You should try Firefox with an addon called "User Agent Swichter", which you'll find under "Tools" after installation. Through this addon you can fake the "user agent" of Firefox to pretend being an iphone.
By the "user agent", which every browser sends with each http-request, operators can easily detect traffic coming from non-mobile browsers/devices.
However there is still the EIR (Equipment Identity Register), a component in every GSM network, through which operators could distinguish handsets from modems by the IMEI if a database of IMEI-ranges existed.

Thanks. This made it work.
Unfortunately all websites now think that I'm on an iphone and behave accordingly...
What really boggles my mind is that I have to cheat to get the privilege to pay them 1€/MB...
Incroyable...

Maybe some of you could consider using the german virtual operator "simyo" which charges 0,49€/MB in every European country. Still cheaper than every other data plan in France and also usable in Germany with 0,24€/MB.

That is actually not such a bad idea (when it comes to France).

But wasn't there a cheaper prepaid offer from the UK or Ireland for European data roaming?

and there's no way to buy it in france? what about poland? :)
how about forfait internet 3G+ wk et vacances - Orange mobile ?

Looks like 18Euro/1Go for 7days? That would be great for me, if it includes TCP/IP (nonstandard ports, like for email [Gmail], and SSH [bbssh], on blackberry). I could do without BIS for a week :)

Anyone care to comment if this 18Eu/1Go is for real and can be gotten without a key?

forfait = postpaid

What ID/credit-check/etc is needed for postpaid in France? ie. Could I get it there with a EU country's ID? A Canadian ID (like driver's licence, which is a government photo ID in Canada)? What do I need in terms of credit check if anything? I will be staying with a friend in Paris.

Otherwise, perhaps my friend could get this plan for the time I'm there (he's an international student), but me getting it myself would be preferable.

This is getting a bit OT, since it's postpaid to begin with, but any clue as to whether or not there is an activation fee? 3G-Cle purchase required? any other fees?

This is a much better option than any of the pay-as-you-go options I have found to date.

Thanks in advance.