News of the Week

News of the Week; June 20, 2018

By Jon Festinger on July 3, 2018

DIGITAL

  1. Where does the internet happen? The Supreme Court of Canada tackles the thorny issue of which law applies to defamation claims
  2. Libel Tourism and Forum Shopping: The Supreme Court of Canada Applies the Van Breda Test to an Internet Defamation Claim
  3. Biohacker Who Implanted Transit Chip in Hand Evades Fine
  4. Lessons From Making Internet Companies Liable For User’s Speech: You Get Less Speech, Less Security And Less Innovation
  5. Dear EU Parliament: Why Are You About To Allow US Internet Companies To Decide What EU Citizens Can Say Online?
  6. EU Parliamentary Committee Votes To Put American Internet Giants In Charge Of What Speech Is Allowed Online
  7. Jury awards Apple $533 million in damages
  8. Apple snags Oprah Winfrey in original content deal
  9. Oprah Winfrey, Apple Ink Multi-Year Development Deal
  10. Huge Apple Maps outage prevents all users from searching, getting directions 
  11. Apple Pulls Plug On Phone-Cracking Tech Vendors, Will Prevent Data Transfer From Locked Phones 
  12. A New Tech Manifesto: Six demands, from a citizen to Big Tech
  13. Microsoft Employees Up in Arms Over Cloud Contract With ICE
  14. Microsoft staff call on company to end ICE contract
  15. Microsoft condemns separation of families at US border
  16. Microsoft’s new diverse avatar editor represents more body types, disabilities
  17. It Turns out All Kinds of Tech Companies Are Working With ICE
  18. FBI recovers WhatsApp, Signal data stored on Michael Cohen’s BlackBerry
  19. The Making of an Online Moral Crisis: How the many-chambered heart of the internet turned the Trump administration’s family-separation policy into a different kind of scandal.
  20. Trump Stokes Outrage In Silicon Valley—But It’s Selective
  21. Senate rejects Trump’s plan to lift ZTE export ban
  22. Welcome To Blaine, The Town Amazon Prime Built
  23. How Alt-Right Twitter Tricks The Media Into Panicking: @thebradfordfile has been cited as evidence of the rise of the alt-right, but its popularity is faked through power-engagement groups and networks of sockpuppets.
  24. From billboards to Twitter, why the aesthetics of protest matters more today
  25. When Do the Perils of Programmatic Advertising Undermine Its Value? 
  26. Data Nationalization in the Shadow of Social Credit Systems (Frank Pasquale)
  27. Inside The Crypto World’s Biggest Scandal: Arthur and Kathleen Breitman thought they held the secret to building a new decentralized utopia. On the way, they plunged into a new kind of hell. A crypto-tragedy in three acts.
  28. US ethics body tells government employees to declare crypto holdings
  29. What does a Bitcoin taste like?
  30. Europe advances copyright law that could filter the Internet
  31. Europe on the verge of voting nefarious digital publishing right (Andres Guadamuz) 
  32. Norwegian Court Orders Website Of Public Domain Court Decisions Shut Down With No Due Process
  33. Critical Perspectives on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights
  34. DOJ Lets Cops Know SESTA/FOSTA Is For Shutting Down Websites, Not Busting Sex Traffickers 
  35. Catching Up on FOSTA Since Its Enactment (A Linkwrap) (Eric Goldman)
  36. Section 230 Can’t Save Snapchat From Lawsuit Involving Its ‘Speed Filter’
  37. The End of All That’s Good and Pure About the Internet
  38. Tanzania Forces ‘Unregistered Bloggers’ To Disappear Themselves
  39. Andy Serkis Thinks Performance Capture Will Just Be How All Actors Work in 100 Years
  40. The enabled landscape is the future of augmented reality
  41. Europe’s GDPR Is Killing Email Marketing, to the Disappointment of No One
  42. Think The GDPR Only Regulates Big Internet Companies? The EU Says It Regulates You Too.
  43. Google Maps removes Uber integration 
  44. Google’s New Podcast App Could Turbocharge The Industry 
  45. Boston Globe Posts Hilarious Fact-Challenged Interview About Regulating Google, Without Any Acknowledgement Of Errors
  46. Users Watch Over 180 Million Hours Of YouTube Content On TV Screens Daily
  47. French Political Party Voting For Mandatory Copyright Filters Is Furious That Its YouTube Channel Deleted By Filter
  48. YouTube Announces Creative Suite For Brands, Lets Them Live Experiment With Ads
  49. Head Of YouTube Music Has “Largest Marketing Plan In YouTube’s History” For The Service
  50. ‘Cobra Kai’ Producers Reveal How They Helped YouTube Create Its Very Own ‘House Of Cards’
  51. YouTube Announces Creative Suite For Brands, Lets Them Live Experiment With Ads 
  52. YouTube Premium And YouTube Music Roll Out To 12 More Countries Including U.K., Canada
  53. Struggling Fitbit now has 5 ex-employees who face criminal charges
  54. With IGTV, Instagram Takes Aim At YouTube
  55. Instagram Launches Long-Form Video Service Called IGTV
  56. Instagram Announces IGTV, An Entertainment Hub With Hour-Long Videos And Content From Social Stars
  57. Facebook used less for news as youngsters turn to WhatsApp: Reuters Institute
  58. The “Facebook Nevers”
  59. What Facebook can learn from academia about protecting privacy
  60. Facebook Communications Head Elliot Schrage Is Leaving
  61. Facebook Expands Monetization With Branded Content Marketplace, More Ad Breaks 
  62. Facebook Adds New Ways To Gamify Video, Will Incorporate Non-Episodic Clips Into ‘Watch’ Hub
  63. Facebook will air live PGA Tour coverage on its Watch tab
  64. Florida frat bros sued over Facebook revenge porn
  65. In nearly 500 pages of answers, Facebook stonewalls some senators’ questions
  66. Data Propria, run by Cambridge Analytica alumni, working on Trump 2020 campaign
  67. Man who allegedly gave Vault 7 cache to WikiLeaks busted by poor opsec
  68. As Market Cheers Spotify’s Direct Deals With Artists and Managers, Labels Mull Their Options
  69. Streaming Threatens to Dethrone Traditional TV for World Cup
  70. Streaming Services Jump Into the Unscripted Series Game
  71. Fullscreen Has Quietly Offered 360-Degree Talent Management For 2 Years — And Its Client Roster Is Growing Fast
  72. Jon Cozart, Marla Catherine, CJ Perry Sign With Management Firm Expand Entertainment
  73. Whistle Sports Signs Deal With NBA Comedian ‘Famous Los’ For Original Content, Events
  74. Influencers Must Disclose Who Is Influencing Them
  75. More Than 80 Creators, Including Casey Neistat And Miranda Sings, Confirmed For Tana Mongeau’s VidCon Alternative
  76. Insights: VidCon Navigates An Industry’s Stormy Season With New Owner, Influx Of Brands And Platforms
  77. What would it mean for AI to have a soul? 

CREATIVITY

  1. Music Canada at the Copyright Review: “Illegal Content is Drifting Away” (Michael Geist)
  2. Canadian Music Industry Pitches ‘You Must Be A Pirate’ Tax On Smartphones
  3. Danish Anti-Piracy Lawyers Jailed For Real, Actual Stealing From Copyright Holders
  4. The Gawker Case Has Become More Interesting
  5. Dear Journalists: Stop being loudspeakers for liars
  6. Minnesota’s Vague Ban On ‘Political’ Wear At Polling Places Shut Down By The Supreme Court
  7. Broadway Producers Denied Motion to Set Aside Damages Verdict against Former Publicist 
  8. Judge Cock(y)blocks Author Faleena Hopkins’ Demand Other Authors Stop Using The Word ‘Cocky’ In Their Titles
  9. Star Trek, Dr. Seuss Mash-Up, Continues to Make Law
  10. Seeing red – Louboutin’s trademark victory at the ECJ
  11. Oakley Denies Validity of Graffiti Copyright: Calling artist-duo’s works unoriginal and “generic.”
  12. Hold the presses: contempt of court 
  13. Terry Gilliam Has Lost the Rights to The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
  14. European Citizens: You Stopped ACTA, But The New Copyright Directive Is Much, Much Worse: Speak Up 
  15. UN Free Speech Expert: EU’s Copyright Directive Would Be An Attack On Free Speech, Violate Human Rights
  16. Following Allegations of Abuse, Chris Hardwick Has Been Pulled from AMC Programming and San Diego Comic-Con
  17. World Cup Advertising Fever – but don’t overstep the mark!
  18. Propaganda or news: Should media publish government’s child-detention photos?
  19. The MoviePass Effect Is Here to Stay – Even if MoviePass Isn’t
  20. How Swiss news publisher NZZ built a flexible paywall using machine learning
  21. Warner Bros. Turns Harry Potter Fan Events Into Events For The Franchise That Must Not Be Named
  22. Is an audio recording on magnetic tape a technological document?
  23. How John Mayer Helped Me Become a Better Therapist: Using song lyrics is a form of expressive arts therapy, which can help people tap into their emotions and invoke personal change. 

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. The CRTC’s Vision of the Future
  2. Government of Canada Looks to Modernize Telecommunications and Broadcasting Legislation for the Digital Age 
  3. CRTC Rebuked: Government Signals Frustration With the Commission Prioritizing Carriers Over Consumers (Michael Geist)
  4. How Did George Brown College Come to Support the FairPlay Site Blocking Plan? Docs Show Bell Lobbied the School’s President (Michael Geist) 
  5. A CRTC focused on the public interest?
  6. Too punitive: Québec Court of Appeal cuts award of punitive damages down to size 
  7. Court Rejects DOJ Challenge to AT&T/Time Warner Vertical Merger
  8. Federal Judge Approves AT&T-Time Warner Merger; Deal Closes 
  9. AT&T Closes $85 Billion Time Warner Deal
  10. What to expect now that AT&T officially owns Time Warner
  11. Time Warner Is Getting A Rebrand To Avoid Confusion
  12. New York threatens to revoke Charter’s purchase of Time Warner Cable
  13. Wireless Carriers Hope You Won’t Notice Their Location Data Scandal Makes The Facebook, Cambridge Fracas Look Like Amateur Hour
  14. ISPs Lobbying California Lawmakers In Bid To Weaken State’s Looming Net Neutrality Law
  15. Ajit Pai Now Trying To Pretend That Everybody Supported Net Neutrality Repeal
  16. Charter Spectrum Claims The Death Of Net Neutrality Will Magically Provide Better, Faster Broadband
  17. How AT&T and Comcast are trying to kill California’s net neutrality bill
  18. Net Neutrality And The Broken Windows Fallacy
  19. AT&T, Time Warner, and the Need for Neutrality
  20. AT&T is already planning more acquisitions, days after buying Time Warner
  21. Following AT&T’s Lead, Comcast Makes A $65 Billion Bid For Fox
  22. Comcast Offers $65 Billion for Twenty-First Century Fox
  23. Disney Ups Fox Bid to $71.3 Billion, Outflanking Comcast
  24. Sorry, Comcast: Fox and Disney sign new merger deal, rejecting Comcast bid
  25. Disney’s Plan to Acquire Fox Is Back On, Thanks to a New $70 Billion Deal
  26. Net Neutrality And The Broken Windows Fallacy
  27. California Net Neutrality Bill Was ‘Hijacked,’ Lawmaker Says
  28. FCC Seeks Public Comment On Proposals To Streamline
  29. FAA v. FCC On Drone Enforcement 
  30. FCC, Big Telcos Take Aim At Line Sharing Rules In Bid To Further Hamstring Broadband Competition
  31. Sprint, T-Mobile to FCC: Our Job Killing, Competition Eroding Megamerger Will Create Jobs & Competition
  32. Verizon’s New Phone Plan Proves It Has No Idea What ‘Unlimited’ Actually Means
  33. Verizon and AT&T will stop selling your phone’s location to data brokers
  34. South Carolina’s New State Telemarketing Law

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Geolocation phone apps to track children come under scrutiny by the FTC
  2. China Is Rolling Out A Mandatory Program That Puts Tracking Chips In Every Car
  3. China-based hackers burrow inside satellite, defense, and telecoms firms
  4. China’s Latest Censorship Crackdown Target: Videos Of Women Rubbing, Kissing And Licking Binaural Microphones
  5. NY Senate Passes Bill That Would Make It A Crime To Publish Photos Of The Elderly Without Their Consent
  6. Decades-old PGP bug allowed hackers to spoof just about anyone’s signature
  7. EU Politicians Tell European Commission To Suspend Privacy Shield Data Transfer Framework
  8. Hackers who sabotaged the Olympic games return for more mischief
  9. Reminder: macOS still leaks secrets stored on encrypted drives
  10. Tesla sues employee alleged to have stolen gigabytes of data

GAMES

  1. A Claim of Epic Proportions: Epic Games Hits Back in Suit Against 14-Year-Old 
  2. ‘Gaming Disorder’ officially listed in World Health Organization diagnostic doc
  3. WHO makes ‘gaming disorder’ diagnosis official: Final version of World Health Organization’s 11th International Compendium of Diseases includes gaming addiction for the first time
  4. Games industry trade bodies concerned by ‘gaming disorder’ classification 
  5. Industry trade bodies from around the globe unite to condemn ‘gaming disorder’ decision: WHO classification will create moral panic, says international trade body coalition
  6. Ukie: WHO gaming disorder diagnosis is based on “highly contested evidence”
  7. Former Telltale CEO and co-founder Kevin Bruner is suing the studio
  8. Former Telltale CEO sues developer over alleged breach of contract: Kevin Bruner claims Telltale failed to fulfil its obligations to him after he stepped down in 2017
  9. HitRecord “has to draw a line somewhere” on payment for Beyond Good & Evil assets: Only work used in the game will be compensated, says founder Joseph Gordon-Levitt
  10. Reverse-engineered Diablo source code released on GitHub
  11. Blog: How much protection does Fair Use really offer?
  12. Nintendo boss says loot boxes have ‘gotten a bit of a bad rap’
  13. Nintendo: Loot boxes “have gotten a bit of a bad rap” – Reggie Fils-Aime says loot boxes “can be interesting” as long as players have other options
  14. Citing Dutch law, Valve drops trading CS:GO and Dota 2items in the Netherlands
  15. Valve disables CS:GO and DOTA 2 item trading in Netherlands after legal warning – “We still don’t understand or agree with the [Dutch Gaming Authority’s] legal conclusion,” says Valve
  16. Valve continues its fight against “fake games” on Steam: Games that haven’t reached Steam’s “confidence metric” will be restricted from user achievements and game counts
  17. Valve introduces limits for new games to prevent ‘fake’ ones from gaming Steam
  18. Review manipulators aren’t as sneaky as they think they are, warns Valve
  19. Following App Store rejection, Valve cuts game purchasing from iOS Steam Link app
  20. Valve continues work on rejected iOS Steam Link app: After initial rejection by Apple, TestFlight version of Steam companion app updates to curb ability to purchase new games
  21. Following GDPR, Steam now discloses a ton of collected account data to users
  22. Studios commit to removing Red Shell due to player complaints: Dead by Daylight, Elder Scrolls Online and other Steam games will remove alleged spyware that tracked advertisement efficacy
  23. The GamesIndustry.biz E3 Award Winners
  24. Editor roundtable: What did E3 2018 mean for game developers?
  25. E3 2018: Starting next-gen hype early is bad for business – Casual references toward next-gen consoles and games risks overshadowing the huge releases coming in 2018
  26. Analyst: 66% of console players still prefer physical games over digital
  27. E3 2018: Microsoft finally comes out of its “self-imposed damage control position” – Industry analysts on Sony’s muted E3 briefing, and why it’s too soon to know if Microsoft’s studio acquisitions will be proved “smart or dumb”
  28. E3 2018: Cyberpunk 2077 astounds, but so do the crowds – Dispatches from the show floor, where E3 continues to struggle with delivering a satisfying show for the public
  29. E3 attendance reaches highest point since 2005: 2018 event was “an enormous success” says organiser as nearly 70,000 people descend on LA Convention Centre
  30. The top ten games from E3 2018
  31. Stick or Twitch? How streaming is hurting single-player games
  32. Is single-player dead? Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick ‘doesn’t buy it’
  33. Netflix and Telltale partner on Minecraft TV show, Stranger Things game: Minecraft Story Mode will be an interactive five-episode series, but Netflix doesn’t have “any plans to get into gaming”
  34. Microsoft is making changes to its Xbox app to better reflect PC users
  35. Streaming could be key to Xbox reclaiming the lead from PlayStation
  36. PlayStation 4 sale transforms EMEA games charts: Vampyr debuts at No.2 as FIFA 18 holds top spot
  37. Sony revives greatest hits program for PS4 games as PlayStation Hits
  38. PlayStation briefing a response to “shallow” E3 press conferences: Sony Worldwide Studios’ Michael Denny addresses disappointment over this week’s more focused showcase
  39. Sony is locking Fortnite accounts to PS4, and players are mad
  40. Sony issues evasive response to Fortnite cross-platform controversy
  41. PlayStation 4 owners can’t access Fortnite accounts on Switch: Sony issues response, side-steps complaints around lack of cross-play and inability to access saved progress
  42. Fortnite racks up two million downloads on Switch in a single day: Despite releasing late last year, Fortnite has been featured prominently throughout E3 2018
  43. Fortnite revenue tops $100M on iOS after 90 days
  44. Rare official arcade versions of Donkey Kong, Sky Skipper headed to Switch
  45. Nintendo and Disney join forces for a Switch-themed game show
  46. Is Nintendo Switch in trouble?: After a slight E3 showcase, investors and analysts are concerned over Switch sales. But are they right?
  47. After a strong start, Nintendo wants Labo to reach a broader demographic 
  48. Inside Nintendo’s “perfect” method for detecting online Switch piracy
  49. Following hardware exploit, Nintendo bans Switch consoles with pirated games
  50. Xbox and Nintendo speak out against Fortnite PS4 stalemate: Phil Spencer and Reggie Fils-Aime both want their customers to play with and across other consoles
  51. Dev taps blockchain tech to make Pokemon playable on Twitch — for a price
  52. Fortnite breaks record for concurrent Twitch viewers – Battle Royale smash hit outperforms previous record holder Counter-Strike: GO
  53. Fortnite hits $100m revenue in its first 90 days on iOS: Meanwhile, PUBG on iOS has grossed just $5.2 million in 60 days
  54. How useful errors and evolving player skills shape Fortnite’s UX
  55. PUBG dev says store-bought assets help teams ‘work smart’
  56. PUBG Corp. defends the use of asset stores as the only way to “work smart”: PUBG is no “asset flip”, says PUBG Corp., but store-bought assets are necessary when building maps
  57. Ubisoft won’t whitewash Ancient Greece with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey: “We really felt like it was a nice opportunity for us to have a deep dive into the culture of Greece,” says audio director Lydia Andre
  58. In Defense Of Ubisoft: Crowdsourcing Game Content Creation Is Actually Fun And Non-Exploitive
  59. Editor Roundtable: How does Ubisoft’s HitRecord partnership impact devs? 
  60. THQ Nordic raises $168 million for future acquisitions 
  61. THQ Nordic completes share issue worth $168m: Major acquisition plans afoot with flash sale of 7.7 million shares
  62. Keemstar, ItsAlexClark, Bart Baker Among YouTube Stars Featured In New Mobile Game
  63. BBTV Interactive Launches Squad Rivals
  64. HitRECord founder responds to backlash over crowdsourcing assets for Beyond Good and Evil 2
  65. Avalanche EP: livestreaming ‘can’t not’ influence game development now
  66. Naughty Dog’s Last Of Us games have sold over 17M copies in 5 years
  67. Unity moving entire infrastructure to Google Cloud for ‘connected games’
  68. Unity unveils new augmented reality extension MARS
  69. Sales from Fallout 76 ‘Country Roads’ cover will be donated to charity
  70. Critical Force nets $6.3m investment to scale esports operation: Business Finland backs mobile developer as flagship title hits 40 million downloads
  71. Blog: Are battle royale titles the next big esport?
  72. FIFA is a Better Esport Than Other Sports Simulation Games
  73. Sea of Thieves hit three month target in a single day
  74. Naughty Dog marks The Last of Us’ fifth birthday with 17m copies sold: Combined sales of The Last of Us and the Uncharted series are now pushing 60 million units
  75. Phones within phones: Simulating real apps to explore real issues: Lost Phone and Bury Me, My Love developers discuss the intimate impact of games that behave like mobile interfaces
  76. After Rumors Swirl, Nintendo Says Talks To Bring Video Services To Switch Are “Ongoing”
  77. Why Unravel Two is not on Nintendo Switch: Coldwood Interactive tells us how the console’s simpler hardware would have delayed the surprise launch by six months
  78. Does cyber insurance make us more (or less) secure?: Underwriting cyber risk remains more art than science, but in the absence of regulation, cyber insurance might still be the best hope for improving cybersecurity practices across the board – at least fo
  79. Unity and Google Cloud announce partnership to create multiplayer development suite: Alliance aims to create server hosting, matchmaking tools to ease multiplayer game development in Unity
  80. GameStop in buyout talks, reports Reuters
  81. Celebrating experience and tackling ageism: 50 Over 50 industry list revealed – List conceived to “counter the trend of glossing over ageism,” says Game Advocacy
  82. Educational app TinyTap raises $5M toward accessible learning 
  83. How ARKit 2 works, and why Apple is so focused on AR

Jon

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News of the Week; June 13, 2018

By Jon Festinger on July 2, 2018

DIGITAL

  1. Mobile Viewing to Overtake TV Viewing by Next Year
  2. That Merkel Photo Is More Like a Meme Than a Renaissance Painting
  3. OFAC sanctions Russian entities and individuals for cyber activities connected to FSB
  4. Cambridge Analytica director ‘met Assange to discuss US election’: Brittany Kaiser also claims to have channeled payments and donations to WikiLeaks
  5. Apple bans developers from creating, selling user Contacts databases
  6. Facebook privacy goof makes posts by 14 million users readable to anyone
  7. Facebook let select companies have “special access” to user data, per report
  8. Facebook Answered Congress’s Questions About Data Privacy. Here Are 5 Surprising Ways They Track You
  9. Facebook Announces New Feature That Aggregates Old Memories
  10. Latest Privacy Fracas Drops Facebook In The Middle Of Anti-Huawei Hysteria
  11. Facebook may now ban bad businesses from advertising
  12. Insights: It’s Game On As Facebook Takes On Twitch And YouTube For Live-Streaming Primacy
  13. Mueller checks witnesses’ phones for secure messaging apps, per report
  14. How Pro-Eating Disorder Posts Evade Filters On Social Media
  15. UKSC judgment in Cartier – who pays for website blocking orders? 
  16. Confirmed: ZTE to reopen after $1 billion fine, new leadership
  17. Republican senators move to block Trump’s deal to revive ZTE
  18. Top German Publisher Says: ‘You Wouldn’t Steal A Pound Of Butter… So We Need A Snippet Tax’
  19. Inventor says Google is patenting work he put in the public domain
  20. Hey Google: Stop Trying To Patent A Compression Technique An Inventor Released To The Public Domain
  21. Encyclopædia Britannica Wants To Fix False Google Results
  22. Google: JK, We’re Going To Keep Working With The Military After All
  23. New law forces Google to suspend political ads in Washington state
  24. YouTube Takes Down Anti-LGBTQ Ad After Multiple Creator Complaints
  25. YouTube Complicit In Copyright Infringement Of News Station’s Content
  26. Austrian court ruling could hold YouTube liable for copyright infringing content
  27. YouTube’s World Cup coverage includes near-live highlights in Spanish
  28. Reggaeton Singer Ozuna Is Most Viewed Artist On YouTube This Year
  29. During The Upcoming World Cup, YouTube Will Be Stocked With Highlights And Athlete Vlogs
  30. YouTube Stars Joe Sugg, Caspar Lee Form IMG-Backed Digital Talent Management Agency
  31. Ad Standards Introduces New Influencer Disclosure Guidelines
  32. Walking the Line with Influencers: How to Satisfy the FTC without Your Influencers Becoming Employees in California
  33. Appeals Court Curbs FTC’s Enforcement of Security Standards–LabMD v. FTC
  34. IoT Device Companies: The FTC is Monitoring Your COPPA Data Deletion Duties and More
  35. Yet Another Study Shows The Internet Of Things Is A Privacy And Security Dumpster Fire
  36. Circuit Court of Cook County Upholds City of Chicago’s Imposition of Amusement Tax on Internet-Based Streaming Services 
  37. Unpublished Censorship Guidelines Lay Bare The Deepest Fears Of The Chinese Government
  38. Snapchat Wants To Help Popular Music Artists Make AR Lenses
  39. Instagram Rolls Out Ecommerce In Stories, As Snapchat Tests Shoppable Ads
  40. Snapchat’s Speed Filter Not Protected by Section 230–Maynard v. Snapchat (Eric Goldman)
  41. Reddit Announces Native Auto-Play Video Ads For Select Brands
  42. Amazon Prime Video Secures Premier League Streaming Rights
  43. Twitter is putting more live news events in your timeline and notifications
  44. Twitter Isn’t a Shopping Mall for First Amendment Purposes (Duh)–Johnson v. Twitter (Eric Goldman)
  45. Musical.ly To Fold Live Streaming Service Live.ly Into Its Primary App
  46. Canadian Music Industry Wants Government to Pay Copying Fee for Every Smartphone Sold in Canada (Michael Geist)
  47. Microsoft’s plan for GitHub: “Make GitHub better at being GitHub”
  48. Three Takes On Microsoft Acquiring Github
  49. IAB Says U.S. Podcast Ads Generated $314 Million Last Year, Pegs 2020 Tally At $659 Million
  50. The EU’s Copyright Proposal is Extremely Bad News for Everyone, Even (Especially!) Wikipedia
  51. EU Publishers Freak Out Now That People Are Realizing Just How Messed Up Their Link Tax Really Is
  52. EU Commission Violates GDPR; Claims That It’s Exempt From The Law For ‘Legal Reasons’
  53. EU Explores Making GDPR Apply To EU Government Bodies… But With Much Lower Fines
  54. UK Security Minister Says Only A Drivers Licence For The Internet Can Bring Back Online Civility
  55. America should borrow from Europe’s data-privacy law: The GDPR’s premise, that consumers should be in charge of their own personal data, is the right one
  56. GDPR’s Impact on the Use of Blockchain to Facilitate International Trade
  57. Blockchain: Game changer or game over?
  58. The rise of the “Crypto Czar,” the fall of a “blockchain evangelist,” and other crypto developments
  59. Bitcoin has lost more than half its value since last year’s all-time high
  60. Bitcoin Price Plunges After Hack of South Korean Exchange, Down 53 Percent Since December
  61. Bitcoin prices continue to fall as yet another exchange reports a breach
  62. Bitcoin’s 2017 Surge Was the Result of Manipulation, Experts Say
  63. Another SEC Enforcement Action against Allegedly Fraudulent ICO 
  64. Recent Virtual Currency Actions by the CFTC and State Regulators 
  65. Brain-Based Circuitry Just Made Artificial Intelligence A Whole Lot Faster
  66. AI is a very surprising tech, which makes its future hard to predict: Bruce Schneier
  67. This wild, AI-generated film is the next step in “whole-movie puppetry”: Results are admittedly limited due to a 48-hour crunch—but hint at a wild future.
  68. Artificial intelligence and human development
  69. People Are Paying Insane Amounts of Real Money for “Virtual Real Estate”
  70. Tech Addiction And The Paradox Of Apple’s ‘Screen Time’ Tools
  71. Apple No Longer Allows Crypto Mining On Its Devices. That’s Good For Users.
  72. Apple just banned cryptocurrency mining on iOS devices
  73. Apple clamps down on developers sharing data on users’ friends: “When someone shares your info as part of their address book, you have no say in it, and you have no knowledge of it,” says privacy expert
  74. For almost 11 years, hackers could easily bypass 3rd-party macOS signature checks
  75. Popular Spanish Soccer Mobile App Has Been Turning Users Into Piracy-Spotters Via Mobile Devices
  76. Ordering Food via Touchscreen Is so Fun You Spend More Money When You Do It
  77. White nationalists, Nazis find new space for racism
  78. Dark Web vendor “OxyMonster” turns out to be a Frenchman with luscious beard
  79. In a blow to e-voting critics, Brazil suspends use of all paper ballots
  80. How emoji can kill: As gangs move online, social media fuel violence
  81. Options for Reacting to Negative Online Comments, Reviews, and Defamation 
  82. SCC Stays Internet Defamation Case, Urges Fairness and Efficiency
  83. Canada’s Supreme Court Is Preserving Every Website Mentioned In Its Rulings: The country’s top court is publicly archiving every single hyperlink in its decisions, so they aren’t lost.

CREATIVITY

  1. Trump Admits He Calls All Negative News ‘Fake’
  2. French President Pushing ‘Fake News’ Bill That Would Demand Decisions From Judges In 48 Hours
  3. Unsettling Comments from the Ontario Courts re the Settled Law of Trademarks and Parallel Importation (Howard Knopf)
  4. Off the Rails: How the Canadian Heritage Copyright Hearings Have Veered Badly Off-Track (Michael Geist)
  5. Ending The Memes: EU Copyright Directive Is No Laughing Matter
  6. Illegal memes? Weak Safe Harbor? Unpacking the proposed EU copyright overhaul 
  7. CJEU rules that Louboutin red sole mark does NOT fall within absolute ground for refusal (Eleonora Rosati)
  8. Viacom Possesses Trademark Rights in ‘Krusty Krab’ Based on Its Central Role in the SpongeBob Universe – Viacom v. IJR
  9. Stephen Colbert Cut a Star Wars Trailer to Dunk on Kelly Marie Tran’s Harassers
  10. FBI Hoovered Up Two Years Of A Journalist’s Phone And Email Records To Hunt Down A Leaker
  11. Fahmy v. Jay-Z

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. Government of Canada launches review of Telecommunications and Broadcasting Acts
  2. Broadcasting And Telecommunications Legislative Review: Terms of Reference
  3. The CRTC’s fundamental mistake: It thinks it can regulate the internet (Michael Geist)
  4. The CRTC’s Fundamental Flaw: Broadcasting May Be the Internet, but the Internet is Not Broadcasting (Michael Geist)
  5. Canadian Government Responds to Parliamentary Committee’s Recommended Changes and Clarifications to Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL)
  6. Ajit Pai’s FCC lied about “DDoS” attack, ex-chair’s statement indicates
  7. Senators Wyden and Schatz Wants To Know Why The FCC Made Up A DDOS Attack 
  8. Oddly The Trump FCC Doesn’t Much Want To Talk About Why It Made Up A DDOS Attack
  9. ‘Transparent’ FCC Doesn’t Want To Reveal Any Details About Ajit Pai’s Stupid Reese’s Mug
  10. Ajit Pai says you’re going to love the death of net neutrality
  11. What Ajit Pai Should Have Said About Killing Net Neutrality… And Why It Still Would Have Been Wrong
  12. Net neutrality will be repealed Monday unless Congress takes action
  13. Net Neutrality Rules Die Today, But The Backlash Is Just Getting Started
  14. First state net neutrality law took effect today, countering FCC repeal
  15. AT&T Defeats DOJ In Merger Fight, Opening The Door To Some Major Competitive Headaches
  16. Trump administration fails to block AT&T/Time Warner merger
  17. AT&T Cleared to Buy Time Warner in Blow to Trump Administration
  18. AT&T wins: Judge clears $85 billion bid for Time Warner with no conditions
  19. AT&T imposes another $5 price hike on grandfathered unlimited data plans
  20. AT&T/Time Warner Merger Could Create Giant Player for Sports Rights
  21. Comcast, AT&T, Verizon say they have no paid prioritization plans
  22. Comcast offers $65 billion for Fox, says government won’t stop merger
  23. Comcast disabled throttling system, proving data cap is just a money grab
  24. FTC Files Lawsuit for Widespread Telemarketing Law Violations

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY 

  1. NY Times reporter’s email records seized by Justice Dept. in leak case
  2. China Hacked a Navy Contractor and Stole 600GB of Data
  3. A Chip in the Windshield: China’s Surveillance State Will Soon Track Cars
  4. Global Russian-Linked Router Malware Even Worse Than Originally Stated
  5. Backdoored images downloaded 5 million times finally removed from Docker Hub
  6. Court Says German Intelligence Agency Can Continued To Deploy Its Dragnet On World’s Largest Internet Hub
  7. New Data Breach Notification Laws Spring 2018: What You Need to Know
  8. Stymied by browsers, attackers embed Flash 0-day inside MS Office document
  9. Security Companies Want To Use Facial Recognition To Stop School Shootings
  10. It’s Now Scary to Be A White Hat Hacker Thanks to the US Government
  11. How did hacker Adrian Lamo die? Medical examiner couldn’t figure it out
  12. Vermont Takes Aim at Data Brokers

GAMES

  1. Valve removes AIDS Simulator, other controversial games from Steam Store: Games taken down offer slight clarification on what company means by “straight up trolling”
  2. AIDS Simulator kicked off Steam as Valve grapples with “trolling” definition
  3. Valve clarifies what games count as ‘straight up trolling,’ sort of
  4. Op-ed: Valve takes a side by not “taking sides” in curation controversy
  5. Valve Decides To Get Out Of The Curation Business When It Comes To ‘Offensive’ Games
  6. Itch.io founder brands Valve’s open-door Steam policy ‘ridiculous’
  7. Valve’s new policy on Steam games splits opinions among devs
  8. By 2019, Steam will no longer run on Windows XP or Vista
  9. Valve launching Steam China with Perfect World: Partnership likely means leading PC marketplace will be free from the threat of long-rumoured government block
  10. Valve partners with Perfect World to bring Steam to China 
  11. Battletech developer let go after sexual harassment allegations
  12. Cyberpunk dev: QA can absolutely help your team prevent offensive moments
  13. Harebrained Schemes parts ways with designer accused of sexual harassment: Battletech developer conducted internal investigation after multiple women came forward
  14. ‘This is not okay’: EA minces no words on backlash against women in Battlefield
  15. EA CEO’s damage control speech: “We want to be better”: Andrew Wilson stresses that publisher does not want to give paying players unfair advantages following last year’s loot box fiasco
  16. EA touts “profound impact” of streaming and subscription, announces Origin Access Premier: New PC service gives players instant access to Battlefield and FIFA 19 at launch, with publisher promising streaming option in future
  17. EA adds new releases to Origin Access via $100 Premier membership tier
  18. EA’s Impressive New PC Subscription Service Won’t Degrade Its Old One
  19. EA’s Patrick Soderlund talks Anthem, loot boxes, and women in Battlefield
  20. Anthem deep dive, Jedi: Fallen Order and EA Originals lead publisher’s E3 2018 showcase – Surprise launch of Unravel Two and tease for Respawn’s long-awaited Star Wars project break up usual round of sports titles
  21. FIFA 18 tops European charts with combined digital and retail sales: Results are in for Europe’s first sales charts to include digital data
  22. EA at E3: BioWare confirms Anthem in Feb 2019, Madden returns to PC
  23. We Are initiative hopes to connect and inspire women in games
  24. Game Advocacy introduces ’50 Over 50′ list to combat industry ageism
  25. ESA Foundation launches “We Are” diversity initiative: Red Bull Media House is partner on an initiative that will launch at E3 and continue into 2019
  26. Cool Event Alert: Loot Boxes: Video Game Gambling, Paying to Win, and the Question of Game Design, Talk by Drs. Mark R. Johnson and Tom Brock
  27. E3 Roundtable: Microsoft’s first-party intent, EA’s loot box lament – Microsoft’s flurry of studio acquisitions lit up E3’s opening weekend, Bethesda showed every ace in its hand, and EA promised to do better
  28. E3 Roundtable: PlayStation disappoints on a day short on surprises – Known quantities were front and centre at Sony and Ubisoft’s briefings, but Beyond Good & Evil 2 and Ghost of Tsushima still managed to delight
  29. E3 Roundtable: E3 2018 showed an industry on the brink of change – Games-as-a-service drained life out of the show floor, while the major publishers all gestured toward streaming and the next generation
  30. Ubisoft CEO: Cloud gaming will replace consoles after the next generation
  31. This app in Google Play wants to use phone mics to enforce copyrights
  32. Nintendo Direct shows off packed release schedule for 2018: Super Smash Bros. takes focus, but publisher offers up host of exclusive, third-party, and downloadable content
  33. Fortnite comes to Switch, though with slightly limited cross-platform play
  34. One day in, Fortnite attracts 2 million downloads on Switch
  35. Fortnite to launch for Nintendo Switch today: Epic’s battle royale shooter will be free to everyone, and is now on every major gaming platform
  36. PlayStation 4 owners can’t access Fortnite accounts on Switch
  37. Playing Fortnite on PS4 blocks players from logging in on Switch
  38. Fortnite uses the Switch hardware for voice chat, not the Switch mobile app
  39. Super Mario Party introduces a mode that links two Switch displays together
  40. Epic Games announces 2019 Fortnite World Cup as game reaches 125m players
  41. Ninja And Marshmello Win $1 Million For Charity At Fortnite’s First Celeb Pro-Am Tournament
  42. Fortnite has attracted 125M players in under a year
  43. Analyst report: Xbox One install base at 39M as of March 2018
  44. Xbox has everything to prove at E3: The E3 playing field has rarely been so uneven; Sony’s strong position means it needs to do very little, while Microsoft arrives in LA with a heavy weight of expectation
  45. Microsoft’s next-gen gaming plan: A new Xbox, and streaming for everyone else
  46. Microsoft “Andromeda” this year, new HoloLens in 2019, and the next Xbox in 2020
  47. Report: Microsoft to launch next Xbox console in 2020
  48. Microsoft teases Halo Infinite at E3 2018
  49. Halo Infinite, Gears trio and Cyberpunk 2077 lead Xbox’s E3 2018 line-up
  50. Microsoft pushes exclusives, premieres at pre-E3 press conference
  51. Microsoft adds five game studios to first-party stable
  52. Microsoft super-sizes first-party studio system: Xbox One maker acquires Ninja Theory, Playground Games, Compulsion Games, and Undead Labs, establishes new studio The Initiative
  53. Xbox’s evolving first-party strategy: Chief marketing officer Mike Nichols explains Microsoft’s “forward-leaning pivot” in how it has viewed its game studios this generation, and why it just added five more to the operation
  54. Ninja Theory bosses explain decision to join Microsoft Studios: “We want to take bigger creative risks, and create genre-defining games without constant threat of annihilation,” says creative lead Tameem Antoniades
  55. Ninja Theory joined Microsoft to ‘fly without the threat of falling down’
  56. Playground Games: “Our best is yet to come” thanks to Microsoft acquisition – Creative director Ralph Fulton believes transition from third-party to first-party studio can empower his team to do more
  57. Phil Spencer on Microsoft’s commitment to the traditional console experience: It’s important to support players of old games on new hardware, says Xbox head
  58. Xbox using machine learning to load Game Pass titles ‘twice as fast’
  59. Microsoft boosts Xbox Game Pass with better third-party support – Phoenix Point and Warhammer: Vermintide 2 will hit the service day-and-date, all games to launch “twice as fast” through machine learning
  60. Xbox Boasts Investment in Future Tech, But Still Silent on VR After Backpedaling
  61. PlayStation E3 Keynote Puts Blockbusters Center Stage, Relegating VR to the Sidelines
  62. Ethics Emerging: the Story of Privacy and Security Perceptions in Virtual Reality
  63. Even Assassin’s Creed is a live service now
  64. The Elder Scrolls VI, Starfield close out Bethesda E3 briefing: Doom and Wolfenstein sequels, Elder Scrolls: Blades for mobile, new VR efforts added to evening anchored by Fallout 76
  65. Bethesda at E3: Elder Scrolls VI, Starfield confirmed for “next generation”
  66. With Tencent’s help, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot opens new game studio
  67. Bad Robot, Tencent team up to open new dev studio: Bad Robot Games will create ‘large and indie-scale original games’ for PC, consoles, mobile; WBIE on board as minority investor
  68. Two weeks in, Detroit: Become Human surpasses 1M sold
  69. Detroit: Become Human hits one million sales faster than any Quantic Dream game – Co-CEO Guillaume de Fondaumière confirms Detroit reached the milestone after two weeks
  70. Quantic Dream patches over one of Detroit’s most emotional moments
  71. Devs say no Friday the 13th DLC due to copyright dispute
  72. Facebook Is Launching A Video Destination Dedicated To Its Gaming Content
  73. Facebook launches new program for gaming streamers just starting out
  74. No Fuchs Given: Christian Fuchs Starts First EPL Player-Backed Esports Team
  75. New Jersey bans esports betting with new, unclear legislation 
  76. E-Sports: A football World Cup with 20 million participants
  77. EON Foundation raises $5 million for blockchain game publishing: Cherubic Ventures among the investors for startup with goal to be “the number one blockchain game publisher in the world”
  78. Trendy Entertainment eyeing blockchain-based rewards for Dungeon Defenders II
  79. Supercell invests $5M in Redemption Games, marking its first US investment  
  80. Blog: Making video game worlds in Yellowknife  
  81. Sunset for LawBreakers as shooter prepares to go offline after only a year
  82. LawBreakers shutting down in September following Boss Key closure
  83. VidCon Organizers Insist Event Won’t Differ For Attendees After Viacom Acquisition
  84. VidCon 2018 vs. VidCon 2010: How The Convention Has Evolved Over The Years
  85. Telltale is bringing Minecraft: Story Mode to Netflix

Jon

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News of the Week; June 6, 2018

By Jon Festinger on June 10, 2018

DIGITAL

  1. Canada Introduces New Influencer Disclosure Guidelines
  2. Russian State TV Photoshops an Awkward Smile on Kim Jong Un’s Face
  3. VPNFilter malware infecting 500,000 devices is worse than we thought: Malware tied to Russia can attack connected computers and downgrade HTTPS.
  4. Former Cambridge Analytica CEO Faces His Ghosts In Parliament
  5. Craigslist Sex Sting Prosecution Rejected as “Outrageous Misconduct”–Washington v. Solomon (Eric Goldman)
  6. Egyptian Gov’t Arrests Journalist Who Exposed Brutality; Will Use Social Media Suspensions As Evidence Against Him
  7. Has Facebook Merely Been Exploited By Our Enemies? Or Is Facebook Itself The Real Enemy?
  8. YouTube is the preferred platform of today’s teens: And Facebook continues to fall, according to Pew Research Center
  9. Facebook Accused of Giving Users’ Personal Data To Every Major Device Maker
  10. Insights: Has Facebook Already Lost The Next Generation Of Users?
  11. Judge OKs Class Action Status For Illinoisans Claiming Facebook Violated State Privacy Law
  12. Facebook will remove the Trending topics section next week
  13. Following Licensing Pacts, Facebook Will Let Users Add Music To Their Personal Videos
  14. Man posts morel mushrooms on Facebook, gets a visit from the cops
  15. State Court Says Cop Posing As A Facebook Friend To Snag Criminal Evidence Isn’t A 4th Amendment Violation
  16. Chrome and Firefox leaks let sites steal visitors’ Facebook names, profile pics
  17. Not Fake News: Facebook Watch Funds Shows From CNN, Fox News, ABC News
  18. Uganda Is Taxing WhatsApp and Facebook, Because Users “Gossip”
  19. Social Media as a Weapon to Harass Women Academics
  20. Language-Policing AI Will Suggest A Polite Alternative to Online Hate Speech
  21. School Can’t Take A Joke; Turns Student Over To Cops For Listing The School For Sale On Craigslist
  22. Telegram CEO: Apple has “prevented” app updates globally since April
  23. Apple’s Plans To Bring Artificial Intelligence To Your Phone
  24. You Can’t Make This Stuff Up: Amazon Warehouse Robots Slipped On Popcorn Butter
  25. Amazon is reportedly upping its investment in India by $2 billion
  26. Amazon Disconnects From Australia After Government Hits It With 10% Tax On All Imported Items 
  27. Amazon scores Premier League TV rights to stream 20 games next season: Amazon secures all the Boxing Day games in the UK
  28. The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same: Teens Still Love YouTube, Snapchat
  29. Lenovo’s all-screen smartphone was all talk
  30. As Pride Month Begins, YouTube Faces Criticism For Allegedly Demonetizing The World “Transgender”
  31. YouTube Draws More Flak From Queer Creators As Anti-LGBTQ+ Ads Appear On Videos
  32. ‘The Washington Post’ Launches Second-Ever YouTube Channel, A Science Brand For Kids
  33. YouTube Co-Founder Who Posted The Site’s First Video May Return With More
  34. Lawsuit Over Cancer-Curing Honey Ads Still Sucks–Abid v. Google (Eric Goldman)
  35. Washington State Is Suing Facebook And Google For Violating Election Advertisement Laws
  36. Google reportedly won’t renew controversial drone imaging program
  37. Google Ditches Department of Defense, Updates Its Code of Ethics
  38. Google To Publish Artificial Intelligence Ethical Guidelines
  39. Google Announces Programmatic Buys of Audio Ads – Looking at Legal Issues with Programmatic Sales 
  40. Type ‘the1975..com’ Into Your Google App to See a Weird Bug in Action
  41. 9-Year-Old Trash-Talker Lil Tay Has Wiped Her Instagram And YouTube Accounts
  42. Instagram might soon let you post videos up to an hour long: A ‘new feature’ would allow for much longer vertical videos
  43. Instagram Eyeing Push Into Long-Form Vertical Video With 1-Hour Clip Limits 
  44. Patreon To Launch Merch Service For Creators Following Acquisition Of Ecommerce Startup ‘Kit’
  45. Cheddar Forms Third News Brand, ‘CheddarU’, For Distribution Across College Campuses
  46. Why Music Video Hosting Service Vevo Is Joining Mediaocean’s Spectra Platform
  47. Microsoft killing off the Groove Music apps for iOS and Android
  48. Microsoft snaps up GitHub for $7.5 billion
  49. Microsoft has acquired GitHub for $7.5B 
  50. Microsoft acquires GitHub for $7.5 billion: Windows and Xbox maker says software development platform will continue to operate independently and support any OS, cloud, or device
  51. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says $7.5 billion GitHub deal shows, ‘We are all in on open source’
  52. Everyone complaining about Microsoft buying GitHub needs to offer a better solution
  53. We know you hate the Internet of Things, but it’s saving megafauna from poachers
  54. Hulu’s Live TV Offering Reaches 800K Subs in First Year
  55. Hulu CEO Says His Company’s Live TV Service Has 800,000 Subscribers One Year After Launch
  56. Hulu Loses Chief Content Officer, SVPs Of Partnerships And Experience Amid Sweeping Reorganization
  57. Hulu in Major Exec Shakeup: Content Chief Joel Stillerman, Two SVPs Are Out – Under reorg, Tim Connolly and Ben Smith will depart; company hires new CTO and first chief data officer
  58. Netflix is becoming a global media phenomenon, says analyst: Mark Mahaney, RBC Capital Markets lead internet analyst, explains his latest research note on Netflix highlighting the streaming giant’s international business.
  59. Netflix and Governance Transparency
  60. Harnessing Change: The Future of Programming Distribution in Canada (CRTC)
  61. A Hacker Hijacked the Buffalo Wild Wings Twitter Account and Revealed Its ‘Secret Recipe’ 
  62. TWiT’s Trademark Lawsuit Against Twitter Sent Back to the Drawing Board
  63. Twitter Reorgs Content-Partnerships Group, Folds Live-Video Team Into Regional Structure
  64. Twitter’s Top Live Video Exec Exits Amid Organizational Restructuring
  65. Court Not At All Impressed By Chuck Johnson’s Silly Lawsuit Against Twitter, Plans To Grant Anti-SLAPP Win To Twitter
  66. Cops Perform Guns-Drawn Raid Of Chelsea Manning’s Home Because Someone Reported Her Suicidal Tweets
  67. Can You Fire Someone For Racist Tweets? 
  68. AI Can Now Manipulate People’s Movements In Fake Videos
  69. MIT scientists created a “psychopath” AI by feeding it violent content from Reddit
  70. There’s Now A Religion Based On the Blockchain. Yes, Really.
  71. Understanding the Effect of Wyoming’s Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Legislation
  72. Gumi launches $30 million cryptocurrency investment fund: Gumi Cryptos aims to help organizations struggling to connect with Japanese markets
  73. Hackers Commandeered 3 Cryptocurrency Networks, Stole Millions 
  74. WME Secures New Branded Content Opportunities By Investing In Marketing Platform Influential
  75. After Arduous Fundraising Process, Crowdfunding Platform Seed & Spark Lands $2 Million Seed Round
  76. Software and stealth: how carmakers hike spare parts prices
  77. More Bad News for Uber’s Contract Formation–Ramos v. Uber
  78. After dispute on freeway, Uber driver shot his passenger, who died soon after
  79. San Francisco to Uber, Lyft: If your drivers aren’t employees, prove it
  80. Report: Turkish President Erdogan Claims Uber’s Turkey Business Is ‘Over’
  81. As Uber and Tesla struggle with driverless cars, Waymo moves forward
  82. Waymo announces 7 million miles of testing, putting it far ahead of rivals
  83. Contract Law or Copyright Law – What’s the Confusion?
  84. Uncle Sam wants you to join the United States Digital Service
  85. FOSTA Supporters Come Out Swinging Against Critics
  86. Highlights From Former Rep. Chris Cox’s Amicus Brief Explaining The History And Policy Behind Section 230 
  87. From Westworld to Best World for the Internet of Things (Jonathan Zittrain)
  88. Censorship in the Age of Large Cloud Providers (Bruce Schneier)

CREATIVITY

  1. Court Allows “Battery by GIF” Claim to Proceed – Eichenwald v. Rivello
  2. Star Wars And The Battle Of The Ever-More-Toxic Fan Culture
  3. Is the NFL’s anthem policy constitutional? Not in some states, law prof argues
  4. Annual Also-Ran Buffalo Bills File Trademark For “Respect The Process”
  5. S Is For Streisand: Sesame Street Decides To Offer Free Promotion To R-Rated Muppet Satire By Filing Trademark Claim
  6. San Diego Comic-Con Petitions Judge To Have Salt Lake Comic Con Pay Its Attorney’s Fees, Bar It From Calling Itself A ‘Comic Convention’
  7. Naruto the Macaque’s 3 year legal journey has come to an end in a San Francisco Court of Appeals 
  8. Ninth Circuit to PETA: Stop Monkeying Around with Copyright Claims 
  9. Media pirates walk the plank: extraordinary remedies against copyright infringers in Canada
  10. Fast fashion and IP regulation: will fast fashion kill the golden goose?
  11. Study Shows That Wartime Program To Abolish Copyright On German Science Books Brought Significant Benefits To US
  12. The case for quarantining extremist ideas: When confronted with white supremacists, newspaper editors should consider ‘strategic silence’
  13. Why the Government’s Copyright Board Plans Threaten to Spark Another Lobbying Battle (Michael Geist)
  14. Recording Industry Hypocrisy On Full Display In Continuing To Push The CLASSICS Act That Expands Copyright
  15. EU Parliament Members Play Hardball On Terrible Copyright Policies, Article Highlighting Sketchy Tactics Magically Disappears

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. The Future of Programming Distribution in Canada: CRTC Reports On CanCon in the Digital World
  2. Harnessing Change: The Future of Programming Distribution in Canada (CRTC)
  3. Regulate Everything: The CRTC Goes All-In on Internet Taxation and Regulation (Michael Geist)
  4. Math Not Magic: If Melanie Joly Mandates Internet Taxes, Consumers Will Foot the Bill (Michael Geist)
  5. The 1980s CRTC: The Commission Turns Back the Clock with Old-Style Regulation and Privileged Insider Access (Michael Geist)
  6. Government’s Telecom/Broadcast Review Sets Up Internet Taxes and Regulation As a 2019 Election Issue (Michael Geist)
  7. Court Of Appeal Affirms Punitive Damages Must Be Proportionate To Gravity Of Breach: Vidéotron v Girard, 2018 QCCA 767
  8. CASL Compliance Becomes More Complex
  9. Chicago streaming video tax does not violate federal and state law
  10. E-Mails Show FCC Made Up DDOS Attack To Downplay The ‘John Oliver Effect’
  11. FCC accused of “spreading lies” about DDoS hitting comment system
  12. Trump grants Democrats’ request for a new FCC commissioner
  13. California Senate Approves Bill to Restore Net Neutrality Rules Repealed by FCC 
  14. California’s Tough New Net Neutrality Law Takes Another Step Forward
  15. FCC Claims Perfectly-Timed Regulatory Handout To Sinclair Is Just Quirky Happenstance
  16. FCC Wants Ebay, Amazon To Crack Down On Kodi-Based Pirate TV Boxes
  17. Sprint says merger with “fiercest rival” will “create robust competition”
  18. Trump administration could block T-Mobile/Sprint merger, AT&T CEO says
  19. AT&T wants to settle with FTC to avoid unlimited data throttling lawsuit
  20. AT&T Ends Quest To Erode FTC Authority Over Broadband Providers
  21. Comcast drops bid for “gigabit” tax cut that was created for Google Fiber
  22. Google Fiber Broadband Hype Replaced By Delays And Frustration
  23. Thanks To No Competition, Broadband Satisfaction Scores Plummet
  24. Fox News Shows Eagles Players Praying, Falsely Implies They Were Protesting During Anthem
  25. Sheriffs Are Raking In Millions In Prison Phone Fees And Some Really Don’t Want To Talk About It

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Glassdoor ordered to turn over user information
  2. Settlement Of Alleged CASL Violation – Text Messages Sent Without Consent Or Prescribed Information
  3. Mobile Phone Maker Reaches Settlement with FTC Over Deceptive Privacy and Data Security Claims 
  4. FTC Reminder: Websites and Online Services Subject to COPPA Must Honor Data Deletion Requirements 
  5. Paul Manafort Learns That Encrypting Messages Doesn’t Matter If the Feds Have a Warrant to Search Your iCloud Account
  6. In seconds, we faked our way into a political campaign, got unsecured voter data
  7. With possible summit approaching, North Korean espionage hacks continue
  8. DHS found evidence of cell phone spying near White House
  9. Three months later, a mass exploit of powerful Web servers continues
  10. Appeals Court Rolls Its Eyes At Goverment’s Attempt To Dodge FOIA Litigation By Pretending It Didn’t Know Who Was Seeking Documents
  11. This Filter Makes Your Photos Indecipherable to Facial Recognition Software
  12. Governor’s office is “stonewalling” lawsuit over Confide use, lawyer tells judge
  13. Another Report Highlights How Wireless SS7 Flaw Is Putting Everyone’s Privacy At Risk
  14. 11th Circuit Says No Reasonable Suspicion Needed For Invasive Device Searches At The Border
  15. 30,000 Cameras Can’t Be Wrong: Chicago Banks On Surveillance To Solve Violence Problem
  16. Data protection laws are shining a needed light on a secretive industry: Regardless of where we live, we all benefit from data protection laws – companies must us show how they profit off our information (Bruce Schneier)
  17. ICANN’s Pre-emptive Attack On The GDPR Thrown Out By Court In Germany
  18. Websites in the US are definitely “turning off” Europe
  19. 92 million MyHeritage users had their data quietly swiped

GAMES

  1. PUBG vs Fortnite: Let the market decide – A court case in South Korea revives the old question of whether a game concept deserves legal protection – but ‘clone wars’ should be settled in the market, not the courtroom
  2. PUBG Corp. Sues Epic Games In S. Korea Over Gameplay Similarities That Probably Aren’t Copyrightable
  3. Winner winner copycat dinner – IP protection of battle royale game mechanics 
  4. Flight-sim maker threatens legal action over Reddit posts discussing DRM
  5. Panic at 30,000 virtual feet: Controversial flight sim aircraft maker threatens reddit mods with libel legal action, mods hit back.
  6. An open letter to Flight Sim Labs
  7. FlightSimLabs Installs More Questionable Stuff On Users’ Machines, Then Threatens Reddit
  8. UK ad regulator hits out at gambling site for game ads of ‘particular appeal to children’
  9. Popular Twitch Streamer Makes An Example Of Her Harassers
  10. Bury Me, My Love and MyoBeatz among 2018 Games for Change Awards nominees
  11. Twitch To Promote LGBTQ+ Streamers, Launch Rainbow Emotes In Honor Of Pride Month
  12. We’re experimenting with Twitch content to catch up on zillions of video games
  13. Twitch promotes Pride Month, raises money for Human Rights Campaign: Throughout June, Twitch will spotlight LGBTQ+ creators and celebrate diversity across its platform
  14. One-third of UK women gamers report abuse or discrimination from male gamers: Bryter survey shows many women avoid online play or identification as gamers due to fear of abuse
  15. Video: A postmortem look at Rocket League’s language ban system
  16. Ex-Microsoft exec J Allard speaks to the game industry’s inherent burnout problem
  17. Microsoft Studios head: ‘It’s really important to think about the longevity of a game’
  18. Using AI to take the “emotional work” out of community management – Spirit AI’s Dr Mitu Khandaker: “We are trying to make the lives of community managers and moderators easier”
  19. Fear the reaper: Activision sunsetting Guitar Hero TV later this year
  20. Guitar Hero Live goes offline in December, making 92% of songs unplayable
  21. New iOS App Store guidelines ok timed demos but put the kibosh on the Steam Link App
  22. Steam updates game-content guidelines, will include “something that you hate”
  23. Steam “might have killed our business”: Developers behind mature visual novels describe the “chilling effect” of ad hoc game removals and Valve’s radio silence
  24. Valve: We shouldn’t be choosing what you’re allowed to create or play
  25. Australian gamers could face throttled data usage
  26. Asus’ insane gaming phone has 3 USB ports, clip-on cooling fan
  27. Indiegogo working with debt collectors to refund Sinclair ZX Vega+ backers 
  28. Indiegogo confirms debt collectors will recoup crowdfunding money for ZX Spectrum Vega+: Crowdfunding platform says Retro Computers Ltd failed to meet requirements for mid-June extension
  29. Free-to-play Pokemon Quest passes 1M downloads on Switch
  30. Fortnite among the Switch ports reportedly coming to E3
  31. GameStop’s Q1 earnings can’t match last year’s Switch-driven highs
  32. 56% of Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon’s 100k week-one sales were on Switch
  33. Square Enix now has a dev group devoted to making Switch games
  34. Citing the declining premium mobile market, Square Enix backs away from Go series
  35. Square Enix Montreal abandons Go series, will continue work on mobile: Studio head cites rising quality of free mobile games, shrinking audience for pay-up-front titles
  36. Nier: Automata has shipped 3M copies worldwide
  37. Why Codemasters is finally ready to float: Ten years on from its aborted IPO, the UK racing specialist discusses how games-as-a-service and the push to mobile will secure its future
  38. Onrush: The shooter-inspired racer that saved the Evolution team – Two years on from Sony’s shock decision to close the Driveclub developer, the team is back with a title that aims to reinvent the genre
  39. A host of new security enhancements is coming to iOS and macOS
  40. App Store devs have made $100B in revenue since store launched
  41. iOS developers have made $100 billion since App Store launched: 20 million companies now registered as developers for Apple’s mobile platform
  42. Games account for 75% of App Store spending: 66 per cent of iOS games spending comes from APAC territories alone
  43. Analyst: 77% of the 4.5M apps on iOS are games, down from past years
  44. Porting iOS games to MacOS should be easier next year, says Apple
  45. Developers can now offer free trials on the App Store
  46. New App Store Review Guidelines also clarify rules around multi-platform apps like Steam Link
  47. Blog: The perks of soft-launching your game on Itch.io before Steam
  48. Why Platinum Games may never work with a publisher again: Co-founders Hideki Kamiya and Atsushi Inaba discuss the acclaimed studio’s self-funded future and determination to own its IP
  49. Jack Tretton’s indie investment fund will target UE4 projects: Interactive Gaming Ventures will make up to 21 investments in projects using Epic’s engine
  50. Bungie nets $100M+ from China’s NetEase, aims to create ‘new worlds’
  51. Bungie gets more than $100 million investment from NetEase: As Destiny studio sells minority stake, CEO Pete Parsons discusses the incubation process for its next new world and the possibility of self-publishing
  52. The Elder Scrolls: Legends development switched to Sparkypants Studios – Transition away from Dire Wolf Studios will include new client, UI, and visuals, same game design
  53. Paradox Interactive to acquire Battletech dev Harebrained Schemes
  54. Paradox: “If a game can’t be played for 500 hours we probably shouldn’t be publishing it” – Paradox Interactive’s management team on moving beyond “premium plus DLC” to a more flexible future
  55. How Minit’s team found creativity through limitations: The indie title’s four developers discovered freedom within its restrictions, and made a game “without stressing the hell out”
  56. World Cup fever propels FIFA 18 back to No.1 in UK charts – But Detroit: Become Human, Far Cry 5 and God of War still manage to fend off retro-centric new releases
  57. Battlefront II developer EA Motive expands with Vancouver opening
  58. Evolve’s dedicated servers are being switched off in September
  59. Evolve servers to shut down in September: Publisher 2K confirms end for AAA game turned free-to-play
  60. Don’t Miss: Looking back at how Evolve was retrofitted for accessibility
  61. Activision ending Guitar Hero TV in December: iOS version already removed from the App Store
  62. Bethesda stream for new Fallout game pulls 2m unique viewers: “We have had over two million unique visitors to this stream to watch, I don’t know what, nothing,” said Bethesda Game Studios’ Todd Howard
  63. The Elder Scrolls: Legends is swapping devs one year after launch
  64. Fig nabs blockchain outfit Ownage to help create new digital publishing platform
  65. Fig acquires blockchain startup Ownage Ltd: UK company will help build the “Shard” decentralized publishing platform
  66. Indiegogo extends deadline for ZX Spectrum Vega+ as June shipping date announced: Retro Computers Ltd “still determined to deliver the Vega+” despite ongoing dispute with former project leads
  67. Intellivision returns with new console, president: Tommy Tallarico and veteran team plan ’80s revival as Intellivision Entertainment
  68. VR title Beat Saber hits 100,000 sales in a month – Update: Hyperbolic Magnetism’s rhythm game nears estimated $2 million in first month revenue
  69. New XRDC Healthcare Report offers insight into how AR/VR/MR is shaping medicine
  70. Arc System Works introduces ‘non-negotiable’ streaming guidelines: Developer threatens breaches with potential channel strike or account suspension
  71. Riot Games donating 100% of ‘Dark Star Cho’Gath’ skin sales to charity
  72. Riot Games donating all proceeds from limited edition skin to charity: Skin designed with League of Legends fan through The Make-A-Wish Foundation
  73. Activision Blizzard sells out Barclays Center for esports championship
  74. Overwatch League™ Grand Finals Sells Out Barclays Center: Fans purchased more than 20,000 tickets to the esports championship in Brooklyn, New York – The largest esports event ever slated at Barclays Center sold out within two weeks of its public on-sale
  75. High school esports firm PlayVS raises $15 million
  76. Arena of Valor tournament will mark Tencent’s E3 debut: Partnership with ESL will see playoffs hosted in Los Angeles ahead of next month’s $550,000 World Cup
  77. Ubisoft tests limited revenue sharing for Rainbow Six Pro League: Pilot program to see 11 teams take portion of in-game item sales for one year before revenue sharing introduced for entire league
  78. Ubisoft CEO: ‘There will be one more console generation … after that, we will be streaming’
  79. Deep UX: The last “Here Be Dragons” area of modern game development – IT Territory’s Alexsandr Enin on embracing negative, emotional feedback to boost HAWK’s already high retention
  80. Americans largely won’t pay to win a video game – but Chinese gamers will
  81. One man is auctioning off 40 years of gaming history today
  82. Blog: The evolution of boss design in video games
  83. The original Doom, one of 64 Objects that shaped video game history
  84. Rare Japanese games rediscovered after 67GB folder leaks online
  85. Early Pokemon Gold and Silver demo uncovers scrapped content
  86. The great video game exodus
  87. Ted Dabney, a Founder of Atari and a Creator of Pong, Dies at 81

Jon

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News of the Week; May 30, 2018

By Jon Festinger on June 5, 2018

DIGITAL

  1. Google Fails To Amend Canadian De-Indexing Injunction Despite California Court Order: Equustek Solutions Inc. v. Jack, 2018 BCSC 610
  2. Court Says It’s Unconstitutional For Trump To Block People On Twitter, But Doesn’t Actually Order Him To Stop
  3. U.S. District Court Rules President Trump Can’t Block Critical Followers
  4. President Trump Violated the First Amendment by Blocking Users @realdonaldtrump
  5. Six or Seven Things Social Media Can Do For Democracy 
  6. Nurse Disciplined for Unprofessional Posts on Social Media Loses Appeal
  7. Cloud-based quantum computer takes on deuteron and wins
  8. Should Bots Have a Right to Free Speech? This Non-Profit Thinks So.
  9. Personalized, Brainwave-Guided Movies Are Cool, As Long As You’re The One Steering
  10. DHS Fusion Center Gets Request For Documents On Extremists, Decides To Hand Over Mind Control Docs Instead
  11. NHL Aims to Debut ‘Smart Puck’ Tech in 2019
  12. Alibaba’s Youku to Stream World Cup Soccer in China
  13. YouTube Confirms Test Of Subscriptions Feed Driven By Algorithm And Not Chronology, Angering Creators
  14. YouTube Premium To Launch Travel Soccer Series With Trickster Duo F2 Freestylers
  15. YouTube’s Live Stream Of The Recent Royal Wedding Drew 11.2 Million Total Viewers
  16. Spanish YouTube Star El Rubius Says He Has “Hit A Wall,” Announces Break From YouTube
  17. YouTube Has Deleted 30 ‘Drill’ Music Videos For Fueling Gang Violence In The U.K.
  18. Egyptian Government Set To Ban YouTube For One Month Six Years After Release Of Anti-Muslim Video
  19. YouTube Music will replace Google Play Music but won’t kill user uploads
  20. Two 18-Year-Olds Arrested In Paris For VEVO Hacks Of Top YouTube Videos Like “Despacito” 
  21. Vevo Is Killing Off Its Mobile Apps, Website to Refocus on YouTube
  22. Vevo To Shut Down Website, Apps In Order To “Remain Focused On Engaging The Biggest Audiences”
  23. Vevo Flop Shows, Once Again, How Badly The Record Labels Underestimate Technology
  24. Insights: Between ‘Solo’ Misfire And Comcast Pitch, Is Disney’s Streaming Strategy Still A Winner?
  25. Barack Obama Reveals General Content Plans For New Netflix Deal
  26. Netflix stocks hit record high making it more valuable than Disney – but only for a few hours: The streaming giant also surpassed estimations on subscriber growth, with a total of 125 million worldwide 
  27. Hulu Orders BuzzFeed-Produced Documentary About R. Kelly’s Alleged History Of Sexual Abuse
  28. Facebook Tools Are Used to Screen Out Older Job Seekers, Lawsuit Claims
  29. Facebook Will Label Political Ads, Reveal Who Paid For Them, And Show Who They Targeted
  30. Wherein Facebook Messes Up Elections By Trying Not To Mess Up Elections
  31. ‘FacePause’ Desktop Extension Automatically Halts YouTube Videos Upon An Averted Gaze 
  32. Facebook Funds Comedy Series From Sarah Silverman and Group Nine’s JASH
  33. Your Worst Alexa Nightmares Are Coming True
  34. Amazon confirms that Echo device secretly shared user’s private audio
  35. Amazon Alexa Instantaneously Justifies Years Of Surveillance Paranoia
  36. Don’t Freak Out About That Amazon Alexa Eavesdropping Situation
  37. Google Just Turned a Huge Corner in the Smart Speaker Game
  38. Google zooms by Amazon in smart speaker shipments, report says
  39. Yelp’s Newest Campaign: Asking Google To Do The Right Thing
  40. Court docs show Apple knew about the bendiness of the iPhone 6, 6 Plus
  41. 187 Things The Blockchain Is Supposed To Fix
  42. A Scottish Clinic Will Now Treat “Cryptocurrency Addiction”
  43. The DoJ is reportedly probing the murky world of bitcoin trading
  44. Sanctions: Iran, Russia, OFAC and cryptocurrencies
  45. Russian unit, GRU officer linked to 2014 shoot-down of airliner over Ukraine
  46. Uber’s Self-Driving Car Saw The Woman It Killed, Report Says
  47. NTSB: Uber’s sensors worked; its software utterly failed in fatal crash
  48. Tesla Agrees to Settle Class Action Suit Over ‘Essentially Unusable’ Autopilot Feature
  49. Snapchat Launches ‘Yellow’, A $1.5 Million Accelerator Program For Mobile Content Creators
  50. Forget The GDPR, The EU’s New Copyright Proposal Will Be A Complete And Utter Disaster For The Internet
  51. The Demise Of Copyright Toleration
  52. Why Is This Happening? The internet is terrible now, and Tim Wu knows why: Chris Hayes asks professor Tim Wu what created the conditions for the current angst surrounding our online experience.
  53. The Collapse of UN Talks on the Application of International Law in Cyberspace: Why It Matters to U.S. Businesses

CREATIVITY

  1. Harmonizing Tariff Regimes and Statutory Minimum Damages: A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing? (Howard Knopf)
  2. Batiste v. Lewis
  3. Cabell v. Zorro Productions, Inc.
  4. Monkey-Selfie Case Returns – To Court & (Maybe) a Theater Near You 
  5. The Monkey Selfie Lawsuit Will Never, Ever Die: Appeals Court Judge Wants A Do Over
  6. Use of “sound-alike” music in advertising ‒ key legal issues
  7. Who owns an idea?: It’s a question the law can struggle to answer, particularly when it comes to fiction
  8. Canadian Copyright, Fair Dealing and Education, Part Three: Exploring the Impact of Site Licensing at Canadian Universities (Michael Geist)
  9. Canadian Copyright, Fair Dealing and Education, Part Four: Fixing Fair Dealing for the Digital Age (Michael Geist)
  10. Woof: The Prosecco People Successfully Oppose A Pet-Treat Company’s ‘Pawsecco’ Trademark Application
  11. On Graffiti, Public Art and Snoopy
  12. Copyright Term: When Does a Work Enter the Public Domain? 
  13. Amanda Palmer: Hands Up! I Have a Picture of a Toddler, and I’m not Afraid to Use it
  14. The right of communication to the public … in a chart (Eleonora Rosati) 

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. A Matter of Trust: What Is Happening at the CRTC? (Michael Geist)
  2. Who Needs an iPhone Tax: Canadian Music Industry Instead Calls for $40 Million Annual Handout (Michael Geist)
  3. Wireless Carrier Abuse Of Location Data Makes The Facebook, Cambridge Scandal Look Like Amateur Hour
  4. ESPN Analysts Routinely Told Execs Not To Worry About Cord Cutting
  5. No, Counting The Number Of Patent Infringement Lawsuits Is Not A Good Way To Quantify A Company’s IP Ethics
  6. No, The FTC Is Not Going To Do A Good Job Policing Net Neutrality
  7. Trump hits campaign trail to endorse key foe of net neutrality rules
  8. Shockingly, Streaming Providers Are Dominating Cable At Customer Satisfaction
  9. Comcast may soon control what you pay to watch your favorite sports teams
  10. Comcast Exposes Customer WiFi SSIDs and Passwords For Customers Paying To Rent A Comcast Router
  11. California Senate defies AT&T, votes for strict net neutrality rules
  12. FCC Republican asks Amazon and eBay to boost crackdown on pirate TV boxes
  13. Charter Claims NY Lawsuit Over Crappy Broadband Speeds Just An Evil, Netflix ‘Cabal’
  14. Submission of Civil Society Coalition at WIPO SCCR 36 on Broadcasters’ Rights Treaty

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Guidance on Consent and Inappropriate Data Practices issued by Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
  2. Open Letter To Francisco Partners: Request For Follow Up On Apparent Misuse Of Sandvine Technology And Sale Of NSO Group To Verint Systems (Citizen Lab)
  3. U.S. Supreme Court Dismisses U.S. v. Microsoft as Moot After CLOUD Act Signed Into Law: Court Declares That There is No Longer a Live Controversy Over a Warrant Requiring Microsoft to Disclose Customer Data Stored Overseas
  4. DOJ, FBI Issuing Corrections To Statements, Testimony Containing Bogus Uncracked Device Numbers
  5. Apple’s Latest Transparency Report Shows Gov’t Still Not All That Interested In Seeking Warrants
  6. A trip to the ER with your phone may mean injury lawyer ads for weeks
  7. Yahoo hacker whose work compromised 500M accounts sentenced to 5 years
  8. SS7 routing-protocol breach of US cellular carrier exposed customer data
  9. Amazon confirms that Echo device secretly shared user’s private audio
  10. FBI tells router users to reboot now to kill malware infecting 500k devices
  11. Report On Milwaukee PD Body Cams Show Fewer Complaints, Fewer Stops, But No Reduction In Use Of Force
  12. ICE Trying To Deport Journalist For Reporting On Abusive ICE Behavior
  13. Europe’s New Data Protections Will Affect You Too. Here’s How.
  14. Dozens of American News Sites Blocked in Europe as GDPR Goes Into Effect Today
  15. The GDPR: Ghastly, Dumb, Paralyzing Regulation It’s Hard To Celebrate
  16. EU Parliament’s Own Website Violates The GDPR
  17. GDPR jokes to help ease the pain 
  18. Two States Are Trying To Give People Control Over Their Online Data

GAMES

  1. PUBG Corp files copyright lawsuit against Epic Games: Korean developer began proceedings in January, alleging Fortnite plagiarises PUBG
  2. PUBG Corp. files copyright infringement lawsuit against Fortnite dev Epic Games
  3. Fortnite sold 5 million battle passes on the first day of Season 3: Analyst Michael Pachter relates success, predicts more games moving to cosmetics as a result
  4. Fortnite, God of War break monthly revenue records –  Superdata: Epic’s battle royale makes $296 million in April; God of War becomes fastest-selling PS4-exclusive
  5. Interactive Gaming Ventures and Epic Games team up to fund UE4 indies
  6. Gamers involved in December’s “swatting” death just got indicted
  7. Charity calls on Valve to remove ‘school shooting simulator’ from Steam store: Game described as “horrendous” by Infer Trust
  8. Valve removes mass shooting game and its ‘troll’ dev from Steam
  9. School Shooting Game Angers Steam Users, Developer ‘Likely’ Changing It
  10. Valve removes school shooting game, along with developer’s entire catalogue: Creator of Active Shooter identified as previously banned ‘troll’ developer Ata Berdiyev
  11. Opinion: So, you want to talk about porn on Steam
  12. Valve’s Steam Link app blocked by Apple due to ‘business conflicts’
  13. Apple has rejected iOS version of Steam Link app, Valve says
  14. Steam Link app rejected by Apple: Valve’s appeal has been denied; Android version already in beta
  15. Syrian refugee games developer denied UK visa ahead of awards ceremony: Path Out co-creator Abdullah Karam feels “sad and mistreated” as his misses out on Indie Prize ceremony
  16. Honesty contributed to Subsurface Circular’s 2 percent refund rate
  17. US has the largest gender pay gap for video game streamers: Half of US women streamers go unpaid despite country’s higher-than-average spending on influencer support
  18. DICE GM pushes back against Battlefield V anger: “Player choice and female playable characters are here to stay,” says Oskar Gabrielson after complaints over game’s inclusion of women
  19. Battlefield V ditches season pass and loot boxes, takes on Red Dead Redemption 2: Electronic Arts plans to monetise upcoming blockbuster shooter with live service and cosmetics after its arrives on October 19th
  20. Battlefield V Shows How The Video Game Industry Is Turning On Loot Boxes
  21. Trade group prez: Loot box regulation “challenges our freedom to innovate”
  22. ESA: We can’t go to the “lowest common denominator of government” on loot boxes – Mike Gallagher warns against “over-reactions” to loot boxes influencing the industry
  23. Op-ed: Game companies need to cut the crap – loot boxes are obviously gambling – Much as game companies try to deny it, the truth is plain to see.
  24. Sony’s PlayStation 5 hints confirm an eight-year PS4 lifespan: Rejecting hardware updates in favour of a full generational refresh, Sony implies a PS4 successor will come in 2021 – but how big a leap can that offer?
  25. Hacker gets Super NES games running on unmodified NES
  26. Nintendo offers dockless Switch in Japan: The reduced-price ‘2nd Unit Set’ is being marketed to households that already own a Switch
  27. Nintendo starts selling cheaper, dock-free Switch, but only in Japan
  28. The first Pokemon RPG on the Switch takes cues from Niantic’s Pokemon Go
  29. Pokémon’s first Switch game launches in November, connects to Pokémon Go
  30. Game Freak & Nintendo debut a phone-friendly Pokemongame on the Switch
  31. Pokémon’s new evolution was inevitable: With two generations of fans, The Pokémon Company has made some big changes
  32. Pokémon profits down nearly 50% in company’s second most profitable year: Pokémon Go, Sun, and Moon accounted for the 2016 spike and subsequent fall-off
  33. Pokemon Company annual profits drop to a mere $80.8 million
  34. Zynga acquires mobile game dev Gram Games for $250 million
  35. Zynga splashes $250 million on Gram Games acquisition: But Frank Gibeau tells GamesIndustry.biz recovering firm is “not on a buying spree”, pips Merge Dragons as new “forever franchise”
  36. Hacker gets Super NES games running on unmodified NES
  37. The NES Classic Is Back – Here’s How To Make Sure You Get One
  38. Detroit Become Human: Critical Consensus –
  39. Quantic Dream has sued journalists for negative coverage, but judging from the reviews for the studio’s Detroit Become Human, the media isn’t holding it against the studio.
  40. Detroit: Become Human review: Robotic in all of the wrong ways
  41. ‘Detroit: Become Human’ dehumanizes everything it touches
  42. Wolfenstein 2 accounted for speedrunners in its design
  43. H1Z1 gains early F2P traction on PlayStation 4
  44. Caffeine rolls out stream monetization program, complete with payouts for devs
  45. Mixer rolls out MixPlay, a tool for creating interactive stream overlays
  46. US has the largest gender pay gap for video game streamers: Half of US women streamers go unpaid despite country’s higher-than-average spending on influencer support
  47. Battle royale players are among the most engaged gamers, report finds – Newzoo: 88 per cent of battle royale players spend money in-game, compared to 75 per cent of traditional competitive game players
  48. Kids On YouTube Keep Making Videos About Scamming Fortnite V-Bucks From Their Parents
  49. ESPN+ to Live-Stream ‘League of Legends’ Esports Events Under New, Non-Exclusive Pact
  50. Minecraft reaches 100 million downloads in China: Approaching 250 million downloads worldwide
  51. How premium PC games continue to rise, surprise in China
  52. Media Molecule: Avoiding the “soul tax” of making games – At the Nordic Game Conference, Siobhan Reddy offered advice on protecting people and culture against the pressures of development
  53. Echo and Little Nightmares clean up at 2018 Nordic Game Awards: Ultra Ultra’s sci-fi adventure wins three categories, including Game of the Year, while Tarsier Studios’ dark title takes two
  54. Former Dragon Age director reflects on the ups and downs of development
  55. Mobile dev Voodoo secures an estimated $200M investment from Goldman Sachs
  56. YoYo Games opens publishing division to elevate GameMaker Studio 2 projects
  57. Wargaming reportedly closes Seattle studio: Formerly Gas Powered Games, the studio employed around 150 people
  58. Just Cause dev Avalanche Studios acquired by Nordisk Film 
  59. UK indie chain Games Centre enters liquidation: Another games retailer disappears from the High Street
  60. After 3+ decades as a private firm, UK dev Codemasters is going public
  61. Codemasters valued at £280m as it prepares to go public: Developer expected to raise £15 million for expansion into mobile
  62. Voodoo secures $200m Goldman Sachs investment: French mobile developer looks to double its staff by year’s end
  63. Andrew Maximov: “Technology is actually going to make us better artists” – Industry veterans say artificial intelligence will enable artists, not replace them
  64. Video: How inequality (both real and virtual) shapes player behavior
  65. Carmack: New 5K × 5K Mobile VR Playback Tech Will ‘set the bar for VR video quality’
  66. Qualcomm launches a new chip specifically for standalone AR and VR devices
  67. Revenue expected to double this year for augmented and mixed reality: Virtual reality revenue will fall behind AR/MR by 2021, says SuperData
  68. HTC Announces Strategic Partnerships With MLB & McLaren Formula One Team
  69. How the BattleTech devs built an engrossing tactics game on a budget
  70. Video: What game designers really want out of AI
  71. Researchers teach AI to play ‘hard’ games by showing it YouTube videos
  72. Video: Unproven game AI techniques that might just work
  73. Nintendo, Microsoft and EA Veterans Join to Create the Future of Blockchain Gaming
  74. Players get credit for evolution–and stagnation–of gaming narrative: What Remains of Edith Finch developer Ian Dallas says the market is pushing the medium forward in some ways, tying its hands in others
  75. Insights: We Have Influencers And Games, But Why Not More Games From Influencers?
  76. What does GDPR mean for PR?: Leading UK games agencies tell us how new privacy regulations are refining their processes and better relationships with press
  77. GDPR changes prompt Torn Banner Studios to shut downMirage: Arcane Warfare
  78. A Critical Analysis of Kinect Star Wars’ “I’m Han Solo” Song, the Definitive Text on the Character

Jon

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News of the Week; May 23, 2018

By Jon Festinger on May 27, 2018

DIGITAL

  1. Media can’t be an arm of the police, Vice lawyer tells Supreme Court hearing: Reporter Ben Makuch challenging ruling he must hand over info on terrorists to RCMP
  2. Trump’s Twitter blocking violates First Amendment, court rules: The “interactive space” around Trump tweets is a public forum, judge rules.
  3. Trump feels presidential smartphone security is “too inconvenient”
  4. President Trump Thinks Basic Phone Security Is Simply Too Inconvenient
  5. New Malaysian Prime Minister Who Promised To Kill ‘Fake News’ Law Decides It Might Be Useful Now That He’s In Power
  6. Turkish President Visits UK To Remind Everyone He Still Wants To Punish Critical Speech
  7. FBI seizes domain Russia allegedly used to infect 500,000 consumer routers
  8. Hackers infect 500,000 consumer routers all over the world with malware: VPNFilter can survive reboots and contains destructive “kill” function.
  9. All of Mugshots.com’s alleged co-owners arrested on extortion charges: Mugshots.com is a “business permeated with fraud,” California AG says.
  10. Mugshots.com Operators Arrested For Letting Money Influence Editorial Decisions
  11. North Korea-tied hackers used Google Play and Facebook to infect defectors
  12. Cambridge Analytica files for bankruptcy amidst “siege” of negative attention
  13. What Happened To Facebook’s Grand Plan To Wire The World?: Five years ago Mark Zuckerberg debuted a bold, humanitarian vision of global internet. It didn’t go as planned – forcing Facebook to reckon with the limits of its own ambition.
  14. Mark Zuckerberg Played Parliament for Fools and They’re Pissed
  15. Facebook Is Testing Its Own Influencer Marketing Platform
  16. Facebook Moderation Ramps Up In Germany And Everything Keeps Getting Worse For Its Users
  17. Instagram Finally Rolls Out ‘Mute’ Button, 3 Years After Twitter Unveiled Feature
  18. There Is No Magic Bullet For Moderating A Social Media Platform
  19. Fed Up With Apple’s Policies, App Developers Form A ‘Union’
  20. Small group of iOS devs form “The Developers Union” to request App Store changes: There’s little in the way of organization, but some notable names are attached.
  21. Apple cracks down on CallKit-enabled apps in China’s App Store
  22. Apple, VW sign driverless car deal for Apple campus shuttles, NY Times sources say
  23. An Overview of Political Advertising Policies for Google, Twitter, and Snapchat
  24. Snapchat’s Parent Launches ‘Yellow’ Incubator Program for Mobile-Content Creators
  25. How Google-happy jurors are derailing Ontario trials
  26. Does Google’s Duplex violate two-party consent laws?
  27. Google Removes ‘Don’t Be Evil’ Clause From Its Code of Conduct
  28. Pretty Much All Tech Demos Are Fake as Hell
  29. Morgan Stanley Pegs YouTube’s Valuation At $160 Billion, Above Disney, Comcast, And Netflix
  30. Netflix and other online video are killing cable in customer satisfaction
  31. YouTube Red Renamed ‘YouTube Premium’, Price Upped From $10 To $12 Monthly
  32. New YouTube Music Premium costs $9.99 monthly, add $2 to get all Red perks
  33. Google announces YouTube Music and YouTube Premium: Goodbye, YouTube Red; hello, new premium services
  34. The Long, Checkered History Of YouTube’s Attempt To Launch A Music Service
  35. YouTube TV Channels For The Young Turks, Tastemade Now Live With 9 New Shows
  36. Rising NBA Star Jayson Tatum Learned Some Of His Best Moves From YouTube
  37. Lilly Singh Launches Inaugural Campaign As UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador To End Child Violence
  38. 89 Years After Popeye’s Introduction, The Sailor Man Is Coming To YouTube
  39. Twitch’s Longest TV Marathon So Far Will Include More Than 500 Episodes Of ‘Doctor Who’
  40. In New Video, Elle Mills Talks Mental Health, A Break From Social Media, And Being “Burnt Out At 19”
  41. Here’s How You Can Turn On The New YouTube Feature That Reminds You To Take A Break
  42. Magazine publishers with video ambitions see YouTube as safer bet than Facebook
  43. New Version Of YouTube Music Ready To Launch, Will Feature Smart Recommendations, Context-Based Search
  44. Barack And Michelle Obama Ink Multi-Year Content Partnership With Netflix
  45. How The Record Labels Screwed Up The Music Industry, And The Tech Industry Saved Them
  46. How The Recording Industry Hid Its Latest Attempt To Expand Copyright
  47. Minimize harmfulness of bots but don’t ban them
  48. Cross-sector code of conduct for AI – a solution with substance? 
  49. New Requirements for Legal Analytics & Artificial Intelligence Under the GDPR
  50. Many Of Those Desperate GDPR Emails You’ve Been Getting Are Violating A Different EU Regulation
  51. Buyer Beware: Hundreds of Bitcoin Wannabes Show Hallmarks of Fraud – A Wall Street Journal analysis of 1,450 cryptocurrency offerings reveals rampant plagiarism, identity theft and promises of improbable returns
  52. Bitcoin Is Going To Use As Much Electricity As Austria By The Year’s End
  53. New study quantifies bitcoin’s ludicrous energy consumption
  54. “We have built the world that they told us existed”: Did the rise of young, white “Internet reporting” bolster the alt-right?
  55. Who Is Arthur Chu?: When Jeopardy ended, the real puzzles of online life began – Airing on PBS, new doc explores ups and downs of growing up – and growing in stature – online.
  56. The Balkanization Of The Internet (Andres Guadamuz) 

CREATIVITY

  1. District Court in California recognizes plausible trademark rights over fictional Star Wars board game 
  2. Congress’ Latest Move To Extend Copyright Protection Is Misguided (Lawrence Lessig)
  3. Who Needs a Copyright Small Claims Court? Evidence from the U.K.’s IP Enterprise Court
  4. Copyright fair use – “transformative” revisited: has the Second Circuit gone too far?
  5. Copyright Being Used To Prevent Actress From Showing Her Own Demo Reel
  6. Copyright Once Again Hiding Important Cultural Artifacts
  7. HBO Wins Stupid Copyright, Trademark Lawsuit Brought By Graffiti Artist Over 2 Seconds Of Background Scenery
  8. EPA boots reporters from meeting on chemicals called a PR disaster
  9. EPA’s War On Journalists Is Not A Good Look
  10. Fox News Staffers Reportedly Freaking Out Over New Workplace Rules 
  11. And then, they took her cellphone
  12. This Video Explores the Experimental History of Scifi Book Covers
  13. Canadian Copyright, Fair Dealing and Education, Part Two: The Declining Value of the Access Copyright Licence (Michael Geist)
  14. Canadian Copyright, Fair Dealing and Education, Part One: Making Sense of the Spending (Michael Geist)

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. Judge For Yourself: Bell Says It Didn’t Meet CRTC to Review the FairPlay Application, But Here’s the Slide Presentation (Michael Geist)
  2. Rupert Murdoch Believes In The Free Market… Until His Company Is Struggling: Then He Wants To Regulate Competitors
  3. Disney’s Plans to Buy Fox Just Hit a Major Snag and Its Name Is Comcast
  4. Comcast confirms plan to buy 21st Century Fox and control of Hulu
  5. Comcast bug made it shockingly easy to steal customers’ Wi-Fi passwords
  6. Comcast Found To Be Charging $90 Installation Fees At Homes Where Comcast Is Already In Use
  7. TV regulation in a digital age
  8. Senators Demand FCC Answer for Fake Comments After Realizing Their Identities Were Stolen
  9. Senators Ask FCC Why It Did Nothing To Stop Their Names From Being Fraudulently Used During Net Neutrality Repeal
  10. FCC is hurting consumers to help corporations, Mignon Clyburn says on exit
  11. Net Neutrality Is Just A Gateway To The Real Issue: Internet Freedom  (Susan Crawford)
  12. Charter Uses Net Neutrality Repeal To Claim States Can’t Hold It Accountable For Shoddy Service, Failed Promises
  13. ISPs and Ajit Pai are really sad about Senate’s vote for net neutrality
  14. A preview of the FTC’s role in monitoring broadband markets following the FCC’s adoption of the Restoring Internet Freedom Order
  15. FTC Commissioner calls for stricter penalties and structural remedies against recidivist companies that violate consent orders 
  16. T-Mobile should stop claiming it has “Best Unlimited Network,” ad group says
  17. Supreme Court Strikes Down Law against Sports Betting – But Broadcasters Need to Proceed with Caution 
  18. Website leaked real-time location of most US cell phones to almost anyone
  19. Nearly Everyone In The U.S. And Canada Just Had Their Private Cell Phone Location Data Exposed
  20. FCC investigates site that let most US mobile phones’ location be exposed
  21. Verizon Begins ‘Testing’ DSL Usage Caps It Refuses To Call Usage Caps
  22. The ‘Race To 5G’ Is Largely Just Marketing Nonsense 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. ICE Abandons Efforts for Social Media Vetting Algorithm
  2. ICE Drops Extreme Vetting Software Plan After Discovering No One Could Possibly Deliver What It Wants
  3. Judge Allows Fourth Amendment Challenge Of Warrantless Device Searches At The Border To Continue
  4. Michigan Takes On The NSA With New Law, But Probably Won’t Have Much Of An Impact
  5. Senators to DOJ: Reveal your secret paragraph-long explanation of stingrays
  6. Not Paying Attention in Class?: China’s “Smart Eye” Will Snitch on You
  7. Illinois Users’ Face-Scanning Privacy Lawsuit Against Facebook Headed to Trial
  8. Police Surveillance Is Getting a Helping Hand from…Amazon!
  9. ACLU Obtains Documents Showing Amazon Is Handing Out Cheap Facial Recognition Tech To Law Enforcement
  10. Police use of Amazon’s face-recognition service draws privacy warnings
  11. Report Confirms Deep Flaws Of Automated Facial Recognition Software In The UK, Warns Its Use In The US Is Spreading
  12. FBI exaggerated the number of phones it can’t unlock by up to 550 percent
  13. FBI Admits It’s Been Using A Highly-Inflated Number Of Locked Devices To Push Its ‘Going Dark’ Narrative
  14. EFF Asks FBI, DOJ To Turn Over Details On Thousands Of Locked Phones The FBI Seems Uninterested In Cracking
  15. Blunder burns unicorn attack that exploited Windows and Reader 
  16. Warning: the Federal Trade Commission will prosecute companies over consumer data breaches – its recommendations should be heeded
  17. As the Web moves toward HTTPS by default, Chrome will remove “secure” indicator

GAMES

  1. Judge Rules Copyright Lawsuit Over Tattoo Use in Video Game Can Proceed: What Might This Mean for the Video Game Industry and Virtual Sports Betting? 
  2. Opinion: Illuminating the shadowy group celebrating Valve’s latest censorship drive
  3. Valve threatens to pull games now deemed ‘sexually explicit’ from Steam
  4. Valve advises sexualized anime-themed titles to censor content or be removed from Steam: HuniePop, Mutiny!!, Tropical Liquor and more received warnings today for “pornographic content”
  5. Steam games warned for “pornographic content” have warnings dismissed, subject to re-review
  6. Crunch can put devs at odds with their own mental health, warns Blizzard dev
  7. With Steam Link app, your smartphone can be an imperfect gaming monitor
  8. We Happy Few refused classification by Australian ratings board
  9. We Happy Few denied classification in Australia
  10. ADL partners with Global Game Jam, NYU’s Game Center to reduce hate in games
  11. UK government takes aim at online games in Internet Safety Strategy response
  12. Lack of oversight led to use of Overwatch art in Paladins Strike ad, says dev
  13. Overwatch art used in Paladins Strike ad due to “not much oversight”
  14. Overwatch to get Lego sets and Nerf merch: Activision Blizzard Consumer Products Group reveals new projects as it pursues more partners at Licensing Expo
  15. Chinese Overwatch League team practices for twelve hours, six days a week: Team with the “most intensive training scheme” in the league has so far not won a single game
  16. ‘We can launch games whenever we’re ready and whenever we want,’ says Guillemot
  17. Less AAA competition makes delays easier – Ubisoft: CEO Yves Guillemot says “we can launch games whenever we are ready,” with digital content, live services, new markets offsetting any loss in revenue from smaller slate
  18. Far Cry 5 and Assassin’s Creed Origins lead to record profit and sales for Ubisoft
  19. Capcom bringing Resident Evil 7 to Switch with experimental pricing
  20. Capcom experiements with streaming and new pricing in Resident Evil 7 for Switch: Cloud version of acclaimed horror title will be streamed via wifi, costs just £13 / $18 for six-month ‘play ticket’
  21. Capcom requires high-speed streaming to play Resident Evil 7 on Switch
  22. Owlboy turned profit on Nintendo Switch within 24 hours of release: Switch success “bodes really well for funding our future projects” says D-Pad CEO Jo-Remi Madsen
  23. Nintendo is selling a dock-free ‘Second Set’ Switch bundle in Japan
  24. Hearts of Iron IV sells one million copies
  25. GTA V has sold over 95 million copies worldwide
  26. Gameloft revenues fell 13% in Q1
  27. Ubisoft posts record sales, delays Skull & Bones: Original IP pushed to next fiscal year as publisher sees pace of digital shift picking up, eyes expansion in PC, mobile, and China
  28. iOS gamers are more loyal than Android, suggests Priori Data
  29. Rovio sees profits rise amid strong revenues from Angry Birds 2
  30. Rovio doubles down on Angry Birds with new content roadmap: Multimedia strategy includes stage shows, location-based events, and long form animated series
  31. Paradox Q1 profits up 270% – despite only one new game release: Outgoing CEO Fred Wester says quarter shows the value of retaining loyal players with expansions and more
  32. Paradox: “People were coming to us in droves asking if we could make board games” – And the Swedish publisher is now licensing its biggest IPs to do just that
  33. Less management, more success: Inside Supercell’s ‘upside-down’ organization
  34. Tencent acquires majority stake in Path of Exile dev Grinding Gear
  35. EA acquires talent, tech from GameFly’s cloud gaming service 
  36. EA acquires GameFly subsidiary for cloud gaming: Israel-based team and technology will expand EA’s ability to offer its games across multiple devices
  37. FIFA and Call of Duty driving viewer growth in console esports: 20 million hours of console events watched in 2018 so far, but still only a fraction of esports’ overall viewership
  38. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 won’t have a single-player campaign but will offer battle royale
  39. Black Ops 4 ditches single-player campaign, adds battle royale mode
  40. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 ditches Steam in favor of Battle.net
  41. Analysis: Player interest in Call of Duty’s campaigns is cratering
  42. Gamelynx raises $1.2 million to develop esports games on mobile
  43. Gamelynx raises $1.2 million for mobile esports development: Investors include Riot Games, Y Combinator, and Skycatcher Fund
  44. NBA 2K League announces State Farm sponsorship
  45. Microsoft partnership brings video game event to Special Olympics USA Games
  46. One hundred meeeeellion dollars: Epic dumps serious cash into Fortnite esports
  47. Epic Games to provide $100 million prize pool for Fortnite esports this year
  48. Epic Games puts up $100M for Fortnite esports prize pool
  49. Fortnite Developer’s $100,000,000 Prize Pool Is Great News For Streamers
  50. ‘Fortnite’-Branded Products In The Works Following Pact Between Epic Games, IMG
  51. Battlegrounds mobile attracting over 10 million daily active users
  52. Oculus & ESL Partner on eSports VR League with $220,000 in Prizes, Including ‘Echo Combat’
  53. HTC Says Watching ‘Ready Player One’ Boosts VR Purchase Intent in China
  54. Oculus adds DLC support for mobile VR apps: Beta test opens up a new revenue stream, with Rift DLC support still to come
  55. Crowdfunded 3D Headphone Startup OSSIC is Shutting Down, 99% of Orders Go Undelivered
  56. Microsoft launches Xbox Adaptive Controller to make games more accessible 
  57. Microsoft’s next Halo game is an arcade cabinet 
  58. Minecraft surpasses 100M users in China on PC and mobile 
  59. Eurogamer scoops multiple awards at first-ever Games Media Brit List
  60. ESRB points devs toward IARC ratings as it looks to phase out short-form option 
  61. ESRB dropping short form ratings for digital games in June: Developers will still be able to get rated at no cost via IARC
  62. God of War helps PlayStation smash records in April NPD stats: Kratos’ return was best ever launch for a PlayStation exclusive, PS4 game sales reaches new high for the month
  63. Sony: PlayStation 4 is entering ‘final phase’ of its lifecycle
  64. Sony prepares for the “final phase” of PlayStation 4’s life-cycle
  65. Sony: Next PlayStation is at least three years off
  66. Sony: The next PlayStation is another three years away
  67. Reassessing the legacy of PlayStation Vita: As software production ends, it’s a good moment to reassess Sony’s handheld – its commercial failure looms large, but its innovations remain hugely influential
  68. PlayStation Vita game production will continue in Japan: Sony confirms physical games will still be released in home market beyond March 2019
  69. Sony: PS4 Enters “final phase of life cycle,” Next PlayStation to Come in 3 Years
  70. Sony takes a page from Microsoft by licensing customizable PS4 gamepad
  71. The future of PlayStation may be portable, says Sony exec
  72. Portable gaming shouldn’t be separate from consoles – PlayStation head: Newly appointed John Kodera says company is considering portable gaming options, signalling a change from previous management’s thinking
  73. Jagex shutting down RuneScape Classic after 17 years
  74. Jagex shutting down RuneScape Classic: Problems with community safety, botting, and bugs led to the decision to shut down the 17-year-old game
  75. Wargaming Seattle is shutting down
  76. Cultural approaches to horror game design

Jon

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News of the Week; May 16, 2018

By Jon Festinger on May 25, 2018

DIGITAL

  1.  It’s Over: The Podcast Patent Troll’s Patent is Officially And Completely Dead
  2. Supreme Court declines to hear “podcasting patent” case, handing win to EFF
  3. Here are the Russian-made Facebook ads that tried to shake American politics 
  4. 7 Takeaways from the Latest Batch of Russian-Bought Facebook Ads: House Democrats released over 3,000 Facebook and Instagram ads purchased by the Kremlin-linked Internet Research Agency. Here’s what we learned.
  5. It’s Begun: Facebook Just Banned 200 Apps For Abusing User Data
  6. Facebook suspends ~200 suspicious apps out of “thousands” reviewed so far
  7. How Facebook Can Better Fight Fake News: Make Money Off the People Who Promote It
  8. California Gov’t Thinks It Might Be Able To Regulate Fake News Sometime Before 2020
  9. How Facebook Binds – And Shatters – Communities
  10. Facebook Watch To Spend Up To $10 Million Per Series Amid News Programming Push (Report) 
  11. New Commissioner Says FTC Should Get Tough on Companies Like Facebook and Google: Citing lax treatment of corporate malefactors, Rohit Chopra calls for the FTC to impose more significant penalties when companies violate its orders.
  12. Could Cambridge Analytica happen again?
  13. Iran’s President Comes Out Against His Country’s Ban On Telegram
  14. Spotify’s Ban on Hateful Content and Conduct Is ‘Too Subjective’ and ‘Dangerous,’ Experts Say
  15. Merlin Sells All of Its Spotify Shares for an Estimated $125 Million-Plus
  16. Apple Music Passes 50 Million Subscribers, Including Free Trials
  17. Online Ad Targeting Does Work – As Long As It’s Not Creepy
  18. Minnesota Judges Refuse To Unmask Defendants For Copyright Troll Strike 3
  19. Danish ISPs That Teamed Up To Beat Back Copyright Trolls Get Huge Legal Win
  20. Japan’s Largest Cable Provider Pacts With Fullscreen To Launch Local Digital Network
  21. The revamped Google News app is now available on iPhones and iPads
  22. Area Man, Obscure Sidekick Asked to Leave Google Fiber’s Austin Office by the Police
  23. Google Employees Resign in Protest Against Pentagon Contract
  24. A dozen Google employees quit over military drone project
  25. Could Google’s creepy new AI push us to a tipping point?
  26. Brave new world: some legal considerations in using AI and IoT Systems 
  27. Robots Behaving Badly: Legal Responsibility In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence (Andres Guadamuz)
  28. Robot U: The First American A.I. Undergrad Program is Here, and Already Incredibly Elite
  29. Can This AI-Powered Baby Translator Help Diagnose Autism?
  30. Stop Using Discriminatory AI, Human Rights Groups Say
  31. All the Rage in Sweden: Embedding Microchips Under Your Skin
  32. The Next Blockchain Revolution? Crypto-Powered Beer Vending Machines
  33. When The Blockchain Skeptic Walked Into The Lions’ Den 
  34. Blockchain Reaction
  35. Blockchain as a Content Distribution Technology: Copyright Issues Abound 
  36. Could Blockchain Disrupt How We Protect Our Intellectual Property? 
  37. FedEx Wants To Track Packages On The Blockchain, So You’ll Know Exactly Who Dropped Your Stuff
  38. Can you trust blockchain?
  39. AI trained to navigate develops brain-like location tracking
  40. Tech Firms Move To Put Ethical Guard Rails Around AI
  41. What do AI and blockchain mean for the rule of law?
  42. Bing Prohibits Cryptocurrency Advertising
  43. Cryptocurrency has been great for GPU makers—that might change soon
  44. Report: Bitcoin money laundering suspect spared from prison poison plot
  45. Man who claims he created bitcoin committed perjury, lawsuit says
  46. Goldman Sachs Just Launched A New Cryptocurrency
  47. Crypto Is “Taking us Back to the 1830s?” Here’s What That Fed Branch President Means.
  48. Apple Slapped With Class Action Lawsuit Over Faulty MacBook Pro Keyboards
  49. Amazon Prime members to get new discounts at Whole Foods
  50. Twitter will hide more bad tweets in conversations and searches: Another move to reduce abuse
  51. Klout is out—social media mojo-ranking service to shutter 
  52. Who Pays The Most, And Least, In Silicon Valley?
  53. YouTube Defeats Another Remove-and-Relocate Lawsuit–Song Fi v. Google
  54. Cambodian YouTubers In Legal Jeopardy For Skinning, Eating Endangered Animals On Film
  55. Cisco Announces YouTube Ad Boycott, Citing Fear Of A “Brand-Tarnishing Experience”
  56. YouTube Adding Songwriter, Label, And Publisher Credits To All Official And User-Generated Music Videos
  57. Incognito Mode May Soon Bring More Privacy To Users Of YouTube’s Mobile App
  58. YouTube Launches Upgraded Charts
  59. Ahead Of Royal Wedding, Meghan Markle Videos Have Received 94 Million Views On YouTube In 2018
  60. Jeffrey Katzenberg Raises $800 Million To Develop YouTube-Length Shows On Netflix-Sized Budgets
  61. As Her Channel Turns 10, Alisha Marie Announces Brief Break Due To Creative Burnout 
  62. YouTube’s new ‘take a break’ notifications are part of Google’s focus on your digital well-being: If YouTube eats up too much of your time, perhaps the notifications will be helpful
  63. Robert Downey Jr. To Bring Series About Artificial Intelligence To YouTube Red
  64. Can we stop technology from amplifying society’s inequalities? Perhaps, if we act now. 
  65. ‘Cobra Kai’: YouTube Red’s ‘Karate Kid’ Sequel Outperforms Netflix, Hulu Shows
  66. Netflix To Allocate 85% Of Upcoming Content Spend On Original Series And Films
  67. Formula 1 finally launched its livestream—and it was a total mess
  68. Materially and Substantively Modifying Online Articles Restarts the Clock in NJ Defamation Claims
  69. What does GDPR mean for journalists?: From 25 May 2018, General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, will be enforced by regulators across Europe. 
  70. GDPR will pop the adtech bubble
  71. Companies Respond To The GDPR By Blocking All EU Users
  72. Bittersweet DMCA Safe Harbor Defense Win in Ninth Circuit–Ventura v. Motherless
  73. Venture Beat Reporter Abuses DMCA To Silence A Critic
  74. As Intermediary Liability Is Under Attack, Stanford Releases Updated Tool To Document The State Of Play Globally
  75. A DMCA Section 512(f) Case Survives Dismissal–ISE v. Longarzo
  76. Jails are replacing visits with video calls—inmates and families hate it
  77. The True History Of ‘Yanny’ And ‘Laurel’
  78. The Fundamental Nihilism Of Yanny vs. Laurel

CREATIVITY

  1.  The Man with the Tiger Tattoo
  2. The Ninth Circuit STILL Thinks Keyword Metatags Matter in 2018–Adidas v. Skechers 
  3. When Plaid Goes Bad – Burberry Files Infringement Suit Against Target Over Burberry’s Iconic Plaid Design
  4. What Artists Can Teach Us About Making Technology More Human
  5. Gynecologist Dr. Drai can use name, even if Dr. Dre doesn’t like it, judge says
  6. Rap or Pap? Dr. Dre Loses Trademark Battle With Dr. Drai, A Gynecologist 
  7. For the Love of God, Stop Asking the Black PantherCast to Do the ‘Wakanda Forever’ Salute

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. Fair Play for FairPlay?: Bell Presented Its Site Blocking Plan to the CRTC Months Before It Became Public (Michael Geist)
  2. House of Commons Ethics Committee Recommends Rejecting Bell Coalition Website Blocking Plan (Michael Geist)
  3. Not So Fast: Digging into MEI’s Report on the State of Canadian Wireless Services (Michael Geist)
  4. AT&T Continues Fight To Gut FTC Authority Over Broadband Monopolies
  5. AT&T says hiring Trump lawyer was “big mistake,” forces top lobbyist out
  6. AT&T Chief Says It Made a ‘Big Mistake’ Hiring Michael Cohen
  7. Democrats demand answers on AT&T’s $600,000 payment to Trump’s lawyer
  8. AT&T Cans Exec Over Cohen Payment Kerfuffle, Pretends This Kind Of Influence Peddling Isn’t Perfectly Routine
  9. Trump vows to reopen smartphone giant ZTE to save Chinese jobs
  10. Trump eliminates national cyber-coordinator job, gives Bolton keys to the cybers
  11. Senate Votes To Save Net Neutrality, But Hurdles Remain
  12. Senate Approves First Step In Uphill Effort To Restore Net Neutrality
  13. Senate votes to overturn Ajit Pai’s net neutrality repeal
  14. Net neutrality to die on June 11, as Ajit Pai blasts “special interests”
  15. Senate Will Vote Wednesday To Try And Save Net Neutrality
  16. Defying Republicans, Senate Democrats schedule vote to save net neutrality
  17. This Is Ajit Pai, Nemesis Of Net Neutrality
  18. US Senate forces vote to restore net neutrality: If it passes, the vote goes to the House of Representatives, followed by the President’s desk
  19. Net neutrality officially ends June 11: Challenges to the change are unlikely to take forceful effect in time, though reversal remains possible
  20. FCC Boss Celebrates As Net Neutrality Gets An End Date: June 11
  21. Here’s the Name of Every Senator Who Voted Against Net Neutrality—and When to Vote Them Out
  22. Comcast charges $90 install fee at homes that already have Comcast installed
  23. Comcast Still Makes A Killing, Even When You Cut The Cord
  24. T-Mobile Hires Ex-FCC Commissioner To Claim Its Competition-Killing Merger Will Be Really Great For…Farmers
  25. Settlement of Alleged CASL Violations – Messages Sent without Compliant Unsubscribe Mechanism 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Shining A Light On The Encryption Debate: A Canadian Field Guide
  2. Ad Software Dev Doesn’t Like Being Called Out For Privacy Violations ; Sends Threatening Letter To Researchers Who Exposed It
  3. Email No Longer a Secure Method of Communication After Critical Flaw Discovered in PGP
  4. Critical PGP and S/MIME bugs can reveal encrypted emails – uninstall now
  5. It has been a bad week for encrypted messaging and it’s only Wednesday
  6. Encrypted Email Has A Major, Divisive Flaw
  7. Ex-CIA employee ID’d but not charged in Vault 7 leak of hacking tools
  8. Georgia Governor Vetoes Terrible Cybersecurity Law That Would Have Criminalized Security Research
  9. “Like stealing candy from a baby,” arrested teen says of his phishing efforts
  10. The LAPD’s Terrifying Palantir-Powered Policing Algorithm Was Just Uncovered and Yes It’s Basically ‘Minority Report’
  11. How a “location API” allows cops to figure out where we all are in real time
  12. Company used by police, prisons to find any mobile device breached (again)
  13. Prison Phone Monopoly Securus Under Fire Again, This Time For Doling Out Everybody’s Private Phone Location Data
  14. Forget scanning license plates; cops will soon ID you via your roof rack
  15. Malicious Chrome extensions infect 100,000-plus users, again
  16. Inside The Takedown Of A Notorious Malware Clearinghouse

GAMES

  1. Belgian Gaming Commission recommends criminal prosecution over illegal loot boxes: Commission lays groundwork for prosecution as Belgian justice minister meets with stakeholders to find an alternative
  2. Twitch files counter-complaint against banned CS:GOstreamer
  3. Twitch counter-sues streamer banned for gambling, inappropriate conduct: James Varga, aka “Phantoml0rd”, sued Twitch over the ban last month
  4. ‘Saturday Night Live’ 48-Hour Marathon to Stream on Twitch
  5. Twitch To Stream 48-Hour-Long ‘Saturday Night Live’ Marathon Ahead Of Sketch Show’s Season Finale
  6. Supreme Court lifts ban on (e)sports gambling, allowing state-by-state legalization
  7. Supreme Court lifts ban on sports gambling, including esports: DraftKings to implement sports, esports betting on its fantasy sports platform
  8. Supreme Court Ruling Opens Door for Legalized Sports Betting
  9. Take-Two CEO: Legal (e)sports gambling ‘meaningfully positive’ for games
  10. Satirical game used to push back against German ban on Nazi symbols
  11. Unprecedented move by German prosecutors over Nazi imagery in satirical game: Game serves “both the arts and civic enlightenment” says PPO
  12. Kingsleys unleash ire of independent author community with Rebellion trademark: But CEO Jason Kingsley assures that ‘Rebellion’ will only be used for relevant services, is investigating ‘overreaching’ application
  13. Video: A lawyer’s guide to practical IP law for indies
  14. Hackers find PSP emulator in PS4 remaster of PaRappa the Rapper: PlayStation 4 version of cult classic rhythm game just an emulation of the 2007 PSP re-release
  15. Pay-To-Flay: Examining microtransactions inMortal Kombat X 
  16.  Making microtransactions work for players in Guild Wars 2
  17. Gran Turismo franchise has sold 80M units in two decades
  18. Gran Turismo franchise tops 80 million sold: Polyphony Digital racing sim series reaches mark a little over 20 years after initial debut
  19. Sony and Nintendo update warranty policies in response to FTC warning: Both companies’ customers now have more freedom to use third party products and services
  20. Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft update warranty policies in response to FTC warning: Customers now have more freedom to use third party products and services
  21. Nintendo shuts down debut mobile app Miitomo
  22. Nintendo still won’t commit to online services: “Netflix for retro games” would be a huge selling point for the Switch – but Nintendo’s reticence to commit to online services will stop it happening
  23. Nintendo’s $20 charging stand fixes one of the Switch’s biggest problems
  24. Nintendo Labo tests, part one: Robot Kit’s cardboard stomps are fun but shallow
  25. A year ago, the NES Classic flew off the shelves—now it’s coming back
  26. LawBreakers dev Boss Key Productions shuts down
  27. Pokemon Go dev Niantic wants to build AR maps with data from players
  28. Clearing up misconceptions around motion sickness in VR
  29. Microsoft enables digital game and DLC gifting on PC: This follows the addition of Xbox One digital game, DLC, and subscription gifting last year
  30. Xbox One may be indies’ least popular platform, survey suggests: Indies love the Switch, but PC wins out for accessibility despite marketplace overcrowding
  31. Leaked photo shows new, accessible Xbox One controller
  32. In the lab with Xbox’s new Adaptive Controller, which may change gaming forever
  33. How the DualShock 4’s share button came to be
  34. Sony winding down production of physical PlayStation Vita titles
  35. Sony announces end of Vita GameCard production: Production of physical Vita games will cease by end of March 2019
  36. ModDB parent launches cross-platform API mod.io:v New tech makes it easier for developers to add modding tools to their games
  37. Mobile games continue to drive rising online game revenue for Tencent
  38. Konami breaks profit records thanks to domestic mobile market
  39. Konami shows record operating profits: Fourth straight year of bottom line growth helps publisher surpass previous 2012 high point; no word on Metal Gear Survive performance
  40. Packaged software driving profits in Sega’s games division
  41. Sega’s game profits rose 30% last year: Japanese publisher delivered increased operating profit despite launching fewer games than expected
  42. Japanese devs reflect on the recent renaissance of Japanese games
  43. Take-Two’s fortunes on the rise ahead of Red Dead Redemption 2 debut 
  44. Devs share the most memorable things they’ve had to cut from games
  45. Bigben Interactive acquires Styx developer Cyanide for $24M
  46. Bigben acquires Cyanide for €20 million: WRC publisher broadens development focus with Styx: Shards of Darkness creator
  47. Campo Santo retains freedom, flexibility under Valve
  48. Development on In the Valley of Gods will continue as before, but with more support
  49. Valve debuts public bug bounty board in an effort to improve security
  50. Steam services expand to mobile with new apps: Steam Link and Steam Video will launch in the coming months
  51. Polish studio Acram Digital banned from Steam for review tampering
  52. Steam Yanks Another Developer’s Games Over Fake Reviews Posted By Employee
  53. Acram Digital games removed from Steam after rogue staffer manipulates reviews: “This is my individual, bad behaviour, not the team, so I would like to blame me, not the devs,” says Grzegorz Kubas
  54. From zero to 15 million: The story of Outlast – Red Barrels’ Philippe Morin on turning a $1.4 million budget into a $64 million franchise with 15 million sales
  55. Mod.io API aims to help developers create mod-friendly games
  56. Balancing Hearthstone: Metrics help the team understand what’s happening, but designer Dean Ayala says most changes in the Blizzard card game are made due to player perception
  57. Universal “committed to games”, disputes free labour concerns over IP contest: Hollywood firm determined to build final product from Unity-partnered competition, stresses unsuccessful entrants retain rights to ideas
  58. Daybreak insists it has no connection to parent company: H1Z1 developer now says it was never owned by Columbus Nova after investment firm’s owner sees assets frozen by US government, claims it has no impact on its business
  59. Eidos Montreal: “We have to try new models for single-player games” – Shadow of the Tomb Raider dev on making $135 million narrative projects work
  60. Discord now boasts 130M users, 85M more than one year ago
  61. Discord triples users to 130 million in one year: The gaming chat platform just closed a $50 million round, which valued the company at $1.65 billion
  62. Nexon doubles revenue in US following Pixelberry acquisition 
  63. Nexon more than doubled profits in Q1: Pixelberry acquisition boosted North American revenue, but Korea remains Nexon’s source of strength
  64. BioShock Remastered studio lays off 10% of workforce after project cancellation: Blind Squirrel Games confirms 13 redundancies, affected staff seeking help via Twitter hashtag
  65. Kongregate looking to court indie devs with new Canada office
  66. Kongregate opens Montreal office: Digital publisher’s first Canadian branch looks to capitalize on the local indie development scene
  67. “The era of ‘break-out indie success’ is long dead”: Indie developers share their thoughts on the greatest challenges facing the industry in 2018
  68. Looking back on our first year as an indie studio
  69. Runescape creator Jagex raises $300K for mental health charities
  70. Little Orbit acquires GamersFirst online game portal andAPB Reloaded
  71. Online retailer Gameseek goes into liquidation: UK company left many orders unfulfilled when it hit the wall
  72. GameStop boosted by billionaire hedge fund: Bridgewater Associates ups stake in troubled games retailer, plus new investment from quant firm Renaissance
  73. Niantic to build a 3D augmented reality world map with Pokémon Go data: “We want players to build out the game board they want to play on,” says CEO
  74. Nvidia posts record Q1 revenues as profits soar by 145%: Meanwhile, GPU prices “beginning to normalise” following cyrptocurrency surge
  75. THQ Nordic saw more sales in 3 months than all of 2017, thanks to Koch Media
  76. THQ Nordic posts 673% revenue increase following acquisition of Koch Media: Excluding Koch Media revenue, THQ Nordic still up 64 per cent
  77. NCSoft profits up by 585% to $110m in Q1 2018: Mobile revenue spikes by 1,028 per cent amid mixed overall games performance
  78. German mobile game revenue growth surpasses whole market growth in 2017: Mobile sales rose 21% year over year, while the country’s overall market revenue rose 15%
  79. Appealing to the West by focusing on the East: Spike Chunsoft CEO Mitsutoshi Sakurai says there’s a growing global audience for the “very Japanese” games his company publishes
  80. Cliff Bleszinski’s Boss Key Productions shuts down after three years
  81. Saying Goodbye To The Fan Game That Recreated A Decade-Old Classic
  82. Researchers teach AI the art of ‘interesting’ level design
  83. The Race To Stop The Best Mario Kart 64 Player From Securing Every World Record 
  84. Sonic the Hedgehog devs explain how competing with Mario influenced development
  85. How Fortnite, A ‘Gamer’s Game,’ Took Over The World
  86. Fortnite mobile has earned $50M in under two months
  87. How Epic’s Fortnite rose from the ashes of Paragon’s failure
  88. An analysis of building in Fortnite
  89. Silverman: Is Fortnite habit the cause of David Price’s injury?
  90. Red Sox starter David Price denies carpal tunnel related to gaming, but plans to scale back
  91. Blog: How does multiplayer impact replayability?
  92. Madden NFL could go in “new direction” following departure of creative director: Former Overwatch producer Carlos Guerrero takes over series following Rex Dickson’s depature
  93. How EA Sports games are designed for blind players
  94. Nordisk Film continues investment spree with $18M Star Stable deal
  95. Google Chrome no longer breaks Web games, but the fix won’t last
  96. Chrome temporarily rolls back audio-muting update so devs can prep for the change
  97. How we increased our review score from mid 60’s to 80
  98. The risky business of creating an introspective blockbuster 
  99. Blog: The myth of the hero’s journey
  100. Opinion: Neo Cab and the effort to make an empathetic game about gamification
  101. John Carmack recalls “frustrating” arguments with Apple’s Steve Jobs
  102. 100,000 Video Game Players Helped Scientists Prove Einstein Wrong

Jon

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News of the Week; May 9, 2018

By Jon Festinger on May 23, 2018

DIGITAL

  1. New Québec “Netflix / Amazon Tax” Will Affect Non-Canadian Businesses 
  2. Report: Chinese government is behind a decade of hacks on software companies
  3. As Iran Joins Russia’s Block On Telegram, The Echoes Of The Arab Spring Begin To Sound
  4. House Democrats Release 3,500 Russia-Linked Facebook Ads
  5. Facebook security analyst is fired for using private data to stalk women
  6. Facebook’s New Focus On ‘Community’ Might Actually Depress You
  7. German Politician Decries Censorship, Follows It Up By Suing Facebook To Have A Critical Comment Deleted
  8. Irish Judge Slaps Down Facebook’s Attempt To Halt EU’s Top Court Examining The Legality Of Sending Personal Data To US
  9. UN Celebrates World Press Freedom Day By Suppressing Presentation Of Turkey Suppressing Press
  10. Artificial intelligence will sharpen the East-West divide
  11. Four days at the wild, AI-filled Collision Conference—before it bails for Canada
  12. DeepMind has trained an AI to unlock the mysteries of your brain: While it seems like second nature, what goes on in your brain when you navigate between two places is surprisingly complex.
  13. Ars ex machina: artificial intelligence, the artist
  14. Microsoft continues its quest to bring machine learning to every application
  15. With Timeline and Your Phone, Microsoft makes a PC the phone’s second screen
  16. Sorry Elon Musk, there’s no clear evidence Autopilot saves lives
  17. Elon Musk hung up on NTSB chief during call about Tesla crash probe
  18. Report: Software bug led to death in Uber’s self-driving crash
  19. Ai Isn’t A Crystal Ball, But It Might Be A Mirror
  20. Everyone Is Flipping Out About Google’s AI Assistant That Just Booked A Haircut On The Phone
  21. How Google’s Eerie Robot Phone Calls Hint At Ai’s Future
  22. Google’s ML Kit offers easy machine learning APIs for Android and iOS
  23. The Price Of Google’s New Conveniences? Your Data
  24. Android Things 1.0 launches, Google promises 3 years of updates for every device 
  25. Google And The Rise Of ‘Digital Well-Being’
  26. The Research Behind Google’s New Tools For Digital Well-Being
  27. Google News gets Material Design look, better personalization with AI
  28. Google releases open source framework for building “enclaved” apps for cloud
  29. Google Maps unveils its first-ever augmented reality interface                     
  30. Microsoft Charts Its Own Path On Artificial Intelligence
  31. Apple reportedly removing apps that share location data with third parties
  32. Signal’s “disappearing messages” live on in macOS notifications
  33. Want To Prove Your Business Is Fair? Audit Your Algorithm
  34. Section 230 Doesn’t Provide a Basis To Remove Cases to Federal Court–A.R.K. v. Grindr
  35. Airbnb, Homeaway, And The Importance Of Holding The Line On Section 230 
  36. Another Convicted Fraudster Attempts To Manage His Reputation With Bogus DMCA Takedown Notices
  37. GoDaddy has shut down Richard Spencer’s white supremacist site
  38. Nigerian Email Scammers Are More Effective Than Ever
  39. Reserve Bank of India reins in cryptocurrency
  40. Hundreds of big-name sites hacked, converted into drive-by currency miners
  41. YouTubers Are Mad Again After YouTube Deletes Videos With Paid Promos for Academic Cheating
  42. Over a 5th of the world’s population is logging in to YouTube—despite scandals
  43. More Than 250 Creators Get Into Hot Water For Promoting Academic Essay-Writing Service EduBirdie 
  44. YouTube Removes Hundreds Of Videos To Quash Advertisements From “Academic Aid” EduBirdie 
  45. YouTube Announces New Ad-Supported Originals From Stars Like Will Smith, Priyanka Chopra
  46. YouTube TV Enters Streaming Pact With Third Major League Soccer Club
  47. Amid Growth To 1.8 Billion Logged-In Users, YouTube CEO Vows To Remain “On The Right Side Of History”
  48. Google News And New VR180 Camera App To Add YouTube Integrations
  49. Google News to be revamped, incorporate YouTube videos and magazines
  50. YouTube investing $5 million on 47 creators trying to make platform more positive: Creators for Change program looks to tell stories about important topics
  51. YouTube and Vevo have struck a new ad deal
  52. Did YouTube Phenomenon Poppy Steal Her Style From Another Star?
  53. Philip DeFranco Launches Interactive Website And App Dubbed ‘DeFranco Now’ In Partnership With Snakt
  54. Lele Pons Drops Debut Music Video, Clocking 10 Million Views In 4 Days
  55. Patreon Has Paid Out $350 Million To Creators Since Its Founding 5 Years Ago
  56. Racing needs new fans—and paywalls and geoblocking aren’t helping
  57. The Media’s Paywall Obsession Will End In Disaster For Most
  58. Snapchat, Despite Redesign Woes, Keeps Adding Media Partners – Including Disney’s ‘Star Wars’
  59. Spotify Ends First Quarter as a Public Company With 75 Million Paying Subscribers
  60. Instragram, In Continued Quest For Social Video Domination, Will Launch Video Chat
  61. Digital Media Company Popsugar Lays Off 19 Amid Financial Struggles 
  62. Hulu Hits 20 Million Subscribers, Picks Up ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ For Third Season
  63. Hulu will soon offer offline viewing and episode downloads
  64. Following Facebook, Verizon Quietly Backs Off Opposition To Modest California Privacy Rules
  65. Facebook Canada’s Hard Questions Series Turns to Privacy (Michael Geist)
  66. $2-Billion Class Action Commenced Against Facebook
  67. An Overview of Facebook’s Election-Related Disclosure Program for Advertisers
  68. Facebook to release “clear history” tool
  69. Facebook Dating Looks A Whole Lot Like Hinge
  70. Why Facebook Won’t Put Ads on Its Dating App
  71. Facebook Adds New Live Stream Tools, One Like Twitch Co-Streams 
  72. What’s The Deal With Facebook And The Blockchain? 
  73. Facebook Wants To Explore Blockchain Technology. Here’s What They Might Be Up To.
  74. The Second Coming Of Vine Is On Indefinite Hold
  75. V2, The Planned Successor To Vine, Postponed Indefinitely Due To “Financial Hurdles”
  76. How Collab Built A Digital Talent Network And Rights Management Powerhouse Six Seconds At A Time
  77. ESPN To Launch Daily Edition Of ‘SportsCenter’ On Redesigned Mobile App
  78. Conan O’Brien’s TBS Show Trimmed To 30-Minute Episodes Amid Digital Pivot
  79. What Ecologists Can Learn From Memes
  80. CLOUD Act – clever acronym or real certainty for Cloud Service providers?
  81. A short primer on applicable US eSignature laws
  82. EU Commission Asks Public To Weigh In On Survey About Just How Much They Want The Internet To Be Censored
  83. The Sinar Project shines light on Malaysian Internet Censorship
  84. The First Amendment in the Second Gilded Age – The 2018 Mitchell Lecture (Jack Balkin)

CREATIVITY

  1. The fake news Russians hear at home
  2. Then they came for Peppa Pig
  3. Malaysian ‘Fake News’ Law Claims Its First Victim 
  4. Maybe InfoWars defense will be – “Hey nobody believe us anyway”
  5. First Amendment Doesn’t Protect Encouraging Readers to Make Anti-Semitic Attacks–Gersh v. Daily Stormer
  6. Monkey See, Monkey Do: Ninth Circuit Declines to Go Bananas over “Monkey Selfie” Copyrights
  7. ‘Monkey Selfie’ Film in the Works at Conde Nast  
  8. Olivia de Havilland Looks to Revive ‘Feud’ Defamation Suit
  9. Duke Administrator Gets Baristas Fired For Listening To Rap Music 
  10. Dispute over rap song leads to protest at Duke and apology from coffee shop owner
  11. Nike, Great Protectors Of IP, Found To Be Infringing On Copyright And Refusing To Pay After Software Audit
  12. Raging Bull and Fearless Girl – moral rights in copyright
  13. New Report Shines Much-Needed Light On Shadow Libraries Around The World
  14. Romance Novelist Secures Trademark For Word ‘Cocky,’ Begins Beating Other Novelists Over The Head With It
  15. Springer Nature Opens Up on Educational Publishing: “E-Piracy” Sites Do Not Replace Traditional Subscription Services, Business Risks Primarily Stem from Marketplace Changes (Michael Geist)
  16. Canadian Publisher on the Term of Copyright: Life Plus 50 Years is “Already Too Long” (Michael Geist)

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. World’s Worst Wireless Pricing?: Report Finds Canadian Wireless Broadband Pricing Offers Least Bang for the Buck in Developed World (Michael Geist)
  2. Why one man’s victory against Bell won’t resolve telecom’s customer-service problems
  3. Bell Backroom Pressure: Internal Documents Reveal How a Brock University Executive Came to Provide Support for Website Blocking (Michael Geist)
  4. Text “Y” to confirm your subscription! Companies agree to $100,000 payment for alleged CASL violations
  5. AT&T Stumbles As It Tries To Explain Why It Paid $200K To Cohen’s Shady Shell Company
  6. AT&T’s Estimated Payment to Trump’s Lawyer Rises to $600,000 as Investigations Ramp Up
  7. AT&T explains why it blocked Cloudflare DNS: It was just an accident
  8. AT&T/Verizon lobby asks FCC to help raise prices on smaller ISPs
  9. AT&T will ask Supreme Court to cripple the FTC’s authority over broadband
  10. The Sprint And T-Mobile Merger Will Test The Department Of Justice’s Mettle
  11. Sprint announces highest profit ever after saying it needs T-Mobile merger
  12. T-Mobile pays ex-FCC commissioner to lobby for Sprint merger
  13. T-Mobile CEO Hallucinates Competitors In Bid To Sell Competition-Killing Sprint Merger
  14. Comcast preparing hostile bid for Fox properties—and control of Hulu 
  15. Your Favorite Websites Are Rallying In A Last-Ditch Effort To Save Net Neutrality
  16. Senate will vote to kill or keep net neutrality rules by June 12
  17. Facebook Quietly Backs Away From Its Net Neutrality Killing ‘Free Basics’ Program Overseas
  18. Cord Cutting Is The Obvious Result Of A 70% Spike In Cable TV Prices Since 2000

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1.  Once more unto the breach: Canada’s PIPEDA breach notification and reporting regulations in force November 1, 2018
  2. Police Drop Charges Filed Against 19-Year-Old Who Downloaded Public Documents From Gov’t FOI Portal
  3. Oakland passes “strongest” surveillance oversight law in US: “They are even being exploited by the federal government to fuel mass deportations.”
  4. Oakland Residents Now Protected By The ‘Strongest’ Surveillance Oversight Law ‘In The Country’
  5. Georgia governor vetoes cyber bill that would criminalize “unauthorized access”
  6. Facial Recognition Tech Is Creepy When It Works  – And Creepier When It Doesn’t
  7. UK police say 92% false positive facial recognition is no big deal 
  8. Not Ready For Prime Time: UK Law Enforcement Facial Recognition Software Producing Tons Of False Positives  
  9. Privacy Group Files Legal Complaint Over UK Law Enforcement’s Warrantless Phone Searches
  10. You Can’t Opt Out Of Sharing Your Data, Even If You Didn’t Opt In
  11. Equifax breach exposed millions of driver’s licenses, phone numbers, emails
  12. FTC settles with cellphone manufacturer over data security issues 
  13. We Don’t Need a National Data Center of the Poor: The many, many ways the food-stamp database proposed by House Republicans could go wrong. 
  14. Change Your Twitter Password Right Now
  15. Twitter alerts users: Please change your passwords, we’ve seen them
  16. Yahoo Fined $35 Million for Failing to Report Data Breach
  17. Welsh Police Used Face Scanning Software That Incorrectly Flagged Thousands
  18. Virginia Supreme Court Says License Plate Readers Collect Personal Data; Suggests Use Violates State Law
  19. Smart Doorbells That Call The Police Are Going to Endanger Some Innocent People

GAMES

  1. Gamevice v Nintendo – Let’s try this again, at the ITC: Certain Portable Gaming Console Systems with Attachable Handheld Controllers and Components Thereof – International Trade Commission, Inv. No. 337-TA-1111 -and- Gamevice, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd.
  2. NBA 2K Tattoo Copyright Dispute Blocked
  3. Man sentenced to prison over 2010 World of Warcraft DDoS attack
  4. Don’t Miss: How a band of modders restored Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II
  5. Free-to-play game Loadout ending service in wake of GDPR regulation
  6. GDPR spells closure for free-to-play shooter Loadout: Developer says new regulations are a “major burden” for small studios doing business in EU
  7. Gaming Industry And Game Consumers On A Collision Course Over Loot Boxes
  8. EA will continue to use loot boxes that are ‘transparent, fun, and fair’
  9. EA adamant loot boxes aren’t gambling: Publisher pushes back after Belgian Gaming Commission finds fault with FIFA 18, talks game-streaming plans and Fortnite/PUBG phenomenon
  10. EA experiences growth in revenue from digital downloads and live services
  11. EA celebrates a record year, forecasts another: Full game downloads and physical game sales drop as booming live services now make up 40% of publisher’s income
  12. EA: ‘Innovators’ like Fortnite can benefit the entire games industry
  13. Madden NFL creative director Rex Dickson departs EA
  14. Madden NFL could go in “new direction” following departure of creative director: Rex Dickson leaves EA after 12 years with publisher
  15. Vulcan debuts new Holodome shared immersive reality platform
  16. Analyst: Mobile to make up over half of worldwide game revenue in 2018
  17. An in-depth breakdown of how mobile game media coverage fared in 2016
  18. New Nintendo president targets ¥100bn mobile business: Incoming chief Shuntaro Furukawa believes a Pokémon Go-style hit will transform the platform holder’s fortunes on smart devices
  19. Mobile Now Makes Up Majority Of Gaming Sales And Nintendo’s New President Wants To Get The Company On Board
  20. Switch online service will introduce cloud saves and NES multiplayer
  21. Nintendo courts families with Switch Online service: Eight-person membership available, alongside cloud saves and free NES games
  22. Nintendo says Switch won’t get Virtual Console classic game downloads
  23. Virtual Console Is Not Coming To Switch, Nintendo Says
  24. Nintendo drops Virtual Console model in favor of subscriptions: Focus turns to the Nintendo Switch Online service for future monetization of classic games
  25. Nintendo introduces Switch cloud saves as part of paid online subscription
  26. Nintendo starts moving to a Wii-like “non-gamer” strategy for the Switch
  27. Push the button: Steam now supports the Switch Pro Controller
  28. Hackers find “official,” usable PSP emulator hidden in PS4’s PaRappa
  29. PS4 expands its sales lead, now 71% of “two-console” market with Xbox One
  30. Future Minecraft updates won’t come to last-gen consoles
  31. Top 25 companies made up 77% of global games market in 2017 – Newzoo: Market intelligence firm points to industry consolidation as largest companies solidify positions
  32. Supercell: Meet the industry’s “least powerful CEO”: Ilkka Paananen on the value of leaving power in the hands of developers, and Supercell’s ambition to create a “truly global” mobile hit
  33. Google Play Instant leaves closed beta, now open to all developers
  34. Report: Google has quietly opened a new game studio called Arcade
  35. Google confirms new social gaming startup: Arcade is an “experiment” that will reportedly release its first game this summer
  36. Chrome update auto-mutes audio on many web-based games
  37. Google breaks HTML5 games with latest Chrome update: Efforts to mute autoplay video ads have unexpectedly affected browser-based web games
  38. Google slams “for-profit bail-bond providers,” won’t let them advertise
  39. God of War sold 3.1M copies in three days
  40. God of War tops 3.1 million sold in three days: Sony says PS4-exclusive game is the fastest-selling first-party game on the system to date
  41. Sony updates warranty terms following FTC warning 
  42. FTC Calls Out Nintendo, Microsoft, And Sony For Their Illegal ‘Warranty Void If Removed’ Stickers
  43. Capcom sees improved profits from sales of Monster Hunter: World
  44. Monster Hunter: World drives Capcom’s most profitable year ever – Fantasy action game has now sold 7.9 million units, offsetting “worsened conditions” in amusement market
  45. Xbox One sales up by 15% for 2018: Record-setting start to the year for platform holder
  46. The Kinect lives on through Microsoft’s new project for Azure
  47. Twitch tries ‘Bounty Board’ approach to setting streamers up for sponsored streams
  48. Zynga posts $5.6m profit last quarter after predicting $9.5m loss: Meanwhile, company founder Mark Pincus reduces personal voting power from 70 per cent to ten per cent
  49. The Curious Case Of The Fortnite Cheater: Is it illegal to cheat in a video game?
  50. Fortnite pulls in fives times more revenue than PUBG on iOS: First week of monetisation for PUBG Mobile sees combined platform revenue reach only one third of Epic Games’ offering
  51. Why do mobile games get a ‘free’ pass?: The mainstream media launches attacks on Fortnite’s business model, but ignores more egregious behaviour in mobile – does this reflect a bias?
  52. Activision Blizzard sees new Q1 records, though share prices still falter
  53. Activision shows PC some love, plans “significant” resources for Call of Duty
  54. Activision is feeling the heat from battle royale titles 
  55. Activision Blizzard jumping on battle royale bandwagon: Executives say Fortnite and PUBG have expanded the industry; publisher is “very quick to figure out how to capture inspiration from innovation”
  56. Battlegrounds item trading shut down due to marketplace abuse
  57. Fortnite Is Getting An Avengers: Infinity War Crossover
  58. “The reason we’re killing ourselves isn’t because we love what we’re doing”: Night in the Woods’ Scott Benson and Bethany Hockenberry discuss unionizing in games and what to do about indie devs crunching themselves
  59. Why the Campo Santo team hung up their indie spurs and joined Valve
  60. Tequila Works’ Raul Rubio on the dangers of building on stereotypes: “If you look at games made in Spain, you will notice a shocking lack of bullfighters”
  61. DDoS attack against Blizzard lands Romanian man in US federal prison: Calin Mateias extradited to face charges over 2010 cyber attack
  62. Pink Mercy skin comes to Overwatch, all proceeds go to charity
  63. Blizzard to donate more than $250,000 to Breast Cancer Research Foundation: Overwatch’s Pink Mercy charity skin will drive fundraising, alongside livestreams and more merchandise
  64. ‘Overwatch’ Esports League Launches Social VR Experiences With Sansar
  65. UK Charts: God of War beats Donkey Kong to No.1: Nintendo Labo slips down the charts in a quiet week for games retail
  66. Chinese games market expected to reach $42bn revenue by 2022: Increase in number of female users puts China on path to 720 million gamers
  67. Activision Blizzard posts record Q1 – Call of Duty: WWII helps drive Activision business even as engagement metrics drop for King and Blizzard
  68. Activision share price wounded following “extraordinary error” by Dow Jones: Confusion overshadowed record Q1 revenue for publisher; stock value down 2.3 per cent by market close
  69. PUBG most downloaded mobile game last quarter, but revenue flags: Sensor Tower Data Digest: Mobile game downloads up to 2.4 billion on iOS and 7.23 billion on Android
  70. Google’s ARCore 1.2 enables multiplayer AR across Android and iOS
  71. Ninja Hits 10 Million YouTube Subscribers, Gaining 3 Million Subs Over The Past Month
  72. Hi-Rez Studios announces new esports production company: Studio co-founder and COO to head up Skillshot Media as president
  73. Digi-Capital: Combined Asian markets could deliver over half of AR/VR revenue by 2022: “Western companies might need to adopt a ‘we try harder’ approach to compete at the same level,” says investment bank
  74. Oculus Go to ship 1.8 million this year – Superdata: Market intelligence firm expects new stand-alone offering to lead all premium headsets in shipments this year, downgrades overall VR projections
  75. Oculus: “We don’t want exclusivity. We want VR to thrive” – At Reboot Develop, Oculus’ Matt Conte urged developers to make the most of a small market by shipping on every VR platform possible
  76. Facebook changes an Oculus division’s name, invents term “Facebook Reality”
  77. ‘I AM A MAN’ Puts You At The Heart Of The Civil Rights Struggle, Now Available On Rift
  78. Square Enix reports decreased sales, increased profits: Dragon Quest XI publisher only takes a 2.5% hit to revenues despite 32% dip in software unit sales
  79. Rising revenues in US and Europe drive profits for Bandai Namco
  80. Bandai Namco sees game sales up 14%: Company’s full-year results show strong gains in revenues, units sold over previous year
  81. Inside Bandai Namco’s Innovation Department: Why the Pac-Man publisher is turning to Alexa and other emerging technologies
  82. Tencent partners with UK government’s cultural and creative industries
  83. Harmonix denies association with Columbus Nova
  84. Steam reviews study suggests ‘bad design,’ not bugs, irks players most
  85. Players less concerned by bugs than bad game design, study finds: Study of over 10 million Steam user reviews unearths valuable data for developers
  86. New Steam Link app allows players to stream Steam games to mobile
  87. Valve will soon let you stream Steam games to phones and tablets
  88. Using Steam reviews to estimate sales: A game dev guide
  89. Early Access effort Conan Exiles surpassed 1M sales ahead of launch
  90. Analyzing the financial impact of 2 years spent on Early Access
  91. Blog: A marketing perspective on trademarking
  92. Game streaming service Utomik has officially launched
  93. Jagex shutting down online game portal FunOrb after ten years: Advancements in technology have made it “increasingly difficult to access and play the games”
  94. Artificial Intelligence Is Making Video Game Levels So Good That Even Other AI Thinks They’re Man-Made
  95. Why pseudo-localization is essential 
  96. In blocking autoplay videos, Chrome is breaking many Web-based games
  97. Attentat 1942 wins a top honor at A MAZE Berlin, remains banned in Germany
  98. Episode, Old Man’s Journey, and Empires & Puzzles win at 2018 Google Play Awards
  99. Empires and Puzzles wins Best Breakthrough Hit at Google Play Awards: Best Android apps and games announced at award ceremony ahead of Google I/O 2018
  100. Shadow of the Tomb Raider and the risk of making an introspective AAA game
  101. Spacewar!, Tomb Raider, and others join World Video Game Hall of Fame
  102. Devs share personal touches they’ve hidden in games
  103. Republican politician and lobbyist runs for election in EVE Online: “Maybe 20 years ago this would be weird, but given how mainstream gaming has become…how can anyone say ‘You’re throwing your life away playing these games?'”
  104. Blog: 10 negotiation tips from a video game lawyer (Pete Lewin)

Jon

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News of the Week; May 2, 2018

By Jon Festinger on May 22, 2018

DIGITAL

  1. Equustek again: BC Supreme Court upholds injuction despite US refusal to enforce
  2. Google worldwide injunction will not change
  3. Foreign Broadcaster Infringed US Copyright Through Online Streaming
  4. Man Fined $60,000 For Streaming Live Sports Illegally
  5. Another Court Says Competitive Keyword Advertising Doesn’t Cause Confusion
  6. Iranian activist awarded defamation damages after anonymous web harassment
  7. Iran blocks Telegram, pushes replacement with “Death to America” emoji
  8. FOSTA/SESTA Was Passed Based On Made Up Stats About Sex Trafficking
  9. Germany’s Supreme Court Confirms That Adblocking Is Legal, In Sixth Consecutive Defeat For Publishers
  10. Firefox will show sponsored content that’s personalized but private: Sponsored content will use technology from Pocket, which Mozilla acquired last year.
  11. Pornography Dispute Sheds Light on DMCA Safe Harbor Defense
  12. Recapping a Year’s Worth of Section 230 Cases That Got Stuck in My Blogging Queue
  13. Federal Circuit overturns fair use ruling in Oracle v Google
  14. Insights: Alert Google’s Use of Oracle’s APIs Not Fair Use Under U.S. Copyright Law
  15. FTC Obtains Court Order Banning Marketer from Negative-Option Sales
  16. France seizes France.com from man who’s had it since ‘94, so he sues
  17. Facebook begins asking if every post you see is hate speech
  18. Mark Zuckerberg Says It Will Take 3 Years To Fix Facebook
  19. Mark Zuckerberg announces Facebook Dating
  20. After data “clash” report, WhatsApp founder says he’s leaving Facebook
  21. Hollywood Front Groups Decide To Kick Facebook While It’s Down, Advocate For More Internet Regulations
  22. Facebook building a “simple way to clear your cookies and history”
  23. Cambridge Analytica shuts down after Facebook user data scandal
  24. Cambridge Analytica shutting down, says it’s been ‘vilified’ in Facebook scandal: Investigations continue into firm at centre of Facebook privacy scandal
  25. Facebook Launches A New Ad Campaign With An Old Message
  26. Facebook’s New ‘Dating’ Feature Could Crush Apps Like Tinder
  27. Private Facebook Posts Could Be Fair Game For Discovery
  28. Facebook And Google Finally Take First Steps On Road To Transparency About Content Moderation
  29. Facebook Ranking News Sources By Trust Is A Bad Idea… But No One At Facebook Will Read Our Untrustworthy Analysis
  30. Health Secretary calls for social media giants to stop “turning a blind eye”
  31. New York Enhances Disclosure of Online Political Ads and Requires Online Platforms to Create Archives
  32. CGI ‘Influencers’ Like Lil Miquela Are About To Flood Your Feeds
  33. Could Artificial Intelligence Predict The Next Avengers: Infinity War?
  34. Discrimination through artificial intelligence banned
  35. USPTO Suggests That AI Algorithms Are Patentable, Leading To A Whole Host Of IP And Ethics Questions 
  36. Don’t Be Surprised if the iPhone X Goes Away
  37. Apple exits Wi-Fi game, AirPort routers discontinued after stock sells out 
  38. Why Snap Needs Its Spectacles 
  39. Snap Launches Second Edition Of Spectacles With New Colors, Water-Resistance, Quicker App Transfer
  40. Snapchat To Follow YouTube With Unskippable, Six-Second Ads
  41. YouTube May Bring An Abbreviated Version Of Its Content ID Copyright Tool To The Masses
  42. YouTube Is Becoming One Of Fox News’ Favorite Talking Points
  43. Logan Paul Ceases Daily Vlog To “Exercise His Creativity In Different Ways”
  44. YouTube Invites Advertisers To Target TV Viewers, Will Add YouTube TV To Google Preferred Lineup
  45. YouTube Exec Says Three-Month-Old Brand Safety Measures Have Been “99% Effective”
  46. Pandora Learns The Cost Of Ads, And Of Subscriptions
  47. Twitter is promoting more news links in your timeline 
  48. Twitter’s Niche Moves Into Non-Branded Content With Josh Peck, Miel Bredouw, More
  49. Twitter To Double Video Output In 2018, Including Pacts With NBCUniversal, Disney, Viacom 
  50. Actress-Influencer Bella Thorne Gets $65,000 Per Instagram Post, Says Social Media Paid For Her House
  51. Comedy Central’s New Web Series Is “A ‘Daily Show’ For The Internet”
  52. Amazon blocks domain fronting, threatens to shut down Signal’s account 
  53. After Strong First Quarter, Amazon Raises Price Of Prime By $20 Per Year
  54. Amazon will raise the price of Prime by $20 in a few weeks
  55. Amazon to open new Vancouver office, create 3,000 jobs
  56. NFL Renews Thursday Night Football Streaming On Amazon Prime Video
  57. 11 NFL Games Will Stream Live On Twitch This Fall
  58. Hulu passes 20 million US subscribers, says offline downloads are coming
  59. Conde Nast Entertainment Is Launching Individual OTT Channels For Brands Like Wired
  60. Creators For Good: Ricky Dillon Asks Teens To #BeMore In Building A Kind, Inclusive World
  61. Companies Are Cashing In On Reality TV For Tots
  62. A Short History Of Blaming ‘Hackers’ For Pretty Much Everything
  63. New court ruling could force Uber, Lyft to convert drivers to employees: California Supreme Court: It’ll be tougher for firms to not have bona fide employees.
  64. Disney’s New Food Video Brand Partners With The Tastemade Network To Get Cooking
  65. How Microsoft Convinced Clueless Judges To Send A Man To Jail For Copying Software It Gives Out For Free 
  66. Why the man who tried to sell Windows recovery discs will go to prison: Eric Lundgren paid a company in China to print thousands of Dell-branded recovery CDs.
  67. Microsoft Defends Putting A Computer Recycler In Jail With Misleading Statement
  68. iTunes is finally in the Microsoft Store
  69. Even Windows revenue is up in Microsoft’s $26.8 billion 3Q18 
  70. IPO’s consultation on domestic enforcement of the EU Portability Regulation
  71. Understanding the Regulatory Concerns of Cryptocurrency Exchange Registration 
  72. Is Bitcoin a Security? Definitely Maybe
  73. Section 17(b) of the Securities Act in Crowdfunding and Token Sales
  74. I Spent a Weekend With Cyborgs, and Now I Have an RFID Implant I Have No Idea What to Do With
  75. Canadian Government Provides Details of First Ever National IP Strategy
  76. Canadian Government’s IP Strategy Seeks to Boost Innovation, Increase IP Literacy, and Rein-in Patent Trolls 
  77. Supreme Court Says Of Course The Patent Office Can Admit It Made A Mistake And Dump Bad Patents
  78. Swedish Pirate Party Declares War On Copyright Trolls
  79. Emojis in the Workplace – A Cautionary Tale
  80. Declining Majority Of Online Adults Say The Internet Has Been Good For Society
  81. A Magna Carta for the digital age
  82. Thousands Of Academics Pledge To Boycott Springer’s New Machine Learning Title In Support Of Long-Established Open Access Journal 

CREATIVITY 

  1.  House of Representatives Passes Music Modernization Act – Looking for Clarity on Mechanical Royalties, Pre-1972 Sound Recordings and Other Music Rights Issues  
  2. House Unanimously Passes Music Modernization Act – Paves the Way for Major Updates to Digital Music Royalty Ecosystem
  3. SCOTUS Released Same-Day Oral Argument Audio. Guess What Happened Next?: There is no reason not to release same-day audio for all oral arguments at the Supreme Court.
  4. Blurred Lines Songwriters Have Got to Give It Up for the Gaye Family
  5. Fox News v. TVEyes Shows Fair-Use Defense Remains Risky Business
  6. Copyright Is No Monkey Business, Rules the Ninth Circuit
  7. Monkeys Lack Standing to Sue for Copyright Infringement 
  8. Nicassio v. Viacom International, Inc.
  9. Gayle v. Home Box Office, Inc.
  10. Westworld Has to Acknowledge the Racist Appeal of Shōgun World
  11. The New York Times Is Turning Its Hit Podcast, ‘The Daily’, Into A TV Show 
  12. Tackling IP Misuse: Canada Takes the Lead in Combating the Dark Side of Intellectual Property Protection (Michael Geist)
  13. Canadian Music Industry Seeks New Fees, Content Blocking, and Right to Renegotiate Deals Despite Generating Record Digital Revenues (Michael Geist)
  14. Theater Accidentally Plays Horror Movie Trailer Before Peter Rabbit, Families Run Out Screaming
  15. Kardashian Gets Political to Highlight Lack of Regulations over Cosmetics Industry
  16. Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah embroiled in ‘serious issue’ over Egypt image rights
  17. Lessons From Picasso’s Copyrights: Pleading, Proving and Arguing Foreign Law in U.S. Courts 
  18. The Royal Wedding: What’s the IP etiquette?
  19. Tackling IP Misuse: Canada Takes the Lead in Combating the Dark Side of Intellectual Property Protection (Michael Geist) 
  20. Canadian Music Industry Seeks New Fees, Content Blocking, and Right to Renegotiate Deals Despite Generating Record Digital Revenues (Michael Geist)
  21. Less Than 1%: Canadian Publisher Data Points to Tiny Impact of Access Copyright Royalty Decline (Michael Geist) 

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. Customer takes Bell to court and wins, as judge agrees telecom giant can’t promise a price, then change it: Contract law expert says Ontario case could be grounds for class-action lawsuit
  2. FCC Republican gets official warning after pushing for Trump’s re-election: O’Rielly broke government ethics law; could be punished if he does it again.
  3. Small ISPs Like Sonic Join The Legal Battle To Preserve Net Neutrality
  4. Marsha Blackburn Wants ISPs To Sell ‘Fast Lanes’ Like ‘TSA Pre-Check’
  5. AT&T’s least favorite net neutrality bill takes another step forward: California’s tough net neutrality bill clears second Senate committee in a week.
  6. California net neutrality bill that AT&T hates is coming to New York, too: Bill is moving through Calif. Senate and will be submitted in NY legislature.
  7. The Sprint/T-Mobile Merger Is Huge – But A Lot Of Questions Remain
  8. Sprint, T-Mobile Try To Sell The Public On A Job-Killing, Competition Eroding Megamerger
  9. T-Mobile and Sprint don’t need to merge for 5G – they said so two months ago: AT&T made the same claims – about 4G – when it tried to buy T-Mobile in 2011. 
  10. While Facebook Gets All The Hate, Verizon Continues To Show It’s No Better, And Potentially Much Worse For Privacy
  11. Verizon Signs Deal to Place the Saddest, Most Pathetic Bloatware on Samsung Devices  
  12. Some Comcast Customers Won’t Get The Latest Broadband Upgrades Without Buying Cable TV
  13. FCC Approves 100% Mexican Ownership of Radio Stations in California and Arizona – Further Showing Foreign Ownership Limitations Less Significant in Today’s Broadcast World 
  14. At Least One Japanese ISP Gets A Jump Start On The Government’s Unconstitutional Site-Blocking Plans
  15. Japanese Lawyer Sues NTT For Voluntarily Blocking ‘Pirate Sites’ 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. High Court Says UK Government Can No Longer Collect Internet Data In Bulk
  2. Another Federal Court Says Compelled Decryption Doesn’t Raise Fifth Amendment Issues
  3. Phone maker settles charges it let partner collect customers’ text messages
  4. Are Google And Facebook Undermining Europe’s Privacy Rules?
  5. International Standards Body Rejects Weakened IOT Encryption Methods Pushed By The NSA
  6. Cops Follow Up Officer-Involved Shooting By Heading To Funeral Home To Apply Dead Man’s Fingers To His Locked Phone
  7. Device Detects Drug Use Through Fingerprints, Raising A Host Of Constitutional Questions
  8. Alabama Rolls with Tide as Last State to Adopt Breach Notification Law 
  9. EU Government Looking To Expand, Standardize Whistleblower Protections
  10. As two Koreas shake hands, Hidden Cobra hackers wage espionage campaign

GAMES

  1. Chinese police arrest 15 ‘major’ Battlegrounds cheat suspects
  2. Daybreak Games denies reported links to sanctioned Russian oligarch
  3. Epic Games continues pursuing lawsuit against 14-year-old Fortnite player: Parent’s move to dismiss the case met with resistance from Fortnite developer
  4. Epic Decides To Double Down On Copyright For Cheating Lawsuit Against 14 Year Old By Taking On Mom
  5. Fortnite earned $223 million in March – Superdata: Research firm calls Epic Games survival shooter “the largest free-to-play console game of all time” in revenue generated and monthly users
  6. Mobile gaming cements its dominance, takes majority of worldwide sales
  7. Nintendo reports jump in profits as Switch tops 15M sales
  8. Lifetime Switch sales have surpassed 17M units
  9. Switch is selling well, but Nintendo thinks it can sell even better
  10. Nintendo hasn’t achieved ‘satisfactory profit’ on mobile
  11. Nintendo credits its mobile push for rise in Switch sales in Asia, Middle East
  12. Nintendo’s new president wants to turn mobile into $900M business
  13. With new leadership incoming, Nintendo aims to keep collaboration front and center
  14. As Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze comes to Switch, it disappears from Wii U eShop
  15. Nintendo under investigation for patent infringement over Switch design
  16. Nintendo Switch targeted by Gamevice patent lawsuit (again): Wikipad manufacturer attempting to block console sales in the US over detachable controller dispute
  17. U.S. agency to probe Nintendo systems after rival’s complaint
  18. US will consider blocking imports of Nintendo Switch: The International Trade Commission is investigating Nintendo.
  19. Nintendo Switch drives staggering 500 percent profit jump
  20. Nintendo profits spike as Switch approaches 18m sales: Mario Odyssey breaks 10m sales barrier
  21. Nintendo still has plans for the 3DS through ‘2019 and beyond’
  22. Nintendo bringing new IP exclusively to mobile: Platform holder acquires five per cent stake in development partner Cygames
  23. Nintendo yet to achieve “satisfactory” profit on mobile says company president: Games continue to perform well, but still fall below Nintendo’s expectations
  24. Nintendo partners with Japanese dev Cygames on new mobile title
  25. Breath of the Wild is now the best-selling Zelda game to date
  26. Nintendo shifting away from individual leadership: Incoming president Shuntaro Furukawa to continue a trend moving away from the style of long-time leader Hiroshi Yamauchi
  27. Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft among those warned by FTC – Report: Federal Trade Commission gave console makers, HTC, ASUS, and Hyundai 30 days to correct illegal warranty practices
  28. Norwegian customer watchdog calls out Nintendo, Sony, EA and Valve
  29. Nintendo, Valve, Sony, and EA reported in Norway for breaching European consumer law: Digital games “do not exist in a lawless vacuum” says Norwegian Consumer Council director of digital services
  30. PS4 software fueling growth at Sony as hardware stalls
  31. With the PlayStation 4 at 73M sold, Sony braces for sales to slow
  32. Sony brings PS2 titles to PS Now streaming service
  33. PUBG Corp. says 15 hackers arrested, fined $5.1 million: Some PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds cheat programs were said to contain viruses to scan users’ PCs, steal information
  34. Lohan Loses (Yet Another) Publicity Rights Suit
  35. Self-regulate loot box mechanisms – while you still can: As European states begin ruling against loot boxes, this is the industry’s last chance to prove it can be trusted to regulate itself
  36. Self-regulating loot boxes is harder than it sounds: Supposing publishers even want to rein in the monetization scheme driving their bottom lines, how are they supposed to go about doing that?
  37. USA: New Loot Box Bill Introduced…Again
  38. Loot Box Saga Continues 
  39. Despite backlash, loot boxes could be essential to gaming’s future: Analysis sees loot box spending ballooning 62 percent, to $47 billion, by 2022.
  40. Loot boxes expected to drive games market to $160 billion by 2022: Juniper Research also predicts Switch-driven console revival, with revenues to reach $33.2 in four years
  41. Tencent to publish Freejam’s Robocraft in China: Deal announced one week after UK studio pledged to remove all loot boxes from the game
  42. WarpPortal blocks access to game catalogue in Europe: Ragnarok Online and more will be restricted from May 25 – the date that GDPR takes effect
  43. Blizzard now selling community-made maps for StarCraft II: Revenue spilt “favours content creators” says StarCraft II production director
  44. Global games market to hit $137.9 billion this year – Newzoo: Market intelligence firm expects industry revenues to be just over 50% mobile, 25% console, 24% PC
  45. What separates China and the West in mobile?: GameRefinery compares the traits of the top 100 grossing mobile games in China and America, including one feature found in 29% of top Chinese games completely absent in the US
  46. PlayStation 4 sales pass 75m in another strong year for Sony: Software sales and PS Plus subs were both up, but Sony is preparing for hardware decline in the coming year
  47. Xbox earnings on the rise thanks to third-party games and services
  48. Third-party sales boosted Microsoft Gaming revenue in Q3: Gaming revenue was up 18%, Xbox Live users up 13% to 59 million
  49. Starting in June, Xbox live rewards will transition to Microsoft rewards
  50. Microsoft shuts down popular Halo mod ElDewrito: Streamers attract tech giant’s ire as multiple DMCA takedowns issued
  51. Bungie will finally release Destiny companion album Music of the Spheres
  52. “If anybody is going to pick a fight with Steam or create an alternative, the time is now”: At Reboot Develop, Rami Ismail and Robin Hunicke argued that existing digital platforms are not doing enough to represent the diversity and artistry of developers
  53. SteamSpy creator develops new algorithm to keep service alive: “It’s still possible that Valve will make another move to shutdown the service, but until that happens, SteamSpy will continue to operate,” says Galyonkin
  54. Steam Spy isn’t dead, but it’s not back at 100% yet either
  55. An era of “triple-I” development is almost here: Ninja Theory, Frostkeep Studios and Private Division discuss a coming wave of games that combine indie creativity with triple-A production values
  56. Frostpunk has surpassed 250K sales in 66 hours
  57. PC Building Simulator sells 100,000 copies in a month: The Irregular Corporation’s latest release had a strong opening month in Early Access
  58. Sumo Digital transformed £52.2m debt into £12.4m cash balance in 2017: Crackdown 3 developer buoyant in first financial results following last year’s IPO
  59. Techland picks up Call of Juarez publishing rights from Ubisoft
  60. Call of Juarez publishing rights return to Techland following Ubisoft partnership – Critically acclaimed Call of Juarez: Gunslinger reappears on Steam after being delisted last month
  61. How to stop big publishers breaking your business: During this year’s Reboot Develop, Ninja Theory’s Nina Kristensen detailed the rights studios should fight for
  62. The anti-Brexit game turning controversy into opportunity
  63. Snapchat launches “Snappables” series of AR games: Snap Inc commits to releasing new mini-games on a weekly basis
  64. FC Bayern Munich Joins Esports World With NBA 2K Team
  65. The Highs And Lows From Day One Of The NBA 2K League
  66. Your One-Stop Interactive Guide To The NBA 2K League
  67. How Esports Leagues Model Traditional Sports To Build Stability, Thwart Competition
  68. The Growth Of Esports Minor Leagues
  69. Imagine Dragons invest in esports agency RektGlobal and Team Rogue: Members from award-winning band joined by music producer Steve Aoki in ownership of esports team
  70. Don’t Miss: How Blizzard designed StarCraft II with esports in mind
  71. The Doomy Gloomy Revival Of Old-School First-Person Shooters
  72. Super Monday Night Combat shutting down due to new data protection regs
  73. GDPR prompts Super Monday Night Combat shutdown: Developer Uber Entertainment says cost of rewriting back-end too high to warrant compliance
  74. Implementing The Eu General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): An Overview For Digital Entertainment Businesses
  75. The ESA hits a low point – 10 Years Ago This Month: Self-regulation helps fend off threatened legislation, but mismanagement of E3 has members jumping ship
  76. In-app purchases now available on Facebook’s instant games platform
  77. Facebook rolls out in-app purchases to Instant Games platform: IAP currently available on Android and Facebook.com
  78. Facebook Needs To Stop Bad VR Apps Before They Start
  79. Oculus Reveals 140 Degree VR Headset Prototype with Varifocal Displays
  80. Oculus Go standalone headset launches at $199: Oculus VR promises “the best optics of any VR system we’ve built” from new standalone hardware
  81. Analyst: How education, age, and even degree levels can affect video game spending
  82. The Heartbeat Symposium: Exploring love, sex, and intimacy in games
  83. Life in (virtual) pit lane: The war stories of video game car design
  84. Blog: Developing games in non-developed territories – Part 1
  85. Flashpoint is archiving Flash games before they disappear forever
  86. Blog: Looking back at the trailblazing Atari RPG,Dragonstomper
  87. Blog: Why Atari’s infamous E.T. tie-in isn’t half bad

Jon

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News of the Week; April 25, 2018

By Jon Festinger on May 21, 2018

DIGITAL

  1. Google Fails to Amend Canadian De-indexing Injunction Despite California Court Order
  2. B.C. Court Leaves Google Global Takedown Order Intact Pending Full Trial (Michael Geist)
  3. U.S. Falls To 45th On Press Freedom Index, Trump Labeled ‘Media-Bashing Enthusiast’
  4. Michael Cohen Drops Ridiculous Lawsuit Against Buzzfeed After Buzzfeed Sought Stormy Daniels’ Details
  5. It’s Spreading: Lindsey Graham Now Insisting ‘Fairness Doctrine’ Applies To The Internet
  6. WikiLeaks, Russia, Trump Jr. named in new DNC hacking lawsuit: “It’s more than a shot over the bow, it’s a shot into the hull of the ship.”
  7. Trump’s cell phone use is security “nightmare” waiting to happen, lawmakers say – New letter: “Does the President use encryption when he makes phone calls…?”
  8. Verizon says Yahoo users must waive class-action rights – or stop using Yahoo: Yahoo, facing data breach lawsuits, starts enforcing mandatory arbitration.
  9. Google disables “domain fronting” capability used to evade censors: A “long-planned” change happens to coincide with a new wave of state censorship in Russia.
  10. Judge Agrees: Perfectly Fine For Google To Deny Ad Placement For ‘Honey Cures Cancer’ Claims 
  11. Russia and China take Big Brother to absurd new levels
  12. Internet Watch Foundation publishes its Annual Report
  13. LA councilman asks city attorney to “review possible legal action” against Waze: “They say the crises of congestion they cause is the price for innovation.”
  14. Are our smart devices starting to outsmart us?
  15. The next big battle over internet freedom is here: Congress just passed a law to combat sex trafficking. Now the future of the free internet is in danger. 
  16. Be Careful What You Wish For: The Risk of Ceding Online Content Monitoring to Internet Giants (Michael Geist)
  17. Sweeping the Internet for Netsweeper
  18. Calling Facebook A Utility Would Only Make Things Worse
  19. What’s Not Included In Facebook’s ‘Download Your Data’
  20. How academic at centre of Facebook scandal tried – and failed – to spin personal data into gold: The story of Aleksandr Kogan’s business ventures reveals a world where companies traded in the currency of personal information
  21. Man behind Cambridge Analytica’s Facebook data mining says he’s sorry: Aleksandr Kogan, if he’d known survey would upset many: “I would’ve never done it.”
  22. The Security Risks Of Logging In With Facebook
  23. Delete Your Account: On the Theory of Platform Capitalism
  24. Minds Is The Anti-Facebook That Pays You For Your Time 
  25. Here’s What Facebook Won’t Let You Post
  26. For the first time, Facebook clearly tells its users what’s allowed: Social network not saying why it took 14 years to release this document.
  27. Facebook removes 1.5 billion users from protection of EU privacy law: In anticipation of the EU’s new GDPR rule, Facebook limits its legal umbrella. 
  28. Facebook Publishes Internal Content Moderation Guidelines For The First Time 
  29. Imposing Regulations on Online Technology Giants 
  30. Meet the Professor Who’s Warning the World About Facebook and Google
  31. FOSTA/SESTA Passed Thanks To Facebook’s Vocal Support; New Article Suggests Facebook Is Violating FOSTA/SESTA
  32. Sex Workers Set Up Their Own Social Network In Response To FOSTA/SESTA; And Now It’s Been Shut Down Due To FOSTA/SESTA
  33. Authorities May Charge Pennsylvania Juvenile Who Threatened Second YouTube Shooting
  34. Exclusive: YouTube ran ads from hundreds of brands on extremist channels
  35. 300 Companies Ran Ads On YouTube Channels Promoting Nazism, Pedophilia, Conspiracies (Report) 
  36. YouTube CEO To Discuss Brand Safety On Conference Call With 30 Top Advertisers (Report)
  37. YouTuber Convicted Of Hate Crime For Teaching Nazi Salute To Dog Raises £118,366 For Legal Appeal
  38. YouTube Deleted 8.3 Million Objectionable Videos Last Quarter, Thanks Mostly To Machines
  39. ‘Deadpool’ Writers To Serve As Executive Producers For Upcoming YouTube Red Series
  40. New Footage Of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” Receives One Million Views In First Day On YouTube
  41. YouTube Gives Creators With At Least One Million Subscribers A Space On The Trending Tab
  42. YouTube Kids Amplifies Parental Controls, Including Ability To Whitelist All Videos, Channels
  43. P&G Resumes YouTube Spend After 13-Month Boycott — As New Ad Controversy Looms
  44. Proposed US Consumer Internet Privacy Legislation Threatens Digital Advertising
  45. Texas Revenge Porn Laws Loses Battle With First Amendment
  46. Cheddar Joins Hulu’s Live TV Lineup 1 Day After Being Added To YouTube TV
  47. The Roku Channel gets live news thanks to ABC, Cheddar, and other partners: But it won’t replace all live news broadcasts.
  48. Flipboard’s Answer To Fake News: More Human Curation
  49. We’re underestimating the mind-warping potential of fake video: Doctored photos can easily create false memories. What happens when there’s fake video?
  50. Fullscreen, Concerned About Inappropriate Content, Cuts About 160 Partners From Its Network 
  51. DJ Khaled Alcohol Endorsements Exposed, Says TINA
  52. Citing Tepid Crowdfunding Results, Neill Blomkamp Cancels Plans To Adapt Digital Short Into Feature
  53. Snapchat’s Stock Tumbles As Company Confirms It’s Testing Yet Another Redesign
  54. Hollywood is Wrong: Netflix is the Future of Film
  55. Netflix Is Launching A Podcast That Breaks Down Its Original Documentary Shows And Films
  56. BuzzFeed Pacts With Netflix For Short-Form Docuseries About Its Journalists
  57. Netflix Again Raising $1.5 Billion In Debt Financing Amid Aggressive Content Push 
  58. Netflix, Amazon, and major studios try to shut down $20-per-month TV service: It’s the third lawsuit against TV box makers filed by Netflix and film studios.
  59. Jeff Bezos Says Video Has Helped Drive 100 Million Amazon Prime Members 
  60. It’s Thanks To The Pirate Community That Amazon’s Attempt To Degrade Its Streaming Service Is Now Public
  61. Amazon Key expands to deliver packages inside your car: Another option for those skeptical about in-home deliveries.
  62. Amazon made an Echo Dot for kids, and it costs $30 more than the original: New parental controls and FreeTime Unlimited subscription coming soon, too. 
  63. Twitter’s Bet on Video Is Starting to Pay Off: The company is doing as good a job as anyone figuring out live streaming, a medium that has been slow to take off in the U.S
  64. In Earnings Report, Twitter Says Video Ads Now Make Up More Than Half Of Its Ad Revenue
  65. State Appeals Court Upholds Criminal Conviction For Twitter Harassment Targeting An Autistic Student 
  66. How Twitter Suspended The Account Of One Of Our Commenters… For Offending Himself? 
  67. Vevo Announces Layoffs After The Departure Of Its CTO 
  68. Backlash prompts Eventbrite to drop demand to crash events, record them: “We’ve heard some concerns from our customers,” company says, over perpetual copyright grab.
  69. Ben Makuch of Vice takes on police in Supreme Court: The refusal of a journalist to hand over communications with a terror suspect has raised fundamental questions about press freedoms and national security.
  70. Vice Media Launches Local Operations in India
  71. Spotify Just Gave You a Pretty Good Reason Not to Pay for Spotify
  72. Spotify Exec Jabs YouTube Amid Launch Of Redesigned App With More Free Feature
  73. Spotify Bolsters Free Service In Defense Against Apple Music
  74. Tim Cook on merging macOS and iOS: “I don’t think that’s what users want”: Apple’s CEO appeared to debunk speculation that the company seeks a unified OS.
  75. Apple offers free battery replacements for select MacBook Pro models: Only some newer 13-inch MacBook Pros without Touch Bars have been affected.
  76. Apple Sued An Independent Norwegian Repair Shop In Bid To Monopolize Repair — And Lost
  77. ABKCO Music, Inc. v. William Sagan 
  78. The ‘Terms and Conditions’ Reckoning Is Coming: Everyone from Uber to PayPal is facing a backlash against their impenetrable legalese.
  79. Robot Showboat: Now Even Our Celeb Feuds Are Automated
  80. Your Next Job Interview Could Be with a Racist Bot: Companies are using AI-powered cameras and chatbots to screen applicants. And that could unintentionally make employers even more discriminatory than before.
  81. Some Startups Use Fake Data To Train AI 
  82. Ready Lawyer One: Virtual Reality Is Coming To Courtrooms
  83. Augmented Reality Is Transforming Museums
  84. Coinbase Reportedly Shuts Down Wikileaks Store, Assange Calls for Boycott in Response 
  85. Silicon Valley’s Latest Revolution: Cutting Out Wall Street 
  86. The Selfie As We Know It Is Dead
  87. Why So Many People Make Their Password ‘Dragon’ 
  88. Reinventing the Internet via blockchain 
  89. New hacks siphon private cryptocurrency keys from airgapped wallets: Beware of smartphones and cameras around wallets storing your digital coin.
  90. Icelandic bitcoin heist suspect arrested in Amsterdam after leaving prison
  91. “Secondary Sales” of Private Securities (And Tokens) in Crowdfunding
  92. Suspicious event hijacks Amazon traffic for 2 hours, steals cryptocurrency: Almost 1,300 addresses for Amazon Route 53 rerouted for two hours.
  93. ‘We’ve Lost 10 Years of Innovation. This Decade Has Been Boring for the Web.’: A conversation with Ethan Zuckerman, media scholar and inventor of the pop-up ad, on the original sin of advertising and the web’s lost decade.
  94. Want To Blog In Tanzania, Or Read Social Media In Uganda? Pay The Government, Please

CREATIVITY

  1. 9th Circuit rules that Naruto has no standing under US Copyright Act
  2. Naruto v. Slater
  3. Monkey has no standing to assert copyright infringement in selfie case, 9th Circuit rules
  4. Monkey-selfie lawsuit finally ends: Court affirms adorable macaque can’t sue: PETA claimed to be a friend to Naruto but “failed” at doing so, 9th Circuit finds.
  5. We Interrupt The News Again With Hopefully The Last Update From The Monkey Selfie Case
  6. Grumpy Cat Limited v. Grenade Beverage LLC, et al.
  7. U.S. Court of Appeals Finds That the Lines Remain Blurred
  8. Music publishers score major victory in closely watched copyright case
  9. Kimberley v. Penguin Random House 
  10. Silberstein v. Fox Entertainment Group, Inc. 
  11. Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC v. Ren Ventures Ltd
  12. Fearless Girl to be moved due to … viability concerns
  13. Astronaut’s Right-of-Publicity Case Won’t Timeout
  14. LeBron James hit with trademark suit over his barbershop-based web series
  15. When Your Trademark Is A False Advertisement
  16. Supreme Court upholds patent review process, dealing trolls a blow: A key part of the 2011 America Invents Act is constitutional, high court rules.
  17. Brexit and copyright law: will the English courts revert to the ‘old’ test for originality?
  18. The CASE Act – A Noble but Toothless Gesture Toward Fair Copyright Enforcement 
  19. Of Course The RIAA Would Find A Way To Screw Over The Public In ‘Modernizing’ Copyright 
  20. Publisher Helps To Keep Sci-Hub In The Public Eye By Trying To Bully It Into Submission Using Ineffectual Legal Remedies
  21. This band is storing their best-selling album in DNA 
  22. Following Questionable Election, Honduran Government Debuts New Censorship Law
  23. Hate Speech Laws In India 

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1.  F-Word in Live Sports Broadcasts Should be Avoided, Says Canadian Broadcast Standards Council
  2. Discussion about Sex Shops Was Acceptable Before 9:00 pm, Says Canadian Broadcast Standards Council
  3. Wait for it: Government to clarify anti-spam law – eventually
  4. Government Response to CASL Report Released
  5. Government Response Suggests No Appetite for Canadian Anti-Spam Law Reform (Michael Geist)
  6. Another Survey Shows Massive Bipartisan Opposition To Net Neutrality Repeal
  7. Ajit Pai hasn’t finalized net neutrality repeal – here’s a theory on why: Pai’s delayed repeal could let Congress pass weaker law while ISPs behave.
  8. No, Net Neutrality Isn’t Officially Dead (Yet), And The FCC Is Stalling For A Reason 
  9. AT&T, Verizon face DOJ investigation for allegedly trying to lock eSIMs: Carriers reportedly sought ability to lock eSIMs to networks; Apple complained.
  10. DOJ Investigating AT&T, Verizon for Making It Harder To Switch Wireless Carriers
  11. NYC blasts broadband competition shortage as it pursues suit against Verizon: Two-thirds of NYC homes have only one or two broadband options, city report says. 
  12. ISPs should charge for fast lanes – just like TSA Precheck, GOP lawmaker says: GOP’s Marsha Blackburn wants Internet service to be just like airport security. 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Australian Gov’t Scooped Up Tons Of Cell Site Location Data To Track Citizens’ Movements
  2. High Court establishes ‘right to be forgotten’ in English law
  3. Company obtains cyber injunction under the protection of anonymity
  4. SEC issues $35 million fine over Yahoo failing to disclose data breach
  5. Supreme Court Dismisses Microsoft Appeal as Moot After Passage of the CLOUD Act 
  6. Framed For Murder By His Own DNA 
  7. Florida Police Allegedly Crash Funeral Home to Unlock Phone With Slain Man’s Fingerprints
  8. Hackers Designed a ‘Master Key’ to Unlock Millions of Hotel Room Doors
  9. When you go to a security conference, and its mobile app leaks your data: RSA Conference attendee contact data extracted using hard-coded API data.
  10. Cracking The Crypto War: Ray Ozzie thinks he has an approach for accessing encrypted devices that attains the impossible: It satisfies both law enforcement and privacy purists.
  11. Jaywalking in China Can Get You Hit with a Stream of Water
  12. Atlanta Spent $2.6m To Recover From A $52,000 Ransomware Scare
  13. Batten down the hatches: The GDPR wind is about to blow

GAMES

  1. Loot boxes in leading games violate Dutch gambling legislation: Developers have eight weeks to change their loot box mechanics or face prohibition
  2. Netherlands pushes for EU-wide loot box legislation: Loot box ruling from Dutch government body could set precedent in Europe against certain iterations of the mechanic
  3. Loot boxes with real-world value deemed unlawful in The Netherlands
  4. Four publishers must change in-game loot boxes to avoid Dutch gambling laws: Study determines randomized items that have a “market value” violate the law.
  5. Belgian Gaming Commission declares loot boxes illegal
  6. Video game loot boxes are now considered criminal gambling in Belgium: FIFA, Overwatch, Counter-Strike: GO could face fines and prison penalties.
  7. EA, Activision Blizzard, and Valve found in breach of Belgian gambling laws: Loot boxes in FIFA 18, Overwatch, and CS:GO violate gambling legislation, says Belgian Gaming Commission
  8. Tattoo artist takes aim at WWE and video game maker
  9. Tattoo artist sues WWE in Southern Illinois, says her designs were copied in video games
  10. Terminal Reality is suing Microsoft over shadow and lighting patents
  11. Microsoft accused of ‘egregious and wilful’ patent infringement: Terminal Reality and Infernal Technologies file lawsuit against tech giant for infringing patent with multiple games
  12. A fan-made Halo PC patch meets Microsoft’s legal muscle – and apparently survives: Lawyers arrive after Halo Online “ElDewrito” patch explodes – but no C&D yet.
  13. 343 clarifies Halo modding policy as fan-led Halo Onlinerevival gets the axe
  14. Blizzard brings paid mods to StarCraft II with ‘Premium Arcade’ initiative
  15. The Gaming Industry is Susceptible to ADA Website Accessibility Lawsuits
  16. Ragnarok Online shutting down European servers after 14 years
  17. GOG is getting more Steam-like with addition of new social features
  18. Australian High Court orders Valve to pay $2.4M fine over misleading refund policy
  19. Valve fined $3m over breach in Australian law with misleading Steam refund policy: Steam operator’s appeal denied by High Court of Australia
  20. Valve acquires Firewatch creator Campo Santo
  21. Valve acquires Firewatch developer Campo Santo: Yet another sign Valve might be interested in making new games again.
  22. Detroit developer sues French press over “toxic culture” reports: Developer goes to court to fight what it calls a “smear campaign.”
  23. Quantic Dream takes legal action against French media for negative press
  24. Quantic Dream sues press over reports of toxic workplace – Report: Detroit Become Human studio takes legal action against two of the three outlets who unearthed allegations of harassment and discrimination
  25. Maxis renames The Sims 4’s in-game ‘insane’ trait to ‘erratic’
  26. EA Maxis renames The Sims’ “insane” character trait: Switch to “erratic” is a reflection of how “language evolves”, EA says
  27. Studio apologizes for delay by pledging 90+-hour work weeks: NeoCoreGames says it was joking when it promised crunch as atonement for pushing full launch of Early Access game Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr back three weeks
  28. The Red Flag of Passion: How a seemingly harmless word is used to put a happy face on some of the industry’s biggest problems
  29. Fortnite breaks $25 million in first month on mobile: Revenue could pass $500 million this year, Sensor Tower suggests
  30. Fortnite streamer peaks at 667,000 concurrent viewers, breaking own record: Las Vegas Esports Arena inaugural event becomes record-breaking Twitch stream
  31. Thanks to a cosmetic change, Epic accidentally rebalancedFortnite’s shotguns
  32. Tencent investing $15M to help establish Fortnite in China
  33. Tencent will invest $15 million in Fortnite’s rollout in China: Seeding an esports community for Epic’s game will be a focus of the investment
  34. As PUBG-like contenders emerge, Islands of Nyne might already have them beat: Rumors swirl around Battlefield, Call of Duty, but awesome sci-fi twist is already here.
  35. First major PUBG tournament launches this summer with $2m prize pool on the line: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Global Invitational set to take place this year in Berlin, Germany
  36. Twitch starts beta for new monetisation system: Viewers can now spend virtual currency in Extensions, with revenue divided between streamer and developer
  37. Twitch Has Expanded Monetization To 220,000 Affiliates 1 Year After Program’s Launch
  38. TheWaveVR secures $6M for its social VR platform
  39. CCP chief: EVE dev’s move to leave VR due to risk, not loss of faith
  40. Oculus overhauls privacy policy and terms of service
  41. UK God of War launch is the biggest in the series history: Same for the new Yakuza, too
  42. God of War Director’s Review Reaction Is A Reminder That Games Are Made By Humans
  43. Sony’s studios continue their winning streak: The success of the PS4’s excellent first-party experiences belie the commercial challenges single-player titles still face
  44. The infamous FMV game Night Trap is headed to the Nintendo Switch after all
  45. Nintendo Switch hardware exploits cannot be patched out
  46. The “unpatchable” exploit that makes every current Nintendo Switch hackable: Newly published Tegra bootROM exploit could be a big headache for Nintendo and others.
  47. Behind the scenes with the hackers who unlocked the Nintendo Switch: “The best way to get a chip security audited is to put it in a game console”
  48. Nintendo Labo belongs in the classroom
  49. Review: Nintendo Labo (Variety And Robot Kits – Nintendo’s big gamble on cardboard and imagination pays off.
  50. How to make your old Game Boy as good as (or better than) new: Why wait for a “Game Boy Classic” when you can fix up your old stuff instead?
  51. How Squidlit’s devs authentically recreated a Game Boy game in 2018
  52. Sonic Mania surpasses 1M sold worldwide
  53. Capcom scrapping Puzzle Fighter to focus on Dead Rising
  54. Italian games market hits $1.8 billion in 2017: The latest wave of GSD data is released for Europe
  55. Steam sales, store pages and the art of selling games: At Reboot Develop, Rockfish, Vlambeer and 11 bit take very different views on the value of cutting prices
  56. Kartridge announces new dev-friendly revenue terms
  57. Kartridge offers developers 100% of revenue up to $10,000: Exclusive games will also get 90% up to $40k, in new terms aimed at “smaller developers”
  58. How indie publishers stand out – and why they need your game to help them: Speaking at Reboot Develop, Devolver Digital, Paradox Interactive and Raw Fury reflect on their role in a game’s success and offer advice on pitching to them
  59. “We just want to keep the IP” – Why Swery is banking on crowd-funding: The Good Life approaches its last stretch on Kickstarter
  60. How Space Ape eschewed convention to make its most profitable game – Simon Hade and Nicolas Boulay discuss growing Fastlane: Road to Revenge from $5,000 ad revenue a day to $45,000 in four months
  61. Ubisoft launches second season of start-up incubator program: “Ubisoft is proud of its roots and has not forgotten that its very own adventure began as a start-up,” says program sponsor
  62. Darwin Project goes free-to-play after six weeks in Early Access: Scavengers Studio cites players’ “difficulty finding matches” as motivation for the change
  63. Crossfire developer Smilegate closes Berlin studio
  64. Smilegate to close Berlin office just over a year after it opened: Crossfire developer shuts down European base as part of new business strategy
  65. “What’s your plan to not destroy yourself as you’re stepping into this career path?”: At Reboot Develop, Devolver and Good Shepherd co-founder Mike Wilson discussed the need for unions, mental burnout, and dealing with online toxicity
  66. Better than reality: New emulation tech lags less than original consoles: “LAGFIX” fast-forwards through “hidden” frames for near-instant response times.
  67. The Sentinel stands alone: Why I Love: Quantum Soup’s Chris Payne remembers Geoff Crammond’s purely innovative, rarely imitated classic
  68. Rovio and Sony confirm a new Angry Birds movie for 2019: The first film earned $352 million since it opened two years ago
  69. Wolfenstein II has five nominations at the Nordic Game Awards 2018: But Ultra Ultra’s Echo leads the pack with six, Tarsier Studios’ Little Nightmares and Image & Form’s SteamWorld Dig 2 close behind
  70. Three years out, Final Fantasy VII remake still seems a long way off: Despite 2015 announcement, ambitious overhaul effort appears to be in early stages.
  71. Death Road to Canada devs delay release out of respect for recent tragedy
  72. Reboot Develop expands with Canada conference in 2019: Spring conference will remain in Dubrovnik alongside new student event, Canadian debut to be held in autumn next year
  73. Social media ‘fair game’ in admissions process: But survey finds less than a third of colleges actually look at social media profiles when making admissions decisions
  74. GDPR: Frequently Asked Questions – In the final part of their GDPR guide, Purewal & Partners’ Jas Purewal and Peter Lewin tackle the industry’s most common concerns
  75. Blog: How the Rubik’s Cube inspired a laid-back Atari puzzler
  76. Video: We force kids to confront ’80s technology – Youngsters struggled to understand why the TV must be on channel 3 to play games.

Jon

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News of the Week; April 18, 2018

By Jon Festinger on May 1, 2018

DIGITAL

  1. Teen charged in Nova Scotia government breach says he had ‘no malicious intent’: 19-year-old says he believed documents were ‘free to just download’ from province’s FOIPOP web portal
  2. Digital Disruption: How Should Canadian Regulators Respond?
  3. 19-Year-Old Canadian Facing Criminal Charges For Downloading Publicly-Accessible Documents
  4. Facebook must face class action over facial recognition, judge rules
  5. Judge Clears Way for Major Class Action Suit Against Facebook Over Face Recognition 
  6. Facebook’s Potential $70 billion Legal Challenge
  7. Facebook Is Steering Users Away From Privacy Protections
  8. Facebook Stops Funding Opposition to California Privacy Focused Ballot Act 
  9. Why dictators love Facebook 
  10. Congress Never Wanted to Regulate Facebook. Until Now
  11. Facebook data transfers to be examined by EU court, Irish judge rules – Activist: “US law requires Facebook to help the NSA…and EU law prohibits just that.”
  12. After Cambridge Analytica, Privacy Experts Get to Say ‘I Told You So’
  13. This plan would regulate Facebook without going through Congress: How to rein in data collection without going through Congress
  14. Zuckerberg’s New Hate Speech Plan: Out With the Court and In With the Code 
  15. As Zuckerberg Smiles To Congress, Facebook Fights State Privacy Laws 
  16. Tens of thousands of Facebook accounts compromised in days by malware: Professionally developed trojan posing as a stress reliever infects 40,000 PCs.
  17. “Not too fond of Facebook”: A dating app removes its linked-profile requirement – Could be the first of many apps to dump FB requirements in wake of recent disclosures.
  18. The problems with Facebook are inherent in its design, but that can change
  19. Inverting The Expected Order Of Things, German Court Orders Facebook To Reinstate ‘Offensive’ Content
  20. Is Facebook a Community? Digital Experts Weigh In
  21. What Comes After The Social Media Empires: “Maybe we’ve reached the point where it’s not even possible to have Facebook in common.”
  22. ‘One Has This Feeling of Having Contributed to Something That’s Gone Very Wrong’: A conversation with VR pioneer Jaron Lanier on Silicon Valley’s politics, being quoted by Mark Zuckerberg, and what went wrong with the internet.
  23. This isn’t the first time a tech boom has interfered with democracy 
  24. Watch Obama, Voiced By Jordan Peele, Warn Against Fake News In BuzzFeed Video
  25. Singaporean Government Creates Fake News To Push Fake News Legislation 
  26. Stealing Your Online Face – Online Truth Suffers Another Blow 
  27. Actually, Social Media Isn’t An Echo Chamber
  28. At-Home Dental Appliance Company Sues Website For Having Opinions About Its Products
  29. Despite Repeated Evidence That It’s Unnecessary And Damaging, Trump Signs SESTA/FOSTA
  30. Amended Complaint Filed Against Backpage… Now With SESTA/FOSTA
  31. Backpage CEO pleads guilty to conspiracy, money laundering: Carl Ferrer agreed to end Backpage and help prosecution of his former co-workers.
  32. Apple may debut its own news subscription service within the next year: An upgraded Apple News app could be home to the company’s trusted news sources.
  33. Apple’s Infringement In $502M Security IP Row Willful: Jury
  34. Apple memo warning employees about leaking gets leaked: Apple warns leakers that “they’re getting caught faster than ever.”
  35. Apple’s Internal Memo Warning Employees Not To Leak To The Press Leaks To The Press
  36. Apple plans to kill 32-bit app support on MacOS in the near future
  37. U.S. iPhone users spent an average of $58 on apps and IAPs in 2017
  38. The Wired Guide To Internet Addiction: Everything you ever wanted to know about screen time, likes, and pull-to-refresh.
  39. Congress Enacts Law Creating a Sex Trafficking Exception From the Immunity Provided by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act
  40. Ted Cruz Demands A Return Of The Fairness Doctrine, Which He Has Mocked In The Past, Due To Misunderstanding CDA 230 
  41. Scott Pruitt has “at least four” official email addresses, senators say: According to The Washington Post, one of them is sooners7@epa.gov.
  42. Court upholds clickwrap agreement, reiterating that general principles of contract apply 
  43. How Android Phones Hide Missed Security Updates From You
  44. LA Official Is Starting to Get Fed Up With Waze’s Habit of Directing Drivers Down a Death Slalom
  45. A crummy drop-down menu appeared to kill dozens of mothers in Texas: This doesn’t mean maternal mortality in Texas or the US is OK. It’s still horrific.
  46. Artificial intelligence and copyright
  47. Algorithmic Accountability: A Primer
  48. A.I. Engineers Must Open Their Designs To Democratic Control: When it comes to A.I., we need to keep humans in the loop.
  49. AI Tool Helps Law Enforcement Find Victims of Human Trafficking
  50. Lawmakers Want You to Be Able to Sue Robots
  51. IKEA Furniture Tests Your Relationship, Also Robots
  52. A Robot Does The Impossible: Assembling An Ikea Chair Without Having A Meltdown
  53. Google works out a fascinating, slightly scary way for AI to isolate voices in a crowd: Google researchers try to replicate the “cocktail party effect” for computers.
  54. Beyoncé Leads YouTube To Record-Setting 41 Million Viewers On Coachella Streams
  55. Barcelona-Based YouTuber Faces Prison For Pranking Homeless Man With Doctored Oreos
  56. Lawsuit Alleges That YouTube Star Poppy’s Shtick Was Stolen From Another Creator
  57. Stupid Copyright: MLB Shuts Down Twitter Account Of Guy Who Shared Cool MLB Gifs
  58. YouTube tackling creator monetisation issues new pilot scheme: Self certification “will make the monetisation process much smoother with fewer false positive demonetisations,” says YouTube CEO
  59. YouTube demonetized my tuba videos (also, I make tuba videos): YouTube can’t decide if I can make money off my 10-year-old Legend of Zelda video or not.
  60. Ex-YouTube Engineer Builds Site To Figure Out What Content The Video Site’s Algorithm Recommends
  61. Citing Viewership Suppression, Philip DeFranco Again Says New Shows Won’t Be Distributed YouTube-First
  62. YouTube’s Restrictions On Firearms Content Has Led A Gun Manufacturer To Sue A Creator 
  63. YouTube TV Adds Cheddar, Cheddar Big News To Lineup, Marking First Digital-Native Channels
  64. YouTube TV brings two Cheddar digital-only shows to its lineup: The financial media company will offer its finance and general news channels to YouTube’s live TV service.
  65. Google Staffer’s Scrappy Design Becomes Healing Symbol After YouTube Shooting
  66. Google refuses to fix Waze so it won’t route people on 32%-grade road
  67. Hulu Keeps Pace With YouTube TV By Sponsoring NBA Playoffs
  68. Sports Illustrated Launches SVOD Service On Roku, iOS, Android, And The Web
  69. Formula 1’s streaming service goes live with the Spanish GP in May: You’ll need a browser to watch it at first, but mobile and TV apps are coming
  70. Sports-Centric Skinny Bundle FuboTV Raises $75 Million From Fox, AMC, Sky
  71. The Digital Afterlife is Open for Business. But It Needs Rules.
  72. Beautycon Launches Content Pact With BET Ahead Of Sold-Out New York Event
  73. FouseyTube To Enter Rehab For Addiction, Depression, And Bipolar Disorder
  74. Ja Rule’s catastrophic Fyre Festival gets a documentary series on Hulu
  75. Hulu Nabs Docuseries About The Infamous Fyre Festival Scam
  76. 80% Of Netflix Viewership Comes From Licensed Content, Not Originals (Study)
  77. Despite October 2017 Price Hike, Netflix Added 7.4 Million New Customers In Q1 2018
  78. Netflix Bows Out Of Cannes After Festival Tells Streaming Services To Get Off Its Lawn
  79. Netflix Sees Itself As The Anti-Apple
  80. Comcast To Sell Netflix Subscriptions In False Belief This Will Slow Cord Cutting
  81. Amazon and Best Buy team up to sell TVs, but it’s a risky move for Best Buy: Best Buy will carry TVs with Amazon software and will sell TVs on Amazon.com.
  82. House of Lords issues report on digital advertising market 
  83. $2 Million Allegedly Stolen From Cryptocurrency Vlogger in the Middle of His Livestream
  84. Bitcoin heist suspect reportedly walked out of low-security prison, onto flight: Sindri Thor Stefansson had been arrested over theft of 600 bitcoin-mining computers.
  85. New York’s Attorney General Begins Inquiry Into Cryptocurrency Practices
  86. New York Attorney General Launches Inquiry into Cryptocurrency Exchanges 
  87. Microsoft’s bid to secure the Internet of Things: Custom Linux, custom chips, Azure – This is Redmond’s first-ever Linux distribution.
  88. Microsoft claims to make Chrome safer with new extension: A purported Edge advantage is now available in Chrome.
  89. Welcome To The Wikipedia For Terms Of Service Agreements
  90. Online-Transactions can trigger Specific Jurisdiction of U.S. Courts
  91. Canada’s Tough Anti-Piracy Copyright Law: Federal Court Awards Millions in Damages Against Unauthorized Streaming Site (Michael Geist)
  92. Digital Trends and Initiatives in Education: The Study the Association of Canadian Publishers Tried To Bury (Michael Geist)

CREATIVITY

  1. The monkey selfie lawsuit lives: PETA and the photographer settled last year, but the Ninth Circuit will be issuing a ruling anyway
  2. Citing monkey business, court refuses to toss simian selfie lawsuit
  3. We Interrupt Today’s News With An Update From The Monkey Selfie Case
  4. Oracle wins in US copyright case: consequences for EU software market?
  5. Plaintiff Torpedoed with Attorneys’ Fees for “Objectively Unreasonable” Copyright Claim 
  6. Broadway Producers Offer to Perform “To Kill a Mockingbird” in Court to Prove Faithfulness to Novel 
  7. Barreau du Québec files bombshell motion: A motion filed by the Barreau du Québec and the Montreal Bar, argues that all of the province’s laws are illegal because they were drafted and adopted in French only.
  8. “Weight Loss” vs. “Weight Management”: Vitamin Shoppe Sidesteps False Advertising Suit 
  9. From East Coast to West Coast: Actresses Lose Right of Publicity Cases as Courts Rule in Favor of the First Amendment Rights of Content Creators
  10. Three Parents of Sandy Hook Victims File Defamation Lawsuits Against InfoWars’ Alex Jones 
  11. Sean Hannity was very concerned about conflicts of interest — until he had one
  12. Sean Hannity’s Ties to Two More Trump-Connected Lawyers: The Fox News host denies that Michael Cohen was ever his lawyer—but Hannity was represented by a pair of legal advisers who also have close links to the president.
  13. Time for Fox News to investigate Sean Hannity
  14. “You Only Hire Cohen For One Reason”: Inside Fox News, Sean Hannity’s Michael Cohen Disclosure Stokes A Crisis As Murdoch Wavers On Trump – The revelation that Trump’s lawyer offered legal advice to Fox News’s biggest name was shocking
  15. Fox News ‘surprised’ by Hannity’s relationship with Cohen, but stands by him
  16. Levi’s Has Filed Trademark Suits Against Just About Everyone
  17. NCAA In Tune with Dancing With the Stars  
  18. Putting It In Writing: The Return Of The Morality Clause In The Age Of #MeToo And Time’s Up (Part I)
  19. Putting It In Writing: The Return of The Morality Clause In The Age of #MeToo and Time’s Up (Part II)  
  20. New Hampshire Court: First Amendment Says You Can Call A Patent Troll A Patent Troll
  21. The Scientific Importance of Free Speech
  22. Against Copyright Balance: Canadian Heritage Officials Say It’s Time “To Move Beyond the Notion of Balance” (Michael Geist)
  23. Canadian Music Industry Confirms Once More That For Copyright Companies, Enough Is Never Enough
  24. The Music Industry Now Wants To Creep Past Site-Blocking Into App-Blocking

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. Former FCC Broadband Advisory Panel Chair Arrested For Fraud
  2. Ajit Pai’s ex-broadband advisor arrested on charge of forging fiber contracts: Ex-CEO and committee chair accused of defrauding investors with fake contracts.
  3. Broadband adviser picked by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai arrested on fraud charges: Elizabeth Pierce allegedly tricked investors into pouring $250 million into a fiber optic scheme by forging revenue agreements
  4. Ajit Pai refuses Democrats’ request to revoke Sinclair broadcast licenses: Pai springs into action – and much faster than when Trump wanted to punish NBC.
  5. Bad news for AT&T and Comcast: Calif. Senate panel OKs net neutrality bill – AT&T, cable lobbyists can’t convince Calif. senators to scrap net neutrality.
  6. AT&T and cable lobby are terrified of a California net neutrality bill: ISPs hate California bill even more than the FCC rules they helped kill.
  7. T-Mobile deceived customers with “false ring tones” on failed phone calls: FCC fines T-Mobile $40M for rural call failures but requires no refunds.
  8. FCC to Look at the KidVid Rules in a Formal Proceeding Soon 
  9. ACLU: If Americans Want Privacy & Net Neutrality, They Should Build Their Own Broadband Networks
  10. The FCC’s ‘Broadband Advisory Council’ Keeps Losing Members Due To Cronyism
  11. Commissioner Clyburn to Leave the FCC 
  12. The FCC loses a fierce consumer advocate as Mignon Clyburn resigns: Clyburn, the “conscience” of FCC, advocated for net neutrality 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Bad News For ‘Privacy Shield’: As Expected, EU’s Top Court Will Examine Legality Of Sending Personal Data To US
  2. California Bill Could Introduce A Constitutionally Questionable ‘Right To Be Forgotten’ In The US
  3. Court Orders Google to Remove Results for Man’s Criminal Record Under “Right to be Forgotten”
  4. Google attempted end run around Canadian courts fails, rules BC Judge in Equustek case 
  5. UK High Court Hands Win To Claimant In Right To Be Forgotten Case
  6. If Trump Is So Worried About Protecting Attorney-Client Privilege, He Should End The NSA’s Bulk Surveillance (And CPB Device Seizures)
  7. How Government Pressure Has Turned Transparency Reports From Free Speech Celebrations To Censorship Celebrations
  8. Gmail.com redesign includes self-destructing emails: Set expiration dates and password requirements on your sensitive emails.
  9. In Trying To Ban Telegram, Russia Breaks The Internet
  10. “Privacy is not for sale,” Telegram founder says after being banned in Russia: Russian authorities are demanding a universal key. Telegram says it doesn’t exist.
  11. In effort to shut down Telegram, Russia blocks Amazon, Google network addresses: Russian censors up ante in effort to block secure chat by political opposition.
  12. Russian hackers mass-exploit routers in homes, govs, and infrastructure: The hacks steal passwords and clear the way for future attacks, officials warn.
  13. Inside the Decade-Long Russian Campaign to Infiltrate the NRA and Help Elect Trump: Femme fatales, lavish Moscow parties and dark money – how Russia worked the National Rifle Association
  14. Open Letter On Ending Attacks On Security Research
  15. Apps Are Illegally Stealing Children’s Privacy Data
  16. FTC tightens reins around Uber following 2016 breach: Ride-hailing service waited a year to disclose hack that stole data of 25 million.
  17. App Permissions Don’t Tell Us Nearly Enough About Our Apps
  18. A Casino Was Hacked Thanks To The Internet Of Broken Things & A Fish Tank Thermometer
  19. Cloudflare’s Plan To Protect The Whole Internet Comes Into Focus 
  20. What does GDPR do?: Purewal & Partners’ Jas Purewal and Peter Lewin provide an overview of the imminent EU data protection regulation
  21. What does GDPR mean for digital entertainment businesses?: In the second part of their GDPR guide, Purewal & Partners’ Jas Purewal and Peter Lewin offer advice and ten key tips for games companies
  22. When Can Law Enforcement Look at Your Devices? A Definitive List
  23. Inside The Unnerving Supply Chain Attack That Corrupted CCleaner
  24. Facebook exits anti-privacy alliance it formed with Comcast and Google: Facebook gave $200K but will stop fighting CA law to restrict sale of user data.
  25. Public Attention Forces Facebook To Retreat From Anti-Privacy Alliance With ISPs In California

GAMES

  1. Cop won’t be charged in “swatting” death of Kansas man: Victim’s family is “devastated” by the decision, their lawyer says.
  2. Blog: A legal analysis of the NetEase vs. PUBG lawsuit
  3. In-Game Currency Triggers State Gambling Laws, Rendering Mobile Game “Illegal Gambling”
  4. Patrick Soderlund: EA “can’t afford” another loot box controversy with Anthem – Newly promoted chief design officer promises publisher has learned from mistakes with Star Wars debacle
  5. Loot boxes, skins gambling to hit $50 billion by 2022: Juniper Research “strongly recommends regulation for skin trading and gambling” in report covering growth of practices
  6. Microsoft & other game companies win out in camera patent lawsuit
  7. Patent lawsuit against Microsoft, EA, and Nintendo quashed at appeal: Federal court finds patent holder’s argument “unconvincing”
  8. FTC warns that, yes, those warranty-voiding stickers on consoles are illegal
  9. FTC warns about illegal warranties, likely including Nintendo and Sony: Federal Trade Commission states that companies are not allowed to force users to use specific service providers
  10. Sophisticated APT surveillance malware comes to Google Play: Attackers pushing mobile surveillance-ware are stepping up their game.
  11. Google Play under investigation by South Korea’s FTC over market abuse
  12. Google Play faces allegations of market abuse in South Korea: South Korean FTC begins survey of mobile companies to uncover alleged abuses
  13. Female game devs in South Korea are being harassed for feminist beliefs 
  14. Cliff Bleszinski accuses Epic Games of stealing staff: Boss Key co-founder believes there is plenty of room in Battle Royale genre as Radical Heights gains momentum
  15. SteamSpy creator warns PC market is once again open to abuse: “Imagine signing a basketball player without knowing his past performance,” posits Sergey Galyonkin
  16. Valve’s SteamSpy snub will only hurt smaller developers: And thus begins a rant about digital data
  17. Valve’s move against SteamSpy isn’t such a big deal, says No More Robots founder – Mike Rose: “There’s no doubt people right now are making games because they thought SteamSpy told them to”
  18. Eugen Systems developers call an end to strike: “We have stopped striking… after more than a month a half, to conserve our resources for the future”
  19. How Dlala survived the loss of a $3m Disney deal: CEO AJ Grand-Scrutton shares the cautionary tale of a studio whose life-changing game was scrapped without warning
  20. Hollywood Should Make Movies That Grapple with Gamergate
  21. Cheater! Billy Mitchell stripped of scores, banned from premiere scoreboard: Full investigation shows King of Kong star used emulators, not real hardware.
  22. Billy Mitchell says he’s “not going to stop now” after scoreboard ban: Disgraced score-chaser promises witnesses, documents will redeem his name.
  23. Devs can now pitch crowdfunded games based on D&D co-creator’s unpublished work
  24. Estate of Dungeons & Dragons creator teams with crowdfunding/investment site for video game project
  25. The accidental relevance of Wolfenstein: The New Colossus – MachineGames creative director Jens Matthies on when he realized his Nazi-killing game was going to be politically topical, and dealing honestly with Nazi ideology
  26. God of War (2018): How to reinvent a beloved series without ruining what works – Kratos’ son avoids Scrappy-Doo syndrome amid more strategic melee brawling.
  27. Reversing the sunk cost fallacy: Devs recount what shouldn’t have been cut
  28. Win Mazda’s new iRacing challenge to get a test in an MX-5 race car: The winners of online and at-track rounds will compete at Daytona in 2019 for the test.
  29. Spending On Games Up By 13% Among US Iphone Users: Games Account For Largest Share Of Apps Installed On Average User’s Device
  30. Iron Harvest most successful video game Kickstarter in nearly a year: King Art Games’ crowdfunded project the first to break $1 million in 2018
  31. Do gamers really care about cross-platform play?: GameTrack survey of European gamers shows indifference to the trend, and a lack of influence on purchasing decisions
  32. With 2 million units sold, Shovel Knight generated the most income from Switch sales
  33. Shovel Knight earns more revenue from Switch sales than any other platform: Yacht Club Games’ signature  title sells faster on Switch than any other console
  34. Nintendo seeking startups to improve Switch hardware: Platform holder teams up with Scrum Ventures to source new add-ons and technology for hybrid console
  35. Nintendo soliciting pitches from startups for innovative Switch tools and tech
  36. Nintendo seeking startups to improve Switch hardware: Platform holder teams up with Scrum Ventures to source new add-ons and technology for hybrid console
  37. Sega entering micro-console biz with Mega Drive Mini
  38. Sega reveals Mega Drive Mini: Publisher’s entry into the mini console market begins with Japan-only release
  39. Ex-PlayStation boss points to streaming as gaming’s next “inflection point”: Andrew House also sees emerging markets keeping physical media alive and console life-cycles long
  40. EA shakes up executive team to ‘sharpen focus’ on creative core
  41. Firing the middlemen: How blockchain can reshape digital distribution – Korrobox CEO Benjamin Huang discusses how the platform intends to eliminate costs of payment handling and fraud
  42. Pro Evolution Soccer loses UEFA Champions League license: Konami ends its partnership with European tournament after a decade
  43. Yoko Taro: We don’t need to think globally to sell globally – Nier Automata director and PlatinumGames lead designer Takahisa Taura discuss developing for Western tastes, 3D action games, and the dilemma of multiple endings
  44. Dwarf Fortress is giving its dwarves the ability to form (and dwell on) memories
  45. Hellblade wins big at 2018 BAFTAs as Edith Finch takes top honor
  46. What Remains of Edith Finch beats out AAA giants to win the BAFTA for Best Game
  47. A Way Out has sold over 1 million copies in two weeks
  48. A Way Out sells 1 million in two weeks: Hazelight Studios’ EA Originals co-op prison break game wastes no time hitting milestone
  49. Rainbow Six Siege has pulled in 30 million players
  50. Rainbow Six Siege reaches 30 million registered players: Ubisoft’s multiplayer shooter goes from strength to strength
  51. Life is Strange dev Dontnod headed toward an IPO
  52. Terraria spin-off canned after three years in development
  53. Counter-Strike pro player suspended over racist comment: Remarks “went beyond something being a genuine joke” says Faceit Pro League rep
  54. Naomi Kyle Joins WatchMojo’s Gaming Channel With New Let’s Play Series
  55. Twitch takes 82% of viewership hours for the top streaming titles in Q1: Esports content generated 11 per cent of all viewership hours across Twitch and YouTube
  56. Twitch reportedly affected by IP address bans in Russia
  57. Twitch Revamps Channel Analytics Dashboard As Part Of Yearlong Effort
  58. Twitch signs multi-year deal with NBA 2K League: First media rights deal for the NBA and Take-Two’s esports endeavor will see up to 199 games aired live on streaming site
  59. Battle Royale threatens a repeat of the MOBA bloodbath: With around a dozen Battle Royale titles set for release by the end of this year, developers need to be realistic about their chances of wresting market share from PUBG and Fortnite
  60. Blog: Why Fortnite will fall, but battle royale will rise on mobile
  61. Fortnite studio called out by Gears of Wardirector over hiring practices: Asks Epic to “please stop trying to hire away my team” – after major December defection.
  62. Fortnite mobile nabbed $25M in revenue during its first month
  63. Activision Blizzard enlists Nielsen for esports valuation: Tracking firm to assess value of sponsorship packages to see if brands are getting their money’s worth
  64. Unikrn sets up cryptocurrency esports betting platform with acquisition of ChallengeMe.gg: “This is a big deal for me, for Unikrn and, honestly, for the entire gaming ecosystem,” says Unikrn CEO
  65. Augmented and virtual reality consumer content market hits $3.2bn: Virtual reality install base expected to reach 75.7 million by 2021
  66. How psychological experiments influenced the design of Vault 11 in Fallout: New Vegas 
  67. Blog: Understanding the role of music in VR
  68. The Young And The Reckless: A gang of teen hackers snatched the keys to Microsoft’s videogame empire. Then they went too far.
  69. V&A Museum: Video games are approaching a cultural tipping point – Curator Marie Foulston discusses how the industry can help a wider range of people understand our full impact and potential, and get them to look beyond the blockbusters
  70. A (slightly) different way to think about games and art
  71. Communications Accessibility In Games: What Game Developers Need To Know
  72. Crazy racing mash-up: Gamer vs driver in real cars, but with video-game views – Identical Ford Mustangs with the windows blacked out and an external camera to see.
  73. Video: How the classic arcade game NBA Jam was designed 
  74. How Xbox got its start — and its name
  75. Exploring the rise and eventual fall of Xbox’s early teenage hacker

Jon

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News of the Week; April 11, 2018

By Jon Festinger on May 1, 2018

DIGITAL

  1. Was Facebook’s Work With the Trump Campaign Illegal?
  2. The Questions Zuckerberg Should Have Answered About Russia
  3. Facebook admits Zuckerberg wiped his old messages – which you can’t do: Ordinary Facebook users can’t delete their messages from recipients’ inboxes.
  4. Facebook Admits Mark Zuckerberg and Top Execs Have Deleted Their Sent Messages Remotely
  5. Hours after Zuck deletion scandal, Facebook announces new unsend feature: How stupid does Facebook think we are?
  6. Facebook sent a doctor on a secret mission to ask hospitals to share patient data
  7. Facebook can’t catch a break: Medical data-sharing plan halted 
  8. Watch Zuckerberg Struggle to Answer Sharp, Uncomfortable Questions About Peter Thiel’s Creepy Company
  9. A Hard Transparency Choice: What is WikiLeaks?
  10. Zuckerberg: Failing to identify Russian misinformation one of his ‘greatest regrets’: Mark Zuckerberg called Facebook’s failure to identify the influence of Russian information operations on the 2016 U.S. election one of his “greatest regrets.”
  11. Data firm that worked on Brexit suspended by Facebook: But the company says all allegations are untrue.
  12. “Facebook Doesn’t Sell Your Data. It Sells You”: Zeynep Tufekci on How Company’s Profit Really Works
  13. Steve Wozniak drops Facebook: “The profits are all based on the user’s info” – Apple cofounder – “Apple makes its money off of good products, not off of you.”
  14. Zuckerberg: regulation of social media firms is ‘inevitable’
  15. As Zuck testifies to Senate, Democrats propose tough opt-in privacy law: Democrats propose opt-in privacy rules for Facebook, Google, and other websites.
  16. Facebook urged to make GDPR its “baseline standard” globally
  17. Mark Zuckerberg Answers To Congress For Facebook’s Troubles
  18. CEO Zuckerberg apologizes for Facebook’s privacy failures
  19. It’s not just America: Zuckerberg has to answer for Facebook’s actions around the world
  20. Why Zuckerberg’s 14-Year Apology Tour Hasn’t Fixed Facebook
  21. What were the failures of Mark Zuckerberg pre-Facebook?
  22. 1 million UK Facebook users could have compensation claims for misuse of their personal information
  23. From Mark Zuckerberg to Harvey Weinstein, founder CEOs can become too big to fail
  24. Facebook isn’t too big to fail 
  25. Mark Zuckerberg’s Testimony Birthed An Oddly Promising Memepocalypse
  26. Congress Is Unearthing Facebook’s Terrible Power 
  27. Facebook And The Price Of Tech Utopia
  28. Facebook Imposes New Restrictions On Ads And Popular Pages
  29. Facebook: If you want to buy a political ad, you now have to be “authorized” – “We know we were slow to pick-up foreign interference in the 2016 US elections.”
  30. Facebook’s surveillance is nothing compared with Comcast, AT&T and Verizon: Comcast, AT&T and Verizon pose a greater surveillance risk than Facebook – but their surveillance is much harder to avoid
  31. MIT Civic Media Director: Facebook’s Apologies Are ‘Long Overdue’
  32. Mark Zuckerberg’s Privacy Shell Game
  33. Facebook CEO puts on suit and a smile to try to seduce, assuage senators – Sen. Blumenthal (D-CT): “Your business model is to maximize profit over privacy.” 
  34. Cambridge Analytica Could Have Also Accessed Private Facebook Messages
  35. How To Check If Cambridge Analytica Could Access Your Facebook Data
  36. How to Find Out If Your Facebook Data Was Stolen by Cambridge Analytica
  37. Data Lords: The Real Story of Big Data, Facebook and the Future of News
  38. Broadband Industry Aims To Use Facebook Fracas To Saddle Silicon Valley With Crappy New Laws
  39. Yep, Russian trolls hit Reddit, too—on /r/funny and elsewhere – CEO: “We still have a lot of room to improve, and we intend to remain vigilant.”
  40. Here’s why tech companies abuse our data: because we let them (Brett Frischmann)
  41. The Rise Of Platform Authoritarianism
  42. Court Shuts Down Yet Another Lawsuit Against Social Media Companies Over Terrorist Attacks
  43. Cali Lawmakers Pushing For 72-Hour Bot Removal Requirements For Social Media Companies
  44. Court Says Kentucky Governor Free To Block Critics Using Official Social Media Accounts
  45. FOSTA Signed into Law, Amends CDA Section 230 to Allow Enforcement against Online Providers for Knowingly Facilitating Sex Trafficking
  46. Trump signs bill to shut down websites that facilitate prostitution: FOSTA becomes law—sex work forums were already shutting down to prepare.
  47. Ted Cruz Gets Section 230 All Wrong, While Zuck Claims He’s Not Familiar With It
  48. Backpage domains seized by feds, co-founder’s Arizona home raided: Notorious site had used Section 230 as a shield against state prosecution.
  49. Backpage execs indicted on federal prostitution, money laundering charges – AG: “Backpage.com existed as the dominant marketplace for illicit commercial sex.” 
  50. DOJ Seizes And Shuts Down Backpage.com (Before SESTA Has Even Been Signed)
  51. “Erotic Review” blocks US Internet users to prepare for government crackdown: Sex work review site censors itself in US before SESTA is signed into law.
  52. Politicians Who Said SESTA Was Needed To Takedown Backpage Claim Victory Over Backpage Takedown… Without SESTA
  53. Federal Backpage Indictment Shows SESTA Unnecessary, Contains Zero Sex Trafficking Charges
  54. Japanese Government Seeks To Circumvent Its Own Constitution To Censor ‘Pirate’ Sites
  55. Studio71 Launches Brand Safety Tool To Help Its Partners Advertise Securely
  56. Right to be forgotten and online information removal under debate: Privacy commissioner may face challenges with the law
  57. Canadian Government Leaning Towards A Right To Be Forgotten It Can Enforce Anywhere In The World
  58. Vimeo Copyright Infringement Case Still Going Nearly A Decade Later, With Another Partial Win For Vimeo
  59. Latest EU Copyright Plan Would Ban Copyright Holders From Using Creative Commons
  60. Apple Must Pay $502.6 Million to VirnetX, Federal Jury Rules
  61. Apple ordered to pay $502.6M to VirnetX after jury finds patent infringement: Suing over patents hasn’t paid off: VirnetX lost over $75M from 2015 through 2017.
  62. Patent Troll Sues Spotify, SoundCloud And Deezer Over Patent On A ‘Music Organizer And Entertainment Center’
  63. Apple has begun notifying macOS users of coming 32-bit app incompatibility: Warnings have started, but 32-bit support will likely continue for many months.
  64. Amazon customers take to social media after mysterious account closures  
  65. Most Links To Popular Sites On Twitter Come From Bots
  66. Instagram Testing ‘Nametags’ Feature That’s Essentially A Snapcodes Clone
  67. One Woman Got Facebook To Police Opioid Sales On Instagram
  68. ‘Mister Rogers’ Fan Film Battles Copyright Claim On YouTube
  69. After “Horrific Act Of Violence,” YouTube Will Tighten Security “At All Of Our Offices Worldwide”
  70. Google Staffer Launches $24,000 GoFundMe Campaign For YouTube Shooting Hero
  71. Groups Allege YouTube Is Violating Law That Protects Kids
  72. Advocacy Groups, Citing Children’s Privacy Laws, Ask FTC To Investigate YouTube
  73. Unite the Right? How YouTube’s Recommendation Algorithm Connects The U.S. Far-Right
  74. YouTube TV To Launch Linear Channels With Cheddar, Tastemade, The Young Turks
  75. Philip DeFranco Answers Sean Evans’ Burning Questions About YouTube On ‘Hot Ones’ 
  76. ‘Study With Me’ YouTube Videos Are Finding Massive Audiences In Japan 
  77. YouTube To Stream Coachella For Eighth Year, Including Headliner Beyoncé
  78. YouTube Kids Is Going To Release A Whitelisted, Non-Algorithmic Version Of Its App: YouTube will approve all channels allowed to post, a source told BuzzFeed News, giving parents a firewall against an algorithm that’s often proved lacking.
  79. Google Turns To Users To Improve Its AI Chops Outside The US
  80. Again, Algorithms Suck At Determining ‘Bad’ Content, Often To Hilarious Degrees
  81. BroadbandTV Unveils ‘VISO’ Platform To Help Creators Collaborate, Optimize Uploads, More
  82. Netflix Reportedly Threatens Cannes Boycott After Its Films Are Banned From Competition
  83. The Military Wants to Make AI That Mimics the Human Brain. Experts Know There’s a Better Way.
  84. A Brain-Boosting Prosthesis Moves From Rats To Humans
  85. A New AI “Journalist” Is Rewriting the News to Remove Bias
  86. A lawyer’s guide to artificial intelligence
  87. China Now Has the Most Valuable AI Startup in the World
  88. Artificial Intelligence, Fair Use, and Using AI to Create New Works
  89. President Trump Announces Trade Actions Targeting Chinese Tech and Intellectual Property Policies 
  90. Mozilla Diagnoses The Health Of The Global Internet
  91. The Internet has serious health problems, Mozilla Foundation report finds: Consolidation of control, “fake news,” IoT security weakness are symptoms of larger problems.
  92. More Governments Granting Themselves Extra Censorship Powers With ‘Fake News’ Laws
  93. Indian Government Enacts, Abandons ‘Fake News’ Law In Less Than 24 Hours
  94. Mt. Gox ex-CEO, who may profit from site’s fall, says he “doesn’t want this”
  95. Beijing Higher Court Affirms Grant of Injunction in IWNComm v. Sony
  96. The Never-Ending Self-Driving Car Project
  97. China Now Has the Most Valuable AI Startup in the World
  98. 10 Hidden URLs to Help You Rule the Web
  99. Quebec Digital Sales Tax Plan Shows It Is Easier Said Than Done (Michael Geist)

CREATIVITY

  1. Public policy and offensive trademarks
  2. Strong Shield Law Protections for Journalists in California and Across the Country 
  3. RIAA Gets To Move Forward In Case That Tries To Force ISPs To Help Copyright Trolls
  4. MPAA Report Shows How The Internet Is Saving The Film Industry, Not Destroying It 

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. Canadian Internet Providers Warn of Site Blocking Consequences: Threat to Affordable Internet Access and Market Competition (Michael Geist)
  2. CRTC Website Blocking Submissions Confirm Over-Blocking Risks: “Every Blocking Technique Suffers from Over-blocking and Under-blocking” (Michael Geist)
  3. Broken Record: Why the Music Industry’s Secret Plan for iPhone Taxes, Internet Tracking and Content Blocking is Off-Key (Michael Geist)
  4. The Competition-Killing Sprint, T-Mobile Merger Nobody Asked For Is Back On The Menu
  5. Oregon finalizes net neutrality law despite likelihood that ISPs will sue: Oregon governor signs net neutrality bill today.
  6. Oregon passes its own net neutrality laws, but not for home users: “The internet has democratised knowledge and is an invaluable tool. It’s so important that it remains open and accessible”
  7. Massachusetts Legislature Issues Net Neutrality Report, Recommends Legislation
  8. More Colorado Towns Vote Down A Comcast State Law Hamstringing Broadband Competition
  9. Ex-Obama FTC Boss Now Lobbying For Comcast, Trying To Prevent States From Protecting Consumers
  10. Ajit Pai’s “Harlem Shake” video preparations must remain secret, FCC says: It’s the second time FCC refused to release emails about an Ajit Pai comedy skit.
  11. FCC Withholds Ajit Pai’s Emails Regarding The Infamous ‘Harlem Shake’ Video
  12. FCC Commissioner Says Her Agency Is Now Just A Giant Rubber Stamp For Sinclair Broadcasting
  13. Trump and the idiot box: White House aides will try to get guests to make their points on Fox News shows because President Trump “will listen more when it is on TV.” 
  14. The crisis in journalism that’s helping Trump: Did the collapse of local journalism help give us Donald Trump? 
  15. When You Merge The Message With The Medium, You Make A Messium 
  16. What’s Next for the FCC’s Radio Ownership Rules? – Do Changes in the Audio Marketplace Justify Changes in Ownership Limits? 
  17. AT&T’s 5G trials produce gigabit speeds and 9ms latency: AT&T boasts about millimeter-wave 5G as it prepares for late 2018 launch.
  18. CenturyLink Tries To Dodge Broadband Billing Lawsuit By Claiming It Technically Has No Subscribers

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. The NYPD Wants Everyone’s Licenses for Facial Recognition. How Concerned Should You Be?
  2. DHS defends media-monitoring database, calls critics “conspiracy theorists”: Says only wearers of “tinfoil hats” have issues with “standard practice monitoring.”
  3. Thousands of hacked websites are infecting visitors with malware: Unusually advanced campaign infects people visiting a variety of poorly secured sites. 
  4. Another Company Blows Off Breach Notification For Months, Lies About Affected Customers When It’s Exposed
  5. DC’s Stingray Mess Won’t Get Cleaned Up
  6. DHS Says Rogue Stingrays Are In Use In Washington, DC; Also Says It Hasn’t Done Anything About It
  7. How to keep your ISP’s nose out of your browser history with encrypted DNS: Using Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1, other DNS services still require some command-line know-how.
  8. Cyberinsurance Tackles The Wildly Unpredictable World Of Hacks 
  9. Striking the Balance: Privacy and Freedom of Expression in the Digital Age (Michael Geist) 
  10. Data Rules in Modern Trade Agreements: Toward Reconciling an Open Internet with Privacy and Security Safeguards (Michael Geist)
  11. Practical passwordless authentication comes a step closer with WebAuthn: Microsoft, Mozilla, and Google are all implementing the new standard.

GAMES

  1. GTA V producer hits speed bump in $150M lawsuit against Rockstar
  2. Former GTA producer suffers setback in $150m lawsuit against Take Two: Court finds profit sharing agreement unambiguous, but Benzies could still be compensated
  3. GTA V is the most profitable entertainment product of all time: 90 million sales and $6 billion in revenue means nothing comes close to Rockstar’s biggest hit
  4. Court Dismisses Lohan’s Invasion of Privacy Suit
  5. Grand Theft Auto 5 Has Many Different Characters, But Lindsay Lohan Is Not One of Them 
  6. Appeals Court Rules That GTA5 Didn’t Infringe On Lindsay Lohan’s Likeness Rights
  7. Lawsuit Filed Against PUBG Mobile Clones
  8. PUBG Corp takes NetEase to court over alleged mobilePUBG copycats
  9. PUBG creators finally decide a copycat game has gone too far, file suit: What gets PUBG lawyers’ attention? A 25-strong list that includes chicken dinners.
  10. PUBG Corp. files lawsuit against NetEase for alleged copyright infringement: Look and feel of both mobile games “closely mimic” PUBG, says developer
  11. CliffyB’s Radical Heights is a new low for cashing in on the PUBG craze: What happens when a game studio is late to a hot trend twice in a row?
  12. Microsoft & other game companies win out in camera patent lawsuit
  13. Ubisoft to prioritize ‘toxicity management’ in Rainbow Six: Siege
  14. Ubisoft cracking down on hate speech, team-killing in Rainbow Six: Siege – “Egregious offenders” can now earn a permanent ban “without warning.”
  15. “You’re a__ is about to get swatted,” swatting suspect tweets from jail: A software glitch in a Kansas jail temporarily gave the suspect Internet access.
  16. Pokémon Go Producers Attacked by Strange Plaintiff-Beasts
  17. Korean companies fined $950K for deceptive loot box practices
  18. Nexon and Netmarble fined for loot box practices: Korean FTC hands out almost $1 million in fines, the majority to Nexon
  19. Korean FTC Issues Fines Over Loot Box Advertising 
  20. FTC: Warranty-voiding language like Nintendo’s and Sony’s is illegal – FTC warns companies to stop voiding warranties for unauthorized repairs.
  21. Online gaming could be stalled by net neutrality repeal, ESA tells court: Entertainment Software Association fights FCC’s net neutrality repeal in court.
  22. The Video Game Industry Joins The Lawsuit To Save Net Neutrality
  23. Public UK wage database showcases game industry’s gender pay gap
  24. Exploring the pay gap: What does the data really say about the industry’s gender imbalance? – Full analysis reveals important questions about female representation across all industry levels
  25. Gender pay gaps: Here’s how we fix them – Amiqus’ Liz Prince believes this week’s revelations should compel the industry to address how it recruits, retains and promotes women
  26. Indie collective Juegos Rancheros dismisses co-founder Boyer
  27. Brandon Boyer dismissed from Juegos Rancheros: Austin indie game organization removes co-founder and former IGF chair from board of directors over conduct concerns
  28. Blog: Recapping the IGDA’s localization roundtable from GDC
  29. Altered Ventures launches $36M fund to help devs succeed in emerging markets
  30. How long should game devs spend working on just one game?
  31. BossKey backing away from active LawBreakers development 
  32. Lawbreakers “failed to find an audience,” dev officially admits FPS defeat: Implies that game won’t receive an end-of-life transition to free-to-play, either.
  33. Ubisoft opens Winnipeg studio to develop world building tech
  34. Ubisoft opening Winnipeg studio: Far Cry 5 producer Darryl Long named managing director of new co-development studio focused on tools and tech for publisher’s AAA open-world brands
  35. Nightdive shares source code for System Shock on Mac
  36. Far Cry 5 has more than doubled Far Cry 4’s first week sales
  37. Insights: Fortnite’s Pop Culture Breakthrough May Last More Than Two Weeks
  38. Fortnite mobile revenue tops $15M after less than a month
  39. Fortnite mobile daily revenue peaks at $1.8m since lifting invite-only requirement: Total revenue surpasses $15 million in less than a month
  40. Resident Evil 7 has surpassed 5.1M sales worldwide
  41. With 2 million units sold, Shovel Knight generated the most income from Switch sales
  42. Nintendo warns against using substandard Switch charging cables
  43. Overwatch League team drops player: Boston Rising terminates contract of Jonathan “DreamKazper” Sanchez after allegation of sexual communications with a minor
  44. What Is The Copyright Status In eSports Casts?
  45. Esports and gambling
  46. Blizzard looking to grow Overwatch League with All-Access Pass
  47. Video Game Deep Cuts: A WiLD eSports Mario Approaches
  48. NBA’s Adam Silver Welcomes ‘New Generation Of Athletes’ With NBA 2K League
  49. Video games can create beneficial social connections and take on real issues
  50. Wadjet Eye: Streamers “pushed me to make the game that I’ve always wanted to play” – With Unavowed, founder Dave Gilbert aimed to make a point and click adventure game that can’t be spoiled by YouTube videos
  51. I got occupational burnout – and you might, too: Will Luton on a “scarily ubiquitous” problem in the games industry, but one that can be identified and prevented
  52. ‘VRChat’ is the Closest VR Experience Available Today to ‘Ready Player One’s’ OASIS
  53. Group Behind JPEG Unveils New ‘visually lossless’ Compression Standard for VR/AR and More
  54. Leap Motion reveals open-source North Star AR headset 
  55. Trade marks: How much do you really need to protect?: As the Star Control legal battle extends to alien race names, Harbottle & Lewis’ Kostya Lobov offers advice on striking a balance
  56. “Most developers think of funding as fixing their problem”: But VC investors care about opportunities and not problems, says Jason Della Rocca, and this year’s Nordic Game Conference will feature an event to show the difference
  57. Steam privacy tweaks spell the end for services like Steam Spy
  58. Steam Spy announces it’s shutting down, blames Valve’s new privacy settings: Sales-estimate service, born from an Ars data project, says goodbye to its best source.
  59. SteamSpy shutting down after Steam privacy update: Switch to default hidden game libraries cuts off primary source of tracker’s data
  60. Blog: Early Access without Steam? Let’s break down the numbers
  61. Blog: A history of game analytics platforms
  62. iOS App Store shrinks as number of new apps falls for first time ever
  63. Razer sets up shop as a PC game retailer
  64. Myst creators launch Kickstarter to bring every game in the series to Windows 10: Most of the games are already available, but there are some collector’s items.
  65. The ESA has joined the fight to save net neutrality
  66. ESA joins battle for net neutrality: E3 organiser and games lobbying group files to participate in lawsuit against Federal Communications Commission
  67. Humble is selling a huge gaming history ebook collection for $15: MIT Press combines 18 of its incredibly wonky game design studies books for cheap.
  68. How game writers craft meaningful romances in games
  69. Blog: The importance of knowing your inheritance, as a game dev
  70. V&A Museum to highlight game design innovations in coming exhibit
  71. Video Games: Design/Play/Disrupt arrives at Victoria and Albert Museum this autumn: “Exhibition will provide a compelling insight into one of the most important design disciplines of our time,” says V&A director
  72. Take a gander at how the very first arcade video games were advertised

Jon

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News of the Week; April 4, 2018

By Jon Festinger on April 29, 2018

DIGITAL

  1. Trump admin wants to track 14 million US visitors’ social media history
  2. Republican governor forced to stop blocking Facebook users who criticize him: Maryland gov. settled free speech lawsuit – Trump is still fighting a similar suit.
  3. US Might Start A Nuclear War… Because Iranians Wanted Access To Academic Papers Locked Behind A Paywall?
  4. Facebook: It wasn’t 50M hit by Cambridge Analytica breach, but rather 87M – Also, Facebook will now delete all call and SMS logs older than one year.
  5. Facebook Exposed 87 Million Users To Cambridge Analytica
  6. Facebook executive defends memo saying connecting people online is good even if ‘someone dies in a terrorist attack’
  7. Facebook Executive Defends Leaked Memo saying Growth Is Good Even If  ‘Domeone Dies In A Terror Attack’
  8. Influencers are getting long-term contracts that treat them more like traditional talent: In a 2016 memo, Facebook executive Andrew Bosworth wrote “Maybe it costs a life by exposing someone to bullies.” Thursday, he renounced the statements.
  9. With GDPR Decision, Zuckerberg Proves Yet Again He Has Learned Absolutely Nothing From the Cambridge Analytica Scandal
  10. The Case For A Zuck-Free Facebook
  11. Mark Zuckerberg will testify before Congress next week: Members of Congress want answers about the Cambridge Analytica scandal. 
  12. Tim Cook Says Apple Would Never Have a Scandal Like Cambridge Analytica
  13. A Short History Of Facebook’s Privacy Gaffes
  14. Don’t Just Delete Facebook — Delete Well
  15. Report: Facebook Staff Suddenly Concerned About Privacy, Specifically Theirs
  16. CEO says Facebook will impose new EU privacy rules “everywhere”: “We have to ensure that everyone in our ecosystem protects people’s information.”
  17. Mark Zuckerberg Hints Most Facebook Users Won’t Benefit From New Privacy Rules
  18. Computer science faces an ethics crisis. The Cambridge Analytica scandal proves it.
  19. Cambridge Analytica’s processing of Facebook’s users’ data for predictive psychological profiling and voter micro targeting: The 2018 ICO investigation against Cambridge Analytica’s practices on Facebookc – An international wake-up call
  20. How Cambridge Analytica’s Facebook targeting model really worked
  21. Facebook and Cambridge Analytica (Bruce Schneier)
  22. Facebook’s New Data-Sharing Policies Are Crashing Tinder
  23. Can Social Media Be Saved?
  24. It Took All Of Three Hours To Code A Plugin That Makes News Comments More Civil
  25. Four problems for news and democracy: Here are some “buckets” for making sense of why: addiction, economics, bad actors and known bugs (Ethan Zuckerman)
  26. Oracle America, Inc. v. Google LLC 
  27. Court Shows SESTA Is Not Needed: Says Backpage Can Lose Its CDA 230 Protections If It Helped Create Illegal Content 
  28. Yet Another Court Says Victims Don’t Need SESTA/FOSTA To Go After Backpage 
  29. Sex Workers Fighting Back Against SESTA/FOSTA With Their Own Social Network… And Plan To Expose Politicians
  30. Yet Another Case Highlights Yet Another Constitutional Infirmity With The DMCA
  31. Judge Blocks Iowa Town From Shutting Down Or Suing Resident Over His Critical Website
  32. Court Says PACER System Is Illegally Using Fees
  33. Lawyer Behind Failing Sham To Protect Sketchy Patents Sends Bogus Copyright Cease & Desist To Blogger
  34. Conservative Wingnuts Celebrate Easter by Complaining About Google Doodles, Like Jesus Would
  35. Google employees revolt, say company should shut down military drone project: Project applying Google’s image recognition to military drone footage causes uproar.
  36. Court Tosses Dennis Prager’s Silly Lawsuit Against YouTube, Refuses His Request For Preliminary Injunction
  37. Michigan State University Reportedly Spent $500k To Monitor The Social Media Accounts Of Larry Nassar’s Accusers And Journalists
  38. YouTube Shooting Spree Injures 4, Kills 1
  39. Police confirm one dead, three wounded after shooting at YouTube HQ
  40. 4 Wounded, Suspect Dead Following Shooting At YouTube’s San Bruno Headquarters 
  41. YouTube Shooter Nasim Aghdam Complained The Company Ruined Her Life
  42. Police Say YouTube Policies Motivated Shooter 
  43. YouTube shooter IDed as woman angry at site’s “age-restricted” policies
  44. Tragic YouTube shooting casts new light on creators’ “adpocalypse” complaints: Alleged shooter left a video behind with complaints about revenue. What’s going on? 
  45. What We Know About YouTube Shooter Nasim Aghdam
  46. Livid over site’s policies, YouTube shooter trained for attack, shot randomly
  47. As YouTube Cracks Down On Firearm Videos, Niche Video Platforms Look To Seize An Opportunity
  48. Film Critic Chris Stuckmann Calls Out Universal For Abusing YouTube’s Copyright-Claiming System
  49. Jake Paul Planning Talk Show For YouTube Red 
  50. Influencers are getting long-term contracts that treat them more like traditional talent
  51. Luis Fonsi And Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito” Is The First YouTube Video To Receive Five Billion Views
  52. Fullscreen Acquires Influencer-Marketing Firm Reelio 
  53. DramaFever Names Rena Liu GM, Acquires Select ‘Bachelorette’ Streaming Rights
  54. Quixotic Approaches To Circumventing Censorship, Using Books And Music
  55. The Inside Story Of Reddit’s Redesign: Goodbye, dystopian Craigslist. There’s a new Reddit, and it’s all grown up.
  56. Snapchat Lays Off Roughly 100 Staffers For The Second Time This Month
  57. Snapchat Tries Explaining Itself To The Masses In First TV Commercial
  58. Snapchat Expands Video Chats To Include 16 People At Once
  59. Spotify And The Triumph Of The Subscription Model 
  60. Disney To Launch $5 Monthly ESPN+ Streaming Service On April 12
  61. ESPN To Combat Cord-Cutting By Putting Once Kinda Free Content Behind A New Paywall
  62. Twitter to live stream weekly MLB games in renewed deal 
  63. Twitter To Air Weekly MLB Games In Renewed Streaming Pact
  64. NBA To Experiment With Cheap 4th Quarter Only Streaming Options
  65. Uber Settles with Family of AV Crash Victim
  66. Amazon Lost $53 Billion in One Day Because Trump Has Opinions
  67. Here’s how President Trump could go after Amazon
  68. Photographing A Robot Isn’t Just Point And Shoot
  69. Russia Debuts Postal Drone, Which Immediately Crashes Into Wall
  70. Emmanuel Macron Talks To Wired About France’s AI Strategy
  71. Not Everything Needs Copyright: Lawyers Flip Out That Photos Taken By AI May Be Public Domain
  72. Artificial Intelligence Rules More of Your Life. Who Rules AI?: Tech companies are working on standards for the field, though critics see their efforts as attempts to stave off government oversight
  73. AI Engineers Must Open Their Designs To Democratic Control
  74. Mini Brains Just Got Creepier – They’re Growing Their Own Veins
  75. A Cruise self-driving car got a traffic ticket – GM says it did nothing wrong: Cruise says its car never came within 10 feet of a pedestrian.
  76. Uber settles with family of woman killed by self-driving car, avoids lawsuit: Uber and family settle out of court after self-driving car hit pedestrian.
  77. Tesla says Autopilot was active during fatal crash in Mountain View: Tesla argues the data still show Autopilot makes its cars safer.
  78. What Can The Law Do About `Deepfake’?
  79. How Grubhub Analyzed 4,000 Dishes To Predict Your Next Order
  80. Elon Musk’s April Fools’ Prank Totally Backfired
  81. JFK And The Right Of Publicity
  82. When You Can Make ‘JFK’ Say Anything, What’s Stopping Him From Selling Doritos? 
  83. FTC Targets Cryptocurrency Pyramid Schemes 
  84. Google Bans All Cryptomining Extensions From The Chrome Store
  85. Google bans cryptomining Chrome extensions because they refuse to play by the rules: Google continues to try to keep its browser running smoothly in spite of others’ efforts.
  86. Banning cryptocurrency ads is “short-sighted”
  87. Cryptocurrency Pays Price for Alleged Harm With Ad Ban
  88. Two founders of cryptocurrency offering arrested, charged with fraud – Centra Tech’s lawyer said last year: “It’s certainly not a scam.”
  89. Blockchain caught in regulatory crossfire: Without clearly defined regulations for products based on blockchain technology, the future of this industry remains uncertain
  90. Ethical Obligations and Blogging: ABA Opinion Serves as Reminder 
  91. The Condom Snorting Challenge Is Tide Pods’ Final Revenge
  92. Witches, Frog-Gods, And The Deepening Schism Of Internet Religions
  93. Reporting Sexual Harassment In The Digital Age
  94. Apple Music update fills the void left by MTV with exclusive music videos
  95. Insights: Apple Just Launched Its MTV, So When Will It Launch Its Netflix?
  96. RIAA Reports Music Industry Is Making All The Money Just As New Study Says Piracy Has Never Been More Widespread
  97. Hated Science Publisher Elsevier To Help EU Monitor Open Science – Including Open Access
  98. The Wired Guide To Memes: Everything you ever wanted to know about Nyan Cat, Doge, and the art of the Rickroll.
  99. Canadian Internet Law Update – 2017

CREATIVITY

  1. Details announced for statutory review of Canada’s Copyright Act. Phased review projected to be completed in 2019.
  2. Canadian Copyright Law Review Takes Shape: Report Not Expected Until 2019 (Michael Geist)
  3. Storytellers and Artists May Continue To Rejoice – Feud: Bette and Joan Is Fully Protected By The First Amendment 
  4. Malaysian Government Pushes ‘Fake News’ Bill Aimed At Curb-Stomping Reporting About Its Corruption
  5. Court Says Scraping Websites And Creating Fake Profiles Can Be Protected By The First Amendment
  6. School Sells Out Students’ First Amendment Rights, Apologizes And Deletes Article Containing Controversial Images
  7. Judge Tosses Charges Against Journalist Who Published Docs Leaked To Her By A Police Officer
  8. Report Alleges Ren & Stimpy Creator John Kricfalusi Took Advantage of Underage Girls Interested in Animation
  9. Me Too Is Changing Even The Smarmiest Advertisers
  10. Report: Dumb Beer Ad Phrase Banned From The Masters
  11. How Do You Know You Are Reading This?
  12. Levi v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.
  13. De Becdelievre v. Anastasia Musical LLC 
  14. Despite Podcast’s Popularity, “SERIAL” Trademark Registration Denied as Generic
  15. University Of Illinois Attempts To Trademark Bully An Alumnus After Failing To Stop His Trademark Registration
  16. Copyright – 2017 Year in Review
  17. Black Panther Has Beaten Titanic to Become the Third Highest Grossing US Theatrical Release of All Time
  18. 2001: A Space Odyssey predicted The Future – 50 Years Ago

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. UN Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression: Website Blocking Plan “Raises Serious Inconsistencies” With Canada’s Human Rights Obligations (Michael Geist)
  2. Conservative MP on Bell Site Blocking Plan: “Canadians Should be Concerned” (Michael Geist)
  3. Telus’ Website Blocking Submission: No Copyright Expertise Needed and No Net Neutrality Violation if Everyone is Doing It (Michael Geist)
  4. My CRTC Submission on the Bell Coalition Site Blocking Plan: Why it is Disproportionate, Harmful, and Inconsistent With Global Standards (Michael Geist)
  5. Aussie Rightsholders Look To Feature Creep Site-Blocking To Search-Blocking, Because Of Course They Are
  6. Canadian Ownership Rules in Telecom and Broadcasting
  7. Supreme Court to Hear Appeal on Interaction between Arbitration Clauses and Class Proceedings: TELUS Communications Inc. v. Avraham Wellman 
  8. Sinclair forced TV anchors to criticize “fake” news – and Trump loved it: Sinclair echoes Trump’s “fake news” claims while seeking US approval of a merger.
  9. Ex-Fox News contributor: I was silenced on Russia because I didn’t back Trump
  10. Ex-Fox News contributor says he was kept off air because he wouldn’t ‘unswervingly support President Trump‘ 
  11. I was not allowed to be the voice of sanity on Russia at Fox News. I had to quit
  12. One of Rachael Ray’s Companies Has Pulled Its Ads From Laura Ingraham’s Show 
  13. A day after Laura Ingraham faced boycotts over taunting a Parkland survivor, she’s apologizing
  14. Advertisers Continue Exodus After Parkland Survivor Rejects Laura Ingraham Apology: “#ShutUpAndBeObjective”
  15. Laura Ingraham’s advertisers aren’t buying her apology, either
  16. Fox News Host Laura Ingraham Is Going on ‘Vacation’ As Advertisers Bail 
  17. How America’s Largest Local TV Owner Turned Its News Anchors Into Soldiers In Trump’s War On The Media 
  18. This San Diego Radio Station Has Existed For A Month And Is Already A Disaster
  19. Federal Court Curbs FCC Robocall Restrictions 
  20. FCC Continues War on Pirate Radio – Seizes Equipment of Boston Stations While New Legislative Tools May Be on the Way 
  21. Ajit Pai faces heat over proposal to take away poor people’s broadband plans: Pai offered no evidence that plan will boost network investment, Democrats say.
  22. FCC Boss Under Fire For Facts-Optional Attack On Low-Income Broadband Programs
  23. Super-Local Broadband May Be The Best Way to Preserve Net Neutrality
  24. Telecom Lobbyists: We’ll Fight State Efforts To Protect Net Neutrality For A ‘United And Connected Future’
  25. Comcast supports ban on paid prioritization – with an exception: Instead of total ban, Comcast wants exception for specialized services.
  26. Comcast’s Top Lobbyist Is Pushing A Net Neutrality ‘Compromise’ That Isn’t
  27. FCC approves SpaceX plan to launch 4,425 broadband satellites 
  28. Charter fails to prove that its employees purposely caused cable outages: Charter lawsuit against union dismissed by judge as strike enters second year.
  29. CenturyLink fights billing-fraud lawsuit by claiming that it has no customers: CenturyLink operates via subsidiaries that enforce mandatory arbitration clauses. 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1.  Yahoo! Cyber breach settlement gives shareholders cause for cheer 
  2. DOJ Asks Supreme Court To Dump Microsoft Case, Let It Use New CLOUD Act To Demand Overseas Data
  3. If You Jaywalk in China, Facial Recognition Means You’ll Walk Away With A Fine
  4. Grindr won’t share users’ HIV status with app contractors after outcry
  5. It’s Grindr’s Turn In The Barrel As America Finally Decides To Care About Consumer Privacy 
  6. Truckers Take On Trump Over Electronic Surveillance Rules
  7. Appeals Court Has No Problem With Cops Using E911 Services To Perform Warrantless, Real-Time Tracking 
  8. Feds: There are hostile stingrays in DC, but we don’t know how to find them – There’s also “anomalous activity” – probably stingrays – in other US cities, too. 
  9. Want to hack a voting machine? Hack the voting machine vendor first: How password reuse and third-party breaches leave voting machine vendors vulnerable to attack.
  10. The Billion-Dollar Hacking Group Behind A String Of Big Breaches
  11. Beware The Academic Vanity Honeypot: How a hacker weaponized flattery and took over my Twitter account. 
  12. What Happens When You Track Your Boyfriend On Strava
  13. Hacking your brain(scan): security bugs in EEG software open hospitals to attack – Cisco Talos reveals “multiple vulnerabilities” in hardware common at hospitals.
  14. Finally extradited from Europe, suspected LinkedIn hacker faces US charges
  15. Coming Soon (or at least by November): Government Sets a Date for Data Breach Disclosure Rules To Take Effect (Michael Geist)
  16. Practical Approaches to Big Data Privacy Over Time (Micah Altman, Alexandra Wood, David R. O’Brien and Urs Gasser)

GAMES

  1. Lindsay Lohan loses Grand Theft Auto V lawsuit on appeal: It’s game over for the actress, as an appeals court finds a game character Lohan called her “unequivocal” likeness is rather a “generic … twentysomething woman.”
  2. Lindsay Lohan’s GTA 5 Lawsuit Rejected Again: “We conclude…that the subject images are not recognizable as plaintiff.”
  3. Court rejects Lindsay Lohan’s appeal in GTA V likeness lawsuit 
  4. Loot box latest: Big Fish Casino decision reversed by US Court
  5. Big Fish Casino constitutes illegal gambling under Washington law
  6. Monolith removes loot boxes from Middle-earth: Shadow of War – Mechanic “risked undermining the heart of our game,” says developer
  7. Developer removes randomized loot boxes from Middle-Earth: Shadow of War – Monolith says paid market “compromises” the game “even if you don’t buy anything.”
  8. Shadow of War is being completely stripped of microtransactions
  9. Social Casino Game Found to Be Illegal Gambling 
  10. Judge Refuses to Dismiss Copyright Lawsuit Over LeBron James Tattoo in ‘NBA 2K’: Take-Two attempted to argue that its use of LeBron James’ tattoo was de minimis or fair use.
  11. Judge Swain: Discovery Necessary to Determine “Fair Use” of NBA Tattoos in Video Game 
  12. Take-Two Fails To Get NBA2K Tattoo Copyright Lawsuit Dismissed
  13. Niantic settles Pokemon Go class action lawsuit for $1.5M
  14. Niantic pays $1.6 million settlement over failed Pokemon Go event: Attendees can get reimbursed for incurred travel expenses.
  15. Niantic settling Pokemon Go Fest lawsuit for $1.6 million – Report: Resolution will see developer reimburse travel costs for attendees of last year’s disastrous Chicago event
  16. “Patent troll” doubles down, now accuses Clicker Heroes maker of libel – Lawyer for Playsaurus: “Stop sending baseless letters with draconian demands.”
  17. IGF Award-winning Baba Is You cloned before it was even released
  18. Eugen Systems devs hit out at management after six weeks on strike
  19. Eugen Systems striking devs going to labour court: Employees initiating proceedings against Steel Division – Normandy 44 studio after six weeks with no progress in negotiations
  20. Ageism: The issue never gets old – Veteran game developers share thoughts on how big a problem age discrimination actually is, and how to get around it
  21. 69% of large UK games firms have bigger gender pay gap than national average: King and Rockstar added to database, based on businesses with 250 or more employees
  22. Ubisoft’s plans to tackle toxicity in Rainbow Six: Siege – Permanent bans, mute text chat, chat filtering and team kill detection all in the works
  23. To prevent toxicity, design games with community management in mind
  24. Blog: It’s not me. It’s you – surviving a toxic workplace
  25. Blizzard experiments with machine learning to fight Overwatch toxicity 
  26. Blog: Working on controversial shooter Six Days in Fallujah
  27. China’s Tencent Proves You Can Make A Decent Profit From Online Publishing — If You Have A Platform With A Billion Users
  28. Twitch Streamer Ninja Draws Backlash For Using N-Word During ‘Fortnite’ Stream
  29. Citing “Adjustments,” Twitch Lays Off Approximately 25 Employees
  30. Twitch undergoes layoffs: Streaming site confirms “team adjustments in some departments,” plans to increase headcount by 30% this year
  31. Research reveals most popular esports on Twitch: Nearly three times as many MOBA streamers than any other genre
  32. Superdata: Fortnite has more monthly active users than GTA Online – Battle Royale game earned more additional content revenue than any other console title in February – except Call of Duty
  33. Fortnite is taking over the sports world
  34. World’s largest esports organisations sign up for Clash Royale League: 36 teams from North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America to compete in $1 million World Final
  35. Gearing up for e-sport: Seizing opportunities and tackling legal issues
  36. Competitive sniping game SpyPartyfinally hitting Steam after eight years: Could an indie game about psychological stare-downs truly emerge as an esports star?
  37. It’s more than luck: what devs should keep in mind when creating an ‘indie hit’
  38. Blog: Some notes on indie publishing 
  39. The Rise Of Vsports: A New Category Of Sport Powered By Video Technology
  40. A look at EA Sports’ push for more accessible sports games
  41. Premium mobile game Hitman Sniper passes 10M players
  42. Hitman Sniper passes 10m players: Mobile spin-off likely the best-selling entry in the series to date
  43. The Nintendo Switch has surpassed 4M sales in Japan
  44. Nintendo Switch reaches four million sold in Japan – report: Famitsu numbers put Nintendo’s console two weeks behind the Wii in hitting the milestone
  45. Ni No Kuni developer Level-5 bringing all future main titles to Switch
  46. Blog: How Breath of the Wild brings maturity to Nintendo’s game design
  47. Ubisoft Extends IBM Watson Support for ‘Bridge Crew’ Through 2018
  48. Far Cry 5 UK launch is the biggest in Far Cry history: Strong Easter sales all round for the boxed games market as Ubisoft ends March on a high
  49. Anime Streaming Service Crunchyroll Releases Its First Game
  50. Amazon officially benches Breakaway: Fantasy sports game no longer in active development as team focuses on other projects
  51. Apple’s clones crackdown leads to App Store shrinking: Number of new iOS releases drops for the first time since marketplace launched in 2008
  52. Steam Spy: $20 games took biggest share of Steam’s total revenue in 2017 – Sergey Galyonkin questions the power of $10 “sweet spot” for Steam prices
  53. Valve: ‘Steam Machines aren’t exactly flying off shelves’
  54. Valve says it’s “still working hard” on Linux gaming: SteamOS maker admits that “Steam machines aren’t exactly flying off the shelves.”
  55. Valve hasn’t given up on Steam Machines: Company admits sales are slow, but says ‘store delisting’ is nothing more than routine cleanup
  56. Valve quietly dials back Steam Machine presence on Steam
  57. SteamSpy: $20 and $60 were the top-earning Steam game prices last year
  58. Surviving a decade in indie dev: What’s kept Mommy’s Best Games going for 11 years? Nathan Fouts details 21 things that helped the Pig Eat Ball outfit get by, and might help others as well
  59. Why is early stage funding tough to find for game start-ups?: Makers Fund founding partner Jay Chi wants to solve a shortage of Series A support in the market; portfolio includes Bossa, Typhoon, Tiny Build, Superdata, and more
  60. “I’m not sure that games like this one can continue to be made…”: Where the Water Tastes Like Wine developer Johnnemann Nordhagen reflects on his game’s surprising commercial struggles
  61. Asymmetric smashed West of Loathing sales target by halving launch price: Original $20 price tag would have discouraged impulse buys, says founder Zack Johnson
  62. Indie comics platform Tapas Media embarks on major games push: Digital publisher keen to share its IP and fictional universes with developers across all platforms.
  63. Assassin’s Creed’s New Discovery Mode Is What Museums Will Look Like In The Future
  64. Everything you missed from GDC 2018: #1ReasonToBe, artificial intelligence, and the latest from Unreal and Unity were the hot topics in San Francisco this year
  65. Despite faltering profits, hardware and software sales rise at GameStop 
  66. GameStop annual income down by $300m due to fourth quarter “asset impairment”: Sales up 7.2 per cent to $9.2 billion with net income of $34.7 million
  67. 10 Years Ago This Month: A swath of studio closures suggests how significantly the HD era upended the status quo
  68. Record-breaking VR/AR start-ups raised over $3.6bn in last 12 months: Video games one of only two sectors to secure more than 10% of investment deals
  69. Virtual reality could encourage pro-social behaviour and empathy in children: Parents aren’t convinced however, and just 38 per cent agree
  70. HTC launching $1,100 starter kit to trim $150 off Vive Pro buy-in
  71. New Vive Pro bundle cuts headset price by $100: HTC marks VR device’s second anniversary with new offer to clarify upgrade confusion
  72. HTC Vive Pro review: Eye-popping VR, with a price that’s a little too real: Is a $799 upgrade price (or $1,099 brand-new) justified for this jump in quality?
  73. Blockchain is games’ new tech obsession: Early tech adoption is part of the essence of the games industry – but proposals to integrate blockchain into companies’ businesses, not just their games, should give us pause
  74. GDPR-K: How the kids data privacy law affects games publishers everywhere – SuperAwesome MD Max Bleyleben explains why it’s not enough to look for GDPR compliance – in the kids’ space, you also need GDPR-K compliance
  75. PC Building Simulator is (most of) the fun of building a PC—without pricey GPUs: It’s not very challenging, but it nails the basics of building gaming PCs.
  76. Experimental Controllers Could Change Gaming For Good
  77. Warner Bros. steps up as Hitman publisher
  78. Don’t Miss: How Slime Rancher succeeds through emergent storytelling
  79. An actual gaming Easter egg was unlocked on an Atari Jaguar cartridge today: Modern-day publisher AtariAge confirmed secret has been hidden on carts for a year.
  80. More than ‘Orcs in Space’: Devs measure the enduring influence of StarCraft
  81. Ready Player One’s film adaptation isn’t even good enough as a kids movie: Everything here – character development, CGI, geek-cred references – disappoints.
  82. Ready Player One Is A Virtually Empty Good Time
  83. Blog: A postmortem on my game design degree

Jon

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News of the Week; March 28, 2018

By Jon Festinger on April 2, 2018

DIGITAL

  1. Appeals court revives Oracle’s billion-dollar copyright claim against Google
  2. The Case That Never Ends: Oracle Wins Latest Round vs. Google
  3. Oracle America Inc. V Google LLC
  4. Insanity Wins As Appeals Court Overturns Google’s Fair Use Victory For Java APIs
  5. The Federal Circuit’s Judicial Hypocrisy In Overturning Jury Concerning Java API Fair Use Question 
  6. 9th Circuit Appeals Court Recognizes That DMCA Repeat Infringer Policies Must Be Flexible
  7. Founder Of Fan-Subtitle Site ‘Undertexter’ Loses Copyright Infringement Appeal
  8. DOJ Indicts 9 Iranians For Brazen Cyberattacks Against 144 US Universities
  9. Nine Iranians indicted by US for hacking to steal research data: “Password spraying” attack gave Mabna group access to 32TB of diverse research data.
  10. Security Researcher At The Center Of Emoji-Gate Heading Home After Feds Drop Five Felony Charges
  11. Best Buy walks away from Huawei, leaving it with zero US retail partners: Spying concerns have now totally shut down Huawei’s retail presence. 
  12. Tumblr Finally Breaks Its Silence On Russian Propaganda
  13. Tumblr finally names the 84 accounts it says were Russian trolls: Tumblr says it “helped indict 13 people who worked for” Internet Research Agency.
  14. DNC “lone hacker” Guccifer 2.0 pegged as Russian spy after opsec fail: “Hacktivist” logged into a social media account from an IP address at GRU HQ in Moscow.
  15. How the U.S. Can Play Cyber-Offense: Deterrence Isn’t Enough
  16. Judge Dismisses Conservative Organization PragerU’s Censorship Case Against YouTube
  17. The NRA Quadrupled Its Digital Ad Budget After Parkland Killings, Flooding Facebook and YouTube
  18. YouTube expands firearms restrictions, more gun videos to be banned: Some gun-related channels are already feeling the heat.
  19. Only 10% Of Affiliate Links On YouTube Are Being Disclosed, Princeton Study Finds
  20. What lies beneath: The things Facebook knows go beyond user data – Op-ed – With Facebook, you’re not the customer. You’re the product.
  21. Facebook cracks down on “platform abuse” following Cambridge Analytica debacle: Social media giant announces five key implementations
  22. Cambridge Analytica’s London offices raided by British investigators
  23. Forget Cambridge Analytica. What about Facebook’s role in ethnic strife and genocide?
  24. Cambridge Analytica breach results in lawsuits filed by angry Facebook users: “Facebook lies within the penumbra of blame,” Maryland woman claims.
  25. Facebook accused of massive fraud in new lawsuit filed by Cook County – Lawyer: “Facebook… is the largest data mining operation in existence.”
  26. Deleting Facebook? Here Are The Best Alternatives For What You’ll Miss
  27. Tesla and SpaceX just scrubbed their Facebook pages: In a Twitter exchange, Musk says Tesla’s Facebook page “looked lame anyway.” 
  28. What To Look For In Your Facebook Data – And How To Find It
  29. Facebook, Cambridge Analytica, Dr. Kogan and my data protection analysis
  30. The Cambridge Analytica Data Apocalypse Was Predicted In 2007 
  31. Facebook scraped call, text message data for years from Android phones: Maybe check your data archive to see if Facebook’s algorithms know who you called.
  32. Facebook Logs Text, Call Histories for Some Android Users: Company says it never sells the data nor does it see the content of the messages or calls
  33. Mark Zuckerberg Finally Speaks About Cambridge Analytica; It Won’t Be Enough
  34. Tim Cook Takes His Turn to Dunk on Facebook, Backing Data Privacy Regulations 
  35. Tim Cook is throwing lots of shade — first at Amazon, then at Mark Zuckerberg
  36. Tim Cook says Apple’s customers are not its product, unlike Facebook: “The truth is, we could make a ton of money if we monetized our customer.”
  37. Mark Zuckerberg requested to testify to Congress about Facebook/Cambridge Analytica Privacy  
  38. What Congress Should Ask Mark Zuckerberg: They’re going to need a long session. 
  39. Hey Mark Zuckerberg: Don’t Lock Down Everyone’s Data, Open It Up To Services That Give Your Users More Control Over Their Data
  40. It’s Official: The FTC Is Investigating Facebook
  41. The Facebook Privacy Setting That Doesn’t Do Anything At All
  42. Wherein Facebook Loses Recess For Everyone
  43. Facebook Working With Comcast To Scuttle California Broadband Privacy Protections
  44. Facebook will (soon) yank third-party ad data in the name of privacy: “We want to let advertisers know that we will be shutting down Partner Categories.”
  45. Insights: Zayonara, Zuck! It’s Time For A New Facebook CEO
  46. Facebook is limiting developers’ access to account data – here’s how that will impact them
  47. Was Facebook wrong? Or the university that let our data go?
  48. Cambridge Analytica academic’s work upset university colleagues: Emails reveal rows over Aleksandr Kogan’s ‘get rich quick scheme’ with Facebook data
  49. Schiff invites professor accused of harvesting Facebook data to testify
  50. Information commissioners are seen searching Cambridge Analytica’s London offices as it is revealed Facebook gave information about 57 billion friendship connections to academic in privacy scandal: Dr. Aleksandr Kogan was given data on 57bn Facebook friendships worldwide
  51. Facebook co-authored report with Dr Kogan hailed by Cambridge University
  52. University says it has ‘no connection’ with Cambridge Analytica as lecturer caught up in data scandal
  53. Facebook’s New Data Restrictions Will Handcuff Even Honest Researchers
  54. Start treating private personal data on Facebook like medical data: It’s just as sensitive to nefarious manipulation
  55. Facebook reportedly delaying smart speaker launch in wake of data outrage: Now might not be the best time for an always-listening Facebook device.
  56. This Is So Much Bigger Than Facebook (Ethan Zuckerman)
  57. Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica problems are nothing compared to what’s coming for all of online publishing (Doc Searl)
  58. It’s not just Facebook. Thousands of companies are spying on you (Bruce Schneier) 
  59. Facebook Did Not Kill Privacy, It Was Already Dead (Andres Guadamuz) 
  60. Twitter Nukes American Attorney’s Tweet About Unflattering Depiction Of Turkish President
  61. The Next Cold War Is Here, And It’s All About Data
  62. What Are ‘Data Brokers,’ and Why Are They Scooping Up Information About You?: These sites you haven’t heard of are sharing boatloads of data about you.
  63. Court of Appeal considers when material posted on Facebook is published for the purposes of defamation 
  64. Court approves website seizure and Anton Piller order against online copyright piracy platform
  65. Bill Expands Corporate Liability for Human Trafficking to Social Media Companies
  66. Personalisation in retail: what are the key legal issues?
  67. SESTA’s First Victim: Craigslist Shuts Down Personals Section
  68. Craigslist Is Shutting Down Its Personals Section
  69. Craigslist missed connections: The consummate Internet casualty?
  70. Craigslist personals, some subreddits disappear after FOSTA passage – EFF: “Online platforms will have little choice but to become much more restrictive.”
  71. Tweet tweet! Not so fast! Copyright Issues Ahead!
  72. Apple Streaming Service To Launch As Early As March 2019
  73. Apple may surpass $1B content budget, new shows could debut in March 2019: Around the same time that Disney plans to reveal its own streaming service.
  74. Apple makes iOS more school-friendly with ClassKit educational framework: New tools give teachers, students, and administrators more power in the classroom.
  75. Apple targets education with new iPad hardware: New iPad and Apple Pencil will be cheaper for schools, and allow teachers to use app market for education
  76. Analysis: New iPads will help Apple in education but probably not enough – Apple painted a beautiful picture of tech and school today in Chicago.
  77. How Apple Lost Its Place In The Classroom
  78. A critical analysis of the latest cellphone safety scare: In which we describe how we decided not to cover the newest cellphone-cancer study.
  79. Deep learning: Why it’s time for AI to get philosophical – For years, science fiction writers have spelled out the technological marvels and doomsday scenarios that might result from artificial intelligence. Now that it’s a part of our lives.
  80. Once Again, Algorithms Can’t Tell The Difference Between ‘Bad Stuff’ And ‘Reporting About Bad Stuff’
  81. A Window Into How YouTube Trains AI To Moderate Videos
  82. Workers Enlisted By YouTube For AI-Training Efforts Make 10 Cents A Task To Analyze Videos
  83. You won’t own copyright in photos taken with Google’s new camera
  84. YouTube Becomes Top-Grossing iPhone App For First Time On Strength Of YouTube Red, Super Chat 
  85. YouTube TV Becomes Presenting Sponsor Of NBA Finals
  86. YouTube TV Will Be The Presenting Sponsor Of This Year’s NBA Finals
  87. Formula 1 starts this weekend, so where’s that new streaming service?: It apparently needs more “stress tests,” with no fixed date for a launch.
  88. YouTube Says It Now Reaches 80% Of All Internet Users In India
  89. YouTube Boxing King KSI: Unfortunately, Drama Is Always Going To Be An Eye-Catcher
  90. Some Creators Are Mad At YouTube Over Live Streaming Notifications
  91. No, YouTube’s “trolls” won’t destroy Wikipedia
  92. Italian Court Rules The Wikimedia Foundation Is Just A Hosting Provider For Wikipedia’s Volunteer-Written Articles
  93. Google starts blocking “uncertified” Android devices from logging in: Custom ROM users get a way out, but noobs with pirated apps will be out of luck.
  94. Google throws publishers a bone with News Initiative
  95. 38% Of Gen Z And Millennials Trust Digital Influencers, Says Fullscreen Study
  96. The Rise In Streaming Video Exclusives Could Annoy Consumers, Driving Them Back To Piracy
  97. You Can Pay To Watch Single Games On New Bleacher Report Streaming Service 
  98. Endeavor Buys NeuLion In $250 Million Cash Deal
  99. Police chief said Uber victim “came from the shadows” – don’t believe it: YouTube videos give a different impression of the site of a deadly Uber crash.
  100. Uber’s Video Shows The Arizona Crash Victim Probably Didn’t Cause Crash, Human Behind The Wheel Not Paying Attention
  101. Arizona Bans Ub’s Autonomous Vehicles Following Pedestrian Death
  102. Arizona Bans Self-Driving Car Tests; Still Ignores How Many Pedestrians Get Killed
  103. Uber, losing $1 billion a quarter, sells its Southeast Asian business: The deal could help Uber slow 2017’s $1 billion-per-quarter burn rate.
  104. Uber stops AV testing “indefinitely” in California, Pennsylvania, and Toronto: Uber must provide new analysis in wake of Arizona crash if it seeks to renew.
  105. Why it’s time for Uber to get out of the self-driving car business: Uber’s self-driving car project would be stronger outside Uber.
  106. Tesla stock falls 12% on crash investigation, debt downgrade: It’s unknown if Tesla’s Autopilot was engaged at the time of the crash.
  107. Chrissy Teigen Becomes Third Major Celeb To Proclaim Snapchat Defection
  108. NBA tests micropayments livestreaming offering
  109. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver Details Plan To Sell Short Game Segments
  110. Cybersecurity Uncertainty for Cryptocurrencies
  111. The Dark Web’s Favorite Currency Is Less Untraceable Than It Seems
  112. Cannes Film Festival Shuts Netflix And Other Streamers Out Of Palme D’Or Competition
  113. Cannes Bans Netflix Films From Competition Because The Internet Is Bad (Or Something)
  114. What Oversharing On Social Media Taught Me About Parenting 
  115. Transparency: What’s Gone Wrong with Social Media and What Can We Do About It?
  116. What Are Screens Doing To Our Eyes—And Our Ability To See?: Our eyes are hardening; we can barely see our phones anymore. We must learn to look at the wider world. 

CREATIVITY

  1. Federal Court of Appeal Rejects Access Copyright Bid to Overturn Board Ruling on Insubstantial Copying, Fair Dealing (Michael Geist)
  2. ‘Blurred Lines’ Verdict Upheld by Appeals Court 
  3. The ‘Blurred Lines’ Appeal Failed — Now What?
  4. ‘Blurred Lines’ copyright ruling is a ‘devastating blow’ and sets dangerous precedent for musicians, judge warns: Judge Jacqueline Nguyen said ‘Blurred Lines’ and Marvin Gaye’s song ‘Got To Give It Up’ ‘differed in melody, harmony and rhythm’
  5. Blurred Lines Between Inspiration and Infringement: Ninth Circuit Holds “Blurred Lines” Infringes Copyright
  6. Bob Murray Sends Judge Whiny Letter Saying That Losing Case To John Oliver Is Making People Say Mean Things To Him
  7. Tenth Circuit Issues A Troubling Ruling Limiting New Mexico’s Anti-SLAPP Statute In Federal Court 
  8. TVEyes Television Watch Service Not Protected by Fair Use
  9. Eyeing the Line for Fair Use
  10. Ninth Circuit Reviews Copyright Infringement Suit Over ‘Jumpman’ Logo
  11. Jumpman Logo Ruling Is a Slam Dunk for Nike
  12. Tinder takes a swipe at Bumble with IP action
  13. Subject Of Unflattering News Story Gets Journalist Arrested For Criminal Harassment
  14. Spanish Hate/Anti-Terrorism Speech Laws Doing Little But Locking Up Comedians, Artists, And Dissidents
  15. UN Advisor Tells Italy To Drop Its Terrible ‘Fake News’ Law Before It Does Any Real Damage
  16. Trump’s Lawyer’s Lawyer Threatens Defamation Over Claims Stormy Daniels Did Not Make
  17. Brexit & IP: Finally, some real news…
  18. This Disney/Pixar Bracket Is Tearing the Internet Apart, So Tear It Some More and Show Us Yours 
  19. What The World Would Look Like Scrubbed Free Of Advertising

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. Coalition Featuring Google, Amazon, GoDaddy and CogecoPeer1 Warn Against Canadian Site Blocking Plan: Lost Jobs, Stifled Innovation (Michael Geist)
  2. Outlier, Part 2: What is the CBC Doing Supporting Website Blocking? (Michael Geist)
  3. For Ottawa, CRTC decision marks another failed effort at fixing wireless affordability (Michael Geist)
  4. Back to Bains: Why the CRTC Has Left Fixing Canada’s Wireless Woes to the Government (Michael Geist)
  5. Religious Terms Used as Expletives Not in Violation of Broadcast Code, Says Canadian Broadcast Standards Council
  6. Cable Companies Warn In Court That AT&T Time Warner Merger Will Be Absolutely Terrible For Competition And Consumers
  7. AT&T/Verizon lobbyists to “aggressively” sue states that enact net neutrality: ISPs will sue to block net neutrality laws until they get one they like.
  8. Senators Say The FCC’s Broadband Maps are a Bad Joke
  9. FCC Adopts Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Looking to Simplify Sale of Satellite TV Stations 
  10. FCC says it will block Chinese technology to protect national security: Huawei and ZTE gear would be banned in FCC-funded broadband projects.
  11. The FCC’s Evidence-Optional Blacklist Of Huawei Is About Protectionism, Not National Security
  12. With April Fools’ Day Coming Up, Plan Your On-Air Pranks with Care – Remember the FCC Hoax Rule  
  13. Consolidated Net Neutrality Appeal Transferred to D.C. Circuit
  14. The Fall Of The TV Family In Trump’s America
  15. Propaganda reigns in the ‘ethical wasteland’ of mass media: Recently, I left Fox News, where I’d been at home for a decade, because I believed that its prime-time line-up had become a propaganda arm for a wanton president. – But my despair over Fox does n
  16. Analog Regulators Can’t Keep Up With the Digital Age

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Kim Dotcom Wins Human Rights Tribunal Case Over Kiwi Government Withholding Info
  2. Second Circuit rejects fair-use defence for online service allowing users to watch Fox News content
  3. FBI didn’t fully know its own capabilities during showdown with Apple: FBI Office of the Inspector General offers critique of how agency handled 2016 case.
  4. FBI Officials Were Angry That An iPhone Hack Blocked Them From Getting Court To Force Apple To Break Encryption
  5. DOJ Back To Pushing For Legislation Targeting Encryption
  6. Feds pushing new plan for encrypted mobile device unlocks via court order: “Weakening security makes no sense,” top Apple VP tells Ars.
  7. Remember the Right to Be Forgotten? Google Does
  8. What US-Based Companies Need to Know About the GDPR, and Why Now?
  9. Thousands of servers found leaking 750MB worth of passwords and keys
  10. Atlanta city government systems down due to ransomware attack
  11. CIA releases rules and materials for its training board games
  12. CIA’s in-house board games can now be yours thanks to FOIA request: After SXSW 2017 reveal, CIA releases buckets of marked-up board game design notes.

GAMES

  1. Star Control legal battle intensifies as alleged settlement offer surfaces: Stardock’s “unfathomable” demands reportedly include surrender of IP rights, a public apology, $225,000 and a five-year development ban
  2. Stardock responds to Star Control designers’ settlement offer claims: Developer’s VP shares original proposal, clarifies company’s position on Star Control IP rights
  3. Rare cancels planned Sea of Thieves“death cost” after player complaints: “Thanks for the feedback here. We’re listening,” says developer.
  4. Microsoft says Sea of Thieves sold well, even without counting Game Pass copies
  5. Gran Turismo Sport ad misrepresented offline content, rules UK ad authority
  6. ASA upholds complaint levelled against Sony over misleading Gran Turismo ad: Sony reprimanded for failing to specify that the “majority” of the game was unavailable without an internet connection
  7. Sony cuts price of PlayStation VR Camera bundle by $100
  8. PlayStation VR receives $100 price cut: Sony’s headset now cheapest on the market
  9. PlayStation VR now costs $100 less: $650 now gets you “all in” for VR with console, headset, controllers, and game.
  10. Oculus Go world premiere: Acceptable compromises, amazing quality for $199: A legitimate 3D VR device, so long as you accept its tracking limitations.
  11. New Vive Pro owners will pay $1,250, including needed accessories: Online “Starter Kit” bundle saves just $80 over a la carte pricing.
  12. Square Enix kills unsanctioned Tomb Raider remakes: “Our recent research, studies and reviews on Tomb Raider 3 were unwelcome,” says developer Realtech VR
  13. Everything a VR studio had to do to port to the Mac: Apple talks a lot about AR, but how does the Mac fare for VR? We asked Survios devs.
  14. #1ReasonToBe: “Listen to the people you do not hear, because they’re not allowed to speak” – Rami Ismail’s GDC panel explored development in Madagascar, the Philippines, Colombia and beyond
  15. #ThirdWorldProblems: How to not get a visa for GDC – Gwen Foster, one of the #1ReasonToBe speakers denied a visa, on being treated with “diplomatic hostility” in a global industry
  16. GDC 2018 breaks attendance record: 28,000 industry professionals attended last week’s show in San Francisco; dates announced for 2019 GDC and VRDC
  17. Splatoon creator: “Fan art and live events are part of the world of the game” – How Nintendo’s most recent super franchise was born
  18. Here’s how Nintendo chooses its indie partners on Switch
  19. Nintendo’s advice for indies trying to get games on Switch: Platform holder’s warns that Switch will remain a “closed dev environment” for now
  20. The Nintendo King And The Midlife Crisis
  21. Josef Fares hopes A Way Out inspires more risks in AAA games: The director also discusses his relationship with EA, and ambitions to follow in the footsteps of Naughty Dog
  22. Google Play announces Change the Game Design Challenge: $10,000 college scholarship up for grabs in design contest
  23. EA has taught an AI how to play Battlefield 1 multiplayer
  24. EA’s SEED builds AI capable of teaching itself to play Battlefield I: “As deep learning technology matures, I expect self-learning agents to be part of the games themselves, as truly intelligent NPCs,” says SEED technical director
  25. Blog: Are hybrid AIs the answer to better video game AI?
  26. Casey Neistat: Twitch’s Monetization Model Feels “So Much More Fair” Than YouTube’s
  27. Sea of Thieves attracts two million players in first week: Rare’s shared world pirate adventure also drives streaming and Xbox Live friendship figures
  28. Xbox, Twitch, Blizzard, Riot and more form Fair Play Alliance to combat toxic players: “We envision a world where games are free of harassment, discrimination and abuse”
  29. Culturalisation, and why Microsoft rewrote history for Korea: Geogrify’s Kate Edwards discusses how to tailor your game for global appeal – and what to do if you inadvertently cause offence
  30. Microsoft tweaks Code of Conduct for Xbox and other platforms
  31. Microsoft takes a stand against “offensive language” on Xbox Services: Amended Services Agreement will use suspensions and bans to fight toxic behaviour
  32. Analysis: A closer look at MidBoss’ chaotic, hostile work environment
  33. MidBoss CEO accused of exploitative practices, sexual harassment: “I’ve made some major mistakes,” says Matt Conn of 2064: Read Only Memories studio and GaymerX organizer
  34. Elements of games industry “fundamentally broken” says IGDA president: Round table discussion on unions highlights employee grievances
  35. Game developers push for unionization amid insecure positions, excessive OT: “Game Workers Unite” push leads to some contentious discussions.
  36. IGDA head on the problems with unions: Jen MacLean discusses challenges she sees to organized labor in games, attributes horror stories like 38 Studios to human nature and “wishful thinking”
  37. Developers need a better advocate: The IGDA is supposed to be looking out for developers’ interests, but it doesn’t have the resources or the leverage to do it effectively
  38. Rovio proposes pay cuts for chairman and owner amid financial worries: Investor disappointing and sub-par game performances spell salary shake-up at Angry Birds firm
  39. GAME revenue up but profits tumble
  40. WholesGame launches wholesaler price comparison site: The Wholesale Video Games Marketplace is among the first of its kind for buyers and sellers of wholesale games
  41. Breath of the Wild takes top prize at the 2018 Game Developers Choice Awards!
  42. Zelda: Breath of the Wild triumphs at Game Developers Choice Awards – Multiple wins also secured by Gorogoa and Cuphead at San Francisco ceremony
  43. DDR, Half-Life, and Minecraft among 2018 World Video Game Hall of Fame nominees
  44. SteamSpy creator says 2017 was Valve’s most profitable year yet
  45. SteamSpy: The top 100 games on Steam accounted for 50% of sales revenue last year – Valves generates record-breaking $4.3bn in 2017
  46. Valve to open source networking tool for devs, Steam not required
  47. Live-action Street Fighter TV series in the works following Capcom and eOne deal: Team behind web series Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist brought on board to executive produce
  48. Why Fortnite Is Not An Esport Despite The Drake/Ninja Publicity
  49. Fortnite dominates both Twitch and YouTube, according to latest figures: Epic Games’ battle royale generates $5.3m in first ten days on iOS
  50. 100-player Fortnite livestream held on YouTube hit 1M views
  51. 1.1 Million YouTube Viewers Tune Into ‘Fortnite’ Live Stream Led By Spanish Gamer El Rubius
  52. For Ubisoft it’s goodbye Vivendi, hello Tencent: China’s largest technology company, Tencent, is taking on 5% of Ubisoft – continuing its progress into becoming by far the largest game company most gamers have never heard of
  53. Tencent pleased with ‘strong growth’ of mobile and PC games
  54. Ubisoft Pulls Plug on IBM Watson Integration in ‘Star Trek: Bridge Crew’
  55. Ubisoft opens two new studios in India and Ukraine
  56. Ubisoft opens new studios in India and Ukraine: New development units in Mumbai and Odesa
  57. Creative Director on Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon Dean Evans leaves Ubisoft
  58. Eye Tracking Is Coming To VR Sooner Than You Think. What Now?
  59. Oculus Affirms Commitment to Rift, Believes PC Will Lead the VR Industry for the Next Decade
  60. Snap Inc acquires British VR and software startup PlayCanvas: Snapchat capitalises on success of its AR platform as move toward VR looks likely
  61. What A Real Wedding In A Virtual Space Says About The Future: They met in VR. They fell in love in VR. They tied the knot in VR. Here’s a glimpse into the future of relationships.
  62. The decade-long journey of a single mother into the games industry – Kick Alley Soccer: The augmented reality app that was ten years too early
  63. PlayFusion partnership brings augmented reality capabilities to CryEngine: Enhanced Reality Engine is industry’s “most feature-rich and performant AR technology,” says Crytek CEO
  64. Crytek partners with PlayFusion to bring mixed reality tools to CryEngine
  65. Games industry to benefit from UK government’s £150m Creative Industires deal: £33m promised for the funding of immersive tech such as VR, £1.5m added to UK Games Fund
  66. Games London initiative nets $1.7M investment from London mayor 
  67. Sadiq Khan aims to attract £30m for developers with new Games London investment: City mayor pledges £1.2m for London Games Festival organisers, ensuring three more years of events
  68. Tomorrow’s best video games may be private, offline experiences: Ars Live in conversation with award-winning game designer Tracy Fullerton.
  69. The making of Dark Castle: An excerpt from The Secret History of Mac Gaming
  70. The Mac gaming console that time forgot: From the new book, The Secret History of Mac Gaming, remember Project Pippin?
  71. NBA Jam, Sonic 1, Ultima Online remembered with rare stories, concept art
  72. “Don’t get cocky”: The story of Ratchet and Clank’s 15-year survival – Adapt or Die and staying true to your heritage is a difficult balance to strike, says Insomniac
  73. Unity releases engine and editor source code through GitHub
  74. Blog: Defining accessibility in game design
  75. Google Play partners with Girls Make Games for design competition
  76. Google offers 15,000 online scholarships to new and seasoned African devs
  77. How (and why) you should better represent Muslims in your games
  78. LGBTQ devs & players speak up about the need for authentic queer culture in games
  79. Devs should make it easier to play shooters without firing guns
  80. Laralyn McWilliams on rediscovering creativity following trauma
  81. Blog: Conveying the nuances of disorders like Tourette’s through game design
  82. How the creator of SimCity helped save Psychonauts: In a heartfelt speech, Tim Schafer recalls Will Wright’s crucial generosity.

Jon

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News of the Week; March 21, 2018

By Jon Festinger on March 26, 2018

DIGITAL

  1.  Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal, explained: Trump operatives got private data from 50 million Facebook users.
  2. Canada’s privacy watchdog launches investigation into Facebook after allegations of data leak: ‘If true, the allegations raise a major challenge for privacy rights,’ says Daniel Therrien
  3. Both Facebook And Cambridge Analytica Threatened To Sue Journalists Over Stories On CA’s Use Of Facebook Data
  4. Facebook may have violated FTC privacy deal, say former federal officials, triggering risk of massive fines
  5. The Irreversible Damage Of Mark Zuckerberg’s Silence
  6. Mark Zuckerberg Talks To Wired About Facebook’s Privacy Problem
  7. Zuckerberg: Cambridge Analytica leak a “breach of trust” with users – The Trump-linked consulting firm harvested data from 50 million Facebook users.
  8. Mark Zuckerberg Announces that Facebook is an Information Fiduciary (Jack Balkin)
  9. Mark Zuckerberg Speaks, But Is He Listening?
  10. Facebook-Cambridge Analytica – Brave New World for Privacy and Data Misuse
  11. On the web, privacy in peril: Massive mining of users’ data on Facebook eats away at public’s online trust, analyst says
  12. Facebook’s Surveillance Machine (Zeynep Tufekci)
  13. Cambridge Analytica suspends CEO pending probe in Facebook data scandal: Cambridge Analytica embroiled in scandal over its handling of Facebook users’ personal data
  14. Cambridge Analytica suspends CEO amid uproar over Facebook data leak
  15. Cambridge Analytica Execs Caught Discussing Extortion And Fake News
  16. Facebook Has Many Sins To Atone For, But ‘Selling Data’ To Cambridge Analytica Is Not One Of Them
  17. Facebook Owes You More Than This
  18. Tell Facebook: this can’t happen again.
  19. Facebook CEO Zuckerberg conspicuously absent as data scandal grows
  20. Some Facebook employees are angry that Mark Zuckerberg has ghosted in the middle of this scandal
  21. The billionaire cofounder of WhatsApp, which Facebook acquired for $19 billion, just tweeted #DeleteFacebook
  22. Facebook’s value drops $30 billion after an enormous data scandal involving 50 million Facebook account
  23. A Hurricane Flattens Facebook
  24. Mark Zuckerberg is acting like a man who can’t be fired — and the unique way his stock is structured could be why
  25. Here’s How to Share as Little Data as Possible Without Deleting Facebook
  26. Mark Zuckerberg: I Can Barely Handle This CNN Interview, What Makes You Think I Can Handle Congress
  27. Here’s Why That Recent Abuse of Facebook Data Matters
  28. Yes, we should be outraged about Facebook
  29. It’s Time For Facebook To Share More Data With Researchers
  30. Facebook To Launch Paid Monthly Subscriptions, New ‘Rights Manager’ For Creators
  31. UN Says Facebook Is Complicit In The Spread Of Anti-Muslim Hate In Myanmar
  32. Did Facebook Violate SESTA By Promoting Child Abuse Videos? 
  33. The Long History of Computer Science and Psychology Comes Into View: Understanding that legacy can help us stop the next Cambridge Analytica.
  34. The Complete Guide To Facebook Privacy
  35. What Would Regulating Facebook Look Like?
  36. How Not To Regulate Social Networks
  37. How ‘Regulating Facebook’ Could Make Everyone’s Concerns Worse, Not Better
  38. Facebook’s security chief to depart role over company’s handling of misinformation: CSO Alex Stamos clashed with other executives over handling of Russian meddling.
  39. Facebook Security Chief Reportedly Leaving Over Russia Probe Disagreement
  40. DHS warns of new Russia hacks as US sanctions Russia over election interference: DHS alert warns of Russian government malware targeting critical infrastructure.
  41. The White House Finally Hits Russia Back For Online Chaos
  42. U.S. Imposes Additional Russian Sanctions for Election Interference and Cyber Attacks
  43. US officials: Kaspersky “Slingshot” report burned anti-terror operation – Joint Special Operations Command ran campaign against ISIS, Al Qaeda for at least 6 years.
  44. How Trump’s Lawyer’s Silly Lawsuit Against Buzzfeed May Free Stormy Daniels From Her Non Disclosure Agreement
  45. China to bar people with bad ‘social credit’ from planes, trains
  46. Chinese Citizens With Bad ‘Social Credit’ to Be Blocked From Taking Planes and Trains
  47. Forbidden Feeds: Government Controls On Social Media In China
  48. People’s Republic of Desire film review: Yes, Black Mirror is already here: A portentous look at the impact of unchecked money-for-popularity online services.
  49. Apple’s App Store mysteriously went dark in Iran yesterday
  50. We’ve Seen What Bots Do to Democracy. Are We Adapting Fast Enough?
  51. Voice Chat App Zello Turned A Blind Eye To Jihadis For Years
  52. How a Norwegian comment section turned chaos into order – with a simple quiz – SXSW: NRK’s dedicated tech team employs “open source” tactics to fight trolling.
  53. Congress OKs sex-trafficking bill that critics say will “censor the Internet”: Critics say law will limit free speech online and won’t help trafficking victims.
  54. Internet Wins, And The Need To Appreciate What We’ve Got Before It’s Gone
  55. Can SESTA Be Fixed?
  56. SESTA’s Sponsors Falsely Claim That Fixing SESTA’s Worst Problem Harms Hollywood
  57. Hollywood’s Behind-The-Scenes Support For SESTA Is All About Filtering The Internet
  58. As Expected Senate Overwhelmingly Passes Unconstitutional SESTA Bill, Putting Lives In Danger
  59. Lawsuit Against Online Dating App Grindr Dismissed Under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act 
  60. The evolution of internet service provider and host liability
  61. Reddit Made The Video Star
  62. Google Hopes YouTube’s “Top News” Section Will Combat Misinformation In Its Search Results
  63. Report: Google is buying innovative camera startup Lytro for $40 million – Lytro seems to be at the end of the line, and Google is grabbing it at a bargain.
  64. Lyor Cohen At SXSW: YouTube’s Music Service Will Be Something Consumers “Will Be Proud Of”
  65. YouTube Will Increase Ads For Certain Viewers To Drive Subscriptions To New Music Service
  66. The First YouTube Space In The Middle East Is Now Open In Dubai
  67. YouTube Tightens Its Policies On Gun-Related Videos
  68. YouTuber Who Trained His Girlfriend’s Dog To Be A Nazi Facing Hate Crime Charges In Scotland
  69. As YouTube Begins Crackdown On Gun Channels, One Of Them Heads To Pornhub
  70. Susan Wojcicki On YouTube’s Fight Against Misinformation
  71. Wikipedia Says It Wasn’t Warned About YouTube Integration To Combat Conspiracies
  72. YouTube Creator Convicted Of Hate Crime For Teaching Pug Nazi Salute
  73. YouTube Simplifies Livestreaming Process From Computers, Webcams, And Android Camera Apps
  74. Don’t Ask Wikipedia To Cure The Internet
  75. Censorship Creep Is Setting In As Social Media Companies Try To Stay Ahead Of European Lawmakers
  76. EU’s Mandatory Copyright Content Filter Is The Zombie That Just Never Dies
  77. Logan Paul Launches Twitch Channel, Drawing 190,000 Followers In 24 Hours
  78. After Record-Setting Broadcast With Drake, Twitch Streamer Ninja Says He Makes $500,000 Per Month
  79. Rihanna Slams Snapchat Ad for Joking About Domestic Violence
  80. Rihanna Rebukes Snapchat For Ad Appearing To Make Light Of Domestic Violence
  81. Snapchat Taps New Exec To Oversee Relationships With Influencers, Celebrities
  82. iHeartMedia Files for Bankruptcy
  83. German Lawyers Call For Their Profession’s Bug-Ridden, Soon-To-Be Mandatory, Email System To Be Open Sourced
  84. US Navy Accused Of Massive Amounts Of Piracy By German Software Company
  85. Elon Musk Says He’s Formed a Media Company Called ‘Thud’ After Hiring Ex-Staffers of The Onion
  86. Cheddar Raises $22 Million, Doubling Valuation, As It Eyes International Expansion
  87. New York power companies can now charge Bitcoin miners more: With few community benefits, power authorities are cracking down.
  88. City In New York Becomes First to Ban New Bitcoin Mining
  89. Ether plunges after SEC says “dozens” of ICO investigations underway: The Ethereum cryptocurrency is below $500 for the first time since 2017.
  90. A “tamper-proof” currency wallet just got backdoored by a 15-year-old: Backdoor allows attacker to recover private keys stored on Ledger hardware wallets.
  91. Uber self-driving car hits and kills pedestrian: An Arizona pedestrian died in the hospital following the crash.
  92. Uber’s Self-Driving Car Just Killed Somebody. Now What?
  93. Police chief: Uber self-driving car “likely” not at fault in fatal crash – Tempe police chief says victim “came from the shadows right into the roadway.”
  94. Tempe Police Chief Indicates The Uber Self-Driving Car Probably Isn’t At Fault In Pedestrian Death
  95. Pedestrian Deaths By Car In Phoenix Area Last Week: 11. But One Was By A Self-Driving Uber
  96. Real stupid questions about artificial intelligence: Spirit AI’s Emily Short says it’s more important than ever for the press and public to understand what AI is, and what it can do
  97. Robotic muscle and sensitive polymer fingers in Columbia University’s robotics labs: When building, there are lots of different paths to the same ends.
  98. Med Students Are Getting Terrible Training In Robotic Surgery
  99. Beware Of Roboadvisors Bearing Low Fees: Companies like Wealthfront are moving away from their early ideals of low-fee passive investing—and customers should be skeptical. 
  100. Watch A Robot ‘Hen’ Adopt A Flock Of Chicks
  101. Autonomous Robot Bees Are Being Patented by… Walmart?
  102. L’Oreal Buys Augmented Reality Beauty App, Allowing Robots To Point Out Our Every Flaw
  103. OpenAI Wants to Make Safe AI, but That May Be an Impossible Task
  104. Tech Companies Try To Retrain The Workers They’re Displacing
  105. Sociologists Examine Hackathons And See Exploitation
  106. Maybe Nobody Wants Your Space Internet
  107. Porsche and Bugatti turn to 3D printing for complex or rare parts: Additive manufacturing is starting to gain acceptance among automakers.
  108. Bento, A Feline Known For Appearing In ‘Keyboard Cat’ Videos, Has Died
  109. Bento the Keyboard Cat, internet sensation and YouTube star, dies: The beloved feline star of the popular meme has died age eight. But does this really mean the end?
  110. Steve Jobs’ 1973 job application fetches $174,000 at auction: Under “abilities,” Jobs wrote “electronics tech or design engineer. digital.” 

CREATIVITY

  1. Radio-Canada reporter arrested for harassment after requesting interview
  2. Appeals Court Says It’s Okay To Copyright An Entire Style Of Music
  3. Lucha Underground Wrestling Sends Legal Threat To Journalists For Publishing ‘Spoilers’

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. Outlier: Why Bell’s Leadership on Website Blocking Places It at Odds With Telecom Companies Around the World (Michael Geist)
  2. Dialling Up the Bell Lobbying Playbook: Production Company Website Blocking Submissions Using Identical Script (Michael Geist)
  3. The Justice Department, AT&T-Time Warner trial is underway
  4. Ex-DOJ Officials Raise Trump, AT&T Merger Interference Concerns
  5. AT&T suffers another blow in court over throttling of “unlimited” data: AT&T can’t force California customers into arbitration, judge says.
  6. Ajit Pai celebrates after court strikes down Obama-era robocall rule
  7. Ajit Pai says net neutrality was the top threat to broadband deployment: FCC chair still can’t offer proof that repeal will boost broadband access.
  8. Why the first state with a net neutrality law isn’t scared of lawsuits: Washington lawmaker: FCC can’t preempt state laws “just because it says so.”
  9. California Introduces New, Tougher Net Neutrality Rules; Uses Ajit Pai’s Abdication Of Authority Against The FCC
  10. Entire broadband industry will help FCC defend net neutrality repeal: NCTA, CTIA, and USTelecom sign up to defend net neutrality repeal in court.
  11. If You’re Angry About Facebook’s Privacy Abuses, You Should Be Four Times As Angry At The Broadband Industry
  12. NY says Charter lied about new broadband, threatens to revoke its franchise: Charter tried to count old broadband toward new merger commitments, NY says.
  13. The Cable Industry Is Quietly Securing A Massive Monopoly Over American Broadband
  14. The FCC Should Use Blockchain To Manage Wireless Spectrum
  15. An “Ashamed” Fox News Commentator Just Quit The “Propaganda Machine”: “Over my decade with Fox, I long was proud of the association,” Col. Ralph Peters wrote in an email to colleagues. “Now I am ashamed.”
  16. US Spends $2 Billion Monthly On Streaming Services, Older Viewers Cut Cords
  17. The Dangers Of Big City Subsidies: When public assets are privatized and auctioned off to the highest bidder, everyone loses. 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Russian Court Says Telegram Must Hand Over Encryption Keys To State Intelligence Service
  2. Malware attack on 400k PCs caused by backdoored BitTorrent app: Once the stuff of spy novels, supply chain attacks are becoming common.
  3. UK High Court perma-bans efforts to extradite Lauri Love for US hacking trial: Sets precedent for blocking extradition of hackers to US on humanitarian grounds.
  4. Privacy Practices Every Company Should Address in Wake of Action Against PayPal
  5. This Call May Be Monitored For Tone And Emotion
  6. US spy lab hopes to geotag every outdoor photo on social media: “Finder” will geotag images by terrain, sky features.
  7. Cops Wanting To Track Movements Of Hundreds Of People Are Turning To Google For Location Records
  8. Europe’s New Privacy Law Will Change The Web, And More
  9. Alphabet’s ‘Outline’ Software Lets Anyone Run A Homebrew VPN
  10. A YouTuber Who Put A GoPro On A Sushi Restaurant Conveyor Belt Has Caused Quite The Stir In Japan
  11. YouTube Video Causes Sushi Restaurant Chain To Ban Photography
  12. “Hey Google, could you be used against me in court?”
  13. Clock Runs Out On Perjury Charges For James Clapper, Ensuring He Won’t Be Punished For Lying To Congress
  14. Adrian Lamo, former hacker who turned in Chelsea Manning, dead at 37: Intruder of Yahoo, Microsoft, and NYT was best known for reporting Manning leaks.

GAMES

  1. Fears of Bethesda legal action prompts cancellation of Fallout 3 remake: Capital Wasteland scrapped as modders seek to maintain a good relationship with Elder Scrolls publisher
  2. Fight for Star Control ownership escalates after settlement offer leaks
  3. JRPG Becomes The First Game Banned In The UK For Over A Decade: The game has been banned over concerns that it sexualises children.
  4. Britain Is The Latest Country To Ban A Sexy Dungeon Crawler
  5. Omega Labyrinth Z banned in the UK for sexualization of minors
  6. Omega Labyrinth Z the first game to be banned in the UK since Manhunt 2: PQube’s dungeon crawler refused rating by Video Standards Council for “sexualisation of children”
  7. Opinion: So what *does* the science say about games and violence?
  8. As Video Games Are In Presidential Crosshairs, New Study Again Shows They Don’t Affect Behavior
  9. Two months of daily GTA causes “no significant changes” in behavior: No difference detected over a battery of 52 separate behavioral tests.
  10. Does playing violent video games cause aggression? A longitudinal intervention study (Simone Kühn, Dimitrij Tycho Kugler, Katharina Schmalen, Markus Weichenberger, Charlotte Witt, Jürgen Gallinat)
  11. How devs deal with making enemies that feel ‘okay’ to kill
  12. Military-themed video games can promote a damaging vision of real war
  13. In order to create empathy in players, writers need to get personal 
  14. Arma III developer raises over $170K for International Committee of the Red Cross
  15. Valve quietly cracks down on Steam hate groups: Several Nazi and school shooter-themed groups deleted, but other toxic communities still remain
  16. Blog: What’s up with the DMCA fight over defunct online games?
  17. Fortnite’s unconventional launch
  18. Fortnite tops $1.5M in revenue during first week on mobile
  19. As Fortnite rises, Epic champions community & cross-platform tech
  20. Though invite-only, Fortnite Battle Royale tops iOS charts at launch
  21. Fortnite breaks record for most-viewed stream on Twitch 
  22. Drake, Ninja light up Twitch with Fortnite stream: Epic and Twitch say they didn’t pay for session that saw rapper and streamer draw more than 600,000 concurrent viewers
  23. Twitch Prime kicks off monthly free games bundle with Superhot, Shadow Tactics: Members will receive permanent additions to their collections as long as their subscription lasts
  24. Epic gifts over $12M worth of Paragon assets to Unreal Engine devs
  25. $12m of Epic Games’ Paragon assets now free to all developers: Unreal Engine provider offers character models, animations, environments and more ahead of next month’s shutdown
  26. Epic Games CEO: AR glasses will “eventually replace smartphones”: Before that, console-quality games on mobile phones will be the big trend.
  27. Epic Games shows off lifelike “digital humans” with Star Wars and Andy Serkis demos: At GDC today, the Unreal Engine creator demonstrated how real-time raytracing will help games finally cross the uncanny valley
  28. Star Wars: Battlefront II’s new update axes “pay-to-win” upgrades – Character upgrades now earned through linear, in-game experience system.
  29. ‘Serious Sam’ Developer Teams Up With Denuvo Cracker To Pump Up Sales For Failed Game
  30. How a ‘bug’ in an educational writing game cursed at children
  31. Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice leads BAFTA Games Awards 2018 nominations
  32. Hellblade leads with nine nominations at this year’s BAFTAs: Horizon Zero Dawn a close second with eight, followed by What Remains of Edith Finch with seven
  33. Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds is now free on iOS, Android—and dang, it’s solid: We break down our first session with the Western version to explain why we’ll come back.
  34. Nintendo Switch breaks records for first-year US sales: Meanwhile, NPD reports spending on games products neared $1 billion in February
  35. Nintendo working to improve discoverability of Switch titles on eShop
  36. Nintendo reveals best-selling indie Switch games: Celeste triumphs as platform holder pledges to improve eShop discoverability
  37. How they got Ark: Survival Evolved working on Switch: Port specialists Abstraction on Nintendo, hitting the headlines at GDC and creating its own IP
  38. Finally, a portable solution for those “vertical” Switch games: Upcoming accessory lets you simply capture that classic arcade aspect ratio
  39. Nintendo’s influence on independent devs and their games  
  40. How Mario Kart influenced Nintendo’s fighting game, ARMS 
  41. This Eerie Mario Tribute Is An Ode To Playing Games With Your Brother
  42. Sonic the Hedgehog’s origin story, according to the devs who made him
  43. Established Japanese devs are making games under a new approach
  44. Epic: The barrier between Xbox and PlayStation “will inevitably come down”: Tim Sweeney on the emergence of “real games for gamers” on mobile, and the role of cross-platform play for the future of the games business
  45. Microsoft: ‘We’re growing our gaming business beyond the console’ – The company lays out its vision to attract two billion gamers by 2020
  46. Microsoft targets game devs with new ‘device-agnostic’ Gaming Cloud biz
  47. Xbox adds almost 300 indie games in a year: “We try to never say the word indie internally,” says ID@Xbox director
  48. Why Unity and Universal are giving indies access to Hollywood IP: New contest, supported by Microsoft and Intel, gives devs the chance to create games based on Back To The Future, Jaws and more
  49. Crytek will now take a 5% cut from games made using CryEngine 5.5
  50. Crytek adopts royalties model as CryEngine 5.5 arrives: Developer will now take a five per cent share of earnings from games built with its technology
  51. Atari reveals its nostalgic ‘Ataribox’ game console as the Atari VCS
  52. The Ataribox becomes the Atari VCS: Hardware gets a new name, logo and look, but it’s still unclear as to what precisely it has to offer
  53. MLB Just Released A Reboot Of The ’80s Nintendo Classic ‘R.B.I. Baseball’: We STILL can’t get that damn background music out of our heads.
  54. Google Play is launching download-free instant games
  55. Subway Surfers becomes first game to surpass 1B downloads on Google Play
  56. Subway Surfers becomes first Android game to pass 1bn downloads: Sybo and Kiloo’s mobile hit achieves new milestone after outperforming all other games last year
  57. Mobile increasing its share of the games industry – Report: App Annie and IDC find mobile consumer spending was double that of PC/Mac gaming last year, 3.6 times that of consoles
  58. French games industry hits $5.3bn in 2017: Software, hardware and accessories sales all improve
  59. Vivendi sells entire stock of Ubisoft shares, Tencent among buyers
  60. Vivendi Exits Ubisoft for $2.46 Billion as Tencent Enters
  61. Vivendi sells its entire stake in Ubisoft: The Guillemot family regains control of the publisher, with Tencent taking a 5 per cent stake
  62. China’s largest game publisher adds Ubisoft to its massive portfolio: Vivendi is officially out of the picture – but Tencent’s Western dominance only rises.
  63. Ubisoft and Tencent form ‘strategic agreement’ to bring games to China: Tencent will publish, promote and operate Ubisoft’s PC and mobile titles in its home market
  64. China’s largest game publisher adds Ubisoft to its massive portfolio: Vivendi is officially out of the picture—but Tencent’s Western dominance only rises.
  65. Tencent’s Q4 profit doubles: Big jumps in mobile games and smaller PC growth boost Chinese giant as financial year closes
  66. UK Charts: Burnout Paradise is back at No.1 after 10 years – Kirby Star Allies is fastest selling Kirby game in UK chart history
  67. Klang nets $5M to support the development of its AI-driven MMO, Seed
  68. Klang secures $5m investment to develop AI-driven MMO Seed: Venture capital firm Makers Fund leads investment in “genre-breaking” title
  69. EA’s secretive SEED team shows off first demo, Project Pica Pica: GDC technical demo showcases work with ray-tracing and self-learning AI agents
  70. EA is overhauling Battlefront II’s controversial progression system
  71. How Kongregate plans to rival Steam with new store Kartridge: “Everybody uses Steam, but they don’t necessarily love it,” says CEO Emily Greer
  72. After closing down Paragon, Epic makes its assets free-as-in-speech: Content can only be used in Unreal Engine 4, because Epic isn’t running a charity.
  73. Amazon debuts GameOn, a new cross-platform competitive game platform
  74. Amazon’s new GameOn tech enables devs to offer real-world prizes in games: Newly-announced APIs enable in-game competitions on mobile, PC and console
  75. What can games developers learn from a social casino firm?: KamaGames CEO Andrey Kuznetsov offers advice on how to increase revenues and keep your players hungry for more
  76. Growth, toxicity, crunch: Devs talk about what went wrong at Telltale
  77. Former Telltale developers accuse studio of breeding toxicity: Co-founder Kevin Bruner is strongly criticised by former colleagues complaining of never-ending crunch and stifled creativity
  78. Jack Tretton launches indie investment fund: Interactive Gaming Ventures funding projects for a stake of the IP, looking for reliable returns more than swinging for the fences
  79. Gorogoa: how the hit indie game derived from a failed comic book
  80. SimCity creator Will Wright’s new game will harvest your memories
  81. Will Wright returns to game development with mobile title Proxi: The Sims creator working with Unity to find an artist for his first games project in almost a decade
  82. Unity getting new rendering, machine learning, and performance tools
  83. THQ Nordic revives 16 Nickelodeon games as part of “asset care” strategy: Publisher announces return of multiple Nickoldeon titles including Invader Zim, SpongBob SquarePants, and Avatar: The Last Airbender
  84. Google Opens ‘Maps’ API So Devs Can Create ‘Pokémon Go’-style Games
  85. Google doubles down on mobile games with new store Google Play Instant: New store aimed at improving discoverability lets users play games without downloading them first
  86. Google opens up Maps data for developers to build mixed reality games: Google Maps API grants access to accurate, living model of the world to serve as foundation for games
  87. Google Cloud teams with Ubisoft for open-source game server project Agones: Companies invite developers to work together on enabling smoother matchmaking and multiplayer for games of all sizes
  88. The Play Store gets a “try now” button for games, no install required: Google Play Instant can launch a demo instantly on Android, with no install process.
  89. Major video game tournament abandoning Seattle for Vancouver: The International Dota 2 Championships to take place at Rogers Arena starting Aug. 20
  90. City of Arlington Announces Plan For Largest Esports Stadium In North America
  91. NFL and NBA veterans among key hires at Activision Blizzard’s new esports division: “We’re committed to maintaining the highest degree of excellence and professionalism in our operation,” says esports division CEO
  92. NBA Eyes Global Expansion For NBA 2K After Inaugural Season
  93. How blind players succeed at sports video games they’ve never seen: A few small accessibility changes can unlock a whole new playerbase.
  94. Pac-Man on Hololens: Bandai Namco shows us how they made it not suck – GDC 2018 panel shows off a 3D-printed Hololens mod – and lots of high-fiving.
  95. LeanGP Home Motorcycle Sim Doubles Crowdfunding Goal With 3 Weeks to Go
  96. The HTC Vive Just Got A Big Price Cut
  97. HTC to launch standalone Vive Focus headset outside of China
  98. Vive Pro to retail for $799, standard Vive gets $100 price drop
  99. Unreal Engine 4 adds Magic Leap One support
  100. Magic Leap Launches Developer SDK, Confirms Eye-tracking, Room-scanning, and More
  101. Oculus introduces hardware reports so devs can make ‘data-driven decisions’
  102. The VR Metaverse Of Ready Player One Is Just Beyond Our Grasp
  103. Insights: IMAX And Nickelodeon Hope To Find Lost Gen Z Fans In VR
  104. VR headsets have become the new arthouse – the best of SXSW’s fantastic VR festival: David Attenborough gave me fossils. Jessica Chastain whispered me through a black hole.
  105. Using data to look at what VR games get right (and wrong) about accessibility
  106. Be ready to pay a lot for Vive Pro’s higher-res virtual reality: Lack of bundled controllers and trackers decreases the value proposition.
  107. HTC Vive announces price of Vive Pro at £799; cuts price of existing headset: Vive Pro will ship on April 5 and come with six-month Viveport Subscription
  108. Facebook releases engagement-focused Games SDK
  109. Facebook reveals new SDK for PC game development: SDK includes new features around community engagement and analytics
  110. Facebook Instant Games platform opens up to all developers: After nearly 18 months in closed beta, Instant Games opens up to developers with a host of new features
  111. Can Facebook catch up to Twitch and YouTube?
  112. Game Workers Unite to Jen MacLean: ‘We want to work with you’
  113. Video games will take over Trafalgar Square during London Games Festival: London Games Festival returns 5th – 15th April
  114. Jean Grae’s New Music Video Is A Trip Through Classic Arcade Games
  115. The Internet Archive uploads handheld retro games 
  116. The 12 Worst Video Game Movie Adaptations Of All Time: From Super Mario Bros. to Postal, these movies give adaptations a bad name.
  117. Relive portable gaming’s limited LCD past through the magic of emulation: MAME-powered “Handheld History Collection” captures everything but the molded plastic.
  118. #Wargames Is A Unique, Interactive Revival Of The ’80s Movie
  119. A look at how (and why) devs work memorials and tributes into games

Jon

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News of the Week; March 14, 2018

By Jon Festinger on March 19, 2018

DIGITAL

  1. Back to B.C.: Court Re-examines Google Takedown Order In Light of U.S. Ruling (Michael Geist)
  2. College Athletes Appeal to Seventh Circuit Against FanDuel’s and DraftKings’ Use of Images 
  3. How Isis And Russia Won Friends And Manufactured Crowds: The Islamic State built a global brand using the power of social media. Now, Russia is following a similar playbook—and it’s all too easy.
  4. Russian Propaganda Remains On Reddit
  5. House Committee Report Highlights Russian Use of Social Media to Disrupt Pipeline Projects
  6. Russia Censors News Reports About Anti-Putin Ice Graffiti, Leaving Its Contents Entirely Up To Our Collective Imagination
  7. Rian Johnson: Russian Bots Targeted Star Wars: The Last Jedi to Save General Hux
  8. If The US Government Can’t Figure Out Who’s A Russian Troll, Why Should It Expect Internet Companies To Do So? 
  9. Egypt sets up hotline for complaints against ‘fake news’: Egypt’s government press centre has called BBC report on human rights abuses ‘fake news’
  10. Bad Actors Are Using Social Media Exactly As Designed
  11. The spread of true and false news online (Soroush Vosoughi, Deb Roy, & Sinan Aral)
  12. The science of fake news (David M. J. Lazer, Matthew A. Baum, Yochai Benkler, Adam J. Berinsky, Kelly M. Greenhill, Filippo Menczer, Miriam J. Metzger, Brendan Nyhan, Gordon Pennycook, David Rothschild, Michael Schudson, Steven A. Sloman, Cass R. Sunstein, Emily A. Thorson, Duncan J. Watts, Jonathan L. Zittrain)
  13. When WhatsApp’s Fake News Problem Threatens Public Health
  14. Be The (Online) Change You Want To See 
  15. Trump Issues Order to Block Broadcom’s Takeover of Qualcomm
  16. Trump issues order blocking Broadcom takeover of Qualcomm, citing national security 
  17. President Trump blocks $117 billion Qualcomm takeover: Singaporean rival Broadcom prevented from buying US chip firm over “national security” concerns
  18. President Trump blocks Broadcom takeover of Qualcomm despite re-domiciliation efforts
  19. President Trump halts Broadcom’s bid for Qualcomm, citing “national security”: Last week, Treasury official argued deal would let China dominate 5G development.
  20. Is China Discriminating against U.S. Firms Related to Technology Transfer, IP, Trade Secrets, and Innovation? 
  21. Court documents reveal 238 gender discrimination and harassment complaints filed against Microsoft: Microsoft facing lawsuit over “unchecked gender bias that pervades its corporate culture”
  22. “Women at Microsoft are sexualized by their male managers,” lawsuit alleges: Of 108 gender discrimination complaints, Microsoft concluded just one was legit.
  23. Microsoft Helps Get A Computer Recycler Sentenced To 15 Months In Prison For Offering Unapproved Recovery Disks
  24. YouTube Shows Dennis Prager’s Claim Of Discrimination Against Conservatives Is Laughable
  25. YouTube Will Link Directly To Wikipedia To Fight Conspiracy Theories
  26. YouTube To Clamp Down On Conspiracy Theories With Wikipedia-Sourced Text Boxes
  27. Wikimedia’s Transparency Report: Guys, We’re A Wiki, Don’t Demand We Take Stuff Down
  28. It’s Not Just The US — The Indian YouTube Community Has a Fake News Problem, Too
  29. Twitter’s Attempt To Clean Up Spammers Meant That People Sarcastically Tweeting ‘Kill Me’ Were Suspended 
  30. Rage against the Machine! CMA sets up a new on data unit to investigate online anti-competitive behaviour
  31. Five Senators Agree: Search Engines Should Censor Drug Information 
  32. Cannabis website to California: Section 230 protects us from your demands – Prof: “It is difficult to see how Weedmaps could be held liable for these ads.”
  33. More People Realizing That SESTA Will Do A Lot More Harm Than Good
  34. Just As Everyone’s Starting To Worry About ‘Deepfake’ Porn Videos, SESTA Will Make The Problem Worse
  35. If You Think SESTA Will Help Victims Of Sex Trafficking, Read This Now
  36. Sex Workers And Survivors Raising The Alarm About SESTA: It Will Literally Put Their Lives In Danger
  37. Sri Lanka Blocked Facebook This Week for Allegedly Spreading Hate Speech and Violence
  38. News Publishers Ask For Monopoly Powers To Fight Back Against Google/Facebook Monopoly
  39. Facebook Didn’t Kill Online Sketch Comedy—The Entire Internet Did
  40. Facebook has signed a deal to stream 25 afternoon MLB games
  41. Facebook Watch Will Exclusively Air 25 Weekday MLB Games In 2018
  42. Facebook Reportedly Pays At Least $30 Million For Rights For 25 Weekday Afternoon MLB Games
  43. MLS, Twitter Announce Three-Year Live Streaming Deal
  44. YouTube TV Wants To Woo Sports Fans, So It Will Sponsor Two More World Series
  45. Judge Rules In YouTube’s Favor In Zombie Go Boom’s Adpocalypse Lawsuit
  46. YouTube Reptile Vlogger Charged With 23 Counts of Illegally Possessing Venomous Snakes
  47. YouTube’s Robert Kyncl On Logan Paul Controversy: “We Should Have Done Better”
  48. YouTube Star Jake Paul Talks To Marco Rubio, Pledges $25,000 In Quest To Stop School Shootings
  49. YouTube’s Human Moderators Will See Limited Four-Hour Shifts To Preserve Their Sanity
  50. The Price Of YouTube TV Is Officially Up To $40 Per Month, With Existing Customers Grandfathered In
  51. Penny’s Notes on the Rising Influence of Influencers
  52. Vice CEO Shane Smith To Be Replaced By Former A&E Chief Nancy Dubuc (Report)
  53. How To Make A Clean Break With The Clingiest Social Networks
  54. Today’s Debate Over Online Porn Started Decades Ago
  55. Ad-Blocker Ghostery Just Went Open Source – And Has A New Business Model
  56. AI Has A Hallucination Problem That’s Proving Tough To Fix
  57. The Quest To Make A Robotic Cat Walk With Artificial Neurons
  58. It’s Really Hard to Give AI “Common Sense”
  59. Four AI composition tools easy enough to soundtrack your film masterpiece: AI creativity now extends to music composition tools that anyone can access.
  60. Come Harvest Time, Who Owns the Fruits of Machine Learning? 
  61. Sierra Leone Just Held the World’s First Blockchain-Powered Election 
  62. Bitcoin Is Ridiculous. Blockchain Is Dangerous
  63. Is The Blockchain Hype Over? (Andres Guadamuz)
  64. Beware the use of crypto-currencies
  65. Cryptocurrencies fall as Google announces ad ban: Facebook banned ads for cryptocurrency from its ad networks in January.
  66. There’s a currency miner in the Mac App Store, and Apple seems OK with it: Popular Calendar 2 app mines Monero by default, but at least it discloses it. 
  67. Taxation of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies
  68. The Obamas Are In “Advanced Negotiations” With Netflix For Political Series Slate
  69. Netflix may sign the Obamas in exclusive content deal: Apple and Amazon are reportedly also interested in working with the former president.
  70. Netflix Piloting Feature That Lets Kids Earn Virtual Rewards For Streaming
  71. Spotify Enlists Its Users to Add Music Metadata
  72. Killing The Golden Goose (Again); How The Copyright Stranglehold Dooms Spotify
  73. Apple is acquiring the Netflix of magazines: The service had “hundreds of thousands” of subscribers as of 2016.
  74. Apple Buys Texture, the Netflix for Magazines
  75. Eddy Cue On Apple’s Video Vision: Unlike Netflix, “We’re Not After Quantity”
  76. Operation Bayonet: Inside The Sting That Hijacked An Entire Dark Web Drug Market 
  77. The Long-Awaited Interactive Adaptation Of ‘WarGames’ Has Premiered 
  78. Inside The Vatican’s First-Ever Hackathon

CREATIVITY

  1. The Supreme Court’s Decision in Livent: a Framework for Deciding Auditor’s Negligence Cases 
  2. Can Mattel be prevented from making its own Frida Kahlo Barbie doll?
  3. Playboy Decides Not To Appeal Silly Boing Boing Lawsuit In The Most Petulant Manner Possible
  4. Copyright, Censorship, Pepe & Infowars
  5. Pay attention to the “moral rights” of visual artists  
  6. Research Shows That Published Versions Of Papers In Costly Academic Titles Add Almost Nothing To The Freely-Available Preprints They Are Based On 
  7. Court Orders Copyright Troll To Post $10,000 Bond After He Lied About His Client’s Licensing Agreement
  8. Domain names: getting real 
  9. Federal Judge Says Business Names Provided By Reviewers At A Review Site Are Contributory Trademark Infringement
  10. Nevada Supreme Court Overturns Lower Court’s Abysmal Ruling On Las Vegas Shooting Coroner’s Reports
  11. Iowa Town Threatens Critical Resident With A Lawsuit, Gets Sued By The ACLU Instead
  12. Trump’s Lawyers Apparently Unfamiliar With Streisand Effect Or 1st Amendment’s Limits On Prior Restraint
  13. Is Jediism a recognized religion in Canada?

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. The Case Against the Bell Coalition’s Website Blocking Plan, The Finale (Michael Geist) 
  2. Why Canadians oppose blacklisting “pirate” websites
  3. FCC must defend net neutrality repeal in court against dozens of litigants: Lawsuits filed by tech firms, states, and advocates were merged into one suit.
  4. States Take Sides on Net Neutrality
  5. Calif. weighs toughest net neutrality law in US—with ban on paid zero-rating: Bill would recreate core FCC net neutrality rules and be tougher on zero-rating. 
  6. Telecom Lobbyists Whine About State Net Neutrality Efforts They Helped Create 
  7. Terrified Of Losing In Court, ISPs (With Senator John Kennedy’s Help) Push Hard For A Fake Net Neutrality Law
  8. When slow downloads hit an app developer, only Comcast customers suffered: Comcast and Cogent fight again, and customers lose with slow Internet service.
  9. Comcast gets FCC’s help in $3.5 million battle against small cable company: Wave Broadband paid Comcast millions and won’t get refund; FCC rejects complaint.
  10. Verizon Forced To Briefly Give A Damn About Its Neglected Broadband Networks
  11. Verizon agrees to fix failing broadband networks to settle investigation: Verizon will fix NY copper lines and potentially upgrade more than 30,000 homes.
  12. AT&T/Time Warner merger will raise TV bills $436 million a year, US says: AT&T scoffs at “insubstantial 45-cent monthly increase, all of 0.4% per bill.”
  13. ‘Intense distress’: Lawsuit from Seth Rich’s parents details trauma from Fox News hatchet job
  14. Cable’s Top Lobbyist Again Calls For Hyper Regulation Of Silicon Valley
  15. When Monsters Exaggerate 
  16. Broadcasting: A Key Brexit Priority
  17. Pakistan Court Declares Mobile Data Disconnections By The Government Illegal

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. California district court rules social media company cannot dismiss non-users’ facial scan privacy claims 
  2. TSA accused of searching domestic travelers’ devices with no warrant: TSA has failed to fully respond to FOIA requests from the ACLU.
  3. FBI Documents Show More Evidence Of Agency’s Sketchy Relationship With Best Buy’s Geek Squad
  4. FBI Director Says It’s ‘Not Impossible’ To Create Compromised Encryption That’s Still Secure
  5. Yahoo’s ToS limitations of liabilities challenged in Cyberbreach of 3 billion users! 
  6. Judge Says Yahoo Still On The Hook For Multiple Claims Related To Three Billion Compromised Email Accounts
  7. There Are No Guardrails on Our Privacy Dystopia: If tech is going to infiltrate, influence, and shape all of society, it is unacceptable for tech and pure market forces to decide the limits of the surveillance state.
  8. Potent malware that hid for six years spread through routers: Nation-sponsored Slingshot is one of the most advanced attack platforms ever.
  9. Senior ex-Equifax executive charged with insider trading: CIO allegedly sold $1 million worth of stock 10 days before public learned of breach.
  10. Router-Hacking ‘Slingshot’ Spy Operation Compromised More Than 100 Targets
  11. Weighing Privacy vs. Security For The Internet’s Address Book
  12. Keeper Security Reminds Everyone Why You Shouldn’t Use It; Doubles Down On Suing Journalist

GAMES

  1. White House meeting over violent video games accomplished little, say attendees 
  2. Opinion: Trump’s video game ‘summit’ reminds us who the enemy is
  3. Trump’s Video Game Summit: Developers On One Side, Partisan Hack Puritan Cosplayers On The Other
  4. After industry meeting, Trump highlights alleged game violence effects: Democrats accuse president of using games to “change the subject” from gun control.
  5. IGDA: Blaming gun violence on games is a distraction, but a chance to educate  
  6. Yelling at “scumbags” – inside the White House’s last gaming violence summit: When gaming executives meet the executive branch, the discussion can get a bit bumpy.
  7. What to expect from Trump’s game industry summit today: Attendee list suggests a vigorous debate between pro- and anti-gaming voices.
  8. These are the people attending the White House’s game violence meeting
  9. ZeniMax, Take Two CEOs to meet with President Trump: White House sources have confirmed two attendees of today’s meeting on gun violence
  10. Trump meeting with game execs yields “significant progress” – Legislator: Missouri Representative Vicky Hartzler gives her assessment as ESA thanks president for “receptive and comprehensive approach”
  11. Trump White House’s Horribly Violent Video-Game Reel Goes Viral
  12. This alternate montage challenges the White House’s violent games reel 
  13. Watch the industry’s response to Trump’s violent video games reel: Games For Change compiles montage of beautiful and emotional moments from The Last of Us, Zelda, Minecraft, Abzu and more
  14. Devs of violent games in White House reel “should be ashamed” – Spector: Warren Spector calls supercut of gory titles “simply disgusting,” says those titles hurt the industry
  15. ‘The American Dream’ Parodies US Gun Culture, Launching This Week at a Key Moment in Gun Rights Debate
  16. What would Trump’s trade war mean for the games business?: The high-profile summit on game violence is a paper tiger; the industry should take the opportunity to persuade the President on trade issues instead
  17. Super Seducer blocked from release on PlayStation 4: The BBC has claimed that Sony “banned” the controversial seduction game
  18. “Dating coach” game Super Seducer barred from PlayStation 4: Available on Steam, game using live-action video to “teach” pick-up techniques.
  19. Voice-acting rights halt effort to put Fallout 3 inside Fallout 4: Converting licensed vocal files falls into a legal gray area.
  20. Fortnite Players Are Getting Fraudulent Charges For Hundreds Of Dollars
  21. Fortnite players receiving refunds after accounts were hacked  
  22. Fortnite’s cross-platform play will not work between Xbox and PlayStation: Sony appears to be the holdout again as Epic’s multiplayer hit adds cross-play between PC, Mac, console and new mobile versions
  23. Fortnite Battle Royale will have the “same gameplay” on mobile devices: PS4 and Xbox One can play with PC/mobile, but not with each other.
  24. Blog: Making a multiplayer PC game playable cross-platform on PS4
  25. Microsoft claims Sony is stopping Xbox One and PS4 cross-play
  26. ModDB has restored and relaunched GameFront
  27. Fully restored GameFront relaunches: Modding hub is back online after two years, with completely restored content and new features
  28. Game Developer Embraces Modding Community So Much They Made Their Work An Official Release
  29. PUBG Corp acquires MadGlory to enable community developer tools: New subsidiary will launch online portal for custom-made APIs, matchmaking engines and esports systems
  30. PUBG is third highest-earning Steam game of all time, according to Gabe Newell: Valve boss points to Bluehole’s phenomenon as proof of how Steam benefits the industry
  31. Op-Ed: Australia’s gambling crackdown signals choppy waters for loot boxes
  32. Happy Wars shutting down Xbox 360 and PC servers this year
  33. Devs celebrate women game devs on International Women’s Day
  34. Here’s how the games industry is honouring International Women’s Day: We round up all the events and other activities video games firms are hosting to celebrate women everywhere
  35. Ubisoft and Microsoft Women in Gaming panel pushes for clarity on how feminism fits into gaming
  36. Female Overwatch League host receives death threats over Women’s Day tweet: Soe ‘Soembie’ Gschwind-Penski besieged on social media for thanking supportive men
  37. Overwatch League team releases twice-banned player: Dallas Fuel cuts ties with Félix “xQc” Lengyel after he follows up suspension for homophobia with suspension for racism
  38. Red Bull announces UK’s largest public esports studio: Studio launches later this month in partnership with ASUS Republic of Gamers, Noblechairs, and Newegg
  39. This Stadium In China Is Built Exclusively For Esports
  40. Violent video games not welcome for Olympic esports consideration: Overwatch and Call of Duty won’t be Olympic sports any time soon.
  41. Alibaba backs non-violent esports for Olympic inclusion
  42. Alibaba to focus on non-violent games for Olympic esports bid: First-party publishers of violent games will be “suspected of only pushing your games for your own benefit”
  43. NHL Announces First Esports Draw With EA Sports Game
  44. EA adds 6 Warner Bros. published games to Origin Access
  45. EA adds WBIE to Origin Access: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment becomes first major external publisher added to subscription game service
  46. Twitch is getting into the ‘free games for subscribers’ business 
  47. Kixeye raises $20M to blend machine learning and game marketing
  48. Facebook opens up its Instant Games platform to all devs
  49. Dotemu opens new publishing label to support small creative devs
  50. Valve adds optional ‘Plus’ paid subscription to free-to-playDota 2
  51. Jason Rohrer’s “off-Steam” gamble paid off: The indie designer released his new game outside of Valve’s platform, and it eclipsed sales of his last Steam release in one week
  52. Indie devs weigh the pros and cons of forgoing a Steam release
  53. Analysts: Games responsible for 80% of all mobile app spending in 2017
  54. Could games development transition to a complete outsource model?
  55. FoxNext opens new studio to create story-driven titles
  56. What’s the story at Wooga?: CEO Jens Begemann explains the reasoning for the casual games studio’s plan to focus on story-driven games
  57. Call of Duty goes early to avoid Red Dead clash: Activision releasing Black Ops 4 a full month earlier than usual as Rockstar’s next is set to dominate Q4 – but will others follow?
  58. Dune II and the three rules of a good licensed game
  59. Oculus has a fix for the mass Oculus Rift outage
  60. Oculus Publishes Repair Tool to Patch Debilitating Rift Error, Offers $15 Store Credit
  61. Cities: Skylines has sold 5M copies on PC alone
  62. Nintendo rescues quiet February for UK games retail
  63. 3DS lifecycle extends to 2019 with Nintendo Direct surprise announcements: Luigi’s Mansion remake, new WarioWare and Bowser’s Inside Story bolsters handheld’s line-up for the next 12 months
  64. Nintendo announces a bunch of 2018 games, but none as big as Switch Smash Bros.: Nintendo Direct video includes lots of ports coming to Switch, 3DS, as well.
  65. Nintendo inks deal with YoYo to bring GameMaker Studio 2 games to Switch
  66. Street Fighter collection revives rare multiplayer mode for Switch
  67. Don’t Miss: How Nintendo designed the inviting mini-world of Animal Crossing
  68. Why you should (and shouldn’t) port your mobile game to the Switch: EEDAR senior analyst Matt Diener finds that Switch players are big mobile spenders – will that lead to successful mobile adaptations?
  69. Google Maps transforms into Mario Kart for Mario Day  
  70. Google announces new open source multiplayer server Agones
  71. Devs can now use Google Maps API to build their own game worlds
  72. How to Turn Google Maps Into Mario Kart
  73. Gabe Newell: Valve has always been a ‘bit jealous’ of companies like Nintendo 
  74. Dota 2 card game “the first of several games” coming from Valve: Gabe Newell’s company now has “ability to develop hardware and software simultaneously”
  75. Valve’s making games again: Hands-on with Artifact’s digital trading cards – Newell: “Artifact is to trading card games what Half-Life 2 was to single-player action.”
  76. Valve introduces subscription model to Dota 2: $3.99 a month subscription “an evolution of the Majors Battle Pass” says Valve
  77. Valve lets us loose in its new offices, unlocks the doors to a rare merch room: Valve recently moved to new offices, so we took every photo we were allowed.
  78. BitGuild announces blockchain platform for online games: “The implications of having a true gaming network built on the blockchain are nearly limitless,” says CEO
  79. Tencent invests up to $1bn into streaming services within 24 hours: Chinese giant poured $632m into Douyu and led a $461m funding round into its rival Huya
  80. Kixeye secures $20m funding for machine learning platform: Mobile firm claims tech optimises gameplay and monetisation to solve the ‘one-hit wonder problem’
  81. Looking at open world games to understand player autonomy
  82. Report: Fruit Ninja creator Halfbrick cuts workforce by 50 percent
  83. Outpost wants to mix games with reality TV: CEO Wright Bagwell says incorporating an audience and fame leaderboards into the studio’s SOS survival game “radically changes” player behavior
  84. HQ Trivia raises $15 million in funding: Growing trivia game platform offers real-money prizes, is now worth $100 million
  85. Microsoft Shows New Research in Haptics With ‘CLAW’ VR Controller Prototype
  86. Valve launches VR resolution auto-optimization tool for SteamVR
  87. Steam will now auto-scale VR resolution to max out your GPU: New feature aims to “take the headset out of the equation for [VR] developers.”
  88. Eyes-on with the HTC Vive Pro: Not a revolution, but also more than resolution – We take a closer look at a Ready Player One event during SXSW.
  89. Skyrim VR is coming to PC, and it marks a Bethesda first: Oculus approval 
  90. The First Reactions to Ready Player One Are Mostly Positive… Mostly
  91. The Princeton Review reveals the best schools in the world for game design: University of Southern California and the Southern Methodist University ranked top for the second year in a row
  92. Meet the dev who sold his house to make a 100% for-charity game

Jon

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News of the Week; March 7, 2018

By Jon Festinger on March 13, 2018

DIGITAL

  1. In US v. Microsoft, A Decades-Old Law Leaves Few Good Options
  2. Is Trump’s Twitter behavior constitutional? A court will decide.
  3. Clarifying Outer Bounds of Copyright Fair Use, Second Circuit Finds Video Monitoring Service Infringing
  4. Do Memes Infringe Copyright? (Andres Guadamuz) 
  5. Protecting human rights online: new guidelines on internet intermediaries (Council of Europe)
  6. China Briefly Bans The Letter ‘N’ On Social Media After Anger Over Plans To Make Xi Jinping ‘Dictator For Life’
  7. African Union Bugged by China: Cyber Espionage as Evidence of Strategic Shifts
  8. Singer/Professor Tries To Sue Student For Bad Internet Ratings, Fails, Appeals, Fails Again
  9. EU Commission Says Social Media Companies Must Take Down ‘Terrorist Content’ Within One Hour
  10. News in a disintegrating reality: Tow’s Jonathan Albright on what to do as things crash around us: “The kinds of things that I often see could literally be stopped by one person. I mean: 4chan trending on Google during the Las Vegas shooting? How that eve
  11. New Foils for the Right: Google and Facebook
  12. Wall Street Journal Explains Why SESTA Is A Terrible Idea And Is Unnecessary
  13. Can Someone Explain How SESTA Will Stop Sex Trafficking?
  14. Blame the Computer: The fake science that keeps threatening to kill us
  15. The Podcasting Juggernaut Has (Finally) Arrived: How publishers are racing to own the money-printing machine that is the daily news podcast.
  16. Publishers Could Get A New Weapon Against Facebook And Google
  17. Could Soap-Cutting Videos Be The Successor To YouTube’s Massive Slime Craze?
  18. YouTube Doesn’t Know Where Its Own Line Is
  19. YouTube Says New Human Moderators Mistakenly Punished Some Far Right And Pro-Gun Creators
  20. YouTube Stars Chomp On Some Lemons To Promote Bone Marrow Donations For Leukemia Patients
  21. YouTube’s Next Music Service Looks As If It Will Debut Later Than First Anticipated
  22. Insights: Stuck Between YouTube And A Hard Place, Being An Influencer Is Tougher Than Ever
  23. As Advertisers Flee, Alex Jones Claims His YouTube Ban Will Come Today
  24. InfoWars’ conspiracy theories have advertisers ditching YouTube channels: Even YouTube’s existing advertiser tools didn’t prevent this from happening.
  25. Angry Pick-Up Artist Says He Won’t Issue Bogus YouTube Claim On Critic’s Video; Issues Bogus Claim On Critic’s Video
  26. Top Marketers Nike, Paramount, More Pull Ads From InfoWars YouTube Channel
  27. Platform Changes Cause Influencer Anxiety
  28. Project Gutenberg Blocks Access In Germany To All Its Public Domain Books Because Of Local Copyright Claim On 18 Of Them
  29. Unprompted, creepy laughter from Alexa is freaking out Echo users: Amazon knows about the bug and is working to fix it.
  30. Amazon and Google Are Back to Feuding, This Time Over Smart Homes and Nest
  31. Google ends major OS support for Nexus phones and Pixel tablet: The two years of major OS updates is over for the Nexus 6P, 5X, and Pixel C.
  32. Google helps Pentagon analyze military drone footage – employees “outraged”: “Project Maven” applies Google’s image recognition tech to drone footage.
  33. Female Google engineer says she faced “frequent sexual harassment”: Woman charges “Google was fully aware” of sexist behavior but didn’t stop it.
  34. New Lawsuit Exposes Google’s Desperation To Improve Diversity
  35. Ex-Google recruiter: I was fired because I resisted “illegal” diversity efforts – Google vows to defend lawsuit, says it hires “candidates based on their merit.”
  36. Why Are There Few Women In Tech? Watch A Recruiting Session
  37. Facebook’s Equal Time Quandary: The social media giant could even the playing field for political ads. But is that what candidates really want? 
  38. Censoring a Facebook Post Showing a Naked Statuette? 
  39. Facebook survey: Should we let men ask 14-year-old girls for sexual pictures? – “This content should be allowed on Facebook” was an option for something beyond illegal. 
  40. BlackBerry weaponizes instant messaging patents, sues Facebook: BlackBerry continues shift to patent litigation with Facebook lawsuit.
  41. Twitter CEO wants to study platform’s “health,” but is he ignoring the cancer?: Anecdotal data makes us wonder when a terrifying Twitter botnet will take over.
  42. What Would A ‘Healthy’ Twitter Even Look Like?
  43. Famous Racist Sues Twitter Claiming It Violates His Civil Rights As A Racist To Be Kicked Off The Platform
  44. Netflix To Display MPAA Ratings As Part Of Plan To Enhance Parental Controls
  45. Snap Layoffs: Snapchat Parent Said to Be Axing 100 Engineering Employees
  46. The Limits Of Explainability: Academics, economists, and AI researchers often undervalue the role of intuition in science. Here’s why they’re wrong.
  47. Algorithms Are Creating A “Digital Poorhouse” That Makes Inequality Worse
  48. Robot smashes Rubik’s Cube record with 0.38-second solve: “The machine can definitely go faster,” inventor says.
  49. The Subtle Nudges That Could Unhook Us From Our Phones
  50. After Just 6 Months, the Phone Notch Is Already Deeply Uncool
  51. Got Crypto? Be Careful How You File Your Taxes
  52. At This Crypto Event, The Attendees Really Were High 
  53. Hackers exploiting rTorrent to install Unix coin miner have netted $4k so far: Ongoing attacks give complete control and require no user interaction.
  54. Angry Coinbase users sue over claimed security failings, insider trading
  55. Bitcoin falls 10 percent after SEC warns about unregulated exchanges: Bitcoin falls 10 percent after regulators signal crackdown on exchanges.
  56. Lamar Smith says Russian bots are trying to cripple US energy production: Russian bots stirred pipeline trouble. Was it sowing divisions or targeting energy?
  57. Mind Games: The Tortured Lives Of ‘Targeted Individuals’ – Thousands of people think that the government is using implanted chips and electronic beams to control their minds. They are desperate to prove they aren’t delusional.
  58. Wireless Carriers, Hardware Companies Use Flimsy IOT Security To Justify Attacks On Right To Repair Laws
  59. 911 recordings reveal Apple’s problem of employees walking into walls: Apple was warned by a city official about the danger of employees walking into walls.
  60. Here Are 911 Transcripts of Some of the Times Apple Employees Walked Directly Into Glass Walls
  61. Youth Gun Violence Prevention in a Digital Age (Desmond Upton Patton, Kyle McGregor, & Gary Slutkin)
  62. Your Data Is Crucial to a Robotic Age. Shouldn’t You Be Paid for It?
  63. EU Adopts Ban on Unjustified Geo-Blocking: The new EU geo-blocking regulation prohibits unjustified geo-blocking.

CREATIVITY

  1.  And the Oscar goes to… Freedom of Contract! March 2018: Morality clauses are back in the spotlight after a spate of high-profile scandals in Hollywood.
  2. Pepe the Frog Artist Suing InfoWars for Copyright Infringement
  3. Pepe’s creator sues Infowars, claiming new poster infringes copyright: Infowars founder Alex Jones maintains that the poster is protected under fair use.
  4. Thelonious Monk Estate Hornin’ In on Right of Publicity Trial: Jazz great’s heir sues craft brewery for using dad’s likeness on merchandise
  5. TVEyes Inc. Crosses the Boundary of Fair Use Defense in Copyright Infringement Case Against Fox News Network, LLC
  6. All Eyes on Fair Use: The Second Circuit Delivers a Victory for Copyright Owners 
  7. Fox News Network, LLC v. TVEyes, Inc.: Second Circuit reverses district court’s finding of fair use, holding that while TVEyes’ “Watch” function is transformative, it is not fair use in that it provides virtually all of Fox’s content to subscribers.
  8. The 2nd Circuit Contributes To Fair Use Week With An Odd And Problematic Ruling On TVEyes
  9. California Court Dismisses Copyright Suit Against BBC Over Cosby Documentary Over Lack Of Jurisdiction
  10. MPAA Opposes Several Filmmaker Associations Request For Expanded Circumvention Exemptions
  11. Fair Dealing Support for News Reporting and Public Debate: The Case of Warman and National Post v. Fournier (Michael Geist)
  12. Fair Dealing and the Right to Read: The Case of Blacklock’s Reporter v. Canada (Attorney General) (Michael Geist)
  13. Update: Ontario Court Upholds That Professional Hockey Player Did Not Breach Morals Clause in Endorsement Contract
  14. French Government Wants To Toss Far-Right Political Leader In Jail For Posting Images Of Terrorist Atrocities
  15. Why the roots of patent trolling may be in the patent office: Trolls love patents from examiners who are “lenient” about patent vetting.
  16. ‘Dr. Strangelove’ Is Basically a Documentary

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1.  The Case Against the Bell Coalition’s Website Blocking Plan, Part 12: Increasing Privacy Risks for Canadians (Michael Geist)
  2. The Case Against the Bell Coalition’s Website Blocking Plan, Part 13: It is Inconsistent With the CRTC Policy Direction (Michael Geist)
  3. The Case Against the Bell Coalition’s Website Blocking Plan, Part 14: Failure To Further the Telecommunications Act Policy Objectives (Michael Geist)
  4. The Case Against the Bell Coalition’s Website Blocking Plan, Part 15: It Undermines the Telecommunications Act Policy Objectives (Michael Geist) 
  5. The Case Against the Bell Coalition’s Website Blocking Plan, Part 16: The CRTC as the Internet Content Regulatory Authority (Michael Geist)
  6. Comcast Protected Browsing Blocks TorrentFreak, Showing Why Site-Blocking Sucks Out Loud Always
  7. Washington State Passes Law Protecting Net Neutrality
  8. Washington State Enacts Net Neutrality Law, In Clash With FCC
  9. Washington state passes net neutrality: Governor signs bipartisan legislation seeking to restore measures recently scrapped by FCC decision
  10. Washington State Laughs In The Face Of FCC Attempts To Ban States From Protecting Net Neutrality
  11. Middle Schoolers Cheer As Oregon Passes A Net Neutrality Law
  12. $20 porn-unblocking fee could hit Internet users if state bill becomes law: The opposite of net neutrality: R.I. bill requires ISPs to block sexual content.
  13. GOP tries to block state net neutrality laws and allow paid prioritization: GOP bill would outlaw blocking and throttling but give major concession to ISPs.
  14. The Wired Guide To Net Neutrality: Everything you need to know about the struggle to treat information on the internet the same – ISPs shouldn’t be able to block some sorts of data and prioritize others.
  15. AT&T has good and bad news for users of its limit-ridden unlimited plans: AT&T ends one speed limit but introduces a new one; some prices are going up.
  16. Charter appeals court loss, still claims it can’t be punished for slow speeds: New York AG alleges that Charter promised speeds it knew it couldn’t deliver. 
  17. Oregon Winds Up Giving Comcast A Huge Tax Break For Doing Nothing Differently
  18. Sprint’s CEO Thinks This Whole Killing Net Neutrality Thing Is Pretty Nifty
  19. Telecom Sector Can’t Stop Falsely Claiming That Net Neutrality Will Harm The Sick, Derail Smart Cars
  20. Ajit Pai won’t get his gun – FCC chair rejects NRA award after ethics review: NRA honored Pai for killing net neutrality, tried to give him handmade long gun.
  21. After Chat With Ethics Lawyers, FCC Boss Declines NRA Gun Award For Killing Net Neutrality 
  22. Ajit Pai’s supporters say he’s gone too far with plan that hurts poor people: Pai takes heat from all sides over plan to evict resellers from Lifeline program.
  23. Nobody (Even His Industry BFFs) Likes Ajit Pai’s Latest Attack On Low Income Broadband Programs
  24. “Dig Once” rule requiring fiber deployment is finally set to become US law: Dig Once mandates fiber conduit installation in government-funded road projects.

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. No Longer Fit for Purpose: Why Canadian Privacy Law Needs an Update (Michael Geist)
  2. Proposed changes to Canadian privacy laws influenced by changes coming from EU
  3. Facebook Loses Second Attempt to Dismiss Biometric Data Class Action 
  4. Government Says FISA Court Should Stop Wasting Time Considering The ACLU’s Request For Greater Transparency
  5. Best Buy defends practice of informing FBI about child porn it finds: New documents produced as a result of FOIA lawsuit brought by EFF.
  6. Uber ‘Surprised’ By Totally Unsurprising Pennsylvania Data Breach Lawsuit
  7. US service provider survives the biggest recorded DDoS in history: Nearly 100,000 memcached servers are imperiling the stability of the Internet.
  8. Github Survived The Biggest DDOS Attack Ever Recorded
  9. It just got much easier to wage record-breaking DDoSes: Exploits that abuse memcached servers threaten the stability of the Internet.
  10. 23,000 HTTPS certificates axed after CEO emails private keys: Flap that goes public renews troubling questions about issuance of certificates.
  11. Trustico website goes dark after someone drops critical flaw on Twitter: Outage comes a day after CEO admitted emailing private keys for 23k HTTPS certs.
  12. FBI again calls for magical solution to break into encrypted phones – FBI chief: “I don’t buy the claim that it’s impossible” to solve “Going Dark.”
  13. Spoof, Jam, Destroy: Why We Need A Backup For GPS
  14. Uh Oh: Blockchain May Not Be as Secure as We Thought
  15. Customer information compromised following NIS America storefront breach: “We have identified the issue, removed it from our website, and taken steps to prevent this issue from recurring,” says NIS America
  16. The Leaked NSA Spy Tool That Hacked The World
  17. Spy v. Spy: An NSA Leak Reveals The Agency’s List Of Enemy Hackers

GAMES

  1. Clicker Heroes maker compares new lawsuit from “patent troll” to extortion: “It’s as if someone walked into my home with a knife and asked me for $35,000.”
  2. Teen Who Made A Dumb School Shooting Joke On Snapchat Ordered By Judge To Not Play Violent Video Games
  3. Judge bars student from violent games after alleged shooting threat: “You can play all the Mario Kart you want,” judge says.
  4. Judge bans 16-year-old from violent video games over school shooting threat: Teen had no access to weapons but ‘joke’ Snapchat threat led to criminal charges
  5. Trump to meet with game industry Thursday over gun violence: ESA says it will go to the White House later this week.
  6. Trump Announces One-Sided Plan To Meet With Video Game Makers Over Gun Violence
  7. Opinion: Trump’s alleged video game summit? It’s a trap!
  8. Trump’s meeting with the game industry over gun violence may be a debate
  9. Trump says violent games are OK for his young son, maybe not for yours: “I look at some of the things he’s watching and I say, ‘How is that possible?'”
  10. Rhode Island Legislator Proposes A Tax On Video Games Based On Existing Entirely Voluntary Ratings System
  11. Rhode Island Law Would Mandate Porn Filters, Charge You $20 Per Device To Bypass Them
  12. Don’t Miss: How working on gross, violent games can mess with developers
  13. Don’t Miss: Video games and gun violence, a year after Sandy Hook
  14. Five Years After His Arrest, Prosecutors Try To Push Back Justin Carter’s ‘Terroristic Threat’ Trial
  15. Trump to meet with gaming execs – report: White House describes the meeting as part of “an ongoing discussion”, but the ESA and its members haven’t received a formal invitation
  16. Trump plans to meet with game industry over violent video games 
  17. Rainbow Six Siege to ban players who use toxic language 
  18. Rainbow Six Siege breaks its Steam concurrent player record two years after launch
  19. New report questions World Heath Organisation’s proposed ‘gaming disorder’ classification: Meanwhile, the global games industry’s rejection of the WHO proposal intensifies
  20. Researchers push back against WHO’s planned ‘gaming disorder’
  21. Tencent plans to introduce in-game contracts between parents and kids
  22. Blog: Game level generation using neural networks
  23. Clicker Heroes dev speaks out over patent troll threats
  24. Playsaurus targeted by “patent trolls” over Clicker Heroes virtual currency: “We absolutely refuse to negotiate license fees with patent holders who make bogus claims,” says Playsaurus CEO
  25. Metal Gear Survive: Critical Consensus – Tepid responses to Metal Gear’s first post-Kojima release paint it as a frustrating and tedious affair with occasional flashes of brilliance
  26. Can Metal Gear survive?: With weak sales, bad word of mouth and almost zero marketing support, Konami’s first attempt at a post-Kojima Metal Gear suggests a tough road ahead for the franchise
  27. Rovio closes London studio after one year
  28. Unhappy Rovio says 2017 was its ‘best ever year’: Revenue and Profit rise sharply, but miss analyst expectations
  29. Rovio shutters London studio and lays off entire team
  30. Rovio’s head of games Wilhelm Taht has left the company
  31. Ubisoft acquires Brawlhalla dev Blue Mammoth Games
  32. Amazon acquires backend cloud-based game dev platform GameSparks
  33. Pokémon toys and trading card sales spike in Europe: €100 million spent on trading cards in 2017 in Europe
  34. The Most Shameless Pokemon Go Rip Offs So Far
  35. UK enjoys record-breaking year with £5.11bn spent on video games in 2017: Valuation by trade body UKIE shows digital games market exceeded £1.5bn for the first time ever
  36. Online retail now accounts for over 40% of UK boxed game sales: Supermarket market share continues to tumble in 2017
  37. Mobile interactive story games generated $14m last month: Apps like Choices, Episode and What’s Your Story have generated $52.5m since November
  38. UK Charts: No new games as FIFA 18 takes No.1 yet again – Mario Kart leaps up four places
  39. UK Data: Over 20% of Call of Duty, Assassin’s Creed and Battlefront II sales were digital – FIFA 18 was 19.9%, while online games like Destiny 2 posts even stronger digital sales
  40. Monster Hunter: World ships 7.5M units in under two months
  41. Monster Hunter: World is the best-selling game in Capcom’s history – Breakout hit’s 7.5 million shipped units is the highest ever for the Japanese publisher
  42. Final Fantasy XV for Windows should have been a mess, but it’s the opposite: Square Enix mostly delivers the scalable, tweakable performance that PC gamers crave.
  43. Modders try to fix what Square Enix broke with PC Chrono Trigger port: Removing ugly HD filtering and other unneeded tinkering is an uphill battle.
  44. Video: How Gone Home was localized by fans
  45. Celeste devs release player movement code for the tough-as-pitons platformer
  46. Check out the now open-source code powering UI layout inHeaven’s Vault
  47. New indie publisher Graffiti Games announces three titles for 2018: Vancouver-based publisher unveils its first-year plans
  48. Nintendo expected to overtake Microsoft in 2018: IHS Markit’s 2017 full-year figures also show console market enjoyed biggest growth in six years
  49. No Switch hardware revision this year – Report: Wall Street Journal says company will focus on peripherals to drive sales for hybrid system’s second year
  50. Boutique publishers are the future of the indie games market: Devolver, Double Fine, Raw Fury and Buried Signal’s Jason Roberts on how publisher identity can help indie games to rise above the noise
  51. The quiet need for Chinese indie games: Spotlightor Interactive founder Gao Ming on the fight for originality within a developing games scene
  52. Report: Gameloft has shut down Gameloft Madrid
  53. Gameloft closes Madrid studio: Closure marks seventh significant cut to a Gameloft studio in less than three years
  54. Largest charity tournament in mobile esports history kicks off on March 3: Mobile esports platform Skillz sets itself $100,000 target
  55. Esports Held Its Own Upfront In New York City, As Brands Like L’Oreal Carefully Plan Their Entry
  56. Florence Is A Mobile Game That Captures The Power Of Touch
  57. Optimism at Atari?: 10 Years Ago This Month – With a high-profile hire, a new vision, and an anticipated Alone in the Dark reboot, gaming’s original titan was poised for a comeback
  58. Review: Sony Playstation 4 Pro – A year after its release, one question remains – Is it finally time to go Pro?
  59. Space Ape teams with London universities on free games masterclasses: Six-session course will cover game design, community engagement and more, classes will also be livestreamed
  60. Video games graduates have more than doubled in five years: “We need to continue to increase the supply of highly skilled games graduates,” says TIGA CEO
  61. Bandai Namco’s VR Zone Arcade Lowers Age Restriction to 7 Years Old
  62. Kongregate to launch dev-friendly digital games platform, Kartridge
  63. Kongregate launching new download games store Kartridge this summer: Publisher readies its own Steam rival with no upload fees and support for pay-what-you-want games
  64. Oculus Rifts stop working
  65. Software error causes mass Oculus Rift outage
  66. A rift in VR: Critical error shuts down Oculus headsets worldwide – A small software update may be required to address the issue.
  67. For the first time, the Oculus Rift is the leading VR headset on Steam
  68. Oculus Rift becomes leading VR headset on Steam: Latest hardware and software survey puts Oculus Rift two points ahead of HTC Vive
  69. Oculus Rift is now the most popular VR headset on Steam: But PC gaming’s most popular platform still has a relatively tiny VR userbase.
  70. Nicolas Cage’s ‘The Humanity Bureau’ VR Experience is Another Strike Against VR Film Promos
  71. Virtual reality is coming to a courtroom near you: ABA Techshow panel explores use of VR in law
  72. Magic Leap raises $461 million in funding from Saudi Arabian investment arm
  73. HQ Trivia app secures $15 million in funding 
  74. How an injured dev learned to make games without using his hands
  75. Blog: Learning more about your audience
  76. Blog: Dealing with love and hate from your fans 
  77. Devs reflect on the impact and legacy of Burnout Paradise
  78. Cataloguing soda machines in games throughout the ages 

Jon

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News of the Week; February 28, 2018

By Jon Festinger on March 13, 2018

DIGITAL

  1. How a fight over Star Wars download codes could reshape copyright law: Legal scholar says Redbox’s win over Disney is an “atomic bomb of a finding.”
  2. Disney Enterprises, Inc.; Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc.; Lucasfilm Ltd., LLC, MVl Film Finance LLC, Plaintiff, v. Redbox Automated Retail, LLC
  3. Disney’s Stupid Lawsuit Against Redbox Results In Judge Saying Disney Is Engaged In Copyright Misuse
  4. Court Finds That Embedded Twitter Photo on Website May Subject Website Owner to Copyright Liability – Be Careful What You Post  
  5. U.S. Federal Court rules embedding a Tweet could be copyright infringement
  6. Embedding a Third Party Tweet Constitutes Copyright Infringement
  7. District judge in the SDNY: Embedding links to third-party web content is copyright infringement 
  8. ‘Repeat infringers’ under Digital Millennium Copyright Act not repeat infringers as adjudged by court
  9. Second Circuit Rejects TVEyes’s Fair Use Defense For Online Service Allowing Users To Watch Fox News Content
  10. Federal Court of Appeal approves website seizure and Anton Piller order against online copyright piracy platform
  11. Loss In 9th Circuit Appeals Court Isn’t Slowing 1-800-LAWFIRM’s Lawsuit Crusade Against Social Media Companies
  12. DOJ Tells Congress SESTA/FOSTA Will Make It MORE DIFFICULT To Catch Traffickers; House Votes For It Anyway 
  13. House Prepared To Rush Vote On Terrible Frankenstein SESTA, Which Will Harm Trafficking Victims & The Internet
  14. Now It’s The Turn Of Mercedes-Benz To Grovel Before China, Over An Instagram Post Quoting The Dalai Lama
  15. Apple Agrees To Store Chinese iCloud Data In China, Making It Much Easier For The Chinese Gov’t To Access It
  16. Apple to suspend iTunes Store support for “obsolete” first-gen Apple TV: Security changes will also affect Windows XP and Vista machines running iTunes.
  17. Mistakes And Strategic Failures: The Killing Of The Open Internet
  18. Russian Hacker False Flags Work—Even After They’re Exposed
  19. How Manafort’s inability to convert a PDF file to Word helped prosecutors: Former Trump campaign manager allegedly emailed doctored docs to his assistant. 
  20. FTC Refunds Victims of Tech Support Scam 
  21. AT&T Fails In Bid To Kill FTC Authority Over Broadband Monopolies
  22. COPPA, FTC Act Violations for Talent Agency
  23. Connected Toys, COPPA, and What’s Next 
  24. Google starts a push for cross-platform app development with Flutter SDK: As Flutter hits beta 1, Google revs up promotion efforts for a new way to make apps.
  25. Google Must Be Stopped Before It Becomes An AI Monopoly: We should start thinking now about how to build an antitrust regime that will preserve several companies’ robust AI assistants. 
  26. Artificial Intelligence & Inclusion 
  27. New Report on Emerging AI Risks Paints a Grim Future
  28. The Malicious Use of Artificial Intelligence: Forecasting, Prevention, and Mitigation
  29. How AI-Driven Insurance Could Reduce Gun Violence: Exploring a market-based, technologically-enabled compromise to preventing gun violence.
  30. The Verdict Is In: AI Outperforms Human Lawyers in Reviewing Legal Documents
  31. Self-Driving Cars Are Smart, But Car Washes Stump Them
  32. Inside The Alexa Prize: Amazon is in a pitched battle with its rivals to bring truly conversational AI into our homes. So the company is staging a contest—a mad dash toward an outlandish goal: Cook up a bot capable of small talk.
  33. Amazon Made $5.6 Billion in Profits Last Year and Reportedly Paid Zero American Dollars in Federal Taxes
  34. Amazon Pays $1 Billion For Video Doorbell Startup Ring After Shark Tank Passed On It
  35. Why Amazon is sending you pictures of your front porch
  36. Amazon splurges on Ring, hopes smart doorbells bolster in-home deliveries: The company’s new acquisition brings video doorbells into its smart home family.
  37. Insights: Can Twitter, Facebook and Google Evolve Fast Enough to Extract Us from The Mess They’ve Made? 
  38. Fake Social Followers Yield Real Legal Concerns
  39. Kylie Jenner Said She Doesn’t Use Snapchat Anymore And Its Stock Fell 3% In A Half-Hour
  40. ‘We’re watching a company explode’: is Snapchat becoming irrelevant?
  41. Sexting is on the rise among teens: ~27% get nudes, other racy messages: But researchers found no gender differences in sending and receiving rates.
  42. Vogue, Vice put editorial collaboration on hold
  43. BuzzFeed’s AM To DM Brings In One Million Views Per Episode By Incorporating “Twitter’s DNA”
  44. YouTube Strikes InfoWars Channel Amid Attempt To Crack Down On Conspiratorial Content
  45. YouTube Won’t Ban Neo-Nazi Group Chanting ‘Gas the ******, Race War Now’: Atomwaffen calls for genocide and has been linked to several murders, but the company site says a warning label is sufficient.
  46. After Some Pushback, YouTube Finally Bans Neo-Nazi Group
  47. YouTube’s Monetization Model, Algorithm Provide Unique Haven For Conspiracy Theorists (Study)
  48. Digital Networks Differ On Responses To YouTube’s New Partner Program Requirements
  49. California Court Holds That YouTube’s Removal Notice Is Not Defamatory 
  50. Manchester United, YouTube’s most viewed English club, finally launch official channel 
  51. Move Over, TV: Students Now Distract Themselves From Homework With YouTube, Study Finds 
  52. Top 3% Of YouTube Creators Received 90% Of Sitewide Views In 2016
  53. YouTube To Keep Original Productions Budget Flat Over Next Two Years (Report)
  54. YouTube TV Partners With Seattle Sounders To Stream All 2018 Matches 
  55. YouTube TV, In Search Of Sports Fans, Gets Rights To Stream Seattle Sounders Soccer Matches
  56. Drug Addiction Educator Says He’s Leaving YouTube After Erratic Content Strikes
  57. YouTube Restores Ads On Logan Paul’s YouTube Channel After 18-Day Suspension
  58. YouTube brings ads back to Logan Paul’s channel, but he’s on a 90-day probation: He’s still not eligible for YouTube’s Google Preferred ad program
  59. Logan Paul And KSI Are Probably Going To Box And It’s Going To Be The Biggest Thing Ever On YouTube
  60. Jake Paul Breaks Daily Vlogging Streak To “Help Some People That Are In A Lot Of Need” 
  61. Alphabet Will Not Share YouTube’s Revenue With The SEC 
  62. Poland’s Central Bank Paid Popular YouTubers To Create Anti-Cryptocurrency Videos
  63. Coinbase: We will send data on 13,000 users to IRS – Bitcoin startup says if concerned, “seek legal advice from an attorney promptly.”
  64. Self-proclaimed Bitcoin creator accused of $5 billion crypto heist: Craig Wright accused of “perpetrating a scheme” to con Dave Kleiman and his estate.
  65. The Problem With Cryptojacking 
  66. Venezuela says its cryptocurrency raised $735 million – but it’s a farce: Venezuela says its presale raised $735 million in 24 hours. Don’t believe it.
  67. Bill Gates says cryptocurrencies have “caused deaths in a fairly direct way”: Gates says cryptocurrencies’ main feature is anonymity.
  68. Bill Gates Thinks Cryptocurrency Is Killing People ‘In a Fairly Direct Way’
  69. Here’s How Blockchain Could Be Used for Gun Control
  70. Managing Copyrights on a Blockchain: How Close Are We and What Does It Mean?
  71. New York’s Top Court Rules 7-0: “Private” Facebook Posts Subject to Disclosure
  72. Section 230 Isn’t About Facebook, It’s About You
  73. Facebook’s Mandatory Malware Scan Is An Intrusive Mess
  74. Facebook Live Usage Among Previously-Paid Publishers Declined By More Than 50% In 2017
  75. What Facebook Isn’t Saying About Trump And Clinton’s Campaign Ads 
  76. Facebook apologizes over “Bullet Train” VR demo at right-wing conference: Facebook exec says demo scuttled “out of respect” for recent shooting victims.
  77. Netflix CFO: We’re Going To Have 700 Original Programs On Our Platform In 2018 
  78. Instagram image of Lego assault rifle, threat lead to 14-year-old’s arrest: San Diego County teen wrote Tuesday evening – “Don’t come to school tomorrow.”
  79. NIST Releases Draft Report on IoT Cybersecurity Standards; Comments Due April 18 
  80. Vox Lays Off 50 Staffers, Mostly Across Social Video Teams
  81. Wow, Who Could Have Predicted 59 Percent of 2017’s ICOs Are Already Dead or Doomed
  82. Peter Thiel Is A Flawed Messenger With A Crucial Message For Tech
  83. Tinder Wants To Make Emoji For Interracial Couples
  84. Feedless Takes The News Feed Out Of Social Media
  85. When a robot writes your news, what happens to democracy? 
  86. From fake news to fabricated video, can we preserve our shared reality?: The advent of inexpensive and readily accessible fabricated video production brings new meaning to the phrase ‘seeing is believing.’
  87. There’s something strange going on amid the satellite Internet rush: Greg Wyler, the founder of OneWeb, starts a second company to compete with himself. 
  88. How Bittorrent Spurred The Streaming Revolution
  89. My Dreams of Owning The Matrix Phone Can Finally Be Fulfilled
  90. A Short History Of Technology Worship: It’s possible that neither intelligence nor beauty is what makes converts. It’s technology itself. 
  91. Silicon Valley pub that helped birth PC industry to close because of high rent: The Oasis Beer Garden will serve its final pizza and pour its last pint on March 7.

CREATIVITY

  1. Insurer Settles $10M Coverage Dispute With Kanye West Touring Company 
  2. Coal CEO’s defamation lawsuit against John Oliver is dismissed: Murray Energy says it will appeal the decision.
  3. Stanford Professor Drops Stupid SLAPP Suit Against Critics; Still Mad Online
  4. Appeals Court Affirms Dismissal Of Frank Sivero’s Publicity Rights Suit Against ‘The Simpsons’ 
  5. Court Destroys Future Public Art Installations By Holding Building Owner Liable For Destroying This One
  6. Dark Day For Hollywood – Law Prohibiting Online Publication Of Actors’ Ages Is Unconstitutional! 
  7. Federal Court Shuts Down IMDb-Targeting ‘Anti-Ageism’ Law Permanently
  8. Fair Dealing Fake News: When Seeking a Refund Arising From Copyright Over-Payments Becomes a “Legal Attack on Writers” (Michael Geist)
  9. Why Fair Dealing Benefits Creators: The Case of a Room Full of Spoons (Michael Geist)
  10. Why Fair Dealing Safeguards Freedom of Expression: The Case of the Vancouver Aquarium (Michael Geist)
  11. Judge Saris Opines on Copyright Infringement in 3-D Greeting Card Case 
  12. Black Panther Surpasses Wonder Woman, Toy Story 3 At Domestic Box Office: Third highest-grossing MCU movie domestically.
  13. Mark Millar Has an Interesting Theory About Why Marvel Movies Work and DC Movies Don’t
  14. Disney Donates $1 Million To Open Stem Centers In Honor Of Black Panther Success: The money will go towards building new Centers of Innovation for kids interested in STEM. 

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. The Case Against the Bell Coalition’s Website Blocking Plan, Part 8: The Ineffectiveness of Website Blocking (Michael Geist)
  2. The Case Against the Bell Coalition’s Website Blocking Plan, Part 9: Why it Violates Canadian Net Neutrality Rules (Michael Geist)
  3. The Case Against the Bell Coalition’s Website Blocking Plan, Part 10: Why It May Violate Human Rights Norms (Michael Geist)
  4. The Case Against the Bell Coalition’s Website Blocking Plan, Part 11: Higher Internet Access Costs for All (Michael Geist)
  5. The Case Against the Bell Coalition’s Website Blocking Plan: Canadians Take a Stand Against Site Blocking (Michael Geist)
  6. NRA gives Ajit Pai “courage award” and gun for “saving the Internet”: Killing net neutrality helps Pai win award for “standing up under pressure.”
  7. NRA Gives FCC Boss An Award For ‘Courageously’ Killing Net Neutrality, May Have Violated Ethics Rules
  8. FCC Republican faces ethics complaint after calling for Trump’s re-election: Pai and O’Rielly both face ethics questions after appearances at CPAC.
  9. Vimeo, In Ongoing Battle For Net Neutrality, Refiles Lawsuit Against FCC
  10. AT&T loses years-long quest to cripple FTC authority over telecoms: Unlimited data throttling case is back on after FTC wins major ruling.
  11. AT&T describes post-net neutrality plans for paid prioritization: “AT&T is not interested in creating fast lanes and slow lanes,” ISP claims. 
  12. Democrats submit plan to save net neutrality, still one vote short in Senate: Democrats still trying to convince Republicans to keep net neutrality rules.
  13. The Final Countdown to Net Neutrality’s Death Begins Today
  14. The Death Of Net Neutrality Will Be Official In April (Cue The Lawsuits)
  15. As Protection Ends, Here’s One Way To Test For Net Neutrality
  16. Life in the Fast Lane: FCC Releases Final Rule Repealing Net Neutrality 
  17. Defying Pai’s FCC, Washington state passes law protecting net neutrality: Washington may be the first state to impose net neutrality rules on all ISPs.
  18. The FCC’s ‘New’ Broadband Availability Map Hallucinates Broadband Competition
  19. Why states might win the net neutrality war against the FCC: FCC might have doomed its preemption case by renouncing authority over broadband.
  20. Verizon and a company it bought just paid $614M in biggest FCC fine ever: Straight Path failed to use spectrum, resulting in $614M fine and sale to Verizon.
  21. Charter Spectrum Fails To Wiggle Out From Under State Lawsuit For Crappy Service 
  22. The Moon Will Soon Have Its Own Mobile Network
  23. A Parliamentary Committee Makes Recommendations Regarding Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. US Officials Say Russia Hacked Pyeongchang Olympics, Tried to Pin It on North Korea
  2. Russia accused of “false flag” attack on Olympic opening: Routing hacks, bits of code used to throw off attribution trail.
  3. America’s Voting Systems Are Highly Vulnerable to Hackers: And we’re doing nothing to protect them.
  4. Feds have spent 13 years failing to verify whether passport data is legit: Data is read off e-passports, but CBP lacks software to verify digital signatures.
  5. US Border Officials Have Never Verified Chipped Passports, Despite Demanding Their Usage
  6. Us Border Patrol Hasn’t Validated E-Passport Data For Years: US Customs and Border Patrol hasn’t been verifying the cryptographic signatures on e-Passports – because they never installed the right software.
  7. YouTube Removes Some Demographics Data From Creator Analytics To Protect Viewer Privacy
  8. Microsoft’s Supreme Court Case Has Big Implications For Data
  9. Microsoft doesn’t want to turn over foreign server data, SCOTUS to weigh in: Silicon Valley fears that if US wins, its data held abroad will be vulnerable.
  10. Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments In Microsoft Email Case
  11. SEC Issues Interpretive Guidance on Public Company Cybersecurity Disclosures: Greater Engagement Required of Officers and Directors
  12. Car companies are preparing to sell driver data to the highest bidder: Connected cars are going to monetize data, but most drivers don’t know that.
  13. Covert ‘Replay Sessions’ Have Been Harvesting Passwords By Mistake
  14. How To Turn Off Facebook’s Face Recognition Features
  15. Man removes feds’ spy cam, they demand it back, he refuses and sues
  16. Cellebrite can unlock any iPhone (for some values of “any”): Forensics contractor’s “Advanced Unlocking Service” still has to brute-force passcodes
  17. Developer gets prison after admitting backdoor was made for malice: Full-featured trojan catered to password thieves, Peeping Toms, and ransomware scammers.

GAMES

  1. Star Control devs file counterclaim against Stardock over IP ownership
  2. Star Control countersuit aims to invalidate Stardock’s trademarks: Stardock claims Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III didn’t even create the classic games.
  3. Twitch Interactive, Inc. v. Justin Johnston, Et Al.
  4. Trump decries violent games after school shooting: US president raises concerns about the internet, games, and movies during a meeting on school safety
  5. Trump Blames School Shootings On Violent Video Games, Movies; Suggests We Need Some Sort Of Rating System For Them
  6. President Trump: “We have to do something” about violent video games, movies: Parkland student who plays Call of Duty responds: “That’s just a really pathetic excuse.”
  7. Right On Time: Kentucky Governor Lays The Blame For Florida School Shooting At The Feet Of Video Games
  8. Rhode Island might tax violent games to fund mental health programs
  9. Rhode Island politician proposes violent game tax: 10% sales tax on M-rated games would pay for mental health and counselling resources in schools
  10. Game Studio Threatens Employees’ Jobs If They Don’t Write Positive Reviews Of Own Game, Then Steam Pulls Game Entirely
  11. ESRB defends “fun” loot boxes as it starts labeling all “in-game purchases”: New label doesn’t specifically call out loot boxes to avoid “overwhelming” parents.
  12. ESRB to add ‘In-Game Purchase’ label to games featuring loot boxes
  13. ESRB responds to loot box controversy with in-game purchase label: Rating board to add new indicator on physical games when players can spend money from within the game
  14. Riot reveals the odds and rules that power League of Legends loot boxes
  15. Hooked on loot boxes: The industry’s push for engagement at all costs is ready to backfire as it misunderstands the concern over a controversial mechanic
  16. League of Legends dev Riot Games details how it ensures fairer loot box odds: Leading MOBA studio is the latest to share drop rates as scrutiny over monetisation continues
  17. Nintendo’s eShop refund policy found to violate European consumer rights: Norwegian Consumer Council asks Nintendo to bring its policy in line with European law
  18. Game Studio Found To Install Malware DRM On Customers’ Machines, Defends Itself, Then Apologizes
  19. ESA Comes Out Against Allowing Museums To Curate Online Video Games For Posterity
  20. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild big winner at DICE Awards
  21. Zelda and Nintendo clean up at the DICE Awards
  22. Breath of the Wild wins four including GOTY, while Nintendo was involved with a further seven winners
  23. In the age of the Switch, the Nintendo 3DS refuses to die: Despite Switch success, older portable is still popular, especially in the US.
  24. Nintendo: letting our fans review video games might not be a good idea – Change comes only five days after Nintendo caught up with rivals’ review systems.
  25. Nintendo Pulls Switch Game User Reviews
  26. Nintendo Adds User Reviews, Immediately Pulls Them
  27. Nintendo is letting players review Switch games on its official website
  28. Nintendo’s disappointing year on mobile: Smartphone games are proving to be a challenge for Nintendo – and the problems are more basic than a failure to embrace F2P
  29. Sega’s Yakuza 6 demo accidentally included the full game: Lucky downloaders got the entire game well ahead of April 17 release.
  30. The state of iOS game development, according to the creators of Alto’s Odyssey: From Metal to Android, Ryan Cash, Jason Medeiros, and Eli Cymet talk shop.
  31. Star Control creators file counterclaim against Stardock: Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III seek an injunction, but Stardock CEO responds that its ownership position is “incontestable”
  32. Rebellion trademark clash compels Ballistic Interactive to change game name: Upcoming RPG Hellhunter will now be released as HellSign, Sherdians lawyer warns indies to check trademarks
  33. Double Fine’s indie publishing biz aims to grow and help devs ‘rise above the noise’
  34. Blog: Random advice on how to survive as an indie studio
  35. “There’s no excuse for unequal pay”: Leading UK games organisations discuss the importance of ensuring employees of any gender are paid fairly as claims against major non-games firms rise
  36. Former EA devs reflect on work culture 14 years after EA Spouse 
  37. Facebook launches Women in Gaming site to share stories, research, and tools
  38. Facebook launches #SheTalksGames initiative to promote women in video games: Women In Gaming Stories is designed to encourage more women into the games business, and into leadership roles
  39. Twitch Partners With Non-Profit On ‘BroadcastHER’ Grants To Support Female Gamers
  40. 1,000 Dreams in partnership with Twitch to support female streamers: Plans to raise money for BroadcastHER Grant through Women’s History Month streaming event
  41. PAX producer ReedPOP acquires Gamer Network
  42. Over half of games journalists see a future co-existing with influencers: 15% view influencers as a “significant threat” to games journalism
  43. NPD: US games business had its best January since 2011- Monster Hunter World was the best-selling game in a month where dollar spend reached $1.1 billion
  44. NPD Group: U.S. video game hardware sales topped 1M in January
  45. PlayStation Plus will stop offering PS3 and Vita games in 2019 
  46. Almost $9bn spent on digital games in January – Superdata: Research firm also reports PUBG and Fortnite generated $200m in revenue last month
  47. Australians spent AU$3.23bn on video games in 2017: IGEA data shows AU$1bn on physical hardware and software, console sales up 36% year-on-year
  48. Metacritic ranks Bethesda as top-rated big publisher of 2017: Nicalis takes top-spot for best mid-sized publisher while EA comes in at fifth place after it “fell precipitously” last year
  49. Are video games immune to cryptocurrency failure?: 46% of 2017 ICOs have already failed, but most games-based projects seem to be ongoing
  50. UK Charts: Metal Gear Survive debuts at No.6 – £25 spin-off game fails to have a big impact on the charts
  51. Horizon Zero Dawn has sold over 7.6M copies worldwide
  52. Metal Gear Survive is The Rebirth And Death Of Metal Gear
  53. Warcraft III receives major patch ahead of first ever Invitational
  54. Critical Force: “Mobile will become more and more important to esports” – CEO Veli-Pekka Piirainen on how patient community building and emerging markets helped Critical Ops to reach one million daily players
  55. Newzoo lays down ten key factors that will determine the growth of esports: “Crunch time for esports as it enters adolescence,” says market intelligence firm
  56. Esports Monetization Platform FanAI Has Cleveland Cavaliers’ Backing
  57. Discord expands verified server program to eSports teams
  58. Vision Esports secures $38M to ramp up investment efforts
  59. Vision Esports raises $38 million in funding: Round led by Evolution Media featured contributions from numerous star professional athletes
  60. GamersOrigin, LDLC Event et l’Olympique lyonnais: les trois premières sociétés agréées pour l’emploi de joueurs professionnels de jeux vidéo compétitifs
  61. Overwatch: Building an esport from the ground up
  62. H1Z1 player base declines by 91% months before launch of pro league: Concurrent players down to 9,000 from peak of 150,000
  63. Smite esports leagues will be exclusive to Microsoft’s Mixer: Xbox streaming service to showcase both the Pro and Console series for Hi-Rez’s fantasy MOBA
  64. Augmented and mixed reality revenue to overtake VR by 2021: AR/MR revenue expected to double to $3.2 billion this year
  65. Facebook pulls VR shooting demo from display at CPAC: “We regret that we failed to do so in the first place,” says Facebook VP of VR
  66. Augmented and mixed reality revenue to surpass VR by 2021
  67. Google opens up ARCore access as SDK exits preview
  68. Rovio’s value halves following investor exodus: Angry Birds developer cites spiralling user acquisition cost for profit forecast shortfall
  69. Wooga makes layoffs as it pivots towards story-driven games
  70. Trion Worlds remastering Defiance without TV show: MMO publisher will bring free-to-play shooter to PC and current gen consoles despite lack of key selling point
  71. Pokemon Day 2018 Celebrations Include Snapchat Lenses, New Pikachu In Pokemon Go: Plus a new Pikachu Talk app for Amazon Alexa and Google Home.
  72. Blizzard Let Zenyatta Walk And It Was A Mistake
  73. Why release a new N64 game in 2018?: How a forgotten PS1 game has become a Kickstarter hit
  74. Metal Gear Survive Dev Appears To Call Out Konami In Hidden Message
  75. WWE Items Coming To Rocket League
  76. Ex-Quantic Dream dev launches video game storytelling course: Interior Night’s Caroline Marchal teams up with author and TV producer John Yorke for seven-week program
  77. Weza Interactive’s mission to become Africa’s success story: Kenyan developer George Ahere on how local culture inspired debut title Mzito and his plans to raise the continent’s profile in the global games market
  78. Ubisoft’s “Minority Report of programming”: La Forge claims its Commit Assistant AI for detecting bugs as they’re introduced can cut programming time by 20 per cent
  79. Obscure 1984 Donkey Kong game released online
  80. Europe finally gets a video game chart with digital data
  81. Can gaming’s own “academy awards” become a cultural event?: Academy president says attracting the “wider gamer audience” isn’t a priority.
  82. Obituary: Former President and CEO of Atari Ray Kassar 

Jon

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News of the Week; February 21, 2018

By Jon Festinger on March 11, 2018

DIGITAL

  1. Instagram, YouTube Face Full Block In Russia After Billionaire Wins A Privacy Lawsuit Over Pictures With An Alleged Escort
  2. OCA upholds $700,000 award in internet defamation case
  3. Playboy says linking to Playmate archive violates copyright; judge says no way: Boing Boing linked to an Imgur-hosted archive that has since been taken down. 
  4. Scraping Is OK, Copying Proprietary Software Is Not 
  5. Terrible Copyright Ruling Over An Embedded Tweet Undermines Key Concept Of How The Internet Works
  6. A Ruling Over Embedded Tweets Could Change Online Publishing
  7. Are news publishers directly liable for embedding tweets that contain images not created by that tweeter?
  8. Disney Enterprises, Inc. v. Redbox Automated Retail, LLC 
  9. 32 lawsuits filed against Intel over Spectre and Meltdown flaws
  10. Court Realizes It Totally Screwed Up An Injunction Against Zazzle For Copyright Infringement 
  11. John Perry Barlow and the Foundational Values of the Net
  12. Twitter “bot” purge causes outcry from trollerati as follower counts fall: Right-wing tweeters see thousands of followers purged for “suspicious account behavior.”
  13. Even If The Russian Troll Factory Abused Our Openness Against Us, That Doesn’t Mean We Should Close Up
  14. NRA Goes Quiet on Twitter, Just Like After Previous Mass Shootings
  15. Parkland Conspiracies Overwhelm The Internet’s Broken Trending Tools
  16. Pro-Gun Russian Bots Flood Twitter After Parkland Shooting
  17. Special Counsel indicts 13 people, Russian troll farm on conspiracy charges: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein says Russians conducted “information warfare.”
  18. How the Internet Companies That Sold Ads to Russian Trolls Can Fix the Problem: Mueller’s indictments describe a sprawling Russian scheme to sow discord in our elections using social media. The platforms now have a duty to protect our democracy 
  19. DOJ Russia Indictment Again Highlights Why Internet Companies Can’t Just Wave A Magic Wand To Make Bad Stuff Go Away
  20. TWiT takes on Twitter in trademark dispute
  21. Conservative Twitter Users Lose Thousands of Followers, Mass Purge of Bots Suspected
  22. A Blockbuster Indictment Details Russia’s Attack On US Democracy
  23. The Toolset Of An Elite North Korean Hacker Group On The Rise
  24. U.N. chief urges global rules for cyber warfare
  25. YouTube’s Top Trending Video This Morning Promoted Conspiracy Theory About Florida Shooting Survivor
  26. YouTube Outlines New Official Punishments For ‘Egregious Cases’
  27. As “Demonetization Day” Arrives On YouTube, Small Creators Offer Advice To One Another
  28. Why Artificial Intelligence Researchers Should Be More Paranoid
  29. Algorithmic Impact Assessments: Toward Accountable Automation in Public Agencies 
  30. Big Data Suggests Big Potential For Urban Farming
  31. Canadian Competition Policy Focuses in on “Big Data”
  32. Toward ethical, transparent and fair AI/ML: a critical reading list
  33. A Biohacker Regrets Publicly Injecting Himself With CRISPR: “There’s no doubt in my mind that somebody is going to end up hurt eventually.”
  34. Internet rages after Google removes “view image” button, bowing to Getty: Getty drops lawsuit against Google in exchange for controversial image search changes.
  35. Google’s New Ad Blocker Changed The Web Before It Even Switched On
  36. A Lack of Emotional Intelligence is Fueling Misogyny and Racism at Google — and Across Silicon Valley
  37. Misogyny Online: Death by a Thousand Cuts
  38. Google Fired and Disciplined Employees for Speaking Out About Diversity
  39. Ex-Google Employee Claims Wrongful Firing For Criticizing James Damore’s Memo
  40. Ex-Google engineer: I was fired for being too liberal – Tim Chevalier sues Google, claims only employees “who represent the majority” speak.
  41. Infamous Google memo author shot down by federal labor board: Damore’s gender-focused memo was “discriminatory, constituted sexual harassment.”
  42. Good news: Chrome debuts automatic blocking of annoying ads – Starting this week, Chrome took aim at some of the Internet’s most intrusive ads.
  43. Glitch on Bitcoin Exchange Drops Prices to Zero Dollars, User Tries to Make Off With Trillions 
  44. Taxation of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies
  45. NSA Exploit Now Powering Cryptocurrency Mining Malware
  46. Tesla cloud resources are hacked to run cryptocurrency-mining malware
  47. Cryptocurrency-mining criminals that netted $3 million gear up for more: Attackers who mined 10,829 Monero coins over 18 months target a new server platform
  48. Cryptocurrency Mining Company Coinhive Shocked To Learn Its Product Is Being Abused
  49. Blockchain Just Isn’t As Radical As You Want It To Be
  50. Instagram’s Latest Direct Messaging Feature Challenges Snapchat Again
  51. One Down: Instagram Caves To Russian Censorship As All Eyes Turn To YouTube
  52. Facebook’s secret weapon in the fight against foreign meddling? Postcards 
  53. Copycat: How Facebook Tried To Squash Snapchat
  54. Facebook Notification Spam Has Crossed The Line
  55. Facebook ‘Security’: A New VPN That’s Spyware And Two-Factor Authentication That Spams You 
  56. Wired’s Big Cover Story On Facebook Gets Key Legal Point Totally Backwards, Demonstrating Why CDA 230 Is Actually Important
  57. NFL Thursday Night Digital Rights: Amazon, YouTube, Twitter, Verizon Again at Bidding Table
  58. YouTube, Amazon, Twitter May Bid Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars For NFL Rights
  59. Amazon To Bring Ad-Supported Options To Its Channels Program 
  60. Amazon uses cash back benefits to entice Prime members to Whole Foods
  61. UberEats Driver Kills Customer During Delivery in Atlanta 
  62. Why are we still struggling with hyper-linking and copyright law? (Andres Guadamuz)
  63. Could 5G Break Facebook And Google’s Grip On Online Content, Cut ALL Cords?
  64. Iran’s National Information Network: Faster Speeds, but at What Cost?
  65. Apple’s Excellence in Design Leads to Employees Smacking Into Glass Walls
  66. NBA’s Adam Silver Focused On Tech That Creates Magical Experiences
  67. Kudos To The Crock-Pot People For Handling The Online Fallout From ‘This Is Us’ So Well
  68. Everyone Creates: New Empirical Data Shows Just How Much The Internet Has Enabled A New Creative Economy 

CREATIVITY

  1. Court Shakes Off Dumb Copyright Lawsuit Against Taylor Swift 
  2. US Judge dismisses Taylor Swift ‘Shake it Off’ lyric as too ‘banal’ to copyright: Nick McDonald comments
  3. Judge Dismisses Taylor Swift Lawsuit While Pouring the Burn Sauce
  4. John Wiley & Sons Inc. v. DRK Photo: Second Circuit holds that stock photograph company aggregating claims for copyright infringement against third-party licensees for exceeding usage limits of licenses does not have standing  
  5. Rearden LLC v. Walt Disney Company: District court dismisses copyright and direct patent infringement claims against various film studios arising out of allegedly unauthorized use of plaintiff’s MOVA computer-graphics motion capture technology
  6. Jerry Seinfeld is being sued for allegedly stealing the idea for Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee
  7. How a Polish Holocaust Story Became the Basis of a Controversial Copyright Case in Canada’s Federal Court
  8. Germany’s Speech Laws Continue To Be A Raging Dumpster Fire Of Censorial Stupidity
  9. The Lynyrd Skynyrd Texting Case: Spoliation and Non-Party Texts 
  10. Scholastic Wants To Help Young Creators Showcase Their Works By Stripping Them Of Their IP Rights
  11. What Black Panther’s Success Means For The Future Of Movies 

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. The Case Against the Bell Coalition’s Website Blocking Plan, Part 4: Absence of Court Orders Would Put Canada At Odds With Almost Everyone (Michael Geist)
  2. The Case Against the Bell Coalition’s Website Blocking Plan, Part 5: The Inevitable Expansion of the Block List Standard for “Piracy” Sites (Michael Geist)
  3. The Case Against the Bell Coalition’s Website Blocking Plan, Part 6: Over-Blocking of Legitimate Websites (Michael Geist)
  4. The Case Against the Bell Coalition’s Website Blocking Plan, Part 7: The Likely Expansion of the Block List to Non-IP Issues (Michael Geist)
  5. Bell to Employees: Click Here To Support Our Website Blocking Proposal at the CRTC (Michael Geist) 
  6. Congress Pressures FCC Boss Over His Total Failure To Police Net Neutrality Comment Fraud
  7. AT&T’s attempt to buy Time Warner suffers a blow in court: AT&T loses bid for evidence; Trump’s hatred of CNN won’t play big role in case. 
  8. AT&T tries to prove Trump meddled in merger review because he hates CNN
  9. FCC Boss Being Investigated By His Own Agency For Being Too Cozy With The Industry He Regulates 
  10. Ajit Pai Is Reportedly Being Investigated by the FCC’s Inspector General 
  11. Ajit Pai faces investigation into moves that benefit Sinclair Broadcasting: IG examines whether Pai “improperly coordinated with Sinclair” on rule changes.
  12. Ajit Pai’s Plan Will Take Broadband Away From Poor People
  13. FCC Broadband Availability Data Derided As Inaccurate, ‘Shameful’ 
  14. To kill net neutrality, FCC might have to fight more than half of US states: Bucking FCC and Ajit Pai, lawmakers across US have proposed net neutrality laws.
  15. More Than Half Of U.S. States Now Pushing Their Own Net Neutrality Rules
  16. Charter fails to defeat lawsuit alleging false Internet speed promises: Net neutrality repeal can’t save Charter from lawsuit, NY Supreme Court says.
  17. Starting Small on Media Regulation Modernization – Rule Requiring Hard Copy of FCC Rules Repealed 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. German Court Says Facebook’s Real Names Policy Violates Users’ Privacy
  2. Facebook has been sharing our data for months to help study income inequality: In the US, just 1 percent of the population holds 40 percent of the wealth.
  3. Mountain of sensitive FedEx customer data exposed, possibly for years: Company stored customer passports, driver licenses, and more in public Amazon bucket.
  4. In terse statement, White House blames Russia for NotPetya worm
  5. Mozilla’s Open Letter To Expert Committee Drafting India’s First Data Protection Law Slams Aadhaar Biometric Identity System
  6. Internal Versus External Tracking Is Next Frontier Of Data Privacy

GAMES

  1. Gameloft facing lawsuit from outsourcing firm over copyright infringement
  2. Outsourcer suing Gameloft over Asphalt assets and trade secrets: Vietnamese studio Glass Egg claims employees created assets without company’s knowledge
  3. Despite increased downloads, Gameloft sees drop in daily and monthly average users
  4. European regulator: Nintendo’s strict eShop refund policy is unlawful
  5. After 600 days of being banned, former CS:GO streamer sues Twitch
  6. Ubisoft Perma-Bans Creator Of Cool, Non-Cheating Tool For ‘The Division’ Because It Was Made With Cheating Software
  7. Add-on dev Flight Sim Labs under fire for using malware as DRM
  8. Flight-sim devs say hidden password-dump tool was used to fight pirates: Developer says tool was intended to target one specific cracker.
  9. Streamer Sues Twitch Over Suspension: James ‘PhantomL0rd’ Varga says he was a “scapegoat”.
  10. Banned Twitch streamer files lawsuit against platform for loss of earnings and “reputational harm”: James “Phantoml0rd” Varga argues he was never given adequate explanation for the ban
  11. Twitch delays enforcement of new community guidelines over clarity concerns: Video platform criticised for new guidelines being vague
  12. Twitch Just Launched Chat Rooms And It’s The 90s All Over Again
  13. EVE Online to permanently ban repeat offenders using bots
  14. Eugen Systems devs on strike after claiming violation of rights 
  15. Video games, not guns, to blame for school shooting, says Kentucky gov.: “It’s the same as pornography…. we are reaping what we’ve sown here.”
  16. Game industry pushes back against efforts to restore gameplay servers: DMCA exemption fight shows mistrust over limited “preservation” claims.
  17. ESA argues against DMCA exemption for abandoned online games
  18. ESA opposes potential DMCA rule change aimed at preserving abandoned online games: “Preservation of online video games is now critical,” says Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment
  19. Hawaii proposes landmark legislation against loot boxes: State representative who previously declared legislation a “slippery slope” affirms support for efforts toward regulating loot boxes; expects more states to follow Hawaii’s lead
  20. U.S. Senator calls on ESRB and FTC to review loot box practices 
  21. Blog: Much ado about loot boxes
  22. Report: 69% of consumers find cosmetic microtransactions acceptable: Only 6% of consumers never spend money on microtransactions
  23. 27% of Brits have purchased 18-rated games while still underage: While still underage, 65% of millennials have played an 18-rated video game and 35% bought one
  24. Microsoft: “Representation isn’t just good common sense, it’s good business sense” – At the DICE Summit today, Phil Spencer urged the industry to pursue diversity and inclusivity or risk missing out on the growth opportunities to come
  25. Learning from scantily clad dancer scandal, Xbox exec calls for inclusivity: Phil Spencer sees “opportunity and responsibility to make gaming for everyone.”
  26. For Xbox boss Spencer, inclusivity is key for successful company culture 
  27. Rovio partners with GSN Games for cash-wagering Angry Birds game
  28. Nightdive puts crowdfunded System Shock reboot on hiatus: The project lost focus after raising more than $1.3 million from Kickstarter backers
  29. Atari launching two cryptocurrencies: Shares spike 52% after company unveils Atari Token and Pong, announces plans to allow cryptocurrencies in its gambling business
  30. Atari stock jumps 52% on plans for nostalgia-backed cryptocurrencies: “Atari Token” and “Pong Token” continue long trend of zombie corporate licensing.
  31. Doom on Switch may have changed everything with new motion controls: Nintendo teased this brilliant idea in Splatoon. Will other shooters follow?
  32. UK Charts: Nintendo Switch push sends FIFA back to No.1: Kingdom Come –  Deliverence makes No.2, Bayonetta 2 back at No.5
  33. Super Rare Games bringing limited edition indie games to Nintendo Switch
  34. How Nintendo Labo is using the Switch’s IR Camera and HD Rumble features
  35. How Switch’s success is impacting devs in the game porting biz
  36. Nintendo To Expel Members From ‘Creators Program’ In Accordance With New YouTube Policy
  37. Starbreeze banking on The Walking Dead after posting pre-tax loss of $22.2M
  38. Ubisoft Berlin’s growth ambitions will need government support: “We intend to grow to a considerable size,” says studio director Istvan Tajnay, “but we could grow to a huge size if parameters were right”
  39. How Augmented Reality Is Shaping The Future Of Play
  40. Gree VR Fund invests $18.3m into 17 augmented and virtual reality startups: San Francisco-based venture capital fund re-brands to reflect commitment beyond just virtual reality
  41. The Difference Between Smartglasses & AR Glasses, and Why Everyone is Confused
  42. Could Esports Become Part Of Olympics By 2024?
  43. Daytona 500 Race Week Features Esports Tournament On Mobile Stage
  44. How Major League Baseball Is Approaching Future Entry Into Esports
  45. Blizzard using in-game rewards to promote OverwatchLeague streams on Twitch
  46. The CEO of esports team Splyce explains the human side of professional play
  47. Learning to love older games: The recent boom in remastered games isn’t just business as usual; it signifies an underlying shift in how consumers value older games
  48. Meet the brewery making its own video game: Tiny Rebel Games teams up with its sister company to create Beer Money
  49. A Videogame Developer Who Finds Power In Pathos
  50. Nightdive Studios puts System Shock remake on hold 
  51. Blog: Building my courtroom drama game, Twelve Absent Men
  52. How multimedia trade marks could kill cloned games: Harbottle & Lewis’ Kostya Lobov believes a new form of IP protection will greatly benefit developers – as shown by Rebellion’s Sniper Elite 4
  53. Bandai Namco opens two virtual reality arcades in south England: Plans to further expand the operation across the UK throughout 2018
  54. Blog: Flash games aren’t dead, they’re just in a coma
  55. Blog: How marketing drives engagement in free to play games
  56. Opinion: Why there’s no such thing as ‘the game industry’
  57. “History is our playground”: Bringing Assassin’s Creed into the classroom – We speak to Maxime Durand, franchise historian behind the publisher’s flagship series, about its new violence-free Discovery Mode
  58. Blog: Listen to a Harvard Egyptologist discuss Assassin’s Creed: Origins

Jon

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News of the Week; February 14, 2018

By Jon Festinger on March 11, 2018

DIGITAL

  1. Supreme Court backs CBC against bid to ‘unpublish’ internet story
  2. Canada: Removing Offending Content From The Internet Just Became Harder
  3. Kobo decision gives clarity to bureau’s reach
  4. Copyright in the Digital Age: Cisco v. Arista and the Scènes à Faire Doctrine 
  5. Trudeau to Facebook: Fix your fake news problem or face stricter regulations – The prime minister warned that Ottawa would intervene with stricter federal regulations if the social media giant doesn’t address integrity issues.
  6. Social media should put its house in order: The anonymity introduced by Facebook and Twitter allows much of the bile and disinformation online to flourish
  7. Man Sues Facebook For Moderating His Bigoted Posts, Wants Section 230 Declared Unconstitutional
  8. Facebook Takes Down Post Critical Of Indian Film For Copyright Violation, Even Though It Was An All-Text Post
  9. Anti-Piracy Video Masquerades As Anti-Malware Education And Is Filled With Lies
  10. Judge Dismisses Playboy’s Dumb Copyright Lawsuit Against BoingBoing
  11. An English-Language, Algorithmically-Personalized News Aggregator, Based In China — What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
  12. “Fake News” is a Feeling: Facebook says it wants to ensure the news its users see is “high quality.” That may be just another term for “feel-good”
  13. Facebook Funded Most Of The Experts Who Vetted Messenger Kids
  14. Inside The Two Years That Shook Facebook – And The World: How a confused, defensive social media giant steered itself into a disaster, and how Mark Zuckerberg is trying to fix it all.
  15. Commercial Content Moderation And Worker Wellness: Challenges & Opportunities
  16. Techdirt, Volokh Conspiracy Targeted With Bogus Defamation Claim For Publishing A Bunch Of Facts
  17. Grubhub drivers are contractors—not employees—judge rules: CEO says ruling “validates the freedom our delivery partners enjoy.”
  18. Snapchat Now Offers Stories Analytics To The Platform’s Influencers
  19. Snapchat Stands Pat On Redesign Despite Receiving Significant Backlas
  20. Devin Nunes Has His Own ‘News’ Site to Counter ‘Fake News’
  21. The Nunes Memo Has Effectively Destroyed Intelligence Oversight
  22. Troll factories, bots and fake news: Inside the Wild West of social media
  23. Tech’s Ethical ‘Dark Side’: Harvard, Stanford and Others Want to Address It
  24. Should Data Scientists Adhere To A Hippocratic Oath?
  25. Masters of Our DNA: Designer Bodies Are Not Science Fiction
  26. Washington’s Growing AI Anxiety
  27. World Leaders Have Decided: The Next Step in AI is Augmenting Humans
  28. The “Father of Artificial Intelligence” Says Singularity Is 30 Years Away
  29. To Make AI Smarter, Humans Perform Oddball Low-Paid Tasks
  30. How artificial intelligence can help navigate employee cannabis use legal issues
  31. Study finds gender and skin-type bias in commercial artificial-intelligence systems: Examination of facial-analysis software shows error rate of 0.8 percent for light-skinned men, 34.7 percent for dark-skinned women.
  32. Deepfakes, Privacy Rights and an AI-Powered Blurring of the Lines 
  33. Artificial Intelligence Is Now Fighting Fake Porn
  34. “We’re in a diversity crisis”: cofounder of Black in AI on what’s poisoning algorithms in our lives
  35. A wave of cheating AI robots is threatening to ruin HQ Trivia: Simple Google-based cheat sites often beat humans, but a big one was just shut down.
  36. Robots Can Do Lots Of Things Well, But At Least They Can’t Ski
  37. What Are The Ethical Issues Of Google — Or Anyone Else — Conducting AI Research In China?
  38. AI Will Give Rise to “Superhuman Workers,” Says Google X Co-Founder
  39. Google isn’t honoring Pixel’s warranty, so we’re suing, customers say: “Had Google disclosed the defect to her, she would not have bought a Pixel.”
  40. Google is good at building phones but terrible at selling them: After shipping just 3.9 million units in 2017, Google has a lot of retail work to do.
  41. Twitter & Facebook Want You To Follow The Olympics… But Only If The IOC Gives Its Stamp Of Approval
  42. NSA Sent Coded Messages From Its Official Twitter Account to Communicate With Foreign Spies
  43. Ninth Circuit Shuts Down ‘Terrorists Used Twitter’ Case But Not Because Of Section 230
  44. Op-ed: Logan Paul tases a dead rat, draws YouTube’s harshest crackdown yet – YouTube cut off all of Paul’s ad revenue, but why did it take so long?
  45. YouTube Temporarily Pulls All Ads From Logan Paul’s Channels, Citing Pattern Of “Damaging” Behavior
  46. YouTube suspends Logan Paul’s ad revenue, blames ‘recent pattern of behavior’: It’s only a temporary suspension though
  47. YouTube TV Gets Turner Channels And More Sports But Raises Price By $5
  48. YouTubers Gavin Free And Meg Turney Unharmed After Armed Fan Invaded Their Home
  49. Unilever CMO Warns YouTube, Facebook: Clean Up Or We Won’t Buy Ads
  50. AT&T Still Won’t Advertise On YouTube, Works On Its Own Advertising Marketplace
  51. A Lot Of People Listen To Celine Dion On YouTube On Valentine’s Day
  52. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki: “I Think [Facebook] Should Get Back To Baby Pictures”
  53. Google’s Big Ad-Blocking Update Comes to Chrome: Here’s What We Know
  54. CNN To Cut Roughly 50 Staffers On Digital Teams This Week
  55. A New Valentine’s Day Conundrum for Employers: Could Emoji Messages Amount to Harassment in the #MeToo Era?
  56. The End Of Waymo v. Uber Marks A New Era For Self-Driving Cars: Reality
  57. Uber And Waymo Abruptly Settle For $245 Million
  58. Waymo and Uber end trial with sudden $244 million settlement: Uber promises to make sure that none of Waymo’s software, hardware is used.
  59. Waymo And Uber’s Settlement Is A Good Thing: Focus On Innovating, Not Litigating
  60. Pummeled by scandal, Uber hit with $4.46B in losses during 2017: Curiously, UberEats now comprises about 10 percent of the company’s business.
  61. It’s all over: Why the Waymo v. Uber self-driving settlement makes sense – By giving up just 0.34 percent of the company, Uber essentially got off cheaply.
  62. Here’s how to use Kalanick speak at your next jam sesh, bro: “So during this jam session, you discussed the fact that ‘laser is the sauce,’ correct?”
  63. Amazon to take on UPS, FedEx via “Shipping with Amazon”: It will first service third-party Amazon sellers in the LA area.
  64. With Blink’s camera chip and a few AA batteries, Amazon goes low-energy: Blink cameras have years of battery life—Amazon wants that for its own devices.
  65. Apple’s Latest VR Patent Describes a Compact VR Headset with Eye Tracking
  66. Leak of iBoot code to GitHub could potentially help iPhone jailbreakers: Apple confirms code was real in DMCA filing with GitHub; code already in circulation.
  67. Apple’s HomePod: Paying $350 for a speaker that says “no” this much is tough: Apple’s first smart speaker feels exclusively designed for its most ardent fans.
  68. Here Are The NBA On TNT Games To Be Streamed In Live Virtual Reality
  69. Magic Leap Partners With NBA, Turner On 3D Game Viewing Experiences
  70. Magic Leap Takes on Funding from Media Company Axel Springer
  71. The Memification Of Knowledge: Is The Internet Making Us Less Informed? (Andres Guadamuz)
  72. How Technology Will Transform The Olympics At PyeongChang
  73. The Inevitable Agony Of Olympic Spoilers
  74. Now Hackers Are Mining Crypto On Government Websites
  75. More Than 4,000 Government Websites Infected With Covert Cryptocurrency Miner
  76. Mining Crypto Takes So Much Bandwidth, It’s Inhibiting the Search for Alien Life
  77. Salon to ad blockers: Can we use your browser to mine cryptocurrency?: Salon’s optional coin mining lets you avoid ads, but eats up your CPU power.
  78. Salon Offers To Remove Ads If Visitors Help Mine Cryptocurrency
  79. EU regulators warn consumers of virtual currencies bubble 
  80. Russian Nuclear Scientists Got Busted Mining Bitcoin Using Their Work Supercomputers
  81. Russian nuclear weapons engineers caught ­­­­minting blockchange with supercomputer: The system—used for simulating weapons tests—was not supposed to be connected to Internet.
  82. Accused “In fraud we trust” kingpin arrested while vacationing in Thailand: Police reportedly seize 100,000 bitcoins, valued at nearly $840 million.
  83. The harmful drive-by currency mining scourge shows no signs of abating: One attack sneaks coin-mining malware onto 4,300 sites. Another targets Android users.
  84. In Iceland, bitcoin mining will soon use more energy than its residents
  85. European bankers scoff at bitcoin for its risk, huge energy inefficiency: Top officials from Bundesbank, ECB push for the necessity of fiat currency.
  86. Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies – an overview
  87. Cryptocurrencies – Current Regulatory Framework Applicable To Investment Funds
  88. “Troll” loses Cloudflare lawsuit, has weaponized patent invalidated: Cloudflare says it will be “ready to respond” if Blackbird appeals.
  89. Cloudflare Gets An Easy, Quick And Complete Win Over Patent Troll
  90. Everyone Hates Silicon Valley, Except Its Imitators
  91. What Microsoft’s Antitrust Case Teaches Us About Silicon Valley
  92. The Newest Emoji Say As Much About Us As Actual Words
  93. End Of An Era: Saying Goodbye To John Perry Barlow
  94. Mike Godwin Remembers John Perry Barlow

CREATIVITY

  1. Poland to outlaw references to ‘Polish death camps’ in Holocaust bill
  2. Poland’s president says he will sign controversial Holocaust bill
  3. Screen actors’ guild launches new initiative to fight sexual harassment
  4. Iron Maiden gets heavy with trademark infringers
  5. Judge Preska: Disputed Picasso Will Stay at the Met 
  6. Sivero v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.
  7. Human Rights Complaint on “Chief Wahoo” (Cleveland Indians) Logo to Proceed – Update on Law of Controversial Sports Logos
  8. Hollywood Has Some Wild Ideas For Copyright In NAFTA
  9. How We Got To The Point That Hollywood Is Trying To Attack The Internet Via NAFTA
  10. It’s alive! The public domain starts breathing again
  11. ‘Black Panther’ Brings Hope, Hype and Pride
  12. Wesley Snipes Has a Good Idea Why More People Don’t Remember How Important BladeWas
  13. Are We Running out of Trademarks? An Empirical Study of Trademark Depletion and Congestion (Barton Beebe & Jeanne C. Fromer)
  14. Does Running Out of (Some) Trademarks Matter? (Lisa Ouelette) 

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. Trudeau Puts An End to the Netflix and ISP Tax Debate: “Consumers…Pay Enough for Their Internet” (Michael Geist)
  2. The Case Against the Bell Coalition’s Website Blocking Plan, Part 1: Canada’s Current Copyright Law Provides Effective Anti-Piracy Tools (Michael Geist)
  3. The Case Against the Bell Coalition’s Website Blocking Plan, Part 2: Weak Evidence on the State of Canadian Piracy(Michael Geist)
  4. The Case Against the Bell Coalition’s Website Blocking Plan, Part 3: Piracy Having Little Impact on Thriving Digital Services and TV Production (Michael Geist)
  5. Sending a Different Message: After Bell Website Blocking Coalition Warns About Cord Cutting, Bell CEO Says It Isn’t Accelerating (Michael Geist)
  6. Trump’s infrastructure plan has no dedicated money for broadband: Broadband would be one of numerous projects competing for a pool of money.
  7. FCC Refuses To Release FOIA Documents Pertaining To Its Stupid Verizon ‘Collusion’ Joke
  8. Verizon will start locking phones to its network to prevent armed robberies: Verizon will let customers unlock phones post-sale, but just how isn’t clear yet.
  9. Verizon Begins Locking Down Its Phones Again, Purportedly To ‘Stop Theft’
  10. Verizon-Owned Tumblr Joins The Latest Effort To Restore Net Neutrality
  11. Sorry, FCC: Charter will lower investment after net neutrality repeal – FCC claims Charter raised investment because of repeal, but that isn’t happening.
  12. FCC report finds almost no broadband competition at 100Mbps speeds: Even at 25Mbps, 43 percent of the US had zero ISPs or just one.
  13. Telecoms consumer protection and competition provisions in the USA
  14. CMA provisionally declares Fox/Sky deal to be against the public interest due to media plurality concerns, but does this spell the end of the acquisition?
  15. The Standalone Streaming Service HBO Didn’t Want To Offer Now Has 5 Million Users
  16. ESPN Still Isn’t Quite Getting The Message Cord Cutters Are Sending 

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Pyeongchang Winter Olympics opening disrupted by malware attack: Malware showed knowledge of Olympic networks’ structure – and users.
  2. Lesson from VTech
  3. Report: Equifax Lost Even More Information on Consumers Than It Told the Public
  4. Canada’s Privacy Commissioner Recommends European-Style “Right to be Forgotten”
  5. “The Right to be Forgotten”: Are There Two Solitudes in Quebec and the Rest of Canada?
  6. Chinese Police Add Facial Recognition Glasses to Their Surveillance Arsenal
  7. After Apple’s fight with FBI, two groups say they can solve the encryption battle
  8. White Paper Points Out Just How Irresponsible ‘Responsible Encryption’ Is
  9. From July on, Chrome will brand plain old HTTP as “Not secure”: The “Not secure” label will go where the padlock would go for an encrypted connection.
  10. That mega-vulnerability Cisco dropped is now under exploit: Bug with maximum severity rating is generating plenty of interest among hackers.
  11. A potent botnet is exploiting a critical router bug that may never be fixed: With Internet stability hanging in the balance, router maker maintains radio silence.
  12. Judge Tells CIA It Can’t Hand Classified Info To Journalists And Pretend The Info Hasn’t Been Made Public
  13. Cloud Communications Service Twilio Releases Two NSLs Sprung From Their Gag Order Cages
  14. Consumer Reports: Your ‘Smart’ TV Remains A Privacy & Security Dumpster Fire
  15. Camera Makers Still Showing Zero Interest In Protecting Users With Built-In Encryption
  16. Smart Meter Company Landis+Gyr Now Using Copyright To Try To Hide Public Records
  17. Georgia Senate Thinks It Can Fix Its Election Security Issues By Criminalizing Password Sharing, Security Research
  18. (Mis)conceptions About the Impact of Surveillance (Jon Penney)

GAMES

  1. Steam Purges Developer’s Games After Finding Manipulated Review Scores
  2. Valve bans developer after employees leave fake user reviews: Insel Games CEO encouraged employees to write reviews for its own game.
  3. Maltese publisher banned from Steam for review fixing
  4. Google removes 77 percent of Game Dev Tycoon’s positive reviews
  5. Game Dev Tycoon loses 77% of positive Google Play reviews: Indie developer suggests Google’s algorithm for handling fake reviews on free-to-play titles is to blame
  6. Hawaiian lawmakers want to prohibit loot boxes with new bills
  7. No video game loot boxes for buyers under 21, say proposed Hawaii bills: Law would require warnings, odds disclosures, and retailer enforcement.
  8. Senator calls on ESRB to re-consider loot boxes: New Hampshire Democrat Maggie Hassan says “at minimum” the ratings system should note when games employ the contentious business model
  9. US Senator demands review of loot box policies, citing potential harm: New Hampshire’s Hassan says FTC action may be necessary if industry doesn’t respond.
  10. For Ubisoft, loot box inclusion boils down to two things: quality and choice
  11. Update: Swedish gambling legislation review unlikely to impact loot boxes – Any review of gambling legislation will not necessarily include an investigation into loot boxes, says Swedish Games Industry spokesman
  12. If loot boxes are free-to-play’s present, what will be the future?: With a new round of funding and Dauntless ramping up to open beta, Phoenix Labs is ready for a free-to-play renaissance
  13. The Museum Of Art And Digital Entertainment Calls For Anti-Circumvention Exemptions To Be Extended To Online Game Archives
  14. Esports Zerg – Rush The Olympics – But Can They Become Official Events?
  15. Watching over Overwatch pros: Talent agent Ryan Morrison on the incredible growth of the esports scene in recent years, and how players have changed along with it
  16. King of Kong star says “original tape” will prove his disputed scores: Mitchell suggests MAME footage could be suspect; analyst defends sources.
  17. Sports Direct buys 50% of GAME’s esports arenas in £3.2m deal: Belong arenas to appear in Sports Direct stores, with additional £55m in loans
  18. Sports Direct and GAME: Is this the future of games retail?
  19. ESL nabs minority stake in Indian mobile publisher Nazara  
  20. GameStop fires COO and EVP without cause: Long-serving execs depart retail giant
  21. UK screen industries back “zero-tolerance guidance” on harassment and abuse: Free 24/7 support hotline under development to help those affected by bullying and harassment
  22. 12 ex-Atari women respond to #NotNolan controversy, offer ‘70s perspective: Kotaku explores both sides of argument, interviews Bushnell’s female contemporaries.
  23. New Twitch guidelines address harassment and sexual content
  24. Twitch ramps up anti-harassment efforts with new community guidelines: Immediate indefinite bans introduced because “hate simply has no place in the Twitch community”
  25. Number of streamers earning money on Twitch spikes by 223% in 2017: Over 150,000 people join Twitch Affiliates program since launching in April
  26. Twitch Promotes Cheering, User-Generated Clips With New Cosmetic Features
  27. Twitch surpasses CNN and MSNBC with record-breaking viewership: Video streaming platform attracts 962,000 concurrent viewers in January
  28. Comments on Twitter could now lead to punishment on Twitch: New policy considers verified “off-Twitch” harassment “from any source.”
  29. Nintendo inspires improved January sales for UK retail: Monster Hunter is January’s No.3 best-selling game after just a week on sale
  30. Nintendo plots longer lifecycle for Switch: Firm wants to extend beyond the standard ‘five or six years’
  31. Nintendo Looking To Extend Normal Console Life Cycle With Switch: Nintendo’s plans for world domination continue
  32. Hackers hijack Nintendo Switch, show Linux loaded on console: Public release of exploit could be a long way off, though.
  33. Nintendo hopes “every single person” will own a Switch: Company wants to “prolong the life cycle” for the hot-selling system.
  34. The games behind the cardboard: We finally know how Nintendo Labo will play: Ahead of April launch, Nintendo dishes enough details to get our gaming hopes up.
  35. Nintendo: The Switch’s biggest challenge is broadening its appeal
  36. The Nintendo Switch, Joy-Cons, and even Labo are the result of Wii-era feedback
  37. Nintendo uncertain about future of the 3DS after Switch’s success 
  38. Monster Hunter: World becomes fastest-selling Capcom title in history
  39. Monster Hunter: World hits 6 million shipped – Co-op action game reaches milestone faster than any title in Capcom history, already publisher’s fourth best-seller of all-time
  40. Keep playing, keep paying: Ubisoft seeks games with “longterm engagement” – The numbers don’t lie: Games as “live” services bring in more money over time.
  41. Ubisoft is opting for quality over quantity for its big releases
  42. Assassin’s Creed: Origins on track to double Syndicate sales – Ubisoft emphasizes recurrent spending and catalog sales as it beats holiday quarter projections
  43. One year in, For Honor surpasses 7.5 million players
  44. New releases led growth in Ubisoft’s third quarter
  45. “History is our playground”: Bringing Assassin’s Creed into the classroom
  46. Take-Two expecting “another record year for GTA Online”: Rockstar’s multiplayer mode keeps growing four years after launch; publisher dismisses concerns of cannibalization from Red Dead Redemption 2
  47. Fortnite hit 3.4M concurrent players last weekend
  48. Clash of Clans developer Supercell reports a decline in profits
  49. THQ Nordic acquires Saints Row and Dead Island owner Koch Media
  50. De Blob publisher THQ Nordic buys Koch Media for €121m:Deep Silver, Saints Row, Dead Island and more acquired by European publisher
  51. Destiny 2 and Call of Duty: WWII drives earnings for Activision Blizzard 
  52. Activision Blizzard posts record quarter, full-year results: Growth in mobile more than offsets single-digit slips in console and PC revenues for owner of Call of Duty, Overwatch, and Candy Crush
  53. Blizzard Still Trying To Take Down WoW Vanilla Fan Servers While Refusing To Offer A Competing Product
  54. Nexon reports a record-breaking year: Revenues and income up as Dungeon & Fighter and Maple Story enjoy strong growth
  55. Chinese and UK focus promised as Bandai Namco reports profits dip: Restructure and fresh regional focus revealed as part of new mid-term strategy
  56. Bandai Namco to focus on creating new properties as profits slide
  57. Relic ceases support for underperforming Dawn of War III: “When a game underperforms, plans need to change,” says developer
  58. Horizon Zero Dawn writers honored at annual Writers Guild Awards
  59. Horizon Zero Dawn wins Writers Guild Award for best video game writing: Record-breaking PlaytStation 4 exclusive fends off Dishonoured: Death of the Outsider, Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow, and Madden NFL 18: Longshot to win prestigious award
  60. Zynga posts full-year profit for first time since 2010
  61. Zynga returns to full-year profits for the first time in seven years: Net income up $138.4m year-on-year to $26.6m, daily active users reaches four-year high at 20 million
  62. Supercell sales, earnings down in 2017: Clash Royale studio posts lowest numbers in three years, still brings in $810 million profit on more than $2 billion in revenue
  63. UK Charts: Shadow of Colossus PS4 beats PS2 original in first week sales – Monster Hunter World slips to No.3
  64. South Australia sections off $1.5M for local game dev community
  65. Planning for the end of the one-hit wonder: The mobile gaming landscape is filled with giant companies living off the back of a single, enormous hit title – but how many are planning effectively for when that title starts to decline?
  66. Chatterbox secures €325,000 to develop games for instant messenging platforms: “We are at the sweet spot of casual gaming and messaging – both mega trends of this decade”, says Chatterbox CEO
  67. Viacom closes down VR studio Viacom Next
  68. Viacom Next VR/AR studio shuts down: Developer of Smash Party and Transformers: Cade’s Junkyard axed as part of larger layoffs at Viacom
  69. Channel 4 announces retro games mini-series starring Rob Beckett: Four-part series will see stand-up comic and other celebrity guest exploring the history of video games
  70. Machinima: “We’re no longer an upstart teenager”: GM Russell Arons explains why the rebranded logo breaks from the past when the content strategy is about “returning to our roots”
  71. Before Tesla And SpaceX, Elon Musk Worked In Video Games
  72. Cryptocurrency boom, a problem for gamers, is a bonanza for GPU makers: Nvidia – “Strong demand in the cryptocurrency market exceeded our expectations.”
  73. Blog: The unavoidable conflict of serious storytelling in games
  74. Accessibility guidelines offer resources on making games inclusive
  75. Coding without a keystroke: The hands-free creation of a full video game – Coder wants to grow the speech-to-text coding community, uses his fun game to advocate
  76. The Fire Fades: Dealing with the scourge of burnout in game dev
  77. Blog: Charting the evolution of the games industry
  78. IGDA names Jen MacLean permanent executive director

Jon

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News of the Week; February 7, 2018

By Jon Festinger on February 13, 2018

DIGITAL

  1. As Outlets Like Russia Today Influence Viewers, YouTube Will Add Notices To State-Sponsored Content
  2. YouTube will put disclaimers on state-funded broadcasts to fight propaganda: In efforts to educate viewers on where their news comes from.
  3. Appeals court: Twitter can’t be sued for “material support” of terrorism – 9th Circuit – “We conclude that Twitter has the better of the argument.” 
  4. Court Dismisses — For A Second Time — Lawsuit Seeking To Hold Facebook Responsible For Acts Of Terrorism 
  5. How Twitter Bots and Trump Fans Made #ReleaseTheMemo Go Viral: Russian bots and their American allies gamed social media to put a flawed intelligence document atop the political agenda. That should alarm us.
  6. ‘Fiction is outperforming reality’: how YouTube’s algorithm distorts truth – An ex-YouTube insider reveals how its recommendation algorithm promotes divisive clips and conspiracy videos. Did they harm Hillary Clinton’s bid for the presidency? 
  7. Ich Bin Ein Tweeter: I had enough of the trolling and toxic taunts on Twitter. So I reset my location and “moved” to Germany, the safest social media state in the world. 
  8. Learning The Politics Of “Digital Dissensus” 
  9. Policing the internet – “fake news” and social media offence update 
  10. China launches salvo against “network navy” of trolls who spread fake news: More than 200 arrests, thousands of accounts and websites seized for “illegal speculation.”
  11. Small Creator Sues YouTube Over Faulty DMCA Takedown Procedure
  12. Socioeconomic group classification based on user features / Facebook, Inc.
  13. Facebook Patents Tech To Bucket Users Into Different Social Classes
  14. Telegram iOS app removed from App Store last week due to child pornography: The app was restored only after Telegram removed the content.
  15. Theresa May Again Demands Tech Companies Do More To Right The World’s Social Media Wrongs
  16. It’s Time For A Serious Talk About The Science Of Tech “Addiction”
  17. Push Resumes For An EU Google Tax, With The Bulgarian Government Leading The Way
  18. Nest is done as a standalone Alphabet company, merges with Google: Google plans to “combine hardware, software, and services” between the two companies 
  19. Live Stream Of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy Rocket Test Peaks At 2.3 Million Concurrent Views
  20. Americans staying home, streaming video, and using less energy because of it – Decouple economic growth from energy consumption: Tell your boss you want to work from home.
  21. Kian Lawley Out At Fox Film ‘The Hate U Give’ After Clip With Racist Remarks Surfaces
  22. On The Internet, Everyone Is A Creator
  23. Logan Paul Discusses “The Hardest Time Of My Life” In ‘Good Morning America’ Interview
  24. Logan Paul Returns to YouTube With ‘Comeback’ Video: ‘I Will Never Forget Who I Am at My Core’
  25. Logan Paul Is Back To Old Antics In First Comeback Vlog After Suicide Scandal
  26. Data-Saving YouTube Go App Arrives In 130 More Countries (But Not The US) 
  27. YouTube “tightening and enforcing” policies toward content creators: “We realise we have a serious social responsibility to get these emerging policy issues right,” says CEO 
  28. YouTube Announces 3 Potential Punishments For Top Creators Who Harm The Broader Community
  29. YouTube CEO Shares 5 Goals With Creators For 2018: “Addressing Your Concerns About Demonetization Is A Top Priority”
  30. Kylie Jenner Chooses YouTube For Baby Reveal, Nabs 28 Million Views In 24 Hours
  31. YouTube On ‘Play Button’ Awards: “Not All Creators Who Apply Will Receive Awards”
  32. YouTube TV subscribers can now watch live TV on Apple TV, Roku devices: Announcement comes after the rollout was delayed at the end of 2017.
  33. As The Winter Olympics Approach, YouTube Shares Data And Prepares To Host Highlights 
  34. YouTube Uses Its Version Of Snapchat’s Stories For Black History Month Campaign
  35. Snapchat Uses Live Streaming To Highlight Top Moments From 2018 Winter Olympics
  36. Patreon Introduces Exclusive Snapchat-Like Content For Donors, By Creators
  37. How Snapchat Is Sending #Metoo Down The Memory Hole: Disappearing-messaging apps may keep snoopers away—but they can also prevent us from preserving the past and finding justice in the future.
  38. BuzzFeed And NBCUniversal’s Latest Project Targets Millennial Parents
  39. Putting Pinners First: How Pinterest Is Building Partnerships For Compassionate Content Moderation
  40. Implementing Transparency About Content Moderation
  41. Tosca Musk Launches Streaming Service That Celebrates The Female Gaze 
  42. Hulu’s Super Bowl stream fails during final moments of game: Some customers lost video right before the end
  43. Hulu and Vue fumbled during the Super Bowl (but so did NBC): Two of the big streaming TV services cut out at critical moments in the game.
  44. Warner Music Hits $1 Billion in First Quarter, Digital Revenue Up 20%
  45. Study Suggests Shutting Down Filesharing Sites Would Hurt Music Industry, New Artists
  46. Appeals Court Makes A Mess Of Copyright Law Concerning ISPs And Safe Harbors
  47. BMG V. Cox is Major Copyright Victory for Music Industry
  48. Cox Not Entitled to DMCA Protection Given Lax Infringer Policy
  49. Fourth Circuit Raises Bar for DMCA Safe Harbor Defense 
  50. The Gig Economy’s Tipping Point
  51. Alexa, print money: Even Bezos stunned by Q4 Amazon income – Exceeds operating income estimate by 69%; hints at exactly how well Echo is doing.
  52. Inside Amazon’s Artificial Intelligence Flywheel: How deep learning came to power Alexa, Amazon Web Services, and nearly every other division of the company.
  53. What Amazon Does to Poor Cities: The debate over Amazon’s HQ2 obscures the company’s rapid expansion of warehouses in low-income areas.
  54. Don’t Make AI Artificially Stupid In The Name Of Transparency
  55. AI Just Learned How To Boost The Brain’s Memory
  56. Half of Americans Want Universal Income, but Expect AI Companies to Pay It 
  57. Greedy, Brittle, Opaque, And Shallow: The Downsides To Deep Learning – We’ve been promised a revolution in how and why nearly everything happens. But the limits of modern artificial intelligence are closer than we think.
  58. Photo Algorithms ID White Men Fine—Black Women, Not So Much
  59. Line-Drawing Exercises: Autonomy and Automation – An existential worry lies beneath concerns about the future of AI. We as humans fear that we will lose our autonomy as we pursue automation with such abandon. (John Palfrey)
  60. The Expansion Of Algorithmic Governance: From Code is Law to Law is Code (Samer Hassan & Primavera De Filippi)
  61. Irony Alert? Tech Insiders Form Organization to Combat the Dangers of Technology
  62. The End Of Data Without Borders: The storage and transmission of data around the world involves a constant clash of competing local, regional, and national regulations. But why does anyone care where data is physically located?
  63. Our Hackable Political Future
  64. The Big ICO Swindle: Many cryptocurrency speculators are banking on the theory that someone dumber than them will buy their tokens for more than they paid. That’s a pretty good bet … until it isn’t.
  65. A Classic Scam Finds New Life Stealing Bitcoin On Twitter
  66. Decrypting Taxation of Cryptocurrency
  67. Why experts are worried about Tether, a dollar-pegged cryptocurrency: Markets treat a tether as though it’s worth $1. But what if it’s not?
  68. Cryptocurrency botnets are rendering some companies unable to operate: Smominru botnet has infected 526,000 machines, generated as much as $3.6 million.
  69. Crypto Utopia In Puerto Rico: Digital Evangelism Or Disaster Capitalism? (Andres Guadamuz)
  70. A Video Platform That Wants To Be YouTube For Cryptocurrency Users Has Raised $20 Million
  71. Cryptocurrency in Small Bytes: Who’s in Charge Here Anyway? The U.S. Regulatory Landscape for Token Offerings
  72. The Wired Guide To The Blockchain: It’s super secure and slightly hard to understand, but the idea of creating tamper-proof databases has captured the attention of everyone from anarchist techies to staid bankers. 
  73. Feds Take Down A Half-Billion Dollar Cybercrime Forum After 7 Years Online
  74. No “Bright Line” In Influencer Marketing No-Nos, Tubefilter And SAG-AFTRA FTC Panel Shows
  75. ‘Catalog Of Missing Devices’ Compiles The Useful Tech Products DRM Is Preventing Us From Owning
  76. Viacom Will Reportedly Acquire Online Video Gathering VidCon
  77. It’s Official: Viacom Announces Its Acquisition Of VidCon
  78. Mitú, NFL Announce Partnership To Engage Latino Football Fans
  79. This Pastor Is Putting His Faith In A Virtual Reality Church: D.J. Soto believes Christianity can be renewed through worship in virtual space. His VR mega-church is even attracting atheists.
  80. Uber doesn’t want jury to see report, but judge says Uber is “stuck” with it: Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick may take the stand today.
  81. Waymo presents damning internal messages from Uber, which responds in kind
  82. Kalanick agrees: Google was and is “in the lead” in autonomous vehicles – According to a colleague’s notes, Uber’s co-founder sought “pound of flesh.”
  83. Uber: We had “no justification” for covering up data breach – Republican senator – data breach incident “raises red flags within this committee.”
  84. Waymo v. Uberkicks Off With Travis Kalanick In The Crosshairs
  85. Waymo v. Uber’s big Question: What On Earth Is A Trade Secret, Anyway?
  86. Google joins “universal stylus” group, hopes for cross-device compatibility: Can you build a universal stylus standard without Apple, Microsoft, and Samsung?
  87. Push Resumes For An EU Google Tax, With The Bulgarian Government Leading The Way
  88. Samsung leader walks from prison after bribery charges “suspended”: “Samsung is above the law and the court” says national assembly member.
  89. iPhone X Damage Report: Two Months Later
  90. How will new iPhones manage power? Apple’s response to senator raises questions: Apple is also exploring options for those who paid full price for new batteries.
  91. Op-ed: Apple was right to throttle iPhones, but some things still need to change – Prioritizing battery life and stability over speed was the best move for users.
  92. Apple sets quarterly revenue record following iPhone X launch
  93. Apple, Verizon Continue to Lobby Against The Right To Repair Your Own Devices
  94. It’s Time For A Serious Talk About The Science Of Tech “Addiction”
  95. The Formula For Phone Addiction Might Double As A Cure
  96. The Secret To Breaking Up With Your Phone? Remember That You Will Die.
  97. Comprehensive US cell phone safety study inches toward publication: In this study, being in one of the control groups was fatal.
  98. Relatively few LG customers will see any money from “bootloop” lawsuit: Chamberlain v. LG was sent to arbitration in June 2017; now LG has quietly settled.
  99. Toronto lawyer serves claim with Instagram
  100. IP monitor – Government is reviewing Copyright Act for currency with digital technology
  101. Moderation Is The Commodity
  102. 5 Takeaways From Tech Leaders’ Content Moderation Conference: Tech companies’ legal leaders and policy experts gathered at Santa Clara University School of Law on Feb. 2 for a day of panels on content moderation and removal.
  103. Behold, the 157 new emoji for 2018: New smileys, animals, hair colors, and lots more arrive in Unicode Emoji 11.0.
  104. Rebalancing Regulation of Speech: Hyper-Local Content on Global Web-Based Platforms (Chinmayi Arun)
  105. Co-founder of EFF, John Perry Barlow, dead at 70: “The Internet we all know and love today exists and thrives because of Barlow’s vision.”
  106. Mourning John Perry Barlow, The Bard Of The Internet

CREATIVITY

  1.  Ed Sheeran Among the Latest Musicians Accused of Copying Australian Artists
  2. Insights: After Music’s Massive Week, Can People Finally Make Money From It Again?
  3. Tarnishing The History Of Martin Luther King Jr.: Copyright Enforcement Edition
  4. Director Of Thor: Ragnarok Pirated Clips For His Sizzle Reel
  5. International Inconsistencies In Copyright: Why It’s Hard To Know What’s Really Available To The Public
  6. Israeli Music Fans Sue Two New Zealanders For Convincing Lorde To Cancel Her Israeli Concert 
  7. Public School Board Member Threatens Boss Of Woman Who Spoke Out Against School Book Banning
  8. Come Witness The Commentators That Help The NFL Fool The Public About Its ‘Super Bowl’ Trademark Rights
  9. BrewDog Beats Back Trademark Action From The Elvis Presley Estate
  10. Moosehead Breweries Cuts And Runs From Trademark Suit Against Hop ‘N Moose Brewing
  11. Best Buy Will No Longer Sell CDs and Target May Be Next
  12. Online Talent Search Company Settles FTC Allegations it Collected Children’s Information without Consent and Misled Consumers
  13. Understanding the Consumer Review Fairness Act of 2016 (Eric Goldman)

MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY

  1. Hail Mary Pass to Supreme Court Missed Its Mark: Application to Stay CRTC Order Prohibiting Simultaneous Substitution during the Super Bowl Dismissed
  2. Broadcasting Procedural Letter Addressed to Netflix (CRTC)
  3. No Panic: Canadian TV and Film Production Posts Biggest Year Ever Raising Doubts About the Need for Site Blocking and Netflix Regulation (Michael Geist)
  4. Anti-piracy group under fire for website-blocking proposal
  5. Does Canada Even Have a Huge Piracy Problem?: A coalition of powerful organizations wants to block piracy websites in Canada.
  6. Thousands Slam Bell Coalition’s Website Blocking Proposal in Submissions to the CRTC (Michael Geist)
  7. Canada’s SOPA Moment: Why the CRTC Should Reject the Bell Coalition’s Dangerous Internet Blocking Plan (Michael Geist)
  8. Russia Blocks 500 ‘Pirate’ Sites in Four Months, Without a Single Court Order
  9. Bell offers free phone unlocking for all following protests: Telecom had declined requests from non-customers but has changed its policy 
  10. How Bell Let’s Talk became a triple win for BCE, consumers and the mental health cause: In an era of donor fatigue and one-hit wonder online campaigns, BCE’s annual corporate social responsibility effort continues to succeed despite criticism from skeptic
  11. Here’s Ajit Pai’s “proof” that killing net neutrality created more broadband: Pai’s FCC takes credit for broadband deployments that began under Obama.
  12. There are Ajit Pai “Verizon puppet” jokes that the FCC doesn’t want you to read: FCC won’t release emails about joke “collusion” video, says they would harm agency.
  13. Trump’s FCC Pats Itself On The Back For A Historically Stupid Year
  14. FCC Report Falsely Claims Killing Net Neutrality Already Helping Broadband Competition 
  15. ISPs must follow net neutrality in New Jersey, governor declares: ISPs can’t block or throttle traffic if they sell broadband to state agencies.
  16. California’s Net Neutrality Law Takes Another Step Forward
  17. New Jersey The Latest State To Protect Net Neutrality By Executive Order
  18. San Francisco seeks universal fiber broadband with net neutrality and privacy: Affordable broadband and consumer protections for all—that’s the plan at least.
  19. FCC Reaches Consent Decree with Noncommercial Broadcaster Imposing Largest Fine Ever Issued for Underwriting Violations – $115,000
  20. FTC issues comments on FCC’s robocall blocking rules 
  21. Trump Administration Proposes Construction of Federal 5G Wireless Network
  22. A New Frequency Range Could Open Up More Wireless Tech
  23. Comcast accused of demanding $3.5 million “punitive ransom” from rival: Wave Broadband says it had to pay big bucks to avoid losing sports networks.

SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY

  1. Right to be Forgotten, eh? Canada’s Privacy Commissioner Says Law Requires Search Engine De-indexing
  2. Canadian Privacy Commissioner Report Says Existing Law Already Gives Canadians A Right To Be Forgotten
  3. It is time to overhaul Canada’s data protection—your rights are at stake – Opinion: A draft position by Canada’s privacy commissioner on the right to be forgotten shows how our inadequate laws are being overstretched
  4. Here’s what you need to know about Canada’s ‘extraordinarily permissive’ new spying laws
  5. China Exporting Its Surveillance Tech And Philosophy To Other Countries, Helped By Equipment Donations
  6. Devin Nunes Releases Memo That Doesn’t Show The Surveillance Abuses He Hypocritically ‘Cares’ About
  7. Missouri Governor Sued Over His Office’s Use Of Self-Destructing Communications
  8. Judge should order governor to stop using ephemeral messaging app, lawyers say – Missouri governor’s lawyer: Use of Confide is protected under the First Amendment.
  9. Single-Pixel Tracker Leads Paranoid Turkish Authorities To Wrongly Accuse Over 10,000 People Of Treason
  10. Digital insecurity of journalists in Pakistan: DRF report
  11. IBM’s New AI Can Predict Psychosis in Your Speech
  12. The Equifax “Lock & Alert” app works, but what does it do?: Equifax’s new free phone app can “lock” your Equifax credit report. Just beware of typos.
  13. Hacker Lauri Love Wins Extradition Appeal; Won’t Be Shipped Off To The US
  14. In just 24 hours, 5,000 Android devices are conscripted into mining botnet: Worm-like infection targets devices that have seldom-used port 5555 open.
  15. Why cops won’t need a warrant to pull the data off your autonomous car: “It’s like instant replay in the NFL; I can tell what happened.”
  16. Facial Recognition in Retail: “Attention all Shoppers: We Already Know Everything about You”
  17. The House That Spied on Me
  18. Mind The Gap: This Researcher Steals Data With Noise, Light, And Magnets
  19. GDPR: The Most Frequently Asked Questions: Is a Service Provider’s Privacy Shield Certification Good Enough?
  20. Children and the GDPR
  21. Data is power: Towards additional guidance on profiling and automated decision-making in the GDPR (Frederike Kaltheuner, Elettra Bietti)

GAMES

  1. Valve suspends Counter-Strike co-creator after arrest for sexual exploitation of a child
  2. Valve Suspends Counter-Strike Co-Creator Following Disturbing Allegations: Cliffe has been suspended “until we know more,” says Valve.
  3. Counter-Strike’s Jess Cliffe arrested for sexual exploitation of a child: Co-creator of classic first-person shooter suspended by Valve until more is known of charges
  4. Counter-Strike Co-Creator Charged With Paying 16-Year-Old For Sex
  5. Charges filed, details emerge for arrest of Counter-Strike’s co-creator: Charged with commercial sexual abuse of a minor.
  6. “A risk to the community”—Counter-Strike co-creator faces $150K bail post-arrest: Defense acknowledges sexual contact, says client “had no idea” witness was a minor.
  7. Subnautica developer fired over “many hateful statements”: Sound designer Simon Chylinski dropped from underwater survival game after history of insensitive tweets
  8. Is it right to classify excessive video game play as a health disorder?: “Once we say games are also an activity that pulls for that compulsiveness, the question is why aren’t more people then getting pulled into it?”
  9. ‘Dangerous gaming’: is the WHO right to class excessive video game play as a health disorder?: Industry figures question research that ‘pathologises’ compulsive gaming, while scientist involved defends move to address addiction
  10. Germany is considering a ban on loot boxes
  11. German Youth Protection Commission investigates loot boxes: It’s “conceivable” that loot boxes violate existing regulation, says commission chairman
  12. Quantic Dream labels claims of toxic conditions as “smear campaign”: Council of Paris investigating public funds awarded to studio, and considering tighter regulations for companies that do not care for staff
  13. EA stock reaches all-time high ahead of Battlefront II loot box return: Company’s stock rose 7%, peaking at $131 following recent financial results
  14. Take-Two swings to profit, has high hopes for Red Dead Redemption 2
  15. The Myth of Metacritocracy: 10 Years Ago This Month: EA learns a costly lesson about striving for excellence and Take-Two tells it to take a hike
  16. Take-Two’s usual performers carry company to solid quarter: Record quarters for Grand Theft Auto Online and NBA 2K continue to tide publisher over during a light year of major releases
  17. Over 1M Battlegrounds cheaters were banned in January alone
  18. PUBG Corp prepares to introduce new anti-cheat solution as total bans exceeds 2.5m: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds bans one million cheaters in January alone
  19. Donkey Kong scoreboard strips Billy Mitchell’s high score claims 
  20. Indiegogo threatens to recoup Spectrum Vega+ funds, new release date promised: Former managing director of Retro Computers Ltd refutes allegations made by company’s current directors
  21. Kickstarter and games in 2017
  22. Atari Gets The Settlement It Was Surely Fishing For Over An Homage To ‘Breakout’ In KitKat Commercial
  23. Amid furor over past sexism, Atari co-founder loses prestigious award: Bushnell apologizes for behavior, “applauds” GDC for promoting awareness.
  24. Twitch Ended 2017 With 15 Million Daily Visitors, 27K Partnered Streamers
  25. Konami apologizes for announcing nuclear disarmament (in Metal Gear Solid V): Server-wide cutscene event seems to have been activated prematurely by a glitch.
  26. Capcom’s hunt for a global audience: Monster Hunter was perhaps the best example of a “big in Japan” game – until Capcom’s persistence and confidence finally paid off this week
  27. Capcom lays off workers at Dead Rising studio
  28. Layoffs at Capcom Vancouver: 30% of studio laid off as Dead Rising developer reportedly sees one project cancelled, another has scope reduced
  29. Report: Gameloft closes New Orleans studio, layoffs at Gameloft Madrid
  30. Sales and profits slip at Sega despite bump in physical sales
  31. Jump in physical game sales can’t save Sega from sales and income drops: Games success not enough to overcome slumping arcade and smartphone performance
  32. Sonic 3D Blast dev releases director’s cut after 25 years
  33. Mojang is shutting down Scrolls’ online servers
  34. Existing titles drive profits at Square Enix as sales fall flat
  35. Smartphone success boosts Square Enix after a quiet nine months on consoles: Online titles Final Fantasy XIV and Dragon Quest X boost sales and subscriber numbers
  36. The 8 Ways Nintendo Can Double Down On Switch’s Success
  37. I’m A Nintendo Switch N00b Who Just Got A Hands-On With Labo
  38. The Switch’s premium online service is launching this September
  39. Nintendo to continue mobile push with Mario Kart Tour
  40. Nintendo will release a Mario Kart mobile game by March 2019: Mario Kart Tour will launch in the next financial year, the publisher said today
  41. Nintendo announces Super Mario movie in partnership with Illumination: Animation studio behind Despicable Me and Minions franchises to co-produce with Shigeru Miyamoto
  42. Why isn’t Nintendo Switch breaking records in the UK?: It’s the fastest-selling games console in almost every market it’s been released in, but not Britain
  43. Nintendo working on Mario movie with Minions creator Illumination
  44. Super Mario Odyssey producer settles the debate over Toad’s head: Is it a hat, or part of his anatomy?
  45. Why Nintendo Switch needs to find a new model of discovery: The family-friendly platform must learn from Steam’s cautionary tale
  46. After a rocky launch, Failbetter Games ends indie fund and lays off some staff
  47. NCsoft posts another year of record-breaking growth: Slight declines in mobile aren’t enough to ruin the show as online PC games enjoy a strong quarter
  48. Steam Winter Sale Data and the Effects of a Front Page Feature
  49. Report: Google considering streaming service for games
  50. Google prepping game streaming service – Report
  51. Google’s “Yeti” is reportedly a gaming hardware, streaming service beast: According to The Information, Google has been working on this for the past two years.
  52. How mobile game devs are evolving test and launch strategies: Google Play biz dev manager Emily Putze tracks how the traditional launch playbook for mobile games is changing
  53. Sony’s software strength offsets flat hardware sales: Sony shipped 9 million units of the PlayStation 4 in Q3, down 700k over last year
  54. Has the PS4 peaked? Annual console shipments are flat for 2017: This is about the age when Sony systems start their long, slow decline.
  55. Kaz Hirai steps down as president and CEO of Sony Corp.: Hirai hands leadership to CFO Kenichiro Yoshida after six years at the helm
  56. Sony financials: PlayStation software shines as hardware slows
  57. As Sony CEO Kaz Hirai steps down, the future of some products is in question: His successor has built a reputation for making tough cuts to get in the black.
  58. Sony Interactive Entertainment files Inter Partes Review of 3D Video Patent
  59. Upcoming PlayStation 4 update includes playtime management 
  60. Microsoft responds to indie retail backlash over Xbox Game Pass: Platform holder “pleasantly surprised” by store demand, considering broadening its distribution plans
  61. Always Be Pitching: How to find and talk to publishers to survive as an indie
  62. Layoffs at Nexon America after company restructuring
  63. Jobs lost as Nexon America restructures: But publisher insists there’s no significant impact to overall workforce, layoffs unrelated to struggling Lawbreakers
  64. UK game dev sector grows more than four times the rate of the economy in 2017: Games development sector contributes nearly £1.5 billion to the UK’s GDP, says TIGA report
  65. Pillars of Eternity II director on Obsidian’s shift from studio-for-hire to building its own IP: Working on your own IP is “less about the freedom and more about the institutional knowledge to understand what the IP is”
  66. New studio Lunar Great Wall will also teach games development: Italian start-up’s Claudio Giacopazzi tells us how the team will balance creation and education
  67. Encouraging charity with Don-Ay, the first ‘donation game’: Italian developer Affinity Project talks us through its mobile endless runner that enables players to help save real-world animals
  68. Gamevil and Com2us merge in the US: Mobile companies combine to focus efforts in North America
  69. Keywords expects $186m in revenues after 11 acquisitions in 2017: Service empire’s studio count has grown eightfold in the last five years
  70. Examining the role outsourcing plays in modern game development
  71. Tamatem nets $2.5M to localize mobile games for Arabic-speaking markets
  72. Q&A: Translating the humor & tone of Yakuza games for the West
  73. Trailmix aims to reinvent casual games – with a little help from Supercell: Backed by $4.2m from Supercell, King veterans Carolin Krenzer and Tristan Clark will push toward a richer and more meaningful take on casual gaming
  74. Human: Fall Flat dev credits community feedback for success
  75. “It’s hard to put in words how life-changing blockchain technology will be”: EverdreamSoft plans to demonstrate the new tech’s power by enabling players to sell – and more importantly own – in-game cards
  76. Blog: Can week-one Steam sales predict first-year sales?
  77. Latest Steam survey puts Oculus Rift and HTC Vive with equal market share
  78. Pokemon Go developer Niantic scoops up AR API maker Escher Reality
  79. Open-source game dev tool Godot Engine adds VR support
  80. Blog: The next surprise billion dollar game will be on Alexa
  81. Game dev in Oceania: A hands-off Aussie gov’t, and a Kiwi PM’s visit
  82. Blog: Are casual games maturing? 
  83. How Tetris was discovered in America
  84. Smithsonian American Art Museum puts out call for indie devs
  85. Applications open for Smithsonian American Art Museum exhibition: Smithsonian puts out call for indie devs to explore this year’s theme of “game spaces”
  86. Machinima founder and VR developer Hugh Hancock has passed away

Jon

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