admin Google has decided to launch its paid news platform in Australia. The move has primarily been made to undercut the laws related to content payment in Canberra.
Prior to this, the paid news platform has already been rolled out in Brazil and Germany.
Canberra has laws related to content payment it is the only place in the world with such a law. This move by tech giant Google has been made to counter the very same.
What the law means is that Google as well as Facebook will be legally liable to pay certain amounts to the Australian media for the content that they publish. This has come as a shocker since it is not required anywhere else across the globe.
Google has been in constant talks with the Australian government to discuss the law. However, it remarked in a statement that this legislation is simply unworkable. If the Australian government does not decide to roll back its decision, Goggle could take the call to no longer offer its services to Australia.
As of now, this legislation is being debated and inquired in the Australian parliament. Google also said that it is open to look at alternative roads and strike some agreements with the Australian news publishers.
The publishers however, now hold a position like never before and have an upper hand in all the dealings. Google has already started partnering with a number of news firms but the larger question remains. Will the big publishers look for an amicable agreement or not?
Google however is sceptical regarding the law as now it would be required to pay for all the content that is available in the search engine. With this move, Google has taken a very firm stand in the public as to how it plans to stop services in the country altogether.
The Prime Minister and the head of Google also had constructive discussions on the same. The communications minister Paul Fletcher said that they’re re-committed to Australia and they are on a constant lookout for solutions that would benefit everyone.
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