On Friday, Google threatened to shut down its search engine in Australia if authorities passed a law requiring it to pay news publishers for its content.
The Silicon Valley titan stepped up its aggressive fight against the proposal, saying the move would “break the way Google works” because the company would have to pay to show links to news articles.
“This code creates an irrational and uncontrollable financial and operational risk for our business,” said Google Australia managing director Mel Silva, in an open letter, echoing comments she made before an Australian Senate committee.
“If the code became law in its current form, we would have no choice but to stop making Google Search available in Australia.”
The proposed controversy would allow news companies to negotiate payments from Google and Facebook for the use of their content that appears in search results or news feeds. An arbitrator will decide the price if the parties are unable to reach an agreement.
Google had previously said the move would put its free services – including its search engine and YouTube – “at risk” in Australia if it became law. Google now says that YouTube would not be affected by the proposal in its current form.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison responded to Google’s threat to block access to research, saying the country creates rules for “things you can do in Australia”.
“People who want to work with this in Australia, you’re welcome. But we don’t respond to threats, ”said Morrison.
Google’s offensive came after US trade representatives Daniel Bahar and Karl Ehlers asked Australia to abandon the proposed law, saying it would be “at the obvious detriment of two American companies”.
The proposal has broad political support and is supported by publishers such as News Corp., which owns The Post and publishes eight of Australia’s top ten newspapers.
Wired Poles