[11656] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
FYIFrance: new Prime Min-> Internet a priority of France, pt.2/2
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Jack Kessler)
Tue Sep 16 20:13:57 1997
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 1997 16:34:09 -0500
From: Jack Kessler <kessler@well.com>
To: PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU>
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
[Continued translation of a speech delivered August 25 by the new Prime
Minister, Lionel Jospin. In Part 1 he outlined the priority which his
administration is giving to getting all of France online on the Internet,
including a specific emphasis on the "informatisation" projects of the
Bibliothe`que Nationale de France. Here in Part 2, he provides the detail
of encryption liberalization, business development incentives, and
regulatory measures which can be expected. A commission has been appointed
-- to report back this Fall -- the debates have begun. The concerns of the
French significantly may sound unfamiliar to Americans.]
"It is equally important that all current media firms, for which
information already is their trade, should extend their activities to
these networks. I think particularly of the printed press, which for these
purposes could benefit from public support.
This cultural presence is indispensable to the international presence of
France and of French culture, in partnership with the other francophone
nations. This objective supposes the development of services offered in
the French language, services which as of now are few. Our patrimony is an
achievement of France. This is the way to show its value.
An active online presence must be accompanied, obviously, by great
vigilance in avoiding the treatment of our culture on the Internet as an
article of merchandise among many others. We must defend a cultural
exception, with the same determination which we have exercised in the past
on behalf of our audiovisual achievements. I know that the forces of
artistic creation in graphic, audiovisual, and musical domains already are
taking in these new tools.
In programs for the employment of youth [a major issue of the last
national election, and a major party platform plank of M. Jospin's
successful campaign. JK], the cultural effort must benefit from the
presence of people adept at training others in the use of the new
technologies.
Third Priority: electronic commerce must be developed, relying on private
initiatives.
For this we must have confidence in the process, and therefore assurance
that individuals and enterprises may undertake commercial exchanges on the
Internet with full security. For this reason, I have decided to promulgate
decrees liberalizing cryptography which will be announced shortly. A
particular effort will be made to favor the cryptography known as "weak",
which has been hampered until now by very restrictive regulation. I know
that the Minister of "Economie, des finances, et de l'industrie"
understands that priority is to be given to this progress in electronic
commerce.
Fourth Priority: the firms in the sector of technologies of information
and communication are our fourth priority.
The firms in this sector, whether one thinks of industrial activity or of
the production of content, constitute an important source of jobs. They
offer promising possibilities for growth and for exports.
The development of information networks does not favor solely the
consumption of services produced by others. The development of the French
offering on the global market depends on a will to innovate, on active
support of public and private research, and on special support for the
small and medium - sized firms which develop new technologies.
Fifth Priority: the networking of public services is a step for democracy.
The improvement of relations between public administration and the citizen
is the constant concern of the Government. In this area, I urge that the
efforts under way to permit anyone to find administrative forms on the
Internet be normalized and made uniform. The streamlining of formalities
also is an important goal, both for companies and for individuals, one to
be encouraged in the rapid extension of "tele - procedures". Eventually
everyone ought to be able, for example, to complete and submit a tax form
or the renewal of an identity paper online on the network.
To meet the democratic necessity of freedom of information, an increased
ease of access to public information is indispensable. Over a period of
nearly twenty years, access to administrative documents has become a true
public liberty; today, technology facilitates their distribution as well.
Essential public data from now on must be accessible to all for free on
the Internet. Therefore, since "ignorance of the law is no excuse", I am
insuring that this will be the case for the contents of the "Journal
officiel de la Re'publique franc,aise".
[See http://www.journal-officiel.gouv.fr -- but see also Herve' Le
Crosnier's suggestions for the improvement of such a service, and his
thoughts about some of its current problems, at
http://www.univ-rennes1.fr/LISTES/biblio-fr@cru.fr/
archives/76/msg00011.html
and those of Joel de Rosnay in "Monde diplomatique", cited by Le Crosnier,
at http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/md/1997/08/DE_ROSNAY/8969.html --JK.]
An ambitious idea is popular now which favors the citizen's right to
information: the international distribution of our public documents ought
to be encouraged if only for this reason.
In addition to access to public administration information, the Internet
can offer real services to our fellow citizens. I think for example of
access to job listings of the ANPE ["Agence Nationale Pour l'Emploi".
JK.], which is available from today on the Internet and which can assist
in the recovery of our employment market.
The development of public services on the information networks should not
translate, however, into a new inequality of access for the users.
Equipping public places with the means for providing access to government
online services, therefore -- for example in post offices and local
government employment agencies -- is an indispensable corollary to this
policy.
Sixth Priority: effective regulation is an important condition of the
development of the information networks. This calls for the development of
a legislative program and a protective regulatory environment, at both the
domestic and the international levels.
The development of an open and global network such as the Internet calls
forth fears which often are legitimate. The preservation of intellectual
property rights -- without which there would be no inventions -- and
guarantees for consumers, the protection of minors, the repression of what
now is being called "cyber - criminality", the battle against racist and
other propaganda, and the respect for private life, are among the
imperatives.
The Internet is not, as is said from time to time, a zone exempt from the
law. But the existence of a network without frontiers -- with 50 million
users today and hundreds of millions tomorrow, each able to become a
publisher in his or her own right -- obviously poses some new questions.
Lacking responses for these questions, the Information Society will not be
lacking in danger.
It falls in the first place to those now building the Internet to take
matters into their own hands, and to develop some sort of regulation of
the networks. Such measures, relying on self - imposed rules of conduct
and a deontology, would conciliate both the resistance to the devolution
of its own power to which the Internet is being subjected, and the respect
for the freedom of communication which is creating its riches.
There must be, then, an organization of problems calling for State action
at appropriate levels: that is, at the national level, at the European
level, and beyond that -- often -- at the international level. The
Internet poses, to both the public authorities and the courts, numerous
questions of law; I therefore ask that the Conseil d'Etat study these
questions in order to clarify our legislative and regulatory choices for
the future.
France is a pioneer in protecting personal information: since 1978 it has
possessed ambitious legislation in this area, notably with the
establishment of an independent administrative authority -- the
"Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Liberte's".
The extent of technological change over the past twenty years raises new
questions to which legislation must respond. The necessity of re - working
the European Community directive of 1995 on this subject offers a further
reason for a re - examination of this legislation. This is why I have
decided to confide to Monsieur Guy Braibant ["Vice - pre'sident de la
Commission supe'rieure de codification" of the Prime Minister's office,
"Pre'sident de section du rapport et des e'tudes au Conseil d'Etat",
author of books on French administrative law, see interview at
http://www.mygale.org/~scpo/ , in "La Tribune de la rue Saint Guillaume",
avril 1997. JK], whose authority and competence in these areas are well -
known, a mission of both reflection and the formulation of proposals.
I wanted today to express to you a political vision of the Information
Society, to confirm the active involvement of the Government in it and the
necessity of making clear choices. The action program and the debate which
it will open are a forum which the Government proposes to the nation. It
is in my opinion essential, for it is simultaneously the economic strength
and the cultural flowering of France in the next century which are under
discussion.
France has all that it needs to play a major role in the development of an
Information Society. As this century turns, the next few years will be
decisive for our understanding, collectively and together, what part we
will play."
XXX
Editor's comment:
The inhabitants of nations which are "leading" in some area often find it
difficult to appreciate the desperation of others -- of "outsiders" -- who
feel that they have to keep up. It is hard to admit that one is behind;
even harder to figure out how to catch up.
The Internet and digital information, moreover, are a juggernaut which is
rolling very rapidly -- 19.5 million hosts as of this July, up from 16
million only six months earlier (that's +22% over those six months, see
http://www.nw.com) -- and people, and nations, which try to catch it as it
rolls by risk getting caught beneath the wheels.
The Prime Minister does a disservice to many able French information
workers, and to many French accomplishments in the information arenas
which date back at least as far and have been as significant as those of
any nation. Even regarding the Internet, hosts in domain ".fr" now number
292,096, placing France firmly in the "top ten" among connected nations.
(There were 245,501 French hosts in January -- a 19% increase in 6 months
-- although it seems increasingly that French users are more than ".fr"
and that not all ".fr" are French, as the domain name system loosens.)
The disservice may be deliberate, though. France's "12% national
unemployment" is a far more significant figure than any statistic
involving the Internet, and it certainly explains both the Prime
Minister's repeated concern about job opportunities in his speech, and his
general effort to "light a fire" under information workers, decision
makers, librarians, and anyone else whom he can motivate.
The British, the Russians, the Chinese, the Thais, all similarly will have
such concerns, "peripheral" to Americans but which have become "central"
to those people. One hopes that there will be patience and mutual
understanding all 'round, despite the different local emphases. Most of
all, one hopes that the "equity" issues which Jospin raises forcefully
here will not get lost in the shuffling, racing, sound and fury.
Jack Kessler
XXX
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XXX
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