An American study, made by Gatner Group, showed that the Internet grows faster in countries where telecommunication are broken down and where the population are used to adapt easily to new technologies. When concurrence exists, prices decrease. In France, privatisation of the telecommunication has just started, prices are still high. Moreover, families and companies are not enough equiped to get Internet. Only one computer out of twenty is connected to Internet in companies.
More obvious fears lie on the plane of cultural identity and tradition.
France still has a traditionnal culture and education. So few French services exist on the web and the population is suspicious about information they find out on the Web. Fears exist also when they are shopping on the web. They trust the Minitel, because personal information, as the use of VISA cards, stays in the French territory. Fears lie on privacy.