US publishers threaten to block startup's 'news browser'

Washington

THE largest US newspaper publishers on Thursday threatened legal action to block a California startup's plan for a dedicated "news browser" with its own advertising.

The companies joined in a letter to the startup called Brave, which announced its plan earlier this year for its interface which blocks "harmful" advertising and replaces it with "safer" messages.

The newspaper groups said in the letter that this plan "violates the law", and that the companies "intend to fully enforce their rights". "Your plan to use our content to sell your advertising is indistinguishable from a plan to steal our content to publish on your own website," said the letter, which was endorsed …