Steptoe Cyberlaw Podcast

The theme of this episode of the Cyberlaw Podcast is, “Be careful what you wish for.“ Techlash regulation is burgeoning around the world. Mark MacCarthy  takes us through a week’s worth of regulatory enthusiasm. Canada is planning to force Google and Facebook to pay Canadian news media for links. It sounds simple, but arriving at the right price—and the right recipients—will require a hefty dose of discretionary government intervention. Meanwhile, South Korea’s effort to regulate Google’s Android app store policies, which also sounds simple, is quickly devolving into such detail that the government might as well call it price regulation—because that’s what it is. And, Mark notes, even in China, which seemed to be moderating its hostility to tech platforms, just announced algorithm compliance audits for TenCent and ByteDance. Nobody is weeping for Big Tech, but anybody who thinks this kind of thing will hurt Big Tech has never studied the history of AT&T—or Rupert Murdoch. Incumbent tech companies have