  27. DiceKeys creates a master password for life with one roll

CREATIVITY

  1. Class-action alleges that carrot cake containing “natural and artificial flavor” is deceptively advertised
  2. Oreo False Advertising Class Action Lacks Filling
  3. Archaeologists discover earliest British art on Jersey

GAMES

  1. On Appeal, ‘Star Trek Discovery’ Still Doesn’t Infringe On Video Game’s Copyright
  2. Judge issues restraining order protecting Unreal Engine development on iOS
  3. Temporary restraining order will protect Unreal Engine on Apple platforms
  4. Epic wins restraining order against Apple but Fortnite remains blocked: Judge says Epic has yet to demonstrate antitrust, but agrees that “serious questions do exist”
  5. Judge Rejects Epic’s Temporary Restraining Order Request For Fortnite (But Grants It For The Unreal Engine)
  6. Protection granted to Unreal Engine but not Fortnite following altercation with Apple
  7. Apple on Epic’s retaliation claims: ‘The emergency is entirely of Epic’s own making’
  8. Epic vs Apple judge decided in Apple’s favour in similar case: In 2013, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said plaintiffs failed to prove that Apple “deprived [them] of lower cost alternatives”
  9. Apple opposes Epic’s restraining order, says dispute is “completely avoidable”: iPhone maker claims damage to Fortnite and Unreal is self-inflicted, says Epic has not proved Apple is a monopoly
  10. Epic Games Moves Battleground From Mobile Phones to Courtroom With Antitrust Attacks on Apple and Google
  11. Epic Battles Apple: I Missed a Spot
  12. Epic Games turns Apple dispute into Fortnite event: Upcoming #FreeFortnite Cup will feature anti-Apple prizes as iOS users prepare to be blocked from updates
  13. Epic is hosting a Fortnite tournament themed around its legal battle with Apple
  14. Your iPhone copy of Fortnite is about to become out of date
  15. Game Discoverabilityland: Tim Epic vs. Tim Apple (also non-Tim news!)
  16. Microsoft backs Epic Games in legal dispute with Apple1
  17. Microsoft files statement supporting Epic Games against Apple: Xbox firm says Unreal Engine is “critical technology” and blocking it on iOS “will harm game creators and gamers”
  18. Microsoft backs Epic against Apple in legal fight over Unreal Engine on iOS
  19. Apple reaches $2 trillion market valuation as legal battle with Epic rages on
  20. Epic Games Sued By Company That Manages ‘Coral Castle’ In Florida Over New Fortnite Map
  21. Hitman 3 for PC to be Epic Games Store exclusive: IO Interactive’s title is set to release in January 2021
  22. Democratizing in-app purchase with direct payment: Following the Apple vs Epic dispute, Raymond Arifianto gives a crash course on how to implement in-app purchase with direct payment in your game
  23. Tfue And FaZe Clan Have Settled Their Lawsuits
  24. Devs exiting Lab Zero Games blame owner’s persistent pattern of misconduct
  25. Developers cut ties with Lab Zero, accuse lead designer of abuse, harassment: Skullgirls IP holder will work with former employees on future Skullgirls content without Mike Zaimont or Lab Zero
  26. Rocksteady’s response to claims of inaction outlines past and future anti-harassment plans
  27. Rocksteady responds to sexism accusations again: Batman Arkham studio says it addressed issues appropriately, has now hired external firm to interview current and former employees
  28. India’s prime minister appeals for games based on “Indian culture and folk tales”: Narendra Modi offered a rare display of government support for India’s emerging games industry
  29. Riot Games and Valve Win Over PalTalk’s Invalidated Patent Affirmed
  30. The Sinking City yanked from stores in dispute over publishing rights
  31. The Sinking City pulled from stores amid legal dispute: Developer Frogwares accuses publisher Nacon of missing payments, holding €1 million in royalties and claiming IP rights
  32. Copyright changes could limit in-game props, but might defeat clones | Opinion: Kostya Lobov warns that recent EU court decisions could drastically affect what is protectable by copyright
  33. Six ways to make your user-generated content game successful and lawsuit-free: Mythical Games’ Jamie Jackson detailed the dos and don’ts of user-generated content in a Devcom talk this week
  34. Activision Deletes And Replaces ‘Call Of Duty’ Trailer Worldwide Over 1 Second That Hurt China’s Feelings
  35. Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War trailer blocked in China: Activision replaces original version, featuring Tiananmen Square protest footage, with shorter edit worldwide
  36. A ‘cross-gen’ copy of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War will cost $69.99
  37. The next Call of Duty will cost $70 on next-generation consoles
  38. Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War will cost $70 for next-gen console versions: Current-gen versions will be playable via backward compatibility, but will be missing enhancements
  39. Devolver apologises for cancelling legitimate keys during clampdown on Fall Guys scammers: Those affected will be able to reclaim copy of popular combat-free battle royale
  40. Fall Guys has surpassed 7 million sales on Steam
  41. Bilibili will publish Fall Guys on mobile in China
  42. Fall Guys is coming to mobile in China: Mediatonic confirmed Fall Guys will get a mobile release in China, but it looks like other territories will have to wait
  43. How Fall Guys’ bouncing, bumbling beans gave the game its soul
  44. How did Fall Guys get it so right?
  45. Fall Guys is now the most downloaded PS Plus game in history
  46. Loot Box Update
  47. FTC Staff Perspective Paper Offers Key Takeaways on Loot Box Workshop
  48. FTC Scrutinizes Loot Boxes – What are the Odds?
  49. Valve assures slow Flight Simulator downloads won’t affect refunds: Steam operator says lengthy install time will not count against store’s two-hour policy
  50. Ubisoft swaps physical games for digital on some upcoming Xbox CEs
  51. Ubisoft drops discs from Xbox collector’s editions: Premium SKUs for Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Watch Dogs Legion and Far Cry 6 will include a digital code instead
  52. $60+ for a game is an “unfair price,” G2A study finds: 41% of the respondents said younger players were being “outpriced by gaming”
  53. Report: Latest Switch Pro rumors point toward early 2021
  54. Nintendo Switch Pro rumors resurface, this time expected in Q1 2021: Report says improved Switch model would feature better display, more interactivity
  55. Reports: “4K” Nintendo Switch revision slated for 2021 launch
  56. DMG launches accelerator for developers from marginalised backgrounds: Damage Labs Studio Startup is set to help founders from underrepresented identities in Canada
  57. Diablo 2: The human cost of making a classic: At Devcom, David Brevik recalled the “terrible grind” required to finish Blizzard North’s evergreen masterpiece
  58. BrainLeap launches games series aimed at children with attention difficulties: The Attention Arcade features six PC games that are controlled by eye movements
  59. Microsoft sells Halo masks to benefit frontline workers: For each mask purchased on Meta Threads, two additional ones will be donated to MasksforDocs
  60. 343 Industries squashes rumours of Halo Infinite dropping Xbox One: The new game will not be delayed any further and will support current-gen Xbox hardware
  61. 505 Games: There are “blockers” preventing free next-gen upgrades for Control – Publisher claims it was impossible to offer Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 versions without some players being left out
  62. PlayStation: Launching a console during a pandemic “is a massive challenge on every front” – PlayStation reveals its first PlayStation 5 ad
  63. PlayStation 5 devs explain how DualSense haptics will actually work
  64. Sony could detect PlayStation users based on how they hold a controller: New patent IDs unique controller positioning and movement between console users.
  65. Your PlayStation allegiance may determine whether you can preorder a PS5
  66. The silver linings in the clouds of 2020 | Opinion: Even as recession and schedule slippages bite hard in the coming months, some sectors have an opportunity to flourish
  67. Razer sees record-high revenues during pandemic: Peripheral maker says “stay-at-home trends” fueled first half sales up 25.3% to $447.5m as net losses were lessened to $17.7m
  68. Unity’s long-rumored IPO is finally moving forward
  69. March Capital establishes $60 million game investment fund
  70. March Capital launches $60m games startup fund: Investment firm form new entity to seek seed and series A financing opportunities
  71. Online gaming M&A levels up
  72. Polish games industry is worth nearly €500m: Game Industry Conference organizers report the country has 9,710 game dev staff employed across 440 studios
  73. Social game platform Hiber nets $2.25 million to accelerate development
  74. Hiber raises $2.2m to build out its browser-based game platform: Users have created over 300,000 games on Hiber so far in 2020
  75. Amazon Games and Smilegate enter exclusive publishing agreement: The pair will collaborate on a game to be released in 2021
  76. UK Charts PGA Tour 2K21 lands at No.2: And Animal Crossing New Horizons is No.1 again
  77. Ghost of Tsushima sold 1.9m digital units in July: And Pokémon Go’s Go Fest event just gave the game its best month since August 2016
  78. What the advent of 5G—mmWave and otherwise—will mean for online gaming
  79. Unity prepping an IPO: Engine maker declares intent to go public, reports net losses despite more than half of all mobile, PC, and cnsole games using its tech
  80. Unity Software Inc. Form S-1 (United States Securities and Exchange Commission)
  81. What did we learn from the Unity IPO filing?: Engine maker’s decision to go public gave details on how much it spent on recent acquisitions, CEO compensation, what happened with its sexual harassment suit, and more
  82. Gamers are logging millions of hours a day on Roblox: The platform, popular with tweens, allows developers to cash in on its success
  83. Mobile studio Colossi Games nets $650,000 to fund debut title
  84. Colossi Games raises $650,000 in pre-seed funding for new survival game: Cyprus-based studio hopes mobile survival RPG will push back against growing predictability in the genre
  85. Animal Talking: “It’s a hobby that spiralled wildly out of control”: At our Changing Channels conference, screenwriter Gary Whitta described the past, present and future of his Animal Crossing talk show
  86. The National Videogame Museum reopens this weekend: After fears that COVID-19 would mean permanent closure, UK museum to reopen with new safety precautions
  87. Amazon Games signs on to publish a Smilegate RPG game in the West
  88. Ring Fit Adventure set for official release in China: Tencent says Switch fitness game frequently imported during the pandemic will see a formal release early next month
  89. Harnessing the power of positive reviews: How Steam’s review system helped Size Five Games’ Dan Marshall to sell Lair of the Clockwork God
  90. The literal wandering adventures of The Wandering Band: Co-founders Ben Wander and Zach Mumbach share how they built an indie company culture centered on trust, self-knowledge, and personal adventures
  91. Twitch Unveils Chat’s Choice Awards, Where Each Streamer’s Chat Room Crowns Its Own Winners
  92. Smosh Games Launches Twitch Channel With Slate Of 3 Weekly Series
  93. How do you do, fellow gamers?—Burger King exploits Twitch for cheap ads
  94. Burger King’s ad agency frustrates Twitch streamers with “predatory” stunt: Oglivy uses text-to-speech chat bots to deliver ads during livestreams for $5 or less
  95. Spotify Sponsors ‘League Of Legends’ Esports, Will Produce Exclusive Original Podcasts
  96. NBA Star Ben Simmons Joins FaZe Clan As Investor, Global Ambassador
  97. Shots Studios Signs Content, Merch Partnership With Gaming Org ‘NRG Esports’ (Exclusive)
  98. Making the most of the esports opportunity
  99. Here’s Where Facebook “Guaranteed” Users Would Never Need a Facebook Account to Use Oculus Headsets
  100. Why the Facebookening of Oculus VR is bad for users, devs, competition
  101. Tone Deaf Facebook To Cripple VR Headsets Unless You Link It To Your Facebook Account
  102. Facebook renames its Oculus VR studio to Facebook Reality Labs: And Oculus Connect is now called Facebook Connect
  103. Facebook’s VR rebranding changes Oculus Connect to Facebook Connect
  104. Facebook has begun ghosting the “Oculus” moniker in its VR division
  105. Google AR app lets you place prehistoric creatures, Apollo 11 in your room
  106. Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality Litigation Update: Virtual Immersion Technologies Asserts Virtual Reality Patent for the 43rd Time
  107. Lennon Image Technologies, LLC v. Ulta Beauty, Inc.
  108. Earthbound and the power of representation | Why I Love: Afterburner’s Robert Taylor explains how the classic Super Nintendo RPG taught him to read and inspired a career
  109. Making Blaseball, at our mercy: The Game Band discusses making a community game led by its fans, and their adaptation to Blaseball’s grand slam of popularity
  110. How do you make hitting something fun?: A panel of experts answered this burning question at Devcom, and gave advice on the skills you need to become a combat designer
  111. Video: Watch a GDC Summer game music concert from insaneintherain
  112. Q&A: Making an outer space roadtrip with Night School’s Next Stop Nowhere
  113. Blog: How to measure fun for game designers
  114. Blog: Utilizing shape language and symbols in level design
  115. Blog: The road to Ruinarch – Wishlist gathering and expectations
  116. Blog: The meta-responsibilities of a game writer
  117. Don’t Miss: The tricky history of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater
  118. Don’t Miss: A game design deep dive into Rocket League’s rocket jumps
  119. Don’t Miss: Plumbing the secret depths of Bubble Bobble’s design
  120. Video: Enjoy this GDC Summer game music concert from pianist 88bit
  121. The best game-breaking speedruns of Summer Games Done Quick 2020
  122. All proceeds from Children of Morta’s latest DLC are being donated to charity
  123. Summer Games Done Quick raises over $2.3 million for charity
  124. Summer Games Done Quick raises $2.3m for Doctors Without Borders: SGDQ was fully digital this year, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic
  125. U.S. Patent no. 9,649,568: Game system for changing a difficulty level of a game

Jon

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News of the Week; August 19, 2020

By Jon Festinger on August 23, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. It’s Not Too Late to Save the Internet
  2. Google Warns Australians That The Government’s Plan To Tax Google To Give Money To Newspapers Will Harm Search & YouTube
  3. Court Says First Amendment Protects Ex-Wife’s Right To Publicly Discuss Her Ex-Husband On Her Personal Blog
  4. Facebook says it will crack down on QAnon conspiracy theory but stops short of full ban
  5. Anti-vaccine group sues Facebook, claims fact-checking is “censorship”
  6. Oh Snap! Employee Lawfully Terminated For Profanity-Laced Facebook Post
  7. Facebook Messenger starts taking over Instagram Direct messages
  8. What if Facebook goes down? Ethical and legal considerations for the demise of big tech
  9. Not A Good Look: Facebook’s Public Policy Director In India Files A Criminal Complaint Against A Journalist For A Social Media Post
  10. Muting Misinformation: What’s the role of social media companies?
  11. Why Chicago’s Mayor should reconsider social media monitoring
  12. Antitrust and Platform Monopoly (Herbert Hovenkamp)
  13. Big Tech Funds a Think Tank Pushing for Fewer Rules. For Big Tech
  14. Tweeters Were Criminally Charged For The Crime Of Trying To Identify A Police Officer… Who The Police Revealed In The Charging Docs
  15. Report: 2015 Twitter breach targeted Saudi dissidents, led to arrests
  16. Devin Nunes Is Still Suing A Satirical Cow & A Political Consultant, But Judge Rejects Attempt To Bring Twitter Back
  17. Gambling advertisements – how to get approval from Facebook to run gambling ads
  18. The Globar War: the EU’s Apple Tax Case
  19. Apple’s value soars to a record $2 trillion
  20. Apple bundles CBS and Showtime with Apple TV+, announces new Music radio stations
  21. TikTok Integrates With Music Distributor UnitedMasters, Will Let Artists Boost Their Songs From Its App To Spotify, Apple Music, More
  22. President Trump Orders Chinese Company ByteDance to Divest Its Holdings in TikTok (formerly Musical.ly)
  23. So Now We Needed Another Ridiculous Executive Order About TikTok That Goes Beyond The President’s Authority?
  24. Oracle enters race to buy TikTok’s US operations
  25. Microsoft takes one more step toward the death of Internet Explorer
  26. WarnerMedia Looking To Sell Anime Service Crunchyroll For Reported $1.5 Billion
  27. Indiana Cities File Doomed Lawsuit Against Disney, Netflix, Demand 5% of Gross Revenues
  28. Disney+ will show a Lego Star Wars Holiday Special on Wookiee Life Day
  29. Apple’s Prime equivalent “Apple One” will launch in October
  30. People Spend 25% Of Their TV Time Streaming Netflix, YouTube, Disney+ (Report)
  31. Cities sue Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, claim they owe cable “franchise fees”
  32. Netflix Rolls Out Content Shuffle Feature, Wants Viewers To Feel More Like They’re Watching Traditional TV
  33. YouTube Comes Out Swinging Against Proposed Australian Law Requiring It To Pay News Publishers
  34. Lilly Singh Lands Primetime Comedy Show At NBC, Bringing Her YouTube Sketches To Primetime
  35. Studio71 Signs Supermodel — And Burgeoning YouTube Personality — Naomi Campbell
  36. Google/Fitbit deal runs into competition issues
  37. Google Defeats Account Termination Case on Section 230 Grounds (Mostly)–Enhanced Athlete v. YouTube (Eric Goldman)
  38. It Doesn’t Make Sense To Treat Ads The Same As User Generated Content
  39. Confused Critic Of Section 230 Now In Charge Of NTIA
  40. If Oracle Buys TikTok, Would It Suddenly Change Its Tune On Section 230?
  41. Why Keep Section 230? Because People Need To Be Able To Complain About The Police
  42. Content Moderation Case Study: Amazon’s Attempt To Remove ‘Sock Puppet’ Reviews Results In The Deletion Of Legitimate Reviews (November 2012)
  43. Google Responds To Hong Kong’s New National Security Law By Rejecting Its Government’s Requests For Data
  44. Gmail’s big merger with Google Chat and Meet starts rolling out today
  45. Google Maps gets “more detailed, colorful map”
  46. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 8/17/2020
  47. Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels • Week Of 8/17/2020
  48. YouTube Will Let Creators Prevent Channel Editors From Seeing Revenue Data
  49. Amid YouTube Channel Exodus, Bon Appétit Taps Marcus Samuelsson As Advisor, Guest Editor
  50. Quibi Tries To Spur Second (Or First?) Wave Of Hype On Social Video
  51. Jake Paul Signs With New Management — Shots Studios CEO John Shahidi
  52. Retailers use influencer marketing while commercial photo shoots are shut down 
  53. Social Media Influencers and FTC Lawsuits
  54. Influencer Law and Contract Disputes
  55. Fanjoy Teams With Apparel Giant ‘Mad Engine’ To Bring Influencer Merch To Physical Retailers
  56. Snapchat Will Let Users Share Original Shows Off-Platform, Is Rebranding Its ‘For You’ Feed (Report)
  57. Spotify Is Hiring A Head Of Audiobooks, Signaling Its Ambitions In The Space
  58. Is Bitcoin money?
  59. Bitcoin Is “Money” for Purposes of D.C. Money Transmission Law, Says Federal Court
  60. Texas State Securities Board halts cryptocurrency debit card investment scheme
  61. How the Custom Ringtone Industry Paved the Way for the App Store – and Then Vanished: Why I miss Crazy Frog
  62. COVID-19 Mobile Phone Apps Fail the Most Vulnerable (Susan Erikson)
  63. Europe Proves Contact-Tracing Apps Aren’t a Coronavirus Cure-All .
  64. Bit by (Twitch) Bit: “Platform Capture” and the Evolution of Digital Platforms
  65. When Technology Meets Ideology: Frame Analysis of Ideological Discourses on the Nature of the Internet in American Magazines of Opinion (1995-2019)
  66. The Golden Age of computer user groups

A.I.

  1. UK ditches exam results generated by biased algorithm after student protests: Protesters chanted ‘Fuck the algorithm’ outside the country’s Department for Education
  2. England’s Exam Fiasco Shows How Not To Apply Algorithms To Complex Problems With Massive Social Impact
  3. Court rules AI breaks equality laws
  4. Algorithmic Colonization of Africa
  5. The Whiteness of AI
  6. Data, AI and Society – What is ‘Race in Algorithmic Discrimination on the Basis of Race?
  7. AI in Life Sciences
  8. From Pool to Profile: Social Consequences of Algorithmic Prediction in Insurance
  9. National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence releases Second Quarterly Report
  10. NSC on Artificial Intelligence releases Second Quarterly Report Includes recommendations to update export controls, screen foreign investment, accelerate research, and establish a National Reserve Digital Corps
  11. UK ICO issues new guidance on AI and data protection
  12. Designing or buying in AI? 5 things to minimise GDPR risk
  13. Evaluating Patentability of AI Inventions
  14. US Patent Office Sued For Requiring Human Inventor on Patent Applications
  15. Could robots replace humans in mediation?

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. Trump, Big Telecom Continue Quest To Ban States From Protecting Broadband Consumers
  2. Chip and phone supply chain shaken as Huawei faces mortal threat
  3. Verizon Forced To Back Off Charging Extra For 5G
  4. Want Verizon or AT&T 5G? You’ll have to buy an expensive unlimited plan
  5. FCC beats cities in court, helping carriers avoid $2 billion in local 5G fees
  6. Court Largely Rules in Favor of FCC in Small Wireless Facility Orders Disputes
  7. FCC asks for more public input on whether to let Charter impose data caps
  8. Charter can charge online video sites for network connections, court rules
  9. Charter Spectrum Tells FCC Broadband Caps Are ‘Popular’ As It Tries To Kill Merger Conditions Preventing Them
  10. AT&T Fires Hundreds Of DC, HBO Execs In Latest Example Of ‘Merger Synergies’
  11. Sharp Elbows and Profit-Maximizing Licensing Ruled Insufficient Evidence of Anticompetitive Conduct in FTC v. Qualcomm, Inc.
  12. Ninth Circuit Reverses FTC Win in FTC v. Qualcomm, Finding No Antitrust Violations from Qualcomm’s Licensing of its Standard-Essential Patents
  13. NAB Announces that a Majority in Congress Have Signed on to the Local Radio Freedom Act – A Look at the Broadcast Performance Royalty Debate

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Judge Denies Copyright Troll Malibu Media’s Request For A Default Judgment
  2. Media Co. Ordered To Stop ‘Cartoon Classics’ DMCA Notices
  3. Don’t use my music! Neil Young sues Donald Trump for copyright infringement
  4. More Rockin’ In The Free World
  5. S.D. Florida Refuses To Toss Artist’s Claims Over Alleged Knock-off Art Installation
  6. Copyright in photographs – not such monkey business
  7. Copyright Reforms to Better Support the Digital Environment
  8. Should Massachusetts extend its right-to-repair law to connected cars?
  9. EUIPO joins WIPO DAS for EU registered design applications
  10. False Claim of Exclusive Distributorship results in Injunction and Forced Recall of Grey Market Goods
  11. Boston University Applies For Trademark On Offensive COVID-19 Awareness Slogan For Some Reason
  12. UK High Court rejects Land Rover’s appeal for registration of Defender shape marks
  13. Costco Gets Trademark Judgement Overturned, Defeating Tiffany And Co.
  14. Second Circuit Overturns Tiffany’s $21M Judgment Against Costco in Trademark Battle
  15. Three Keyword Advertising Decisions in a Week, and the Trademark Owners Lost Them All (Eric Goldman)
  16. An apple is an apple, a pear is a pear. Don’t Compear!
  17. Yes, You CAN Trademark Cannabis Products and Services in Maryland
  18. Are Valentino’s Rockstud® Shoes as Distinctive as the Red Soles?
  19. If You Coexist, You Need Not Desist (Part One): TTAB Grants Laches Defense After 4 Years Coexistence
  20. Atomic Café Trademark Litigation Against LeanBox and Cold Brew Does Not Trigger Travelers Indemnity’s Duty to Defend or Indemnify, Judge Green Rules
  21. 3D trade marks: it’s all in the gömböc
  22. Supreme Court Lets Booking.com Reserve Its Brand: Generic.com Terms Can Now Be Registered as Trademarks
  23. Generic Trademarks in a Digital World
  24. General Court refuses registration of ‘XOXO’ mark in relation to fashion goods
  25. The conception of a drinks brand – innovation and IP
  26. Jurisdictional Toss Gives Sommeliers Reason to Whine
  27. Tips for Defendants Litigating Software Disputes at the Intersection of Trade Secret, Copyright and Patent Law
  28. Self-Driving to Federal Prison: The Trade Secret Theft Saga of Anthony Levandowski Continues
  29. Protecting Trade Secrets: Lessons Learned From the Levandowski Case
  30. Not so Pretty: Cosmetic Company Acquisitions Lead to Contentious Trade Secret Spat
  31. Keeping up With the Kardashian-[Jenner]’s Trade Secret Battle
  32. Appeals court ruling for Qualcomm “a victory of theory over facts”
  33. It Was Nice While It Lasted: 9th Circuit Rejects Lower Court Ruling On How Abuse Of Patent Monopolies Can Violate Antitrust
  34. New Federal Court Decision Provides for Greater Protection of Combination Drugs Under CETA
  35. Glass Half Empty: Patent Reciting “Half Liquid” Is Indefinite
  36. “Method of Preparation” Claims Still Patent Eligible Under § 101 in Modified Opinion
  37. Explain Yourself: “Untethered” Obviousness Determination Reversed
  38. Court Upholds Patent Eligibility of “Method of Preparation” Claims in Modified Opinion
  39. Lack of inventive step: reading v appreciating
  40. Patent Quality, Ranking and Valuation
  41. Limiting the Use of Applicant Admitted Prior Art
  42. Federal Circuit Directs Transfer Of Patent Suit From Western District Of Texas To Northern District Of California
  43. Casting a New Light on Diagnostic Patents: “Methods of Preparation” Patent-Eligible
  44. Fighting Counterfeits at the U.S. Border: The Counterfeit Goods Seizure Act of 2019 Would Expand Customs and Border Patrol Enforcement to Design Patents
  45. Key Considerations and Tools for IP Protection of Computer Programs in Europe and Beyond
  46. The Expanding Scope of Patentability of Computer related Inventions: A Welcome Development

PRIVACY

  1. Cops in Miami, NYC arrest protesters from facial recognition matches
  2. Secret Service buys location data that would otherwise need a warrant
  3. Bill 64: Mirroring the GDPR?
  4. Bill 64 and The Exportation of Personal Data From Quebec: Complications In Sight
  5. Ontario Government Launches Consultation to Enhance Privacy Protections
  6. Hopping on the Bandwagon: The Council of the European Union Imposes its First Sanctions for Cyber-attacks
  7. Judge Forbids Facebook Users Being Sued By A Cop From Publishing The Cop’s Name On Social Media
  8. CBP Privacy Impact Assessment Says It Can Pull All Sorts Of Data And Communications From Peoples’ Devices At The Border
  9. Capital One to Pay $80 Million Fine for 2019 Data Security Hack
  10. Booze and cruise providers are the latest to be hit by ransomware scourge
  11. WM Morrison Supermarkets plc v Various Claimants – Supreme Court rules on vicarious liability for unlawful disclosure of personal data by rogue employee
  12. Clearview Hires Prominent First Amendment Lawyer To Argue For Its Right To Sell Scraped Data To Cops
  13. ICE Signs $274,000 Contract With Clearview
  14. DC Police Union Sues To Block The Release Of Names Of Officers Involved In Shootings
  15. Search Company Slammed by FTC for Fake Salacious Reports
  16. Disney/Viacom/Kiloo Settlements Creating a Future Trend Exceeding Federal Privacy Rights Under COPPA
  17. LinkedIn Seeks Supreme Court Review of Data Harvesting Dispute
  18. The California Consumer Privacy Act Regulations Are Finally Here, But Wait There’s More…
  19. CCPA Regulations Take Effect, Six Weeks After CCPA Enforcement Begins
  20. California Approves Final CCPA Regulations
  21. The CCPA Regulations Are Final – Summary of OAL’s Changes
  22. Finally, the CCPA Regulations Are Finalized…For Now
  23. CCPA Final Regulations, with a Few Unexpected Changes
  24. NSA and FBI warn that new Linux malware threatens national security
  25. Hackers can eavesdrop on mobile calls with $7,000 worth of equipment
  26. An Alexa bug could have exposed your voice history to hackers
  27. Schrems II: Reflections on the Decision and Next Steps (Daniel Solove)
  28. Schrems II: 7 practical steps on what to do next
  29. Impact of Invalidation of US-EU Privacy Shield on Share-Based Incentive Programs
  30. Is it legal to record video meetings?

CREATIVITY   

  1.  B.C.’s new vaping regulations may breach Charter rights: Canadian Constitution Foundation
  2. Did Vape Maker Smear Competitor With Nonexistent Lawsuit?
  3. China’s National-Security Law Reaches Into Harvard, Princeton Classrooms: Professors at elite U.S. universities turn to code names, warning labels to protect students
  4. Spooky action at a distance: The future magic of remote collaboration
  5. AMC Theaters: Risk Death And Disability To Watch Movie Reruns For 15 Cents!
  6. Legendary Berlin nightclub to open for all as art gallery
  7. “These are not my grades”: could downgraded A-Level results be defamatory?
  8. “Moralistic Preening” and Broken Commitments Under the Washington Principles—Ninth Circuit Chastises Spain for Keeping Nazi-looted Pissarro but Rules Painting Will not Return to Cassirer Family
  9. Ricky Byrdsong And The Cost Of Speech

GAMES

  1. FTC Issues Staff Perspective on Video Game Loot Boxes
  2. FTC Staff Issue Perspective Paper on Video Game Loot Boxes Workshop
  3. FTC Video Game Loot Box Workshop (Staff Perspective)
  4. ‘Fortnite’ Battles Big Tech: Why Epic Games Is Suing Apple, Google Over Their App Store ‘Monopolies’
  5. Epic Games v. Apple Inc. (Complaint for Injunctive Relief, August 13, 2020, United States District Court Northern District of California)
  6. Epic’s Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite video is an irresponsible piece of corporate propaganda | Opinion: Fortnite’s operator is demonstrating it’s fully prepared to weaponize its young audience of millions for its own monetary gain
  7. Insights: The Teachable Moments In The TikTok/’Fortnite’ Teenpocalypse 
  8. Epic Games sues Apple to end what Epic calls ‘unfair and anti-competitive actions’
  9. Fortnite takes on Apple’s App Store in Epic antitrust battle royale
  10. The Fortnite App Store Battle: A Real Antitrust Conundrum, Or Just A Carefully Planned Out Contract Negotiation?
  11. Epic files suit against Apple after Fortnite pulled from iOS App Store
  12. Apple to revoke Epic’s dev tools, including those used for Unreal Engine 
  13. Apple terminating Epic developer accounts, tools access: Epic files motion in US courts for a temporary restraining order in response 
  14. Apple threatens to boot Epic and Unreal Engine off Mac and iOS 
  15. Epic asks court to block Apple’s ‘retaliation’ as Fortnite, Unreal Engine face consequences 
  16. Epic offers discount to Fortnite players on mobile, but only if they dodge platform fees
  17. Apple, Google pull Fortnite from App Store over Epic’s new in-app payment option 
  18. Fortnite removed from App Store after it dodges Apple’s rule on direct payments: Epic Games has filed a legal complaint against Apple, taking the fight over the 30% cut to US courts 
  19. Sensor Tower: Apple’s removal of Fortnite cuts off $1.2b in player spending – Data firm’s estimates show huge disparity in monthly spending between iOS and Android versions of Epic’s game 
  20. Epic Games Deploys Viral #FreeFortnite Campaign As It Sues Apple, Google For Removing Game From App Stores
  21. Epic, Creator of Fortnite, sues Apple and Google Over App Store Altercation 
  22. Florida landmark Coral Castle suing Epic Games: Company behind the tourist attraction demands damages and removal of in-game castle 
  23. Apple eyes rolling Apple Arcade into bundles with other Apple-exclusive services 
  24. Fortnite has also been kicked off of Google Play: And, as with Apple, Epic Games is now also suing Google for anti-competitive practices 
  25. Epic Games is now also suing Google over ‘anti-competitive’ Android policies
  26. Epic’s battle for “open platforms” ignores consoles’ massive closed market
  27. In 2018, women came forward about misconduct at Rocksteady – and were ignored
  28. Rocksteady releases employee letter defending it from accusations: Multiple women who co-signed 2018 letter about sexism at Arkham Knight studio say recent report of management’s response misrepresented the situation
  29. Ex-Rocksteady writer asks for name to be left off Suicide Squad credits: Senior scriptwriter says she wrote the original 2018 letter alerting management to sexual harassment problems and was pushed out for it 
  30. IGDA issues statement on human rights violations in Belarus: County’s recent disputed election spurred protests, with protesters reporting being arrested, beaten, and tortured
  31. Gree is suing Supercell for patent infringement in Clash Royale and Brawl Stars 
  32. Infernal Technology and Terminal Reality Sue Ubisoft, Epic Games, Take-Two, Sony, Crytek, Activision Blizzard, Microsoft, and Electronic Arts for Patent Infringement
  33. Valve forbids developers to promote other platforms on Steam: Valve clarified that the new language on the FAQ was just a “reminder of existing rules for developers exploring the boundaries of the existing policies”
  34. Game refunds & the hidden costs of ‘getting to net’ on Steam 
  35. Former Assassin’s Creed Valhalla creative director fired after misconduct investigation 
  36. Ubisoft’s Ashraf Ismail fired following misconduct investigation: The creative director had stepped down from his role on Assassin’s Creed Valhalla in June
  37. New allegations show the cycle of abuse and misconduct runs deep at Ubisoft 
  38. Creative Europe wasn’t aware of Alexis Kennedy accusations when it gave The Weather Factory money: Industry hits back at the EACEA’s decision to award the studio a €150,000 grant
  39. Games dominated UK entertainment sales during initial months of lockdown: Entertainment Retailers’ Association reports 21 of the top 40 best-selling projects were games
  40. UK Charts: EA Sports UFC 4 battles to No.1 – Animal Crossing New Horizons down to No.2
  41. Ghost of Tsushima was the best-selling game in the US in July – NPD: However, rankings this month do not include Take-Two digital sales data
  42. Take-Two Interactive acquires mobile studio Playdots for $192 million
  43. Game companies have claimed £444m in UK tax relief since 2014: 1,375 games have claimed VGTR over the last six years, with UK expenditure reaching £3.7 billion 
  44. State of Games: What happens to the industry when the pandemic is over? –  Newzoo’s Candice Mudrick explores the impact of COVID-19 on cloud gaming and other platforms, and forecasts what comes next
  45. COVID-19 drives first-half mobile app spending to $50b – App Annie: Mobile analytics firm says pandemic “has changed consumer behavior on mobile forever” 
  46. A Total War Saga: Troy was downloaded 7.5m times in 24 hours: Epic Games Store giveaway brought a huge number of players “new and old” into Creative Assembly’s new game
  47. Surgeon Simulator developer Bossa Studios is going fully remote 
  48. Tera publisher En Masse is shutting down after over a decade 
  49. Stacking the deck against the new console launches | Opinion: Halo Infinite’s delay is a watershed moment — between economic recession and development disruption, the climate is looking tougher than ever 
  50. Only Control Ultimate Edition owners will receive its free next-gen upgrade: Those who purchased the regular edition of Control on consoles will not automatically get the game on PS5 or Xbox One X
  51. Menus on Xbox Series X will look a lot like those on Xbox One
  52. Microsoft has unveiled the new look of the Xbox Series X dashboard
  53. Microsoft: We’re Not Trying To Sell More Consoles Than Sony And The PS5, We’re Doing Something Else
  54. Forza Horizon 3 reaches the end of its life: Players will still be able to play the racer after September 27
  55. Wildlife raises $120m, valuation now reaches $3bn: The mobile games company has raised $250 million to date
  56. Bandai Namco: How long can we sustain working with independent studios? – Hervé Hoerdt on the impact of acquisitions on finding AAA partners, and the challenge of finding new IP for the coming console transition 
  57. How EA turned The Sims into a reality TV show: During GamesIndustry.biz digital conference Changing Channels, EA talked about how to evolve a brand into a concept for another medium 
  58. EA unifies EA Access and Origin Access branding as EA Play
  59. EA Access and Origin Access Basic become EA Play: EA’s annual summer event, EA Play, will now be called EA Play Live 
  60. EA Play, formerly EA Access, launches on Steam on August 31: Subscription service includes franchises such as The Sims, Battlefield, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and others
  61. Electronic Arts’ EA Play subscription service arrives on Steam this month
  62. PUBG Corp invests $10 million into 1Up Ventures to support indies
  63. PUBG Corporation invests $10m in venture capital firm: Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds developer “looking to foster the next generation of video game developers around the world” 
  64. THQ parent company Embracer has purchased Metro dev 4A Games and others
  65. RektGlobal has acquired Fearless Media: Acquisition puts digital advertising agency in company with Greenlit Content, Rogue, and Fullcube 
  66. Sega will “aggressively” focus on PC ports after Steam strength during lockdown: Strong sales of Persona 4 Golden port will lead to more Sega catalogue titles on PC
  67. Embracer Group acquires multiple studios, including 4A Games: THQ Nordic parent company also acquires New World Interactive, Pow Wow Entertainment, and Deca Live Operations
  68. Paradox posts record Q2 revenue and profits: “We leave an operational as well as financially successful quarter behind us,” says CEO
  69. Amplifier Game Invest buys three studios, extends investment in another: Acquisitions include Palindrome Interactive, Rare Earth Games, and Vermila Studios
  70. Lazlow Jones left Rockstar Games to work on Disney and Netflix shows: Former GTA writer and in-game radio DJ also consulting with an unknown games company 
  71. Licensing lessons from Hello Neighbor’s success: During GamesIndustry.biz’s Changing Channels, Alex Nichiporchik gave pieces of advice and words of warning for developers tempted by a licensing adventure 
  72. Bossa Studios shifts to hybrid remote/office model: Surgeon Simulator developer allows people to work at home permanently, but office remains open to benefit mental health
  73. Lumikai is the first VC fund to focus on India’s growing games industry: New fund will make up to 20 early-stage deals worth between $200,000 and $2m each
  74. Netmarble’s global portfolio maintains growth in Q2: Korean mobile developer saw 75% of its revenue come from overseas
  75. Steady beat of new mobile titles brings Q2 growth for NetEase: World of Warcraft in China also saw record concurrent users during the first half of the year
  76. Foreign developers can only hope to reach China with mobile games | Opinion: The last crop of officially approved games tells us a lot about the Chinese market, says Apptutti’s Daniel Camilo
  77. Odyssey Interactive raises $6m to make impactful games for a new generation: Co-founders Richard Henkel and Dax Andrus share their vision for a small, Supercell-like team born from their work at Riot on Teamfight Tactics
  78. Ex-Riot devs launch multiplayer game studio Odyssey Interactive in Canada
  79. Jagex Partners signs Shadow Warrior developer in first publishing deal: Runescape publisher will release new sci-fi action game from Polish studio Flying Wild Hog in 2021
  80. Hitman 2’s multiplayer assassination race Ghost Mode is going dark after two years
  81. Tencent picks up minority stake in hyper casual game publisher Voodoo
  82. Tencent profits soar amid COVID-19 pandemic: Second quarter results testify to the “diligence of our teams and resilience of our business model” says Tencent CEO
  83. Epic and Unity rev their engines for the next era of entertainment
  84. Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 leads fired 
  85. Paradox & Hardsuit Labs fire two creative leads on Bloodlines 2 
  86. Shroud’s Homecoming Twitch Stream Brings 3 Million Live Viewers
  87. 14-Year-Old ‘Fortnite’ Pro FaZe Ewok Returns To Twitch
  88. Safeguarding children in the virtual world of esports – lessons to be learnt from the real world
  89. Oculus plans to replace Oculus Accounts with Facebook Accounts 
  90. New Oculus Users Required to Use Facebook Account Starting in October, Existing Users by 2023
  91. The Facebookening of Oculus VR becomes more pronounced starting in October [Updated]
  92. Grounded: A big experimental adventure made by Obsidian’s tiniest team – Adam Brennecke talks about his 16 years at the studio, and how a history of RPG development led to a backyard survival game
  93. Investment platform pays record $140,000 for sealed Super Mario Bros.
  94. War Stories: Diablo’s loot lottery was almost a turn-based affair
  95. Blog: Analysing the level design in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
  96. Blog: Mortal Kombat’s John Tobias on the creation and evolution of a franchise
  97. Blog: Game composers and the importance of themes – Part 3 
  98. Blog: Designing for accessibility in Fake Illusions 
  99. Blog: Simple performance capture for indie developers 
  100. Blog: The creative dynamics between games and players
  101. Blog: Player segments based on gaming motivations
  102. Video: Quad mesh simplification in the Frostbite engine
  103. Video: Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair speedrun with dev Chris Sutherland
  104. Video: Republic Commando speedrun with dev commentary from Harley Baldwin
  105. Postmortem: A look back at the 5-year development of Eastshade
  106. You can now play an ultra-rare Quake arcade cabinet at home 
  107. Obituary: ZeniMax board member Robert Trump 
  108. U.S. Patent no. 9,526,995: Video game recording and playback with visual display of game controller manipulation

Jon

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News of the Week; August 12, 2020

By Jon Festinger on August 17, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. Genius Media Lawsuit Accusing Google of Stealing Song Lyrics Is Tossed
  2. Yes, Facebook Treats Trump Fans Differently: It Has Relaxed The Rules To Give Them More Leeway
  3. Trump campaign’s false COVID-19 claims taken down by Facebook and Twitter
  4. Mass hijacking spree takes over subreddits to promote Donald Trump
  5. Muting Misinformation: Can we sue to stop misleading political speech?
  6. The Silver Lining Of Internet Regulation: A Regulatory Impact Assessment
  7. Digital Technology As Accelerant: Growth And Genocide In Myanmar
  8. Ousted COO sues Pinterest, alleges rampant gender discrimination
  9. New Jersey prosecutors drop charges over tweeting a cop’s photo
  10. HS suspends teen who tweeted photo of hallway packed with maskless students
  11. HS that suspended teen who tweeted photo of hallway has 9 COVID-19 cases
  12. Paulding County High School Un-Suspends Student But Can’t Un-Infect Students Who Got COVID-19
  13. State Department Announces That Great Firewall For The US; Blocks Chinese Apps & Equipment
  14. New Executive Orders Target Chinese Apps
  15. Trump declares TikTok, WeChat “national emergency,” preps bans
  16. National Security Meets Teenage Dance Battles: Trump Issues Executive Orders Impacting TikTok and WeChat Business in the U.S.
  17. President Trump Issues Executive Orders Prohibiting Transactions Related to TikTok and WeChat
  18. Nine Things You Need to Know About the Trump Administration Sanctions Against TikTok and WeChat
  19. U.S. Government Takes Aim at TikTok and WeChat Citing Privacy and Security Concerns
  20. China already has your data. Trump’s TikTok and WeChat bans can’t stop that.
  21. Trump Issues Ridiculous Executive Orders Banning TikTok And WeChat
  22. How a TikTok ban would affect the influencer economy
  23. TikTok deal tests Microsoft’s decades of China experience
  24. TikTok In Talks With Twitter About Acquisition, Is Looking To Sue Trump Administration As Ban Looms (Report)
  25. Is the clock ticking for TikTok? What’s the big deal anyway?
  26. Insights: Microsoft Intercepts TikTok Political Football, Despite Facebook’s Game Plan
  27. Trump’s bid to force TikTok sale follows well-trod legal path: US government decisions to block and unwind deals on national security grounds are all but impossible to overturn in court
  28. Gullible Maine & DHS Intel Officers Believed Teen TikTok Video Was Serious Terrorist Threat
  29. Addison Rae Is TikTok’s Highest Earner, Pocketing Roughly $5 Million Over Past Year (Report)
  30. TikTok Aligns With ‘American Idol’ Creator Simon Fuller To Search For Next Pop Supergroup
  31. David Dobrik, Avani Gregg, Brittany Broski Among First Recipients Of TikTok’s $1 Billion Creator Fund
  32. Hype House TikToker Kelianne Stankus Signs With UTA (Exclusive)
  33. New York Yankees Tap TikTok For Sponsorship, Exclusive Content Deal
  34. YouTube, TikTok Stars ‘The Stokes Twins’ Each Charged With Felony, Misdemeanor After Bank Robber Prank
  35. YouTube Reinstates Monetization For Steven Crowder 14 Months After Racist, Homophobic Harassment Of Carlos Maza
  36. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 8/10/2020
  37. Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels • Week Of 8/10/2020
  38. Influencer Marketing Company CreatorIQ Joins YouTube’s Measurement Program
  39. Google says it’s working hard to address YouTube Music complaints
  40. Why Are There Currently No Ads On Techdirt? Apparently Google Thinks We’re Dangerous
  41. YouTube Millionaires: For Our First 10 Million Subscriber Special, We Check In With Chad Wild Clay And His Burgeoning Franchise ‘Spy Ninjas’
  42. Rebecca Zamolo Launches Mobile Game Inspired By Hit ‘Game Master Network’ YouTube Series
  43. Three Of Bon Appétit’s Test Kitchen Stars Have Exited After Failed Pay Negotiations
  44. 2 More Bon Appétit Hosts Depart YouTube Channel, With Video Production Set To Resume In September
  45. Bon Appétit’s Popular YouTube Channel Loses Sixth Host, Carla Lalli Music
  46. Hey Creators, Are Your Viral Parties Really Worth the Risk?
  47. NikkieTutorials Robbed At Gunpoint In Netherlands Home, As Local Police Solicit Tips
  48. Monk-Turned-Motivational Content Creator Jay Shetty Signs With WME
  49. Snapchat Unveils In-App Voter Registration Tools Ahead Of November Election
  50. FTC Commissioners Are Upset About Section 230; Though It’s Not At All Clear Why
  51. Online platform immunity under Section 230 teed up for FCC
  52. Section 230 Isn’t Why Omegle Has Awful Content, And Getting Rid Of 230 Won’t Change That
  53. Comments on NTIA’s Petition to the FCC Seeking to Destroy Section 230 (Eric Goldman)
  54. Mozilla cuts 250 jobs, says Firefox development will be affected
  55. Content Moderation Case Study: Social Media Services Respond When Recordings Of Shooting Are Uploaded By The Person Committing The Crimes (August 2015)
  56. Photo embedding cases depend on social media company decisions
  57. WhatsApp’s Lawsuit Against NSO in US Federal Court Survives Motion to Dismiss
  58. The Harry Potter Films Are Now Exclusive To Comcast, And The Streaming Sector Remains Oblivious To Piracy’s Looming Resurgence
  59. Financial Daily Dose 8.6.2020 | Top Story: Facebook Launches Instagram Reels to Compete with TikTok
  60. How The NBA Has Approached Facebook Video Since Returning to the Court
  61. Jukin Launches Self-Service Platform Allowing Anyone To License Its Viral Videos, Starting At $50
  62. Focals ‘Smart’ Glasses Become Dumb As A Brick After Google Acquisition
  63. Android is now the world’s largest earthquake detection network
  64. Revisiting The Common Law Liability Of Online Intermediaries Before Section 230
  65. Coronavirus clobbers Uber, leading to $1.8 billion quarterly loss
  66. Content Moderation At Scale Is Impossible: Twitter Locks Accounts For Fact Checking The President
  67. The quest to liberate $300,000 of bitcoin from an old ZIP file
  68. Scientists Forced To Change Names Of Human Genes Because Of Microsoft’s Failure To Patch Excel
  69. Three algorithm-less streaming sites revive the wacky Web from days of yore

A.I.

  1. Facial Recognition Start-Up Mounts a First Amendment Defense
  2. Get Ready For Deepfakes To Be Used In Financial Scams
  3. Uber / Google Trade Secret Row Over Self-Driving Car Tech Hits End of Road: Settlement and Jail Time
  4. Las Vegas Police Are Running Lots Of Low Quality Images Through Their Facial Recognition System
  5. Here’s why Apple believes it’s an AI leader—and why it says critics have it all wrong
  6. Inventorship, Patenting and AI: The Public Comments on Patenting Artificial Intelligence Inventions

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. Trump admin shrugs off FCC court loss to fight Calif. net neutrality law
  2. FCC Focuses on Review of Broadcasters’ Online Political Files
  3. NTIA Section 230 Petition Raises Significant Legal and Policy Issues at FCC
  4. Safe Harbors and Erroneous Blocking Redress Measures Adopted by the FCC; Additional Rulemaking Proposed
  5. Charter tries to convince FCC that broadband customers want data caps
  6. New York State Leaders Finally Realize U.S. Broadband Availability Data Is Hot Garbage
  7. FCC lowers some prison phone rates after blaming states for high prices
  8. FCC Sets Rules for 5G Spectrum Auction – Bidding to Start December 8
  9. FCC Eliminates Rule Requiring Broadcast Station Tower Owners to Give Access to Competing Stations
  10. FCC Eliminates Program Duplication Rules for AM and FM Stations
  11. The Making – and Unmaking – of an FCC Commissioner
  12. Broadcasts and Podcasts: Foreign Investment in Telecom Infrastructure
  13. The Legal Debate Over Net Neutrality Shifts to State Laws
  14. FAR Council Publishes Interim Rule on Section 889 Part B Increasing Prohibitions on Contracting with Companies Using Certain Chinese Telecommunications Equipment and Services
  15. AT&T to lay off 600 at HBO and Warner Bros. after revenue decline

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. Genius Media Lawsuit Accusing Google of Stealing Song Lyrics Is Tossed
  2. Judge Tosses Out Genius’ Laughable Lawsuit Against Google Over Licensed Lyric Copying
  3. Neil Young’s Suit Illustrates Music Licensing Issues
  4. Helpless No More? Neil Young Sues Trump Campaign for Use of His Songs
  5. Fair Use, “The Frankenstein,” and the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
  6. Masterson v. The Walt Disney Company: 9th Circuit dismisses claim against Disney’s animated film Inside Out, holding that alleged similarities to plaintiff’s book of poetry and movie script are unprotectable.
  7. DMCA 512 Report: key findings by US Copyright Office
  8. U.S. Copyright Office: DMCA Is “Tilted Askew,” Recommends Remedies for Rightsholders
  9. In 10 Years Of Existence, The Long-Running French Farce Known As Hadopi Has Imposed Just €87,000 In Fines, But Cost Taxpayers €82 Million
  10. Easier Copyright Registration Coming for Blogs and Social Media Posts
  11. Like, Comment, Share, and Protect the Copyright of Digital Content
  12. PRS v Qatar Airways
  13. Porn Company Strikes Back
  14. Special tweetment: Who owns the IP for social media content?
  15. Interlocutory Injunction Issued in relation to Grey Goods in Canada
  16. Apple Opposes Trademark Application For Recipe App’s Pear-Shaped Logo
  17. Maker of VAMPIRE-Branded Alcoholic Beverages Alleges Grocery Chain Is Taking a Bite Out of Its Trademark Rights
  18. Trademark tips: Beware linguistic errors and cultural appropriation
  19. A New Standard for Multicolored Marks August 10, 2020
  20. Merck v Merck: A lesson on the practical implications of co-existence agreements and online use in the digital age
  21. Unfair Competition: The Tort that Tags Along
  22. Monsanto V. Schmeiser 20 Years Later: The Answer Wasn’t Blowin’ in the Wind
  23. Claims Covering Human Engineering That Exploits a Naturally-Occurring Phenomenon Are Patent Eligible
  24. Sort It Out: Cell Sorting Method with Data Processing Steps Patent Eligible
  25. Doing It That Way Is Natural . . . and Patentable
  26. IP Alert | Still Contentious and “No More” Clear – AAM v. Neapco and Its Take on § 101
  27. Obviousness, Common Sense and Sensibility: Federal Circuit Ruling Offers Cautionary Tale for Patent Applicants
  28. Federal Circuit’s Cardionet Reversal Sheds Light on Patent Eligibility in Medical Diagnosis Inventions
  29. Federal Circuit Still Spinning Its Wheels on American Axle
  30. The Federal Circuit Finds a “Hooke” to Patent Ineligibility
  31. District of Delaware Goes against Prior Decisions and Declines to Dismiss Willful Infringement Claims Despite Failure to Allege Egregious Infringing Conduct
  32. Balance is Key in Design Patent Claim Drafting
  33. Judge Woods Zips Up Loose Ends and Readies Zipper Dispute For Trial
  34. The game begins: Strategies for the early stages of patent litigation – The defendant’s view
  35. Intellectual Property: New Options for Patent Ownership Disputes
  36. Congress To Consider National Right To Repair Law For First Time
  37. Snapshot: intellectual property for fashion goods in USA

PRIVACY

  1. Baltimore’s Aerial Surveillance Program Has Logged 700 Flight Hours, One (1) Arrest
  2. Police use of facial recognition violates human rights, UK court rules
  3. NJ Supreme Court: No 5th Amendment right not to unlock your phone
  4. Congressional Reps Want To Know Why The California DMV Is Making $50 Million A Year Selling Driver Data
  5. Chinese hackers have pillaged Taiwan’s semiconductor industry
  6. Cybersecurity Threats & Vulnerabilities
  7. Forget TikTok. Feebly Secured Infrastructure Is Our Real Problem
  8. More than 20GB of Intel source code and proprietary data dumped online
  9. Snapdragon chip flaws put >1 billion Android phones at risk of data theft
  10. Refresher Course on California Anti-Spam Law

CREATIVITY   

  1. Hong Kong Uses New National Security Law To Arrest Prominent Pro-Democracy Media Tycoon
  2. Judge Rejects Devin Nunes’ SLAPP Suit Over The Esquire Article He Really, Really Doesn’t Want You To Read
  3. Georgia School District Inadvertently Begins Teaching Lessons In First Amendment Protections After Viral Photo
  4. Why movie theaters are in trouble after DOJ nixes 70-year-old case 
  5. Appeals court rules 10¢-a-page charge for court documents is too high
  6. Appeals Court Upholds Ruling Saying PACER Overcharged Users

GAMES

  1. Aeon Must Die dev Limestone Games faces accusations of “endless crunch” and IP theft: Publisher Focus Home Interactive is “carefully looking into” allegations
  2. Goldeneye 64 remake shut down by James Bond licence holders: Developers will now redesign upcoming ’90s-style shooter as Project Ianus
  3. Ubisoft Loses Appeal and Patent Related to “Rocksmith” is Invalidated
  4. UK survey finds positive links between playing games and literacy
  5. New research shows video games improve literacy: 35% of the respondents said that playing games made them better readers
  6. EA shareholders say no to massive proposed raises for executives
  7. EA shareholders reject executive compensation plan: If plan goes ahead, CEO Andrew Wilson’s compensation will rise to $21.4 million
  8. Riot forms global deals council and ethics committee after NEOM controversy
  9. Riot Games creates global deals council and ethics committee: Following the Neom controversy, the developer will be examining its sponsorship deals more closely
  10. How to usher more women into leadership roles within the game industry
  11. Interplay silent on Earthworm Jim developer’s racist, homophobic remarks: TenNapel and Intellivision confirm he is an “unpaid consultant” on Earthworm Jim 4
  12. Trump signs executive order that would ban transactions with Tencent: White House reportedly confirms this will not affect Tencent-related games firms, only WeChat
  13. Tencent reportedly driving Huya and DouYu to merge into livestreaming giant: Merging Chinese Twitch rivals would create a business worth $10 billion with 300 million users 
  14. Blizzard employees reportedly preparing demands for fair pay: As dissatisfied staff organise, spokesperson says management “looks forward to hearing from them” 
  15. Voltage Entertainment ends writers strike with new pay deal: Lovestruck writers will return to work after securing a deal that almost doubles their pay
  16. Practical tips to prevent abuse and build team trust: At GDC Summer, Emily Greer offers advice on how to build a respectful workplace and what to do when harassment occurs
  17. AbleGamers enlists Ryan Reynolds to highlight its mission, call for donations
  18. Silver Rain Games delivers on diversity goal with new hires: More than 60% of the team at Abubakar Salim’s new studio is from underrepresented ethnic groups
  19. King’s Sabrina Carmona offers practical tips to get more women leaders in games
  20. How Code Coven aims to Elevate marginalised developers: Tara Mustapha and Karla Reyes talks us through the ambitions for their upcoming accelerator, financed by the GDC Relief Fund
  21. How to better design your game communities for kindness
  22. Four ways game developers can help save the planet: At GDC Summer, the Playing for the Planet Alliance offered clear steps the industry can take to tackle the climate crisis
  23. Warner Bros restructure suggests games division is no longer for sale: Internal message reaffirms Interactive segment will continue “engaging fans with our brands and franchises through games” 
  24. The COVID gaming boom — why and how to protect your IP
  25. Halo Infinite delay pushes it into 2021 and out of Xbox Series X launch lineup
  26. Microsoft announces November launch for Xbox Series X, Halo Infinite delay
  27. Halo Infinite delayed into 2021: Key Xbox Series X launch title pushed due to “multiple factors” including COVID-19
  28. Xbox Game Pass could be a boon for indie developers: At GDC Summer, solo developer Davionne Gooden explained how Xbox Game Pass offered a simple path to profit for his tiny studio
  29. Microsoft pulls iOS test for Project xCloud: Streaming service’s future on Apple devices uncertain as Xbox focuses on Android
  30. Xbox Series S outed by next-gen controller leak—and it’s legit 
  31. Controller leak all but confirms ‘Xbox Series S’ 
  32. Xbox Series S confirmed by leaked controller: A white version of the Xbox Series X controller appeared online, pointing at more than one version of the next-gen Xbox console 
  33. Xbox narrows down Series X launch window to November 2020
  34. Xbox Series X will launch in November: Console launch lineup will emphasize backward compatibility, Game Pass
  35. How your PS4 and Xbox One games will work on PS5 and Series X
  36. Crystal Dynamics Explains Spider-Man PS4 Exclusivity By Saying A Bunch Of… Words, I Guess?
  37. Console Exclusive Games Have Given Way To Console Exclusive Game Characters
  38. Apple won’t let Stadia or xCloud into iOS, citing App Store guidelines 
  39. Apple blocking Project xCloud and Stadia because it can’t review every game: Microsoft responds, accusing Apple of “consistently treating gaming apps differently” 
  40. Intellivision Amico delayed to April 2021: Upcoming retro games console pushed back six months due to “constraints imposed by the global pandemic”
  41. Microsoft condemns Apple’s App Store policies: Apple will not approve Microsoft’s xCloud gaming service
  42. Facebook slams Apple’s App Store policies, launches Facebook Gaming on iOS without games: Facebook is not happy with the months of rejections it has faced
  43. Facebook finally launches Facebook Gaming on iOS — without Instant Games: Platform condemns Apple’s strict approval process, saying it “severely hamstrings innovation on mobile”
  44. A data-driven primer for publishing agreements 
  45. Is your publishing agreement fair?: At GDC Summer, lawyer Kellen Voyer broke down the average indie game publishing agreement in 2020 
  46. US games spending once again reaches record quarterly highs: By the end of Q2, one out of every three US owners of either a PS4 or Xbox One owned both systems 
  47. UK Charts: Nintendo Switch accounts for six of the Top Ten – Animal Crossing New Horizons is back at No.1
  48. Animal Crossing: New Horizons has sold over 22 million copies
  49. The Nintendo Switch has crossed 60 million lifetime sales 
  50. Switch hardware and Animal Crossing driving growth at Nintendo
  51. Animal Crossing drives Nintendo Q1 profits up 500% to $1bn: New Horizons has sold more than 20 million units since March, Switch lifetime shipments passed 60 million units
  52. Final Fantasy VII Remake surpasses 5 million digital sales and shipments
  53. Mobile classic Subway Surfers surpasses 3 billion lifetime downloads
  54. Summoner’s War: Sky Arena reaches $2 billion in lifetime revenue: The mobile RPG first reached $1 billion in revenue in 2017, three years after launch
  55. Sega reports loss despite strong video game sales
  56. Fortnite developer Epic Games secures $1.78 billion in funding 
  57. ‘Fortnite’ Publisher Epic Games Closes $1.78 Billion Funding Round At $17.3 Billion Valuation 
  58. Epic Games is now worth $17.3bn following latest funding round: Fortnite firm raised $1.78 billion, including Sony’s $250 million investment
  59. Zynga’s revenues still soaring, losses still deepening for another quarter running: Success of two 2019 acquisitions has the company projecting a net loss of $550 million for the full year
  60. Zynga to acquire prolific hyper-casual game studio Rollic for $168 million
  61. Mobile developer Big Run Studios nets $5.25 million to expand operations
  62. Fall Guys has sold over 2 million copies on Steam alone 
  63. Sugar rush financials don’t mean we’ve dodged the COVID bullet | Opinion: Publishers are reporting record revenues — but the industry isn’t “recession-proof” and there’s pain to come down the line 
  64. The impact of COVID-19 on mobile games in H1 2020 and beyond: Sensor Tower’s Craig Chapple analyses changes to downloads and revenue in key markets as the pandemic has spread
  65. Why are you making your game’s store page unattractive? 
  66. Enthusiast Gaming acquires Omnia Media in $11.2m deal: Transaction brings Omnia into group with Destructoid, Nintendo Enthusiast, the Escapist, and others
  67. H1Z1 dev Daybreak Games acquires Cold Iron Studios
  68. Cold Iron Studios gets sold for the fourth time: Daybreak Games has acquired the San Jose studio, which is still working on an Alien game 
  69. Big Run Studios raises $5.25m in seed investment: In total, the mobile studio has raised over $6.6 million to date
  70. Game Discoverability Now: How big is your game’s Discord? (Not this big!)
  71. Vampire The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 delayed to 2021: Paradox Interactive and Hardsuit Labs also making organisational changes to improve long-awaited sequel
  72. Paradox reports upturn in revenue as expansion packs drive growth 
  73. Nexon wants to build a virtual theme park for the future: CEO Owen Mahoney on how the publisher plans to be at the forefront of “lean forward” entertainment
  74. Twitch announces ‘Prime Gaming’ rebrand 
  75. Amazon rebrands Twitch Prime to Prime Gaming: Name change explained as a move toward a more platform-agnostic vision 
  76. US Army to reinstate its Twitch viewers banned for “harassing and degrading behavior”: Users were banned from the esports channel in droves last month for asking about the United States’ history of war crimes
  77. Shroud returns to Twitch: Following Mixer shutdown, Shroud signs exclusivity deal with his original platform 
  78. DrDisrespect makes streaming return on YouTube: YouTube says it did not reach out or encourage him to do so
  79. Half A Million People Watched Dr. DisRespect’s First Post-Permaban Live Stream On YouTube
  80. Facebook Researchers Develop Bleeding-edge Facial Reconstruction Tech So You Can Make Goofy Faces in VR
  81. 1,100 words of praise for Thirty Flights of Loving | Why I Love: YCJY Games’ Josef Martinovsk explains how Blendo Games’ short story showed him what games could be
  82. Five tips for making better loot experiences in games 
  83. Leveraging physical animation to sell Force powers in Jedi: Fallen Order
  84. Three nasty netcode bugs we fixed around Blightbound’s launch
  85. Inside the twisting, turning development of Hardspace: Shipbreaker
  86. Blog: Using Wikipedia as an interactive narrative device
  87. Blog: The value trap of free-to-play design
  88. Blog: Five secrets of game art direction
  89. Blog: Creating a progression curve for your casual game 
  90. Blog: Scope – Choose A Target! Focus! Shoot!
  91. Don’t Miss: Why multiplayer almost didn’t make it into Halo: Combat Evolved
  92. High Score review: Netflix’s story of gaming’s “golden age” is honestly solid 
  93. U.S. Patent no. 9,682,314: Method and system for temporarily incentivizing user participation in a game space

Jon

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News of the Week; August 5, 2020

By Jon Festinger on August 9, 2020

DIGITAL

  1. Trump Admin Will Order ByteDance To Sell TikTok; Microsoft In Talks To Acquire
  2. Trump administration gives TikTok 45 days to sell to Microsoft or leave US [Updated]
  3. In Aboutface, Trump Has Reportedly Given Microsoft And TikTok 45 Days To Finalize Acquisition
  4. Microsoft Aims To Close TikTok Deal Within 3 Weeks, Could Pay $30 Billion
  5. From The Stupid To The Bizarre: Trump Demands That His Government Should Take A ‘Substantial’ Cut Of TikTok’s Purchase Fee
  6. The challenges Microsoft faces in buying TikTok’s US arm
  7. Five Egyptian Women Sentenced To Two Years In Prison Each For TikTok Dance Videos
  8. Triller—The Music Video App Major Sway House Members Just Joined—Sues TikTok For Patent Infringement
  9. TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer Strikes Back At Facebook For Maligning Attacks “Disguised As Patriotism”
  10. TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer Says Nascent U.S. ‘Creator Fund’ Will Balloon To $1 Billion In 3 Years
  11. The TikTok Clusterf—: Trump To Order A Block, Microsoft Wants To Buy, And Competition Is Still There
  12. As TikTok’s Aquisition Clock Is Ticking, Instagram Officially Rolls Out Copycat ‘Reels’
  13. Clash, A New TikTok Competitor From Viner Brendon McNerney, Is Made With Creator Monetization In Mind (Exclusive)
  14. Snapchat Inks Music Deals, Pilots TikTok-Like Feature Letting Users Add Songs To Their Snaps
  15. With TikTok’s Future In The Balance, Addison Rae Launches Her Own Makeup Company, ‘Item Beauty’
  16. TikTok’s Hype House Signs On Dotted Line For Reality Series As Part Of Larger Pact With Wheelhouse Group
  17. TikTok and the Evolution of Digital Blackface
  18. Jake Paul’s Calabasas Home Raided By FBI Amid Ongoing Investigation, Though Search Warrant Is Sealed
  19. Turkey Passes New Internet Censorship Law, Cites Germany’s Awful ‘Hate Speech’ Law As Its Inspiration
  20. “This is a very dangerous situation”: Big Tech’s day on the Hill
  21. House Judiciary Spends 5.5 Hours Making Themselves Look Foolish, Without Asking Many Actual Tough Questions Of Tech CEOs
  22. Disinformation Campaigns Are Murky Blends Of Truth, Lies And Sincere Beliefs: Lessons From The Pandemic
  23. Hackers broke into real news sites to plant fake stories
  24. Twitter About To Be Hit With A ~$250 Million Fine For Using Your Two Factor Authentication Phone Numbers/Emails For Marketing
  25. Twitter hackers used “phone spear phishing” in mass account takeover
  26. DOJ And Florida Officials Announce Arrests Relating To Twitter Hack
  27. Florida teen charged as “mastermind” in Twitter hack hitting Biden, Bezos, and others
  28. Twitter’s Potential Subscription Features Include Undo Send, Auto Response, Custom Emojis, No Ads
  29. EU launching deep probe into Google’s planned $2.1 billion Fitbit buy
  30. Google suffers first revenue decline as ads hit by pandemic
  31. Google invests $450 million in ADT, gets exclusive hardware deal
  32. Google Play Music Will Finally Shutter In Favor Of YouTube Music This December
  33. Google Music shutdown starts this month, music deleted in December
  34. Ex-Googler Levandowski gets 18 months in prison for trade-secret theft
  35. Facebook Must Better Police Online Hate, State Attorneys General Say
  36. Plaintiff Can’t Use Trump’s Anti-Section 230 EO to Sue Facebook–Gomez v. Zuckenberg (Eric Goldman)
  37. Section 230 Doesn’t Protect Repeating Rumors–La Liberte v. Reid (Eric Goldman)
  38. Josh Hawley Introduces His Latest Attack On Section 230
  39. New Hampshire Supreme Court Issues Very Weird Ruling Regarding Section 230
  40. Comments on the Internet Association’s Empirical Study of Section 230 Cases (Eric Goldman)
  41. While Our Country Is Engulfed By Urgent Must-Solve Problems, Congress Is Working Hard to Burn Down Section 230 (Eric Goldman)
  42. Data Center Avoids Copyright Liability By Forwarding DMCA Notices to Its Customer–ALS Scan v. Steadfast (Eric Goldman)
  43. Russian Stream-Rip Sites Attempt To Take Jurisdiction Issue All The Way To SCOTUS
  44. Content Moderation Case Studies: Misleading Information From Official Sources (2020)
  45. Content Moderation Case Study: Facebook Nudity Filter Blocks Historical Content And News Reports About The Error (June 2020)
  46. In wake of Apple acquisition, Dark Sky ends Android support
  47. Telegram files EU antitrust complaint against Apple’s App Store
  48. Apple’s claim that “we treat every developer the same” tested by US Congress: House Antitrust Subcommittee releases emails showing half revenue share being offered to Amazon for Prime Video app
  49. ProtonMail founder: Apple uses monopoly to “hold all of us hostage”
  50. If 30% is too high, what’s the right number? | Opinion: As authorities investigate Apple’s share of App Store revenues, there’s broad agreement that 30% is too high — but there’s little consensus on an alternative number
  51. Emails detail Amazon’s plan to crush a startup rival with price cuts
  52. Amazon investing $10 billion to compete against SpaceX in satellite broadband
  53. Big Tech’s Backlash Is Just Starting: The congressional antitrust hearing showed that concerns about the tech stars aren’t going away.
  54. Insights: AMC-Universal Deal Resets Movie Business For Streaming Future
  55. It Only Took A Massive Pandemic For Hollywood To Ease Off Stupid, Dated Movie Release Windows
  56. ‘Mulan’ Is Coming To Disney+—But Subscribers Must Pay $29.99 To Watch It
  57. Mulan skips US theaters, will debut on Disney+ Sept. 4—for an extra $30
  58. YouTube Ad Revs Dipped To $3.8 Billion In Q2, But We’re Seeing “Further Improvement” In July, CFO Says
  59. YouTube To Shutter Community Captions Feature, Citing Issues With Spam, Abuse, Little Usage
  60. As Bon Appétit YouTube Channel Remains Dormant, ‘Test Kitchen’ Host Sohla El-Waylly Collabs On Binging With Babish
  61. Moonbug Raises $120 Million, Acquires Children’s YouTube Titans Cocomelon And Blippi
  62. Facebook Will Now Host Official Music Videos, Challenging YouTube’s Dominance In The Category
  63. Top 50 Most Viewed YouTube Channels Worldwide • Week Of 8/3/2020
  64. Top 50 Most Viewed US YouTube Channels • Week Of 8/3/2020
  65. Macy’s Vastly Democratizes ‘Style Crew’ Influencer Program, Which Was Formerly Only Open To Employees
  66. Comic-Con@Home A Much Different Event On Social Video
  67. Livestream shopping: making platform partnerships a success
  68. Louisiana Serves Up New Virtual Currency Business Law Cajun Style

A.I.

  1. What’s this? A bipartisan plan for AI and national security
  2. Wrongfully Accused by an Algorithm
  3. AI in Focus: BlueDot and the Response to COVID-19
  4. The State of AI: Patenting Trends and European Prosecution Strategy
  5. Current IP Laws Outdone by Artificial Intelligence
  6. “Seeing is believing” no longer rings true: The deceptive powers of artificial intelligence and fake journalists
  7. Exploring the AI of Command & Conquer

COMMUNICATIONS

  1. NTIA Asks FCC to Broaden Internet Platforms’ Liability for Third-Party Content and Moderation Efforts
  2. FCC Seeks Comment on Section 230 Petition
  3. Ajit Pai calls for “vigorous debate” on Trump’s social media crackdown
  4. The FCC Knows Trump’s Social Media Order Is A Joke, But Fecklessly Pretends Otherwise
  5. FCC Adopts New Safe Harbor Rules for Blocking Robocalls
  6. FCC Rules Peer-to-Peer Text Messaging Platform Does Not Violate the TCPA
  7. Trump pulls re-nomination of FCC Republican who stood up for First Amendment
  8. Trump Revokes FCC Commissioner O’Reilly’s Renomination
  9. Days After FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly Suggests Trump’s Section 230 Exec Order Is Unconstitutional… His Renomination To The FCC Is Withdrawn
  10. SpaceX now plans for 5 million Starlink customers in US, up from 1 million
  11. Space X’s Starlink Won’t Be The Broadband Disruption Play Many People Think
  12. Dish Buys Ting Mobile To Disrupt Wireless, But Questions Remain
  13. How cell phones and Facebook are changing remote Nunatsiavut
  14. Comcast lost 477,000 cable-TV customers in Q2 amid 12% drop in revenue
  15. AT&T Loses Another 1 Million TV Customers As Cord Cutting (And Greed) Take A Toll
  16. Huawei somehow becomes the #1 phone manufacturer, thanks to the coronavirus
  17. What’s New in 5G – August 2020
  18. Updated 5G National Security Report Issued by European Commission

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

  1. A Quarter-Billion Dollar Bag of Beans: Responding to Ken Whyte’s Attack on Library Book Loans (Michael Geist)
  2. Internet Archive Responds To Publishers Lawsuit: Libraries Lend Books, That’s What We Do
  3. “Salacious” Content Doesn’t Bar Discovery in Copyright Infringement Suit
  4. IAP Defeats Vicarious Copyright Infringement Claim–UMG v. Bright House (Eric Goldman)
  5. Taylor Swift Changes Artwork For New Album, Merch After Online Retailer Complains Of Similarities
  6. The EU’s Digital Copyright Directive – Where now for the UK?
  7. Privacy rights trump artists’ Intellectual Property Rights: a brief insight into CJEU and IPR enforcement
  8. Smith v. The Weeknd: Court dismisses copyright claim finding no substantial similarity under extrinsic test as only three shared notes remain after considering prior art, and three notes are not protectable as matter of law.
  9. Alfred v. The Walt Disney Company: Ninth Circuit finds Disney “pirated” plaintiffs’ screenplay for Pirates of the Caribbean finding similarities to be more than de minimis and sufficient to survive motion to dismiss.
  10. The Day the Music Died at Political Rallies
  11. Baby Shark sharpens its teeth against Chinese counterfeiters
  12. I See Me, I Sue You: Jordan Jumps at Card Cameos
  13. Incorrect notifications issued by IPONZ/WIPO
  14. The relationship between reputation and similarity of marks, China Construction Bank Corp. v. EUIPO
  15. Two Breweries Fight Over The Right To Use A Geographic Name Due To Trademark
  16. Co-branding: One product, two trademarks – who has the rights?
  17. Trademark Trolls – A Danger to Avoid with a Re-brand
  18. Law Firm Southtown Moxie Responds Hilariously To Stupid Cease And Desist Letter
  19. E-commerce operators not liable for trade mark infringement for mere storage of infringing goods
  20. The Next Instalment in the Sky v SkyKick Saga: Lessons for Trade Mark Owners
  21. Disassembled products and trademark infringement: a cautionary tale for manufacturers and re-sellers alike
  22. 5 Key Takeaways from Texas Appraisal Trade Secret Saga
  23. IP monitor: Federal Court of Appeal: Of course the Federal Courts can interpret agreements!
  24. Out with the New, In with the Old: The F.C.A. provides Clarity on its Ability to interpret Contracts
  25. Appeals Court Upholds Replacement Part Design Patents
  26. A Diagnostic Patent Is Found Patent Eligible At the Federal Circuit
  27. Improvements to Operation of an Apparatus Were Not Abstract
  28. Genetically modified mice and the patent bargain
  29. Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality Litigation Update: Tobii Technology, Inc. v. Weinblatt
  30. Strategic Patent Claims Drafting
  31. Who is leading the WiFi 6 patent race?
  32. The role of IP and challenges for the IP system

PRIVACY

  1. Why I Installed the COVID Alert App (Michael Geist)
  2. Google CEO Sundar Pichai Talks YouTube Data Privacy At Antitrust Hearing
  3. Zoombomber crashes court hearing on Twitter hack with Pornhub video
  4. The Latest Targets Of DHS Surveillance Are Journalists Who Published Leaked Documents
  5. DHS Obtained Protesters’ Encrypted Messages, Used Them To Craft ‘Intelligence’ Reports
  6. FBI Used Information From An Online Forum Hacking To Track Down One Of The Hackers Behind The Massive Twitter Attack
  7. Insecure satellite Internet is threatening ship and plane safety
  8. IBM completes successful field trials on Fully Homomorphic Encryption
  9. Five steps to compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act: At GDC Summer, Will Bucher outlines how companies already complying with GDPR can ensure CCPA compliance too
  10. Beware of find-my-phone, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth, NSA tells mobile users
  11. Seismic Shift in Privacy Risks and Obligations
  12. Australian Tech Giant Says Country’s Anti-Encryption Laws Are Harming Local Tech Companies
  13. Twitter faces FTC probe, likely fine over use of phone numbers for ads
  14. Time to Double-Check Your Corporate Practices. Twitter’s Use of Personal Information Gathered for Security (e.g. Two-Factor ID) For Targeted Advertisements Could Cost Them $150-250 Million.
  15. Schrems II and EU-U.S. Personal Information Transfers: Where Are We, and What’s Next?
  16. Schrems II Update: German SAs Require Additional Safeguards for U.S. Transfers and Max Schrems Set to Challenge Facebook Data Transfers Again
  17. Virginia Unveils App To Aid Contact Tracing
  18. Harvard to Track Affiliates’ Wi-Fi Signals as Part of Contact Tracing Pilot
  19. The Case for Banning Law Enforcement From Using Facial Recognition Technology (Evan Selinger, Woodrow Hartzog)

CREATIVITY   

  1. Portland Journalists Ask For Sanctions As Federal Agents Continue To Assault Reporters And Legal Observers
  2. Federal Court Can’t See Any First Amendment Implications In Local Ordinance Blocking The Photography Of Children
  3. Dark day for Hollywood – law prohibiting online publication of actors’ ages is struck down
  4. Tennessee Court Strikes Down Law Criminalizing Calling Political Candidates ‘Literally Hitler’
  5. Postcard helps researcher find exact place depicted in Van Gogh’s final masterpiece
  6. When Teaser Ads Are Just Too Sexy
  7. Do “Kit Kat White” Candy Bars Contain White Chocolate?
  8. Burger King’s Impossible Whopper Delivers, Says Court-Turned-Copywriter
  9. Four lessons for media companies after major defamation payout
  10. Advertising Self-Regulatory Codes Around the World Generally Prohibit Discrimination, According to New ICAS Report
  11. Outrage as Picasso murals stripped from Oslo building
  12. What Connects Hollywood and Thomas Edison?

GAMES

  1. Bot M8 LLC Asserts Sony’s PlayStation 4 “Uncharted” Game Infringes Its Patent, but Court Finds Bot M8’s Patent Invalid
  2. Little Consolation for Hyperkin as Atari Litigation Games Continue
  3. Congress defeats bill to block US military from recruiting via Twitch: US Navy and Army have stated they will continue to stream on popular games site
  4. Ubisoft exec Tommy Francois departs after misconduct allegations
  5. Tommy François has left Ubisoft: Exec was placed on disciplinary leave pending an investigation into harassment and abuse at the publisher
  6. Ubisoft exec Tommy Francois didn’t ‘leave’ the company, he was fired
  7. Why you should rethink how your company handles in-house harassment
  8. New AbleGamers program aims to educate devs & foster a more inclusive industry
  9. Legible font (still) one of the biggest accessibility issues in games 
  10. Epic Games Partners With Faculty Of Philosophy From Moscow State University 
  11. Epic Games Store now offers mod support for some games
  12. Epic Games Store adds modding support: MechWarrior 5 is the first title to beta test new feature 
  13. Epic Games Store adds support for community-made mods: The first game to support the feature is ‘MechWarrior 5 Mercenaries.’
  14. Celebrating tech’s unsung women pioneers, Romero calls for game dev gender parity 
  15. Conflict minerals: Which gaming companies may have funded human rights abuses in 2019? – Apple once more the most diligent, most other companies make minimal improvement, and Valve is silent for second year running
  16. Games and Online Harassment Hotline launches to “encourage help-seeking behaviours”: New service offers free and confidential emotional support for anyone suffering or perpetrating abuse in the games industry
  17. A different kind of “gamer” hotline: Free, anonymous emotional support 
  18. Blizzard employees share salary details amid unrest over pay disparity: More than half of its employees were unhappy with wages in 2019, according to a report from Bloomberg 
  19. Call of Duty: Warzone drives second quarter growth for Activision-Blizzard – Company is still seeing engagement and spending increases due to COVID-19 lockdowns
  20. Call of Duty franchise helps Activision Blizzard to record Q2 results 
  21. Should streamers be worried about DMCA strikes on Twitch?: A rash of copyright claims from music labels points to difficult times ahead for video game streamers
  22. 15,000 games removed from iOS App Store in China: Analysts at Niko Partners expect thousands more to be pulled by the end of the year
  23. What’s wrong with HR and how can it be fixed?
  24. PS4 gamepads won’t work for PS5 games, Sony says
  25. PlayStation 4 controllers work on PlayStation 5, but only for supported PS4 games
  26. Sony DualShock 4 controllers will not work with PS5 games: They will be compatible with the PS5, but only for supported PS4 games
  27. PlayStation software and services drive strong Q1 for Sony: Influence of lockdown keenly felt as PS4 software sales almost doubled and PS Plus reached 45m subscribers
  28. Cloud gaming comes to Xbox Game Pass on September 15: Over 100 games will be available at launch including Gears 5, Sea of Thieves, Forza Horizon 4
  29. Microsoft stealthily drops Xbox from Game Pass branding: Official social media accounts claim to be “trying out a new look” as Xbox name disappears from subscription service logo
  30. Microsoft’s full-year gaming revenues nearly flat for fiscal 2020: Minecraft, subscriptions, and COVID-19 saw content and services up, but hardware was down
  31. Sega’s strong Q1 games performance erased by impact of COVID-19: Revenue from resorts, arcades and pachinko machines all plummeted as pandemic led to closure of public spaces 
  32. Take-Two boasts new Q1 record as revenue jumps 54% year-over-year
  33. Take-Two CEO: “It’s a matter of time before the business is entirely digital” – Strauss Zelnick offers thoughts on digital distribution as Q1 financials show hefty digital share
  34. Take-Two: Next-gen software price hikes “reflect the quality of the experience” – CEO Strauss Zelnick says he does not expect the industry to coordinate its software prices, however
  35. Take-Two’s next-gen $70 price tag will be decided on a game-by-game basis
  36. Take-Two says its $70 game pricing will be on a “title by title basis” 
  37. Star Citizen dev offers roadmap for development of new development roadmap 
  38. New partnership will give 2K access to over 2000 NFL player likenesses 
  39. 2K Inks Deal To Feature NFL Player Names, Numbers, And Likenesses 
  40. 2K signs deal to use real NFL player likenesses in games: Multiple football titles are in development, planned to launch starting in 2021 
  41. FIFA Ultimate Team revenue “off the charts” during lockdown: EA’s key franchises boomed during lockdown, and CEO Andrew Wilson doesn’t expect staff to “ever go back exactly to the way things were”
  42. Engagement hits unexpected highs at EA as Q1 live services revenue crosses $1.1bn 
  43. EA reports strong June quarter with revenue up 21% to $1.46 billion 
  44. EA Sports picks up AC Milan and Inter Milan licenses: Milan clubs did not renew licenses with Konami; AS Roma parts ways with EA
  45. The Sims 4 passes 30 million lifetime players, doubles Q1 net bookings
  46. Steam launches, new releases, and The Sims propel EA’s first quarter earnings: The Sims 4 has now reached over 30m users on all platforms since launch
  47. How that game sold on Steam, using the ‘NB number’
  48. Steam launch helps push Detroit: Become Human past 5 million lifetime sales 
  49. Detroit: Become Human has sold over 5m copies – Milestone achieved following launch of the game on Steam
  50. Valve attempts to block regional pricing VPN exploit on Steam: New settings aim to deter users from using virtual private networks to take advantage of cheaper prices in other markets
  51. Halo Infinite’s multiplayer is a free-to-play mode 
  52. Microsoft confirms “free-to-play multiplayer” for Halo Infinite 
  53. Halo Infinite multiplayer will be free-to-play: Microsoft confirms that Halo’s most popular mode won’t even require Game Pass to play
  54. Flight Simulator hands-on: Microsoft looks different 20,000 feet in the air
  55. Horizon Zero Dawn on PC: Not the optimized port we were hoping for
  56. Avengers video game beta impressions: Destiny, this ain’t
  57. Animal Crossing is the most-discussed game on Twitter so far this year: In the first half of 2020, it beat out last year’s most-discussed game: Fate/Grand Order
  58. The Last of Us Part II and Ghost of Tsushima driving software sales at Sony
  59. Destroy All Humans makes Top Three after 12-year absence | UK Charts: Ghost of Tsushima delivers third consecutive No.1
  60. Mobile revenues grew $135m in Malaysia and Singapore in two years: Niko Partners reports shows rapid growth in gaming on smartphones, surpassing PC
  61. Monster Hunter and Resident Evil driving growth at Capcom
  62. Capcom sees Q1 profits up, driven entirely by its games business: COVID-19 lockdown impacts to arcades and amusement halls made gaming its only profitable segment
  63. State of Games: COVID lockdown swung 2020 from “significantly lower” spending than 2019: B2Boost detailed the remarkable impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer games spending in Europe
  64. Zynga acquires hypercasual mobile company Rollic for $168m: Istanbul-based studio has developed titles such as Go Knots 3D and Flipper Dunk
  65. Fall Guys attracts 1.5 million players within 24 hours of launch
  66. Private Division signs publishing deals with Ori dev Moon Studios and others
  67. ‘Detective Pikachu’ Director and Netflix Tackling ‘Beyond Good & Evil’ Adaptation
  68. Netflix making Beyond Good & Evil movie: Feature film based on Ubisoft’s cult hit will reportedly be director by Detective Pikachu director Rob Letterman
  69. Ubisoft wades deeper into the world of game streaming with new Parsec partnership
  70. Ubisoft signs multi-year partnership with cloud gaming provider Parsec: Publisher used Parsec to allow over 1,000 journalists to remotely play Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Watch Dogs Legion
  71. Re-watch GamesIndustry.biz Live: State of Games right here
  72. Ninja returns to Twitch following Mixer shutdown: Former channel restored, now up to 14.9 million followers
  73. Ninja Returns To Twitch, Nets 98,000 Concurrent Viewers With ‘Fortnite’ Stream
  74. Pandemic has accelerated a number of long-term gaming trends: Various market research firms and the head of the ESA discuss the shift to digital, esports, and the impact of an economic downturn on the next generation
  75. Riot Games shutting down for a week: League of Legends developer pushing back patches and releases to aid staff’s work-life balance 
  76. BiliBili secures exclusive rights to League of Legends esports in China: Deal with Riot Games will start this year and run until “at least” 2023
  77. Riot Games ends controversial partnership with Saudi Arabia mega-city project Neom: Esports director admits “we moved too quickly” to cement sponsorship deal
  78. UK retailer Game sells Belong esports network to U.S. startup Vindex 
  79. Could your esports business benefit from the Government’s new Future Fund?
  80. Five employment considerations for an expanding esports team
  81. The Rise of Esports Betting
  82. Esports gambling ads: guidance for gambling operators 
  83. The International 10 ‘Dota 2’ Tournament Prize Pool Breaks $30 Million 
  84. ‘League of Legends’ championship will start in Shanghai despite pandemic: It kicks off September 25th, although there will be safety precautions.
  85. Fostering a positive community in VR: At Ludicious X, IGDA executive director Renee Gittins talked about keeping communities safe and fighting toxicity in VR 
  86. The complete sales history of Curious Expedition: Maschinen-Mensch co-founder Riad Djemili on a five year journey — via China — to stability and success in indie development
  87. Unsolved Mysteries of the Mortal Kombat Universe 
  88. Defying game design rules to simulate dementia in Before I Forget: 3-Fold Games’ Chella Ramanan & Claire Morwood on the difficulty of developing a short game & the invaluable support from Humble & Gaming The Mind
  89. How Disney makes RPG mechanics work in real life at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge
  90. King London art director on creating an aesthetic for a global audience
  91. How System Era overcame creative paralysis to fix Astroneer’s crafting system
  92. How Pokemon Go evolved in response to the COVID-19 pandemic 
  93. Blog: Has your game got ‘juice’? (& more!)
  94. Blog: Historians play Ghost of Tsushima
  95. Blog: Tips for maximizing the performance of your Unity game – Part 2
  96. Blog: Expression-bodied members to reduce your code verbosity
  97. Video: How King’s attempt to implement Pixar’s brain trust model went wrong
  98. Video: Creating Dr. Grordbort’s Invaders for Magic Leap One
  99. Don’t Miss: The creative camaraderie behind Wilmot’s Warehouse
  100. Don’t Miss: Making the tactics genre more accessible & less intimidating in Fae Tactics 
  101. Don’t Miss: Breaking linear character progression with Outer Worlds’ flaw system
  102. Don’t Miss: What went right (and wrong) during the development of Spider-Man (2002)
  103. SuperData: Big publisher showcases did not suffer from absence of E3 – Twitch numbers were higher than E3 2019 showcases for major publishers, but PC Gaming Show’s audience was down compared to last year
  104. I really want E3 back | Opinion: There are clear benefits to spreading out announcements during the summer, but there’s more to it than just better numbers 
  105. The Outer Worlds wins GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Video Game: Obsidian’s interplanetary adventure included an openly asexual companion character, Parvati
  106. Gayming Magazine launching LGBTQ games awards next year: Awards will highlight authentic representation, industry diversity and more in February 2021
  107. U.S. Patent no. 9,656,170: Game apparatus

Jon

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