So long SOPA and PIPA, hello Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), a bill proposed last November to give the government new powers to secure networks and thwart copyright violators. It’s finally up for a vote …
Opinion
Norway Killer Played World of Warcraft, Which Probably Means Nothing At All
Blame video games — that’s the watch phrase these days when something tragic happens. The non-gaming media seem to enjoy zeroing in on video games that are highlighted in horrifying crimes, invoking the rhetorical question: Do …
Why It’s Time to Leave the Mass Effect 3 Ending Alone
I wasn’t going to write anything about Mass Effect 3 and the Not-So-Great Ending backlash. I really wasn’t. You’re probably as sick of reading about it as I am. What’s more, I’ve been less-than-enthralled with the Mass Effect …
‘Assassin’s Creed III’: On Slavery, Native Americans and Death-Dealing Gameplay
Assassin’s Creed sits at or very near the top of my favorites list as enthusiast-grade video games go. (I apologize for calling it “enthusiast,” but I don’t have a better word, and I want to distinguish it from stuff like …
AT&T’s Terrible Plan to Bill App Makers for Your Data Use
AT&T thinks it’s figured out a new way to make money off the rise of smartphones: Instead of just having consumers pay for mobile data, AT&T plans to allow app makers to cover the cost of data themselves, so it doesn’t count …
Good News: Oklahoma ‘Violent’ Video Games Bill Tossed
I called it “clueless” and “inconsistent” because it was, and now a bill proposed by an Oklahoma lawmaker to tax violent video games has been thrown out by a subcommittee. The bad news: It nearly passed, losing by a narrow margin …
The Case Against Letting the U.N. Govern the Internet
All this year, and culminating in December at the World Conference on International Telecommunications in Dubai, the nations of the world will be negotiating a treaty to govern international telecommunications services between …
Oklahoma Bill to Tax Violent Video Games Is Clueless and Inconsistent
Once more into the land of moral foolishness: An Oklahoma lawmaker just introduced a bill that would impose a tax on games deemed “violent,” with the money from said tax going to battle bullying and childhood obesity.
Bullying …
Why Are We Only Finding Out About the VeriSign Security Breach Now?
“Key Internet operator VeriSign hit by hackers” read the headline in Reuters yesterday. This is big news because, as the article casually points out, VeriSign Inc. “is ultimately responsible for the integrity of Web addresses …
What Europe’s ‘Right to Be Forgotten’ Has in Common with SOPA
In George Orwell’s 1984, the Ministry of Truth employs a “memory hole” to eliminate inconvenient facts. If a previously published photo or record later proves to be embarrassing for the government, it is thrown down the …
Why We Won’t See Many Protests like the SOPA Blackout
The SOPA blackout protest last week was an unprecedented event. Its massive success — with dozens of members of Congress switching their stance in one day under the withering intensity of thousands of phone calls — surprised …
Why Google’s Biggest Problem with ‘Search Plus Your World’ Isn’t Antitrust
Last week Google lit up the blogosphere with controversy when it introduced tighter integration between its Google+ social network and its organic search results. The main charge is that the new service – called Google Search …