Tag: News

Google and Canada reach deal to avert news ban over Online News Act

by admin on December 7, 2023 in Business Google News

Reuters

Google has reached a deal with Canada to avert a news blockade over a law that forces tech giants to pay for news content.

Google had vowed to remove links to news in Canada in response to the Online News Act, due to take effect on 19 December.

Social media giant Meta is already blocking news on its platforms as a result of the law.

The deal comes after months of talks between the search giant and Canada.

The law – which is aimed at Google and Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram – requires tech firms to negotiate payment agreements with news outlets.

The agreement announced on Wednesday requires Google pay C$100m (£58m, $74m) annually, indexed to inflation, to news outlets.

An announcement by Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge on Wednesday said the funding would be used “for a wide range of news businesses across the country, including independent news businesses and those from Indigenous and official-language minority communities”.

The statement said that Google would pay a “single collective” which would distribute the funds to eligible news agencies “based on the number of full-time equivalent journalists engaged by those businesses”.

“A sustainable news ecosystem is good for everyone,” Ms St-Onge said, adding that newsrooms closing and laying off workers means that “the health of the Canadian news industry has never been more at risk”.

Google released a statement saying it is “pleased that the Government of Canada has committed to addressing our core issues” with the bill.

“While we work with the government through the exemption process based on the regulations that will be published shortly, we will continue sending valuable traffic to Canadian publishers,” the company’s statement continued.

Canada’s Online News Act was met with outrage from the tech companies when it was passed this summer, while

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Today’s news: Trending business stories for November 29, 2023

by admin on December 6, 2023 in Business Google News

The latest business news as it happens

Published Nov 29, 2023 • Last updated 6 days ago • 13 minute read

Ottawa and Google have reached a deal regarding how much the search giant will pay to Canadian media companies in an apparent settlement of an ongoing dispute over the Online News Act. Photo by Richard Drew/The Associated Press

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4:55 p.m.

Market close: Bond yields fall on signs Federal Reserve is in ‘sweet spot’

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Today’s news: Trending business stories for November 28, 2023

by admin on December 2, 2023 in Business Breaking News

The latest business news as it happens

Published Nov 28, 2023 • Last updated 3 days ago • 9 minute read

Saskatchewan Justice Minister Bronwyn Eyre said she will use the province’s autonomy legislation for the first time. Photo by Michael Bell/The Canadian Press

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4:43 p.m.

Berkshire Hathaway’s Charlie Munger dies at age 99

Charles Munger, the alter ego, sidekick and foil to Warren Buffett for almost 60 years as they transformed Berkshire Hathaway Inc. from a failing textile maker into an empire, has died. He was 99.

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Google to pay $100M a year to Canadian news publishers in deal with Ottawa

by admin on December 2, 2023 in Business Google News

Ottawa has agreed to set a $100-million yearly cap on payments that Google will be required to make to media companies when the government’s controversial online news legislation takes effect at the end of the year.

The announcement Wednesday has the Liberals bending to the tech giant’s demands after Google threatened back in February to remove news from its platform.

The Online News Act compels tech giants to enter into compensation agreements with news publishers for content that generates revenue for companies such as Google by appearing on its sites.

Broadcasters and French-language and Indigenous news organizations would join newspapers in being eligible for the deals, with draft regulations suggesting the amount of money would be linked to the number of full-time journalists on staff.

A formula in the government’s draft regulations to implement the bill would have seen Google contribute up to $172 million to news organizations. Google balked, saying it was expecting a figure closer to $100 million, based on what it said was a previous estimate from Canadian Heritage officials.

The company appears to have got what it wanted after an extended period of negotiation.

Still, Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge called it a “historic development,” insisting Wednesday that the agreement was ultimately a win for the government and for the local news publishers it is seeking to support.

“We have found a path forward to answer Google’s questions about the process and the act. Google wanted certainty about the amount of compensation it would have to pay to Canadian news outlets,” she said on Parliament Hill.

“Canada reserves the right

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Google to pay $100M a year to Canadian news publishers in deal with Ottawa – Business News

by admin on December 1, 2023 in Business Google News

Photo: The Canadian Press

Minister of Canadian Heritage Pascale St-Onge.

UPDATE 11:05 a.m.

Ottawa has agreed to set a $100-million yearly cap on payments that Google will be required to make to media companies when its controversial online news legislation takes effect at the end of the year.

The announced Wednesday has the Liberal federal government bending to the tech giant’s demands after it threatened to remove news from its platform.

The Online News Act compels tech giants to enter into agreements with news publishers to pay them for the news content that appears on their sites, if that content contributes to revenues.

A formula in the government’s draft regulations to implement the bill would have seen Google contributing up to $172 million to news organizations.

But Google signalled its disapproval for those regulations, saying it was expecting a figure closer to $100 million, based on what the company says is a previous estimate offered by Canadian Heritage officials.

The company appears to have gotten what it wanted after an extended period of negotiation.

Still, Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge insisted Wednesday that the agreement was ultimately a win for the government and for the local news publishers it is seeking to support.

“Following weeks of productive discussions, I am happy to announce that we have found a path forward with Google for the implementation of the Online News Act,” she said in a statement.

“This will benefit the news sector and allow Google to continue to play an important role in giving Canadians access to reliable news content.”

The deal will allow Google to comply with the legislation by paying into a single collective bargaining group that will serve as a media fund.

Meta’s way of complying was to simply block all news content from Instagram and Facebook in

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Canada says Google will pay $74 million annually to Canadian news industry under new online law

by admin on November 30, 2023 in Business Google News

TORONTO (AP) — Canada’s government said Wednesday it reached a deal with Google for the company to contribute $100 million Canadian dollars annually to the country’s news industry to comply with a new Canadian law requiring tech companies to pay publishers for their content.

The agreement removes a threat by Google to block the ability to search for Canadian news on Google in Canada. Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta already has been blocking Canadian news since earlier this year.

“Google has agreed to properly support journalists, including local journalism,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. “Unfortunately Meta continues to completely abdicate any responsibility towards democratic institutions.”

Pascale St-Onge, the minister of Canadian heritage, said that Google will contribute $100 million Canadian ($74 million) — indexed to inflation — in financial support annually for a wide range of news businesses across the country.

“It’s good for the news sector. If there is a better deal struck elsewhere in the world, Canada reserves the right to reopen the regulation,” St-Onge said at a news conference.

“This shows that this legislation works. That it is equitable. And now it’s on Facebook to explain why they are leaving their platform to disinformation and misinformation instead of sustaining our news system,” she said.

Canada in late June passed the Online News Act to require tech giants to pay publishers for linking to or otherwise repurposing their content online. Meta responded to the law by blocking news content in Canada on its platforms. Google’s owner Alphabet previously had said it planned to do the same when the law takes effect in December.

Meta has said the Online News Act “is based on the incorrect premise that Meta benefits unfairly from news content shared on our platforms, when the reverse is true.”

Meta’s change means that

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Today’s news: Trending business stories for November 8, 2023

by admin on November 26, 2023 in Business Breaking News

The latest business news as it happens

Published Nov 08, 2023 • Last updated Nov 08, 2023 • 10 minute read

RBC chief executive Dave McKay said AI shows potential to transform finance but that it is still too prone to errors and “hallucinations.” Photo by Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press

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4:41 p.m.

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The ‘breaking news’ is business as usual

by admin on November 24, 2023 in Business Breaking News

The “breaking news” is business as usual

The media calls it “Breaking News,” when it is just business as usual. Another mass shooting carried out by a mentally disturbed person with easy access to an assault rifle. This is the sad state of our gun-obsessed society where it is not safe to go to the store, a movie, bowling, a restaurant or to accidentally knock on the wrong door to ask for directions.

The Republican Party has named a new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson. He could not be a more far-right MAGA lunatic if he tried. He supports a ban on abortion from conception with no exceptions, and is against rights for LGBTQ+ people who have never done him harm and just want to live their lives. He voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election and, in fact, fought to overturn it, and has voted against aid to Ukraine, because the current Republican Party seeks to destroy democracy here and around the world. He believes our government should be run according to his religious beliefs.

Knowing all this, is it any surprise that his response to this latest atrocity is that we should all pray that it ends. Once again worthless thoughts and prayers. Republicans won’t even discuss sensible gun control because they might lose the votes of the gun fanatics. The very babies that they don’t want aborted grow up to be children who go to school where they are slaughtered. But then, children can’t vote so they must be expendable. If it’s not the votes, then it’s the fact that they fear being killed by the terrorists in their base whom they incite with their rhetoric.

Mike Johnson is right; we should all pray that this senseless killing stops. But, more than that, I will pray

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Google ready to remove Canadian news links over the Online News Act

by admin on November 23, 2023 in Business Google News

News stories published by Canadian media outlets will soon disappear from Google search results, the digital giant warned Thursday as it revealed its planned response to the Liberals’ online news law.

The California-based company also said it would end existing deals with local news publishers over the newly passed legislation, which will force global tech players to compensate Canadian outlets for content they share or otherwise repurpose on their platforms.

Google did not say exactly when the changes will happen, but it will be before the Online News Act, formerly known as Bill C-18, comes into force by the end of this year.

The company said the block, which will also involve links on Google News and Google Discover, will apply only to Canadian publishers. Canadian users will still be able to find news produced by international outlets such as the BBC, the New York Times and Fox News.

The company said it will also end Google News Showcase in Canada, a product it uses to license news from over 150 local publishers. Those existing deals will stay in place until the change happens later this year.

“Once the law takes effect, we wouldn’t anticipate continuing the agreements,” said Kent Walker, president of global affairs for Google and its parent company Alphabet, in an interview Thursday.

“We won’t have a news product to be able to feature, (and) the agreements are premised on the ability to showcase Canadian news.”

Walker said he told Canadian Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez of the decision in a letter sent early Thursday morning.

Rodriguez said Thursday that Google made an “irresponsible” decision.

Walker said Google has begun briefing federal, provincial and regional authorities “just to make sure they’re aware of all the Google tools at their disposal to get the word out as they need

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