On Friday, Australia’s competition regulator allowed agencies representing 261 radio stations to negotiate content deals with Facebook and Google as part of the country’s new law, forcing tech giants to pay for news content. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said that the Australian Commercial Radio (CRA) will now have 10 years to negotiate with the tech giants on its members, but the radio station operated by Nine Entertainment has reached a deal.
Since March, Facebook and Alphabet’s Google have been required to negotiate with Australian media on content that can increase traffic and advertisements for their websites. If they do not, the government may take over the negotiations. However, it was not all smooth sailing, some publishers were excluded, and in September.
Facebook said it stopped negotiating license agreements. ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said: “This authorization allows the CRA to negotiate with Facebook and Google on the news content of its members, and allows its members to discuss these negotiations.” In August, ACCC allowed another industry body, Country Press Australia, to negotiate with the two companies on behalf of its 81 news publishers.
News Source : Gadgets 360
