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Microsoft Corp said on Wednesday that it fully supports the proposed new laws in Australia that would force internet giants Google and Facebook Inc to pay domestic media for their content.
“Although Microsoft is not subject to the currently pending legislation, we would be willing to follow these rules if the government designates us,” the software company said in a statement.
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“The code reasonably tries to deal with the imbalance of bargaining power between digital platforms and Australian news businesses.”
Both Google and Alphabet Inc’s Facebook found the laws impractical and said last month that they would withdraw some important services from Australia if the regulations went ahead.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday that Microsoft was ready to step in and expand its Bing search product in Australia if Google withdraws its search engine after he spoke to Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella , last week.
GOOGLE SAYS IT WILL TURN OFF THE SEARCH ENGINE IN AUSTRALIA IF YOU ARE FORCED TO PAY FOR NEWS
Google’s search engine holds 94% of the country’s search market, according to industry data.
In a statement, Microsoft said it would offer small businesses the chance to transfer advertising business to Bing free of charge and that it would invest more in the product to ensure it is competitive.
| Ticker | Safety | Last | change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSFT | MICROSOFT CORP. | 239.51 | -0.14 | -0.06% |
| GOOGL | ALPHABET INC. | 1,919.12 | +26.05 | + 1.38% |
| FB | FACEBOOK INC. | 267.08 | +5.07 | + 1.94% |
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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(Reporting by Rashmi Ashok in Bengaluru and Byron Kaye in Sydney; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Sam Holmes)