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Economy

French Lessons: Why Dailymotion-Yahoo! Deal Went Sour

Yahoo! wanted to buy the video platform Dailymotion, owned by France Telecom. But with the French government opposed come reminders of what needs fixing in France's startup world.

Dailymotion's HQ in Paris-montage
Dailymotion's HQ in Paris-montage
David Barroux

-Analysis-

PARIS - Ah, if only we were Americans! If our startups could lean on a vast home market to take flight. If they could conquer the world with a simple service in English. Everything would be simpler and our little gems, from seloger.com to vente-privee.com or viadeo could do battle on the same playing field with world champions like Amazon or Facebook

Yes, but you don't build businesses with “ifs...” In order to grow, our start-ups must find anchors in the US, or somehow attain an international dimension. Criteo, in digital advertising, won this gamble. Deezer is about to.

Dailymotion, the gifted No. 2 Internet video platform needs, in order to survive under the massive shadow of Youtube, to reach a new dimension. Too French, the group can not afford to refuse a massive presence in the United States. Yahoo! taking control would have allowed it to cross this threshold. The American company was likely to help it, first for acquiring broadcasting rights and secondly, through its services, by expanding its audience.

French public authorities, in the name of defense of national interests, have blocked the sale of this startup controlled by France Telecom, afraid that Yahoo! would dismantle this company. This fear was unfounded. Yahoo!"s goal was to own competences and to lean on excellent though relatively less expensive French engineers and developers. France could have been a major piece in Yahoo!"s global Internet jigsaw puzzle.

A stronger Dailymotion, even controlled by Yahoo!, would have been a great asset in our nation's own digital ecosystem. This road has now been blocked. France Telecom will have to take its responsibilities, and begin to properly fund and support a company that has until now never seemed a priority for the management. Otherwise, France will wind up wasting yet another golden opportunity.


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Society

Is Disney's "Wish" Spreading A Subtle Anti-Christian Message To Kids?

Disney's new movie "Wish" is being touted as a new children's blockbuster to celebrate the company's 100th anniversary. But some Christians may see the portrayal of the villain as God-like and turning wishes into prayers as the ultimate denial of the true message of Christmas.

photo of a kid running out of a church

For the Christmas holiday season?

Joseph Holmes

Christians have always had a love-hate relationship with Disney since I can remember. Growing up in the Christian culture of the 1990s and early 2000s, all the Christian parents I knew loved watching Disney movies with their kids – but have always had an uncomfortable relationship with some of its messages. It was due to the constant Disney tropes of “follow your heart philosophy” and “junior knows best” disdain for authority figures like parents that angered so many. Even so, most Christians felt the benefits had outweighed the costs.

That all seems to have changed as of late, with Disney being hit more and more by claims from conservatives (including Christian conservatives) that Disney is pushing more and more radical progressive social agendas, This has coincided with a steep drop at the box office for Disney.

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