Google announced today that it has taken over control
of the French National Library. It managed to do so
buy taking over rights belonging to the French Bourbon
family.
Google plans to scan all the books in the library
and make them digitally available through Google Books.
“Yes, there will be a small fee,” Sergey
Brin of Google says, “but visitors from the
.fr domain name will get access to the books at a
reduced price. ”
When asked whether the acquisition is a response to
the French government’s attempt to develop a
Google competitor called Quareo, Brin answered that
he would not give in to French Anti-Americanism.
“We are friends of the French people,”
he said, “and we would very much like to help
our European forefathers achieve the same technological,
economical and cultural success as we have. One way
of doing this is by making French literature and French
science easily available to the rest of the world.”
Google’s engineers have announced that there
will be an automatic translation service available
in Google Books, translating all books into flawless
American English.
“We expect any French to American translation
to reduce the number of words by 50 percent,”
Andy Smith of Google Labs says, “which means
that now even the French will have the time to read
documents published by the French authorities.”
French newspapers report that French President Jacques
Chirac is shocked by the news. “In no way will
we accept that American imperialists take over our
national heritage,” he said to Le Monde. He
will now bring the acquisition in for the International
Court in Hague.
“As Americans we do not recognize the jurisdiction
of the Hague Tribunal,” Brin replies. ”
We only follow court orders from the Chinese judiciary.”
French students are now gathering in the streets
for Paris to rally against American capitalism and
hard work.
Reuters met two students at Planet Hollywood in Champs-Elysees.
“Starbucks has taken our coffee,” one
of them said, “Hollywood has taken Luc Besson.
The Library is the only thing we have left.”
George Bush has been reported to say that he will
not intervene: “The French have lost every war
since Julius Caesar was defeated in Russia,”
he said to reporters on the White House lawn. “We
are sick and tired of helping them out.”
Google denies additional rumours of plans to buy
the Eiffel Tower in order to display Google Adwords
in neon to the Parisian public.
Google is, however, taking over the French passion
for amour. Google’s blog today announced the
lauch of Google Romance, an online dating service.
The new site is expected to reduce the number of American
tourists to Paris with some 50 percent.