PARIS, May 21 (Xinhua) -- French Culture and Communication Minister Christine Albanel has called on professionals in the country to lend their "support" in the fight against piracy at a time when the government is set to introduce a series of new laws to deal with the vice.

    "Because the bill is dealing with new forms of behavior that we are trying to disguise as fundamental freedoms... as it's against the demagogic rhetoric which says that the fact that everyone else is doing it is not a crime, I need your support, I need the mobilization of everyone," the minister said Tuesday.

    Speaking on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival at the National Centre for Cinematography, Albanel notably lashed against European Union parliamentarians who in mid-April adopted an amendment that would prevent authorities from withdrawing the subscription of Internet users involved in downloading copyright materials illegally.

    "The future of cinema is also found in the Internet," said the culture minister, adding that this media must be "synonymous with a genuine renewal and not a programmed death for copyright."

    Rejecting the arguments of European critics opposed to the eventual arrival of a French-inspired bill at Brussels, Albanel reaffirmed that the French text did not interfere with individual "freedoms" and that it did not call for a "widespread filtering of internet networks."

    The bill provides for a gradual process to deal with people found to be engaging in illegal downloading, said the minister, noting that such people could have their "e-mail accounts and internet subscriptions suspended for a maximum period of one year."

    Further, the new law would establish an independent authority to ensure that "personal data relating to subscribers will be surrounded by multiple safeguards in order to protect the secrecy of private life," according to reliable sources.

    Dubbed "Creation and Internet," the bill is a word by word transcription of agreements that were signed in the presence of President Nicolas Sarkozy and organizations representing the sectors of music, cinema and Internet services providers on Nov. 23, according to the same sources.

    Elsewhere, over thirty French business leaders drawn from the sectors of media, communication and energy have joined hands to launch a "digital energies club" as part of efforts to promote the growth digital technology in the country.

    In a statement released Tuesday, the club, whose manifesto is entitled "Action for Digital Growth," is calling on the government to implement a raft of new measure to "remove barriers to digital growth" and "liberate economic growth through the use of information and communication technologies."

    "The share of the digital economy in national production in France is two times lower than in the United States (6 percent compared to 13 percent)," said the group in a memorandum to France's Secretary of State for the Development of the Digital Economy Eric Besson.