Reasonable ? No
Context :
Mandate
tech giants to share revenue / ET Editorial
/ 19 Feb 2021
Extract :
In the ongoing tussle between the government and tech
giants Google and Facebook in Australia over sharing revenue with news media,
Google and Facebook have adopted different strategies. While Google is trying
to sidestep a direct confrontation by striking deals with the bigger media
companies of the region, and elsewhere, by enrolling them in the Google News
Showcase and paying them for that participation, Facebook has decided to not
let members share news in Australia and bar Australian news elsewhere in the
world.
Implicit in this aggressive bargaining position is the
understanding that Australia is too small a market for
the tech giants for its potential loss to force these companies to change their
conduct.
This is the right time for India to join
the battle and bring in a law mandating tech giants that
harvest advertising revenue by displaying news stories to share revenue with those who create the content
they display.
India is a huge market, as it is. It is an enormous
market in the making and no company would willingly forsake a share of this
growing pie.
The threat that might work against Australia,
accounting for $4 billion of Google’s annual $181 billion revenue. But India
promises much, much more, whatever its current yield.
Google will be persuaded to strike the kind of deal it
has struck with French publishers and now with Australian ones with
Indian news media as well. True, with the equalisation levy, the
government does collect some tax from the likes of Google.
But by mandating the tech giants to share revenue with the content creators,
the government would gain additional tax revenue as well, as Indian companies
make additional profits and pay additional taxes.
But that is not the main point. A
financially healthy news media is essential for democracy to function.
Discouraging practices that erode news media’s
revenues is an essential task of good governance. Microsoft has supported the
official Australian stance.
A similar law
in India would find powerful allies, as well, from within the tech world and
outside.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Shri Bodhisatva Ganguliji
( Editor , Economic Times / Bodhisatva.ganguli@timesgroup.com ),
There can be no quarrel with your statement :
“ A financially
healthy news media is essential for democracy to function “
It is also understandable when
you write :
“ … bring in a law mandating tech
giants that harvest advertising revenue by displaying news stories to share revenue with those who
create the content they display……. “
But ,
News Media should first agitate for the benefit of
masses before trying to advance their own interests
Print Media earns millions from companies which
advertise on them. That income enables Media to sell print copies at very cheap
rates (often below the cost of paper / printing )
Look upon it as a kind of “ REVENUE SHARING “ with the
readers
It is precisely this “ Low Sale Price “ which enables
you to get millions of people to “ buy “ news papers
In turn, it is this “ Circulation Size “ ( of millions
) that motivates companies to give you advts !
How are online Social Media ( Google / Facebook etc ) managing
to offer FREE services to millions of their users ?
By “ harvesting and selling “ personal data of these
millions of users to their advertisers / other DATA BUYERS
I believe , media like yours , should agitate for
Social Media to “ compensate “ these millions of CONTENT CREATORS
I urge you to :
Ø Study my suggestions at :
# Digital
Dividend from Demographic Data [ 4 D ]………[ 14 Feb 2019 ]
# SARAL( Single Authentic Registration
for Anywhere Login )… 10 Feb 2019 ]
Ø Launch
a campaign ( much like your , very successful “ LostVotes “ campaign ) for Social
Media to compensate its uses for their data
This would not appear merely as some kind of “ altruism “. It would demonstrate your willingness to fight for the cause of the common men
With regards
Hemen Parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 19 Feb 2021
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