Here are a few things that you may have missed in digital, media & technology. Contact me if you want to talk about what these mean for you.
- Australia as a Technology & Financial Centre? Coming soon. The Australian Senate Select Committee dealing with this topic released its report this week. Spoiler – it acknowledges the importance of crypto-currency, but stops short of spelling out how to regulate it in any great detail. The digital crypto currency exchange regulatory measures are unsurprising but helpful to build trust in a growing market.
- The UK Competition & Markets Authority announced that it will investigate the digital streaming market power of the major record labels in the UK. This is hot on the heels of the DCMS Digital Streaming Report and a first step towards potential regulatory outcomes that would (ideally) improve market opportunities for digital music businesses and increased economic participation for artists.
- Google is rolling out a new privacy transparency tool for the Play Store. Aiming for a February 2022 launch, the tool is for developers to share information about how a customer’s personal information is used. Mandatory transparency is a step in the right direction for consumer trust, but greater choice would be even better.
- The US Copyright Office is commissioning a study into the rights of publishers. The Australian News Media Bargaining Code is our gift to the world, with the French adopting a version of it and now the Americans considering the concept. Going that little further, the US is asking whether ‘facts’ in stories should be a protected class.
These were prepared listening to all of Houndmouth on Spotify (thanks to Brett Oaten for the nudge), and are best enjoyed with a coffee – or whatever your choice.
Let me know if you want to talk about any of it, but please share with a few people and encourage them to subscribe.
PS: This week I joined the Australian Institute of Music’s iHub Start Up Accelerator for music technology ventures as a mentor. The AIM sees entrepreneurship as a core skill for the music industry and I’m pleased to support that – and an incredible cohort of music tech start ups – as they bring music tech ventures to life.
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