WEB SEARCH ENGINES – AUSTRALIA

Big tech made to pay for news

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 20-Apr-20

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has been directed to set up a mandatory code of conduct under which Google and Facebook will be required to pay news publishers for using their content. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says it is only reasonable that those who create content are rewarded for it. Facebook and Google had initially been directed to set up a voluntary code of conduct for content payment by November, but the two technology companies had been accused by media firms of not genuinely engaging in negotiations on the issue. Nine Entertainment CEO Hugh Marks has praised the government for taking "taking swift and decisive action" on the issue.

CORPORATES
FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC

Big tech must pay media: Fletcher

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Swan, Dennis Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 19 : 13-Apr-20

Federal Communications Minister Paul Fletcher has welcomed the recent ruling that Google must negotiate a deal with French news publishers to pay for their content. He adds that the government’s expectation is that digital companies will also agree to pay Australian news publishers for their content. Seven West Media director Ryan Stokes says there must be "proper and fair renumeration" for local news content; he notes that the impact of the coronavirus pandemic has increased the importance of such a deal.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS

Tech titans told: strike news deal now

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Leo Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 19 : 6-Apr-20

News Corp Australasia’s executive chairman Michael Miller says technology companies are the big winners from increased demand for the content of news publishers. Miller believes that the federal government will need to bring forward its November deadline for the digital giants to secure a revenue-sharing deal with traditional media companies. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission is due to release a progress report on the issue in May, and chairman Rod Sims has warned that it may intervene if the report shows that sufficient progress has not been made.

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

ACCC takes fight up to digital giants

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Leo Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 19 : 26-Feb-20

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has advised that it now has more than 10 active investigations into digital platforms, compared with five when the final report into its landmark inquiry into the sector was released in July. ACCC chairman Rod Sims says it is examining both competition and consumer issues in relation to digital platforms. He notes that the use and abuse of consumers’ data by such platforms is one of the key concerns.

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

Google hit for billions but EU chief regrets not going harder

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Zoe Samios
The Australian – Page: 4 : 12-Dec-19

The federal government will release details of its formal response to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s digital platforms inquiry on 12 December. Communications Minister Paul Fletcher says the government is working through its response to issues raised by the ACCC. Meanwhile, European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager says that in retrospective she would have taken a "bolder" approach to the anti-trust case against Google. The digital giant was fined more than EUR8bn.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, EUROPEAN COMPETITION COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, PRIME MEDIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX PRT

Coalition wary of content tax on tech giants

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Leo Shanahan, David Swan
The Australian – Page: 5 : 4-Dec-19

Facebook says it supports 15 of the 29 recommendations in the final report of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s digital platforms inquiry. Facebook also rejects suggestions that it has hired lobbyists to influence the federal government’s response to the report, and states that the ACCC’s proposed code of conduct would "unfairly shield" media companies. Meanwhile, the government is said to be concerned that requiring digital players to pay media companies for the use of their content could be perceived as a new tax, which could in turn prompt digital companies to relocate offshore.

CORPORATES
FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT

Code of conduct needed for market failure: Sims

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 18-Nov-19

Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims has stressed the need for technology giants such as Google and Facebook to be subject to a code of conduct in their negotiations with traditional media companies. He has identified this as the most important recommendation arising from the ACCC’s inquiry into digital platforms. He notes that technology companies have made some progress in reducing the imbalance in bargaining power, adding that a code would facilitate this process.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, SKY NEWS, JUNKEE MEDIA PTY LTD, PEDESTRIAN TV, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY

Privacy, ads focus of reply to report

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Leo Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 25 : 18-Nov-19

The federal government was slated to release its response to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s inquiry into digital platforms by the end of 2019. However, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has indicated that this could be delayed until early 2020, noting that the government is "working through the details" of the ACCC’s final report. He has identified digital players’ dominance of advertising revenue and how they collect and monetise users’ data as key concerns.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED

‘We’re here to help’ pledge challenged

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Zoe Samios
The Australian – Page: 23 : 30-Sep-19

Australia’s commercial free-to-air TV networks argue that regulation of digital giants such as Google and Facebook is necessary. Nine Entertainment’s group director of regulatory affairs, Clare Gill, has stressed the need for a regulated response from the federal government, to ensure a level playing field for traditional media companies and digital platforms. Ten’s COO Annabelle Hird has expressed concern that digital platforms’ behaviour will not change unless they are subject to a code of conduct or monitoring by the ACCC.

CORPORATES
NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, SEVEN WEST MEDIA LIMITED – ASX SWM, CBS CORPORATION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED, INTERNATIONAL NEWS MEDIA ASSOCIATION

Digital titans’ success comes at our expense

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Miller
The Australian – Page: 23 & 25 : 30-Sep-19

The federal government’s response to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s digital platforms inquiry must include legislative action to address the market power of technology platforms. The massive profits generated by these platforms are based on their unfair commercial exploitation of content from companies such as news publishers, and failure to address this issue will result in the loss of more jobs and valuable sources of information for many communities.

CORPORATES
NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY