Nicolas Sarkozy to host technology forum in Paris next week

Just ahead of G8 talks, French President Nicolas Sarkozy is all set to host a two-day technology forum in Paris next week, Reuters reported.

The forum will showcase two often contradictory views on the digital world, the Reuters report said. One of the views, supported by Internet biggies like Google and Amazon, is preaching a regulatory approach and favourable tax and labour rules to make sure that the Internet remains a significant growth engine.

The other one, more concerned about the excesses of the Internet, favours regulations on almost everything from privacy to copyright issues, a view more common in Europe.

Sarkozy is probably best known for passing a law that denies Internet access to people who are caught pirating copyrighted works three times.

Stanford Professor Lawrence Lessig, a campaigner for less regulation in fields like copyright, said, The future of the Internet is being decided by businesses that are just trying to protect themselves from the potential of the Internet, reported Reuters.

These tend to be the businesses with the most political influence, added Lessig, who will be joining Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Google's Eric Schmidt, News Corp's Rupert Murdoch and a host of other technology leaders in Paris for the meet .

The US, having its flourishing Internet hub in Silicon Valley is the envy of many other countries, who feel hampered by a lack of unhelpful regulation and like-minded people.

Regulating the Internet to correct its excesses and abuses that come about in the total absence of rules -- this is a moral imperative! Sarkozy said in a speech at the Vatican in 2010, reported Reuters.

The focus of the e-G8 talks will be on how to bind the economic potential of the Internet and advance innovation, while protecting intellectual property rights online.

Many of the tech types are still wondering what the purpose of the meet is all about.

Alcatel-Lucent -CEO Ben Verwaayen, the moderator for the panel on the Internet and economic growth featuring Google's Schmidt and eBay Inc CEO John Donahoe, said he was unsure what the forum would be able to bring about in two days. But he relished the chance to tackle an important set of issues, in particular how to build a thriving digital economy in Europe, reported Reuters. Basically, for me, this is the G8, so it's not about a bunch of technology people speaking a strange language, he said. This is about talking about the importance of building a digital economy.