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French web users caught pirating movies or music could soon be thrown offline. Those illegally sharing files will face the loss of their net access thanks to a newly-created anti-piracy body granted the wide-ranging powers. The anti-piracy body comes out of a deal agreed by France's music and movie makers and its net firms. The group who brokered the deal said the measures were intended to curb casual piracy rather than tackle large scale pirate groups. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the deal was a "decisive moment for the future of a civilised internet". Net firms will monitor what their customers are doing and pass on information about persistent pirates to the new independent body. Those identified will get a warning and then be threatened with either being cut off or suspended if they do not stop illegal file-sharing. The agreement between net firms, record companies, film-makers and government was drawn up by a special committee created to look at the problem of the net and cultural protection. Denis Olivennes, head of the French chain store FNAC, who chaired the committee said current penalties for piracy - large fines and years in jail - were "totally disproportionate" for those young people who do file-share illegally. In return for agreeing to monitor net use, film-makers agreed to speed up the transfer of movies to DVD and music firms pledged to support DRM-free tracks on music stores. The deal was hailed by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which represents the global interests of the music business. "This is the single most important initiative to help win the war on online piracy that we have seen so far," it said in a statement. French consumer group UFC Que Choisir was more cautious. It said the agreement was "very tough, potentially destructive of freedom, anti-economic and against digital history".
China 'blocks' main Google site Chinese authorities have blocked most domestic users from the main Google.com search engine, a media watchdog said. Internet users in major Chinese cities faced difficulties accessing Google's international site in the past week, Reporters Without Borders said. But Google.cn, the controversial Chinese language version launched in January, has not been affected. The site blocks politically sensitive material to comply with government censorship rules. "It was only to be expected that Google.com would be gradually sidelined after the censored version was launched in January," Reporters Without Borders said in a statement. "Google has just definitively joined the club of Western companies that comply with online censorship in China," the organisation said. Google.com, the search engine's uncensored international site, had previously been available to Chinese web users, but problems accessing the site had been reported across the country recently. It was blocked nationwide on 31 May, the statement said. The blocking was also being extended to Google News and Google Mail, Reporters Without Borders said. 'Principled approach' A spokeswoman for Google in Beijing said that the problem was under investigation.
The spokeswoman, Cui Jin, said she could not give any more information. On Tuesday, Google co-founder Sergey Brin defended his company's decision to launch the censored Google.cn service, a move which drew heavy criticism. "We felt that perhaps we could compromise our principles but provide ultimately more information for the Chinese and be a more effective service," he said. "Perhaps now the principled approach makes more sense." In addition to Google, US companies Microsoft, Yahoo and Cisco Systems have also been accused of accommodating China's demands on censorship in return for access to its huge internet market. The Chinese government's internet filtering is some of the most sophisticated in the world. Content considered to be a threat, including references to the Tiananmen Square massacre and notable dissidents, is blocked. Chinese authorities have also stepped up measures against software designed to bypass internet censorship, the Reporters Without Borders statement said.
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IT is fuelling India's wealth drive Nine Indians have been named in Forbes magazine's list of the world's richest people. Most of them have made their fortunes through India's booming information technology sector. Topping the Indian entries was the country's best-known IT entrepreneur, Azim Premji, whose net worth is valued at $6.9bn. But the list also contains some of India's leading figures in manufacturing, including Dhirubhai Ambani who heads the $6.6bn Reliance Industries.
But a plunge in stock prices saw his net worth drop from $35bn to $6.9bn and the 38th spot on the Forbes list. Mr Premji's company is based in the Indian cyber-city of Bangalore and he has a reputation for being thrifty and keeping a low-profile. Despite his immense wealth, he drives a Ford Escort, flies economy class and queues up with his employees for lunch at the staff canteen. Humble origins At 40th place is Dhirubhai Ambani, India's largest petrochemicals manufacturer. His Reliance Industries has interests in telecommunications, power and infrastructure development and recently announced plans to join the IT boom. Mr Ambani's rise to his present position is part of Indian business lore. Born poor, he left his home state of Gujarat for the Gulf to take up a petty job in Aden. He built up his giant empire from scratch to become one of India's biggest industrialists - a position which led to a one-on-one meeting with Bill Clinton in Bombay, earlier this year. Two other industrialists who have diversified from their manufacturing past into IT also made it to the list. Azim Premji is India's richest person The fifth richest Indian, Lakshmi Mittal, owns a steel empire with acquisitions in Indonesia, Uzbekistan, UK and the US. He has now launched Metique, a global procurement portal for metals Kumaramangalam Birla, from one of India's leading business houses, inherited a $4bn commodities empire and the country's largest private sector mutual fund company. He has now acquired Byte International, a US-based e-learning company. Media and IT kings The list also contains one of India's hottest media czars, Subhash Chandra, a former rice trader who now owns Zee Telefilms. Mr Chandra's $3bn fortune comes from a massive media empire which includes television channels, production companies, studios, broadband internet services and amusement parks. B Ramalingam Raju, who was educated in the US, also figures in the list, with assets worth $1.3bn. He launched India's very first IT service provider, Satyam Infoway.
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