Join us now at the IRC channel.
| schestowitz | https://twitter.com/ERPchum/status/1201228430748127232 | Dec 02 00:18 |
|---|---|---|
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell-@ERPchum: Microsoft Loves Linux Because It Pays for It https://t.co/Rebbus6LHi by @schestowitz #microsoft | Dec 02 00:18 | |
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell--> techrights.org | Microsoft Loves Linux Because It Pays for It | Techrights | Dec 02 00:19 | |
| schestowitz | https://twitter.com/laleshkas81/status/1201238341573840896 | Dec 02 00:19 |
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell-@laleshkas81: @svetlanaserova2 @schestowitz @wikileaks No es tan facíl EEUU lo quiere muerto..después que lo maten iniciara la 3e… https://t.co/IRPU48xgyz | Dec 02 00:19 | |
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell-@laleshkas81: @svetlanaserova2 @schestowitz @wikileaks No es tan facíl EEUU lo quiere muerto..después que lo maten iniciara la 3e… https://t.co/IRPU48xgyz | Dec 02 00:19 | |
| schestowitz | "No es tan facíl EEUU lo quiere muerto..después que lo maten iniciara la 3er guerramundial será por cuestiones cultrales..rece mucho e Santo Rosario creyente o no va a pasar..Dios no lo permita..sé lo que le escribo..Dios nos bendiga" | Dec 02 00:19 |
| schestowitz | https://twitter.com/laleshkas81/status/1201238341573840896 | Dec 02 00:20 |
| schestowitz | "No es tan facíl EEUU lo quiere muerto..después que lo maten iniciara la 3er guerramundial será por cuestiones cultrales..rece mucho e Santo Rosario creyente o no va a pasar..Dios no lo permita..sé lo que le escribo..Dios nos bendiga" | Dec 02 00:20 |
| schestowitz | > It's really easy to throw an <hr /> in there between output from each | Dec 02 00:22 |
| schestowitz | > URI for the automated results from the attached 'daily.feeds'. The | Dec 02 00:22 |
| schestowitz | > multiple ACLU feeds each get an <hr /> though. | Dec 02 00:22 |
| schestowitz | The feeds that now spew out a URL to a JavaScript program :) -) | Dec 02 00:22 |
| <--pidgin_log has quit (Quit: Leaving.) | Dec 02 01:00 | |
| schestowitz | Re: Achievement Unlocked? 🤣 | Dec 02 05:27 |
| schestowitz | > | Dec 02 05:27 |
| schestowitz | Can you find and share the context leading up to it (the ban)? | Dec 02 05:27 |
| schestowitz | I can do an article. Find me the tweets you wrote; I'd see the context from my account, which is now banned (blocked) | Dec 02 05:27 |
| schestowitz | https://joindiaspora.com/posts/16009676#75e449d0bb8c013752430cc47a07853c | Dec 02 05:34 |
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell-@schestowitz@joindiaspora.com: Oh, how shocked am I to see #canonical staff speaking against #rms now Oh, I wish #microsoft would just buy #ubuntu ASAP so that we can >all< see what this 'community' boils down to >in 2019<. @jonobacon institutionalised. | Dec 02 05:34 | |
| schestowitz | " | Dec 02 05:34 |
| schestowitz | freemedia@share.naturalnews.com | Dec 02 05:34 |
| schestowitz | freemedia@share.naturalnews.com - 3 months ago | Dec 02 05:34 |
| schestowitz | In addition to UF, I also participate in a number of forums and comment boards dealing with politics and current affairs. When I want my fix of overt conflict and aggression, I head on over to those venues for my hit. And there are thousands of similar venues that I can visit with no more effort than the click of a mouse. | Dec 02 05:34 |
| schestowitz | But I’ve always valued UF as a sanctuary and a respite from such conflict. Were it to turn into just another politicized, polarized, jingoistic mudfest, I would be out of here faster than you could say “RMS”. | Dec 02 05:34 |
| schestowitz | https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2424889&p=13880711#post13880711 | Dec 02 05:34 |
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell- ( status 403 @ https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2424889&p=13880711#post13880711 ) | Dec 02 05:34 | |
| schestowitz | Digit | Dec 02 05:34 |
| schestowitz | Digit - 3 months ago | Dec 02 05:34 |
| schestowitz | Oh, how shocked am I to see #canonical staff speaking against #rms now | Dec 02 05:34 |
| schestowitz | rly? | Dec 02 05:34 |
| schestowitz | that’s not a surprising part about this to me. | Dec 02 05:34 |
| schestowitz | Digit | Dec 02 05:34 |
| schestowitz | Digit - 3 months ago | Dec 02 05:34 |
| schestowitz | they stood on his shoulders n took a dump, long ago. | Dec 02 05:35 |
| schestowitz | freemedia@share.naturalnews.com | Dec 02 05:35 |
| schestowitz | freemedia@share.naturalnews.com - 3 months ago | Dec 02 05:35 |
| schestowitz | i didnt think it was possible that he wasnt being sarcastic. | Dec 02 05:35 |
| schestowitz | " | Dec 02 05:35 |
| schestowitz | https://joindiaspora.com/posts/15504684#4a452f508f6f0137354b047d7b62795e | Dec 02 05:40 |
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell-@schestowitz@joindiaspora.com: Oh, dear. My PM is Trump Junior. Dark day. #goldendawnald has spread to the #uk | Dec 02 05:40 | |
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell- Photo by schestowitz@joindiaspora.com: https://joindiaspora.com/uploads/images/thumb_medium_d5362ab9ae472c1b62fe.jpg | Dec 02 05:40 | |
| schestowitz | " | Dec 02 05:41 |
| schestowitz | maybe someone should make a funny song about him as well X-D https://youtu.be/wb219dz_NeA | Dec 02 05:41 |
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell-www.youtube.com | SUCKERS - Randy Rainbow Song Parody - YouTube | Dec 02 05:41 | |
| schestowitz | Andrew Jackson | Dec 02 05:41 |
| schestowitz | Andrew Jackson - 4 months ago | Dec 02 05:41 |
| schestowitz | is he more competent than Trump? you can be corrupt you can be incompetent - but if you are both - as President - your country is f***ed | Dec 02 05:41 |
| schestowitz | " | Dec 02 05:41 |
| schestowitz | https://joindiaspora.com/posts/16252467#6033d400d211013752230cc47a07853c | Dec 02 05:41 |
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell-@schestowitz@joindiaspora.com: Oh, and just to be sure... Everyone knows that #duckduckgo is also #surveillance and #falsemarketing Right? If not, you've been fooled... | Dec 02 05:41 | |
| schestowitz | " | Dec 02 05:41 |
| schestowitz | i think they have no idea what else to use. | Dec 02 05:41 |
| schestowitz | Manumérique | Dec 02 05:41 |
| schestowitz | Manumérique - 2 months ago | Dec 02 05:41 |
| schestowitz | Proof? Links? | Dec 02 05:41 |
| schestowitz | Manumérique | Dec 02 05:41 |
| schestowitz | Manumérique - 2 months ago | Dec 02 05:41 |
| schestowitz | Sorry, I dont trust everything I read on the Internet :) | Dec 02 05:41 |
| schestowitz | " | Dec 02 05:41 |
| schestowitz | https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/05PARIS1264_a.html | Dec 02 05:46 |
| schestowitz | " | Dec 02 05:46 |
| schestowitz | B. PARIS 1231 | Dec 02 05:46 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:46 | |
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell-wikileaks.org | Cable: 05PARIS1264_a | Dec 02 05:46 | |
| schestowitz | Classified By: ECON Minister Counselor Thomas White for | Dec 02 05:46 |
| schestowitz | reasons 1.5 (b) and (d) | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:47 | |
| schestowitz | SUMMARY | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | ------- | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:47 | |
| schestowitz | 1. (C) France Telecom CEO, Thiery Breton, has been named as | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | new Minister of Finance, Economy and Industry, replacing | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | Herve Gaymard. Breton, an admired and politically astute | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | technocrat and business executive, had been approached to | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | replace Nicolas Sarkozy as Finance Minister in November 2004 | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | but turned down the offer, and the job went to Gaymard. | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | Chirac has now asked Breton to take the job on an emergency | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | basis, following Gaymard,s resignation in the burgeoning | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | scandal over his misrepresentations regarding government | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | payment for a luxury apartment. | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:47 | |
| schestowitz | 2. (C) With French unemployment hitting the symbolic 10 | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | percent level, Breton will need all the skills he has learned | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | from reinvigorating sclerotic state-owned companies to manage | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | one of the largest government ministries and to reinvigorate | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | the French economy by generating badly needed economic | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | growth. Breton is a political ally of both President Chirac | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | and PM Raffarin, having served with the latter on the | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | Poitou-Charentes Regional Council during the 1990's. The | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | 50-year-old Breton is experienced in international business | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | circles and speaks excellent English. END SUMMARY. | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:47 | |
| schestowitz | Gaymard Out, Breton In | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | ---------------------- | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:47 | |
| schestowitz | 3. (U) On 25 February, Finance Minister Herve Gaymard turned | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | in his resignation in response to an enveloping housing and | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | benefits scandal (ref A), particularly his misrepresentations | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | about his property holdings and personal wealth amidst | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | controversy over a luxury apartment rented for him by the | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | government. Later that day, France Telecom (FT) CEO Thierry | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | Breton was named by President Chirac to be Gaymard,s | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | successor. | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:47 | |
| schestowitz | 4. (C) In a February 1 luncheon with the Ambassador, Breton | Dec 02 05:47 |
| schestowitz | claimed that he avoided taking the Finance Ministry job | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | earlier in November 2004, when Gaymard succeeded Nicolas | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | Sarkozy, arguing he wanted to complete his three-year | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | recovery plan for France Telecom. However, Chirac clearly | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | felt he was the man for the job this time. This will be | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | France's fourth Finance Minister in less than a year, and | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | Chirac wants to avoid any further scandal in the run-up to | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | the EU Constitution referendum. In Breton he has chosen a | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | capable, ambitious individual who will be sensitive to Elysee | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | wishes but command credibility domestically and | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | internationally. | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:48 | |
| schestowitz | Corporate Background | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | -------------------- | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:48 | |
| schestowitz | 5. (SBU) Breton is widely seen as a savvy corporate | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | turnaround specialist. In the mid-1990s, he helped improve | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | (temporarily) the balance sheets of computer and software | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | maker Bull. In the late 1990,s, he was credited with saving | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | the French consumer electronics company Thomson Multimedia, | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | which, at the time, Prime Minister Alain Juppe wanted to | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | effectively give away to Daewoo Corporation for a symbolic | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | franc. Breton,s quick turnarounds at Bull, Thomson, mobile | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | phone operator Orange, and finally at France Telecom, were | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | accomplished by sharply reducing costs and increasing | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | revenue. | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:48 | |
| schestowitz | 6. (SBU) Breton,s professional experience has been mostly | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | in the French corporate sector. He did a stint at the | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | Ministry of Education, where he served as technical adviser | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | for information technologies between 1986 and 1988. He is a | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | political ally of both President Chirac and PM Raffarin, and | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | served with the latter on the Poitou-Charentes Regional | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | Council during the 1990's. Prior to assuming leadership of | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | France Telecom (FT) in October 2002, he was Chairman of the | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | Board of Directors of Orange, FT,s mobile unit. At FT, he | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | took over what was then regarded as the most indebted | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | telecoms firm in the world. He undertook aggressive steps, | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | selling off non-essential assets, negotiating a deal with the | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | GOF to help pay off the debt, and shedding 7,500 jobs in | Dec 02 05:48 |
| schestowitz | FT,s domestic operations, after difficult negotiations with | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | the unions. | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:49 | |
| schestowitz | 7. (SBU) Prior to his time at Orange/FT, Breton was Chairman | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | and Chief Executive Officer of Thomson (formerly Thomson | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | Multimedia S.A.) from 1997 to September 2002. From 1993 to | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | 1997, he was on the Executive Committee of the Bull Group. | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | From 1990 to March 1993, he served as Director General of | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | CGI, a service development company. From 1981 to 1990 he | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | served as Chief Executive Officer of Forma Systems, an | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | information systems engineering company. Breton has also | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | served on the boards of Thomson SA, Schneider Electric, and | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | Dexia (Belgium) and on the supervisory boards of insurance | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | giant AXA and of Equant NV. | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:49 | |
| schestowitz | Personal Background | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | ------------------- | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:49 | |
| schestowitz | 8. (SBU) Born in Paris on 15 January 1955, Breton graduated | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | from the Ecole suprieure d,lectricit (Suplec) de Paris | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | and the Institut des Hautes Etudes de Dfense Nationale | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | (IHEDN). Fluent in English, Breton worked as a math teacher | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | at the French Lycee in New York as part of his military | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | service obligations between 1979 and 1981. He has also | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | authored eight science fiction books and several other books | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | on information technology. He has been decorated with the | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | Legion of Honor and, in 2004, was designated as a Commander | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | in the National Order of Merit, both prestigious awards. He | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | is married to Nicole-Valerie Baroin with whom he has three | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | children. | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:49 | |
| schestowitz | Comment | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | ------- | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:49 | |
| schestowitz | 9. (C) As the fourth French Finance Minister in less than a | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | year, Breton, age 50, will need all of his political savvy | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | and management skills. President Chirac will want to chart a | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | cautious course between now and the EU constitutional | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | referendum this summer, but Breton at the same time will be | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | expected to confront persistent unemployment and lagging GOF | Dec 02 05:49 |
| schestowitz | efforts to improve labor market flexibility; carry out | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | pension and health care reform; reduce the public sector | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | deficit, and stimulate the economy. Unlike his previous | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | turnaround roles, however, Breton is not the CEO of this | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | ship, whose captain has a broader political agenda to protect. | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | Leach | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | " | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/05PARIS4565_a.html | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | " | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | EMPLOYMENT | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:50 | |
| schestowitz | 1. SUMMARY. GOF Finance Minister Thierry Breton finally has | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | broken out of his shell and announced measures to boost | Dec 02 05:50 |
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell-wikileaks.org | Cable: 05PARIS4565_a | Dec 02 05:50 | |
| schestowitz | economic growth and reduce unemployment, admitting that GDP | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | growth will be lower than 2% in 2005. These measures may | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | help in the long term, but they are more likely to increase | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | budget spending than restore confidence, create jobs, boost | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | government's coffers, or solve structural problems. END | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | SUMMARY. | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:50 | |
| schestowitz | --------------------------------------------- --- | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | Economic Growth Slows; Unemployment Remains High | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | --------------------------------------------- --- | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:50 | |
| schestowitz | 2. On June 22, Finance Minister Thierry Breton admitted | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | that the rise in oil prices (USD 59.52 per barrel in New | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | York on June 20) have weighed on the current economic | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | recovery by crimping corporate profit margins and eroding | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | households' purchasing power. The French unemployment rate | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | remained stubbornly stuck at 10.2%. He publicly | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | acknowledged that GDP growth could increase less than 2% in | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | 2005, cutting the Government GDP forecast for the second | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | time in three months. Breton predicted that after GDP | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | growth of 0.8% (annualized) in Q1 and the weak spot for | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | growth had passed, the GDP growth rate should return between | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | 2.0% and 2.5% in the second half-year. He said that, over | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | the long term, France must find ways to boost annual GDP | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | growth to 3% if it wants to reduce unemployment and protect | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | its social benefits. | Dec 02 05:50 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:50 | |
| schestowitz | --------------------------------------------- ------- | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | Public debt Surges: France "living beyond its means" | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | --------------------------------------------- ------- | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:51 | |
| schestowitz | 3. Breton, in a catchy sound bite, declared that "France is | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | living beyond its means", saying his concern for the French | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | economy was that rising debt levels are unsustainable and | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | that France must reverse the relentless 25-year build-up in | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | its public debt. The public debt would amount to 1,100 | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | billion euros in 2006 or to a record 66% of GDP, above the | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | EU limit of 60%. He warned that 2006 income tax receipts | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | could almost equal the interest payments of France's debt | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | and "the cost of the debt is taking away all our room for | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | maneuver in our economy." Breton added that the economy had | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | to be subject to "rigorous management," saying that he was | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | working "day and night" on this with his Budget Minister | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | Jean-Francois Cope. | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:51 | |
| schestowitz | --------------------------------------------- ------- | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | Government Action I: Increasing Budget Spending and | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | Decreasing Some Taxes to Boost Growth and Employment | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | --------------------------------------------- ------- | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:51 | |
| schestowitz | 4. In his first policy address on June 8, Prime Minister | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | Dominique de Villepin gave himself 100 days to revive | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | confidence in the economy. After being named to the | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | position on May 31, he acknowledged his own "feeling of | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | employment insecurity." He stressed that his mission is to | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | get a suffering and angry France "back to work," and | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | earmarked an additional 4.5 billion euros in spending to | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | boost employment and economic growth. | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:51 | |
| schestowitz | 5. To this end, the government has already proposed new | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | labor contracts for "very small businesses - VSBs", which | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | will extend the probation period to two years from several | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | months - during which period, VSBs may lay off workers | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | without long notice and administrative proceedings. The | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | idea is to encourage companies employing fewer than 10 | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | employees to expand and export. The government will also | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | remove some taxes and administrative proceedings, and will | Dec 02 05:51 |
| schestowitz | improve unemployment benefits and vocational training, | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | offering a one thousand euro bonus for long-term unemployed | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | to accept job offers. | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:52 | |
| schestowitz | 6. On June 21, Breton proposed additional incentives to | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | encourage the unemployed to find jobs in more economically | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | buoyant regions. If a job-seeker has to move more than 200 | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | km from home to find a job, he/she will be entitled to a one- | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | year income tax exemption. Breton also announced new tax | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | breaks aimed at helping companies raise funds. Under the | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | plan, investors would be exempt from taxes on profits when | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | companies go public on Alternext. Individuals would also | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | get a tax deduction equal to 25% of their investment in | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | companies controlled by investment funds, extending a break | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | that now exists for channeling funds to closely-held | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | businesses. | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:52 | |
| schestowitz | --------------------------------------------- -------- | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | Government Action II: Calling the French to Work More | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | --------------------------------------------- -------- | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:52 | |
| schestowitz | 7. Breton also called the French "to work more, throughout | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | their lives" in order to create growth and "finance our | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | social model." He hammered "France has to make an effort to | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | achieve growth of more than 3% at least." He warned that | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | financial pressures would intensify due to demographic | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | pressures. In 2006, the number of people aged between 15 | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | and 60 would decrease for the first time. | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:52 | |
| schestowitz | --------------------------------------------- -------------- | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | Government Action III: Selling Shares to Reduce Record Debt | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | --------------------------------------------- -------------- | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:52 | |
| schestowitz | 8. Villepin stated on June 8 that the Government would | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | stick to its commitments to contain government budget | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | spending at the rate of inflation. Breton said it was | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | essential to launch a full-blood public debate about | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | economic prospects, including a debt reduction strategy. He | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | insisted that the budget deficit would be kept to below 3% | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | of GDP in 2006 in spite of economic slowdown. The | Dec 02 05:52 |
| schestowitz | government is pressing ahead to sell Government stakes in | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | companies to reduce public debt. The government plan is to | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | sell shares in gas utility Gaz de France that will start | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | trading by July 14. The initial public sale began on June | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | 23. | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:53 | |
| schestowitz | --------------------------------------------- ------- | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | Bank of France's Governor: Respect EU Deficit Rules | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | --------------------------------------------- ------- | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:53 | |
| schestowitz | 9. Governor of Bank of France Christian Noyer at the same | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | time announced that he had told the French government that | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | it was "crucial" that it respects EU budget deficit rules, | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | and reduces the government budget deficit to below the | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | Stability and Growth Pact Limit of 3% of GDP. In 2004, the | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | budget deficit amounted to 3.6% of GDP (septel). Noyer | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | identified three risks in the French economy: a steady | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | deterioration in foreign trade, a sharp rise in real estate | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | prices, and persistent government budget deficits. He urged | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | the government to make structural reforms to achieve 2% | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | potential GDP growth. | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:53 | |
| schestowitz | -------------------------------------- | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | OECD Warns About Fiscal Sustainability | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | -------------------------------------- | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:53 | |
| schestowitz | 9. In its June 16 report on France, the OECD forecast | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | French GDP would increase 1.4% in 2005. OECD recommended | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | that France control budget spending, improve its labor | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | market and intensify competition, if France wants to spur | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | economic growth and employment. OECD warned about a threat | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | to "fiscal sustainability" in France, the second largest EU | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | economy. OECD argued that reducing public debt would allow | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | spending more on pensions and rising health insurance. OECD | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | said that a lack of control over government budget spending | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | could leave France unprepared to deal with the financial | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | consequences of an aging population. OECD advised cutting | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | the number of civil servants by attrition (which is possible | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | since a significant number of civil servants are retiring), | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | and to limit wage increases. OECD also recommended reducing | Dec 02 05:53 |
| schestowitz | the number of offices participating in the calculation and | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | collection of taxes, notably by implementing withholding | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | income taxes. (In the French tax system, some taxes may be | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | withheld, but income taxes are not.) OECD advocated France | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | to deregulate "excessively regulated sectors" to increase | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | productivity and employment. | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:54 | |
| schestowitz | --------------------------------------------- --------- | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | However, Unions Still Strongly Opposed to "Liberalism" | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | --------------------------------------------- --------- | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:54 | |
| schestowitz | 10. Unions representing gas and electricity sectors called | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | for renewed action on June 22 to protest government | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | employment policy, including a plan to sell shares in Gaz de | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | France. Labor unions had threatened strikes if De Villepin | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | weakened the national safety net for the unemployed and job | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | protection guarantees. Secretary General of Force Ouvriere | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | said after meeting De Villepin on June 6 "we won't accept | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | putting the labor code in jeopardy." | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:54 | |
| schestowitz | -------------------- | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | Economists Reactions | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | -------------------- | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:54 | |
| schestowitz | 11. Many economists think as Chief economist of Natexis | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | Banques Populaires Marc Touati that the "French industry is | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | practically in recession, consumption remains fragile and | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | employment is insufficient." Morgan Stanley Chief economist | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | Eric Chaney thought that Breton was right in his diagnosis, | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | but criticized his failure to question the French model | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | itself and announcing only "baby steps" of reforms. Chaney | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | urged opting for a breakthrough strategy by a ban on | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | politicians taking baby steps, and openly questioning the | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | French social model. | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:54 | |
| schestowitz | ------- | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | Comment | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | ------- | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:54 | |
| schestowitz | 12. Villepin will likely struggle to meet his goal to | Dec 02 05:54 |
| schestowitz | revive confidence in 100 days. We do not see how his | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | government can succeed in significantly reducing | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | unemployment in such a short period of time. Convincing | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | consumers and companies in September that the economic | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | situation has improved over the summer - a vacation period | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | in France that is not favorable to job-creation - will be a | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | tough sell. Breton's options are also rather limited and | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | focused more on the medium-term. In identifying debt | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | service as a major source of spending, and by addressing the | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | problem by selling shares in state-owned companies, Breton | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | is effectively admitting that his measures will not have | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | immediate results on economic growth and job creation. It | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | appears almost certain that the government budget deficit | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | (septel) may again exceed EU limits for the fourth straight | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | year. The government has no room either to implement new | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | steps in the 30% income tax cuts promised by President | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | Chirac by 2007 or to reduce corporate tax cuts to spur | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | economic growth as the U.S. government has in the past. | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | Breton has floated the idea of "a dialogue with the French" | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | to persuade them of the need for serious structural reforms. | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | However, Breton's recent political caution and the | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | government's low approval ratings would not augur well for | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | such an approach. | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | WOLFF | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | " | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/05PARIS5301_a.html | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | " | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | Classified By: Ambassador Craig R. Stapleton for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | ). | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:55 | |
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell-wikileaks.org | Cable: 05PARIS5301_a | Dec 02 05:55 | |
| schestowitz | 1. (C) SUMMARY. Finance Minister Breton underlined to | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | National Economic Council Director Allan Hubbard and | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | Ambassador Stapleton his commitment to press for economic | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | reforms, in large part by "educating" the French public. | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | Breton believes that France should enjoy growth of 3.0% per | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | year and that "incentives" (taxes and laws) need to be | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | changed to allow that to happen. He applauded President | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | Bush's positions on nuclear energy, and welcomed the idea of | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | further U.S.-French cooperation in this area. On China, he | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | noted that he continues to watch closely the value of the | Dec 02 05:55 |
| schestowitz | yuan and noted that the Chinese currency is not only a U.S. | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | problem. He suggested that France could serve as a good "go | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | between" between the U.S. and China if ever the USG thought | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | that could be a useful role for France to play. Breton | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | signaled again his desire to travel to Washington in the | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | autumn of 2005. End Summary. | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:56 | |
| schestowitz | 2. (U) On 1 August, Alan Hubbard, Director of the National | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | Economic Council, and Ambassador Stapleton called on Minister | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | of Finance and Economy, Thierry Breton. Economic Advisor, | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | Elie Gerard, accompanied Breton, while Embassy Econ Counselor | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | accompanied Mr. Hubbard and Ambassador Stapleton. | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:56 | |
| schestowitz | 3. (C) Minister Breton welcomed Mr. Hubbard to France and | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | noted he was pleased to have an opportunity to review key | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | economic issues with him. As in reftel, he underlined his | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | deep fondness of the United States. He asked Mr. Hubbard for | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | a thumbnail sketch of the U.S. economic picture. Mr. Hubbard | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | explained that U.S. unemployment was currently at 5.0% while | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | inflation remained under control. He added that the U.S. was | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | likely to see GDP growth of 3.5% this year combined with | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | productivity growth that has averaged 3.9% per year since | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | January 2001. Nevertheless, he explained, the budget deficit | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | and high oil prices bear close watching. On the deficit, he | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | highlighted for Breton that U.S. revenues were exceeding | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | forecasts and that the deficit is likely this year to be down | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | to $330 billion from $400 billion last year. He explained | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | that entitlement programs remained a large part of U.S. | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | expenditures but that President Bush remains committed to | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | reforming social security and putting it on a more sound | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | financial foot | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | ing. He said that the Administration was looking at ways of | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | increasing U.S. savings rates and explained that he hoped | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | that European countries and Japan could increase their GDP | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | growth, for their own benefit and for that of the U.S. | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:56 | |
| schestowitz | Oil and Nuclear Energy | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | ---------------------- | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | 4. (C) Breton commented that the U.S. indeed enjoyed good | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | growth and an excellent record on inflation. France too, he | Dec 02 05:56 |
| schestowitz | said, enjoyed low inflation. "Your deficits are a problem | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | for us though," he warned. He said he shared Mr. Hubbard's | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | concern about oil but thought it was "dangerous to focus | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | exclusively on refining capacity and increased exploration." | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | Breton opined that the U.S. was behind where it should be in | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | responding to the energy challenge, particularly in the area | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | of nuclear power generation. He said he applauded President | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | Bush's strong push for nuclear energy. | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:57 | |
| schestowitz | 5. (C) Mr. Hubbard underlined for Breton President Bush's | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | strong commitment to supporting nuclear power generation and | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | highlighted the provisions in the recently passed Energy Bill | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | that help create a climate in which power generators could | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | benefit from a more favorable investment and regulatory | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | climate if they undertook to plan and build new nuclear | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | facilities. He applauded France's successful nuclear program | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | and said that the USG needed to work closely with France in | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | this area. Breton agreed. Mr. Hubbard asked Breton about | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | the UREX Plus reprocessing program and where GOF evaluation | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | and testing processes were. Breton -- although he was | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | clearly not sure -- guessed that a pilot plant might be ready | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | by 2010. Breton noted that even Germany was reconsidering | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | its policy regarding nuclear power. Countries like the U.S. | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | and France, he opined, really had no other option than | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | pursuing a significant role for nuclear power. He reiterated | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | his concern about the high price of oil and the potential for | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | instability in | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | key oil producing regions; "it's one of my biggest concerns | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | today," he said. | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:57 | |
| schestowitz | Stimulating Growth | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | ------------------ | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | 6. (C) Turning to France's economic growth, Breton said he | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | was extremely unhappy at the current low rate of growth | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | (currently estimated at below 2% for 2005), which he | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | "inherited," and said that there was no good reason that | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | France should not enjoy a 3% growth rate. There are two | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | things that need to be done to increase growth, he said: the | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | French need to work more, and the debt must come down. He | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | said that he was having to be "extremely tough" and was | Dec 02 05:57 |
| schestowitz | "fighting all the time with everybody (other ministries)" to | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | rein in government debt. He specifically singled out the | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | Defense Ministry as a ministry that was particularly ripe for | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | cuts. He explained that 25 years ago France had no public | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | debt. Now, in contrast, the national "debt is 60% of GDP, | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | compared to 30% for the U.S. This is unacceptable." | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:58 | |
| schestowitz | 7. (C) Breton lamented that he had few tools to work with. | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | Since the abolition of the franc, currency devaluation was no | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | longer an option. One of his few good options is | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | privatization. "I privatize everything I can," he explained. | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | The necessary laws have been passed to sell off parts of EDF | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | (Electricite de France) and further highway privatizations | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | were imminent. | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:58 | |
| schestowitz | 8. (C) As in his earlier meeting with Ambassador Stapleton, | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | Breton described one of his best tools as "education." | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | "French people are looking for the truth. I've told them | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | they have to work more and that we're living beyond our | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | means. Many politicians told me that people would never | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | accept my saying that. People understand. When I made my | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | comments about the ISF (Impot sur la Fortune - wealth tax), | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | 65% of the population agreed with me." | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:58 | |
| schestowitz | 9. (C) Mr. Hubbard asked whether Breton had plans to reform | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | labor laws. Breton explained that several important steps | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | had already been taken. The GOF has already passed | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | legislation to extend the "probationary" period for newly | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | employed to two years for smaller companies with up to 20 | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | employees. During that two-year period, the employee can be | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | dismissed without going through the complex legal and | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | financial arrangements that the employer would otherwise have | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | to undertake. Breton noted, however, contrary to the common | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | perception in the U.S., it is no more difficult to fire | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | employees in France than in the U.S. In fact, recalling his | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | time as head of Thomson when he needed to close several | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | factories in the U.S., Breton explained that when unions are | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | involved, firing people in the U.S. was even more difficult | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | and time consuming than in France. | Dec 02 05:58 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:58 | |
| schestowitz | 10. (C) Breton said that the 35-hour workweek gave France "a | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | bad image." In recent months, Breton explained, the 35-hour | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | workweek has been all but repealed. Employees are now | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | allowed to work overtime if they want and employers can feel | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | free to ask employees to work the extra hours. Nevertheless, | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | he conceded, the public relations damage of the 35-hour week | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | continues. | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:59 | |
| schestowitz | 11. (C) Returning to his "education" theme, Breton lamented | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | that the socialists had given people "the wrong ideas" for | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | years. This is why explaining to the French people the need | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | to work more has become so important. "Even people on the | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | left understand this when you explain it to them," Breton | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | said. Breton also said that he was interested in stimulating | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | entrepreneurship in France. He explained that small and | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | medium-sized companies needed particular help. The measures | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | recently passed on the "probationary" period showed one way | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | in which the GOF was now helping smaller companies. Breton | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | explained that he was looking into ways to change the | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | incentives (tax and regulatory environment) to help small | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | companies get bigger when it is in their interest to do so. | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | The way the current laws are written, he explained, many | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | companies don't want to hire more than 20 people because | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | different more complex rules apply to companies that have | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | more than 20 employees. | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 05:59 | |
| schestowitz | China | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | ----- | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | 12. (C) Mr. Hubbard asked Breton how the GOF viewed its | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | relationship with China. Breton explained that he had worked | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | a great deal in China and that the GOF had a good | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | relationship with the Chinese government. He opined that the | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | USG had been wrong in publicly calling for the Chinese to | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | re-value their currency: "I understand why you did it, but it | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | delayed their action by two months; working behind the scenes | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | is always better with them," he said. Breton added that the | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | Chinese step on the yuan was clearly a first step. He said | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | that France might serve as a good "go-between" with China. | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | The yuan, he said, is a "problem for us all, not just you." | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | He also explained that he discusses China regularly within | Dec 02 05:59 |
| schestowitz | the Eurogroup of EU Finance Ministers, "the most useful | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | meetings I go to," he added. | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 06:00 | |
| schestowitz | Doha | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | ---- | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | 13. (C) Changing subjects, Mr. Hubbard said that the EU and | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | the U.S. really needed to focus on the Doha round this | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | autumn. It is very important that the U.S. and the EU spur | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | the negotiations, particularly in the agriculture area. | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | Breton agreed, but noted that the real level for discussion | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | on progress at Doha was at the EU level. | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 06:00 | |
| schestowitz | Foreign Investment | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | ------------------ | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | 14. (C) In closing, Breton noted that France welcomes | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | foreign investment and that he was doing whatever he could to | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | improve the climate for foreign investment. He said that the | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | recent media frenzy over the rumored Danone-PepsiCo takeover | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | was unfortunately exploited by several French politicians. | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | He underlined the public position he took: France has rules | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | to govern takeovers and the Government's job is to ensure the | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | law is obeyed and only the law. This was another area in | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | which people needed to be educated and better informed, he | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | added. | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | 15. (C) Breton reiterated his fondness for and long | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | relationship with the United States and thanked Mr. Hubbard | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | for taking the time to visit. He noted that he would be | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | visiting Washington in the autumn and hoped that he would | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | have a chance to see Mr. Hubbard at that time. | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 06:00 | |
| schestowitz | STAPLETON | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 06:00 | |
| schestowitz | STAPLETON | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | " | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/05PARIS3878_a.html | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | " | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | Thierry Breton Remains at Finance | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 06:00 | |
| schestowitz | 18. (SBU) Former France Telecom CEO, Thierry Breton, was | Dec 02 06:00 |
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell-wikileaks.org | Cable: 05PARIS3878_a | Dec 02 06:00 | |
| schestowitz | asked to continue as Minister of Finance, Economy and | Dec 02 06:00 |
| schestowitz | Industry. He was first appointed to the position in February | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | 2005, replacing Herve Gaymard who was forced to resign in the | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | wake of a scandal over his misrepresentations regarding | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | government payment for a luxury apartment. Breton is an | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | admired and politically astute technocrat who, reportedly, | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | would like to use his experience at Finance to further his | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | budding political career. | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 06:01 | |
| schestowitz | 19. (SBU) As the fourth French Finance Minister in less than | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | a year, Breton will need all of his political savvy and | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | management skills. Breton will play a key role in developing | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | the new government's strategy to reduce unemployment while | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | not dangerously increasing the budget deficit. Breton is a | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | political ally of both President Chirac and former PM | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | Raffarin, having served with the latter on the | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | Poitou-Charentes Regional Council during the 1990's. The | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | 50-year-old Breton is experienced in international business | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | circles and speaks excellent English. | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 06:01 | |
| schestowitz | 20. (SBU) Breton's professional experience has been mostly in | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | the French corporate sector. He did a stint at the Ministry | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | of Education, where he served as technical adviser for | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | information technologies between 1986 and 1988. He is a | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | political ally of both President Chirac and PM Raffarin, and | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | served with the latter on the Poitou-Charentes Regional | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | Council during the 1990's. Prior to assuming leadership of | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | France Telecom (FT) in October 2002, he was Chairman of the | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | Board of Directors of Orange, FT's mobile unit. At FT, he | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | took over what was then regarded as the most indebted telecom | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | firm in the world. He undertook aggressive steps, selling | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | off non-essential assets, negotiating a deal with the GOF to | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | help pay off the debt, and shedding 7,500 jobs in FT's | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | domestic operations, after difficult negotiations with the | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | unions. | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | " | Dec 02 06:01 |
| schestowitz | https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/05PARIS1520_a.html" | Dec 02 06:06 |
| schestowitz | " | Dec 02 06:06 |
| schestowitz | NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION | Dec 02 06:06 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 06:07 | |
| schestowitz | 1. This is another in a series of periodic updates on the | Dec 02 06:07 |
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell-wikileaks.org | Cable: 05PARIS1520_a | Dec 02 06:07 | |
| schestowitz | French telecommunications and information technology | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | sectors, including internet and e-commerce. | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 06:07 | |
| schestowitz | Contents: | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | New CEO named for France Telecom (para 2) | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | France Telecom Announces 2004 Results (para 3) | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | A Victory for ART ... (para 4) | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | ... And a Setback (para 5) | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | ART Finds Insufficient Competition in Mobile Phone Market | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | (para 6) | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | Orange and SFR Respond to ART Report (para 7) | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | GOF Selects Standard for Subscription Digital TV (para 8) | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | TF1 Predicts Large Growth in ASDL Subscribers by 2010 (para | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | 9) | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | FT Joins Others to Bid for Stake in Czech Telecom Company | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | (para 10) | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 06:07 | |
| schestowitz | 2. New CEO named for France Telecom: Didier Lombard has | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | been appointed Chairman and CEO of France Telecom (FT), | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | succeeding Thierry Breton, who was appointed French finance | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | minister following the resignation of Herve Gaymard. | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | Lombard, 63, is head of strategy and partnerships at FT, and | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | began his association with the company in 1967. Breton, who | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | took the helm of FT in 2002, is credited with implementing a | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | three-year recovery plan, now in its final year, and Lombard | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | is expected to continue his predecessor's strategy. This | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | will be the first time Lombard has run a publicly listed | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | company. Previously, he was scientific and technical | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | director at the Ministry of Research and Technology, and | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | later general manager of industrial strategy at the Ministry | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | of the Economy, Finance and Industry. Lombard also helped | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | achieve the creation of STMicroelectronics, a French high- | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | tech sector success, via a Franco-Italian agreement. In | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | addition to his FT experience, Lombard served as Ambassador- | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | at-Large for international investment at the Ministry of the | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | Economy, Finance and Industry from 1999 to 2003. According | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | to a source close to the departing Breton, Lombard's | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | appointment is a sign of continuity of corporate strategy, | Dec 02 06:07 |
| schestowitz | although Lombard will face challenges in maintaining the | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | momentum of recovery initiated by Breton. | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 06:08 | |
| schestowitz | 3. France Telecom Announces 2004 Results: France Telecom | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | has announced that its net profit for the 2004 fiscal year | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | was 2.8 billion euros; this was a decline of 13% and smaller | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | than analysts' forecasts of a 3.15 billion euro profit. | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | However, 2005 dividend payments for FY 2004 were 0.48 euro | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | per share, almost twice as high as 2003's 0.25 euro | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | dividend. Dividend payments in 2005 amounted to a total | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | outlay of 1.2 billion euros. Investors noted, however, that | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | return on FT shares was only 2%, well below the sector | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | average of 3.8%. FT has promised to raise its return to the | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | industry average, without providing further details. During | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | FY 2004, FT saw declines in the fixed-line market that were | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | somewhat compensated by growth in Wanadoo, FT's internet | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | service unit. In the last quarter of 2004, Wanadoo took | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | 41.6% of new subscribers to ASDL internet, giving the | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | company a 46% share of France's 6.3 million ASDL users. In | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | 2005, Wanadoo plans to launch the LivePhone, an internet- | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | compatible telephone that will complement its popular | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | LiveBox modem. FT also recently sold 8% of its subsidiary | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | PagesJaunes, ceding 22.3 million shares. FT still remains | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | the largest shareholder in the company, with a 54% stake. | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 06:08 | |
| schestowitz | 4. A Victory For ART ...: In a move that may pave the way | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | for increased network access for FT competitors, French | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | telecom regulator ART rejected a fixed charge increase by FT | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | that contained no provisions for greater opening of the | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | market. The plan submitted by FT would have increased the | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | fixed monthly subscription charge from 13 euros to 15.99 | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | euros over the period of 2004 to 2007, while simultaneously | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | reducing pro-rated call charges by 26%. After consultations | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | with ART, the French government allowed FT to make a one | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | euro increase in monthly subscription charges (to 14 euros), | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | applicable only for 2005. ART approval of further | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | subscription increases for 2006 and 2007 is contingent upon | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | FT's steps towards allowing greater market access. | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | Competitors wish to see a 30% discount from the monthly | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | retail charge to FT subscribers to establish the monthly | Dec 02 06:08 |
| schestowitz | wholesale rate that FT charges to competitors who wish to | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | resell FT subscriptions. (At present, the retail charge is | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | 10.87 euros next of taxes, while the wholesale charge is | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | 10.50 euros.) FT has suggested an 8% discount, while ART is | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | pressing for one at least twice as large. In addition to | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | the increase in monthly residential subscription charges, FT | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | is also planning a 6% increase in subscription fees for | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | professionals. This new increase, which had been requested | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | by former FT CEO Thierry Breton, has yet to be approved by | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | ART. | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 06:09 | |
| schestowitz | 5. ... And a Setback: The Conseil d'Etat, France's highest | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | administrative court, ruled that the 2002 tariff scheme | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | imposed on FT by ART lacked transparency. The scheme | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | applied to the tariffs assessed by FT for the use of its | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | network by competitors. ART would still like to see these | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | tariffs lowered, but the court's ruling has weakened ART's | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | hand considerably, just as the GOF has given it all future | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | authority to regulate telecom tariffs. According to the | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | court, ART failed to disclose that in 2002 it changed its | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | calculation method for determining the network unbundling | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | tariff. The 2002 scheme provided the basis for the one | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | approved by ART and the GOF in January. Although the ruling | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | has no immediate material impact on the company, it makes it | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | possible for FT to sue the French state for indemnity. | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 06:09 | |
| schestowitz | 6. ART Finds Insufficient Competition in Mobile Phone | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | Market: In December, ART found that France's three largest | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | mobile operators, Orange, SFR and Bouygues Telecom were | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | colluding to maintain a dominant position in the market that | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | disadvantages competitors. Of particular concern to ART | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | were the "virtual" mobile companies (MVNO), which lease | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | their mobile infrastructure from the major providers. In | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | its first analysis of the mobile market, ART maintained that | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | the major operators must set more reasonable access | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | conditions for the MVNOs that wish to use their networks. | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | ART was also unimpressed by the recent profusion of | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | agreements made between the major operators and various | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | MVNOs. In ART's view, none of the MVNOs have attained the | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | critical size that would give them more influence and | Dec 02 06:09 |
| schestowitz | leverage via a vis their host operator. Agreements with | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | MVNOs were thus judged by ART to be insignificant as long as | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | the major operators continue to set conditions of access | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | that prevent the MVNOs from effectively competing in the | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | market. The fact that Bouygues Telecom has excluded itself | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | from any agreements with MVNOs was taken by ART as a further | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | sign of the unimportance of such deals, and suggested to ART | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | that the three operators have not deviated from their | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | strategy of collusion. However, ART resisted calls from | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | MVNOs to fix the operators' wholesale charges, responding | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | that the MVNOs would eventually grow and be able to exert | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | such downward pressure themselves. | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 06:10 | |
| schestowitz | 7. Orange and SFR Respond to ART Report: Responding to the | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | ART analysis cited above, Orange and SFR had harsh words for | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | ART's conclusions about the level of competition in the | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | mobile phone market. Orange denounced the report as full of | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | "obvious errors of judgment" that gave a "false and | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | disparaging" picture of the market. SFR called the report | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | "erroneous and biased," while Bouygues Telecom refused to | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | comment on it. Orange and SFR insisted that contrary to | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | ART's assessment, competition within the mobile market is | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | very intense, and that this greatly benefits French telecom | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | consumers. The two companies also criticized ART's | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | dismissal of their agreements with MVNOs, insisting that | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | their access charges are competitive, and that the virtual | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | operators maintain a high level of independence from the | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | host companies. | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 06:10 | |
| schestowitz | 8. GOF Selects Standard for Subscription Digital TV: The | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | French government has chosen the MPEG4 standard for | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | broadcasts of subscription digital terrestrial television | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | (DTT), against the recommendation of the audiovisual | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | administrator CSA. The MPEG2 standard will be used for the | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | 13 free DTT channels that will begin broadcasting in March. | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | The MPEG4 standard was reportedly selected for subscription | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | DTT because of its greater signal compression, which will | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | allow several high-definition channels to be launched within | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | two years, in addition to the 31 DTT channels already | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | planned. According to the GOF, selecting the MPEG2 standard | Dec 02 06:10 |
| schestowitz | for subscription DTT would have delayed the arrival of high- | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | definition television until 2015. As a result of the | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | decision to employ two broadcast standards, some short-term | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | difficulties are anticipated for the launch of DTT. | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | Subscription-based and free channels will share broadcast | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | costs, but the smaller signal size of MPEG4 means that | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | subscription channels may ask for a proportionately smaller | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | cost share. Also, broadcast bouquets currently consist of a | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | mixture of free and subscription channels, but the MPEG4 | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | standard is most efficient if it is the sole standard in the | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | bouquet. Although transmission of the DTT channels is | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | scheduled to start between September 2005 and March 2006, | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | launch delays are possible as the MPEG4 decoders are not yet | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | ready for commercial distribution. | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 06:11 | |
| schestowitz | 9. TF1 CEO Predicts Large Growth in Television over ASDL: | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | Patrick Le Lay, CEO of TF1, has projected that within five | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | years, 2.5 million French homes will subscribe to free | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | programming via ASDL television, and 1 million homes will | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | have ASDL subscriptions to paid programming. ASDL providers | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | Neuf Telecom and France Telecom responded that their vision | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | for the future of the ASDL market did not extend past two | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | years. However, current trends indicate that the figures | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | put forth by Le Lay are highly plausible. At the end of | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | January 2005, the total number of ASDL subscribers in France | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | cleared the 100,000 hurdle, and FT, which currently has | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | 90,000 of those subscribers, hopes to have 210,000 by year's | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | end, while Neuf TV expects to have 100,000 subscribers. | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | Sources project a total of 600,000 paying ASDL subscribers | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | by the end of 2006, with one million by 2010. Depending on | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | the rate of distribution of Neuf TV modems and Freeboxes, it | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | is also possible that Le Lay's prediction of 2.5 million | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | free programming subscribers by 2010 may indeed come true. | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 06:11 | |
| schestowitz | 10. FT Joins Others to Bid for Stake in Czech Telecom | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | Company: FT has joined a consortium to participate in the | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | tender process for Cesky Telecom, the primary telecom | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | operator of the Czech Republic. Once the Government of the | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | Czech Republic decided that it will sell its 51% stake in | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | Cesky Telecom, France Telecom teamed up with an | Dec 02 06:11 |
| schestowitz | international consortium of three private investment firms | Dec 02 06:12 |
| schestowitz | to participate in the tender process of the National | Dec 02 06:12 |
| schestowitz | Property Fund (NPF) of the Czech Republic. The value of | Dec 02 06:12 |
| schestowitz | this majority equity interest is estimated at $2.6 billion, | Dec 02 06:12 |
| schestowitz | according to news reports, which also noted that the Czech | Dec 02 06:12 |
| schestowitz | telecom company successfully turned a 2003 operating loss | Dec 02 06:12 |
| schestowitz | around in 2004 through growing sales and consolidation of | Dec 02 06:12 |
| schestowitz | its highly profitable mobile division. Besides France | Dec 02 06:12 |
| schestowitz | Telecom, the consortium includes the Blackstone Group, CVC | Dec 02 06:12 |
| schestowitz | Capital Partners and Providence Equity Partners Inc. Should | Dec 02 06:12 |
| schestowitz | their bid be successful, FT would enter into a strategic | Dec 02 06:12 |
| schestowitz | partnership with Cesky Telecom via a minority stake in the | Dec 02 06:12 |
| schestowitz | consortium. | Dec 02 06:12 |
| schestowitz | Dec 02 06:12 | |
| schestowitz | Leach | Dec 02 06:12 |
| schestowitz | " | Dec 02 06:12 |
| schestowitz | me the tweets you w | Dec 02 07:40 |
| schestowitz | > Remmed out ACLU's broken feeds from the automated feed harvester. The | Dec 02 07:40 |
| schestowitz | > new script adds <hr /> between feeds but I'll have to add something | Dec 02 07:40 |
| schestowitz | > later for when two or more in a row have no posts. | Dec 02 07:40 |
| schestowitz | This seems to have worked rather well. | Dec 02 07:40 |
| schestowitz | Thank you! | Dec 02 07:40 |
| schestowitz | It looks like in the attachment the wrong encoding was used. It happened also a week ago and I changed things manually without saying a thing. If it possible to alter/fix the encoding, then resent? | Dec 02 07:44 |
| schestowitz | >> It looks like in the attachment the wrong encoding was used. It happened | Dec 02 08:02 |
| schestowitz | >> also a week ago and I changed things manually without saying a thing. If | Dec 02 08:02 |
| schestowitz | >> it possible to alter/fix the encoding, then resent? | Dec 02 08:02 |
| schestowitz | >> | Dec 02 08:02 |
| schestowitz | > It should be UTF8. FF and I think Chromium look for something else by | Dec 02 08:03 |
| schestowitz | > default. How's this? | Dec 02 08:03 |
| schestowitz | I have not investigated the cause, but one thing I first noticed, in the mail client, is munged handling of Sao Paula | Dec 02 08:03 |
| schestowitz | I then opened it and saw lots and lots of bad symbols | Dec 02 08:03 |
| schestowitz | I could not see the same in the mail client though | Dec 02 08:03 |
| schestowitz | Moments ago I realise encoding in the open file changed... maybe to better fit something. | Dec 02 08:03 |
| schestowitz | So I changed back to utf8... it went read-only... and Sao Paula lacked the A. | Dec 02 08:03 |
| schestowitz | So... just guessing... | Dec 02 08:03 |
| schestowitz | Many one offending char or more threw kate off its sanity... maybe even Perl is to blame. I don't know. | Dec 02 08:03 |
| schestowitz | Now it shows up OK as utf8 and I fixed the Sao Paula bit... "a" without the accent. | Dec 02 08:03 |
| schestowitz | https://twitter.com/Sheikh_al_Touar/status/1201412548744138752 | Dec 02 08:19 |
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell-@Sheikh_al_Touar: Wikileaks: Thierry Breton May Have Misused Regulatory/Government Positions to Attack His Competition (in the Market… https://t.co/Fpj5m39dnJ | Dec 02 08:19 | |
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell-@Sheikh_al_Touar: Wikileaks: Thierry Breton May Have Misused Regulatory/Government Positions to Attack His Competition (in the Market… https://t.co/Fpj5m39dnJ | Dec 02 08:19 | |
| schestowitz | "Wikileaks: Thierry Breton May Have Misused Regulatory/Government Positions to Attack His Competition (in the Market) #thierrybreton #Wikileaks #fraud #Finance #France #America #UnitedStates #Europe" | Dec 02 08:19 |
| schestowitz | https://twitter.com/Sheikh_al_Touar/status/1201411739440562176 | Dec 02 08:20 |
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell-@Sheikh_al_Touar: Is Water Wet? #patents #swpats #software #Europe https://t.co/EXI8lVf9pu | Dec 02 08:20 | |
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell--> techrights.org | Is Water Wet? | Techrights | Dec 02 08:20 | |
| -->MinceR_ (~mincer@unaffiliated/mincer) has joined #boycottnovell | Dec 02 10:24 | |
| <--MinceR has quit (Ping timeout: 245 seconds) | Dec 02 10:27 | |
| <--oiaohm has quit (Read error: Connection reset by peer) | Dec 02 11:16 | |
| -->oiaohm (~oiaohm@unaffiliated/oiaohm) has joined #boycottnovell | Dec 02 11:16 | |
| schestowitz | https://twitter.com/Gonzalo_VC23/status/1201503561252823046 | Dec 02 14:24 |
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell-@Gonzalo_VC23: Força, Richard!!! https://t.co/za40NIeWLb | Dec 02 14:24 | |
| -TechrightsBN/#boycottnovell--> techrights.org | Richard Stallman is Active and Doing Well | Techrights | Dec 02 14:24 | |
| ---MinceR_ is now known as MinceR | Dec 02 14:49 | |
| -->oiaohm_ (~oiaohm@unaffiliated/oiaohm) has joined #boycottnovell | Dec 02 19:55 | |
| <--oiaohm has quit (*.net *.split) | Dec 02 20:02 | |
| <--oiaohm_ has quit () | Dec 02 20:08 | |
| -->oiaohm_ (~oiaohm@unaffiliated/oiaohm) has joined #boycottnovell | Dec 02 20:09 | |
| ---oiaohm_ is now known as oiaohm | Dec 02 20:22 | |
| -->pedro4 (sid145515@gateway/web/irccloud.com/x-sceuknhdvoheqydr) has joined #boycottnovell | Dec 02 22:18 | |
| <--pedro4 has quit () | Dec 02 22:53 | |
Generated by irclog2html.py 2.6 by Marius Gedminas - find it at mg.pov.lt!
