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Disagree. The law ensures there are Canadian media, which can be used to push media to the betterment of Canadians. Many countries have protectionist laws and

Disagree. The law ensures there are Canadian media, which can be used to push media to the betterment of Canadians. Many countries have protectionist laws and this isn’t much different.

varenc 3y ago
But if Facebook is blocking news links in Canada, it doesn’t seem like the law is having the desired effect.
chongli 3y ago
This is protectionist law but it’s not protecting independent media in Canada, it’s protecting big players like PostMedia, Bell, and Rogers. If anything this will just kill off the remaining small media companies in Canada, or force them to be bought up by the big companies.
- midasuni 3y ago
  Those aren’t big players on a global basis. Canada is concerned its culture is at risk from globalisation, and those concerns are not without merit.
  - VancouverMan 3y ago
    > Canada is concerned its culture is at risk from globalisation, and those concerns are not without merit. I don't think that preserving Canadian culture is a factor in any of this, nor does it seem to be a concern of the current government. These same politicians have been bringing in an absolutely staggering number of foreigners each year for many years now, with most of them from cultures that are extremely dissimilar from, if not outright incompatible with, what was Canadian culture.
  - wesapien 3y ago
    What is Canadian culture?
    - chongli 3y ago
      This Hour Has 22 Minutes, The Red Green Show, Royal Canadian Air Farce, Corner Gas, Anne of Green Gables… That sort of stuff!
      - wesapien 3y ago
        As someone who grew up from outside of the US/UK/Commonwealth, you really have to stretch the imagination to see the difference. Quebec is the only place in the US/CA I can feel is different.
  - chongli 3y ago
    Why does it matter whether they’re big players on a global basis or not? Those companies have an oligopoly over Canadian media. They also abuse their dominant position over Canadian wireless and broadband internet service, leading to some of the highest rates in the world. Yet the government is passing even more laws to try to give them cash grabs. These companies should be broken apart and the spectrum sold off to smaller players. Canadians need more competition in both media and wireless / internet access, not less.
- _delirium 3y ago
  Also: PostMedia, at least, is owned by an American hedge fund. I see this as more of an internecine war between U.S. capitalists over how to divide the spoils than anything else. Canada is only involved in a secondary role.
lolinder 3y ago
How exactly does Facebook and Google blocking links to news in Canada ensure that there are Canadian media? I'm having trouble seeing the connection from "fewer inbound links" to "sustainable Canadian news media".
- mattstir 3y ago
  Presumably he's talking about the intent of the law, which seems to have been to ensure news outlets actually receive money for linked articles. It seems that the government didn't expect Google or Facebook to just stop linking to Canadian news instead. Canada appeared to be attempting to emulate countries like Australia, Spain, France, etc that have passed very similar laws. It seems like the tech giants were perfectly happy to just cut ties with Canadian media rather than make a deal however.
  - veave 3y ago
    The very idea of having to pay to link to something is ridiculous. Imagine if I recommended you to watch a show on Netflix and I had to pay to give that recommendation. It makes absolutely no sense.
    - SpeakinTelnet 3y ago
      Its more like if instead of dropping you to a cinema a bus driver was showing you the full film so that you don't have to enter the cinema and spend money there.
      - lolinder 3y ago
        Your analogy would only make sense if the bill were only trying to tax including all or part of a news article on Facebook/Google. It sounds like instead any link would be taxable, so it would be more like the bus driver having to pay the cinema for the privilege of driving you there.
        3y ago
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
isaacremuant 3y ago
This only protects the Draconian Canadian government. The same that will take your money if you protest against it.
gruez 3y ago
>Many countries have protectionist laws and this isn’t much different. And just like other protectionist laws, this is a dumb idea and is going to end up hurting consumers.
indymike 3y ago
How does forcing some companies to pay to link TO a news story (and send traffic to that new story) do anything other than give an incentive not to link to news stories any more? How is making it impossible to discover news stories good for Canadian media? How is it good for Canadian citizens and Canadian democracy? The underpinning concept in HTML is: My document can link to your document without asking, and without cost. This whole, if you send traffic to me you have to pay me for it is backwards.

Disagree. The law ensures there are Canadian media, which can be used to push media to the betterment of Canadians. Many countries have protectionist laws and this isn’t much different.

varenc 3y ago

But if Facebook is blocking news links in Canada, it doesn’t seem like the law is having the desired effect.

chongli 3y ago

This is protectionist law but it’s not protecting independent media in Canada, it’s protecting big players like PostMedia, Bell, and Rogers. If anything this will just kill off the remaining small media companies in Canada, or force them to be bought up by the big companies.

midasuni 3y ago
Those aren’t big players on a global basis. Canada is concerned its culture is at risk from globalisation, and those concerns are not without merit.
- VancouverMan 3y ago
  > Canada is concerned its culture is at risk from globalisation, and those concerns are not without merit. I don't think that preserving Canadian culture is a factor in any of this, nor does it seem to be a concern of the current government. These same politicians have been bringing in an absolutely staggering number of foreigners each year for many years now, with most of them from cultures that are extremely dissimilar from, if not outright incompatible with, what was Canadian culture.
- wesapien 3y ago
  What is Canadian culture?
  - chongli 3y ago
    This Hour Has 22 Minutes, The Red Green Show, Royal Canadian Air Farce, Corner Gas, Anne of Green Gables… That sort of stuff!
    - wesapien 3y ago
      As someone who grew up from outside of the US/UK/Commonwealth, you really have to stretch the imagination to see the difference. Quebec is the only place in the US/CA I can feel is different.
- chongli 3y ago
  Why does it matter whether they’re big players on a global basis or not? Those companies have an oligopoly over Canadian media. They also abuse their dominant position over Canadian wireless and broadband internet service, leading to some of the highest rates in the world. Yet the government is passing even more laws to try to give them cash grabs. These companies should be broken apart and the spectrum sold off to smaller players. Canadians need more competition in both media and wireless / internet access, not less.
_delirium 3y ago
Also: PostMedia, at least, is owned by an American hedge fund. I see this as more of an internecine war between U.S. capitalists over how to divide the spoils than anything else. Canada is only involved in a secondary role.

lolinder 3y ago

How exactly does Facebook and Google blocking links to news in Canada ensure that there are Canadian media? I'm having trouble seeing the connection from "fewer inbound links" to "sustainable Canadian news media".

mattstir 3y ago
Presumably he's talking about the intent of the law, which seems to have been to ensure news outlets actually receive money for linked articles. It seems that the government didn't expect Google or Facebook to just stop linking to Canadian news instead. Canada appeared to be attempting to emulate countries like Australia, Spain, France, etc that have passed very similar laws. It seems like the tech giants were perfectly happy to just cut ties with Canadian media rather than make a deal however.
- veave 3y ago
  The very idea of having to pay to link to something is ridiculous. Imagine if I recommended you to watch a show on Netflix and I had to pay to give that recommendation. It makes absolutely no sense.
  - SpeakinTelnet 3y ago
    Its more like if instead of dropping you to a cinema a bus driver was showing you the full film so that you don't have to enter the cinema and spend money there.
    - lolinder 3y ago
      Your analogy would only make sense if the bill were only trying to tax including all or part of a news article on Facebook/Google. It sounds like instead any link would be taxable, so it would be more like the bus driver having to pay the cinema for the privilege of driving you there.
      - 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

isaacremuant 3y ago

This only protects the Draconian Canadian government. The same that will take your money if you protest against it.

gruez 3y ago

>Many countries have protectionist laws and this isn’t much different. And just like other protectionist laws, this is a dumb idea and is going to end up hurting consumers.

indymike 3y ago

How does forcing some companies to pay to link TO a news story (and send traffic to that new story) do anything other than give an incentive not to link to news stories any more? How is making it impossible to discover news stories good for Canadian media? How is it good for Canadian citizens and Canadian democracy? The underpinning concept in HTML is: My document can link to your document without asking, and without cost. This whole, if you send traffic to me you have to pay me for it is backwards.