Among others, we offer specialized and comprehensive services in IT law and ICT law:
Please contact on of our specialists for more information on our services.
Amendment to the Law on Telecommunication
The amendment to the Law on Telecommunications (LTC; or Federal Act on Telecommunications [FTA]) of 30 April 1997 was adopted by theparliament on 24 March 2006. At its meeting of 9 March 2007 the Federal Council decided to bring the revised Law on Telecommunications and the decrees based on it into force on 1 April 2007. The revision primarily concerns unbundling of the last mile and consumer protection.
The key points of the amendments are in particular
For further information on the amendment of the LTC please visit the website of the OFCOM.
New Law on Radio and Television
On 24 March 2006, the parliament adopted the new Law on Radio and Television (LRTV) dated 21 June 1991. The Federal Council has adopted the new Decree on Radio and Television (DRTV). It includes the implementing provisions for the Law on Radio and Television (LRTV) which has also been completely amended. Both enactments enter into force on 1 April 2007. Amongst other things, the new decree specifies the regulations governing advertising and sponsorship, fee splitting, the technical broadcasting of radio and television programes, as well as reception fees.
The key points of the amendments are in particular:
For further infomation on the amendment of the LRTV please visit the website of the OFCOM.
The Free Software Foundation in its "Free Software Definition" defines four freedoms, according to which computer programs may be regarded as "Free Software", as long as they comply with these conditions. According to this definition the user has the freedom to use, adapt, copy and redistribute modified or unmodified copies of the software:
"Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it refers to four kinds of freedom, for the users of the software:
(Source: "The Free Software Definition")
In practice open source licenses are differentiated primarily by means of one license condition which is known under the term "Copyleft" as a counterpart to "Copyright". Copyright basically protects the intellectual property of the author of a work or computer program. The author usually is interested in a strong and comprehensive exclusive right, which entitles him as often as possible to prohibit the misuse of his work or to profit substantially therefrom. In contrast thereto the mentioned license condition ("Copyleft") ensures that the source code of open source software explicitly shall be passed on, whereby it also prescribes which conditions shall be applicable for the re-distribution of the amended version of the licensed open source software. OSS licenses are also classified according to the question whether they are compatible with the GNU General Public License (GPL) or not (see: Free Software Foundation).
Licenses containing a strong copyleft clause undertake the user to publish his amendments to the original work under exactly the same conditions. The use of the software code affected by such license is allowed for further developments. However, the further developed work may only be re-distributed under the same license, wherewith such enhancements compulsory remain free. The most famous example is the GNU General Public License (GPL).
On the other hand there are open source licenses which renounce copyleft conditions. Thus the rights of the users of such software are not significantly restrained. Well-know licenses without copyleft clauses are the Berkeley Software Distribution License (BSD) and the license of the Apache Software Foundation. Someone using and enhancing open source software licensed under a BSD license may distribute his enhancement at his choice with costs or for free and with or without source code.
There are also many licenses indeed containing copyleft clauses, which however only affect the direct enhancement of the licensed software codes and allow the developer to keep his rights concerning his own enhancements. An example is the Mozilla Public License (MPL) according to which the free accessibility to the source code of the original work shall remain ensured, but not however for the additional data of an enhancement not containing any MPL-code. For this reason it is possible for software developers to proprietarily utilise the parts of the software developed by themselves based on a MPL, for example as embedded part of a software distribution, as long as it is ensured that the original MPL-code remains freely accessible.
"Open Source Software" describes computer programs which are circulated under a so-called "open source license". In this context "Open Source" not only means the free access to the source code, but also the inclusion of other criteria, under which open source software may be divulged. Only if the computer programs and their licenses respectively, under which the computer programs may be distributed, comply with the criteria set up by the Open Source Initiative, Inc. ("OSI") in their ("Open Source Definition") the OSI includes such license in their overview and thereby approves the conformity of said license with the "Open Source Definition". The OSI describes its "License Approval Procedure" in detail. Up to today the OSI has approved approximately 60 open source licenses as complying with their given definition.
Among other issues open source softeware ("OSS") licenses basically allow the free redistribution and copying of the software, the free access to the source code and the modification as well as derived works. The free access to the source code is technically necessary for the further development of the software. The mentioned liberties concerning the use of the software contained in the license are legal premises for the possibility of further development of such software.
In practice OSS licenses are distinguished according to the criteria "Copyleft/Non-copyleft" as well as whether they are GPL-compatible or GPL-incompatible (see: License Categories).
The term "Software" is not used in the Swiss Federal Act on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights (Swiss Copyright and Neighbouring Rights Act; [CRA]). Basically the term "Software" is understood by a majority of the doctrine as generic term summarising the computer program as well as the development and user documentations. Computer programs mainly enjoy copyright protection. According to the CRA, computer programs shall also be deemed works (Article 2 para. 3 CRA). The term "computer program" again only would cover the source and object code of a program, as well as its documentation on the development of the program (development documentation). Pursuant to the majority of the doctrine the user documentation (user manuals) are not considered belonging to the computer programs. However, user manuals fulfilling the legal requirements may enjoy copyright protection as linguistic works (Article 2 para. 2 lit. a CRA).
There are no formal requirements for copyright protection.
The CRA and the Ordinance on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights (CRO) contain special clauses for computer programs listed as follows:
Software Patents vs. Computer-implemented Inventions
Software and computer programs respectively are protected by copyright law. Thereby the copyright protects the implementation and not the abstract process forming the basis of a computer program. It is thus possible to effect the same basic idea in an other computer program, or to reprogram a certain functionality of a software, without infringing the copyright.
It would be obvious to try to protect software with patents. Patents protect technical inventions: new and non-obvious solutions of technical problems. By principle, however, computer programs as such may not be patented under European law. A word processor software for example is considered as non-technical and therefore îs excluded from patentability. However, if computer programs are used to implement a technical invention, such a "computer-implemented invention" may be elligible for patent protection in Europe under certain circumstances.
The habits concerning consumption and utilization have changed dramatically with the spread of the internet. Currently a young generation of consumers is growing up, for which the classical storage media (records, cassettes, compact discs) are fairly irrelevant and who more frequently use the Internet as medium for their enjoyment of culture.
Without the permission of right owners, protected works may not be made available over the Internet - not even if you do this free of charge and it serves no commercial purpose. Although it is permitted to download works for personal use, once an upload is connected with the download, there is a copyright violation.
Normally IT projects cover several phases. Usually an IT-project starts with the analysis of the project, the definition of the objectives, the analysis of the interests and risks and the preparation of the solution. The next phase contains the supply of resources, i.e. the sourcing of hardware, standard software and individual software, ensuing the installation and configuration of the system, the integration of third party software, the pilot and the rollout, with which the project is finalized. After the completion of the project the operating stage begins, to which for example the maintenance of hard- and software belong.
As a result agreements concerning IT projects may contain various services, whereby the supply of products and the providing of services are often combined together. The complexity of the according agreements may have a deterrent effect, which should not lead to the fact that your own interests in an IT project are attended insufficiently. The attorneys at law and patent attorneys of Rentsch Partner Ltd. may support you in the legal analysis of your risks, the project-orientated, contractual safeguarding of your interests, as well as the legal monitoring of your IT project.
The following non-concluding overview over possible agreements striking IT issues provides an insight into the services provided by Rentsch Partner Ltd.:
The above-mentioned list contains only examples. Depending on the needs of the clients, the content of the agreements may/should be combined and should in general also contain provisions concerning the protection and use of intellectual and industrial property.
Please refer to our German version for details on legislation in Switzerland.
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