Europe mulls tax on Google for displaying news articles Jul 31 2017 : The Times of India (Chennai)
Brussels
AFP
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A battle is brewing in Brussels over an EU reform plan that would force internet aggregators such as Google News to pay newspapers for displaying snippets of their articles online.Google is furious at the idea, but publishers, including Axel Springer or Rupert Murdoch's Newscorp, affirm that a tax is the only hope to save a news industry starving for revenue. The fight is the latest row between Google and EU, which slapped the firm with a $2.8 billion fine over unfair competition in June.
The proliferation of free news on the internet has bro ught the newspaper industry to its knees, with many consumers unwilling to pay for online service, preferring zerocost platforms such as Google News or FB. “Unauthorised internet use of media content“ by aggregators and search engines “is threatening citizens' sustainable access to news content,“ said European Alliance of News Agencies. “It is crucial that neighbouring rights be created for news agencies, covering all activity on the web.“
The “snippet tax“ proposal is only one of several components of a major EU draft law intended to update European copyright law. Approval will require a special EU majority that must account for 65% of the bloc's population and not solely a majority of member states.
The proliferation of free news on the internet has bro ught the newspaper industry to its knees, with many consumers unwilling to pay for online service, preferring zerocost platforms such as Google News or FB. “Unauthorised internet use of media content“ by aggregators and search engines “is threatening citizens' sustainable access to news content,“ said European Alliance of News Agencies. “It is crucial that neighbouring rights be created for news agencies, covering all activity on the web.“
The “snippet tax“ proposal is only one of several components of a major EU draft law intended to update European copyright law. Approval will require a special EU majority that must account for 65% of the bloc's population and not solely a majority of member states.
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