EXPLAINER-Google, Facebook battle Australia over proposed revenue-sharing law

By Jonathan Barrett and Byron KayeSYDNEY, Jan 28 (Reuters) – Alphabet Inc’s Google has vowed to withdraw its main search engine from Australia, while Facebook Inc says it will block news sharing if the government proceeds with a law to make them pay domestic media outlets for content they feature.The dispute is being closely watched worldwide since it would be the biggest challenge yet to how the U.S. tech companies that dominate social media and search engines use news on their websites.WHAT DOES THE LEGISLATION SAY?* The planned law states that Australian news outlets can negotiate individually or collectively with Facebook and Google over payment for content used on the tech firms’ sites. Other tech firms may be added if they are deemed big enough.* If the parties cannot reach an agreement, an arbitrator will decide whose offer is more reasonable. If Facebook or Google break any resulting agreements, they can be fined up to A$10 million ($7.4 million) in civil penalties.* The law also requires tech firms give media outlets notice when they change search algorithms in a way affecting the order in which content appears.  » Read More