Microsoft throws Google under the bus in European news fight

(credit: Robert Scoble / Flickr)

Microsoft is throwing its weight behind a European effort to force Big Tech companies to pay for the right to link to news articles. Google and Facebook have strongly opposed such proposals in both Europe and Australia, describing them as an attack on the open Web. Microsoft disagrees.

"Access to fresh, broad, and deep press coverage is critical to the success of our democracies," said Microsoft Vice President Casper Klynge in a press statement.

Specifically, Microsoft is supporting calls for Europe to adopt a mandatory arbitration rule like the one now under consideration in Australia. Such a rule would increase the leverage of news publishers by giving them a way to force technology giants to the bargaining table.

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