Game::Business::Law Conference Coming to Dallas January 14-15

Courtesy of Mark over at Law of the Game, I wanted to give the heads up about an upcoming gaming/business/law conference being held in Dallas two weeks from now. The slate of speakers is top notch, ranging from industry heads to lawyers in the field. The conference is affiliated with SMU's Dedman School of Law and Guildhall graduate program.

The Official Site

Let me know if you will be attending!

Canadian History Taught Through Civ III Mod

2K games has created a Civ III mod, HistoriCanada, designed to teach Canadian High School students about the history of Canada. Players can choose between 17 indigenous and European civilizations to learn, and if they like, reshape Canadian history. Although not strictly law-related, this is the first mod I have seen that actually has a purpose (except for Warcraft III's Defense of the Ancients, which is just badass). The educational benefits seems endless, but really, I just wish I could have played games in class...besides Drug Wars.

HistoriCanada: Great Idea, Terrible Name

They should make one for America too, but mod Warcraft to more accurately depict the course of history.

Texas High School Student Transferred for Creating CS Map of School

School board officials have decided to transfer a student in Sugar Land, Texas after it was discovered that he created a Counter-Strike map of his high school. After a search at his house turned up five (decorative?) swords, the school board labeled the situation a "level 3," which means the student "engage[d] in conduct relating to a false alarm or report (including a bomb threat) or a terroristic threat involving a public school."

Don't Make Counter-Strike Maps of your High School Fool!

I think this is an overreaction of the school board, but jeez, some kids are so clueless.

Kentucky Library Begins Lending Video Games

Kentucky libraries have decided to begin video game collections available for borrowing. A spokesman said that the library will not carry any games with violence or harsh language. Where was this when I was a kid?

It is not all backwards in Kentucky!

I suppose the libraries have sovereign immunity and cannot be sued for copyright violation, but given that the educational value of most games is marginal at best, is there really a compelling argument for fair use? The effect on the market (harms video game sales), the nature of the work (the copyrighted game itself is being used not a derivative work), and the amount used (the whole game) all weigh in favor of the video game companies. I wonder if the non-financial use of the games is a strong enough reason to find fair use. Then again, I cannot really think of a reason that video games should be banned while books can be lent, since both are supposed to be protected under the same copyright statutes.

The Sims Art Show

EA has teamed up with some Art schools to offer an art competition where submissions must be related to EA's The Sims franchise. Sponsored by Ford, the competition will encompass mediums such as machinima, paintings, illustrations, sculptural work, fashion designs, cinematography, and interactive displays.

SimArt Competition

According to the rules: By entering this Contest, entrants agree (i) that Sponsor may post their entries on Sponsor’s and it agents’ respective websites, and has the right to use the entries, including, without limitation, by making them available for download on Sponsor’s website and in any and all media and in connection with this Contest, publicity and advertising for Electronic Arts Inc or other promotions by Sponsor without any further attribution, notification or compensation to entrants and, except if winner is a resident of TN or otherwise where prohibited by law, to use entrant’s first name, last name, school name, or user or screen name, and/or hometown therewith. Looks like the entrants will lose most of the sticks in the copyright bundle, but not all of them.

Students Encouraged to Play PSP in Class...Sweet

Sony has announced an initiative aimed at trying to put PSPs in the hand of even more youngsters by having them play in school. Richard Owen, a testing teacher, found the initial response positive; he said the students benefitted from being able to work at their own pace. They had the children play Buzz! - a quiz game designed for students of that age.

PSP making school actually cool

Wait. If I play PSP in school, I probably will not want to play PSP when I get home...or will I? Plus, who is buying all of these PSPs? The government? Some think Sony is using this to plug its products, but they could potentially make a boat load. It is only a matter of time before educational games become serious money makers.

Academics Begin Burning Crusade

On the eve of The Burning Crusade expansion pack, academics have been given Title IX funding and a grant from the National Education Association to role-play on World of Warcraft as Tiger Team One, a Horde guild destined to battle the Alliance scum. They say ABDs (short for All But Dissertation) may apply, but PhDs are preferred. Now I'm no PhD, but I want to get paid to play WoW. When I heard this news I thought, "For that to happen to me...Good to know someone pulled it off." Then I went to the site and saw what these poor guys were role-playing...WoW! Check the Manifesto. Feckless Gobshites!

Tiger Team One

Recruiting Post

But my legal visor signals curious, how does Title IX, which mandated equality between the sexes in education, grant this program funding? Did they promise to have equal numbers of male and female orcs, trolls, tauren, undead, and most importantly, blood elves? Hmm...