France

An executive with Google says the company will launch a new platform next year that lets readers buy books that can be accessed from anywhere, be it a personal computer, cell phone or other platform.

Tom Turvey, the head of Google Books partnership programme in North America, Southern America and Asia, says that the search giant, which launched Google Books in 2004, is moving to a platform allowing users to buy a book.

A French company is taking Google Maps to court for unfair competition, seeking about R5.5 million in damages from the United States-based Internet giant, Google.

Bottin Cartographes has lodged a complaint with the Paris commercial court against Google France and its parent company Google Incorporated for providing free web mapping services to some businesses.

The French company provides the same services for a fee and claims the Google strategy is aimed at undercutting competitors by temporarily swallowing the full cost until it gains control of the market.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), is hosting an International Conference on Broadcast Media and Climate Change from 4-5 September 2009 at its headquarters in Paris, France.

National broadcasters from both developing and developed countries with regional broadcasting unions will be present at the conference, along with key international broadcasting associations, scientific organisations and climate-related agencies.