Well, if you can’t beat ‘em, tax ‘em.

Google news tax could boost local papers, report says

Google and other websites that carry news they do not produce should be taxed and the money generated used to prop up local newspapers, says a report which warns control of the media is concentrated in too few hands.

The Commission of Inquiry into the Future of Civil Society, headed by Tony Blair’s former head of policy, Geoff Mulgan, will warn next week that news is becoming “recycled ‘churnalism’ and aggregated content”. In a report, Making Good Society, the commission says a future government must preserve freedom on the internet, ensure the media is not controlled by powerful interests, and promote accuracy.