US Congress to debate whether big tech should pay for news

Senators proposed a new version of the law. It is not yet clear whether the project will move forward

The US Congress is expected to deliberate within the next 6 weeks Ra Chi Thu forcing that Big technologies, like Google and Facebook, will pay for news shared on their sites. Information published by Poynter CompanyAmerican School of Journalism.

On Monday (23 Aug 2022), a bipartisan committee of Congress proposed An updated version called the Journalism Competition and Protection Act (JCPA). The 1st prototype of the proposal was delivered in 2019. Here it is Just like that of text (72 KB, in English).

The debate will take place in the US Senate on the 1st. After approval in the House, the initiative will go to the US House. Although it has the support of Republican and Democratic senators, it is still unclear whether the bill will advance.

According to Marcelo Crespo, coordinator of the ESPM Legal Studies and expert in digital law, “Probability is hard to say” Action to get ahead in America. Because we can negotiate in Congress “covers different aspects”. One of them, for example, is the regulation of inter-industry competition.

“But knowing that, in the world, movement like this [dos EUA] Often times, there really is a chance.”Crespo said Power is 360.

According to the expert, the main result, if the initiative is approved, the Big technologies A portion of their income must be disposed of to earn wages “on a compensatory basis” Press vehicles.

One of the innovations in the North American text is the 8-year period for vehicles to remain unaffected by antitrust laws. This will allow collective bargaining with technology companies to determine payment levels. The duration of the previous editions, 2019 and 2021, was 4 years.

The program is only applicable to companies employing less than 1,500 full-time employees. This way, newspapers like it The New York Times, The Washington Post And Wall Street Journal If the law is enacted, it will not be affected.

Sites with at least 50 million US-based users or subscribers and a market capitalization of US$550 billion must participate in the negotiations. The same rule applies to at least 1 billion monthly active users worldwide.

The bill also establishes that if an agreement cannot be reached, the media may require third-party mediation to determine how payments will be made. If approved, the initiative will help news media access more sources.

In this world

In 2021, there was Australia First one to countries Settle the payment of news agencies. According to Poynter CompanyAgreements signed with Google and Facebook It has already allocated more than US$140 million to 24 Australian news organizations.

Since 2020, the country’s authorities have been struggling to establish the system. However, the sites were strengthened lobby To prevent the proposal from moving forward.

In France, there was a conflict between the media industry and the technology companies. In 2019, two French media companies partnered with the news agency AFP (Agence France-Presse) asked the French Competition Authority to open a case against Google.

Vehicles asked for payment for messages shared on the platform. Only June 2022 concerned Agreement reached.

In Canada, Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez provided Bill in April 2022 Online News Act (Online News Act, in Portuguese), which will determine the negotiation of values.

The project also aims to develop contracts on a voluntary basis with minimal government intervention. Currently, he is is under discussion In the Canadian Chamber.