Bottom line: politicians in Australia want to pass a law which says any time someone posts a link to an Australian media site then Facebook has to give that media site money. Facebook then did the most logical thing: They banned posting any content from Australian media sites so now the Australian politicians are crying fake crocodile tears and trying to pretend all of this some how isn't all their fault.
Up next: Traffic and thus ad revenue at Australian media sites goes down sharply and greedy fuckers at News Corp whine about how their plot backfired. Fuck'em.
Not quite true. This all started with Google not paying their dues to Australia and piggy-backing.
“In development for three years, the bargaining code is intended to give Australia’s heavily concentrated media industry more leverage as publishers seek direct payment from Google and Facebook for the right to display links to their work. It does this by forcing the platforms into binding arbitration with publishers who bring cases, and puts the decision for how much the platform has to pay the publishers into the hands of the arbiter. Each side throws out a number, and the arbiter picks the one they think is most fair.
By design, the arbitration process favors the publisher. Also by design, it encourages platforms to avoid the process altogether by signing one-off deals with individual publishers in hopes that they can get better terms that way.“
Tech giants are making heaps of money, and this needs to change. Share the wealth. America, Canada and the UK should be doing the same.
