Microsoft backs Australia’s pay-for-news plan, risks massive blowback over a lousy $3bn and change

Promises to grease the skids for small business advertisers who get off Google and bound towards Bing
Analysis Microsoft has backed Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code, a scheme the nation intends as a mechanism to make Google and Facebook pay local news publishers for the privilege of linking to their work to deliver a new funding mechanism for public interest journalism.…