Steam now tells its users that they're buying a license, not a game, ahead of a California law that forces companies to do so when customers "buy" digital media (Steve Dent/Engadget)

Mediagazer: Steam now tells its users that they're buying a license, not a game, ahead of a California law that forces companies to do so when customers “buy” digital media (Steve Dent/Engadget)

Top News:

New York Times:

Sources: the Trump campaign contacted X to prevent the circulation of links to the hacked JD Vance dossier posted by journalist Ken Klippenstein— Elon Musk is planting himself in Pennsylvania, has brought his brain trust to help and may even knock on doors himself.
Discussion: CNN, Talking Points Memo, The Information, Salon, New York Magazine, The Hill, Raw Story, @TheDailyEdge@universeodon.com, @dangillmor@mastodon.social, Washington Post, Digby's Hullabaloo, The Daily Beast, The Wrap, Quartz, Axios, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Mother Jones, Mediaite, @evilgalprods.bsky.social, @kevincolliernbc@threads.net, New Republic, emptywheel, Alternet.org, Business Insider and Le Monde.fr, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Liam Reilly /
CNN: Trump campaign connected with Elon Musk's X before it blocked links to hacked materials

Martin Peers /
The Information: Musk's Robotaxi Reveal Is a Dud for Investors

Charles R. Davis /
Salon: “I've answered your question with another question”: JD Vance refuses to say if Trump lost in 2020

Jonathan Chait /
New York Magazine: J.D. Vance Says Trump Was Right to Try to Steal the Election, Because of Twitter

David Badash /
Raw Story: Elon Musk's X engaged in a ‘pattern of election interference’ to help Trump: reports @TheDailyEdge@universeodon.com: Elon Musk swore to you the #TwitterFiles wouldn't happen again. — Then the Trump campaign called asking him to censor the JD Vance dossier. https://www.nytimes.com/...

Dan Gillmor /
@dangillmor@mastodon.social: Kudos to the NYT when earned, and here's an example — its strong article (free link from me) today about Musk's use of Twitter (and money) to massively intervene in the election on behalf of Trump. — To the journalists who continue to support Musk by actively participating on his rancid site: You should be ashamed. …

Philip Bump /
Washington Post: Vance suggests the left stole 2020 ... by doing what his own campaign did

David Gardner /
The Daily Beast: Trump Is Boasting How Much Money Elon Musk Is Giving Him

Sean Burch /
The Wrap: Elon Musk Is Prepared to Spend at Least $140 Million to Help Elect Donald Trump

William Gavin /
Quartz: Elon Musk's X worked with Donald Trump's campaign to downplay hacked materials, report says

Scott Lemieux /
Lawyers, Guns & Money: JD Vance's chilling fascism

David Gilmour /
Mediaite: Trump Campaign and Elon Musk's X Worked Together to Suppress Reporting on Hacked Info: NYT @evilgalprods.bsky.social: so at this very moment Taibbi is teeing up for Twitter Files 2.0, right? — right? [embedded post]

Kevin Collier /
@kevincolliernbc@threads.net: Per NYT, X's crackdown on Ken Klippenstein and the Iran-hacked Vance doc came after the Trump campaign reached out. Well within each party's right, but this is the exact same thing Musk, Trump, and the right threw a yearslong fit about over Hunter Biden. — https://www.nytimes.com/... [image] emptywheel: NYT “Censors” Elon Musk's Jokes about Assassinating the Vice President and His “Censorship” of JD Vance Dossier

David Badash /
Alternet.org: Elon Musk's X engaged in a ‘pattern of election interference’ to help Trump: reports

Bryan Metzger /
Business Insider: Elon Musk may knock on doors for Trump in Pennsylvania, report says

CNN:

The Atlantic says it is increasing its pace of print publication from 10 to 12 issues per year and announces some expansions to reporting staff in a memo— New York CNN — — The Atlantic is doing something exceedingly unusual for a magazine in 2024: increasing the number of issues it prints.

Discussion:
@brianstelter, @katepickert and @chrislhayes

Discussion:

Brian Stelter /
@brianstelter: “The greatness of print and especially a print magazine is that it sits still for you,” @JeffreyGoldberg says. “It doesn't beep and flash and demand that you do things. It's there to be read and enjoyed.” https://www.cnn.com/...

Kate Pickert /
@katepickert: Best magazine in America right now. This is absolutely thrilling. Well done, @JeffreyGoldberg and team.

Nieman Lab:

Ahead of Hurricane Milton, NPR revised its CMS to enable 200+ member stations to publish text-only versions of their sites, accessible when bandwidth is scarce— In normal times, text-only websites are a niche interest. But a natural disaster is not normal times.

Discussion:
TVNewsCheck, Adweek, @isalara, @raywert, @davidclinchnews, @jbenton, @niemanlab@threads.net and Current

Discussion:

George Winslow /
TVNewsCheck: NAB Show New York Attendance Tops 12K

Brad Pareso /
Adweek: Hurricane Milton: News Outlet Coverage, Meteorologist Death Threats, NRP Goes Text-Only, Social Media Conspiracy Theories

Isabel Lara /
@isalara: “This morning, loading the main https://wusf.org/ homepage required 8.5 megabytes of bandwidth. The text-only page needed only 21.5 kilobytes. That's a difference of about 400×.”

Ray Wert /
@raywert: This is giving me flashbacks to the World Wide Web of the late 90s — and Gawker Media sites right after Superstorm Sandy.

David Clinch /
@davidclinchnews: Every local news org, local emergency website, and even local community page should have a low bandwidth text-only version for emergencies https://www.niemanlab.org/...

Joshua Benton /
@jbenton: New by me —> With Hurricane Milton looming and cellular networks damaged, Florida's NPR stations got a lower-bandwidth way to reach residents yesterday. (Text-only news sites!) https://www.niemanlab.org/... @niemanlab@threads.net: With Hurricane Milton bearing down on the Florida coast, NPR finds a low-bandwidth way to get news to residents https://www.niemanlab.org/...

The Verge:

X drops Unilever from its “advertiser boycott” lawsuit, after making a deal with Unilever “to continue our partnership” as part of an “ecosystem-wide solution”— X is dropping claims against Unilever in its lawsuit that accuses advertisers and brands …

Discussion:
@xnews, Reuters, MediaPost, @harrypujols.com, TVNewsCheck, Gizmodo, @electriceden92.bsky.social, @wagatwe.com, @rev-colleen.bsky.social, @broximar@threads.net, New York Post, @jesseraub.bsky.social, Wall Street Journal, @followtheh, @paleofuture.bsky.social, @beefreeferlives.bsky.social, @arthurdeodat.bsky.social and @crumbler@threads.net, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:
@xnews: X is pleased to have reached an agreement with Unilever and to continue our partnership with them on the platform. Today's news is the first part of the ecosystem-wide solution and we look forward to more resolution across the industry.

Mike Scarcella /
Reuters: Elon Musk's X drops Unilever from advertiser boycott lawsuit

Harry Pujols /
@harrypujols.com: I wonder what Ben & Jerry would say about that

Tyler /
@electriceden92.bsky.social: Money, real or simply valued, is a gravitational force. Now that the persons who have the most of it are psychotic Nazis, the world around us will gradually be remade to be more amenable to psychotic Nazism. Simple as. [embedded post] @rev-colleen.bsky.social: Awe man, Cif and Ben and Jerry's! Damn. Okay. — www.unilever.com/brands/all- b...

Jesse /
@broximar@threads.net: I mean, Unilever and Elon see eye to eye on a lot of things, like hating their workers and being friendly to Russia, so this checks out

Thomas Barrabi /
New York Post: Elon Musk's X, Unilever reach settlement after left-leaning ad boycott dustup @jesseraub.bsky.social: elon musk going full pro-Trump is an effort to appeal to CEOs so that they override Marketing Departments and resume advertising on Twitter and it's working [embedded post]

Megan Graham /
Wall Street Journal: X Drops Unilever From Lawsuit Against Advertisers, Citing a New Agreement

Matt Novak /
@paleofuture.bsky.social: I know we were all joking that suing advertisers was a dumb way to get them to advertise with you. But.... [embedded post] @beefreeferlives.bsky.social: Whelp, no more Ben & Jerry's or Hellman's mayo for me!! — Don't see any other brands on there that I buy. Usually try to buy local anyway... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

Casey Newton /
@crumbler@threads.net: Extortion works!

Adweek:

Filings: G/O Media is suing Paste Media, alleging breach of contract over the sale of Splinter and Jezebel to Paste; Paste's founder says the case lacks merit— The two firms are embroiled in a breach of contract lawsuit in a Delaware court — The digital media firm G/O Media filed …

Discussion:
Mark Stenberg on LinkedIn

Bloomberg:

Sources: in negotiations with California lawmakers, Google insisted that the state use taxpayer funds, as a precondition to spending $110M to support journalism— - Tech giant, state to spend $180 million to aid news industry — Company pushed for taxpayer funds; beat back tougher bills

Discussion:
@john-on-mars.bsky.social, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

John Jensen /
@john-on-mars.bsky.social: I know the initial reaction of many will be to oppose this. After all, why should Google ask for public money .. but I'm not sure that is the right framing. — It could be that there should have been much more public funding for public efforts on the internet.

Engadget:

Steam now tells its users that they're buying a license, not a game, ahead of a California law that forces companies to do so when customers “buy” digital media— The company appears to be getting ahead of a California law going into force next year.

Discussion:
PCWorld, Thurrott, MobileSyrup, The Verge, IGN, Gizmodo, Neowin, Ars Technica, Digital Trends and r/SteamDeck, more at Techmeme »

Discussion:

Laurent Giret /
Thurrott: Steam Now Makes It Clearer That its Users Don't Own Their Games

Bradly Shankar /
MobileSyrup: Steam now reminds you that you don't actually own digital games you purchase

Wesley Yin-Poole /
IGN: Steam Now Warns Customers They're Buying a License, Not a Game Before They Continue to Payment

Kevin Purdy /
Ars Technica: Steam adds the harsh truth that you're buying “a license,” not the game itself

The Guardian:

The Gateway Pundit settles a defamation lawsuit with two Georgia election workers it falsely accused or wrongdoing and has removed articles about them— Website removed articles falsely accusing Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss of wrongdoing in 2020 election — The Gateway Pundit …

Discussion:
CNN, USA Today, Associated Press, WAGA-TV, Joe.My.God., Adweek, @gtconway3dg@threads.net, Washington Post, Georgia Recorder, New Republic and Missouri Independent

Discussion:

Marshall Cohen /
CNN: Far-right conspiracy site Gateway Pundit settles 2020 defamation lawsuit brought by Georgia election workers

Melissa Cruz /
USA Today: Georgia election workers win defamation suit against far-right site Gateway Pundit

Jeff Amy /
Associated Press: Georgia election workers settle defamation lawsuit against conservative website @gtconway3dg@threads.net: Breaking: Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, two Georgia election workers subject to viscous harassment after falsely being accused of wrongdoing in 2020, have settled their defamation lawsuit against the far right news website The Gateway Pundit — https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

Paul Wagman /
Georgia Recorder: Settlement reached in Gateway Pundit defamation case, though details were not disclosed

New York Times:

WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich, imprisoned in Russia for more than a year, is writing a memoir about his time in prison and Russia's slide toward autocracy— The memoir, which will cover his time in prison and Russia's move toward autocracy, will be published by Crown, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

Discussion:
@katie_robertson

Marketing Brew:

Sources: DOJ and NCIS officials are asking ad execs about Adalytics' reports on Google's brand safety and about verification tools from IAS and DoubleVerify— Officials from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) have held multiple conversations …

Discussion:
Arielle Garcia on LinkedIn and @kelseymsutton

Discussion:

Arielle Garcia /
Arielle Garcia on LinkedIn: Ryan Barwick of Marketing Brew reports that U.S. Department of Justice and Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) …

The Intercept:

Israel releases US journalist Jeremy Loffredo after detaining him for his reporting on where Iranian missiles landed; Loffredo can't leave Israel until Oct. 20— American journalist Jeremy Loffredo was released Friday morning by Israeli authorities after spending four days in Israeli detention following his arrest in the West Bank.

Discussion:

Kevin Gosztola /
The Dissenter: US Journalist Released From Israeli Detention, Barred From Leaving Country @freedomofpress: @loffredojeremy ... If Israel can't provide a credible reason unrelated to Loffredo's reporting, the Biden administration must demand that charges be dropped — and his phone and passport returned. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

@freedomofpress:
@loffredojeremy ... It remains to be seen if the Biden administration's platitudes about press freedom only apply to journalists they like. It's shameful that the U.S. failed to hold Israel accountable for even one of the journalists it arrested, detained, or killed in the previous year.

@freedomofpress:
@loffredojeremy ... As of Oct. 9, according to @pressfreedom, 43 Palestinian journalists remain imprisoned by Israel, a record number. Yet the U.S., for all its claims about valuing press freedom, has done nothing of consequence about it. https://cpj.org/...

@freedomofpress:
@loffredojeremy ... If Israel's theory is that reporters illegally share information with the enemy whenever the enemy reads the news, that could criminalize a whole lot of journalism. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

@freedomofpress:
@loffredojeremy He's been released but is barred from leaving Israel as authorities try to build their case. No matter what direction it takes, Loffredo's detention should highlight the plight of Palestinian journalists being held incommunicado in Israeli prisons. https://www.theguardian.com/ ...

Ted Brassfield /
@tedbrassfield@threads.net: American journalist Jeremy Loffredo was arrested by Israel on the same charges that Russia leveled at Evan Gershkovich. Immediately after Gershkovich's arrest, numerous articles were published in Western media & the move was condemned byUS policymakers. Nothing has been published about Loffredo. …

Kevin Gosztola /
The Dissenter: Israel Charged American Journalist With ‘Aiding The Enemy’ For Reporting On Iranian Missile Strikes Democracy Now: Israel Detains U.S. Journalist Jeremy Loffredo over Reporting on Iranian Attacks on Israel

Wyatt Reed /
The Grayzone: Israel jails Grayzone's Jeremy Loffredo, releases him pending investigation Committee to Protect Journalists: US journalist arrested in Israel over reporting on Iranian missiles

Wired:

A look at the tensions between Letterboxd moderators and users when an anime classic was removed by curators from its Top 250 and top 100 animation movies lists— When the movie review site removed an anime classic, it put its community's loyalty and passion to the test.

Discussion:
@waterslicer, @adambumas, Adam Bumas on LinkedIn, Bloomberg and Just Jared

Discussion:

Angela Watercutter /
@waterslicer: I love a good nerd fight. But a film nerd fight about anime on @letterboxd? ::chef's kiss:: https://www.wired.com/...

Adam Bumas /
@adambumas: The fine folks at Letterboxd may have bitten off more than they could chew when they registered an opinion about anime. My latest for @WIRED! https://www.wired.com/...

Adam Bumas /