Tag Archive for: Officially

What to expect now that AT&T officially owns Time Warner

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Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson)

AT&T yesterday completed its acquisition of Time Warner Inc., two days after a federal judge ruled against a Department of Justice (DOJ) attempt to block the deal. The DOJ could still appeal the ruling, but it agreed not to seek a stay pending appeal, allowing the merger to be completed.

You can expect more personalized advertisements as AT&T combines a major programmer with its DirecTV, home broadband, and mobile services.

By adding Warner Bros., HBO, and Turner to AT&T’s TV and broadband services, the combined company will “bring a fresh approach to how the media and entertainment industry works for consumers, content creators, distributors and advertisers,” AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said in the merger completion announcement. AT&T will “offer customers a differentiated, high-quality, mobile-first entertainment experience,” he said.

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Biz & IT – Ars Technica

More A-10s to get new wings, as Air Force officially launches ATTACK

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Enlarge / KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (May 21, 2018)—Two US Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, assigned to the 163rd Fighter Squadron, begin to taxi on the flightline at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, May 21, 2018. Many A-10s are reaching the flight-hour limits of their wings; the Air Force is now launching a procurement program to buy 112 new sets. (US Air Force Photo by Staff Sgt. Corey Hook) (credit: US Air Force)

The US Air Force has finally issued an official request for proposals for a program to manufacture new wings for its aging A-10 Thunderbolt attack aircraft. The deadline for proposals from would-be contractors is August 23. But the program will likely not be started before some of the Air Force’s older A-10s have to be grounded, as a previous wing-replacement program (awarded to Boeing) has reached its end.

The program, called the A-10 Thunderbolt Advanced Continuation Kit (abbreviated as ATTACK), builds upon the previous Wing Replacement Program, which upgraded 173 A-10 aircraft between 2007 and 2016. ATTACK will deliver a maximum of 112 pairs of wings and associated parts over a five-year ordering period, following an initial delivery of three wing sets to verify quality of work. The Air Force will install the new wings at its A-10 depot at the Ogden Air Logistics Center in Utah.

The statement of work will require whoever wins the contract to develop their own 3D models of the wing sets, flaps, and other parts from the Air Force’s specifications. This may give Boeing a slight edge, since the company has already done most of this work and has demonstrated an ability to deliver the wings. But it’s not clear yet if Boeing will bid on the new program, which is slightly smaller and shorter in duration than the original re-wing program.

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Biz & IT – Ars Technica

‘We Shall Overcome’ Overcomes Bogus Copyright Claim — Officially In The Public Domain

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The same legal team that helped get the song “Happy Birthday” officially cleared into the public domain has done it again with the song “We Shall Overcome.” As we wrote about, the same team filed a similar lawsuit against The Richmond Organization and Ludlow Music, who claimed a highly questionable copyright in the famous song “We Shall Overcome.” As the lawsuit showed, the song had a lengthy history long before Ludlow’s copyright claim.

Last September, the judge made it clear that the song’s claimed copyright was on weak grounds, rejecting arguments that key parts of the song were subject to copyright. Apparently, Ludlow Music tried to salvage something out of the wreck by just promising to offer a “covenant not to sue” against the plaintiffs… which the judge said wasn’t good enough earlier this month.

So, now the two sides have come to a settlement clearly admitting that the song is in the public domain:

Defendants agree that hearafter they will not claim copyright in the melody or lyrics of any verse of the song We Shall Overcome (“the Song”)…. Defendants agree that the melody and lyrics of those verses of the Song are hereafter dedicated to the public domain.

This is, obviously, a good result. Though I find it a little tacky that the defendants now want to “dedicate” the song to the public domain, when the truth is the song has been in the public domain all along, and it was only a false copyright claim by the defendants that attempted to hide the fact that it was in the public domain. Also, as with “Happy Birthday,” these publishers still got to profit off of years of licensing a song they had no legitimate right to license.

Still, it’s good to see yet another song officially in the public domain without any legal dispute over its status. The full dispute isn’t over yet, as the plaintiffs are still seeking legal fees, which they very well may get. Now let’s see if these same two defendants can be convinced to let go of their bogus copyright claim on Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land,” as they’re facing a very, very similar lawsuit over that song too.

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Techdirt.

BlackBerry officially kills off its first Android phone; the Priv will no longer receive security updates

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  1. BlackBerry officially kills off its first Android phone; the Priv will no longer receive security updates  Firstpost

  2. BlackBerry Priv will no longer get monthly security updates, company confirms  The Indian Express
  3. BlackBerry Stops Monthly Security Updates For BlackBerry PRIV, Opens Trade-Up Program  Wccftech
  4. BlackBerry Priv Smartphone Review – NotebookCheck.net Reviews  NotebookCheck
  5. BlackBerry KEYone Successor Possibly In Works, Appears On GeekBench  ValueWalk

    6. Full coverage

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