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| Australia amends laws to get Google and Facebook to pay |
In Australia, the government announced Tuesday that it will review a bill to force Google and Facebook to pay for messages to make it clear that publishers are receiving a one-time payment instead of clicking on news links.
After speaking with the chief executives of Facebook and Google, the Australian government minister described the legislative changes as clarifications and technical adjustments in the government statement.
The government hopes to pass the so-called "Media Bargaining Act" before the current Congress expires on February 25th.
The Minister of Finance and Minister of Communications said in a joint statement: The amendment presented to Parliament on Wednesday will improve the performance of the law while preserving its public influence.
The opposition Labor Party agreed to support the bill and pass it in the Senate. The party does not have a majority in government, but the government may be forced to abandon other changes in the Senate.
The Australian Technology Center, a research center supporting the world's first legislative proposal, approved the proposed changes.
"On the face of it, these changes preserve the integrity of the media law," said the center's director, Peter Lewis, in a statement.
A Senate committee examined the bill after it was presented to Parliament on December 9 and recommended that the law not be changed.
Facebook and Google, which account for 81% of online ads in Australia, condemned the bill as unrealistic.
Google has threatened that Google will withdraw from its search engine when the proposed law goes into effect. Facebook said that if the platform had to pay for the news, it would prevent Australians from sharing the news.
The blog aims to eliminate the dominant bargaining power of the digital giants by forming a jury empowered to make legally binding pricing decisions designed to prevent media platforms and companies from making unrealistic claims.
The new amendment clearly states that the committee must take into account the costs incurred by information platforms and companies.
Seven Western media companies have become the largest Australian news company signing with Google. Company President Kerry Stokes owns 21 publications. He said: The threat of the bill makes this deal possible.
The deal was executed on the exclusive Google News Showcase model. Since launching News Showcase in October, the company has signed payroll deals with more than 450 publications worldwide.
Google announced two weeks ago that it had started paying for seven small Australian websites in its news store.
The Australian government said: It is encouraging that recent reports indicate that news media companies and digital platforms are entering into business deals to present legislation to Parliament.