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Finally someone standing against tech giants. I don't think it is unfair to expect companies to follow law of the land irrespective of size. Big tech giants sho

Finally someone standing against tech giants. I don't think it is unfair to expect companies to follow law of the land irrespective of size. Big tech giants should not expect "US style" operation everywhere. America is not entire world, just one country.

fogihujy 6y ago
Absolutely! Australia is quite within their rights when asking tech giants to follow local regulations when they aim services at Australian citizens. That doesn't automatically make this particular law less dumb, though.
- ElectricMind 6y ago
  If they think law is dumb or unfair or anything, they can negotiate with Australian government. But they should not expect favors just because of they have monopoly in the field. Again, Australian people will decide what good for them.
  - rurounijones 6y ago
    > If they think law is dumb or unfair or anything, they can negotiate with Australian government Or they can just cut off service to that marketplace and let the electorate take up the matter with their elected officials...
  - pm 6y ago
    I'm Australian and I'd rather not be the battleground for this particular brawl. Our Government is incompetent and corrupt beyond measure, and takes its orders from the likes of Newscorp. Google and Facebook are better dealt with in the US.
    - petre 6y ago
      I'll always remember Turnbull's laws of math come second to the laws of oz comment, heh. The last few of your prime ministers are much like Donald Trump. Science deniers that claim all sorts of nonsense. Crypto crusaders. Now this. How can a party have so many people like him and still win the elections? Aren't you fed up of having your country ran by these people?
      - pm 6y ago
        Yes I am. Unfortunately, the myth still abounds that the conservative side of politics are better economic managers (despite all evidence to the contrary), and the progressives are more concerned about appearances than they are about providing an alternative and representing the working class. Since we vote for a party, and not a personality, we don't get to pick our prime minister, and since the MSM here is mostly Murdoch-controlled (and he can't keep his digits out of our politics, even though he hasn't lived here for decades), the reporting is myopic and mostly one-sided. The politicians have become brazen with their corruption as well. There are some rays of hope with new media commentators taking them to task, but it's going to take a grass-roots backlash to unhinge the current party (though this is happening more and more).
- tedk-42 6y ago
  What's dumb about the law now? Did America not break up Standard Oil when it got too large and it's reach too powerful? Aussie here. I don't side with Google and I certainly don't like our government. But at least we elected this government. Google is using its position of dominance as a threat and will deplatform their search to us. To me that sounds more strange than the government wanting a bit of profit sharing from Google to other media outlets.
  - fogihujy 6y ago
    > What's dumb about the law now? There's a few threads about this law on HN already and there's no reason to repeat those arguments again and again. Regardless, my point isn't that the law seem poorly written ; it's that Australia is well within it's rights to regulate it's own internal market regardless of what people on the other side of the Globe think about it.
comodore_ 6y ago
That's a reasonable request, however, companies should not be forced to operate in areas where such laws exist that are incompatible with their business model. Or even force them to continue operating should the laws change. If the conditions don't fit their expected "operation style" anymore, they should be free to cease operations. In the end, I think, this will only hurt news sites and businesses that rely on google's services.

fogihujy 6y ago

Absolutely! Australia is quite within their rights when asking tech giants to follow local regulations when they aim services at Australian citizens. That doesn't automatically make this particular law less dumb, though.

ElectricMind 6y ago
If they think law is dumb or unfair or anything, they can negotiate with Australian government. But they should not expect favors just because of they have monopoly in the field. Again, Australian people will decide what good for them.
- rurounijones 6y ago
  > If they think law is dumb or unfair or anything, they can negotiate with Australian government Or they can just cut off service to that marketplace and let the electorate take up the matter with their elected officials...
- pm 6y ago
  I'm Australian and I'd rather not be the battleground for this particular brawl. Our Government is incompetent and corrupt beyond measure, and takes its orders from the likes of Newscorp. Google and Facebook are better dealt with in the US.
  - petre 6y ago
    I'll always remember Turnbull's laws of math come second to the laws of oz comment, heh. The last few of your prime ministers are much like Donald Trump. Science deniers that claim all sorts of nonsense. Crypto crusaders. Now this. How can a party have so many people like him and still win the elections? Aren't you fed up of having your country ran by these people?
    - pm 6y ago
      Yes I am. Unfortunately, the myth still abounds that the conservative side of politics are better economic managers (despite all evidence to the contrary), and the progressives are more concerned about appearances than they are about providing an alternative and representing the working class. Since we vote for a party, and not a personality, we don't get to pick our prime minister, and since the MSM here is mostly Murdoch-controlled (and he can't keep his digits out of our politics, even though he hasn't lived here for decades), the reporting is myopic and mostly one-sided. The politicians have become brazen with their corruption as well. There are some rays of hope with new media commentators taking them to task, but it's going to take a grass-roots backlash to unhinge the current party (though this is happening more and more).
tedk-42 6y ago
What's dumb about the law now? Did America not break up Standard Oil when it got too large and it's reach too powerful? Aussie here. I don't side with Google and I certainly don't like our government. But at least we elected this government. Google is using its position of dominance as a threat and will deplatform their search to us. To me that sounds more strange than the government wanting a bit of profit sharing from Google to other media outlets.
- fogihujy 6y ago
  > What's dumb about the law now? There's a few threads about this law on HN already and there's no reason to repeat those arguments again and again. Regardless, my point isn't that the law seem poorly written ; it's that Australia is well within it's rights to regulate it's own internal market regardless of what people on the other side of the Globe think about it.

comodore_ 6y ago

That's a reasonable request, however, companies should not be forced to operate in areas where such laws exist that are incompatible with their business model. Or even force them to continue operating should the laws change. If the conditions don't fit their expected "operation style" anymore, they should be free to cease operations. In the end, I think, this will only hurt news sites and businesses that rely on google's services.