french

The French government has persuaded one of that country's major Internet providers to drop a plan that would have blocked all website advertising automatically. Government officials said the move could have placed the future of many successful ... websites in doubt. Free, a broadband provider to more than five million French subscribers, proposed to update software on its cable modems to, by default, block website advertisements. Its customers would see a blank space where advertisements appeared on websites delivered via its competitors' Internet services. (The firm's name -- Free -- reflects ... (view more)

Google is currently getting grilled by French officials over the way it handles customer privacy. At the same time, the search giant is also facing stern criticism from British politicians regarding the way it deals with complaints involving illegal ... websites. The French authority that governs data handling in the country, the Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertes, (CNIL) has even slapped the company with a deadline of April 6, by which it must answer to the Commission. The CNIL is currently leading a Europe-wide probe into Google's recent changes to its privacy policies. ... (view more)

A French hacker has been arrested in connection to the hacking of a Twitter account owned by U.S. President Barack Obama. The suspect, known by the nickname "Hacker Croll," has since been arrested in his home country. "Hacker Croll" is actually a 25 ... year old male and is already infamous for his targeting of high-profile social networking accounts. He was allegedly responsible for a similar attack on Britney Spears a year ago after gaining access to Twitter's internal administrative network by acquiring the password of an employee. In order to get his dirty little hands on the latter ... (view more)

A French watchdog is attempting to close down eBay's site in the country, claiming it is failing to protect consumers. The Council of Sales, which regulates auctions, argues that the site should have to follow the same rules as 'bricks and mortar' ... auction houses in France. These rules, passed in 2000 and designed to clamp down on scams, require all auctioneers to have a government permit. The Council says it's put together a series of complaints about shady practices by eBay sellers, including selling a photocopy as an original 18th century painting, or simply scanning images from auction ... (view more)

The BlackBerry has been praised by some, rejected by others, and now banned by the Government of France, with the country's Minister of Defense calling the handheld device a "threat to French state secrets". What is most bizarre about the situation ... is that France has lashed out against the United States, claiming that American intelligence agencies are manipulating French BlackBerry devices to spy on government secrets. Emails that are sent from a French BlackBerry device must pass through servers in the United States and Britain. France fears that this process will make their systems prone ... (view more)