France to have G8-like tech summit with Amazon, Google
updated 03:30 pm EDT, Fri May 13, 2011
France to hold tech summit on May 24-25
The French government said Friday that it will hold a summit where big presences on the Internet such as Amazon, Facebook and Google will debate how countries can bring innovation to the web. The forum will be held on May 24 and 25 in Paris and is a part of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans. In attendance will be Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos.
Others on hand will include CEOs of News Corp., Vivendi's entertainment group, and auction site eBay.
Topics of discussion will include Internet regulation and its economic impact as well as how to foster innovation while protecting intellectual property rights of online users. European leaders are also likely to address the gap between the fast growth of Silicon Valley in California and the slower innovation in Europe.
The presentation of any conclusions reached at the summit will be presented in Deauville, France on two days starting from May 27.
The meeting should help to equalize issues such as privacy online, net neutrality, and antitrust protections that the US and Europe and struggling with on their own.
