A Canadian news lobby group has weighed in behind Google, which is advocating changes in legislation that would force large internet groups to share revenues with the country's ‘old media’ outlets.
The Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Inc-owned search giant has made what it describes in rather lawyerly language as a "good faith articulation of legitimate concerns".
News Media Canada (NMC), an association representing the mainstream press, has welcomed Google's recommendations for amending the Online News Act.
"We are in agreement with many of the issues they have raised," NMC CEO Paul Deegan told the Toronto Globe & Mail.
The proposals include setting limits on the financial contributions that digital platforms would make to media outlets and clarifying which media outlets qualify for compensation.
Both Google and Facebook-owner Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB) argue that the law in its current state is flawed and imposes uncertain financial liabilities on them.
They contend that it disrupts the concept of an open internet by putting a price on free links, which they say contravenes copyright laws.
The Canadian government, however, maintains that the law is necessary to support a struggling media sector that has lost advertising revenue to digital platforms.
An attempt in September to reach an accord failed, leaving Canadian newspapers to face the prospect of an effective embargo from the two titans of tech.