Thread by @Caffar3Cristina

So #Google threatens Parliament to shut down Search in Australia if the proposed "new-media bargaining code" is not changed (rules mandate #Google & #Facebook to pay publishers for links to news articles in search results). Meanwhile in Europe … 1/ wsj.com/articles/googl…

...on the same day a settlement is announced between @GoogleEnFrance and French publishers @AlliancePress on payments for news - after the @Adlc_ went to war with #interim_measures and an #injunction to negotiate. Seems to have concentrated minds... 2/

techcrunch.com/2021/01/21/goo…

Why the difference? Well, the #French solution is a local affair, a "framework agreement" for #Google to negotiate licensing deals with individual publishers under the Copyright Directive. The @acccgovau #bargaining_code has potential to #contaminate other jurisdictions...3/

...because it is novel and has interesting economic properties as a #decentralised #regulatory_solution (as said at the time)
voxeu.org/article/accc-s… 4/

..and indeed also liked by @JosephEStiglitz 5/ on.ft.com/37uvaYX

...although US Trade Representative in Australia came through for @Google opposing the code in the Parliament, about 5 minutes after President Biden was sworn in... 6/
globalcompetitionreview.com/collective-bar…

Still, the notion of shutting down a country from Search is pretty extraordinary. Not that relations are overall cordial over there: recall a few odds and ends still pending... /fin
mobihealthnews.com/news/australia….