France Names New Culture Minister

France is getting a taste of political royalty, after a cabinet reshuffle by President Nicolas Sarkozy caused Frederic Mitterrand, nephew of the late President Francois Mitterrand, to ascend to the country's post of minister of culture and communications, Tuesday.

Mitterrand, 62, replaces outgoing minister Christine Albanel, who served under Prime Minister Francois Fillon from 2007 to 2009.

The move, described as "a great catch" by Paris newspaper Le Monde, is expected to bolster Sarkozy ahead of his reintroduction of controversial digital anti-piracy laws, which envision fast tracked criminal cases for software pirates. The law has already been struck down by the Constitutional Court, the country's highest judicial body.

If the legislation becomes law, Mitterrand will be charged with enforcing it, but it will be a tough job. Because of the complex frameworks of the World Wide Web, the ability of ISPs to keep track of and report instances of piracy are dwarfed by the array of mirrored sites and file-sharing programs such as KaZaa and BitTorrent.

Then there is the popular will. According to a recent poll, over 60 percent of citizens approve of the Constitutional Court's ruling, and arguments from critics are that Mitterrand is unable to work with the right-leaning Sarkozy on Internet issues.

Mitterrand is a socialist who claims he can work with Sarkozy, just as Sarkozy worked with his uncle during his second term in office during the late '80s and early '90s.

A director and museum owner, Mitterrand is no stranger to the art world. In addition to his many art houses, he has also presented culture magazines on French TV, and directed a feature film based on "Madame Butterfly."