Business
Troubled Boeing Stays Close To The Ground At A Major UK Air Show
LONDON — European planemaker Airbus wants to showcase its newest passenger jet with daily flight demonstrations at one of the world’s largest aviation trade shows. However, due to an ongoing safety and manufacturing issue, rival Boeing will keep a low profile at the Farnborough International Air Show.
The ailing American company is not bringing any jetliners to participate in aerial demonstrations at the show, which begins Monday near London. Before the show’s opening, the business stated that it remained focused on resolving the concerns of US regulators and “meeting our customer commitments” rather than selling many airplanes.
Boeing’s Chief Operating Officer, Stephanie Pope, stated that the company was focused on “predictable deliveries” of planes to airline customers and increasing production of its troublesome 737 Max jets to 38 per month.
Troubled Boeing Stays Close To The Ground At A Major UK Air Show
“This is a transformative change. And as you all know, we have considerably slowed down our factories to implement that transition,” Pope, who also serves as CEO of Boeing’s commercial jets segment, told reporters on Sunday.
The Farnborough exhibition, held every other year in conjunction with the Paris Air Show, has long been a platform for aerospace businesses to showcase their latest technological advancements and for manufacturers to announce a flurry of orders for new passenger, cargo, and military aircraft. Organizers expect approximately 1,500 exhibitors from 42 nations and 80,000 visitors during the week-long exhibition.
Boeing’s low-key presence at this year’s event reflects the company’s ongoing problems.
In a news statement, Boeing Global President Brendan Nelson stated that the business has “reduced our commercial airplanes display and flight demonstrations at the show, and will focus on new technology, sustainability, security, and services solutions.”
The airline has been suffering after a door plug broke out of an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 during a flight earlier this year, reigniting safety concerns that had subsided after two Max jet crashes in 2018 and 2019 killed 346 people in Indonesia and Ethiopia.
The panel’s collapse and a slew of current and former employees coming out to allege quality-control flaws and retaliation against whistleblowers reopened federal investigations. The Justice Department has reinstated a criminal fraud charge against Boeing in connection with the deadly crashes. Boeing agreed to plead guilty this month as part of an arrangement that requires an independent monitor to oversee the company’s compliance.
Boeing’s leadership is in flux as it hunts for a successor to CEO David Calhoun, who will step down at the end of the year. Calhoun apologized to crash victims’ families during a questioning by US lawmakers last month about the company’s safety record.
“Hopefully, a new CEO next year will make that horrible situation better, but until then, people are just circling the wagons and doing what they can to keep the company running,” said Richard Aboulafia, a long-time aerospace analyst and now a consultant at AeroDynamic Advisory. “It’s a tragedy and an embarrassment, but hopefully this air show will be remembered as the darkness before the dawn.”
Boeing’s “customers have been very supportive,” said Pope, Calhoun’s potential successor. But “it doesn’t change the fact that we have disappointed them. And we’ve had an impact on their business.
“We are a stable company,” she explained.
While Airbus will participate in the aerial displays over Farnborough with its new passenger jet, the A321XLR, Boeing will not have any passenger jets performing flypasts for the air show crowds but one of its F-15 fighting jets. This is in contrast to the previous exhibition in 2022 when the American corporation showed the most recent models of its 777 and 737 Max aircraft during press visits and flights.
Static displays of aircraft parked on the tarmac are popular among air show spectators. Airbus will have three passenger jets on the ground, owned by its airline customers, whereas Boeing will only have one, a 787 from Qatar Airways.
“Normally, they’d be there absolutely in force, taking every opportunity for publicity and flying aircraft,” said airline expert John Strickland of JLS Consulting.
This time, the company has “got to be seen as being more contrite, that they’re focusing on safety, getting their house in order, getting back to winning back trust and respect as a dependable manufacturer of safe, commercially driven aircraft,” Strickland continued.
Despite having its wings clipped and curtailing production following the Alaska Airlines tragedy, Boeing announced fresh deals for widebody jets. According to Boeing, Korean Air plans to buy 20 777s and 20 787 Dreamliners, while Japan Airlines has committed to order 10 787s, with options for an additional 10 Dreamliners. Commercial airlines are hungry for more planes as demand for air travel recovers following the coronavirus outbreak, and Boeing and Airbus hold a market duopoly.
Troubled Boeing Stays Close To The Ground At A Major UK Air Show
Both manufacturers are already dealing with a backlog of orders that will take years to clear. Boeing’s monthly order figures have fallen, allowing Airbus to increase its sales lead discreetly. The Toulouse, France-based manufacturer, has been developing the A321XLR, a fuel-efficient aircraft that is gaining traction among airlines because it will allow them to fly cheaper narrow-body jets on long-haul flights.
The model is behind schedule but is anticipated to be certified later this year. It has already received over 500 orders from American Airlines and Air Canada.
Also at Farnborough, air taxi firms, including Boeing’s Wisk Aero, will showcase electric aircraft that might soon take to the skies, though they will only do demonstration flights. Several businesses have been developing aircraft that take off and land vertically, promoting them as a sustainable mode of transportation for densely populated cities or locations with underdeveloped mass transit networks.
In a possible indicator that air taxis are becoming a reality, German startup Lilium announced last week a deal to sell 50 aircraft to aviation conglomerate Saudia Group, which operates Saudi Arabia’s national airline, for an unknown fee. The first delivery is scheduled for 2026.
SOURCE | AP
Business
Internet Archive Loses Major Copyright Case Court Rejects Their Arguments
The Internet Archive has lost a critical legal battle, potentially affecting the future of internet history. Today, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decided against the long-running digital archive, affirming a previous decision in Hachette v. Internet Archive, which determined that one of the Internet Archive’s book digitization initiatives infringed copyright law.
Notably, the appeals court’s ruling rejects the Internet Archive’s argument that its lending practices were shielded by the fair use doctrine, which permits for copyright infringement in certain circumstances, calling it “unpersuasive.”
In March 2020, the Internet Archive, a San Francisco-based nonprofit, launched the National Emergency Library, or NEL. The epidemic had forced library closures that prevented students, scholars, and readers from accessing millions of books, and the Internet Archive has stated that it was answering to calls from common people and other librarians to assist individuals at home in obtaining the books they required.
The NEL was an extension of the Open Library, an ongoing digital lending experiment in which the Internet Archive scans physical copies of library books and allows individuals to borrow digital versions as if they were conventional reading material rather than e-books. The Open Library lent the books to one person at a time—but the NEL eliminated this ratio requirement, allowing a large number of people to borrow each scanned book at once.
Shortly after its inception, the NEL faced criticism, with some authors claiming that it amounted to piracy. In response, after two months, the Internet Archive abandoned its emergency strategy and imposed lending caps. But the harm had been done. Major publishing giants, including Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, and Wiley, filed the complaint in June 2020.
In March 2023, the district court found in favour of the publishers. Judge John G. Koeltl determined that the Internet Archive had created “derivative works,” claiming that its copying and lending had “nothing transformative” to offer. Following the initial verdict in Hachette v. Internet Archive, the parties reached an agreement, the specifics of which have not been released; however, the archive has filed an appeal.
According to James Grimmelmann, a professor of digital and internet law at Cornell University, the ruling is “not terribly surprising” in light of recent court interpretations of fair use.
Internet Archive won the appeal
The Internet Archive won the appeal, but only narrowly. Although the Second Circuit upheld the district court’s first decision, it underlined that it did not regard the Internet Archive as a commercial business, emphasising that it was clearly a charitable organisation. Grimmelmann believes this is the appropriate decision: “I’m glad to see that the Second Circuit fixed that mistake.” (He joined an amicus brief in the appeal, saying that classifying the use as commercial was incorrect.)
“Today’s appellate decision upholds the rights of authors and publishers to license and be compensated for their books and other creative works, and reminds us in no uncertain terms that infringement is both costly and antithetical to the public interest,” Association of American Publishers president and CEO Maria A. Pallante said in a statement.
“If there was any doubt, the Court makes clear that under fair use jurisprudence there is nothing transformative about converting entire works into new formats without permission or appropriating the value of derivative works that are a key part of the author’s copyright bundle.”
In a statement, Internet Archive director of library services Chris Freeland expressed dismay with “today’s opinion about the Internet Archive’s digital lending of books that are electronically available elsewhere.” We are reviewing the court’s decision and will continue to defend libraries’ right to own, lend, and preserve books.
Dave Hansen, executive director of the Author’s Alliance, a nonprofit organisation that frequently advocates for increased digital access to books, also spoke out against the verdict. “The authors are researchers. “Authors read,” he says. “IA’s digital library assists authors in creating new works and encourages their desire to have their works read. This verdict may boost the bottom lines of the largest publishers and most well-known authors, but it will harm more people than it will help.
Difficult period for copyright law
The Internet Archive’s legal problems are not ended. In 2023, a collection of music labels, including Universal Music collection and Sony, sued the archive for copyright infringement on a music digitization project. That case is still working its way through the courts. The damages might total up to $400 million, posing an existential danger to the nonprofit.
The new ruling comes at a particularly difficult period for copyright law. There have been scores of copyright infringement cases filed against large AI businesses that provide generative AI tools in the last two years, and many of the defendants contend that the fair use doctrine protects their use of copyrighted data in AI training. Any big lawsuit in which judges reject fair use grounds is widely monitored.
It also comes at a time when the Internet Archive’s critical role in digital preservation is becoming increasingly apparent. The archive’s Wayback Machine, which catalogues website copies, has proven to be an invaluable resource for journalists, scholars, lawyers, and anybody interested in internet history. While there are other digital preservation programs, including national efforts by the US Library of Congress, there is nothing comparable available to the public.
Business
Hewlett Packard Won’t Drop Its UK $11 Billion Claim Against Tech Mogul Mike Lynch, Who Died When His Yacht Sank
LONDON — Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced Monday that it will not dismiss its U.K. claim for damages against the estate of British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, who died when his superyacht drowned last month.
In 2022, Britain’s High Court decided primarily to favor the US technology giant, which accused Lynch and his former finance director of fraud concerning its $11 billion acquisition of his software company Autonomy. Hewlett-Packard is seeking up to $4 billion in damages, and the judge is anticipated to make a ruling on the exact amount shortly.
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Hewlett Packard Won’t Drop Its UK Claim Against Tech Mogul Mike Lynch, Who Died When His Yacht Sank
Mike perished when his yacht, the Bayesian, fell in a storm off Sicily on August 19. His widow, Angela Bacares, may now be liable for the damages.
Mike was acquitted in a separate US criminal trial of fraud and conspiracy in the agreement months before the sinking.
Hewlett Packard initially applauded its pricey 2011 acquisition of Lynch’s company but soon began to regret it. The corporation stated on Monday that it had “substantially succeeded” in its civil fraud allegations against Lynch and the former finance director, Sushovan Hussain.
“It is HPE’s intention to follow the proceedings through to their conclusion.”
However, the U.K. civil action judge has already concluded that the amount payable in damages will be “substantially less” than what the company is demanding.
The Lynch family’s spokesman declined to respond.
Mike and his daughter Hannah were among six passengers killed when the 56-meter (184-foot) luxury boat sank. One crew member, the boat’s chef, also perished, while 15 people escaped the accident. They gathered on the yacht to celebrate Lynch’s acquittal.
Hewlett Packard Won’t Drop Its UK Claim Against Tech Mogul Mike Lynch, Who Died When His Yacht Sank
Officials first reported that the boat was hit by a tornado over the water, known as a waterspout, but the weather phenomena was later identified as a downburst. Italian prosecutors are investigating the captain on possible accusations of manslaughter.
SOURCE | AP
Business
2024 | Elon Musk Hits Out At Judge Threatening To Suspend X In Brazil
Elon Musk has escalated his online attacks on a Supreme Court judge who has threatened to stop social media platform X in Brazil, labeling him “an evil dictator” in an ongoing battle between the two men.
Justice Alexandre de Moraes threatened to suspend X if Musk did not identify a new legal agent for the company in Brazil and pay any outstanding daily fines within 24 hours.
“Alexandre de Moraes is an evil dictator cosplaying as a judge,” the world’s richest person commented on X.
Elon Musk Hits Out At Judge Threatening To Suspend X In Brazil
Musk, who previously referred to de Moraes as “Darth Vader,” retweeted a statement from X’s Global Government Affairs team announcing that the judge’s “illegal demands and all related court filings” would be published in the coming days.
Brazil is a key market for social media networks. According to the Associated Press, around 40 million Brazilians, or roughly 18% of the population, use X at least once a month.
The trash-talking is the latest salvo in Musk’s spat with de Moraes, which revolves around free speech and alleged disinformation. X said earlier this month that it would suspend its business and lay off its employees in Brazil owing to what it described as “censorship orders” from the judge.
De Moraes had ordered the social media company to ban several X accounts he claimed were disseminating misinformation.
The most recent statement, signed by de Moraes, was also posted on the Supreme Court’s official X account, tagging both Musk and X’s Global Government Affairs account.
The Supreme Court statement was uploaded around 8:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday, giving Musk till Thursday evening local time to answer.
‘Censorship Orders’
On August 17, X issued a lengthy statement announcing that it would be forced to suspend operations and terminate employees in Brazil due to de Moraes’ “censorship orders.”
“Despite our numerous appeals to the Supreme Court not being heard, the Brazilian public not being informed about these orders and our Brazilian staff having no responsibility or control over whether content is blocked on our platform, Moraes has chosen to threaten our staff in Brazil rather than respect the law or due process,” according to the statement from X.
Elon Musk Hits Out At Judge Threatening To Suspend X In Brazil
“As a result, to ensure the safety of our employees, we have decided to close our activity in Brazil, effective immediately. The X service remains available to Brazilians. We are profoundly saddened to have been compelled to make this decision. Alexandre de Moraes is exclusively responsible.
“Due to demands by ‘Justice’ Alexandre [de Moraes] in Brazil that would require us to break (in secret) Brazilian, Argentinian, American and international law, X has no choice but to close our local operations in Brazil,” he said on X’s website.
SOURCE | AP
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