I've long held the view the News Media Bargaining Code was a temporary illusion of success on the path of perpetual inevitable defeat for link taxes. It should have been clear to everyone the 2021 non-designation compromise wouldn't last. What's happened in Canada, California, and now New Zealand continues to drive this home. Rod Sims should hang his head in shame.
One thing the Australian Government often ignores is that the 26 million person "open society" that is Australia gave birth to zero of these platforms. They were all invented in a society that has true freedom of speech (via the First Amendment), immunity from carrier liability (via Section 230 of the Communications Act), oh and with a population of 345 million. The “defamation capital of the world” never had a chance.
They look towards the EU for inspiration of what an ideal regulatory environment looks like, while the EU are themselves releasing reports blaming that very regulatory environment for a giant innovation gap and shockingly half the productivity growth compared to the US since 2000.
At least the EU has a population of 448 million. At some point, tech companies will just decide not to operate in a small Australia if they keep going down this path. I'm sure the media companies will love having their local fiefdom back, as will the lobbyists who proposed ABC be tasked to create their own public-good social media website.
Australians though will be forced to connect to VPN's to get a glimpse of what the future holds for them in 10 years time.
I've long held the view the News Media Bargaining Code was a temporary illusion of success on the path of perpetual inevitable defeat for link taxes. It should have been clear to everyone the 2021 non-designation compromise wouldn't last. What's happened in Canada, California, and now New Zealand continues to drive this home. Rod Sims should hang his head in shame.
One thing the Australian Government often ignores is that the 26 million person "open society" that is Australia gave birth to zero of these platforms. They were all invented in a society that has true freedom of speech (via the First Amendment), immunity from carrier liability (via Section 230 of the Communications Act), oh and with a population of 345 million. The “defamation capital of the world” never had a chance.
They look towards the EU for inspiration of what an ideal regulatory environment looks like, while the EU are themselves releasing reports blaming that very regulatory environment for a giant innovation gap and shockingly half the productivity growth compared to the US since 2000.
See: https://x.com/patrickc/status/1833127988512305352
At least the EU has a population of 448 million. At some point, tech companies will just decide not to operate in a small Australia if they keep going down this path. I'm sure the media companies will love having their local fiefdom back, as will the lobbyists who proposed ABC be tasked to create their own public-good social media website.
Australians though will be forced to connect to VPN's to get a glimpse of what the future holds for them in 10 years time.