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.
Yeah, charging for links is bad because it goes against the Internet multilateral model (and thus it’s health), but companies like Google and Facebook effectively make it a centralised service.
Because of that, I’d argue that regulating these “centralisation” compagnies is actually better for the Internet’s health!
It’s like how anti-monopoly laws look like government intervention, but actually are better for the free market.