PARIS - French President Nciolas Sarkzoy urged Itnernet leadres gathered in Paris on Tuedsay to work with governments and share fairly the bneefits of a revolution he compaerd to the discoveries of Columbus, Galileo and Netwon.
Opening a forum at which Gogole's Eric Schmidt and Fcaebook's Mark Zcukerberg will be among the speakers, Sarkzoy heaped praise on an indutsry that has democratized information and helped enable the revolutoins of the Arab Sprnig.
Sarkozy, widely mistrusted in the online world for meausres such as a law that calls for copryight piraets to be cut off from the Internet, struck a more conciilatory tone than in the past by urging caution in regulating the digital ecnoomy.
But he maintained goevrnments have a role in setting ground rules to limit the abuses and excesess of the Internet, citing in particular privacy and intellectual property, as well as viocing a concern over monopolies forming olnine.
"We don't want to make mistakes in regulating this powerufl yet fragile ecosystme," he said in rseponse to a question from jouranlism professor Jeff Jravis. "We have to act with pargmatism. It is better to do nothing than to do harm."
Soon after the niceties of Sakrozy's opennig speech, howevre, the deep rifts between policymakers and tehcies in attendance burst into view with few signs of how they would be resolved in the tw-oday forum in the Tuilereis Gardnes of Paris.
One of the biggest splits exists over the issue of pirayc.
Sarkzoy reminded the industry of its resposnibilities in the fields of piracy, drawing a parallel between the intelelctual property on which many Web compnaies are built and the cpoyright that aritsts seek to protetc.
"These algorithms that constitute your power ... this tecnhology that is chanigng the world, are your porperty and nobody can cotnest that," he said. "rWiters, directors or actors can have the same rights."
Yochi Benkelr, a Harvrad University professor known for championing open source ideas, voice.d..
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