Vodafone chief executive Vittorio Colao has supported French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s call for regulations for the Internet.

In an article in the Financial Times, Colao said national regulations on privacy, intellectual property and copyright should apply to Internet companies.

He said that new laws should be legislated which allowed blocking sites that invade privacy or breach security.

"In areas such as piracy of music and video content, new copyright laws require public authorities to direct network operators such as Vodafone to block access to illegal services or platforms."

"Extending this to areas such as privacy, citizens’ security and consumer protection would offer a powerful incentive for all companies to comply with national laws, and so provide a basis for consumers to seek the protection of their law when they feel the need for it."

Last month, in his inaugural address at the e-G8 summit, Sarkozy had said that countries cannot allow completely unchecked Internet use.

He told the Internet entrepreneurs, "The world you represent is not a parallel universe where legal and moral rules and more generally all the basic rules that govern society in democratic countries do not apply."

In the article, Colao supported Sarkozy’s view.

He wrote, "So Mr Sarkozy is really right to argue that realising the full potential of the Internet will also require an effective legal framework and that self-regulation will not be enough."

Meanwhile, Vodafone is embroiled in a controversy in Egypt about its role in the uprising that took place earlier this year.

Vodafone is facing a backlash in Egypt, with protests over an advertisement that suggested Vodafone had inspired the revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak’s regime.

The three-minute video says, "We didn’t send people to the streets, we didn’t start the revolution … We only reminded Egyptians how powerful they are."

Vodafone has said that it had nothing to do with the film.

The agency hired by Vodafone in Egypt, JWT, said the advertisement was meant for "internal use" only and "not intended for public display".