• ZagorathOP
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    10 months ago

    No, it’s not. Did you read this article? Did you read earlier articles around the time that the law this article is referencing was first being discussed & came into effect? Did you read Mike Masnick’s article linked in my earlier comment?

    This is about Australia’s link tax, the News Media Bargaining Code. It’s got everything to do with requiring Facebook and Google to pay companies for sending them traffic, and nothing whatsoever to do with freebooting.

    edit: for what it’s worth, this isn’t just News Corp. It was most heavily pushed in its earliest stages by News Corp and other right-wing media, but the Guardian, ABC, and SBS also supported this. That doesn’t make it right. It just serves to further prove how traditional media fundamentally misunderstands how technology works.

      • IncongruousMonkey
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        10 months ago

        You’re conflating two distinct issues, that involve three separate groups: traditional media, social media, click farm thieves such as ladbible.

        The Australian legislation relates to the first two and their commercial arrangements.

      • AJ Sadauskas@aus.social
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        10 months ago

        @pendulum_ @Zagorath Clearly you didn’t read the article.

        Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp wanted a law that says Facebook and Google have to pay News Corp for the privilege of allowing links to News Corp websites.

        So Google has to pay News Corp for the links to News Corp in Google search results.

        So Facebook has to pay News Corp for the links to News Corp sites that appear on Facebook.

        The previous Australian federal government, under the previous Prime Minister Scott Morrison, gave him that law in 2021.

        Google and Facebook struck deals to pay News Corp and other Australian media companies.

        Facebook says it won’t renew those agreements.

        Yes, it is a stupid law. News Corp and other media companies profit from the traffic they get from Google and Facebook.

        Look, here’s the relevant part of the article right here:

        "The Australian government wanted local publishers to benefit when links to their news content appeared on sites like Facebook and Google.

        "It argued that there was significant advertising revenue being generated from this “premium content” and media organisations were missing out on their cut.

        "So in 2021, the Morrison government introduced the News Media Bargaining Code, which aimed to address “bargaining power imbalances” by requiring tech giants to pay for displaying news on their platforms.

        "Under the code, the government can “designate” digital platforms like Facebook and Google and force them into mediation to set terms for a revenue-sharing deal.

        "Instead, Meta and Google struck a flurry of independent deals with news companies, all of which are due to expire in the next few months.

        "The deals, with organisations including the ABC, Nine and News Corp, have brought around $200 million to the sector, according to the government.

        “Now Meta says it’s not renewing the agreements because news isn’t a priority for Facebook users and it wants to invest its money elsewhere.”