| They didn't achieve the goals. > “The negotiations were difficult, but what counts in the end is that we have a fair and balanced result that is fit for a digital Europe,” said European Commission Vice President Andrus Ansip. “The freedoms and rights enjoyed by internet users today will be enhanced, our creators will be better remunerated for their work, and the internet economy will have clearer rules for operating and thriving.” The bill is expected to be formally approved by mid-April, after which European Union governments will have two years to include it in their national laws. Take the claims one by one: > The freedoms and rights enjoyed by internet users today will be enhanced I'm not sure what freedom or right was enhanced. Maybe the rights of publishers not to have their content seen by users? But certainly the freedom and right of a news consumer in France was harmed as they have less access to news in a convenient fashion. > our creators will be better remunerated for their work This clearly didn't happen. Maybe people will click more, but Google is said to have performed experiments and found that not showing the text leads to a 45% decline in traffic to the website. Yes, they are likely bias and it might be a ruse, but considering how much internet giants focus on providing the least amount of friction and latency to users, I believe the sentiment is correct. > and the internet economy will have clearer rules for operating and thriving This is an odd claim because some smaller internet companies got exemptions and there was some horse trading with gas. Doesn't seem any clearer to assert publisher rights based on a case by case basis > The deal was made possible after France and Germany proposed a compromise last week, giving smaller internet companies some exemptions from the rules. The compromise coincided with a separate deal in which France agreed to support Germany on a natural-gas pipeline with Russia, according to officials in Brussels and Berlin. [0] https://www.wsj.com/articles/european-union-agrees-to-new-co... |
> Maybe the rights of publishers not to have their content seen by users?
Well, it was always their right (as they could use robots.txt) but now Google gives them a more fine grained control over it.
Though to be honest I'm very, very happy they're trowing a fit right now. Yes, please, use the panel and take your content off of Google.
> But certainly the freedom and right of a news consumer in France was harmed as they have less access to news in a convenient fashion.
True. But they can always go to the website of their favourite news org and go from there.