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GERRY: THE CONTINUING BATTLE
BETWEEN TRADITIONAL AND NEW
MEDIA.
FACEBOOK HAS STRUCK A DEAL WITH
AUSTRALIAN REGULATORS TO RESTORE
NEWS SHARING IN THE COUNTRY.
THIS AFTER THE SOCIAL MEDIA
GIANT REFUSED TO PAY PUBLISHERS
FOR THEIR CONTENT BASED ON
PROPOSED LEGISLATION THERE.
SO COULD THIS PRACTICE BE THE
START OF A NEW BUSINESS MODEL
FOR FACEBOOK AND FOR PUBLISHERS?
WILL U.S. PUBLISHERS AND THE
BUSINESS AND COMPANIES FOLLOW
SUIT?
WELL, JOINING US NOW IS A FORMER
MICROSOFT EXECUTIVE VICE
PRESIDENT, CHIEF OPERATING
OFFICER OF THE HERBAL GROUP.
THANKS FOR JOINING US, BOB.
INITIALLY UNDER PRESSURE FROM
THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT TO,
ESSENTIALLY, TO OFFER PAYMENT TO
PUBLISHERS FOR CONTENT, FACEBOOK
DIDN’T LIKE THAT, TOOK ALL
CONTENT OFF AUSTRALIA -- OFF ITS
AUSTRALIAN FACEBOOK, ALL NEWS
PUBLISHERS’ CONTENT OFF.
IT’S NOW BACKED DOWN ON THE
UNDERSTANDING THAT THERE WILL BE
THE GOVERNMENT MADE SOME SMALL
CONCESSIONS.
ARE WE GOING TO SEE, DO YOU
THINK, THIS MODEL NOW WHERE
PUBLISHERS ARE GOING TO GET PAID
FOR THE CONTENT, THE EXPENSIVE
CONTENT THEY PRODUCE WHICH
FACEBOOK SELLS ADVERTISING
AGAINST, IS THAT GOING TO BE THE
MODEL NOW THAT WE’VE SEEN IT IN
AUSTRALIA?
>> I’D BE SURPRISED IF IT
WASN’T, GERRY, BECAUSE OTHER
GOVERNMENTS ARE LOOKING AT THIS.
THE PUBLICATION OUTFITS ARE
LOOKING AT THIS AND SAYING, WAIT
A MINUTE, AT THAT’S THERE MAY BE
HOPE HERE IN -- AT LAST THERE
MAY BE HOPE HERE IN TERMS OF
GETTING SOMEWHAT PAID FOR WHAT
WE PRODUCE.
GRANTED, WITH FACEBOOK AND
TWITTER AND OTHERS THE CONTENT
COMES IN VARIOUS FORMS.
SOMETIMES IT’S A LEAK, YOU KNOW,
A LINK ON A PIECE OF E-MAIL OR
IN A MESSAGE AND THE LIKE, BUT
BY AND LARGE, IT’S THERE, IT
DESERVES TO BE PAID FOR, AND
FACEBOOK HAD TO MAKE A DEAL IN
ORDER TO GET SOME MORE
REASONABLE RATES.
BUT, YEAH, I THINK WE’LL SEE A
LOT OF THIS.
I THINK GOVERNMENTS ARE WATCHING
VERY CLOSELY.
GERRY: AND GOOGLE’S ALREADY DONE
A SIMILAR DEAL WITH COMPANIES
INCLUDING NEWS CORP., WHICH IS
SISTER COMPANY OF FOX, OF
COURSE.
I’M WONDERING, IF THIS WAS A BIT
OF A MISSTEP BY FACEBOOK.
THEY TOOK NEWS PUBLISHERS’
CONTENT OFF THE NEWS FEED, AND
WHAT YOU GOT WAS A MASSIVE
FLOWERING OF NON-OFFICIAL, OF
ALL KINDS OF STORIES, FAKE NEWS,
PROPAGANDA, RUMOR, GOSSIP.
THE VERY THING THAT FACEBOOK IS
UNDER SO MUCH PRESSURE ABOUT, SO
MUCH CRITICISM FOR, IT ACTUALLY
GAVE A NEW PLATFORM TO.
AND I THINK THAT PROBABLY CAUSES
PEOPLE TO REALIZE HOW IMPORTANT
PROPER, REAL PUBLISHED NEWS IS.
>> I THINK THAT’S TRUE.
YOU KNOW, IF YOU GO BACK TO THE
BEGINNING, I THINK THESE SOCIAL
MEDIA COMPANIES THOUGHT THAT
THEY WOULD CREATE THESE
PLATFORMS, PEOPLE WOULD PUT ALL
KINDS OF INFORMATION THERE,
POINTS OF VIEW, AND IT TURNED
OUT IT WAS A LOT OF FAKE NEWS
AND IT WAS A LOT OF SLANDER, AND
PRETTY SOON THEY START TO GET
HIT FROM ALL ANGLES BE IT
GOVERNMENT OR WHATEVER FOR, YOU
KNOW, YOU’RE NOT TAKING DOWN
THIS CONTENT.
YOU’RE NOT PUTTING UP THIS
CONTENT.
YOUR AD PRICING IS SCREWED UP.
WE DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY WE’RE
GETTING GOUGED ON AD RATES.
AND ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE WERE
COMING TO THE PARTY SAYING, WAIT
A MINUTE, THIS IS A COMPLICATED
BEAST.
AND I THINK THE OPENERS OF THESE
ORGANIZATION -- THE OWNERS OF
THESE ORGANIZATIONS HAVE BEEN
CONFUSED, AND THEY’RE NOW THE
BRUNT OF ALL OF THESE ACTIVITIES
COMING AT THEM.
GERRY: BOB, QUICKLY, JUST VERY
BRIEFLY, I WANTED TO SHOW YOU
SOMETHING, "WALL STREET JOURNAL"
EDITORIAL TODAY TALKING ABOUT AN
EXAMPLE OF TECH CENSORSHIP.
WE JUST HAD ANOTHER -- THERE’S
THE ARTICLE, YOU PROBABLY CAN’T
SEE IT -- AND IT TALKS ABOUT THE
STORY WE HAD THIS WEEK WHERE
AMAZON HAS ACTUALLY REMOVED A
BOOK FROM ITS SALE WHICH SOMEHOW
TRANSGRESSES THE KIND OF WOKE
RULES ABOUT, IT’S A BOOK CALLED
I THINK WHEN HARRY BECAME SALLY.
IT’S A CRITIQUE OF MUCH OF THE
MODERN TRANSGENDER -- AMAZON HAS
REMOVED THAT BOOK.
AND, YOU KNOW, IT DOES
ILLUSTRATE THE, DOESN’T IT, THE
EXTRAORDINARY POWER THAT THESE
TECH COMPANIES HAVE TO CONTROL
THE INFORMATION THAT PEOPLE CAN
ACTUALLY SEE.
>> THERE’S NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.
AND IT’S GOING TO LEAD TO BIG
PROBLEMS FOR THEM.
THEY’RE GOING TO BE TURNED
INCREDIBLE HEAVY WEATHER FROM A
LEGAL PERSPECTIVE OVER THE
COURSE OF THE NEXT TWO TO THREE
YEARS, AND I THINK HOPEFULLY
WE’LL BEGIN TO REALIZE THE UM
MENACE PROBLEM THEY’RE IN.
IMMENSE PROBLEM THEY’RE IN.
YOU KNOW, THEY ARE VERY
IMPORTANT, BUT TO TRY TO
REGULATE THESE PEOPLE IS GOING
TO BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT.
SO THE BAD NEWS IS IT’S GOING TO
TAKE A LONG TIME TO GET THIS
THING SORTED OUT.
GERRY: WE’RE SEEING IT IN