Article

2005-03-20 Europe

Chirac plans French anti-US "counter-offensive" on Internet culture

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Posted by Fred 2005-03-20 5:27:49 PM|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 For a real alternative, all of the books should be translated into Spanish, as it is a widely-used language, like English and Chinese. If they had an automatic translator from French and German into English, Chinese or Spanish, it would help. Nobody should have to learn a dying language just to read a book.

Posted by Anonymoose 2005-03-20 5:44:33 PM|| 2005-03-20 5:44:33 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 The real issue is elsewhere? Lol! I'm thinking these will be instant archives across most of the Internet.

Posted by .com 2005-03-20 5:48:29 PM|| 2005-03-20 5:48:29 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 raising again the fear that French language and ideas will one day be reduced to a quaint regional peculiarity.

It isn't already?

I mean, name a French-speaking nation that isn't a basket case.

Posted by Robert Crawford 2005-03-20 6:05:17 PM|| [http://www.kloognome.com/] 2005-03-20 6:05:17 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 .....................

...................

....still thinking, here.....

Posted by Seafarious 2005-03-20 6:11:52 PM|| 2005-03-20 6:11:52 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 Well, the English language hasn't stolen enough of French to totally discard it. I mean, people still study hieroglyphics, right? In all those years they *must* have written something other than biographies of Napoleon, dreary and pessimistic philosophy and dreary and depressing screenplays.

Posted by Anonymoose 2005-03-20 6:11:53 PM|| 2005-03-20 6:11:53 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 Here ya go, Sea. This fills your requirement, methinks.

Posted by .com 2005-03-20 6:14:41 PM|| 2005-03-20 6:14:41 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 They better publish in English. Otherwise no one will read it. If they don't get that (,and they won't,) they will be farting all those euros away.

Posted by Sock Puppet 0â Doom 2005-03-20 6:54:08 PM|| [http://www.slhess.com] 2005-03-20 6:54:08 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Oh dear, as if we needed Chirac to put our literature online. The Projekt Gutenberg has been doing that for year and Google will index it just fine.

What would help is reducing the copyright period. We once had 50 years (after the death of the author) and I think that's long enough. I think it's at 70 years now.

It would really help to reduce the timeframe for nonprofit online use. After all, you will still buy the novels you like to read.

Posted by True German Ally 2005-03-20 7:45:22 PM|| 2005-03-20 7:45:22 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 Put it all on Minitel. Hien, ca les apprendrait...

Posted by thibaud (aka lex) 2005-03-20 7:51:16 PM|| 2005-03-20 7:51:16 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 Ah Minitel, something real smart at the time.

Posted by True German Ally 2005-03-20 7:53:49 PM|| 2005-03-20 7:53:49 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 TGA: As far as copyright goes, I think it should be similar to the 19th Century US Mining Law still in effect: "Use it or lose it". Anybody can stake a claim, but they must improve it to the amount of $500 a year, or lose it. With copyright, unless you publicly market your product to a minimum gross profit every year, you should lose your copyright. This would both protect valuable copyrights, and open vast libraries of copyrighted, yet unavailable, material to the public domain. If you don't want to sell it, stand back, and let someone who wants to sell it.

Posted by Anonymoose 2005-03-20 8:12:20 PM|| 2005-03-20 8:12:20 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 Hey - something positive, for once! It's not a negative reaction from the French! I'm all for it. Of course, this new project will be a great area for cost overruns and graft in general, but hey.

Gutenberg Project is okay...but it's slow.

Posted by gromky 2005-03-20 8:14:32 PM|| 2005-03-20 8:14:32 PM|| Front Page Top

03:45 stickyour democracyinyourarses
23:57 Bobby
23:32 Anonymoose
23:27 Anonymoose
23:27 phil_b
23:19 Sock Puppet Oâ Doom
23:12 Bomb-a-rama
22:56 Bomb-a-rama
22:50 Bomb-a-rama
22:46 .com
22:39 AzCat
22:35 Robert Crawford
22:33 Robert Crawford
22:33 Pappy
22:26 AzCat
22:17 Bomb-a-rama
22:14 Bomb-a-rama
21:35 Barbara Skolaut
21:29 JosephMendiola
21:17 Michael Sheehan
21:11 .com
21:04 .com
20:57 .com
20:55 Frank G