Polyglot Volume 4 Issue 13

1 Volume #4 Issue #13 A free publication by Polymancer® Studios, Inc.. 20 Weredale Park, Westmount QC, H3Z 1Y6 CANADA (514) 667-1585 (Canada) • Skype: Polymancer • Twier: Polymancer [email protected], www.polymancer.com FTC Will Not Fine Bloggers ____________________________ 1 Disney To Acquire Marvel Entertainment __________________ 2 NECA Acquires WizKids Assets from Topps ________________ 2 New Date for GAMA Trade Show 2010 ____________________ 3 Terror Network Available for Pre-Order ___________________ 3 Avalanche Press: News From the Front ____________________ 4 You are Invited to the Toy Soldier Family Fun Day on Nov 1 st ____ 5 Superior POD Game Master Screens______________________ 5 Call for GMs for the November 14 th Game-a-thon_____________ 6 NEW 1/144 STOCK ___________________________________ 6 Avalanche Press: News From the Front ____________________ 7 Strange World Storytelling Game Renamed to “The Unexplained" 8 Copplestone Castings Amazon Store ______________________ 8 Newest Staff Reviews from oneBookshelf.com ______________ 9 Announcing the Role Play Media Network _________________17 Hârn News: New Harn Releases: Castle of Rethem ___________17 Expozine 2009 — Montreal’s eighth annual small press fair!____ 18 Tips from About.com ________________________________ 19 Dark Sword Miniatures — New Greens Posted _____________ 20 Printing and Design Tips Brought to you by PIE _____________21 Notes From Looney Labs — October 2009 ________________ 22 UDE Announces Raid Deck Configuration for WoW ® TCG ___ 23 Gen Con Sponsors GamesU 2009 _______________________ 24 Newest Staff Reviews from DriveThruComics.com __________ 25 Game-a-thon: Saturday, November 14, 2009 ________________ 27 New TALES FROM THE CRYPT Graphic Novel Presents Parodies “Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid” and “DieLite”________________ 28 News from Spectra __________________________________ 29 News from ForgeWorld ______________________________ 33 ICE News _________________________________________ 35 Star Fleet Alert: Just so you know _______________________ 36 Avalanche Press: News From the Front ___________________ 37 Star Fleet Alert: What is going on…______________________ 38 Arcana Launches Comics & Pop Culture Magazine __________ 39 More news from Avalanche Press _______________________ 40 November Special Offer ______________________________ 41 Important Information About Necronomicon 2010! __________ 41 News from Bards & Sages _____________________________ 42 Signs & Portents 74 – Free Download ____________________ 43 Pulp Figures Latest Release: ___________________________ 44 Librairie Drawn & Quarterly November News _____________ 45 Traveller Character Record Pack – Out Now! _______________ 47 Rogue Games announces PDF Guarantee Program__________ 47 Upper Deck hosts WoW TCG and Minis Champs Nov. 14 – 15 __ 48 PEZ Sues Herobuilders.com ___________________________ 49 Warzone Tribes of Earth mercs cheap to hire one week only. ___ 49 New Releases from IXO Models ________________________ 50 Steam – Locomotive Set _______________________________51 Hex Games Releases Laser Ponies _______________________51 Mongoose releases Strontium Dog RPG __________________ 52 Crafty Games Licensing: We're Expanding the Family! _______ 52 RPGBOMB announces Systemless Adventures _____________ 53 Tabletop Adventures Into the Future: Derelict Starships ______ 53 Foxbat for President _________________________________ 54 Latest Miniatures from Star Fleet Games __________________ 54 TGC announces I’m not Alone _________________________ 55 New book on casual games: A Casual Revolution ___________ 56 Tech News from ZDNet ______________________________ 57 News from GameIndustry.com _________________________ 58 DFC Intelligence Forecasts that Apple Will Help Drive Mobile Game Market Sales to $11.7 Billion by 2014 ______________________ 59 XFire Launches first social-shopping game store ____________ 60 TGC brings Darkest of Days to Europe ___________________ 61 Magic: The Gathering on XBLA expands to PC, PS3 _________ 62 Strategic Command Global Conflict – new features (and screens) 63 News from Reflexive Arcade ___________________________ 64 Legal notice regarding the content of Polyglot™ ____________ 65 FTC Will Not Fine Bloggers Momentary panic over Federal Trade Commission Guidelines turns out to be over nothing The official statement of lawyers of the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is that the regulatory body will not take legal action against bloggers who do not disclose their relationship with companies who supply them with reviewable product samples. This follows an intense period of speculation on the Internet, in which many bloggers and forum users expressed concerns over free speech and other issues. In a downloadable video, FTC lawyer Mary Engle stated that the FTC has no intention to take legal action against bloggers. The FTC issued a press release on October 5, stating that a new set of guidelines have been published for endorsements and celebrity testimonials. In a nutshell, the very extensive document stipulated that it is the FTC’s opinion that reviews on blog are akin to advertisements and that advertisers – not bloggers – should be subject to similar guidelines. Said guidelines are to be formalized into policy on December 1, 2009. A story by Associated Press business reporters, which was repeated in many news outlets online, interpreted this as a need for mandatory disclosure of the sources of review copies by bloggers. This story quoted the FTC’s fines for violating specific portions of TItle 15 USC, related to unfair competition, as being as high as $11,000 (when in actual fact, the fine is $15,000). As is frequently the case online, this story was passed around, quoted extensively, and generally caused a lot of discussion, much of which was unfounded. The US Federal Trade Commission is a very large consumer watchdog regulatory body that is perhaps most famous for antitrust actions and other actions that regulate unfair competition. It does not have the power to make laws, only to initiate court actions as mandated under the FTC Act, which is part of Title 15 USC (a statute that is broad enough to include patent and trademark legislation, which are regulated by another office). This is similar to how the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) enforces the law and investigates crimes, but does not create law. By the same token, the published guidelines for endorsements express official policy intentions of the FTC but have no legal force in and of themselves. — The Observer “The Observer” is a byline used by staff and freelance contributors to Polyglot when writing original works on matters of interest to the newsletter’s readership. They do not necessarily represent the official policies or opinions of Polymancer Studios, Inc, its officers, or employees.

Polyglot Volume 4 Issue 13

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