■ Piracy
MPAA, Web site strike deal
In a deal aimed at reducing illegal Internet traffic in pirated films, Hollywood reached an agreement on Tuesday with the creator of the popular file-sharing software BitTorrent. The agreement requires 30-year-old software designer Bram Cohen to prevent his Web site, bittorrent.com, from locating pirated versions of popular movies. BitTorrent must remove Web links leading to illegal content owned by the seven studios that are members of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). "BitTorrent Inc discourages the use of its technology for distributing films without a license to do so," Cohen said in the statement. "As such, we are pleased to work with the film industry to remove unauthorized content from bittorrent.com's search engine," he said.
■ Fast Food
McDonald's launches card
McDonald's Corp has an idea for a stocking stuffer, and it doesn't require substituting burgers and fries for the traditional holiday dinner. The fast-food chain formally launched its new reloadable convenience card -- the Arch Card -- with the start of a US marketing campaign yesterday, joining the growing group of restaurant operators that offer loyalty debit cards. Many of McDonald's 13,000-plus US restaurants have been offering the Arch Card for months, but the company has been waiting until the holiday shopping season to actively promote them as gift cards. Next year, the advertising campaign will switch themes to promote convenience.
■ Airlines
Malaysia Air to hike prices
Malaysia Airlines plans to increase its fares and sell some of its assets to reverse huge losses, a report said yesterday. Deputy Transport Minister Douglas Uggah Embas said the national carrier's plans to hike fares for both domestic and international routes would take into account the prices offered by other regional airlines so that it remained competitive, the New Straits Times reported. Malaysia Airlines operates one of Southeast Asia's biggest passenger fleets, with about 100 planes and more than 9,000 employees. The government owns 69 percent of the airline, which analysts said has been hit by poor management, escalating operation costs and stiff competition in the region. In the quarter through June, the airline reported its worst quarterly performance in four years, with a 280.7 million ringgit (US$74.5 million) loss that it blamed on high fuel and operating costs.
■ Petroleum
Nippon Oil plans tie-up
Japan's largest oil distributor, Nippon Oil Corp, plans to propose a tie-up with Teikoku Oil Co and Inpex Corp, who are scheduled to merge in April to form the country's biggest natural resource developer, a report said yesterday. Before Teikoku Oil and Inpex hold their extraordinary shareholders meetings in January for approval of the merger, Nippon Oil "will make various proposals, including operational consolidation and tie-ups, to Teikoku Oil," a Nippon Oil official told the Nihon Keizai Shimbun. A tie-up between Nippon Oil and the Teikoku Oil-Inpex entity would create a major company handling oil-field development to refining and sales, the newspaper said. However, Teikoku Oil and Inpex may reject Nippon Oil's approach because they are focused on first becoming an oil-field development specialist, it added.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft