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The dirty secret is that the Australian law doesn't actually apply to anyone. They passed the law, but left it to the government to define which companies are i

by jsnell 3y ago

The dirty secret is that the Australian law doesn't actually apply to anyone. They passed the law, but left it to the government to define which companies are in scope. And the government never designated any companies to it. Basically it appears that the tech companies signing the same kinds of deals as elsewhere is being spun as a success of the legislation, even though the law does not apply to anyone, as a face saving measure.

kirrent 3y ago
I've got mixed feelings about the news media bargaining code but I don't think the lack of designations is one of its problems. Only stepping in once negotiations fail seems to be how the law is intended to operate. 52E(3) of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 says that in making the designation that the code applies the minister must consider: 1. Whether a significant bargaining power imbalance exists. 2. Whether the platform has made a significant contribution to the sustainability of news media. As to 1. the mere existence of the code seems to redress any power imbalance somewhat. As for 2. The actual deals Facebook and Google made in response to the law being enacted are confidential, but many news media companies said they were happy with the results so there wouldn't seem to be any reason to designate these organisations in the first place.
anotherevan 3y ago
[Australian here] Recalling these 'negotiations' when they happened and when Facebook blocked news links for a short while (which was actually quite a lovely time) - the whole thing came across as a shake-down with all the subtlety of a tele-evangelist.
- graeme 3y ago
  I'm Canadian and I suspect our problem is that we're approaching this in earnest, not realizing that the Australian law was a shakedown and made no sense from an earnest perspective. We were advised by Australia's top policy wonk, but maybe he was in earnest and didn't understand the game he was in.
  - xvector 3y ago
    I just don't understand how anyone with a shred of intelligence could even think of this law and not immediately realize it's a shakedown. Your policymakers are either - earnest and incredibly stupid - malicious and only somewhat stupid There's just no in-between here. A child that has done ten minutes of research on the issue could realize the problems with these bills.
js4ever 3y ago
Same in France

by jsnell 3y ago

kirrent 3y ago

I've got mixed feelings about the news media bargaining code but I don't think the lack of designations is one of its problems. Only stepping in once negotiations fail seems to be how the law is intended to operate. 52E(3) of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 says that in making the designation that the code applies the minister must consider: 1. Whether a significant bargaining power imbalance exists. 2. Whether the platform has made a significant contribution to the sustainability of news media. As to 1. the mere existence of the code seems to redress any power imbalance somewhat. As for 2. The actual deals Facebook and Google made in response to the law being enacted are confidential, but many news media companies said they were happy with the results so there wouldn't seem to be any reason to designate these organisations in the first place.

anotherevan 3y ago

[Australian here] Recalling these 'negotiations' when they happened and when Facebook blocked news links for a short while (which was actually quite a lovely time) - the whole thing came across as a shake-down with all the subtlety of a tele-evangelist.

graeme 3y ago
I'm Canadian and I suspect our problem is that we're approaching this in earnest, not realizing that the Australian law was a shakedown and made no sense from an earnest perspective. We were advised by Australia's top policy wonk, but maybe he was in earnest and didn't understand the game he was in.
- xvector 3y ago
  I just don't understand how anyone with a shred of intelligence could even think of this law and not immediately realize it's a shakedown. Your policymakers are either - earnest and incredibly stupid - malicious and only somewhat stupid There's just no in-between here. A child that has done ten minutes of research on the issue could realize the problems with these bills.

js4ever 3y ago

Same in France