= Could you tell us about your professional work?
There are two different things. First I was a translator (after working in communications). I got connected to the Internet at the request of my small translation company's customers because it made it easier to receive the work to translate and then send the result back to them. Quite quickly, I began to get a broader range of customers, including some in the US.
Then I made a switch. I stopped translating and became a columnist. At first I was doing it part-time, but it soon became my main activity. For me it was a return to journalism, but in a very different way. In the beginning, Chroniques de Cybérie dealt mainly with news (new sites and new software). But gradually I tackled more fundamental aspects of the Internet, and then branched out into current national and international social, political and economic events.
With basic issues, it's fairly simple because all these resources (official documents, news stories, commentary and analysis) are online. You can delve into them, quote them, broaden the analysis and go on with the research. For current events, the choice of subject depends on available resources, and resources are not always easy to find. So you're in the same situation as radio or TV, that if there aren't any audio clips or pictures, even a major event becomes less interesting on the Internet.
= How do you see the future?
For Chroniques de Cybérie, we could introduce and maintain a formula because entry costs are quite low in this medium. However, everything will depend on the extent of what's called media "convergence" and on whether production costs rise if we need to offer audio and video material to stay in the game. If that happens, we'll have to rethink our strategic partnerships, such as the one linking us to the Ringier group which enabled us to relaunch Chroniques after six months of silence. But however much "convergence" there is, I think there'll always be room for written work and for in-depth analysis of the main questions.
*Interview of August 6, 1999 (original interview in French)
= What has happened since our first interview? Any new projects, new ideas…?
No real new projects. New ideas, yes, but I'm still working on them.
= What do you think of the debate about copyright on the Web? What practical suggestions do you have?