france

Update: Friday 10:45 a.m. To include comments from Google.

It's doubtful that they would admit it, but U.S. studio chiefs and music moguls must dream that their country will one day elect a president like Nicolas Sarkozy.

Few of the world's leaders are as aggressive in protecting copyright as the president of France, and he proved it again Thursday during a speech to members of the country's creative community when he endorsed some controversial pro-copyright proposals.

If Sarkozy has his way, France will tax Google and other search engines, Web portals, and Internet service … Read more

A report financed by the French government recommends that Google, MSN, Yahoo, and other big advertising companies--as well as Internet service providers--be taxed, with the revenue set to help fund the music and publishing sectors.

Google is "profiting without any consideration" for music artists and book publishers, according to the report, written by Jacque Toubon, France's former minister of culture, Patrick Zelnick, a former music executive who produced French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's songs, and Guillaume Cerutti, an executive at Sotheby's France.

There is nothing that requires the French government to adopt any of the … Read more

You know this is serious because they've already talked about it on SportsCenter.

Wednesday saw one of the most painful pieces of cheating that soccer has enjoyed since, oh, since pretty much any other World Cup qualifying game.

However, this occurred in the dying minutes, featured one of the most famous players in the world (yes, he's been on the front of an EA FIFA game box), affected the result of the game, and was so crudely obvious that the world has decided to fight back by socially networking.

In case you were only recently released after being … Read more

Intel Labs Europe is joining a handful of French institutions to investigate large-scale computing challenges that face today's information technology industry.

The Exascale Computing Research Center will investigate machines that can perform 1,000 times more calculations than today's top supercomputers, Intel said, and the chipmaker is spending millions of dollars on the three-year partnership.

The effort also includes Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique, Grand Equipement National de Calcul Intensif, and the Universite de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. Those organizations will jointly match Intel's investment, Intel said.

"France has taken a leading role in driving high-performance computing research … Read more

J'adore France and the French people. But I'm pretty disappointed with Musee du Louvre, a free but painfully brief virtual tour of the famous museum.

The app consists of four main sections. In Louvre: The Visit, you get a video tour of seven well-known areas of the museum, including The Venus de Milo and Mona Lisa.

However, each "tour" lasts less than 20 seconds, and the default language is French. If you tap the screen to bring up the controls and then tap the language icon, you can select English (or German or Japanese), but there'… Read more

So the French have passed a three strikes law that will disconnect your Internet if accused three times of piracy. At least there's some judicial review. Also, John McCain moves against Net Neutrality and Windows 7 seems to truly be good news for Microsoft.

Microsoft: Strong Windows demand helps earnings http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10381774-56.html http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=200910230938dowjonesdjonline000584

Windows 7 student upgrade installer not working for many http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/23/windows-7-student-upgrade-installer-not-working-for-many/… Read more

France has adopted a strong antipiracy law, one that may mean those who chronically share unauthorized movies and music online will lose Web access for up to a year.

France's top constitutional court approved a revised plan to penalize those accused multiple times of infringing intellectual property, according to a report published Thursday in The New York Times.

In the spring, the court rejected an earlier version of the law.

Dan Glickman, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, applauded the French court's decision.

"Today's decision is an enormous victory for creators everywhere,&… Read more

Roughly a week ago NASCAR representatives announced the members of the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame at the Charlotte Convention Center. The inductees into the 1st HoF class included NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., his son Bill Jr., Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Junior Johnson. One name not included on this list was the NASCAR legend David "Silver Fox" Pearson. The 74 year old Pearson took the denial in stride, but many fans and critics perceived it as either an oversight or an outright snub. Regardless of HoF status, Pearson is a classic racing hero, … Read more

My mom always told me “Make your passion your profession, and you’ll be a happy man.” She was right, and I am glad I followed her advice. Yet I appear to be part of a minority. In an article about growing disenchantment at work (“Hating What You Do”), this week’s Economist cites a survey conducted by the Center for Work-Life Policy, an American consultancy. It found that between June 2007 and December 2008 the proportion of workers who professed loyalty to their employers slumped from 95% to 39%, and the number voicing trust in them fell from 79% … Read more