With Darcy W.E. Allen.
Submission to the Australian Treasury consultation on the News Bargaining Incentive.
Summary: Australia’s proposed News Bargaining Incentive rests on a fundamental policy error. The mechanism is neither about bargaining nor genuinely about news. It operates as a coercive transfer from a small number of large digital platforms to incumbent news media firms, divorced from any coherent connection to the actual use of news content. More accurately characterised as a targeted digital advertising tax, the incentive misrepresents hyperlinks and audience referral as compensable transactions. It will distort entry, exit and business-model design across the digital economy while turning nominally commercial negotiations into administered allocations. These flaws are structural rather than procedural. If supporting journalism is the objective, it should be pursued transparently through direct and accountable policy instruments.
Available at SSRN.