Parliament gives green light for anti-piracy legislation
Providers of pirated content over the internet will face legal consequences in Switzerland after parliament amended the current copyright law.
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The House of Representatives on Monday fell in line with the Senate to facilitate access for users to digital television, notably streaming services.
The reform is aimed at cracking down on Swiss-based hosting providers forcing them to remove illegal contents from their servers.
The amendments also seek to boost copyright protection for creative artists, including photographers, musicians and film producers.
The government argued that its proposal is a compromise between the artists and the consumers keen on downloading films, music or books electronically.
Critics argue that amended Swiss law falls short of punishing consumers violating intellectual property rights.
International treaties
In debates over the past few years, both houses fought over a number of details, including fees to be paid by libraries, the tourist industry, hospitals and prisons.
However, parliament put off a reform of rules for online platforms to check whether uploaded contents contain copyright material.
The European Union parliament approved a legal amendment 12 months ago, but it not clear how individual member countries will apply the regulation.
Approval of the latest reform by parliament on Monday paves the way for Switzerland to ratify two international treaties on intellectual property rights.
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Internet provider ‘not responsible’ for pirated movie sites
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The complaint was brought against the state-owned telecoms giant by the independent Swiss movie and documentary maker Praesens FilmExternal link. The company argued that Swisscom should be obliged to deny its customers access to foreign websites that allow illegal streaming or downloading of films. But the Supreme Court in Lausanne turned down the complaint on…
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More than 1,000 demonstrators marched in Switzerland’s biggest city against the copyright reforms which critics fear threaten freedom of speech, according to the Keystone-SDA news agency. The copyright directive, which is due for a final vote at the European Parliament next Tuesday, aims to modernize copyright laws so they are fit for the digital era. In…
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