MEDIA, COMMUNICATIONS & NET NEUTRALITY
- Court Rules FCC Must Release Records That Could Explain Fraudulent Net Neutrality Comments
- Judge: FCC can’t hide records that may explain net neutrality comment fraud
- Ajit Pai calls California’s net neutrality rules “illegal”
- Ajit Pai Whines About California’s Net Neutrality Effort, Calls It ‘Radical,’ ‘Illegal’
- Scott Wiener Paints Ajit Pai as Telecom Shill as California Net Neutrality Fight Escalates
- Charter negotiating with NY to avoid being kicked out of the state
- The Nation’s Second Biggest Cable Company Probably Won’t Get Kicked Out Of New York State After All
- Despite data caps and throttling, industry says mobile can replace home Internet
- Google Fiber’s ‘Failure’ Succeeded In Shining A Light On Pathetic Broadband Competition
- AT&T and Verizon want to manage your identity across websites and apps
- AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile & Sprint Want Even Broader Access To Your Personal Data
- For Wireless Giant Verizon, The Media Business Is A Distraction At Best
- AT&T Boss Writes Script for HBO: More Data, More Money – Randall Stephenson wants to use customer data to help WarnerMedia pick projects, challenge internet giants
DIGITAL
- SCC rules for ISPs in ‘test case’ for copyright infringement litigation costs
- Rogers Wins in Supreme Court of Canada (Howard Knopf)
- Rogers v. Voltage – My comments today September 14, 2018 on CTV (Howard Knopf)
- Supreme Court of Canada on Copyright Notices: Identification of IP Address “Not Conclusive of Guilt” (Michael Geist)
- Notice the Difference?: Supreme Court Rules ISPs Can Be Compensated for Copyright Costs (Michael Geist)
- Supreme Court of Canada Rules on Obligations of ISPs Under Notice and Notice Regime – Copyright Owners Have to Pay (Something) to Play
- In Cyberwar, There Are No Rules: Why the world desperately needs digital Geneva Conventions.
- EU approves controversial Copyright Directive, including internet ‘link tax’ and ‘upload filter’: Those in favor say they’re fighting for content creators, but critics say the new laws will be ‘catastrophic’
- EU Continues To Kill The Open Web: Massive Fines For Sites That Don’t Censor Within An Hour
- EU Approves Controversial Copyright Reform, Could Force YouTube And Other Platforms To Remove All Copyrighted Content
- European Parliament adopted its position on the controversial Copyright Directive
- Guy In Charge Of EU Copyright Directive Claims He Didn’t Know What He Voted On, Needs To Fix Things
- Thanks To ISP Bahnhof, We Know Just How Crazy Copyright Trolling In Sweden Is Getting
- Google, Facebook Dealt Blow by EU Lawmakers on Copyright
- Google Fights In EU Court Against Ability Of One Country To Censor The Global Internet
- Google’s Chinese Search Engine Will Censor Results, Provide Gov’t-Approved Pollution Data
- Google, Facebook, Twitter face EU fines over extremist posts
- British cave explorer sues Elon Musk for defamation over “pedo guy” tweets
- Racism and anti-Semitism surged in corners of the Web after Trump’s election, analysis shows
- Donald Trump Jr. Posts Fake Letter to Instagram Mocking Woman Allegedly Assaulted by Supreme Court Nominee Brett Kavanaugh
- 3D-Printed Gun Activist Cody Wilson Charged With Sexual Assault of a Child [Updated]
- Judge orders Cody Wilson’s arrest, but he skipped his return flight from Taiwan
- Lawmakers: Deepfakes Could “Undermine Public Trust” in “Objective Depictions of Reality”
- Is content validation the next growth industry?
- Memetic Tribes and Culture War 2.0
- Leaked 2016 video will fuel conservative worries about Google bias
- Let’s Be Very Clear About What Breitbart’s Leaked Google Video Shows
- Where in the World Is Larry Page?: While Alphabet faces existential challenges, its co-founder is exercising his right to be forgotten.
- The case against a right to be forgotten
- How Regulating Platforms’ Content Moderation Means Regulating Speech – Even Yours.
- UK MP Thinks Secret Online Groups Are The Root Of All Evil Online, Promises To Regulate ‘Large Online Groups’
- White House Potentially Exploring Executive Order On ‘Social Media Bias’
- Actual Research On Political Bias In Search Results Would Be Useful, But So Far It Doesn’t Show Anything
- Media Manipulation, Strategic Amplification, and Responsible Journalism
- Can Trusted Brands Beat ‘Fake News’?
- Media Planners Battle The Bots
- It’s hard to sue a robot: product liability considerations and AI in Canada
- Roca Labs’ Anti-Review Clause Violates FTC Act–FTC v. Roca Labs (Eric Goldman)
- Mumford & Sons beware! An AI can now write indie music
- No proof blind plaintiffs aware of arbitration clause, so discrimination class action proceeds in court
- Amazon on Track to Be No. 3 in U.S. Digital Ad Revenue but Still Way Behind Google, Facebook
- Amazon looking into claims that employees delete bad reviews for cash
- Amazon is testing a shopping site called Scout that recommends furniture and women’s shoes based on your likes
- Amazon’s Antitrust Antagonist Has a Breakthrough Idea: With a single scholarly article, Lina Khan, 29, has reframed decades of monopoly law.
- Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox (Lina Khan)
- Why Roku isn’t afraid of competition from Apple, Google and Amazon
- ACLU, Labor Union, Allege Facebook’s Ad Targeting Discriminates By Gender
- Facebook is letting job advertisers target only men
- Can Mark Zuckerberg Fix Facebook Before It Breaks Democracy?
- Facebook Watch Unveils Trailers, Launch Dates For Shows Starring Kim Kardashian, Catherine Zeta-Jones
- Facebook Watch Debuts Odell Beckham Jr. Docuseries ‘I Am More’
- Linus Torvalds apologizes for years of being a jerk, takes time off to learn empathy
- Sorry, Sony Music, you don’t own the rights to Bach’s music on Facebook
- YouTube Kids now comes with stronger parental controls
- YouTube Kids App Unveils New Feature Aimed At Preteens
- With 70% Of Viewership On Mobile, YouTube Is Finally Rolling Out Vertical Video Ads
- YouTube Greenlights Doc About LGBTQ+ Pride, Starring Raymond Braun
- The 9th Most-Viewed YouTube Channel On Earth, ‘Little Baby Bum’, Has Been Acquired
- Videos Of ‘Marvel’s Spider-Man’ Game Will Be Restored After Content ID Mix-Up Caused Takedowns, YouTube Says
- Should YouTube Change Its Algorithm To Promote Library Content And Avoid Creator Burnout?
- H3h3productions Returns To YouTube After Three-Month Absence With Frank Chat About Burnout
- YouTube Premium Launches French Originals
- YouTube May Soon Give Its Premium Content A Temporary Trip Outside The Paywall
- YouTube Premium Continues International Push With New French Originals
- YouTube Viewership On TV Sets Has Nearly Doubled Year-Over-Year Across Europe
- Rapper Wiz Khalifa Launches YouTube Channel For 5-Year-Old Son Sebastian
- YouTube Opens $5 ‘Channel Memberships’ Feature To Creators With More Than 50,000 Subscribers
- Following Go90 Shutdown, Former Content Partners Seek Distribution On YouTube, Netflix
- Inside Netflix’s high-stakes quest to win Best Picture
- Creator Couple Lauren Riihimaki and Alex Wassabi Are Taking Time Apart
- Snapchat To Let 20 Publisher Partners Repurpose — And Monetize — User-Generated Snaps
- Hulu Reaches For The Stars With New Ad Strategy To Complement Original Space Show ‘The First’
- UK’s CMA Launches Investigation into Social Media Influencers – UK, US and Canadian Perspectives
- Insights: How Influencers And Brands Can Avoid Follower Fraud
- Barstool Sports’ new pizza app gets 175,000 downloads in a month
- Snapchat Will Let Media Partners Aggregate, Monetize User Posts: Initial partners include CNN, NBC News, NowThis, Hearst, Viacom, Overtime, Refinery29, Jukin Media
- Snap’s users are leaving in waves and may be causing their friends to follow
- In Emmys First, Netflix Ties With HBO For Most Wins, Lifting Streamer’s Stock This Morning
- Netflix finally tied with HBO for total wins at the 2018 Emmys: Spending money on content works
- ‘Insatiable’ Is Back For More — Netflix Is Giving The Massively Polarizing Series A Second Season
- IMAX In Talks With Netflix, Amazon To Distribute Original Films, CEO Says
- How Disney’s Netflix Rival Will Actually Work
- Fan-Favorite Villain Loki, Avenger Scarlet Witch To Get Their Own Live-Action Series On Disney’s Streaming Platform
- General Motors activates OnStar Crisis Assist for Hurricane Florence
- California Eyes Questionable Legislation In Bid To Fix The Internet Of Broken Things
- Authors’ viral Twitter thread is now a horror film starring Alyson Hannigan
- Twitter Announces 50 New Video Content Deals To Complement Local TV Programming
- Periscope Adds Audio-Only Option So Creators Can Stream Off-Camera
- Conan O’Brien’s complete late-night TV archive will be posted online in January [Updated]
- Fake-cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme lands creator in prison
- John Deere Just Swindled Farmers Out Of Their Right To Repair
- The Competition Bureau weighs in on restrictions faced by online eyewear retailers
- Review: Mega-hit boardgame Scythe goes digital on Steam
- Social Media and Its Effect on Your Case – Is Private Really Private?
- Apple repays €14B in “illegal aid” to Ireland, so EU drops court case
- The iPhone Franchise
- Apple Magically Makes the Notch Disappear
- iOS 12 on the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 Plus, and iPad Mini 2: It’s actually faster!
- Yes, You Can Own the Movies You Buy from Apple, Kinda
- Apple Didn’t Delete That Guys iTunes Movies, But What Happened Still Shows The Insanity Of Copyright
- An Oral History Of Apple’s Infinite Loop
- How Streaming Is Erasing The History Of Mixtape Rap Producers Like DJ Drama: We Talk To Mixtape Heroes About Being Left Behind By Spotify
- What on Earth Makes a $1,200 Graphics Card Worth It?
- Text Messages and Binding Contracts
- Congressional Research Service Reports Now Officially Publicly Available
- New bill would finally tear down federal judiciary’s ridiculous paywall
- Surprise: Bill Introduced To Finally Make PACER Free To All
CREATIVITY
- Compromising on Culture?: Why a Blanket Culture Exception in NAFTA is Unnecessary (Michael Geist)
- CBS CEO Moonves’ ouster is a too rare case
- Hollywood Chamber Of Commerce Trademark Bullies Kevin Smith’s Podcast Over Hollywood Sign
- Senate passes copyright bill to end 140-year protection for old songs
- Music Modernization Act Passes in Senate With Unanimous Support
- Senate passes Music Modernization Act: The House must approve the bill once again before it’s signed into law by President Trump
- Compromise Music Modernization Act Will Bring Old Sound Recordings into The Public Domain, Tiptoe Towards Orphan Works Solution
- How intellectual property rights can protect fashion products in the UK: now and post-Brexit
- The Outline and the curse of media venture capital
- Advertising for E-Cigs – Concerns about Targeting Children
- Court: Trump’s ‘Get ‘Em Out’ Order Directed At Campaign Rally Protesters Is Protected Speech
- Blog: Using austerity as a creative tool
- The Power Of Live: Global Live Music Fan Study
- How the Grateful Dead Changed Live Music Forever
- Hollywood’s New Golden Age: The cast and crew at this LA retirement home are in their twilight years, but the show must go on.
- People Are Zapping Their Brains to Boost Creativity. Experts Have Concerns.
- Why Curiosity Matters: New Research Shows That Curiosity Is Vital To An Organization’s Performance – As Are The Particular Wa In Which People Are Curious And The Experiences They Are Exposed To.
- Startups are giving writers and filmmakers more ways to make it in Hollywood
SURVEILLANCE & PRIVACY
- Russians tried to hack Swiss lab testing samples from Skripal attack
- WikiLeaks founder sought Russian visa in 2010, per AP report
- Russian man pleads guilty, admits he ran notorious Kelihos botnet
- Mirai botnet creators praised for helping FBI, won’t serve prison time
- European Court Of Human Rights: UK Surveillance Revealed By Snowden Violates Human Rights
- Another Batch Of FISA Court Docs Confirms The NSA Frequently Abuses Its Collection Powers
- Federal Court Says NSA PRISM Surveillance Good And Legal Because The Gov’t Said It Was Good And Legal
- State Cops Accidentally Out Their Surveillance Of Anti-Police Groups With Browser Screenshot
- Bay Area transit system approves new surveillance-oversight policy
- Congress Fails To Include A Single Consumer Advocate In Upcoming Privacy Hearing
- NewEgg cracked in breach, hosted card-stealing code within its own checkout
- Privacy Laws North of the Border: a Primer
GAMES
- Valve and Ubisoft fined for breaching consumer laws in France
- Valve and Ubisoft fined for breach of French consumer law: Steam and Uplay latest storefronts caught up in European consumer rights violations
- Washington State and 15 countries team up over video game gambling concerns
- 15 European gambling regulators unite to tackle loot box threat: Along with Washington State.
- 15 European regulators have come together to help tackle loot boxes
- 15 countries and one US state team up to fight gambling in video games
- International gambling regulators unite on skins gambling, loot boxes: Agencies from Spain, UK, France, Washington State, and a dozen more concerns about “blurring of lines between gambling and gaming”
- Loot boxes in Belgium: Reports on criminal prosecution – but what does this mean?
- Australian study warns of link between loot boxes and problem gambling
- Australian investigation finds loot boxes are “psychologically akin to gambling”: Report suggests restricting sale of games containing loot boxes to players of legal gambling age
- Loot boxes are “psychologically akin to gambling”, according to Australian study: Games with loot boxes should only be available to players of legal gambling age.
- 343 FPS chief says no ‘real-money loot boxes’ in Halo Infinite
- All Bets are On! Gambling and Video Games
- Video Game Addiction Is Real And Professionals Aren’t Prepared To Help
- Mobile marketplaces accused of publishing apps violating kids’ privacy laws
- How Game Apps That Captivate Kids Have Been Collecting Their Data: A lawsuit by New Mexico’s attorney general accuses a popular app maker, as well as
online ad businesses run by Google and Twitter, of violating children’s privacy law. - Tiny Lab, Google, ad companies accused of violating Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act: New Mexico lawsuit alleges companies illegally collected and tracked children’s personal information
- Capcom shuts down Dead Rising developer Capcom Vancouver
- Capcom closing Vancouver studio: Publisher confirms plans to consolidate major development in Japan after announcing $40 million expense on cancelled projects
- Mobile game dev Outfit7 opens new Barcelona studio
- Analysts doubt China will take six months to begin reapproving games
- China may not need six months to start approving games again – analysts: Games are now able to go to market for one month
- Take-Two CEO: U.S. gov’t needs to take a stand on China’s game trade
- Barriers to China will come down – Zelnick: Take-Two CEO believes government will eventually allow Western game publishers unfettered access to the market, criticizes US government for unequal trade restrictions
- China’s console market might be small, but it’s starting to take shape
- Game streaming’s latency problems will be over in a few years, CEO says
- Streaming, subscriptions won’t be game changers – Take-Two: CEO Strauss Zelnick believes tech will accelerate adoption of cross-platform play, but won’t fundamentally alter the Grand Theft Auto publisher’s business
- Rockstar is bringing an open-world online mode to Red Dead Redemption 2
- A Benchmark Of Sorts: Steam’s First Fully Uncensored Adult Novel-Game To Be Released In Coming Weeks
- Steam’s uncensored adult game Negligee isn’t available in every country
- First uncensored adult game on Steam pulled from sale in 28 countries: “The fact is, these restrictions are the downside of being the poster child for the first fully uncensored adult game on Steam,” says developer Dharker Studios
- Disney shuts down Star Wars: Rivals following soft launch
- Boss Key’s multiplayer shooter LawBreakers has officially shut down
- Tattoos, Video Games & Copyright Law: Beauty May Only Be Skin Deep … But Does Copyright go to the Bone?
- Ninja Becomes First Gamer To Cover ‘ESPN Magazine’, Says He’s Making Seven Figures Monthly
- eSports Milestone: Pro Gamer Ninja To Be The First Pro Gamer Featured On ESPN Magazine Cover
- The need for visible women in esports: Hearthstone pro Cordelia Chui and League of Legends team manager Amy Snowdon talk about the problems with trying to fit in
- Twitch appoints first-ever head of diversity and inclusion
- Twitch hires new head of diversity and inclusion: Streaming giant also adds CFO and Chief Human Resources Officer
- TwitchCon Bulks Up Security Measures Following August Shooting At ‘Madden’ Tournament
- Twitch Hires Former Vimeo Exec Katrina Jones As First Head Of Diversity And Inclusion
- NPD: Madden NFL 19 scores while Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 returns – Nintendo Switch sales remain strong, though still must work to catch PS4’s year-to-date lead
- You can now share your Switch game downloads across consoles
- Nintendo will erase cloud saves once Switch Online subscription ends
- Assassin’s Creed for Switch adopts pay-as-you-play pricing in Japan
- Switch owners in Japan are getting a “cloud version” of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey: Ubisoft follows the streaming model adopted by Capcom for Resi 7, selling daily and full-game passes for its upcoming blockbuster
- Nintendo Switch cloud save data disappears if you cancel subscription
- Nintendo details 2019 line-up for Switch – but why so early?: Latest Nintendo Direct showcases loads of games, answers loads of criticisms about Switch lineup
- Nintendo tries bundling Switch with a F2P game: Fortnite
- Switch’s replica NES controllers only work with emulated NES games
- Stormy Daniels Says Donald Trump Has “A ____ Like The Mushroom Character From Mario Kart”
- New NES controllers headline announcement-filled Nintendo Switch presentation
- Nintendo Switch NES controllers will be Online Service-exclusive: Joy-Cons designed to look like classic controllers are dedicated to NES games that come with the service
- Nintendo requires online subscription to purchase Switch NES controller
- Nintendo introduces Fortnite Switch bundle with V-bucks included: Console bundle is the same price as system alone, includes in-game currency and exclusive cosmetics
- Pokemon Go and the potential of seasonality: Major changes to Niantic’s mobile AR game helped its popularity to surge over the summer, suggesting a new model developers could consider adopting
- Niantic rolls out suggestion system for new Pokémon Golocations
- Check out the pitch documents for the original Pokemongames
- Ubisoft details its blockchain-powered game HashCraft
- Ubisoft reveals HashCraft, a secret new blockchain game
- Riot Games Says It Wants To Clean Up Its Mess, But The People Who Made It Are Still There
- Ex-Riot devs net $2.5M to help launch new LA studio Singularity 6
- Singularity 6 hopes to dominate a lack of competition:
- PlayStation is the third most-recognized brand in the UK:Nintendo and Xbox at 11 and 17, respectively; Apple takes top spot
- Sony making mini-console debut with PlayStation Classic
- Sony Just Announced The $100 PlayStation Classic Console
- Sony Is Making A Playstation Classic, And You Can Already Order It
- Sony to launch PlayStation Classic on December 3: Mini version of the classic console will be pre-loaded with Final Fantasy VII, Jumping Flash, Ridge Racer Type 4, Tekken 3, 16 other games
- Sony joins the classic-console fray with $99 PlayStation Classic on Dec. 3
- Sega pushes Mega Drive Mini to 2019: Japanese publisher is rethinking the retro console’s design ahead of simultaneous global launch
- Interplay co-founder Brian Fargo wants to buy back the studio
- Brian Fargo wants to buy back Interplay: Fargo will attempt to acquire the company he co-founded in 1983 if Bard’s Tale IV hits sales target
- Treyarch bosses explain decision to drop single-player campaign from Black Ops 4
- Skillz doubles revenue run-rate once more to $400 million: 5,000 new developer partners fuel growth over five-month period
- Making a retro indie game stand out from the crowd
- Deep Rock Galactic and the advantages of open development
- How do you evaluate a mobile game’s profit potential?
- Video: UX expert helps explain why Fortnite is such a success
- ‘Fortnite’ Is Not YouTube’s Most Popular Game
- The standalone YouTube Gaming app is essentially being absorbed into YouTube
- YouTube To Shutter Gaming App In 2019, Unveils Revamped Gaming Hub On Flagship Site
- YouTube will close YouTube Gaming, move it all to the main site
- YouTube Gaming migrates to main YouTube hub: Separate website, app to shut down by March 2019; features implemented on YouTube main
- Apple, Kabam veterans form new indie publisher Rogue: Label will publish mobile games with a focus on highly detailed, optimized experiences
- Keywords marks a strong six months with two new acquisitions: Trailer Farm and SoundLab join the rapidly growing firm as H1 revenue and profit rise 70 per cent
- Wargaming opens new UK studio to develop free-to-play MMO game
- Wargaming opens UK studio for new MMO: Studio to lead the development of a new free-to-play IP
- Telecoms giant Sky forms new mobile studio with The Walking Dead producer
- Sky partners with The Walking Dead producer for joint mobile venture: Skybound Stories to develop narrative-driven experiences out of new and existing IP
- Remedy Entertainment is adapting Alan Wake into a television series: Material from unfinished sequel will serve as inspiration for the show, says game creator Sam Lake
- Why some devs partner with investment funds over publishers
- Aaryn Flynn joins Improbable: Former BioWare GM talks about getting his head in the clouds and building a new studio from scratch in downtown Edmonton
- The Comic Book History Behind the New Spider-Man Game’s Unlockable Suits
- Blog: The story of Turkey’s video game pioneers
- Blog: Understanding the design of the ‘magic circle’
- Why do gamers still buy physical games?: We teamed up with GameTrack to ask them
- UKIE: Only 19% of parents set and enforce screen time limits for their children – Digital School House report finds just 44 per cent of parents talk to their children about online safety`
- Writing the video games of the future: ArenaNet narrative designers Aaron Linde and Alex Kain discuss VR, and what they see as the future of interactive storytelling
- Sony applied for a patent on a simulation sickness-detecting VR headset
- Rovio has an AR Angry Birds game coming to Magic Leap One
- Blog: Why I love physics-based games
- Blog: Bloom’s taxonomy of game reviews
- Video: A how-to guide for Muslim representation in video games
- Blog: How does video game localization work in 2018?
- Warren Spector shares how to find personal success in the game industry
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