Mediation in French Google Content Case?

Google is open to the idea of appointing a mediator to help end its dispute with French media sites that desire Google pay for links to their content. French President Francois Hollande warned his government might introduce a bill to force search engines to pay for media content. French government officials proposed nominating a mediator to help dialogue between the internet company and news editors following a meeting with Google's Eric Schmidt. Google said it would exclude French media sites on search results if France were to adopt the bill requiring search engines to pay to link to news websites. Italian and German firms also demand Google share some of the advertising revenue from user searches for news on websites. Google is also fighting a billion dollar plus tax bill from France, but Schmidt remains hopeful of a settlement by year's end, and maintains compliance with tax laws in all countries of operation. A Paris appeals court already rejected a request by Google to invalidate search and seizure of documents by French tax authorities. Apparently, Google's European headquarters are based in Ireland which reduces the amount of tax it pays. See more at: http://bit.ly/YDXVJg