Don’t Come the Raw Prawn with Me, Google!
Among all the epidemics and crazy world “leaders” being deposed, you could be forgiven for having missed the news that Google is currently swinging its proverbial wang around, trying to bully the Australian government.
If you’re not aware, the tl;dr version is this; Last year the Aussie government passed a law that would require major online news vendors — in particular news sites and aggregators — to pay a fee for linking to stories posted on sites from Australian media companies, although not for the content itself. Any site not following the new rule would incur millions in fines. Google baulked at this and said that they would refuse to pay any such fee and instead would leave Australia, making their search engine unavailable Down Under.
Facebook is also included in this law, but so far they haven’t spat the dummy like Google has.
If you’d like a really great explanation of all this, check out this brilliant podcast from Trevor Long.
Why Would Australia Make Such A Rule?
The Australian media industry, in particular its more traditional mediums such as newspapers and news television programs, has always held itself to the highest standard. You know when you watch a film about a reporter fighting the fight so the truth can be revealed, saying…
