Google threatens to remove its search engine from Australia

mellowyellow

mellowyellow

Well-known Member
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Google is threatening to pull its search engine from an entire country — Australia — if a proposed law goes into effect that would force Google to pay news publishers for their content.

“If this version of the Code were to become law it would give us no real choice but to stop making Google Search available in Australia,” Google Australia and New Zealand VP Meg Silva told Australia’s Senate Economics Legislation Committee today.

“We have had to conclude after looking at the legislation in detail we do not see a way, with the financial and operational risks, that we could continue to offer a service in Australia,” she added, according to The Sydney Morning Herald…………………

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/tech...ralia-if-new-law-goes-into-effect/ar-BB1cYO5I
 

I have been expecting for some time now, for various entities to start controlling access to various aspects of the internet. When I see something of value to me such as a youtube playlist or an article, I download it immediately. When I purchase an online course that is intended to be streamed online, I am able to download it in its entirety for future reference and/or completion.

To me, it is foolhardy to consider ANYTHING on the internet to have any sort of permanence. A site's access can be restricted. An online shop is little more than files on a server, and its owner can easily take that down if s/he no longer feels it is worth the time and investment. Government entities have been gearing up to enforce various restrictions. There has been increasing noise in the media about these changes, but they have been quietly going on for some time. It only appears that these changes are sudden.

Tony
 
Warrigal said:
I'm not sure I know the difference. Which one is Google?
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Google is a search engine, though they also make software available such as the Chrome browser. The browser is the application you run on your computer. A search engine is a site that you access with your browser to do your search. If you do a google search on search engines, you might be surprised at how many there are. For some examples to illustrate:

Google is simply another URL you access: https://www.google.com/

Duck duck go is another mentioned in this thread (and is one I am increasingly using): https://duckduckgo.com/

There are many more. Try cutting and pasting each of the above URLs into your browser. You will come to that search engine, so you can easily see that search engines are sites, not your browser.

There are also several browsers. If you are concerned about security, then you might want to look into the Brave browser:

https://brave.com/

There is nothing that says you need to use a specific browser or search engine. The choice is yours, once you become aware that you have choices.

Edit: after posting, I see that Devi had posted just before me, so my post repeats what Devi said, but just a bit more detail.

Tony
 
tbeltrans said:
Google is a search engine, though they also make software available such as the Chrome browser. The browser is the application you run on your computer. A search engine is a site that you access with your browser to do your search. If you do a google search on search engines, you might be surprised at how many there are. For some examples to illustrate:

Google is simply another URL you access: https://www.google.com/

Duck duck go is another mentioned in this thread (and is one I am increasingly using): https://duckduckgo.com/

There are many more. Try cutting and pasting each of the above URLs into your browser. You will come to that search engine, so you can easily see that search engines are sites, not your browser.

There are also several browsers. If you are concerned about security, then you might want to look into the Brave browser:

https://brave.com/

There is nothing that says you need to use a specific browser or search engine. The choice is yours, once you become aware that you have choices.

Edit: after posting, I see that Devi had posted just before me, so my post repeats what Devi said, but just a bit more detail.

Tony
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I never heard of Brave. Thanks Tony I'm gonna give it a try.
 
IMO everyone should move away from big tech and its attempts at information control;
My browser; Mozilla fire fox.
My primary search engine; duck duck go.
My social media; Senior Forums, with other, specialty forums...

Enjoy!
 
Happy Joe said:
IMO everyone should move away from big tech and its attempts at information control;
My browser; Mozilla fire fox.
My primary search engine; duck duck go.
My social media; Senior Forums, with other, specialty forums...

Enjoy!
Click to expand...
That was my immediate and first thought upon hearing of Google's huffing, puffing, and pouting.

My answer to this, every country worldwide should follow Australia's lead.

Such a special time for me it is when I can witness a bully get pushed up against a wall by their throat.

I look forward to the day when Google get's it's legs kicked-out from underneath them. Hope I'll be around to watch them land on their rear-end.
 
Remember that we made "big tech" (i.e. the sites folks complain about) what they are by all of us using them and doing business with them. They all started out small and often were never intended by their originators to fill the role they have grown into. As an example, the Facebook that even our government is going up against now, started out as a small project by one or two guys to enable their college buddies to communicate with each other. When Amazon started out with electronic books, Barnes and Noble was the big player in that market space.

Though I can't speak for other countries, I can say that here in the USA, we tend to like, and root for, the underdog. But when that "underdog" gets too big, then it becomes the evil guy and when a new underdog comes along, we root for that, and the cycle starts all over again.

Of course, as these companies grow, they have to grapple with new sets of problems and issues that present themselves at the various stages of growth. It is definitely true that some of these companies DO become bullies once they realize they can be that. Other companies may not realize the impact that their business practices are having.

Just as with anything involving humans, things are not always "black and white" or "cut and dried". Much of the time, we have a "love/hate" type of relationship with these companies. I see folks here complain about companies, but at the same time, continue to utilize their services and talk about doing so here too. Amazon, Google, Facebook, are just a few that I see posts here clearly illustrating this.

Anyway, it is by voting with our wallets that we can collectively send a message to a given company, just as by voting with our wallets, we make or break companies. With sites such as Facebook, by collectively leaving, there is nobody to come to the party and such a site will eventually shrivel up and go away.

So, as folks complain about these companies, remember that we individually and collectively have the ultimate power to make or break these companies. They actually depend more on us, than we do on them, to survive.

Tony
 
I think it's that newspapers have a fundamental problem. If I buy a newspaper, of course, I'm able to read everything that's printed in it. But if I throw the paper away, and another picks it up, does that person now have to pay to read the newspaper? And if a newspaper also prints free editions on line, where anyone can read them, why does a search engine have to pay the newspaper for referring others to that site?
 
StarSong said:
I'd guess this would eventually be applied to all search engines. Not sure why they should pay to offer links to a news website, unless there's something else afoot.
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I don't know how the law that Google doesn't like is worded, but I don't think it's about providing links to news sites. Think it goes deeper than that.
 


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