Search results : 189

In a decision delivered on 21 December 2009, the Tribunal Administratif Fédéral (federal administrative court - TAF) looked into the question of whether the charge for receiving radio and television programmes still had to be paid when a person with an ADSL connection or a clock radio stated that these were not used for listening to the radio. Article 68 (1) of the Federal Radio and Television Act (LRTV) provides that anyone installing or operating a device intended for receiving radio and television programmes (a receiver) must pay a reception charge. Reception charges are payable per household,...

The Radio and Television Decree (Ordonnance sur la Radio et la Télévision - ORTV) has been amended, as of 1 April 2010, in order to bring its provisions into line with European rules. As a result of the transposition of Directive 2007/65/EC on Audiovisual Media Services (“AVMS Directive”) into the national law of the member states of the European Union, those French, German and Italian television channels that can be picked up in Switzerland now have more opportunities with regard to advertising and sponsorship. The new agreement on Switzerland’s participation in the MEDIA programme also provides...

In a decision that puts an end to seven years of proceedings between the Société Suisse de Radiodiffusion et Télévision (SSR) and Métropole Télévision, the Tribunal Fédéral (Swiss Federal Court - TF) has now judged that the Swiss advertising slots operated by Métropole Télévision do not contravene legislation on either copyright or unfair competition. As a result, it will be able to continue broadcasting the M6 television channel using two separate satellite signals, one directed at the French audience, and the other carrying advertising directed specifically at Swiss viewers. SSR contended that...

At the end of January 2010, Schweizer Fernsehen broadcast an advertisement by the Verein gegen Tierfabriken (VgT) three times, thus bringing an end to a 16-year legal dispute. In January 1994, the VgT had asked the Schweizerische Radio- und Fernsehgesellschaft (Swiss radio and television corporation - SRG) to broadcast its spot, which attempted to raise awareness of the cruel treatment of pigs and to urge viewers to eat less meat. However, SRG's subsidiary, publisuisse SA, refused this request on the grounds that the spot infringed the ban on political advertising on television. This was followed...

On 15 September 2009, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) made public its latest reports on the Czech Republic, Greece and Switzerland, adopted in the fourth round of its monitoring of the laws, policies and practices to combat racism in the Member States of the Council of Europe (for commentary on earlier reports, see IRIS 2009-8: 5, IRIS 2009-5: 4, IRIS 2008-4: 6, IRIS 2006-6: 4 and IRIS 2005-7: 3). Three main recommendations dealing with the (audiovisual) media and/or the Internet can be distilled from relevant sections of these reports. First, in each of the reports,...