, concepts, formulas, etc., with no mention of their
origin. It's hard to "prove" such plagiarism because it is not just a matter of
"copy and paste". But it's another aspect of the issue which is often obscured
in the debate.

What's the solution? We need a system where you can register free of charge an
article, book or piece of music with an international organization that can take
legal action against plagiarism. This wouldn't solve all the problems, but would
at least establish a basic structure and, who knows, might deter the thieves.

= How do you see the growth of a multilingual Web? What practical suggestions do
you have?

We passed the milestone this summer. Now more than half the users of the
Internet live outside the United States. Next year more than half of all users
will be non English-speaking, compared with only 5% five years ago. Isn't that
great?

At the same time, the Internet has became multi-faceted and now requires more
and more efficient tools because of the "enrichment" of content (or rather of
what contains it, because as far as the real content is concerned, there's no
enrichment, except of the firms that sell it). The Internet needs strong
systems, with good memory and powerful microprocessors. Development of the non
English-speaking Web will be mainly aimed at people who have no way of getting
powerful systems or the latest software and operating systems, or of upgrading
or renewing it all every year. Also, communication infrastructure is sorely
lacking in many places outside Europe and the United States. So there is a
problem of bandwidth.

I've been noticing this phenomenon since the very beginning of Chroniques. Some
readers (in Africa, Asia, Caribbean, South America and the Pacific) tell me they
like being able to suscribe to an e-mail version. They can get Chroniques as a
single message, read it off-line and choose the sites they want to consult
later. Often they have to plan their time online carefully because of poor
communication links.

The Web is going to grow in these non English-speaking regions. So we've got to
take into account the technical aspects of the medium if we want to reach these
"new" users.

I think it's a pity there are so few translations of important documents and
essays published on the Web -- from English into other languages and vice-versa.

Let me explain. Jon Katz published on the Web an analysis of the "Goth" culture
which the perpetrators of the Litt