J57 Internet Publishing and Broadcasting

Facebook says it doesn’t need news stories for its business and won’t pay to share them in Australia

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Original article by Naaman Zhou, Amanda Meade
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 16-Jun-20

Social media company Facebook has rejected a proposal to share its advertising revenue with news publishers. The mandatory code of conduct being developed by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission would govern the relationship between media companies and digital platforms such as Facebook and Google. Facebook claims that there would be no significant impact to its income if it stopped sharing news content, while it says the revenue-sharing proposal means it would be subsidising a competitor.

CORPORATES
FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED

Netflix, Apple and Stan could be required to boost Australian content

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Original article by Anne Davies
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 11-Jun-20

Expanding local content rules to include subscription video-on-demand services is among the options canvassed in a report that was released by the Australian Communications & Media Authority and Screen Australia prior to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Although local player Stan has invested in local content, SVOD providers are currently under no obligation to do so. An alternative to directly investing in the production of local content may be for streaming services to contribute to a fund that would support local production.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, SCREEN AUSTRALIA, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, APPLE INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED

News Corp Binges to ease Foxtel’s streaming woes

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 25-May-20

Binge CEO Julian Ogrin says he is confident that the new entertainment streaming service will attract more subscribers to Foxtel. Ogrin also runs Foxtel’s Kayo sports streaming service; he says that like Kayo, Foxtel is going for "a whole new audience" with Binge. He believes that Binge will complement Netflix’s local subscriber base, while industry observers believe the money that Foxtel is putting into Binge is similar to the amount it put into Kayo when it was launched in November 2018. News Corp Australia owns 65 per cent of Foxtel.

CORPORATES
BINGE, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, KAYO SPORTS, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

News key for tech titans: so pay up

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Original article by Leo Shanahan, David Swan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 20-May-20

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has released a ‘concepts paper’ on the proposed mandatory revenue-sharing code of conduct for digital companies. ACCC chairman Rod Sims says the revenue from placing advertisements adjacent to news stories is clearly a direct benefit for Google and Facebook. However, he adds that the indirect value of having news on their platform is a much bigger benefit for them. Sims says a number of payment models could be considered, noting that implementing a per-click model could be difficult.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED

Foxtel to Binge on seismic change

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Original article by Leo Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 19 : 18-May-20

Foxtel has yet to confirm speculation that its new entertainment-focused streaming service will be called Binge. Internally codenamed Project Ares, the new subscription video-on-demand service will debut on 25 May, featuring movies and full seasons of TV shows. It is expected to cost between $10 and $14 a month, while people who already use the Kayo Sports streaming service will be offered discounts and free trials. The new product is part of Foxtel’s shift in focus from traditional pay-TV to streaming services.

CORPORATES
FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, KAYO SPORTS

Google’s gross revenue dwarfs tax bill again

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Original article by Michael Bailey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 15-May-20

Google Australia had gross revenue of $4.8 billion in 2019, of which around $4.3 billion came from advertisers, according to accounts lodged with the corporate regulator on 14 May. However, the top line in its accounts shows revenue of just $1.2 billion; Google Australia says it sees itself as just as an agent that sells advertising product created by its US parent, only booking the commission it earns on each sale as revenue. Accordingly, its gross profit only amounted to $823 million, while its tax bill came in at just $100 million.

CORPORATES
GOOGLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

News says $600m from tech giants not enough

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 15-May-20

News Corp Australasia executive chairman Michael Miller agrees with Nine Entertainment chairman Peter Costello that Facebook and Google must pay for news content. However, Miller says the amount they should pay is probably much higher than the $600m a year that Costello has suggested; he notes that former senator Nick Xenophon has proposed that digital platforms pay $1bn a year. Miller adds that getting the digital platforms’ mandatory revenue-sharing code of conduct right is the first thing to do.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Nine wants tech giants to pay $600m to media

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Original article by Max Mason, John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 14-May-20

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s digital platforms inquiry concluded that Facebook and Google accounted for about $6bn of online advertising revenue in Australia in 2018. Nine Entertainment chairman Peter Costello says that based on this figure, Facebook and Google derive about 10 per cent of their annual revenue from news content. As a result, he believes that they should pay about $600m a year into a fund for Australian news publishers. Costello adds that other countries may adopt Australia’s policy of a mandatory revenue-sharing code of conduct if it proves to be effective.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

News Corp to close commercial operations at Storyful APAC

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Original article by Hannah Blackiston
Mumbrella – Page: Online : 8-May-20

Media giant News Corporation has advised that it will close the commercial operations of social media intelligence agency Storyful in Australia and the Pacific region. Storyful, which News Corp acquired in 2013, has about 200 employees worldwide. Its teams in the US and Europe will not be affected by the closure, while its APAC editorial team will remain intact. News Corp Australia’s publications will continue to have access to Storyful’s content.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, STORYFUL, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Google hit for defamatory search results

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Original article by Tessa Akerman
The Australian – Page: 3 : 1-May-20

The Supreme Court of Victoria has directed Google to pay lawyer George Defteros $40,000 over search results linked to his name that he alleged were defamatory. Justice Melinda Richards stated that a 2016 link to an article in ‘The Age’ did carry defamatory imputations, but she noted that Defteros had taken some years to get in touch with the newspaper and ask for the article to be removed. Richards also noted that Defteros had referred to criminal Graham Kinninburgh as "a friend", and she suggested that this "reduced the sting of the defamatory imputation" that Defteros felt.

CORPORATES
GOOGLE INCORPORATED, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA