5 ms·

There was a previous discussion based on a similar article from Creative Commons a couple days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16810999 https://news.y

There was a previous discussion based on a similar article from Creative Commons a couple days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16810999 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16810999 c3o (Christopher Clay), who works in the EU Parliament according to his profile, posted several informative comments including one explaining the backstory behind the proposed legislation: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16812099 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16812099 > The back story of the law may shed some light. > First, it's no secret that the intent is to prop up the business model of struggling publishers by getting internet platforms to pay them for spreading (links to/tiny snippets of) their content. > After a "link tax" law was introduced in Germany, some publishers decided to waive it. Google reacted by removing snippets from those who didn't in Google News, making their links less likely to be clicked on. Afraid of losing traffic, these publishers then granted Google a free license. > The government of Spain looked at this result and decided to implement the idea as an inalienable right, to make sure some publishers couldn't opt out, and Google would have to pay up. In response, Google shut down Google News altogether in Spain. > This is the version that the Parliament's chief negotiator now wants the EU to implement. He believes that Google (and Facebook and Twitter, which have been added as targets) wouldn't dare shut down a service across all of Europe.

Cyph0n 9y ago
This dude seems to think that it's a dick measuring contest, when it reality it boils down to a cost-benefit analysis. If Google thinks it will lose money, it will shut down the service.
- toyg 9y ago
  This was mentioned in the other thread as well - and it's a scenario that publishers would love, as it puts them back in control of "news portals".
  - stickfigure 9y ago
    Except that it won't. All the news portals/aggregators will simply move out of the EU. And then the EU can try to escalate by blocking non-EU news sites. Boy is that going to be an interesting day.
    - icebraining 9y ago
      Yeah, but Google will be out. And the other aggregators don't have its reach (e.g. Top Stories boxes in Google Search).
      - stickfigure 9y ago
        Someone will fill that void. It may take a while for the new winner to emerge, but it will happen, and then they will be in the exact same position as Google news. This law won't change the structure of the internet, it will just change the players. People want free news aggregators and other countries will not enforce this silly law (see also: cookie notices).
- syrrim 9y ago
  It is a dick measuring contest to a degree. Google is large enough to be effectively a monopoly, and so can think of these laws as being targeted at them. The way they respond to these laws affects the way other nations set up their own laws. Even if they lost money in spain by closing there, they would close anyways if they thought they would gain across the globe.
  - Moru 9y ago
    If they shut down in europe they also open up the field for their competition. There are many developers here in europe that are just waiting for a chance.
    - scotty79 9y ago
      Chance to pay link tax? This thing basically makes news aggregation unprofitable. It's better to just make up your own news stories. Maybe even get sponsored by Russia if you make ones beneficial for them.
fh973 9y ago
I keep hearing Google News, but I can't see how and why people would use it frequently. Is anybody here using it? What for?
- wyldfire 9y ago
  I use it at least daily to get updates on what's going on in my city, around the world and with my interests.
- andybak 9y ago
  I check it most days as I like to skim a variety of international news sources in one list. I'd welcome suggestions of alternatives - especially if I could filter out the Daily Mail and other low quality sources.
  - vatueil 9y ago
    You can filter out the Daily Mail in Google News, too. Scroll down to "See news from your favorite sources" for how to block/prefer certain sources: https://support.google.com/news/answer/1146405 https://support.google.com/news/answer/1146405
  - blowski 9y ago
    I guess you don’t like the Daily Mail because it’s a source of nationalist sensationalism rubbish at its worst, and I completely agree with you about that. But I’m worried that, by filtering it out, we create tribal echo chambers. Personally, I hold my nose, read at least some of the articles, and try to argue against them.
  - jasonjayr 9y ago
    Someone mentioned this on HN before: https://spidr.today/ https://spidr.today/ It seems like a reasonable alternative. I wonder how sites will react if it gets as big as Google.
- vatueil 9y ago
  To prevent possible confusion, I should first note that there are several different ways users may find news articles via Google: in search results, suggested articles in mobile Chrome, articles in your Google feed (formerly Google Now), the Google Play Newsstand app (which unlike the others supports paid subscriptions), and probably others I'm forgetting. In this case the subject is Google News: https://news.google.com https://news.google.com Personally, I use Google News because it's better at finding news I want to read than other aggregators (including other feeds from Google itself, at least for a while). The options to customize the topics I'm interested in and to block/prefer certain news sources are tremendously useful, while at same time it also brings up news from sources I haven't heard of before so I'm not limited to a handpicked selection. Google News is also good for browsing articles from many different sources about a single news story. Most news cards show at least two, and you can expand the card and click "view full coverage" to bring up all the related articles. Makes it easy to peruse all the coverage.
ttoinou 9y ago
France is taxing youtube advertising in profit of the "CNC" (i.e. the cinema mafia). I hope Google shut downs Youtube France

Cyph0n 9y ago

This dude seems to think that it's a dick measuring contest, when it reality it boils down to a cost-benefit analysis. If Google thinks it will lose money, it will shut down the service.

toyg 9y ago
This was mentioned in the other thread as well - and it's a scenario that publishers would love, as it puts them back in control of "news portals".
- stickfigure 9y ago
  Except that it won't. All the news portals/aggregators will simply move out of the EU. And then the EU can try to escalate by blocking non-EU news sites. Boy is that going to be an interesting day.
  - icebraining 9y ago
    Yeah, but Google will be out. And the other aggregators don't have its reach (e.g. Top Stories boxes in Google Search).
    - stickfigure 9y ago
      Someone will fill that void. It may take a while for the new winner to emerge, but it will happen, and then they will be in the exact same position as Google news. This law won't change the structure of the internet, it will just change the players. People want free news aggregators and other countries will not enforce this silly law (see also: cookie notices).
syrrim 9y ago
It is a dick measuring contest to a degree. Google is large enough to be effectively a monopoly, and so can think of these laws as being targeted at them. The way they respond to these laws affects the way other nations set up their own laws. Even if they lost money in spain by closing there, they would close anyways if they thought they would gain across the globe.
- Moru 9y ago
  If they shut down in europe they also open up the field for their competition. There are many developers here in europe that are just waiting for a chance.
  - scotty79 9y ago
    Chance to pay link tax? This thing basically makes news aggregation unprofitable. It's better to just make up your own news stories. Maybe even get sponsored by Russia if you make ones beneficial for them.

fh973 9y ago

I keep hearing Google News, but I can't see how and why people would use it frequently. Is anybody here using it? What for?

wyldfire 9y ago
I use it at least daily to get updates on what's going on in my city, around the world and with my interests.
andybak 9y ago
I check it most days as I like to skim a variety of international news sources in one list. I'd welcome suggestions of alternatives - especially if I could filter out the Daily Mail and other low quality sources.
- vatueil 9y ago
  You can filter out the Daily Mail in Google News, too. Scroll down to "See news from your favorite sources" for how to block/prefer certain sources: https://support.google.com/news/answer/1146405 https://support.google.com/news/answer/1146405
- blowski 9y ago
  I guess you don’t like the Daily Mail because it’s a source of nationalist sensationalism rubbish at its worst, and I completely agree with you about that. But I’m worried that, by filtering it out, we create tribal echo chambers. Personally, I hold my nose, read at least some of the articles, and try to argue against them.
- jasonjayr 9y ago
  Someone mentioned this on HN before: https://spidr.today/ https://spidr.today/ It seems like a reasonable alternative. I wonder how sites will react if it gets as big as Google.
vatueil 9y ago
To prevent possible confusion, I should first note that there are several different ways users may find news articles via Google: in search results, suggested articles in mobile Chrome, articles in your Google feed (formerly Google Now), the Google Play Newsstand app (which unlike the others supports paid subscriptions), and probably others I'm forgetting. In this case the subject is Google News: https://news.google.com https://news.google.com Personally, I use Google News because it's better at finding news I want to read than other aggregators (including other feeds from Google itself, at least for a while). The options to customize the topics I'm interested in and to block/prefer certain news sources are tremendously useful, while at same time it also brings up news from sources I haven't heard of before so I'm not limited to a handpicked selection. Google News is also good for browsing articles from many different sources about a single news story. Most news cards show at least two, and you can expand the card and click "view full coverage" to bring up all the related articles. Makes it easy to peruse all the coverage.

ttoinou 9y ago

France is taxing youtube advertising in profit of the "CNC" (i.e. the cinema mafia). I hope Google shut downs Youtube France