Google and Facebook nearing deals to pay for news, says Australia
Australia’s
government said Google and Facebook Inc. are nearing
agreements to pay domestic media companies for news, in a sign a regulatory
standoff may be softening.
Australian
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg held talks with Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark
Zuckerberg and Google counterpart Sundar Pichai over the weekend. “We’re very
close to some very significant commercial deals,” Frydenberg told the
Australian Broadcasting on Monday, according to a transcript sent by his
office. “We have made great progress.”
Alphabet
Inc-owned Google and Facebook oppose planned Australian legislation forcing
them to pay media companies for news, and Google has threatened to shut down
its search engine if the law is enacted. Parliament will consider the
legislation from this week, giving the internet giants an incentive to agree
compensation terms for news companies before the law is passed.
Facebook
declined to comment on any specific talks. “We’ve been engaging with the
Australian government to outline our concerns with the legislation,” the
company said in a statement. A Google spokesman declined to comment. Read More
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