A Google executive said on Friday that a proposed Australian law to make digital platforms pay for news was unworkable and its proposed arbitration model was biased toward media businesses.
Google Australia and New Zealand managing director Mel Silva made her first public comments on the details of the proposed legislation since it was introduced to Parliament last week.
The so-called News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code would force Google and Facebook to compensate Australian news media for the journalism that they link to.
“It forces Google to pay to show links in an unprecedented intervention that would fundamentally break how search engines work,” Ms Silva said in a statement.
If a platform and a news business couldn’t agree on a price for news after three months of negotiations, a three-member arbitration panel would be appointed to make a binding decision for payment.
Ms Silva said “binding arbitration within the code could be a reasonable backstop — so long as the arbitration model is fair.”
However, the proposed arbitration model was “skewed to the interests of one type of business only,” Ms Silva said, referring to media.
Google said it had provided a better model with Google News Showcase. The tech giant is paying participating publishers to provide paywalled content to News Showcase users through the model that it launched in October.
“By imposing final-offer arbitration with biased criteria, it encourages publishers to go to arbitration rather than reaching an agreement,” Silva said of the government’s model.
Swinburne University media lecturer Belinda Barnet said Google was pushing its own model because it wanted more power in negotiations than media businesses.
“It’s a cynical ploy by Google,” Barnet said. “They tried the misinformation campaign, that didn’t work, and now they’re saying: ‘We can do it better. We’re already doing it better.’”
News Showcase “benefits the major players,” while the Australian government wanted payment for news to be “fair and across the board,” Barnet said.
Details of the draft legislation will be scrutinised by a senate committee before lawmakers vote on it next year.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who introduced the legislation to parliament, said in a statement that Google could make a submission to that committee before it releases its finding in February.
Breaches of the code, such as failure to negotiate in good faith, would be punishable by a fine of 10 million Australian dollars ($7.4m) or the equivalent of 10 per cent of annual turnover in Australia.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
SCORES
Yorkshire Vikings 144-1 in 12.5 overs
(Tom Kohler 72 not out, Harry Broook 42 not out)
bt Hobart Hurricanes 140-7 in 20 overs
(Caleb Jewell 38, Sean Willis 35, Karl Carver 2-29, Josh Shaw 2-39)
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Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
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Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
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