https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-...-code/13079912

a bit of a ding dong in progress between the tech world and the Australian government. My first reaction is "byeeee". Not sure it is as easy as that though.

Our PM is a no-nonsense "tough guy". For once I hope he sticks to his guns

[EDIT] Post edited based on the contribution below. Thanks for picking this up.

A touchy feely kind of guy, I guess....

I think it's high time someone stood up to these bullies. Good on Australia!

I read that yesterday. I bet there will be blowback from that. Australians want to use google/facebook, I bet.

Wonder which one he's touching in this photo... https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...2478973%29.jpg


Anyhow, the story here appears to be along the lines that the Australian Government is trying to get Google and Facebook (and perhaps others) to pay for referencing/linking to news stories.

The actual bill appears to be: Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill 2020.

I can't be arsed deciphering the legalese of that to work out if this is specifically targetting Google & Facebook, or whether it affects any website that links to an Australian news source - the bill doesn't mention Google or Facebook directly, but it does reference "designated digital platform corporation", which might be the necessary language to target them, but might also be saying "anyone on the web that the Australian Government and/or Rupert Murdoch doesn't like"?

For one thing, it depends on whether it gets through Parliament or not, and therefore whether it becomes law or not.

In any case, it's called TOR or a VPN...

So whatever...

:shrugs:

They may be in trouble in the US as well. Apparently Biden hates FB; you can hardly blame him after all they did for Trump. He is enthusiastic about the anti-trust case that is currently going through. The Federal Trade Commission wants to break up FB and reconstruct Instagram and WhatsApp as separate companies.

Biden has also said that he wants to revoke Section 230, which defines FB and Twitter as "platforms" that are not responsible for what people post on them. Of course, they both now censor a lot of the posts and tweets that right wing people make, which means they long ago ceased to be platforms and became publishers. You can't have it both ways.

That's the good thing about not having a narcissistbook Facebook account... who cares what happens to them.

But boughtonp does have a point about the likes of Rupert Murdoch pissing in the ears of Australian PM's...

Interesting this.

I think google are bluffing, and that they won't pull out. But if they pull 100% of their services, and do the geo-ip blocking, or whatever, an unexpected effect of this might be that gmail goes offline in Oz. Also, the Google Play store could go, affecting Android mobile phones. And because gmail is gone, you couldn't set up a play store account (for which you need a gmail address). No Android updates, obsolete phones, etc.

Why it's interesting is because it underscores the problem of how much we are getting 'assimilated' by what I have heard called The Googleverse.

I did think about implications. I have tried to cut down my reliance on Google so the pain to me would be minimal (Google Maps mostly). There could though be indirect consequences not yet known. I am guessing this is the first exchange in the "debate". Typical bluster - you won't let us win so we are taking our ball away. Let's face it though...Google aren't going to pull out

And as per post #5 you can't help thinking that Murdoch is involved somewhere. Our leaders typically accomodate News Corp.

Me too.

I have a dead gmail box just for Android. To get that, you have to agree to stuff, inherited, no doubt, by your phone. Apple are as bad, if not worse.

From the article timl linked:
No mention of other Google services being affected.

I don't understand why Mr Scott Morrison is so interested in getting more revenue for the news sites. Is he hoping to tax a part of the revenue for government? Not that it's bad in itself.

AP

I dare say because News Corp/Rupert Murdoch is telling him the Liberal Party will get a bigger donation if they make Google, etc pay up. Our PM isn't doing it out of the kindness of his heart, that's for sure... The only thing the Liberal Party here cares about is money, even a guy I used to know that worked for them said that. They don't care about anything else apart from $$$$...

That's nearly an advantage! There's plenty of alternatives.