Displaying items by tag: Digital platforms

The chief of Australia’s competition watchdog, Rod Sims believes that the most hotly debated issue in competition law around the world is whether ex ante regulation of particular digital platforms is needed.

GUEST OPINION by Mark Weaser, Vice President, APAC, OutSystems:  Customer experience (CX) has quickly become a top business priority as more of us interact and transact online. However, CX transformation initiatives are rare in the healthcare sector, despite the increasing adoption and use of virtual care visits. While you might feel satisfied with your healthcare provider in person, the industry has a prominent delivery gap. Only 34 percent of consumers feel that they get the information they need and 56 percent don’t think they get the same quality of care in virtual settings as compared to an in-person visit^[1].

Australia’s competition regulator, the ACCC, has granted interim authorisation for Country Press Australia (CPA) members to collectively negotiate with Facebook and Google over payments to publishers for their news content that appears on the platforms.  

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has released another research report in its ‘Communications and media in Australia’ series, with headline figures showing 8.2 million terabytes of data downloaded, 9.6 billion voice minutes and more.

Telstra's belated bid to restructure deserves applause but the main question that remains is whether it is too little too late, Australia's best-known independent telecommunications consultant Paul Budde says.

Sales practices in Australia’s domestic travel sector, competition in aviation and the conduct of some caravan manufacturers - along with sales issues with digital platforms, energy and telecommunications and other business and industry sectors - have been laid out by Australia’s competition and consumer watchdog, the ACCC, in its compliance and enforcement priorities for 2021.

Facebook is right in its assessment that Australian news content and the interactions it leads to with the social media site's users do not create much revenue, an academic at the University of Sydney's School of Computer Science says.

Search behemoth Google, which is trying to muscle the Australian Government into accepting a news media code devised by itself, has contradicted its own threat to pull out of the market by slyly approaching smaller news organisations and trying to cut deals on its (Google's) terms.

Digital marketing solutions provider Localsearch has urged the government and Google to reach a compromise on the proposed news media code, saying it fears that else small businesses could suffer.

Search giant Google has rejected the Australian news media code which was introduced into Parliament on 9 December, saying it "remains unworkable, but there is a way forward".

The Federal Government has blown a chance it had to implement a world-leading deal with digital giants Google and Facebook, backing down even before the bill for its so-called News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code was introduced into Parliament. The digital platforms will be breaking out the Dom Pérignon in Silicon Valley over the way they have clinically neutered Treasurer Josh Frydenberg.

The Coalition Government will introduce the news media code, known as News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code, into Parliament on Wednesday.

Australia’s competition watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, says it is keeping a close watch on global anti-trust efforts focusing on major digital platforms, including the US Department of Justice’s recent case against Google and proposed new competition laws in Europe.

Australia’s telecommunications regulator the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has released its research program for the 2020 to 2021 financial year, with its primary focus on consideration of how current and future developments in the communications and media landscape will impact public interest outcomes and its regulatory role.

Competition agencies from five countries including Australia’s ACCC have signed a new cooperation agreement to better coordinate investigations across international borders and share intelligence, case theories and investigative techniques.

Regulators globally must keep pace with the growing economic power and influence of digital platforms, according to Rod Sims, the chief of Australia’s competition and consumer commission, the ACCC.

It looks like the days of freeloading for American digital platforms will end when the clock strikes midnight on 31 December. Unless, of course, the likes of Google and Facebook go crying to [US President] Uncle Donald Trump and ask him to give naughty Scott Morrison a rap on the knuckles to stop Australia from charging these two companies almighty fines for their use of Australian news content.

Australia’s telecommunications regulator ACMA has released a position paper outlining its expectations for a voluntary code or codes of practice on misinformation and news quality to be developed by digital platforms.

The ABC has markedly changed its stance towards Google and Facebook, now that the ACCC is pushing for the digital platforms to pay news organisations for using their content.

Social media behemoth Facebook has told the Australian competition watchdog that its community metrics or revenue would not be affected in any way if no Australian news content was available on its web site.