Issue no. 383 - 27 January 2008

• EU - European Commission makes computer-assisted translation easier and more accessible (RAPID)
  The European Commission is going a step further in its efforts to foster multilingualism as a key part of European unity in diversity. The Commission's collection of about 1 million sentences and their high quality translations in 22 of the 23 official EU languages - including those of the new Member States - is the biggest ever collection in so many languages and is now freely available. This kind of data is highly sought after by developers of machine translation systems in which automatic translation software "learns" from manually translated texts how words and phrases are correctly and contextually translated. The data can also help the development of other linguistic software tools such as grammar and spell checkers, online dictionaries and multilingual text classification systems.

Issue no. 338 - 7 May 2005

• UK - Bloomsbury Exec Warns Against Google Print (Bookseller)
  Bloomsbury chief executive Nigel Newton has warned UK publishers to beware the blandishments of Internet search engine Google. Newton argued that the project to digitize books and allow the content to be searched on Google could lead to the 'Napsterization' of the publishing industry.

Issue no. 335 - 20 March 2005

• FR - France to develop Google 'rival' (BBC)
  France is spearheading a project to make European literary works available online in an effort to counter growing US cultural dominance worldwide. The virtual library initiative follows a similar move by US firm Google to make 15m works available on its site. The head of the French national library, Jean-Noel Jeanneney, recently called for a European 'counter-attack' against the Google project.

• FR - Les grandes bibliothèques se préparent à la guerre numérique (01net)
  Selon le président de la République, Jacques Chirac, la numérisation des grandes bibliothèques d'Europe est un « enjeu fondamental » pour la diversité culturelle. Il a d'ailleurs reçu, mercredi 16 mars, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, ministre de la Culture, et Jean-Noël Jeanneney, président de la Bibliothèque nationale de France (BNF). Leur mission sera « d'analyser les conditions dans lesquelles les fonds des grandes bibliothèques en France et en Europe pourraient être rendus plus largement et plus rapidement accessibles sur Internet ». Afin que le président puisse, dans les semaines qui viennent, faire des propositions à ses homologues de l'Union européenne pour coordonner leurs efforts de numérisation. Un effort qui demandera une vraie mobilisation.

Issue no. 333 - 2 March 2005

• FR - Google book plan sparks war of words (Reuters)
  France's national library has raised a 'war cry' over plans by Google to put books from some of the world's great libraries on the Internet and wants to ensure the project does not lead to a domination of American ideas. Jean-Noel Jeanneney, who heads France's national library and is a noted historian, says Google's choice of works is likely to favor Anglo-Saxon ideas and the English language. He wants the European Union to balance this with its own program and its own Internet search engines.

Issue no. 332 - 22 February 2005

• FR - La BNF numérise les archives de la presse française (ZDNet France)
  La Bibliothèque nationale de France (BNF) va entamer la numérisation d'une partie de la presse française. Ce grand chantier vise à rendre accessible sur l'internet les archives de 22 titres de presse publiés entre le début du XIXe siècle et 1944, ce qui représente plus de 3,2 millions de pages. Pour des raisons de droits d'auteur, elle ne peut pas encore donner accès aux archives ultérieures.

• FR - Quand Google défie l'Europe (Le Monde)
  par Jean-Noël Jeanneney. Google vient de passer accord avec cinq des bibliothèques les plus célèbres et les plus riches du monde anglo-saxon pour numériser 15 millions d'ouvrages afin de les rendre accessibles en ligne. Voici que s'affirme le risque d'une domination écrasante de l'Amérique dans la définition de l'idée que les prochaines générations se feront du monde. La production scientifique anglo-saxonne, déjà dominante dans une quantité de domaines, s'en trouvera forcément survalorisée, avec un avantage écrasant à l'anglais par rapport aux autres langues de culture, notamment européennes. La contre-attaque s'impose, avec un soutien positif à la différence. Et elle ne peut se déployer qu'à l'échelle de l'Europe. Une Europe décidée à n'être pas seulement un marché, mais un centre de culture rayonnante et d'influence politique sans pareille autour de la planète. Un plan pluriannuel pourrait être défini et adopté dès cette année à Bruxelles. Un budget généreux devrait être assuré.

Issue no. 330 - 30 January 2005

• EU - New programme to promote European digital content market (RAPID)
  The European Parliament voted with only one amendment in favour of the eContentplus programme, which will support the development of multi-lingual content for innovative, on-line services across the EU. The amendment, which is the result of a compromise with the Council, sets the budget of the programme at 149 MEUR for the period 2005-2008, and paves the way for a rapid adoption of the programme. eContentplus will tackle the fragmentation of the European digital content market and will improve the accessibility and usability of geographical information, cultural content and educational material.

• Grandes ambitions et petits soucis d'un outil libre de traduction (Libération)
  Comment s'affranchir des contraintes de l'interprétariat monnayées à des prix exorbitants et contourner la mainmise des multinationales sur les nouvelles technologies? Comment promouvoir l'usage des logiciels libres et prôner une réappropriation des savoirs? Bref, comment réinventer activisme politique et pratique artistiques? C'est le pari un peu fou de Nomad, un collectif d'«artivistes», artiste-activistes, une bande de militants anglais, français, tunisiens, indiens, équatoriens. Leur rêve: métamorphoser, le temps d'une conférence, une cabine de traduction. Histoire permettre l'interprétariat en 17 langues. Mais aussi l'archivage des discussions sur différents supports (site web, CD, DVD, etc.). Et enfin la diffusion internet en direct -ou quasi- via le streaming audio.

Issue no. 328 - 4 January 2005

• Collins launches online dictionary to debate new words (Guardian)
  Collins Dictionaries has launched an online Living Dictionary, in which netheads can suggest new words and argue over whether they should be added to the print version of the dictionary.

Issue no. 317 - 22 August 2004

• How eight pixels cost Microsoft millions (Silicon.com)
  Microsoft's lack of multicultural savvy cost the Redmond behemoth millions of dollars. The software giant has seen its products banned in some of the biggest markets on earth--and it's all because of eight wrongly colored pixels, a dodgy choice of music and a bad English-to-Spanish dictionary. Speaking at the International Geographical Union congress in Glasgow, Microsoft's top man in its geopolitical strategy team, Tom Edwards, revealed how one of the biggest companies in the world managed to offend one of the biggest countries in the world with a software slip-up.

• Language tools for fight on terror (BBC)
  Software to allow security officials to better search and translate documents in foreign languages, especially Arabic, has been demonstrated at a technology show in Las Vegas.

Issue no. 299 - 24 January 2004

• IN - 13 Languages Speak With One Voice (Wired)
  The World Social Forum is speaking in 13 languages this year. The translations are being done by an international network of volunteer interpreters called Babels, using a newly created open-source Linux software. The software can be run on a midrange computer, therefore cutting out the high costs of translation associated with special high-speed computers, consoles and mixing equipment. The WSF is also using an FM radio frequency to provide translations in various Indian languages to help cut the cost of attaching headsets to every seat.

Issue no. 291 - 15 November 2003

• Netd@ys 2002 (DG Education and Culture)
  NetD@ys is an initiative of the European Commission to promote the use of new media in education and culture. This year Netd@ys concentrates on 'Dialogue between cultures' with an emphasis on Image. There are three themes : Discover it, Understand it, Appreciate it. It runs from 17 to 23 November 2003. see also FAQ.

Issue no. 288 - 19 October 2003

• Getting lost in the translation (BBC)
  Relying on online translation tools can be a risky business, especially if you expect too much of it. For the time being, might translation be something best left to the humans?

Issue no. 277 - 30 July 2003

• EU - Towards development of broadband content (RAPID)
  Industry and Member States' representatives gathered at the Broadband Content Workshop in Brussels, held by the European Commission on 15 July 2003, to address issues related to the development of broadband content, applications and services. The broadband market can broadly be divided into connectivity and the provision of content it enables. This market is characterised by the so-called 'chicken-and-egg problem', whereby funding more advanced multimedia services depends on the availability of broadband for these services to run on, while funding broadband infrastructure depends on the availability of new content to run on it. Presentations were made by representatives of a cross section of operators and of content providers. The meeting allowed a collection of stakeholders' views on the role of public policy in facilitating the removal of barriers. Another workshop has been announced for 28 October. It will be based on the exchange of best practices of local and regional initiatives, addressing the implementation of demand aggregation policies and the financing of the infrastructure.

Issue no. 263 - 16 March 2003

• EU - Multilinguisme et multiculturalisme : des défis pour l'éducation en Europe (RAPID)
  Mme Viviane REDING, Membre de la Commission européenne responsable de l'Education et de la Culture, Colloque sur « Les défis pour l'Education en Europe », St-Germain-en-Laye, 14 mars 2003.

Issue no. 255 - 6 January 2003

• NO - Microsoft embraces Nynorsk language (BBC)
  The software giant Microsoft has agreed to translate their popular Office software into a language very few people know exists. It is called New Norwegian, or Nynorsk, and it is Norway's second official language.

Issue no. 252 - 30 November 2002

• EU - Europäisches Informationsportal nun auch auf Deutsch (Heise)
  Das Internetportal zur Europapolitik EurActiv hat seine englische und französische Sprachversion um eine deutsche Version ergänzt. Geboten werden dort unter anderem Nachrichten, Dossiers, Informationen über Länder und Wahlen sowie Rubriken zu den Themen Zukunft Europas, Erweiterung der EU und Umwelt. Die Informationen sind für Industrieverbände, Nichtregierungsorganisationen und andere Gruppen gedacht, die an den Entscheidungsprozessen der EU teilnehmen, aber auch für die Bürger.

Issue no. 218 - 6 January 2002

• The Chinese Connection / Wiring the People's Republic (SF Gate)
  The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has predicted that Chinese would become the most used language on the Web as early as 2007. If it comes to pass, such a shift will mean big changes for everyone. The biggest changes of all will be in store for China itself. For the Chinese people, the outcome of this clash could be positive or negative. Just which it will be largely depends on how we in the West choose to go about doing business with them.

Issue no. 213 - 11 November 2001

• Calls for proposals (Official Journal)
  Call for proposals for indirect actions under the programme to stimulate the development and use of European digital content on the global networks and to promote linguistic diversity in the information society (2001 to 2005) (The eContent programme) and Call for proposals for awareness actions under the Action plan on promoting safer use of the Internet.

Issue no. 211 - 20 October 2001

• Taking the lead with European digital content (RAPID)
  Mr Erkki Liikanen, Member of the European Commission responsible for Enterprise and the Information Society, Norden digitalt Conference, Helsinki, 16 October 2001.

Issue no. 210 - 14 October 2001

• Top sites limited by lack of languages (ZDNet UK)
  Over 95 percent of leading Internet companies are unable to correspond in any language but English, according to research.

Issue no. 193 - 3 April 2001

• AltaVista Adds Asian Languages To BabelFish (Interactive Week)
  Search-engine company AltaVista has added Asian languages to its popular computer-based translation service, BabelFish. BabelFish already performs more than a million translations per day, and is the first translation service to support traditional Asian characters in Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

Issue no. 190 - 12 March 2001

• Walt Disney Internet Group Launches Site in China (internet.com)
  Disney.com and Disney's Blast content will be localized into Mandarin Chinese and launched at www.disney.com.cn with a Chinese partner

Issue no. 182 - 20 December 2000

• Cultural Differences in E-Commerce: A Comparison Between the U.S. and Japan (First Monday)
  The paper presents the characteristics and trends of the Internet and e-commerce in Japan. Then it discusses the results of a content analysis of the top 50 popular Web sites in U.S. and those in Japan conducted in November 1999 and May 2000. This study examines cultural differences in the use of the Web in each country and suggests strategies for global e-commerce.

Issue no. 181 - 10 December 2000

• Net helps resuscitate a "dead" language (CNET News.com)
  Considered a "dead" language for at least a century, Latin is experiencing its most stunning renaissance since the Enlightenment--compliments of the Internet. A slew of newsgroups, chat rooms and Web sites dedicated to the ancient tongue is giving Ovid aficionados and assorted academics a new reason to brush up on their conjugations and declensions, uniting faraway folks with a common passion and reviving a language that scientists say is in danger of becoming extinct.

• Web gap grows between English, French speakers (Globe and Mail)
  Canada: Anglophones favour different kinds of sites than those visited by francophones.

Issue no. 180 - 3 December 2000

• AltaVista geht in der Schweiz an den Start (internet.com)
  AltaVista ist ab sofort in der Schweiz mit einer länderspezifischen Web-Site in deutsch, italienisch und französisch präsent. Das Angebot von altavista.ch startet mit rund 3,5 Millionen Schweizer Dokumenten.

• Hotmail Sees Chinese Users Rising by 50 Percent (Reuters)
  Microsoft's Internet portal MSN expects the number of users in mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong of its free email service, Hotmail, to surge by 50 percent within the next two months following the launch of a Chinese language interface for Hotmail.

• Is the Internet destroying Spanish? (ZDNet Latin America)
  Some say the jargon of technology is destroying Spanish, and some are worried, including Odon Betanzos, president of the North American Academy of the Spanish Language. Betanzos recently sent an open letter to the other 22 academies worldwide. The letter raised a harsh cry in defense of the Spanish tongue.

• The Myth Of The Global Network (Interactive Week)
  To truly attract a global audience, companies to develop separate Web sites for each local market - staffed by local employees, written in the local language and featuring services that appeal to a particular region or country.

Issue no. 177 - 12 November 2000

• Asian Languages Are Dot-OK (Wired)
  Some 48,000 new domain names are being registered around the world every day. Now names can be registered in Chinese, Korean and Japanese, to go with the extensions dot-com, dot-net and dot-org.

Issue no. 170 - 24 September 2000

• MP3.com goes global with foreign language sites (AP)
  Caught in a legal tug-of-war over copyright law in the United States, Internet music service MP3.com is turning its sights to Europe, where it plans to open Web sites in German, French and Spanish.

Issue no. 161 - 25 June 2000

• Canada - Court Says Quebec Can't Force Use of French Software (Reuters)
  A provincial superior court judge ruled that the Quebec government could not force businesses operating in the province to use French-language computer software.

Issue no. 160 - 17 June 2000

• Le Net délie les langues rares (Libération)
  Sur le Web, on peut aujourd'hui télécharger les alphabets cyrillique ou arabe, ou encore obtenir des traductions en swahili ou zulu... et si le yiddish renaissait grâce au Web? Et si le picard trouvait sur l'Internet une improbable planche de salut?

Issue no. 157 - 28 May 2000

• EU - Commission proposes programme to stimulate European digital content on the Internet (RAPID)
  The European Commission adopted a proposal for a European Union (EU) multi-annual programme that aims at stimulating the development and use of European digital content on the Internet and to promote the linguistic diversity of European web-sites in the Information Society.

Issue no. 156 - 20 May 2000

• ElMundo.es ofrece un traductor de textos (Europa Press)
  La edición digital del mundo ofrece en su web un traductor de textos y páginas web que permitirá a sus usuarios optar a informaciones en francés, inglés, alemán y portugués ya que esta herramienta realizará su conversión a castellano.

Issue no. 154 - 7 May 2000

• In Quebec, French-First Policy Riles Small Sites (New York Times)
  In the past few years, several Quebec-based companies have come under fire from the Office of the French Language for posting English-only Web sites.

Issue no. 150 - 2 April 2000

• El español es la cuarta lengua más utilizada en Internet (Ciberestrella)
  El español ocupa actualmente el cuarto lugar en el ranking de idiomas utilizados en Internet, por detrás del inglés, el japonés y el alemán. El Instituto Cervantes afirma que esta situación cambiará a medida que Latinoamérica incremente el número de conexiones a Internet.

• Großfusion der Sprach-Erkenner (Heise Online)
  Der belgische Spezialist für Spracherkennungs- und Übersetzungssoftware, Lernout & Hauspie (L&H), kündigte heute an, seinen größten Konkurrenten Dragon Systems Inc. übernehmen zu wollen. Der Kaufpreis beträgt rund 593 Millionen US-Dollar.

Issue no. 148 - 18 March 2000

• Yahoo Gallops Across the Pampas (The Industry Standard)
  A half-million Argentinians already use the Yahoo en Español directory, so Yahoo aims at expanding that audience by launching a full-fledged portal there - its third Latin American site, after Brazil and Mexico.

Issue no. 146 - 4 March 2000

• AltaVista Goes Local in France, the Netherlands (internet.com)
  AltaVista extended its global reach by launching its newFrance and Netherlands properties. Both sites will generate local content and the search functions with country-specific indices which AltaVista claims will cover 95 percent of local sites in both the French and Dutch languages.

Issue no. 140 - 22 January 2000

• Belgium rivals Silicon Valley (BBC)
  Jo Lernhaut and Pol Hauspie have now created a little centre of excellence, called the Flanders Language Valley, where companies with a similar sort of computer language expertise can cluster and breed more innovation, just like Silicon Valley.

• Chinese Domain Names Offered (Newsbytes)
  Two Chinese-language Internet domain name registrars have launched in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Internet service provider HKNet announced that it would begin offering Chinese-character domain names to customers. One day later, 3rd Generation Network Information Centre (3gnic), a subsidiary of Internet development company Asia Prime Network, launched its own separate domain name registration service.

Issue no. 139 - 16 January 2000

• Accord sur le programme "Culture 2000" (RAPID)
  A la suite de l'accord intervenu au sein du comité de conciliation, le Conseil et le Parlement européen peuvent maintenant procéder à l'adoption du programme "Culture 2000", nouvel instrument unique de financement et de programmation en faveur de la coopération culturelle.

Issue no. 138 - 9 January 2000

• Local Web Sites Most Popular in Europe (Reuters)
  Four U.S. Web brands continue to dominate the European Internet landscape but Germany's T-Online and France's Wanadoo were the most visited sites in their home markets. Freeserve was Britain's favorite.

Issue no. 137 - 18 December 1999

• Microsoft adds trio of languages to Hotmail (CNET News.com)
  In an effort to reach more international users, Microsoft today announced it has added three more foreign language versions to its MSN Hotmail service: Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.

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