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SYDNEY, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Software giant Microsoft Corp
Australia has introduced laws that would force internetgiant Google and social media heavyweight Facebook Inc
However, the Big Tech firms have called the laws unworkableand said last month they would withdraw key services fromAustralia if the regulations went ahead. Those services includeGoogle's search engine, which has 94% of the country's searchmarket, according to industry data.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has since spoken with Morrisonabout the new rules, the tech company told Reuters, and onMonday, Morrison said the software company was ready to grow thepresence of its search tool Bing, the distant No. 2 player.
"I can tell you, Microsoft's pretty confident, when I spoketo Satya," Morrison told reporters in Canberra, without givingfurther detail of the conversation.
"We just want the rules in the digital world to be the samethat exist in the real world, in the physical world," Morrisonadded.
A Microsoft spokeswoman confirmed the discussion took placebut declined to comment, because the company was not directlyinvolved in the laws.
"We recognise the importance of a vibrant media sector andpublic interest journalism in a democracy and we recognise thechallenges the media sector has faced over many years throughchanging business models and consumer preferences," thespokeswoman said.
A Google representative was not immediately available forcomment.
A day earlier, Australian treasurer Josh Frydenberg saidFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had requested a meeting over thelaw, and that they had talked, but that he would not back downon the change.
(Reporting by Byron Kaye. Editing by Gerry Doyle) ((byron.kaye@thomsonreuters.com; +612 9321 8164; @byronkaye;))
