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<h1 class="title">
Cash-strapped European news websites ask governments to step in
and force Google to pay for story links
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href="http://www.independent.co.uk/search/simple.do?destinationSectionUniqueName=search&publicationName=ind&pageLength=5&startDay=1&startMonth=1&startYear=2010&useSectionFilter=true&useHideArticle=true&searchString=byline_text:%28%22Lori%20Hinnant%22%29&displaySearchString=Lori%20Hinnant">
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Lori Hinnant
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Thursday 01 November 2012</p>
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<p>European news organisations bleeding money and readers are
trying to avoid extinction by asking governments in France,
Germany and Italy to step in and charge Google for links to
stories the internet search giant has always used for free.</p>
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<p>Critics — including, unsurprisingly, Google
— say the strategy is shortsighted and self-destructive, and
the search
engine warns it will stop indexing European news sites if
forced to pay
for links. But publishers advocating a "Google
tax" aimed at benefiting their industry point to the example
of Brazil,
where their counterparts abandoned the search engine and say
repercussions have been minimal. <br>
<br>
The dispute underscores a fundamental question facing media
agencies
around the world: Who should benefit from links to online
content that is costly to produce and yet generates a fraction
of the ad revenue that
once allowed newspapers to flourish? <br>
<br>
Europe has tried to sidestep Google
before. Six years ago, then-French President Jacques Chirac
unveiled plans for Quaero (Latin for "I search") as the answer
to US dominance of the internet. The multi-platform search and
operating system was supposed to work with desktop computers,
mobile devices and even televisions. <br>
<br>
Despite millions spent to develop Quaero, it went nowhere. <br>
<br>
This week, implicit threats hovered over a meeting between
current French President Francois Hollande and Eric Schmidt,
Google's executive chairman. <br>
<br>
Hollande demanded Google reach a deal with publishers over the
copyright dispute and also address
the French taxes it escapes by basing its European
headquarters in Ireland. Google essentially reiterated a point
it made in a recent letter to French publishers: Paris' latest
attempt to impose itself would force readers to "Anglo-Saxon"
sites based in countries with more favorable copyright laws,
such as Britain and Ireland. <br>
<br>
Google's post-meeting statement said the discussions dealt
with "the contributions of the internet to job creation and
the influence of French culture in the world." <br>
<br>
Adding to the pressure on Google in France, a French newspaper
reported yesterday that French authorities are threatening
Google with a 1 billion euro tax bill and investigating
alleged financial wrongdoing. <br>
<br>
Google France denied being
notified of such a tax bill and said it will "continue to
cooperate with the French authorities." Government spokeswoman
Najat Vallaud-Belkacem wouldn't comment on the report in the
weekly Canard Enchaine, except to say that if there were a tax
probe, it would be covered by laws on fiscal secrecy. <br>
<br>
French publishers, along with counterparts in Germany and
Italy, are
hoping Brazil will be the proof that there is a successful way
to confront Google. <br>
<br>
After failing to come to terms with Google in the past year,
Brazil's biggest papers — representing 90 per cent of
circulation — decided to boycott Google
News by essentially making their content unavailable to anyone
using the search engine. The result? Negligible losses in web
traffic, the Brazilian papers say. <br>
<br>
Brazilian newspapers haven't ruled out reopening talks with
Google,
if the company whose name is synonymous with "search" agrees
to pay for
their content. Unlike in Europe, the Brazilian publishers have
not turned to their government to act as a mediator or impose
a tax as part of their dealings with Google. <br>
<br>
"Newspapers live off advertising revenues, like Google.
They're our competition and they have billions and billions in
revenues
globally," said Ricardo Pedreira, executive director of
Brazil's National Association of Newspapers. <br>
<br>
Still, Pedreira is not convinced Brazil is a good model for
European
nations. "Every country has a specific reality, and I think
there will probably evolve different models in each nation,"
he said. <br>
<br>
Others in Brazil have warned about long-term consequences of
the boycott. <br>
<br>
Carlos Castilho, a media critic and TV journalist, writing on
the press watchdog website Observatorio da Imprensa, argued
that the boycott
was a backward strategy, because "news is everywhere today and
to surround it with walls of copyrights is like trying to dry
ice." <br>
<br>
<em>AP</em></p>
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