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Google: Open Letter to Australians

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Re: Google: Open Letter to Australians

#161

We need to unite the world under one government. The system should be democracy but no longer country based. Instead, it's region based. A successful party in one region can enter election in any other region and get votes. So it's like war, but with voting not weapons!

We can solve the taxation issue that way, since the world is whole so only one money system and we make it electronic so transactions will be taxed!

Re: Google: Open Letter to Australians

#162

Google evil etc etc aside, they have been decent custodians of their users data. I don't really want to trust Google, but they behave much better than the Australian government, who recently admitted they spy on their citizens [0], can coerce citizens and companies to install backdoors into their companies software [1]. I trust Murdoch less than the government, and much much less than Google. Remember when Murdoch in…

In regards to parent commenters [0] link, this is the story that got a journalist's home raided by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) because she received leaked information (that turned out to be 100% correct) that the Department for Home Affairs was planning to allow the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) to spy on Australian citizens. Directly quoting from the linked article: ASD powers have been a source of co…

What the Australian government does well is control information and controversy. The government is a quiet achiever in that regard.

Australians have been comfortable for a while, and are generally disengaged from politics. Most Australians I know are more aware of American politics than their own.

Re: Google: Open Letter to Australians

#163
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And surprisingly, not one mention of Murdoch. "The law would force us to give an unfair advantage to one group of businesses - news media businesses - over everyone else who has a website, YouTube channel or small business." This wording doesn't suggest that Murdoch would have a better advantage than any other 'news media business'. Is there anything in the new laws to suggest, apart from capital/resources, that th…

I agree with your broader point, though it should be noted that public broadcasters (namely ABC and SBS) will not be able to make use of certain rights under the new legislation (namely the forced arbitration system). So it does give slightly more favour to private media organisations -- though you could argue allowing the ABC or SBS to exercise those powers would violate their own charters (their duty is not to be c…

Where in their charter does it say that it is one of their duties not to be competitive with other media?

The only mention in the charter (it's really short) is:

> (2) In the provision by the Corporation of its broadcasting services within Australia:

>

>(a) the Corporation shall take account of:

>

>(i) the broadcasting services provided by the commercial and community sectors of the Australian broadcasting system;

It's a Murdoch/Nine/7West continuous whinge that ABC/SBS compete "unfairly", yet when it comes to actual community needs (eg emergency broadcasting, rural and regional reporting etc), they do squat in return for their spectrum and cable licenses.

Re: Google: Open Letter to Australians

#164
Google should just de-list News Corp and the other big media companies that dominate the Australian media industry and who often manipulate elections for their own benefit with one sided heavily biased coverage. Give some breathing space to the smaller players.

Re: Google: Open Letter to Australians

#165
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The government that mandates backdoors in every software product? That government?[1] 1. https://www.wired.com/story/australia-encryption-law-global-...

While I vocally opposed that piece of legislation (and are included in the public comments collection), that is not an accurate description of the law. The government that can force you to add backdoors in certain circumstances, and you cannot tell people about it. Yes that is utterly abhorrent, but that isn't the same as "government mandated backdoors in every software product" -- though funnily enough, the US Senat…

Sorry, you're right. The government that can demand backdoors in any software product. That's a lot better. /s

I didn't say the US Senate is a lot better, but to be completely fair there isn't a backdoor law in the US yet. It's possible Australia was the testing ground for that type of legislation though.

Re: Google: Open Letter to Australians

#166

Google evil etc etc aside, they have been decent custodians of their users data. I don't really want to trust Google, but they behave much better than the Australian government, who recently admitted they spy on their citizens [0], can coerce citizens and companies to install backdoors into their companies software [1]. I trust Murdoch less than the government, and much much less than Google. Remember when Murdoch in…

In regards to parent commenters [0] link, this is the story that got a journalist's home raided by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) because she received leaked information (that turned out to be 100% correct) that the Department for Home Affairs was planning to allow the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) to spy on Australian citizens. Directly quoting from the linked article: ASD powers have been a source of co…

How do you draw the conclusion that the Australian people want this behaviour? As far as I can tell none us want this but once elected the politicians fail to action what the people want. Over and over again...

Re: Google: Open Letter to Australians

#167
If anyone is smart enough and patient enough to understand the new law could they comment on these points?

1. How will Johnny little guy’s “news blog” benefit from this? Could they require google pay them to display their headlines on search? 2. Will the revenue passed on to the Murdochs be taxed by the Aus gov? Ie: another way to capture tax from Google operating in Aus? 3. What are the foreseeable outcomes of say, no news results are displayed on Google search and people have to visit the news websites directly? Ie: what I often do when I see an interesting article I can not read, I google for it and find a news site that _will_ let me read it.

Re: Google: Open Letter to Australians

#168

Google evil etc etc aside, they have been decent custodians of their users data. I don't really want to trust Google, but they behave much better than the Australian government, who recently admitted they spy on their citizens [0], can coerce citizens and companies to install backdoors into their companies software [1]. I trust Murdoch less than the government, and much much less than Google. Remember when Murdoch in…

In regards to parent commenters [0] link, this is the story that got a journalist's home raided by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) because she received leaked information (that turned out to be 100% correct) that the Department for Home Affairs was planning to allow the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) to spy on Australian citizens. Directly quoting from the linked article: ASD powers have been a source of co…

> this seems to be the Government that the Australian people want.

I can assure you it’s not. The problem with Republics is that “one man one vote” does not translate into the majority getting what it wants. The loudest and most well organized political forces will get their way, even ones small in number or popular support. State security services have a long history of involvement in politics and media in the Anglo-sphere.

Re: Google: Open Letter to Australians

#169
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looking at how many people opted out of MyHealth over the concerns of Government having their data, I think your reason will not resonate with many.

I really hope they made good on that. Can we confirm that if we opted out, we indeed don't have a my health record, or whether they just set one up regardless?

They may have set one up regardless, as the basic registration data comes from MyGov, and you may have a user.

However, it would require your health professional to upload data to the service - and most have simply refused.

But to actually check if one's MyHealth record exists and has data, one must first opt-in to MyHealth, which is a bit chicken/egg.

Re: Google: Open Letter to Australians

#170

Google should just de-list News Corp and the other big media companies that dominate the Australian media industry and who often manipulate elections for their own benefit with one sided heavily biased coverage. Give some breathing space to the smaller players.

The quality of news would triple if they removed all newscorp sites. They could just use ABC news purely and the quality would be far better.
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