Apple challenging Chicago internet streaming tax

Chicago’s New PlayStation Tax Shows How Greedy Politicians Can Be - Foundation for Economic Education - Brittany Hunter:

November 14, 2018 - "PlayStation 4 users in Chicago were shocked when they turned on their consoles and saw a message from Sony. The message informed users that as of November 14, 2018, they would be required to pay a 9 percent 'amusement tax' for PlayStation subscriptions such as PlayStation Now, PlayStation Plus, PlayStation Music, and others....

"The amusement tax was actually passed several years ago and included almost all forms of entertainment. Whether residents are looking to spend an evening at the theater, see a concert, cheer on their favorite sports team, go to a nightclub, or even catch a movie, they are on the hook for an additional 5 percent tax. In 2015, the amusement tax was expanded ... with the creation of a 'cloud tax' ... the city began instituting a 9 percent tax for using platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, and others. And thanks to the inclusion of the streaming services, the amusement tax now brings in about $12 million annually. It also applies to anyone whose billing address is within city limits.

"Sony actually refused to enforce the tax and did not finally capitulate to the city’s wishes until mid-November.... While it is unclear why Sony decided to begin enforcing the tax at this time, it is likely that statements from government representatives scared the company into submission....

"Right after the 'cloud tax' was instituted, the Liberty Justice Center came forward to challenge the city’s new policy.... Unfortunately, the court ruled in favor of the city in May....

"Just a few months after the same court ruled in favor of the city, Apple filed a complaint in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. The tech company’s complaint touches on four different violations it believes the city is guilty of committing. But the primary complaint rests on Chicago’s violation of the Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA).

"In 1998, President Bill Clinton signed the ITFA into law, protecting Americans from illegal forms of taxation. Specifically, the bill prohibited 'state and local governments from taxing Internet access, or imposing multiple or discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce'.... For example, if internet users are already being taxed for their internet service, they should not be forced to then pay further taxes for using the internet to access streaming sites....

"Apple is also asserting that the new tax is a violation of the Illinois constitution.... Since the cloud tax is extended to everyone with a Chicago billing address, this means it is ... being levied on those who enjoy streaming services outside city limits, making it a violation of state law....

"Apple’s additional complaints involve violations of the federal commerce clause, as well as violations of the 14th Amendment right to due process. While the outcome of the case is unclear, Apple’s unwillingness to cooperate with the city’s ridiculous amusement tax is a testament to its integrity."

Read more: https://fee.org/articles/chicago-s-new-playstation-tax-shows-how-greedy-politicians-can-be/
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Loot box flap shines light on gaming regulation

EA's Failed In-Game Moneymaking Strategy Proves that Consumers Remain the Most Effective Regulators of Markets - Foundation for Economic Education - Matthew McCaffery:

September 6, 2018 - "The outcry over so-called 'loot boxes' — basically a virtual currency in video games that allows users to acquire virtual items and upgrades — shows clearly that calls for regulating the video game industry aren’t going away any time soon....  [E]ach drama brings with it further demands for regulation and censorship.... Despite these constant threats, however, the video game industry has proved repeatedly that consumers, not governments, make the best regulators.

"Microtransactions ... have been around for several years, and have always had vocal critics. But the controversy surrounding them came to a head with the release of EA’s Star Wars: Battlefront II.

"Battlefront II placed major emphasis on loot boxes, rewards players could use to win digital content that provides in-game advantages. Initially, loot boxes could be purchased using ... real-world money... Technically, no one was forced to buy them; however, players faced a trade-off between spending money and spending time to unlock the loot they wanted. And because everyone wanted to benefit as soon as possible, there was a strong incentive to take shortcuts by spending money....

"Whatever their merits, loot boxes caused an uproar among gamers and policymakers and inspired numerous calls for legislation to limit or even ban them. These efforts were not only misguided economically, but also unnecessary: as politicians were scrambling for the spotlight in order to demand action in response to their (unproven) allegations of predatory marketing, the problem was already being solved by the most relentless and effective group of regulators there is — consumers....

"When Battlefront II was released, many players ... refused to buy it, rejected the loot box scheme, and started an extremely vocal boycott of EA. What began as a short-sighted creative decision to pad the company’s bottom line quickly turned into a financial disaster.... EA lost as much as $3.1 billion in shareholder value (close to 10 percent of its market cap)....

"Battlefront II fell between one and three million copies short of its early sales targets, and came up several million copies short of the sales numbers of its predecessor in the franchise. Unsurprisingly, EA quickly began fully dismantling the loot box system, eventually reworking the game’s progression system and eliminating all monetary payments for rewards.

"EA’s Chief Design Officer Patrick Söderlund has since explained that the company has learned its lesson.... Exactly how the company will change its revenue models remains to be seen, but it’s likely that microtransactions and loot boxes will continue to be dialed back, at least for gameplay-related content. In fact, this is already happening with titles from other developers, including Monolith’s Middle Earth: Shadow of War, which has also removed microtransactions in response to fan criticism....

"Ultimately, there’s no such thing as an 'unregulated' market: either businesses are regulated by consumers, or they’re regulated by government. The loot box saga has already shown how one of the largest developers in the world can be humbled by its customers without the 'help' of politicians or new legislation. There’s a simple lesson here for gamers: not every bad decision by a developer needs to be 'fixed' by government."

Read more: https://fee.org/articles/eas-failed-in-game-moneymaking-strategy-proves-that-consumers-remain-the-most-effective-regulators-of-markets/
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Assassin's Creed: Games with a libertarian p.o.v. (video)

Assassin's Creed: Games with a Libertarian View of the World (New at Reason) - Hit & Run : Reason.com:

February 23, 2018 - "Video games have become one of our most influential, popular, and creative forms of media. Last year, the industry generated almost $150 billion in revenue worldwide, rivaling books and films and dwarfing music.

Gamers spend over three billion hours a week in the virtual worlds of their choosing. And more so than other contemporary forms of media, video games explore the themes of freedom and personal agency, allowing players to go where they want and do what they please — as long as they're prepared to bear the consequences....

"But it's the Assassin's Creed series, published by Ubisoft, that puts the conflict between liberty and authority at the center of its plots, its characters, and the alternate history in which the games are set....

Click here for full text, a transcript, and downloadable versions."

Read more: https://reason.com/blog/2018/02/23/assassins-creed-games-with-a-libertarian
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Cards Against Humanity introduces Weed Pack to fund cannabis legalization efforts

Cards Against Humanity is Trying to Help Legalize Recreational Marijuana in Illinois | Inc.com - Will Yackowitz, Inc.:

August 7, 2017 - "Cards Against Humanity, the maker of the 'party game for horrible people,' is donating money to the Marijuana Policy Project to help the nonprofit's efforts to legalize adult-use marijuana in Illinois, the card-game company announced.

"The Chicago-based company raised the money from sales of its 'Weed Pack,' a special edition of cannabis-themed cards. The proceeds of the Weed Pack, which sells for $5, will be donated to the organization until Illinois legalizes adult-use marijuana in the state, the company said. In March, two bills were introduced in Illinois to regulate and tax the sale of cannabis for people age 21 and older.

"Cards Against Humanity co-creator Max Temkin said the company views the U.S.'s federal marijuana policy as a failure.

"'For us, this is a common-sense issue of racial justice, health justice and criminal justice. State and national politics are incredibly screwed up right now, but it gives us hope to think that we can make progress on these kind of common-sense issues that everyone supports,' said Temkin.

"A recent poll found that 66 percent of Illinois voters support regulating marijuana for recreational use for adults, similar to alcohol regulation....

"In the past two years, Cards Against Humanity donated about $4 million to different charities, and more than $1 million to internet privacy foundations."

Read more: https://www.inc.com/will-yakowicz/cards-against-humanity-legalize-marijuana-illinois.html
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Spontaneous order in Pokemon GO

The Libertarian Economic Theory That Might Be Secretly Driving Pokémon Go | Atlas Obscura - Ernie Smith:

July 25, 2016 - "[T]he biggest non-politics story at the moment — the phenomenal rise of Pokémon Go — is seen by some libertarians as a validation of a philosophy that's key to their economic ideals: spontaneous order, the idea that in a world of chaos, order eventually organizes itself.

"The philosophy is closely associated with Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek, and borrows some ideas from the 'invisible hand' theory espoused by fellow economist Adam Smith.

"The theory basically follows as such: If you do nothing to set order or regulate flow, order will eventually show itself. By forcing order onto a structure, however, you limit possibilities and outcomes, and the weight of the system eventually falls over on itself. Here's how Hayek puts it in his landmark 1974 Nobel Prize speech, 'The Pretense of Knowledge,' which argues against heavy social engineering of economic structures:

In the physical sciences there may be little objection to trying to do the impossible.... But in the social field the erroneous belief that the exercise of some power would have beneficial consequences is likely to lead to a new power to coerce other men being conferred on some authority. Even if such power is not in itself bad, its exercise is likely to impede the functioning of those spontaneous ordering forces by which, without understanding them, man is in fact so largely assisted in the pursuit of his aims. 

"So, where does Pokémon Go fit into this?

"To put it simply, the design of the game is very hands-off, and its growth is basically pushed forward by the use of spontaneous social systems.

"''The game provides the opportunity for building social institutions, but it’s the actions of the individuals in the game that build it, forming a beautiful spontaneous order "of human action, not human design",' argues Tyler Groenendal of the Acton Institute.

"Young Americans for Liberty, a Ron Paul-affiliated nonprofit that brings together millennials who get excited about laissez-faire economic theory, has recommended the game as a perfect activity for its loose network of chapters.

"''You can find classical liberal ideas playing out in the real world every which way you look, even in your games,' the group's Derek Spicer writes. 'Pokémon Go is just one in the litany of examples of how spontaneous order affects how we play video games.'

"The question is, of course, whether the broader public will make that connection. Or even Pokémon Go players specifically, who already know plenty about chaos."

Read more: http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-libertarian-economic-theory-that-might-be-secretly-driving-pokemon-go
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Kentucky teen's game hidden in Rand Paul app

Northern Kentucky Teen Creates Hidden Component in Rand Paul's Campaign App | River City News:

September 7, 2015 - "A Northern Kentucky teen played a role in the development of Senator Rand Paul's presidential campaign app.

"That app was developed by Covington-based digital agency CanDo and within it is a so-called "Easter egg", a feature of an app not expressly visible by users. In the Rand Paul app, the hidden feature is a "Space Invaders"-like game created by Villa Madonna High School junior David Blincoe while interning at CanDo over the past summer. CanDo founder Rob Ratterman works closely with the Paul campaign....

"'I kind of like to call it Rand Invader,' Blincoe said of his game. 'It was (Ratterman's) idea and I worked on it. The day before vacation, he told me about it. I worked on it all through vacation and then I really didn’t think anything of it. I didn’t really know that it would be an Easter Egg in the app, but then I was told about a week ago that it was going into the app, so it surprised me, but it was awesome.'

"The game allows users to use Paul’s campaign torch to blast other presidential campaign slogans. The app was featured in a New York Times article that stated, 'It tries to offer a blend of digital mischief and communication that has come to be the hallmark of Mr. Paul’s online campaign.' Vocativ also got a kick out of the game, writing an article about finding the game inside the app.

"Blincoe put in a lot of time developing the Rand Invader.

"'It was probably around four weeks, for an average of three hours a day,' he said. 'This is actually the first time I’ve ever created anything like this, but I’ve done a lot of work with other program languages and have done some work on Java Script, but nothing this intensive so I had to learn a lot....
"
"'So far the feedback has been great. I’ve been praised around here at the school. People walk up to me and say that they downloaded it and that it’s so cool. I haven’t really gotten a huge response outside of Villa yet, but as far as I can tell, the overall review on the IoS and its Play Store are pretty good,' Blincoe said. 'I have not heard from (Paul), but it would be really cool if I did.'"

Read more: http://www.rcnky.com/articles/2015/09/07/northern-kentucky-teen-creates-hidden-component-rand-pauls-campaign-app
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Download app here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cando.randapp&hl=en

5 top libertarian-themed video games

Top 10 Libertarian Video Games - Ryan Carillo, The Libertarian Republic:

"Video games are a multi-billion dollar industry. The games of today are nothing like the games of old. Today’s games are often designed for adult audiences and come rife with complex themes, characters, politics, and mechanics.  Many games today are open world, meaning that the player has much greater control over how to play the game....

"The following list are what I believe to be the best games with libertarian themes in them....

"Fallout 3 is a role-playing game set in the post-apocalyptic world of future Washington D.C., known as the Capitol Wasteland.... Fallout is packed with libertarian themes and ideas.  The “bad guys” are those who use force to coerce the remaining survivors.  There are no governments to speak of, only loosely associated groups of people who came together voluntarily to survive, with the only exceptions being the enemies trying to re-establish a state through force....

"Bioshock is a first person shooter game with elements of role-playing.... The Chicago Sun-Times reviewed the game saying 'I never once thought anyone would be able to create an engaging and entertaining video game around the fiction and philosophy of Ayn Rand, but that is essentially what 2K Games has done … the rare, mature video game that succeeds in making you think while you play'.

"Red Dead Redemption is an open world Western.  This game is one of the most anti-government pieces of entertainment you can play.  It’s a character driven story, where you play as John Marston, a former outlaw forced to work for the U.S. government because they’ve kidnapped his family....

"Final Fantasy 6 ... is a role-playing game where you play as multiple different characters at once.  You begin the game as a mind-controlled slave, working for an evil, imperialistic empire.  You are eventually freed by a resistance group and begin a journey to discover who you are.  As the game progresses you meet other characters that join you in your fight against the tyrannical government. ....

"Metal Gear Solid 4 is a tactical espionage game.... The theme ... is the individual versus the collective.  In MGS 4 the world is gripped by the wartime economy.  The economies of countries are based on always being at war.... Needless to say, your job as the main character is to end this horrible dystopian system through the power of individualism."

Read more: http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/top-10-games-for-liberty-lovers/5/

Some gamers see a value in police militarization

Swatting: What is the latest pranking craze? - Gaming - Gadgets and Tech - The Independent - Rose Troup Buchanan:

September 2, 2014 - "Last month an American gamer accidentally filmed himself being arrested by a highly trained SWAT team. His crime? He was the victim of an online prank called ‘swatting’....

"An anonymous individual rings the local police force, describing a credible threat or situation (often involving hostages) bringing a SWAT team to a chosen location and giving the prank [its] particular name.

"It has been given a 21st-century twist by many of the 'swat' calls coming from online gamers, who watch the reactions of their victims in real time, via live streaming software.

"Recently, cases such as Jordan Mathewson, an online gamer with over 200,000 Twitter followers, who filmed himself being ‘swatted’ have brought the craze to national attention in America....

"However, it is not only online gamers who are targeted. In 2012 the conservative political blogger, Erick Erickson, was a victim when an anonymous caller claiming to be Mr Erickson 'confessed' to shooting his wife, before giving his address and hanging up.

"The call was later confirmed as a hoax.

"Obviously, making false claims to police drains police time and can cause extreme distress to the victim or first responders. Although there have been some arrests, ‘swatting’ is notoriously difficult to trace."

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/gaming/swatting-what-is-the-latest-pranking-craze-9706452.html
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Poll links "frequent" gamers to libertarian beliefs

Poll links “frequent” US gamers to libertarian political stances | Ars Technica - Sam Machkovech:

May 8, 2014 - "The June issue of Libertarian-leaning magazine Reason ... includes one of the most pointed political surveys about self-proclaimed gamers’ political leanings in recent memory. According to two Reason-Rupe polls conducted in December 2013 and April 2014, gamers are more likely to fall in line with libertarian beliefs, even if they don’t identify as libertarians.

"The random-call phone poll focused on the 16 percent of its 2,014 American respondents who self-identified as 'frequent' gamers. When asked to identify their political affiliation, the gamers were more likely to call themselves independent (55 percent) versus non-gamers (41 percent), while fewer called themselves Republican (15 percent of gamers versus 26 percent of non-gamers). Both populations were relatively even about identifying as Democrat.... In addition, the gamers were much more likely to describe themselves as liberal than non-gamers (32 vs. 21 percent), and less likely to describe themselves as conservative (17 vs. 33 percent).

"Unsurprisingly, 82 percent of gamers favored being allowed to play violent games compared to just 54 percent of non-gamers. Gamers were also more likely to support the use of Bitcoin and of 3D-printed guns, and they favored laws legalizing marijuana. In every question about whether government should intervene in specific activities or products, gamers were opposed to the idea more frequently than non-gamers by a margin of at least 13 percent.

"'We were most surprised by the idea that gamers, even though they identify as liberal and progressive regardless of their age group, were against government regulations of what people could do with their own bodies and their own lives,' story co-author Scott Shackford told Ars. 'Also, if gamers didn’t know what something was, like Bitcoin, they were more inclined to say that the government should allow it, whereas for non-gamers, if they didn’t know what something was, they were inclined to say the government should regulate it.'"

Read more: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/05/poll-links-frequent-us-gamers-to-libertarian-political-stances/
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POTUS candidate campaigns for poker player vote

Presidential Candidate Openly Campaigning for Poker Player Vote | PokerNews:

"For the first time, a presidential candidate is openly campaigning for the poker-player vote. Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson has set up a Web page targeting poker players.... The Republican candidate for 2012 asks players to 'participate in your freedom' by pledging $25, $50 or $100 to his campaign by clicking on images that look like poker chips.

"'He cares about this issue,' said Poker Players Alliance executive director John Pappas, who had lunch with Johnson in Washington, D.C., last month. 'He also realizes there is a serious voting block of people out there and believes that their ideologies, not just on poker but [on] other issues, probably align with his.'

Johnson is expected to be in Las Vegas this week ... to attend the TwoPlusTwo.com World Series of Poker party on Thursday night at the Wynn Poker Room and then be at the PPA booth at the Rio on Friday from 1 to 3 p.m."

Read more: http://www.pokernews.com/news/2011/07/presidential-candidate-openly-campaigning-for-poker-player-v-10663.htm