COMMUNICATIONS
- Millimeter-wave 5G will never scale beyond dense urban areas, T-Mobile says
- The DOJ Isn’t Buying T-Mobile’s Nonsensical Merger Benefit Claims
- AT&T’s fake 5G icons aren’t going away despite settlement with Sprint
- AT&T says 5G will be priced like home Internet—pay more for faster speeds
- Exit of AT&T’s WarnerMedia could spell trouble for OpenAP
- AT&T Misses Q1 Revenue Target as Premium TV, DirecTV Now Lose Subscribers
- White House Won’t Share Data On Whether It Interfered In AT&T Merger Review
- Disney Makes Big Play to Stay in NFL’s TV-Football Game
- FCC Under Fire For Putting ALEC Rep On ‘Consumer’ Advisory Board
- Ajit Pai proposes blocking China-owned telecom from US phone market
DIGITAL
- Twitter shuts down 5,000 pro-Trump bots retweeting anti-Mueller report invective: Bots were tied to account formerly used for pro-Saudi messaging.
- In meeting with Twitter chief, Trump complains about lost followers
- Eleventh Lawsuit Against Social Media Providers for “Materially Supporting Terrorists” Fails–Palmucci v. Twitter (Eric Goldman)
- How Twitter Has to Change
- Twitter Is Not America: A new Pew study finds a gulf between the general population and Twitter users.
- Sixth Circuit Court Dumps Lawsuit Seeking To Hold Twitter Responsible For The Pulse Nightclub Shooting
- Another Attempt To Tie Twitter To Terrorist Acts And Another Dismissal With Prejudice
- Twitter Permanently Suspends (Then Unsuspends) Lawyer For Telling NRA Supporters To ‘F— Off’ And ‘Own The Death’
- Sri Lanka Temporarily Bans Social Media Following Terror Attacks: The government hopes to stem the spread of fake news about the bombings.
- Sri Lanka’s social media ban enters its second day
- When a Country Bans Social Media – Sri Lanka’s ban on social media forces a question nobody wants to ask: What if a global media network is impossible?
- Sri Lanka attacks: government’s social media ban is an assault on free speech and ethnic harmony
- Sri Lanka Shut Down Social Media. My First Thought Was ‘Good.’
- Like Clockwork After A Big Tragedy, People Rush In To Blame… Social Media
- Facebook fights to “shield Zuckerberg” from punishment in US privacy probe
- In new gaffe, Facebook improperly collects email contacts for 1.5 million
- Facebook Expects Record Fine Up to $5 Billion From FTC for Privacy Violations
- Facebook while black: Users call it getting ‘Zucked,’ say talking about racism is censored as hate speech
- Facebook’s privacy issues could impact usage of its forthcoming voice assistant
- Facebook’s flood of languages leave it struggling to monitor content
- Facebook’s auto-captions for a recent launch video are hilariously bad
- Facebook is working on an AI voice assistant similar to Alexa, Google Assistant
- China Bans the Word ‘Leica’ on Social Media
- China censors ban Leica name over Tiananmen Square video
- NIH, FBI accuse scientists in US of sending IP to China, running shadow labs
- Russian court fines Internet user hundreds of dollars for calling Vladimir Putin an ‘unbelievable f—wit’
- Russians Will Soon Lose Uncensored Access to the Internet: A new law allows the Kremlin to spy on, filter, and control the country’s online activity, alarming human-rights watchdogs.
- A mystery agent is doxing Iran’s hackers and dumping their code
- Disinformation Is Drowning Democracy: In the new age of lies, law, not tech, is the answer.
- How Cambridge Analytica breached all the privacy laws
- My TED talk: how I took on the tech titans in their lair
- Photographer Sues for Failure to Provide Creative Commons-Required Attribution–Philpot v. WOS (Eric Goldman)
- New Paper: Why Section 230 Is Better Than The First Amendment
- New Paper: “Why Section 230 Is Better Than the First Amendment” (Eric Goldman)
- Forming an Online Contract May Be Harder Than Tough Mudder’s Salmon Ladder (Eric Goldman)
- Universal And Warner Block Time Live Streaming Its Time 100 Event Because Copyright Censors
- Platforms Want Centralized Censorship. That Should Scare You
- Scribd taking down the Mueller Report is the future the EU has voted for
- Scribd’s Takedown Of The Public Domain Mueller Report Is A Preview Of The EU’s Future Under The Copyright Directive
- Another Week, Another Hollywood Company Files A Takedown Against TorrentFreak
- Don’t Regulate The Internet Like Every Company Is The Same
- The UK’s Dubious Plan For Age-Based Porn Filters Begins On July 15
- Digitas Creative Chief Scott Donaton Says Brands Must Redress Broken Trust Across Digital
- Google Walkout Organizers Say They’re Facing Retaliation
- Google, YouTube and Alphabet Shake Off COPPA-Related Complaint
- YouTube Rolls Out Tools To Curb Misinformation Ahead Of EU Elections
- YouTube will label videos to help European users avoid fake news: The aim is to limit misinformation during the EU elections.
- Google, Verizon Pact To Bring YouTube TV To More Mobile Users
- Amazon and Google settle feud, bring YouTube back to Fire TV devices
- YouTube Returning To Fire TV After Amazon And Google Find Friendly Ground
- Here Are the Winners of the 2019 YouTube Works Awards
- Malala Yousafzai’s Nonprofit Debuts YouTube Series ‘Roll Call’ Spotlighting Girls Around The World
- YouTube Spotlights Eco-Minded Creators Krystn Keller, Justine LeConte, Others On Earth Day
- LeBlanc Family Cookoff Series ‘Annie Vs. Hayley’ Debuts On Nickelodeon’s YouTube Channel
- Susan Wojcicki Has “Tea Sessions” With Shane Dawson And James Charles To Discuss Creator Concerns
- Viewership On Twitch And YouTube Live Was Booming In Record-Breaking First Quarter
- Vimeo Bows ‘Showcase’ Toolkit To Help Creators Make Custom Websites, Smart TV Channels
- E*Trade Sued for Creating ‘Clone’ of Instagram Influencer
- Tag Two Friends but Please Don’t Sue – A Guide to Instagram Contest Rules
- Allegedly Defamatory Tweet About Non-Resident Insufficient to Confer Jurisdiction (Eric Goldman)
- HBO Objects to the President’s “Game of Thrones”-Themed Tweet
- Willful Copyright Infringement Requires Proof of Intent in the Ninth Circuit
- Snapchat Gains 4 Million Users in Q1 as Snap Beats Earnings Estimates
- How publishers are using Snapchat’s curated stories tool for breaking news and more
- How to Avoid Copyright Infringement of Online Image
- Emilio Estevez Uses Some Public Domain Footage In Film, So Universal Studios Forces Original Public Domain Footage Offline
- Amazon will no longer sell Chinese goods in China
- Amazon demands selfies from delivery drivers to combat fraud
- If You Care About Privacy, Throw Your Amazon Alexa Devices Into the Sea
- Insights: What Netflix Says You’re Watching When You’re Not Watching Netflix, And Why It Matters
- Netflix To Grow New York City Footprint With Production Hub, Expanded Corporate HQ
- Netflix Further Experimenting With Episode Order In Test Randomizing ‘The Office,’ Our Planet,’ More
- Beyoncé Inks Three-Project Deal With Netflix Worth A Reported $60 Million
- Netflix offers $2 billion more in debt to fund its content spending
- All Your Favorite Shows Are Probably Leaving Netflix
- The Oscars decides Netflix is OK after all, following DOJ warning
- The Netflix-Twitter Complex
- Jumprope Is A New Social Network Where Users Create How-To Videos — And Then Post Them Everywhere
- Pinterest Shares Up 26% on IPO Day
- New Developments in Ongoing Website Accessibility Litigation
- The Worst Thing About Instagram Might Be Going Away
- The Second-Most Instagrammed Car in the World Is the Honda Civic
- The CIA is joining Instagram: ‘Our team worked with the CIA, as they do with many partners,’ says Instagram
- ‘It’s not play if you’re making money’: how Instagram and YouTube disrupted child labor laws – ‘Kidfluencers’ are earning millions on social media, but who owns that money?
- NFL Taps Instagram to Feature Photos of 2019 Draftees and Let Fans Shop for Their Draft Hats
- The Criterion Channel Should Be My Favorite Streaming Platform
- The future of high-speed computing may be larger CPUs with optics
- Elon Musk: Brain-Computer Interface Update “Coming Soon”
- AI Could Predict Death. But What If the Algorithm Is Biased?
- Applying for Your Next Job May Be an Automated Nightmare
- Artificial Intelligence Can Detect PTSD in Your Voice: Speech analysis software could revolutionize how we diagnose mental disorders
- Speech‐based markers for posttraumatic stress disorder in US veterans
- Some AI just shouldn’t exist: Attempts to “fix” biased AI can actually harm black, gay, and transgender people.
- This YouTube Channel Streams AI-Generated Death Metal 24/7: Dadabots was developed by two music technologists who wanted to prove that a neural network was capable of capturing subtle stylistic differences
- Streamlabs: Twitch is still streaming king, though YouTube is gaining ground – YouTube reaches 24% of Twitch’s total streaming viewership
- The Gentle Side of Twitch
- TV Ratings Are Down For NBA Playoffs, But the League’s Worldwide Social Numbers Are Up
- Disney+ Is Betting On Quality Over Quantity With One Of Streaming Space’s Smallest Libraries
- Airbnb Delves Further Into Content Business With First Feature Film
- Facebook Watch Breakout ‘Red Table Talk’ Returns For New Batch Of Episodes May 6
- Foxconn’s Wisconsin Facility is a Ghost Town Where Workers Are Just ‘Moving Dirt Around’
- Foxconn: So, About That Factory in Wisconsin You Offered Us $4 Billion in Incentives to Build
- Samsung Galaxy Fold: Everything you need to know –
- Breaking news – Samsung responds to reported Galaxy Fold display issues
- After the Galaxy Fold breaks in the hands of reviewers, Samsung delays launch [Updated]
- Samsung Confirms It Will Delay Galaxy Fold Launch Following Early Disasters [Updated]
- The Samsung Galaxy Fold Is a Flawed Start to Something Amazing
- iFixit’s Samsung Galaxy Fold teardown reveals how the phone is dying
- Microsoft 3Q19 revenue up 14% on the back of strong cloud and, uh, Windows?: The PC market declined, but the Windows market did not.
- Microsoft engineer complains that company is biased against white men
- Thriller in Manhattan – NY Regulator and Declined BitLicense Applicant Engage in Extraordinary Public Brawl in Media Blog
- The Airbnb Invasion of Barcelona: In the tourist-clogged city, some locals see the service as a pestilence.
- Why are Canadian universities so slow to adopt digital learning?: Online courses are popular with students who juggle tough workloads. But only one in five institutions has a significant number of ‘blended’ options.
- New Paper: “Why Section 230 Is Better Than the First Amendment” (Eric Goldman)
- Dirty Data, Bad Predictions: How Civil Rights Violations Impact Police Data, Predictive Policing Systems, and Justice (Rashida Richardson, Jason M. Schultz & Kate Crawford)
PRIVACY
- How one country blocks the world on data privacy: The GDPR is the world’s toughest standard for data privacy. But its chief enforcer has yet to take a single action against major tech firms like Facebook and Google.
- Facebook’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Privacy Week
- No expectation of privacy in child-luring cases on the Internet, SCC rules
- Japanese Taxis Are Using Facial Recognition to Target Ads to Riders: Cameras in the back seat guess your age and gender – and then use them to serve you with ads.
- A Seamless Journey Awaits You On The Outbound Flights: All You Have To Give Up Is Your Face
- John McAfee Vows to Reveal Bitcoin’s Creator
- Shocker: John Mcafee Suspends Plan To Unmask Bitcoin’s Creator
- Marcus Hutchins, slayer of WannaCry worm, pleads guilty to malware charges
- Marcus Hutchins — The Guy Who Stopped Wannacry — Pleads Guilty To Conspiracy Charges
- The US wants to scan the faces of all air passengers leaving the country
- When License-Plate Surveillance Goes Horribly Wrong: The pitfalls of automated policing, where one piece of bad information can lead to a guns-drawn confrontation.
- State Investigator Granted Immunity For Hours-Long Detention Of Doctor At Gunpoint During A Search For Medical Records
- Marcus Hutchins, Security Researcher Who Stopped WannaCry, Pleads Guilty to Malware Charges
- Court Rules Chelsea Manning Must Stay in Jail for Refusing to Provide Testimony in WikiLeaks Case
- Cybercrime for dummies: cracking internet passwords is as easy as 123456 – GCHQ survey finds millions using most obvious passwords – including ‘password’, ‘qwerty’ and superhero names
- How Social Media, Technology and Privacy Laws Are Changing the E-Discovery Landscape
- Moving the Goalposts for Canadian Data: Federal Privacy Commissioner Changes Position on Cross-Border Transfers
- Guidelines to protect client information on phones, laptops released: Tips on what to do when border officers request your password
- Bug in French government’s WhatsApp replacement let anyone join Élysée chats
- The French Govt’s Hand-Rolled Encrypted Messaging Service (Briefly) Allowed Anyone To Pretend They Were A Government Official
CREATIVITY
- Esplanade Productions, Inc. v. The Walt Disney Company: 9th Cir. dismisses copyright claim alleging Disney film Zootopia infringed materials for contemplated “Zootopia” franchise.
- Batiste v. Lewis: In copyright infringement lawsuit against Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, court finds no probative evidence that defendants copied any of Plaintiffs musical compositions or sound recordings.
- Copyright Lawsuits Over Product Shots Are Stupid–eTrailer v. Automatic Equipment (Eric Goldman)
- Mercedes Goes To Court To Get Background Use Of Public Murals In Promotional Pics Deemed Fair Use
- Werner Herzog Joins Plenty Of Other Artists In Recognizing Piracy Isn’t The Problem
- McQueen Estate Wants to Unravel a Tom Ford Sweater
- Dallas Mavericks Fail To Get Trademark For Its Star Player’s Nickname
- Why celebrities try to trademark their catchphrases and baby names: Taylor Swift wanted to own “This sick beat.” Kylie Jenner wants the name of her 1-year-old’s birthday party. Tim Tebow does own his prayer pose.
- The 50 Best Music Documentaries of All Time
GAMES
- Iraq bans PUBG, Fortnite: Country joins Nepal and some parts of India in forbidding Bluehole’s shooter, citing impact on youth and addictive qualities
- Nepal lifts short-lived ban on PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
- Fortnite and PUBG are now banned in Iraq: The Iraqi government is concerned about the negative effect the games have on youth.
- Iraq parliament votes to ban Fortnite and Battlegrounds
- Don’t Miss: How working on gross, violent games can mess with developers
- Nintendo issues DMCA takedown for Super Mario Bros.Commodore 64 port
- Super Mario Bros. Commodore 64 fan port hit with DMCA takedowns
- Nepal Supreme Court suspends ban on PUBG: Government ordered to show cause for its prohibition on popular survival shooter
- Over 200 Fortnite World Cup prize winners caught cheating: Over 1,200 total cheaters caught in first week of competition, most for circumventing region locks
- Supercell partners with Internet Matters to improve child safety online
- Constant development means a perpetual push to crunch at Epic, say Fortnite devs
- Epic devs speak out on Fortnite crunch: “I was working at least 12-hour days, seven days a week, for at least four or five months” after survival shooter became a mainstream phenomenon
- Apex Legends is on the decline with streamers after a record-setting month
- Overwatch lets players create custom modes with in-game scripting tools
- Respawn CEO: Sticking to seasonal updates better for Apex Legends devs
- 996.ICU accuses NetEase, Tencent and Chinese devs of overworking staff: Chinese tech workers use GitHub to highlight intensive overtime schedules, Microsoft employees petition to keep list uncensored
- China’s game approval rules will soon apply to HTML5 and WeChat mini-games
- China’s new gaming rules to ban poker, blood and imperial schemes
- China introduces new game approval process, limiting total approvals per year: HTML5 games now require approval, anti-addiction system policy expanded to mobile titles
- Tencent raises minimum age for “digital lock” to 16: New measure will be trialled in upcoming game, limiting gamers aged 15 and under to two hours a day
- Chinese streaming platform DouYu files for $500m IPO: Tencent-backed Twitch rival could be one of the largest Chinese floatations in the US so far this year
- Amnesia dev makes the case for why lying to players is sometimes good game design
- Nintendo and Tencent gain approval to bring the Switch to China
- Tencent cleared to distribute Nintendo Switch in China: Government of Guangdong province offers provisional go ahead for sale of the Switch in China
- Report: Cheaper Switch model will focus on portability
- Google coy with new Stadia details, pushes the promise of discoverability
- PUBG Corp sees $920 million in 2018 revenue: PC accounted for $790 million of total revenue; over half of total earnings came from Asia
- South Korean FTC to review in-game purchase policies
- South Korean FTC examining consumer regulations surrounding in-game purchases: Government body currently investigating issues surrounding minors making purchases and “unfair” limitations on refunds
- Assassin’s Creed Unity hit by review bombers intent on spreading positivity
- Burnout Paradise’s online servers are shutting down after 11 years
- Disney reportedly offered controlling stake in Nexon: Search for a buyer continues as Korean publisher’s founder meets with high-ranking Disney exec
- Welcome to The New Era of High Fashion and Video Game Collaborations: Inside Moschino and The Sims Partnership
- Mortal Kombat 11: Critical Consensus – Reviewers applaud the meat and bones of NetherRealm’s latest, but question the method for unlocking skins
- World War Z has surpassed 1 million sales in first week
- Frostpunk has surpassed 1.4 million sales in first year
- Persona 5 has sold over 2.7 million copies worldwide
- Nintendo stock leaps following Switch approval in China: 17% rise on Tokyo exchange is company’s largest percentage gain since Pokemon Go’s summer of 2016
- More powerful Nintendo Switch reportedly still in experimental stages: Other, smaller Switch version also rumored may be dockable after all, could launch this fall
- NPD: Nintendo Switch continues strong sales in quarter of hardware declines
- Report: Cheaper “Switch Lite” will be dockable, come in the fall
- Report: Cheaper Switch coming by June
- Happy 30th B-Day, Game Boy: Here are six reasons why you’re #1
- GB Studio offers a free Game Boy-inspired way to create 2D games
- Video: The making of the Xbox Adaptive Controller
- Sagging Xbox hardware sales offset by software, services growth: Microsoft says gaming revenues were up 5% in its third quarter thanks to third-party games’ monetization and subscription growth
- Xbox revenue held up by software and services as hardware sales fall
- GAME and GameStop shrug off Xbox One S All-Digital Edition threat: GaneStop survey finds around half of consumers are less likely to purchase console without disc drive
- Game Informer Australia closed down in wake of GameStop cuts
- The GamesIndustry.biz Podcast: PlayStation 5 vs disc-less Xbox: Will the future of consoles be defined by Sony’s SSD, Microsoft’s digital focus, or Capcom’s corporate branded arcade panel?
- Contributing devs up in arms over Capcom’s use of the FB Alpha emulator
- Sony promises “appealing” price for new PlayStation console: Wired releases more interview material after hardware’s high-spec prompts speculation over price
- Sony Brings Social VR Theater App to PSVR Users in Japan
- Linden Lab CEO: ‘We’re Pitching ‘Sansar’ Less as a VR Platform Now’
- Oculus Explains Why It Doesn’t Think the Time is Right for ‘Rift 2’ or ‘Rift Pro’
- The Simple Guide to Four Major VR Headsets Launching This Spring
- Iron Man VR preview makes me want to put on nerdy headgear again
- Nintendo’s past VR research laid the foundation for Labo VR
- Epic Games Store exclusivity helps Phoenix Point achieve 191% return: “Cash advance” from engine provider will be shared with Fig backers as part of game’s revenue
- Here’s why the Epic Games Store takes a 12 percent revenue cut from devs
- Gearbox CEO: Both devs and players benefit from Epic and Steam competition
- Gearbox’s Pitchford: Steam may be “a dying store” in 5 to 10 years
- Diverging paths: Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo’s radically different visions | Opinion: After decades of platform holders releasing similar hardware, we should celebrate their new, wildly different visions of gaming’s future
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s new Stage Builder mode is recommending inappropriate content: Stages with inappropriate images, names are being listed as “Recommended” and do not disappear
- Spectator Throws Dead Crab At Super Smash Bros. Tournament Winner
- European Esports Federation to be formed with 12 countries: Organization to serve as a “moderating partner” rather than a governing body for the industry
- Player Safeguarding, Welfare and Education in Esports – A Pragmatic Approach for Tournament Organizers
- Actor Will Smith joins $46m investment into esports organisation Gen.G: Smith joined by investment partner and Japanese soccer star Keisuke Honda
- Branded for success | Opinion: Game Dragons’ Philip Oliver offers advice on how to licence IP, and how to identify IP that is now in the public domain
- AbleGamers launches new accessibility website: Accessible.Games provides means to connect developers and players with disability to help design more accessible games
- Kitfox: People are more important than projects – Co-founder Tanya X. Short says she’s reconsidering putting gameplay and quality on equal footing with respect and personal development
- Amy Hennig: Streaming must be more than “just an invisible console” – Real-time streaming will start a revolution in storytelling, Hennig said at Reboot Develop – but new kinds of content will be required
- Neo Cab: Staying human in a world where an algorithm is your boss – “We’re building these systems without thinking about the human costs… we only do it as numbers and aggregate”
- Warren Spector: “If immersive sims disappear, I disappear” – System Shock developer explains why the struggles of Dishonored and Deus Ex won’t deter him from his chosen genre
- Frostpunk sells 1.4m units in first year: Publishing director Paweł Feldman unpacks some of the lessons learned in building 11 Bit Studios’ latest hit
- SuperData: Sekiro sells 1.4m digital units in March, beating Dark Souls III launch – Battle royales continue to drive growth alongside console games as premium PC digital sales decline
- World War Z sells 1m copies in first week: Co-op zombie shooter saw 70k concurrent players during launch
- CCP Games: EVE Online’s tech is “absolutely at its breaking edge” – At Reboot Develop, Hilmar Petursson detailed CCP’s plans to keep pace with the huge battles staged by EVE’s remarkable community
- Life after EVE Online: From intergalactic warfare to “elegant, cosy” card games: CCP Games co-founder Ívar Kristjánsson talks starting a new studio with his brother to fill a niche in the digital card game market
- Blog: What makes a game prologue gripping?
- Blog: Three lessons for narrative game design students
- Blog: Referencing objects—Names vs GUIDs
- Blog: Discussing the ins and outs of composing for games at the Library of Congress
- Blog: What happens when game artists design a mural
- Blog: Evolving difficulty modes in survival horror – Resident Evil 2
- Blog: 10 important Kickstarter hacks from an expert
- Street Fighter II designer walks through the creation of the game’s stranger fighters
- Don’t Miss: Making debugging into a mechanic inBeglitched
- Video: Why you should put your name on your indie game
- Boldly she rode: How Heaven’s Vault reinvents adventure games
- Mojang sets March 2022 date for Minecraft movie premiere: Long in development project has a new director, and plenty of time to get ready for release
- Eight ways the UK games industry can work better with education
- Finnish games industry employed over 3,000, brought in over $2b in 2018
- Artificial Intelligence Is Helping Old Video Games Look Like New: Modders are taking advantage of AI tools to update old graphics
- Code to Inspire is creating “Afghan Hero Girls” through education
- The ethics of smurfing: Why players smurf, and what developers are doing about it.
- Keywords nabs Japanese HTML5 developer Wizcorp for $1.1 million
- A Kickstarter for a game that’s basically hentai Mass Effect has raised over a million dollars
- GTA 6 showed up on a Rockstar artist’s resume: With Red Dead Redemption 2 out presumably Grand Theft Auto 6 will follow, but is this confirmation?
- Don’t Miss: Devs reflect on the impact and legacy ofBurnout Paradise
- Spider-Man Developer Reveals Undiscovered Easter Egg That Only Happens On Saturdays
- Video: Procedurally creating Manhattan for Marvel’s Spider-Man
- The imperfect science of Falcon Age’s baby bird-based social media marketing
- You can now download the source code for all Infocom text adventure classics
- Reverse review bomb? AC: Unity draws praise for Notre Dame preservation: Average Steam user score shifts from “Mixed” to “Very Positive” in recent days.
- Top 10 Best-Selling Video Games Of All Time: Minecraft and GTA V have dominated the last decade, but where do they rank among the all-time bestsellers?
Jon