Vol 7 No 1 - Roger Williams University School of Law

integration of modern computing technologies becomesincreasingly important.117 The European Union sought legislativeprotection for databases in an effort to reverse a growing tradedeficit in the electronic data market. The promulgation of theDatabase Directive came on the heels of a 1994 study of electronicinformation services, which stated that, “with the exceptions ofthe United Kingdom and the Netherlands all EEA countries hadnegative trade balances.”118The digital revolution originated in the United States ratherthan in Europe, and the European Union is thus getting a latestart. The Internet was created by the United States governmentand quickly fostered “a thriving Internet core economy, creatingnew businesses, new revenue streams, and, more importantly,new jobs.”119 As of 1997, the United States was acknowledged tohave built a substantial lead over Europe.120 The EU alsoacknowledged that a similar lead seemed to be opening up in thestrategic sector of electronic commerce tools, products andtechnologies that underpin the future development of electroniccommerce.1212. Linguistic FragmentationLinguistic fragmentation may be another reason that theEuropean market share of the database industry is eroding. TheEU operates in eleven different languages; every documentproduced by EU government authorities is translated into eachlanguage before publication.122 The large number of languagescomplicates competitive markets by eliminating economies of scalein the production of language-based databases. As English is the117. Of 147 European directory publishers, only 27 earned gross revenues of 50million ECU per year. These publishers are also responsible for many retail catalogs.As corporate catalogs are indicative of future retail performances, the potential loss ofcatalog publication companies within the EU may make it easier for foreign firms todevelop a significant market share. Id.118. Id. § 2.2.119. A European Initiative in Electronic Commerce, Communication to theEuropean Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and theCommittee of the Regions, at para. 17, available athttp://www.cordis.lu/src/ecomcom1.htm (last updated April 16, 1997).120. Id. at para. 18.121. Id.122. See, e.g., http://europa.ei.int. The official European Union website is availablein 11 different languages.