For every dazzling image beamed home from Mars rovers or navigation satellite keeping ships on course, there are missions that go astray, technology that fails, and millions, sometimes billions, of taxpayer dollars lost to the void. 

Google is threatening to pull New Zealand news snippets from its search and Google News platforms. But the Government should hold firm in a rare effort to address the power imbalance between Big Tech and nations grappling with the implications of their influence.