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Since I'm from France, I found some other articles explaining the real reasons, and they are pretty different from TFA.

Here are my sources:
http://www.zdnet.fr/actualites...
http://www.lemondeinformatique...

First, Montreuil is 11 kilometers away from Paris, it's reasonably near and a lot cheaper.
You can check the photographs, the residents live only a few meters from the datacenter.

The problems appeared because Interxion would like to add an extension to the datacenter, doubling its capacity, and thus the noise it produces.

Here is a translation about the various causes:

In particular because of the presence of generators with combustion engine, of course designed for use in emergency power supply and when the monthly testing and maintenance, but also for refrigeration systems installed outdoors on terraces, designed to operate continuously, and because of a law daily traffic of 15 heavy vehicles.
Besides the sirens sometimes trigger during the night.

It's nice to have datacenters, but it's hellish to live nearby.
And if you are the owner of a house nearby, your house cannot be sold at a correct price.

Nothing in the BBC story or the Slashdot submission gives a link to actual useful details.

There's nothing on the ASIC site, nothing on http://www.laquadrature.net/

All I can find online is http://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/conservation-des-donnees-sur-internet-l-asic-se-fache-39759703.htm

Turns out that the law was passed in 2004. This is about the "decret d'application", i.e. the note from the government that specifies exactly what the retention period is.

Here's an AP article, which is a little more reputable than a blog.

And here's some commentaries that zdnet rounded up.

http://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/internet/0,39020774,39390853,00.htm

My concern is about what governments and corporations will try to do to stifle things.

Exactly. According to this article (sorry, it's in French and I don't have time right now to look for another source), Europe is preparing to vote new telecom regulations which will allow the national regulators (governments) to define what software is authorised on the internet

Orange's UNIK is UMA too, and can therefore switch from Wi-Fi to GSM seamlessly. Not sure about the competition (neuf, etc) but they're never very far behind so I think they are using the same standard.

According to this article, Neuf's "Twin" offer does the same thing AND allows you to use a non-Neuf Wi-Fi hotspot.

I really hope this catches on. Calling on GSM when there's already a Wi-Fi network seems like a waste of money. Personally I would be very happy with a phone that does not only that, but also allows me to audio chat with iChat/AIM/GTalk as well, at no cost while in Wi-Fi mode, and at the cost of a local phone call while in GSM mode . iPhone v2.0 perhaps, once they get out of the AT&T contract?!

After reading all of the current comments (including the misguided ones) I decided to seek out the original article as I am interested in the subject. The source of the article was posted on ZDnet in France ( http://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/informatique/0,3904 0745,39366715,00.htm ) and yes it is in French, however you can use Google translator and get the sense of it if you don't have French language skills. It seems that it is aimed at giving the high school kids some personal "ownership" of portable computer resources to be used at school and home, though I doubt that the kids would rush down to the local cyber café and use their Education Department supplied Mandriva bootable USB key http://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/informatique/0,3904 0745,39365885,00.htm after school hours when they could be on-line gaming. And yes, there is a political angle to all of this, as according to other articles referenced by the above original, France is attempting to create a competitive position for Open Source Software, which is not being Anti-American at all (the French are ambivalent at best, toward other countries). BTW I do have a different (neutral) cultural perspective than most posters on this issue as I am an expatriate Australian, living and working in France.

After reading all of the current comments (including the misguided ones) I decided to seek out the original article as I am interested in the subject. The source of the article was posted on ZDnet in France ( http://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/informatique/0,3904 0745,39366715,00.htm ) and yes it is in French, however you can use Google translator and get the sense of it if you don't have French language skills. It seems that it is aimed at giving the high school kids some personal "ownership" of portable computer resources to be used at school and home, though I doubt that the kids would rush down to the local cyber café and use their Education Department supplied Mandriva bootable USB key http://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/informatique/0,3904 0745,39365885,00.htm after school hours when they could be on-line gaming. And yes, there is a political angle to all of this, as according to other articles referenced by the above original, France is attempting to create a competitive position for Open Source Software, which is not being Anti-American at all (the French are ambivalent at best, toward other countries). BTW I do have a different (neutral) cultural perspective than most posters on this issue as I am an expatriate Australian, living and working in France.

I don't totally buy the argument that PC+OS=product, however, in HP's defense, it probably doesn't work as advertised without the windows OS and is really a different product without it.

Also, in most juristictions, there is a implied warranty of merchantability that comes with every item that is sold: that is reasonably functional for their ordinary purpose. Of course we are free to debate what the "ordinary purpose" is of a french computer and if it requires and OS to reach that level of functionality out of the box. If a french computer isn't expected to work out of the box and needs and OS install, then presumably this is a slam dunk. Otherwize, it's perhaps less clear.

For example, the french "bundling" law taken to extremes could be interpreted as forcing cars dealers to sell cars w/o tires because it's possible to buy a different brand of tires for the car instead of the tires that came with the car (or even the brand of synthetic motor oil). Although I doubt it could ever be interpreted to apply to these things because it wouldn't be a merchantable car without oil or tires.

In any case, as with the US, I think in France you can techically get a rebate/refund for the OS if you don't use it. It seem you have to change the terms of the default purchase contract and request it in writing and threaten to sue to get them to refund you... ;^)

Perhaps that is a shallow victory for some. Also note that it seems the history of applying this law to the OS is against the unbundling in the case of a computer and an OS (and iTunes and iPods), even though bundling appears to apply in these case, such is the vagaries of the DDGCRF (the french directorate in charge of competition and fraud). They had to pass a specific law in france to make the iTunes/iPod bundling thing against the law and they'd probably have to do the same for computer+Windows.

Actually I'd just like to see this bundling OS+processor be eliminated on cell phones. I could care less about the desktop and lap top computer stuff.

As far as I'm aware, Greenpeace had little to do with this story, more like grassroot protesters and Apple's own shareholders, who rightly said Dell and HP had both better policies. Apple did appear with a bad score in a Greenpeace report, but that's one voice amongst many.

Recycling is important, Apple is flush with cash and rides on the image of a modern, innovative, user-friendly company. It should be recycling more, but doesn't. In particular, currently its recycling program is limited to the continental US. I think this is not good enough. Fortunately, other companies have much better policies, whose goal is to become global.

It's interesting so watch what happens when reality intrudes harshly on the image Apple wants to give of itself.

Welcome to Paris, France, where the national Telco is testing FTTH (fiber to the Home) @ 2,5 GB down and 1,2 GB up...

Cost is announced @ 70 Euro / month, no caps...

http://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/internet/0,39020774 ,39362365,00.htm

Right now I have a 24 Mb DSL for 30 Euro/month. I regularly max up the connection.

In September the fiber offer will be available in my district, I will have to upgrade to PCI-x or something and get a 2 GB fiber card for the router. 4Gb cards are still too expensive, and that network is not scheduled for 4,5 GB internet till 2010.

Sad, no, when the most recent and speedy computer in the room is your router...

Well, I'm ready : Bring on the Pain !!!

I might even re-think about providing a small web-hosting solution to friends and customers...

Da5id

There are indeed a few problems with the law as it stands.

The main points are there (in French) for those interested.

Here is a quick and dirty translation w/ my comments (incomplete, learn French and read the legal text for the full thing) :

Authors (of media contents) can choose how they are paid and can choose to make their work freely available (I don't think this is really new under French law although it's probably the first time it's really spelled out)

DRM is authorised. *However*, it cannot be implemented if the consequence is the lack of interoperability. A (I don't know what the eauivalent would be, make it a high end court) court can force any software editor to disclose the information necessary for interoperability.

Furthemore, any person wanting to grab data is authorised to decompile code to get at the content.

The only medium for which private copies cannot be limited are televised videos. For other medias, mediators are to be consulted (whatever that means --and whoever they are, an article of the law specifies this, some of them are lawyers...).

Creating a system designed to publish (i.e. make available to the general public) copyrighted data (not meant to be disseminated in this way) can be punished by at the most 3 years in prison and a 300 K €s fine. Likewise for any person who knowledgeably incites (including through advertising) using such a service (or software).
(however this does not apply to software designed for collaborative work, research or exchange of files or "objects" that are copyright free)

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Mostly this law is quite complex, there's way more to to it than what I posted above and notably if you're poking around for interoperability reasons (like to get your FOSS software to read some kind of crappy DRM) you're presumably in the clear.

DISCLAIMER : I am French. I am *not* a lawyer. I am not even remotely associated with anything legal. I'm not even in the same arrondissement as the Palais de Justice or the Chambre des Députés
If you take anything in this post seriously, you're a bloody fool.

Disclaimer part 2 : I've had a lot of wine (hey, I'm French) before I wrote this, so it's full of typos and probably all wrong. So there.

The three French cell phone operators have joined forces to facilitate the collection of funds via SMS (in French). An interesting initiative as well

Here are some news: it seems that AOL is going to cut some jobs in europe (France) too.
http://www.zdnet.fr/actualites/business/0,39020715 ,39181152,00.htm

Sony supports MP3 on its CD products, but not in its best digital products which is what most people think of when it comes to MP3/music players.

The real story here is shift in business strategy. Sony was the king of portable music after the introduction of the Walkman, but has seen its share slip. It seems that someone at Sony has realized that using a closed, proprietary standard and forcing customers to listen to their music collections how Sony wants them to quickly turns them into ex-customers.

That is big news for Sony. The Sony PSP is coming and Sony has decided to introduce yet another proprietary standard: the Universal Media Disc, which will be hardly universal if Sony is the only one that uses it.

Original post follows:

2004-09-22 16:20:39 Sony to Support MP3 (Index,Music) (rejected)

CNet/ZDNet reports that Sony has confirmed 'it is working to add native MP3 support to its portable music players,' reversing its previous strategy of native support for its proprietary ATRAC music file format only. Currently, MP3 files must be converted into ATRAC format to listen to them on Sony music players. MP3 support will be included on upcoming flash memory-based players, with a decision on hard drive based music players to come later, but there's no word if the Sony Connect music store will offer anything but ATRAC-encoded music. The strategy reversal is seen as a way to compete with Apple's dominant iPod, which supports both MP3 and its own proprietary Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) format. The story was originally reported by ZDNet France (French) reporters Christophe Guillemin and Pierre Labousset. The move comes on the heels of an IDC study that projects a $58 billion MP3 player market by 2008, with the greatest growth coming from flash memory players (press release).

This contrasts with TV technology, for which viewers and broadcasters alike make a one-off royalties payment when they buy their equipment.

Again, there are other countries in the world where things don't happen that way. In most of the EC in fact...

For your information Michael, the Beeb is in the UK where your statement doesn't apply.

Anyway, I imagine RMS will have to say a few thing on GPL-compatibility.

We saw him at Toulouse last Saturday, where he gave a speech about free software. Someone asked about CeCILL during the questions part of the speech, and he basically said it was fine (negating other FSF people's comments like these ones (in French).

Quictime Alternative
it's a package containing Media Player Classic, a codec and a plugin for moz/opera.

If you don't believe check out these related stories, dating way back

Still, it's new to the US. ZDNet had something similar a few weeks back

I think there is no judgement yet. For more information (in French): zdnet.fr

eventually? One word: France!

They have a Ministry for Culture and Communication, dedicated to promoting and watching over French culture. Its most obvious effects are in the French film industry, which (excepting the occasional crossover blockbuster) is heavily funded by the government to be "by the French, for the French"

Still, I had no problem getting a Royale avec Fromage on the Champs d'Elysee "un weekend"..!

here you can read (french) that a student was condemned for linking to mp3 files ... other info : http://www.zdnet.fr/cgi-bin/a_actu.pl?File_ini=a_a ctu.zd&ID=18312 http://www.zdnet.fr/cgi-bin/a_actu.pl?File_ini=a_a ctu.zd&ID=18313

I think encryption is not the true reason.
It's more a DVD-like case ; they just don't want europeans and americans to get japanese pxs2.

Check this articl e (in french) :
Basically, sony Europe will sue anyone importing psx2 in Europe (businesses & individuals).