Your commercial news round-up: Paris protests, ticket offices, Just Stop Oil, conversion therapy, ChatGPT
updated on 06 July 2023
Reading time: four minutes
Trigger warning: our story on conversion therapy mentions specific methods applied including rape.
We’ve made it to July and unlike the British weather right now, this round-up is hot, hot, hot with the latest commercial stories. We’re covering the Paris protests, ticket office closures, Just Stop Oil, conversion therapy and copyright law. If you really want to expand your commercial awareness and read a deep-dive review of a recent commercial issue, check out our latest Wrestle with PESTLE on no-deposit mortgages.
-
Our first story takes us across the ocean to Paris, where protests broke out after 17-year-old Nahel was killed by a police officer during a traffic stop in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. The killing has reignited accusations of over-policing in marginalised communities and police brutality, particularly as protestors believe Nahel’s race was a factor in the killing. Activists have since taken to the streets to express their dismay and anger, carrying signs that read “the police kill”. The officer who fired the gun claimed he did so out of fear Nahel would run someone over with his car; however, Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache has said it’s believed the officer acted illegally. Accusations of police brutality have been a long-standing issue in France, particularly regarding people of colour. A 2017 study by an independent human rights watchdog in France found young men perceived to be Black or Arab were 20 times more likely to be stopped by the police than their peers.
-
While protestors are shutting down the streets in Paris, closer to home in England, railway ticket offices are being shut down. Plans have been announced to close almost every railway station ticket office over the next three years, causing serious concerns about the impact this will have on people’s jobs, and accessibility to trains for wheelchair users, blind people and others with mobility issues. The Railway Delivery Group (RDG) made the announcement on Tuesday, attributing closures to its revenue being down 30%, as a result of a reduction in passengers since the pandemic. The closing of offices will be subject to a three-week public consultation period, with discussions planned to take place between staff and unions following this time. Although the RDG has pointed out only 12% of passengers still purchase tickets through these offices, and closures will mean staff are “more visible and readily available to support customers on platforms”, unions remain unconvinced.
-
Home Secretary Suella Braverman is speaking with senior sporting figures and police leaders to discuss how best to protect Wimbledon from protestors after Just Stop Oil activists invaded an England cricket match. Wimbledon has been on high alert for disruption, as ministers fear “guerilla protests”. The Home Office has refused to reveal which policing leaders and sporting groups will be in attendance at the meeting but has assured the public they’re working together to stop any disruption.
-
On 3 July 2018 Theresa May promised to ban conversion therapy; however, five years later there’s still no legislation finalised. The promise of the ban came after a report in 2017 revealed that 5% of LGBTQ+ individuals had been offered conversion therapies to “cure” them. Conversion therapy involves a series of methods undertaken to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity, according to Stonewall. This is often through forms of counselling, being forced to ingest ‘purifying’ substances, threats, corrective rape, being prayed over and exorcisms. Since the Conservative government first pledged to end what May described as an “abhorrent” practice, there have been years of policy delays and U-turns. Sasha Misra from Stonewall said: “Five years and four prime ministers later and we’re still waiting for this ban to come to fruition.”
-
Our final story is a legal first, so law students and AI enthusiasts listen closely. Authors Mona Awad and Paul Tremblay have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, the company behind the artificial chatbot ChatGPT. The authors claim the company broke copyright law by training the chatbot, using extracts from their novels without permission. The pair filed a class action lawsuit to San Francisco federal court last week, claiming their books were unlawfully “ingested” by ChatGPT. According to intellectual property law student Andres Guadamuz, from the University of Sussex, this is the first copyright lawsuit to be filed against ChatGPT. The complaint states that OpenAI is “unfairly” profiting from “stolen writing ideas”, with both authors requesting monetary compensation. However, Guadamuz has argued that proving a financial loss as a direct result of copyright infringement could be difficult to prove because the chatbot could potentially work in the exact same manner from simply analysing the wealth of information on the Internet, including readers discussing the authors’ books online.
Check the News every Thursday for this weekly commercial news round-up. Or prefer to listen to your commercial news? Why not check out our brand-new Commercial Connect podcast?
