France trying to ban WikiLeaks from its servers: minister

French industry minister Eric Besson called today for WikiLeaks to be banned from French servers after the whistleblower website ended up there after being kicked out of the United States.

French industry minister Eric Besson called on Friday for WikiLeaks to be banned from French servers after the whistleblower website ended up there after being kicked out of the United States.

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"This Internet site... is apparently since Thursday partly hosted by French host OVH," Besson wrote to the CGIET, the highest body governing the Internet in France. "This situation is unacceptable."

Yesterday, WikiLeaks moved to OVH, a French web host, after American giant Amazon booted it off its servers following pressure from US politicians angered by the release of a quarter million secret diplomatic cables.

"France cannot host Internet sites that violate the confidentiality of diplomatic relations and put in danger people protected by diplomatic secrecy," Besson wrote in the letter, a copy of which was seen by AFP.

"Tell me as quickly as possible what action can be taken to stop this site being hosted in France, and firstly tell all operators that have helped host it of the consequences of their actions and then hold them responsible."

The revelations have angered world governments to such an extent that the website is being forced to hopscotch around the world's servers, while also coming under massive cyber attacks aimed at bringing the site down.