Mark Pilling
The flashy full launch of the Exostar B2B e-commerce exchange was derailed at a press conference at Farnborough yesterday when journalists refused to 'follow the script'.
The public relations supremos of the world's aerospace giants Boeing, Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems and Raytheon looked on in horror at the sight of their chief executives running for cover under persistent questioning from journalists over anti-trust questions around the launch of their e-commerce initiative.
A scrum of journalists descended on the top table of John Weston, chief executive of BAE Systems, Vance Coffman, chief executive of Lockheed Martin, Dan Burnham, chief executive of Raytheon, Mark Hoffman, chairman of Commerce One, and Phil Condit, Boeing chairman, as they tried to exit the press conference without a question-and-answer session.
Only Weston stayed briefly under the glare of the TV lights to accept that there were anti-trust questions to be answered, but declined to stay to elaborate.
It was left to an increasingly irate Burnham to explain that there "is no chance for price collusion inside Exostar". "It is an open exchange. We will not combine our purchasing power. There are very solid walls between our companies' data," he claims.
He then left to let a somewhat bemused Christopher Bade, vice-president Strategic Planning and Development at Raytheon, and a member of the Exostar Steering Committee, to tidy things up.
"We are taking the anti-trust issue seriously, and are designing the organisation and software with protection built in so we don't violate any rules either in the US or Europe."
In a quiet moment afterwards, Condit recognised: "It does cause concern among people when a bunch of competitors band together."
He says discussions have taken place between the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which is reviewing the activities of large B2B exchanges in general, and Exostar. "We have got to show them what we are doing and make them feel comfortable with it, showing them that the right barriers are in place and that there will be no restraint to trade."
The FTC's first review of exchanges, particularly focussing on a US auto exchange, has been completed. From this, the FTC sees a high value in exchanges and feels the existing body of laws is sufficient to cover them, explains Commerce One's Hoffman.
A second review, going into more detail, is under way at present, and Hoffman believes the results of this will establish the guidelines for how mega exchanges such as Exostar should operate.
There has been no real review of B2B exchanges in Europe. Authorities there are looking to what the US does first, before making any move themselves, he says.
Source: Flight Daily News
