The French love a war with Google

Now they are planning their own French competitor to Google books – Tug says oui! Vive la France libre!

See below for a quote from the Globe and Mail:

“France’s culture minister on Tuesday unveiled a plan for adapting the country’s literary patrimony to the digital age by developing what he hopes will prove a uniquely Gallic competitor to Google Books.

Frederic Mitterrand didn’t rule out co-operating with the ubiquitous, U.S.-based search engine and said France was prepared to share files with Google under certain conditions. But he made clear that the company would have to play by France’s rules. Billed as a public-private partnership, the impetus and funding for the French initiative comes from the state.

The Google Books project already has scanned and catalogued more that 10 million books as part of its project to create an online library accessible to anyone with an Internet connection…”

Related Links: Globe and Mail Article