The treasurer of Australia has advised the tech giants to accept that their platforms should start paying for content, amid threats from Facebook and Google to restrict services in the country if such a policy is put in place.
Canberra is finalizing legislation that requires internet hackers to obtain licenses to use content created by Australian news outlets. Both companies have warned they will retaliate over the revenue-sharing scheme, with Google saying last week that it would remove its search engine from Australia, and Facebook declaring it would remove news from all Australian users.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg pushed back the ultimatums on Sunday and indicated that the Australian government did not want to go off course.
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“My view is that it is inevitable that the digital giants will pay for original content,” he said, suggesting that Australia take the lead in what would soon become a global norm.
He also reprimanded Facebook and Google for their hostility to the proposed regulation, describing their threats to withdraw from Australia as a ‘Great displeasure’.
Google was particularly receptive to the proposed legislation. Earlier this month, it was revealed that the Silicon Valley giant is experimenting with blacklisting some Australian news sites from its search results, apparently as a future strategy to avoid having to pay for the presentation of the content. The move shocked Australian media, which accused Google of carrying out a blatant display of power to prevent the code to share revenue from becoming law.
A spokesperson for Nine, the corporate owners of the Sydney Morning Herald, described the techniques “Experiment” as a An icy illustration of their extraordinary market power. ‘
The proposed law was drafted last July following an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). The commission concludes that much of the media in the country is dependent on references from Google and Facebook, despite the fact that newspapers have little or no influence on the power companies.
Facebook argued that the bill was incompatible with its business model and asked for six months to negotiate directly with news sales. Google has also indicated that it is open to talks, but has insisted that Australian law would be unfair because it does not account for the costs Google will incur.
Last week, Washington requested Canberra to reconsider the draft legislation and suggested that a “Free willing” compensation policy in its place.
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