OTM for 041709

Swedish Court Rules Against Pirate Bay

On Friday, a Swedish court ruled against the founders of the popular file-sharing website The Pirate Bay and found them guilty of assisting in the distribution of illegal content online. Mats Lewan, an editor at Ny Teknik, explains what the verdict means for file-sharing, for Sweden, and the world.

A Twitter Revolution in Moldova?

When 10,000 Moldovans filled the streets in protest last week, it was characterized as the ‘Twitter revolution.’ But now that the dust has cleared, what role did Twitter really play? And was it a revolution? Ethan Zuckerman, a fellow at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, tells the tale of the tweets.

Advertising Disclosure in Social Media

Increasingly, companies are paying users of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to hype their brands online. The Federal Trade Commission has responded by updating its rules to make sure ads are identified as such. But author and blogger Andy Sernovitz says regulating the ads will be difficult.

DIY Gaming

Video game sales are astronomical, but like the music and film industries before it, the game industry has become dependent on predictable and expensive blockbusters. But now, as writer Clive Thompson explains, creative independent games are adding to the gaming ecosystem. And Microsoft’s Boyd Multerer explains how amateur game designers can now create their own games for the Xbox console.

A Tribute to Al Patriot Librarians

Director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom for more than 40 years, Judith Krug died last week at the age of 69. We remember the librarian who crusaded against censorship and railed tirelessly against efforts to ban books.