The highlight session of the conference for me was Regulating Virtual Worlds, which I was very much looking forward to. I’m sure this was intentionally built into the choice of speakers, but each of the panelists took a very clear regulatory approach to the new technology. Charles Lim Aeng Chang Read more
I’m in Singapore for State of Play V, which concludes a self-indulgent week of buffing-up my research into games and virtual worlds in preparation for next month’s Gikii 2. I’ve just come from a dinner where we were shown a documentary on businesses in Second Life, following the rise of Read more
John Howard, the Australian Prime Minister, has vowed to clean the Internet by “blocking pornography, upgrading the search for chatroom sex predators and cutting off terror sites.” The PM plans to achieve this by giving all Australians a free content filter. What is it about politicians and the Internet? We Read more
The second day was extremely interesting, particularly from my perspective. The first two sessions were very PS3 heavy, with a session on motion-capture in Heavenly Sword. I was very impressed with this game, enough to actually consider buying a PS3 just to play it. Virtual Societies Session:This was the best Read more
(via Groklaw and Nicolas Jondet) Those not familiar with the SCO v IBM case, you can find some basic information here. Last week Groklaw reported on a ruling that single-handedly dismantled SCO’s copyrights claims. SCO based their suit almost entirely on the assumption that they owned rights over UNIX code, Read more
As part of my growing interest in games (from a research point of view of course), I have decided to make the Edinburgh Interactive Festival my one and only August Fringe event this year. This conference is mostly directed towards games industry insiders, but it is quite an amazing insight Read more
Universal will follow EMI’s successful experiment with DRM-less music, but it will not be sold in iTunes Plus (which sort of defeats the purpose, but I digress). This comes as no surprise, as it seems like EMI is very happy with its DRM-free sales. Amazon has also invested in AmieStreet, Read more
The BBC reports that the House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee has issued a paper prompting the government to take tougher action against cybercrime. It is refreshing to see a policy-making body taking the problem seriously, as lack of enforcement has been a problem in the past. One Read more
Facebook is being sued for patent infringement by venture capital firm Cross Atlantic Capital Partners, which seems to be the latest in a wave of investors involved in financing patent troll litigation. The plaintiffs are asking for licensing fees. The subject of the suit is U.S. patent 6,519,629, which protects Read more
One more case in the ongoing battle in Spain between SGAE and small bars over copyleft music. Derecho de Internet reports on this latest appeal by the SGAE against a bar in Madrid called “Buenavistilla Social Club”. The collecting society initially lost the case and therefore appealed to have the Read more