Australia, EU, California, and the Fed

Wow, regulation roundups again are the thing.  That prediction I made about 2021 and regulation… we’ll get to that.
Net Neutrality is being upheld in California, as a judge has ruled to decline the telecom industry the injunction it requested.  The case is not over – but the law can go into effect.   And.. the judge doesn’t think the industry will win.   The DOJ has previously dropped its own lawsuit, so this was the last major obstacle to the law.

And while we’re at it … Australia passed the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code.    Now, Google and Facebook are required to negotiate licensing agreements with publishers for news articles on their search and feeds.    The law is currently designed to target those two… but could be expanded “where fundamental bargaining power imbalances with Australian news businesses emerge.”   And, amendments to the law mean that the government can take into account agreements a company may have previously made.

The EU has given their nod to agreement to data-sharing with the UK in “adequacy decisions”.   While still pending approval of EU governments, this allows data sharing between the EU and UK.  

Finally, the Biden administration has signed an executive order to look into the global semiconductor supply chain, and review computer chips, large capacity batteries and others.  

Who knew we’d learn so much about supply chains so quickly.   Plus, this segment has something for just about every region.
I feel like this is three for four on government moves.    I’m pro net neutrality, particularly with my belief of broadband as a utility.  The why is that it opens markets for services.     The EU and UK agreeing on a data standard at least keeps things from getting complicated fast for providers there, and keeps the status quo.   GDPR stays in place.  Finally, we clearly have issues with the supply chain, so at least looking should help.

As for Australia… a bad law to handle a problem poorly that needs to be addressed, and the EU is likely to follow.