The use of mobile applications on smartphones continues its trend of strong growth. According to a recent press release, users of Apple’s App Store have downloaded over 40 billion apps, with over two billion downloads occurring in the month of December alone. According to Apple, nearly 20 billion of the…
On January 10, 2013, the President signed the Video Privacy Protection Act Amendments Act of 2012 into law. The 2013 Act amends the Video Privacy Protection Act of 1988 (18 USC 2710), which prohibited the sharing or disclosure of video rental history. The 1988 Act was prompted due to the…
A weekly wrap up of interesting news about virtual worlds, virtual goods and other social media. USPTO Dives Into Software Patent Debate With New Group Amid a growing chorus of criticism that software patents are too vague and can hinder innovation, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on…
As real money online gambling remains bogged down in the legislative and regulatory morass, social gaming applications have been on a tear. As we have previously reported, major players are leveraging social gaming applications in preparation for the legalization of online gambling. One of the emerging leaders, Caesars Interactive Entertainment…
User endorsements are becoming a more and more popular form of “advertising” as the use of social media and user-generated content continues to increase. These endorsements often take the form of reviews via blogs or Yelp, but can also include other less conspicuous communications. These endorsements can be quite powerful.…
According to a report on Inside Social Games, Caesars Interactive Entertainment has acquired Buffalo Studios LLC, a social and mobile games developer most known for its Bingo Blitz and Bingo Rush. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. “The Bingo Blitz business represents a unique opportunity for Caesars Interactive…
We previously reported on the lawsuit over ownership of Twitter followers, when an employee left PhoneDog and changed the twitter handle of an account that had been used to tweet to PhoneDog customers. That case has now settled on confidential terms, but it appears the employee came out ahead. According to…
According to a recent report, Instagram lost nearly 25% of its users (as tracked by AppData) nearly overnight. The cause is believed to be due to a very unpopular change to its Terms of Service. Prior to this, Instagram was one of the most popular and fastest growing social media…
A weekly wrap up of interesting news about virtual worlds, virtual goods and other social media. Union Facebook Page Not Picket Line Extension: NLRB Judge A National Labor Relations Board judge ruled Wednesday that federal labor law did not require a union to disavow statements posted on its…
Resolving a conundrum faced by every business that has entered the world of consumer texting, the FCC has ruled that businesses are not violating the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) by sending a confirmation text to consumers who have just opted out of receiving further texts. However, the FCC…