1. We demand software changes
Cultural Problem
We demand software changes

2. Why are they demanding?
People in the Paris office send rude telexes (now faxes or s)
Why are they DEMANDING new software features
Who are they to make DEMANDS. Everyone else make requests.

3. A Google Search What is the word for request in French?
Translation of request in French:
noun
1 (comment) demande (f)
(for de) (to à) requête (f) (for de) (to à)
to make a request faire une demande

4. Maybe they are not rude
It is easy for a young French person to assume that the English word demand means polite request.
A communication that “demands” new features seems a lot more polite to a French person than it does to the American person receiving the communication.
I thought the people in the Paris office were rude until I took a 10 day Berlitz course in French and learned that the French word demande means request.

5. What about real problems
This was a small problem based on a small translation issue
If a small problem can lead to misunderstandings, what could happen with serious problems and differences?