Swiss News

[GhostShip]

An article here that is useful reading.

http://www.heise.de/english/newsticker/news/60650

The adoption of the protective standards from the Internet agreements of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) requires a ban on cracking technical protection measures, such as access and copy blocks. However, as the EJPD added, there is no consensus on "how consumers are to be protected from the misuse of such control possibilities." The draft is now to be designed closer to European law. In such electronic business models as the iTunes Music Store, there is to be a comprehensive ban on the cracking of protective measures.

What this in effect is saying about the WIPO legislation is that Consumers are being told that they are "second class" citizens, and as such have no rights, and surely the Cartels cant have levies and taxes placed on products and services they say are illegal, so that the financial burden will always rest with the public purse propping up poor and outdated business models, or can they ...

[GhostShip]

Another spate of figure fiddling, how many more countries will be attacked in the same pathetic way  

http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=107&sid=5975482&cKey=1124433767000

Under Swiss law, anyone found guilty of infringing the copyright laws can be fined up to several thousand francs and, in some cases, may end up in prison.

But experts say it is not easy to trace offenders. One reason for this is the global nature of the internet and the fact that countries have differing copyright laws.

"In general, Swiss legislation applies only to illegal acts committed within our national boundaries", said Vincent Salvadé, head of the legal department of the Swiss-French branch of the Swiss Society for the Rights of Authors of Musical Works (SUISA).
This effectively means that an Italian site which offers copyright-protected works online and is accessible in Switzerland cannot be prosecuted by the Swiss authorities.
The problem is compounded by the fact that there seems to be a thin line between legality and illegality when it comes to downloading music.

In Switzerland downloading or copying a file from the internet for purely private purposes is allowed and these files may be passed on to friends and family members.
But it is forbidden to set up a website featuring copyrighted music or video material without permission, as is taking part in peer-to-peer networks, which are often used for file sharing.

I feel sorry for the swiss folks that have unjust laws that forbid them access to p2p and the available freeware and other items that we take for granted, criminalising a network because they cant control it smacks of dictatorship.