opposition
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Apple calls Epic lawsuit a 'campaign to reinvigorate interest in Fortnite'
Apple says Epic 'started a fire, and poured gasoline on it.'
Facebook vows legal action after being forced to block Thai anti-royalty group
After being forced by the Thai government to block access to a group critical of the country’s king, Facebook said it will legally challenge the demand. The situation has once again cast a light on Facebook’s policies around authoritarian governments and showed what actions it might take in response.
The FCC voted to approve the T-Mobile-Sprint merger
Today, the FCC formally approved the contested T-Mobile and Sprint merger, The Verge reports. But commissioners are still speaking out. Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks released statements explaining their decisions to vote against the transaction.
T-Mobile’s Sprint merger is opposed by 18 state attorneys general
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro is the latest state attorney general to oppose T-Mobile's Sprint merger. Today, Shapiro announced that he'll join a lawsuit to block the "megamerger" of the telecom giants, making him the 18th attorney general to challenge the deal.
Huawei technicians may have helped African governments spy on opponents
An investigation by The Washington Post claims Huawei technicians helped African governments spy on domestic political opponents. According to the report, Huawei employees helped authorities in Uganda intercept encrypted messages and allowed police in Zambia to locate opposition bloggers. Such claims could validate the Trump administration's concerns about the use of Huawei technology in the US, but Huawei told The Washington Post it has "never been engaged in 'hacking' activities."
IGDA makes opposition statement to King's 'Candy' trademarks
The International Game Developers Association has issued a statement opposing King's recent Candy Crush Saga trademark filing, criticizing the developer's "predatory" attempt at owning and controlling the words "candy" and "saga" across all gaming platforms. The organization plans to leverage its Business and Legal Special Interest Group to investigate the filing. King's "candy" trademark was recently approved for publishing by the US Patent and Trademark Office, giving developers and organizations 30 days to oppose the mark's final publication. "While we understand and respect the appropriate exercise of Trademark rights," IGDA executive director Kate Edwards said. "King's overreaching filing in its application for the Trademark for its game 'Candy Crush Saga,' and its predatory efforts to apply that mark to each separate word contained in that name, are in opposition to the values of openness and cooperation we support industry wide, and directly contradict the statement King's CEO, Riccardo Zacconi, made on January 27th." Edwards continued: "Our Business and Legal Special Interest Group will be providing a more comprehensive analysis of this issue from its perspective soon." King targeted indie developer Stoic Studio last year, claiming that its title The Banner Saga was "confusingly and deceptively similar to [King's] previously used Saga marks." King relented in the following months, stating that it "has not and is not trying to stop Banner Saga from using its name." [Image: King]
Sprint concerned over AT&T, T-Mobile merger
Sprint responded to the announcement of the acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T with a statement that expresses concern about the proposed merger. Sprint suggests federal regulators take a close look at the deal, which will dramatically change the structure of the wireless industry in the US. The now #3 wireless carrier in the US points out that a post-merger AT&T and Verizon will control almost 80 percent of the wireless post-paid market and will set both the price and availability of valuable assets, such as backhaul capacity and wireless access, which the smaller carriers need to compete. The merger would also leave Sprint in the dust in terms of subscriber numbers. Sprint has the most to lose from a merger between AT&T and T-Mobile. The merger would vault AT&T to the top as the nation's largest GSM carrier with 130 million subscribers. Verizon would trail the merged company as the nation's largest CDMA carrier with about 100 million subscribers. Though it will be smaller, Verizon has a strong lineup of handsets with the Apple iPhone and Android offerings, such as the HTC Thunderbolt. Verizon is also successfully deploying its LTE network on the 700 MHz band and has little to fear from a stronger AT&T and T-Mobile. Sprint, on the other hand, relies on its partnership with Clearwire for 4G expansion, but the carrier is considering a move to LTE. It has a plan forward for 4G, but its future prospect is not as strong as Verizon or AT&T in this growing wireless broadband market. Sprint also lacks the iPhone and other cutting-edge handsets like AT&T's dual-core Motorola Atrix 4G. It is already behind AT&T and Verizon and will be at a decided disadvantage if T-Mobile merges with AT&T. The full text of Sprint's statement can be found after the break.
The Daily Grind: What enemy groups do you feel are overused?
There's no denying that the Praetorian Clockwork of City of Heroes are a cool-looking gang of robots. They're powerful, military, and intimidating in numbers, and their prominence in recent task forces isn't unwelcome. Of course, after fighting them all through the first 20 levels of the game, and then fighting them in the most recent task forces, and then fighting more of them in the upcoming Issue 20... some players might be getting just a bit tired of seeing the war machines stomping about. World of Warcraft has at least one troll dungeon per expansion, Star Trek Online loves its Borg, and of course you've got Orcs from dawn to dusk in Lord of the Rings Online. Sometimes they make sense; sometimes they don't. But there's always one group of enemies that seems to get trotted out more often than others. So what group do you feel gets brought into the forefront just a bit too often in your game of choice? Was it a group that you used to like but have grown bored of, or one you never found all that interesting? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
