Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, has since spoken to Prime Minister Scott Morrison about the new rules
Sydney:
Software giant Microsoft Corp. is confident its Bing search product may fill the gap in Australia if Google searches for mandatory payments to the media, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Monday.
Australia has introduced laws that would force internet giant Google and social media Facebook Inc to negotiate payments to national media whose content links drive traffic to their platforms.
However, Big Tech companies have ruled that the laws are not feasible and said last month they would withdraw key services from Australia if the regulations went ahead. These services include Google’s search engine, which has 94% of the country’s search market, according to industry data.
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, has since spoken to Morrison about the new rules, the technology company told Reuters and on Monday Morrison said the software company was ready to grow the presence of its Bing search tool , the distant number 2 player.
“I can tell you, confident Microsoft, when I spoke to Satya,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra, without giving further details of the conversation.
“We just want the rules of the digital world to be the same as they exist in the real world, in the physical world,” Morrison added.
A Microsoft spokeswoman confirmed the discussion took place, but declined to comment, because the company was not directly involved in the laws.
“We recognize the importance of a vibrant media sector and public interest journalism in a democracy and recognize the challenges the media sector has faced for many years through changing business models and the preferences of consumers, ”the spokeswoman said.
A Google representative was not immediately available for comment.
A day earlier, Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had requested a meeting on the law and that they had spoken, but that he would not withdraw from the change.
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