Chirac launches digitization project to resist Google hegemony

OK, not exactly, but this is a follow-up to the post about the controversy in the French-speaking world over Google's plans to digitize millions of books in the collections of prestigious Anglo-Saxon libraries.

Well, French President Jacques Chirac "told France's national library on Wednesday to draw up a plan to put European literary works on the Internet". French authorities plan on lobbying for cooperation from European countries and claim this is not intended as a counterattack against Google. Rather it is a move to promote cultural diversity on the Internet.

For those who want to read how this is being reported in French:

• in Le Monde - the headline is "Chirac gives push for creation of digital library"
• in Le Nouvel Observateur - "Jacques Chirac wants to accelerate digitization of European libraries"
• in Libération - "Jacques Chirac encourages dissemination of works on the Internet"
• on TV5 (international French-language TV consortium that includes Radio-Canada) and on TSR (Télévision Suisse Romande - Swiss TV) - "Chirac will make proposals to Europeans to digitize libraries"