Canadian lawmakers are locked in a dispute with internet technology companies over a law that would compel them to pay news publishers for content, years after a similar regulatory saga played out in Australia.
Some reflections on the Australian experience and what they might mean for Canada.
After Google’s move on Thursday, Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez sent a written statement calling the companies’ moves “deeply irresponsible and out of touch … especially when they make billions of dollars off of Canadian users” with advertising.
Australia’s regulatory experiment – the first of its kind in the world – also got off to a rocky start, but it has since seen tech companies, news publishers and the government reach a middle ground.
The law makes sense to me. He says, regarding Google, that “Linking is what a search engine does.” But Google, as we know, is gleaning information from users, who are its product, to sell to advertisers (for more targeted advertising.)
So, links are not its business. Links are props to attract the product (us, its users) to it, to prepare us to be sold. Like all other businesses (IE, pubs) that have props (IE, barstools), Google should pay for some of its props.
There’s also the interesting aspect that they can control what search results appear in what order, if it all.
Everyone thinks corporations pay Google to have their name at the top, but rarely do people think that corporations pay Google to keep their name at the bottom.
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The law makes sense to me. He says, regarding Google, that “Linking is what a search engine does.” But Google, as we know, is gleaning information from users, who are its product, to sell to advertisers (for more targeted advertising.)
So, links are not its business. Links are props to attract the product (us, its users) to it, to prepare us to be sold. Like all other businesses (IE, pubs) that have props (IE, barstools), Google should pay for some of its props.
There’s also the interesting aspect that they can control what search results appear in what order, if it all.
Everyone thinks corporations pay Google to have their name at the top, but rarely do people think that corporations pay Google to keep their name at the bottom.