Evacuation at Infinity Ward office; Parker releases shoreline app; Gelb suspended for two unpaid months
Infinity Ward Offices Evacuated
Woodland Hills-based Infinity Ward, the games studio developing the Activision Blizzard-owned “Call of Duty” franchise, evacuated its offices Thursday after a hoax bomb threat. The threat appears to coincide with a larger network of phony threats, demanding the threatened pay ransom in bitcoin or risk detonation. After an investigation by the LAPD, no devices were found, and the LAPD noted it would “work diligently to determine the source and credibility of these threats,” IGN reports.
Tech billionaire Sean Parker ran afoul of the California Coastal Commission five years ago, when he and his wife planned a $4 million Big Sur wedding, temporarily privatizing a public beach and subsequently violating the California Coastal Act. As restitution, Parker opted to develop an app called YourCoast for mapping and tracking 1,563 beach access points. Parker made it available to download Dec. 13. The LA Times reports Parker was ordered to pay $2.5 million in fines in addition to making the app. Parker is the founder of Napster Inc. and is no. 3 on the Los Angeles Business Journal’s list of Wealthiest Angelenos.
Scott Gelb Suspended Without Pay
Riot Games Inc. has been embroiled in a series of investigations into its workplace conduct since August. The allegations of inappropriate conduct at the game developer’s Sawtelle headquarters center around its Chief Operating Officer, Scott Gelb, who has reportedly perpetuated a culture of bathroom humor and alleged sexual harassments. According to Kotaku, Gelb was suspended beginning Dec. 14 for two months of unpaid leave as punishment for his actions.
