Apple gets sued but Twitch Celebrates | Table of Content S2 E16

TABLE OF CONTENT TALKING POINTS S2 E16

11/1/2020

(Host Scene)

Zazz - Welcome to Table of Content. The round table show where we discuss all the happenings around streaming, gaming and entertainment. I am joined by guest guest co-host and frequent guest Stump. How are you? 

Zazz - Stump will you reach over and grab my bag…. of mail and read the latest hatemail.  (tellabout hatemail and tell them to send their own bold predictions)

 

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Streaming News

Music Right Holders Now Focusing On Twitch Directly
 Twitch took some fire from content creators recently for their handling of DCMA takedowns. Twitch sent out emails to various content creators informing them that some of their VODs had been removed from the streaming service due to DCMA takedown requests without informing the content creator of what the violation was, which video it was or even giving them a method to dispute the claim.
If this was not enough, Twitch started taking fire from the other side with The Music Industry accusing Twitch of not obtaining the proper licenses and for not doing enough DCMA takedowns.
In the letter to Amazon and Twitch, the signed accused Twitch of not obtaining the proper mechanical or synch licenses they feel are needed for use of the music in SoundTrack. 
In the letter to Amazon and Twitch, the signed accused Twitch of not obtaining the proper mechanical or synch licenses they feel are needed for use of the music in SoundTrack. 

Red - Tell us a little more about these licenses and what you found out when researching this article.

Penalty on Twitch for Celebration?

From the piece over at TABLEOC.COM- 

Twitch is testing a new feature titled Celebration. This new feature puts a button labeled “Celebrate” in between the follow and subscribe button. What does this button do? Well let me tell you. This button is like a donation button. It allows viewers to give money outside of bits and subscriptions directly to the streamer while displaying an explosion of confetti or fireworks on the broadcaster’s stream. 

The streamer community is in uproar over this because Twitch is currently taking 50% of funds gifted to the streamer. Streamers do still have the option to use paypal and other methods of donations via services like streamelements. These however come with their risks

We will of course keep an eye on this program as it progresses through its beta stages and becomes a full fledged Twitch feature.

Tighe -  How do you feel about taking 50% of this cut? They are taking the risk here I would imagine with charge backs.

https://wrestlingheadlines.com/wwe-stars-closing-their-third-party-accounts-paige-blames-wwe-and-says-she-cant-deal-with-them-anymore-paige-wants-unionization-more-on-wwe-policy-changes AJ Styles took to Discord this afternoon and announced that he was suspending his “Stylesclash” accounts on Twitch due to WWE’s new policy on unauthorized third party platform activity. Styles thanked his fans for the support and memories. He also said he will be leaving his Discord server up to keep in touch with fans for future happenings.

“@everyone, I want to thank you for all the greatest memories on Mixer and Twitch,” AJ wrote. “I will cherish these memories and I love everyone of you that have made this possible and supported me. As many of you know WWE is making some changes that involve streaming. We will see what the future holds in that regard.
Mia Yim (Reckoning of RETRIBUTION) announced on Twitter that her “ItsMeSYB” Twitch stream is also being pulled down, right before her scheduled gameplay with Jessamyn Duke.
Paige got emotional during one of her Twitch streams this afternoon on her “Saraya Official” channel after finding out about co-workers shutting down their platforms.
Paige continued texting, apparently with co-workers on her phone, and came back to the camera. She was more emotional as she went back to addressing her viewers. She then commented that she “cannot deal” with WWE anymore. She also blamed the company for over-working her, to the point that she suffered a career-ending neck injury. She also claimed she is looking into Unionization.

Stump - What do you make of this sudden change as we now see these channels being shut down and not continuing under wwe’s control?

Gaming News

Cyberpunk 2077 Dev Responds To Death Threats Over Delay

Our first story is frankly not shocking and that is sad. Developers of Cyberpunk 2077 have received death threats over their delay of the game by 21 days.

From the game spot piece - 

RPG design lead Andrej Zawadzki said on Twitter that he understands why fans may feel angry or disappointed, but sending death threats is unacceptable. "We are people, just like you," he said.

Much of the anger seems to have stemmed from a tweet sent by the Cyberpunk Twitter account, just one day before the delay announcement, promising no more delays. While many fans took it in stride as a somewhat embarrassing mishap for the repeatedly-delayed game, others claimed it showed CDPR had intentionally misled its fans.

While the game has had its issues 21 days seems like a minor delay.

Tighe - What can we do in the community to help battle this sort of madness?

Deleting your Facebook account forfeits Oculus VR games you already paid for 

On to our last story. Back in August Facebook announced that Oculus users will be required to have an active facebook account to use the virtual reality system.

The change went into effect earlier this month and now users have discovered a new stipulation to using the system. From the article at polygon

“If at any point you decide to delete your Facebook account, you immediately forfeit your access to any games or VR experiences you purchased through the Oculus store.

The gotcha was spotted last week, and began to surface first on Twitter, only to be confirmed Friday by the team at UploadVR.”

“Deleting your Facebook account will also delete your Oculus information,” warns Facebook in the Deactivation and Deletion section of its iOS app. “This includes your app purchases and your achievements. You will no longer be able to return any apps and will lose any existing store credits.”

Facebook has stated that this change faced a lot of inner opposition when announced.They also claim too many new features are tied into accounts and the infrastructure was too complex to change.

Fox - How do you see this sort of thing affecting other services going forward?

Dutch judge rules that EA should be fined €500k every week until it removes FIFA loot boxes
The Netherlands Gaming Authority will be allowed to fine Electronic Arts €500,000 every week it sells loot boxes in FIFA Ultimate Team, after the feature was deemed in violation of gambling rules.
The decision was approved by the court of The Hague on Thursday, following a lengthy legal battle between the Gaming Authority and EA.A weekly €250,000 fine will be charged against both EA and its Swiss subsidiary, which is responsible for the sale of FIFA, for a total of €500,000 a week.
 According to NU.nl, the FIFA publisher had argued that the content of its FUT packs only had value within the game itself, as they could not be converted into money.
However, the judge dismissed EA’s objections on Thursday and ordered that if the company wants to avoid the weekly fine, it would need to disable loot boxes within three weeks.

Entertainment News

Netflix is making a live-action Assassin’s Creed series 

In a bit of lighter news Netflix will once again dip from the video game well with their new live action Assassin's Creed series. From the Verge.com -

The live-action show is still in early stages and in need of a showrunner. It’s also unclear when it will take place or what it will be about; the franchise is known for combining historical settings with modern narratives and has tackled everything from the Crusades to Vikings.

“From its breathtaking historical worlds and massive global appeal as one of the best selling video game franchises of all time, we are committed to carefully crafting epic and thrilling entertainment based on this distinct IP and provide a deeper dive for fans and our members around the world to enjoy,” said Netflix original series vice president Peter Friedlander in a prepared statement.

Netflix has already found success in a live adaptation of another beloved game series, The Witcher, starring Henry Cavill. Following the first season, Netflix announced a six-part live-action prequel spinoff. The streaming service also revealed a live-action take on Resident Evil earlier this year.

Tighe - Netflix did a great job with Witcher do you have the same hope for an assassins creed series?

Apple One: Not even released and Spotify is already causing headaches

“Our first story - Apple finds itself in hot water again over bundling their music service with other products offered by the tech giant. From the piece of at TableOC.com - 

With the announcement of the Apple One subscription service, Spotify quickly voiced their opinion on the new option.

Once again, Apple is using its dominant position and unfair practices to disadvantage competitors and deprive consumers by favoring its own services. We call on competition authorities to act urgently to restrict Apple’s anti-competitive behavior, which if left unchecked, will cause irreparable harm to the developer community and threaten our collective freedoms to listen, learn, create, and connect.

Spotify has a history of launching complaints to the European Union over antitrust behaviors from Apple. 

What’s Spotify’s issue with Apple offering a better deal to potential customers? Spotify already believes that Apple intentionally makes it harder for end-users to select their premium music service when compared to Apple Music. Since Apple Music comes bundled on with Apple’s device and is not limited by App Store rules, Spotify believes that this gives Apple Music an unfair advantage in competition. If you combine this with offering a discount by purchasing more services, you can see how Spotify might be a little nervous.”

Fox - Can you give us some insight into why you think Spotify is making this move?

TINY TOONS Will Return for a Reboot Series! 
Tiny Toon Adventures was a staple of ’90s childhood and for good reason. The hilarious cartoon followed a group of young cartoons attending Acme Looniversity to become the next generation of Looney Tunes characters. The Warner Bros. Animation and Amblin Entertainment series only ran for two years in its original run. Still, it left a huge impression on a generation of toon-lovers.
Now, the characters are returning for a reboot series titled Tiny Toons Looniversity. Steven Spielberg is back as an executive producer for the show, along with Sam Register—president of Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network Studios—and Amblin Television co-presidents Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank. Erin Gibson will serve as showrunner and producer.
The half-hour series was ordered for two seasons and will air on HBO Max and Cartoon Network. This follows recent announcement of an Animaniacs reboot, also produced by Spielberg but headed to Hulu.
Missing from the names of people involved is famed batman writer and show Runner Paul Dini

Stump - I don't know if you were into this show but I loved it as a kid.

 

BOLD PREDICTIONS 

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