Month: July 2023

A nearly 20-year ban on human spaceflight regulations is set to expire

Commercial space industry argues for extension to moratorium on regulations.

A crew of six passengers, including former professional football player and television anchor Michael Strahan, stroll past the Blue Origin New Shepard booster they rode into space in December 2021.

Enlarge / A crew of six passengers, including former professional football player and television anchor Michael Strahan, stroll past the Blue Origin New Shepard booster they rode into space in December 2021. (credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

In 2004, Congress passed a law that established a moratorium on federal safety regulations for commercial astronauts and space tourists riding to space on new privately owned rockets and spacecraft. The idea was to allow time for new space companies to establish themselves before falling under the burden of regulations, an eventuality that spaceflight startups argued could impede the industry's development.

The moratorium is also known as a "learning period," a term that describes the purpose of the provision. It's supposed to give companies and the Federal Aviation Administration—the agency tasked with overseeing commercial human spaceflight, launch, and re-entry operations—time to learn how to safely fly in space and develop smart regulations, those that make spaceflight safer but don't restrict innovation.

Without action from Congress, by the end of September, the moratorium on human spaceflight regulations will expire. That has many in the commercial space industry concerned.

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YouTube Rippers’ Appeal of RIAA’s $83 Million Piracy Win Moves Forward

Two years ago, the RIAA secured a multi-million dollar victory in its piracy lawsuit against YouTube-rippers FLVTO.biz and 2conv.com. It was a big win for the music group but the case is not completely over. A notice of appeal filed by the platforms’ operator has just been docketed at the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Whether this legal battle will be fought to the end is unclear.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

youtube sad errorIn 2021, the RIAA secured a major victory in its piracy lawsuit against YouTube-rippers FLVTO.biz and 2conv.com, and their Russian operator Tofig Kurbanov.

A Virginia federal court issued a default judgment in favor of the RIAA, which represented several prominent music companies.

Following this win, the RIAA demanded $83 million in damages for the widespread copyright infringement that allegedly took place through the sites. The request was met with heavy opposition from Mr. Kurbanov, but last year it was granted nonetheless.

The RIAA, which described the legal battle as a landmark case, was happy with the outcome. As it stands, it will act as a deterrent against similar stream-rippers and other potentially infringing sites. However, the case is not over just yet.

$83 Million Appeal

While Mr. Kurbanov previously walked away from the U.S. court battle, he may choose to keep on fighting. In a new filing submitted yesterday, a challenge against the piracy liability ruling and damages award was docketed at the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

appeal docketed

The appeal doesn’t come as a complete surprise. More than a year ago, Kurbanov’s legal team already signaled their intention to challenge the verdict. A notice of appeal was filed in March 2022, but it took more than a year before the case was formally docketed.

TorrentFreak reached out to the defense’s team for a comment on their plans, but they didn’t immediately reply. Since quite a bit of time has passed, and considering Kurbanov’s previous change of heart regarding U.S. courts, anything could happen.

Questions Remain, Traffic Slides

Last year, defense lawyer Val Gurvits informed us that his client intended to challenge the fact that the sites are being held liable for millions of dollars in damages, without having to present concrete evidence of copyright infringements that allegedly took place in the United States.

“If the record companies can really get multi-million dollar judgments without having to prove a single instance of infringement within the United States, then no one who operates a website is safe,” Gurvits said at the time.

Whether this is still the plan remains unclear. If the operator of the YouTube rippers does decide to proceed with the appeal, an opening brief could be expected later this year, with the RIAA to respond after that.

Meanwhile, the contested YouTube rippers are still online. Their traffic has been decimated, however, in part because the sites voluntarily blocked all traffic from the United States.

When the RIAA filed its lawsuit five years ago, FLVTO.biz had an estimated 94 million visits per month and 2conv.com pulled in around 23 million monthly visits. Today, these visitor numbers have dropped to 3 million and 2 million visits, respectively.

From: TF, for the latest news on copyright battles, piracy and more.

Elektromobilität: Warum Autotransporte auf dem Wasser gefährlicher werden

Noch ist unklar, was den Brand auf dem Frachter in der Nordsee verursacht hat. Doch Versicherungen warnen schon länger vor den Gefahren brennender Akkus. Eine Analyse von Friedhelm Greis (Elektroauto, Auto)

Noch ist unklar, was den Brand auf dem Frachter in der Nordsee verursacht hat. Doch Versicherungen warnen schon länger vor den Gefahren brennender Akkus. Eine Analyse von Friedhelm Greis (Elektroauto, Auto)

(g+) Finanzen im Web: Seriöse Finanz-Websites im Überblick

Wer am Finanzmarkt investieren will, findet im Web viele Angebote. Aber welche sind gut? Wir stellen vertrauenswürdige Websites mit verständlichen und belastbaren Daten vor. Von Christophe Leske (Wirtschaft, Börse)

Wer am Finanzmarkt investieren will, findet im Web viele Angebote. Aber welche sind gut? Wir stellen vertrauenswürdige Websites mit verständlichen und belastbaren Daten vor. Von Christophe Leske (Wirtschaft, Börse)