Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Glick, we are here to study a possible digital strategy, and some people would just like to study new media. I think we need to do a broader study and focus in on a digital policy. That is why we began hearing from witnesses.
I will tell you, right off the bat, that I am a bit uncomfortable with the idea of hearing from a Google representative first. I think we should have started with the bigger picture and then gone into specifics, not the other way around. But here you are, and I am glad to see you. If I understand correctly, your message is do not regulate.
We have heard that a lot from a number of companies that have testified before a number of committees, this one and others. Most of those companies say that we should not make regulations or pass any legislation and that they will handle the situation.
But experience has shown us that when we do not regulate, companies do what they please. For example, Air Canada, which was forced to provide services in both official languages, is the only airline where customers can be served in French. It is impossible to be served in French by any other airline.
There is a feeling of unease, and you are not quite answering our questions on new media. You are boasting about a number of achievements. You are right, I think that Google is an extremely heavy hitter in new media.
In addition, you combine culture and leisure. When we talk about leisure, we talk about people who play Star Wars in their basement, for example, who film themselves and post the video on YouTube, with a fair bit of success from their friends. Culture is something else. It is the work done by professionals, people who try to make a living that way or who do make their living that way and produce recognizable artistic works, whether in visual arts, literature, performing arts or music.
I want to come back to the fact that you copied millions of books. You say you are very proud of it, but the book publishers association in Quebec, the Association nationale des éditeurs de livres, is not so proud of you.
True, you may not have posted them all on the Internet yet, but you can, and you did not pay any royalties. And you were rather cavalier about it, telling people that if they were not happy, all they had to do was step back and take you to court—American courts, of course—which creates a whole other problem.
In addition, the French government finds you a bit intrusive. The Zelnik report even focuses specially on Google and identifies problems with the company. President Nicolas Sarkozy accepted the report's findings.
It talks more about tax leakage, but, in Quebec and Canada, it would be more appropriate to talk about artistic leakage. The report also calls it particularly harmful and says that it alters the playing field. The report is right when it comes to the economy and taxes, but also when it comes to art.
You copied millions of books without authors' permission, and you forced them to take you to court if they were not happy, if they wanted royalties or if they simply did not want you to post the material. They have the right to not want you to digitize books.
You tell us not to make regulations. Why should we listen and do as you suggest? Because you are offering consumers a very large selection? You are. You are giving consumers a very large selection, except that perhaps you should not look at it that way. Here, we are more concerned about artists, their work and respecting their copyrights.