In a recent visit to the Pope, President of France Nicolas Sarkozyremarked that greater regulation of the internet was needed. President Sarkozy stated that “regulating the internet to correct the excesses and abuses that arise from the total absence of rules is a moral imperative” while making a speech to the Embassy of France to the Holy See.
This pronouncement is not the first indication of the President’s aim of regulating the internet. He described internet piracy as “looting” in a speech made while visiting Jean-Baptiste Corot. Critics say President Sarkozy’s desire to regulate the internet is born out of fear and a desire for control.
A group of Russian artists have threatened to boycott an exhibition at the Louvre over the removal of works deemed offensive to Vladimir Putin. Seven painters have said they won’t partiicpate because of a ban on Avdei Ter-Oganyan’s “Radical Abstractionism” series, originally created in 2004. A culture ministry official told newspaper Ria Novosti that a boycott could not take place because the artwork had already been shipped to Paris. Ter-Ognayan wrote on his website that the boycott would draw attention to the “conflict between art and the authorities”.
A convicted sex offender has sued Google after he found that an instant search of his name on Google.fr was accompanied with the words “rapist”, “Satanist”, “convicted” and “prison”. A court in Paris has ordered the internet giant to pay 5,000 euros and remove the search suggestions, which are generated automatically. The plaintiff, who is appealing against a three-month sentence for corruption of a minor, believed the search results were harmful to his reputation. Google has said it will appeal the decision.
A lieutenant colonel in the French army has been caught on camera menacing a Togolese journalist after the man took photographs of him admonishing youths. Romuald Letondo also threatened to smash Didier Ledoux’s camera.
Unfortunately for Letondot, the whole incident, including the rather pompous question “Do you know who I am?” was caught on video and has been posted on YouTube. The officer’s actions, unacceptable even back when Togo was a French colony, have drawn widespread condemnation from both the African media and French officials. Letondot was forced to apologise directly to Ledoux.
Letondot claims that he had been worried that the photos would be misinterpreted. Luckily the video clears up the affair. Fun starts at 50 seconds.
