Subject: FYIFrance: new Prime Min-> Internet a priority of France, pt.2/2 [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 FYI France (sm)(tm) e - journal ISSN 1071 - 5916 * | FYI France (sm)(tm) is a monthly electronic journal, | published since 1992 as a small - scale, personal, | experiment, in the creation of large - scale | "information overload", by Jack Kessler. Any material / \ written by me which appears in FYI France may be ----- copied and used by anyone for any good purpose, so // \\ long as, a) they give me credit and show my e - mail --------- address and, b) it isn't going to make them money: if // \\ if it is going to make them money, they must get my permission in advance, and share some of the money which they get with me. Use of material written by others requires their permission. FYI France archives are at http://infolib.berkeley.edu (search for FYIFrance), or via gopher to infolib.berkeley.edu 72 (path: 3. Electronic Journals (Library-Oriented)/ 6. FYIFrance/ , or http://www.cru.fr/listes/biblio-fr@cru.fr/ (BIBLIO-FR econference archive), or via telnet to a.cni.org , login brsuser (PACS / PACS-L econference archive), or at http://www.fyifrance.com . Suggestions, reactions, criticisms, praise, and poison - pen letters all will be gratefully received at kessler@well.sf.ca.us . Copyright 1992- by Jack Kessler, all rights reserved. XXX end