On May 19, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) published a concepts paper seeking comment on four possible solutions to the bargaining imbalance between big tech and news publishers. These suggestions followed the ACCC’s Digital Platforms Inquiry in June 2019, which recommended a code of conduct to address this bargaining power imbalance. The ACCC suggests collective bargaining or a collective boycott of Google and Facebook as a possible solution to the imbalance — both practices that would otherwise be punishable as anti-competitive. Other possible solutions include bilateral negotiations and collective licensing or fee arrangements. The comments on these suggested solutions are due June 5. Read more here.
Members of the News/Media Alliance staff have contributed to this post.
