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0 pointshydrox245y ago0 comments

> Australia NEVER moves first on these things.

I think it is uncommon for Australia to move first, but we do move first sometimes. I thought the recent news revenue-sharing laws[0] are an example of that.

> They want EU or US to make a move first to see what works

It's always nice to know how a policy will work beforehand, but I don't think it's remarkable how rarely Australia moves first. Putting aside cultural differences, we're a medium power in a world with many medium powers, even in the West, why would we expect to be first, ahead of European countries, or North American ones, or developed nations in Asia?

[0]: https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/australias-ne...

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simondotau5y ago· 1 in thread

The revenue-sharing laws were a scam, basically the Government forcing Google and Facebook to pay arbitrary bribes to a few big media companies.

If the laws weren't a scam, that money would have gone to pay for journalism, not prop up the bottom line of companies which are consistently cutting back the number of journalists under their employ.

simondotau5y ago

And it's worth remembering the ACCC's central role in this scam.

https://www.accc.gov.au/focus-areas/digital-platforms/news-m...

My advice to any future Federal Government would be to gut the ACCC and rebuild it from the ground up. And then if the rebuilt entity demonstrates competence, significantly increasing its funding.

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