Facebook and Google Get the Scoop in Australia
August 6, 2020
I read “Forcing Tech Giants to the Table.” The write up explains how the pay Australian publishers scheme will function. The article quoted Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg making the framework crystal clear:
We want Google and Facebook to continue to provide these services to the Australian community, which are so much loved and used by Australians. But we want it to be on our terms.
Those high school science club managers are not likely to find the phrase “on our terms” what is required to sit at the physicists’ and mathematicians’ table in the cafeteria.
The services required to deliver cash are summarized this way:
The range of Facebook services subject to arbitration includes Facebook News Feed, Instagram and the Facebook News Tab. The Google services are Google Search, Google News and Google Discover.
That defeats the whole purpose of the “free” services Google provides. On the other hand, if Google does pay for news in an above board manner, maybe the online ad giant can run sponsored messages, really tasteful ads, and present news in a logical order determined by black box algorithmic magic?
The write up adds:
A breach of the code by Facebook or Google could have a few potential outcomes. The first is an infringement notice which has a penalty of $A133,200 for each breach. If the ACCC takes one of the tech giants to court, the maximum penalty is the higher of $A10million, 10% of the digital platform’s turnover in Australia in the past 12 months, or three times the benefit obtained by the tech giant as a result of the breach (if this can be calculated).
Net net: The science club crowd is likely to pout and be forced to fork out real money to legal eagles. These advisers will say, “This Australian thing will not fly.”
In the meantime, Facebook and Google will keep on doing stuff like selling ads, buying market share, and innovating to solve problems like death.
Stephen E Arnold, August 6, 2020
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