The Federal Council is making room for Internet reception via cell phone. In future, it will make some of the frequencies previously used for TV transmission to indoor antennas available to mobile communication services.
On Wednesday, the full committee approved a corresponding amendment to the National Frequency Allocation Plan (NaFZ). This now provides for the bandwidth between 790 and 862 MHz to be available for mobile services from 2015 at the latest. According to the Federal Council, the frequencies are suitable for covering rural areas and can also be received well inside buildings.

Markus Schärer is to become the new Head of Interactive at Publicitas Web2com. He succeeds Philipp Scheidegger, who is leaving the company. In addition to serving national clients and agencies, Schärer will be responsible for marketing the portfolio websites. The 36-year-old will report to Tim Dührkoop, Head of Electronic & Interactive at Publicitas.
Most recently, Markus Schärer was Head of Digital Marketing at Crealogix, where he implemented online projects for major clients such as Kuoni. As Web2com writes in a press release on Tuesday, Schärer has many years of experience in the field of digital media. Since 1995, he has been responsible for setting up digital marketing departments at various companies and has held various management positions.

The new nightlife show Usgang.tv was launched on Wednesday. The information and entertainment format, which focuses on going out, leisure, culture and lifestyle, reports on parties and concerts, gives restaurant and excursion tips and provides information on current trends in the nightlife sector. There are also interviews with well-known personalities.
The seven-minute Internet program will be broadcast on Usgang.ch, Partyguide.ch and Students.ch for one week at a time. Moby Dick Productions produces and markets the program.
Usgang.ch has so far combined the four areas of event agenda, event review, trend information and communication platform on its medium. The production company Moby Dick Productions, based in Zurich, designs, produces and markets web and corporate TV.

The Ringier School of Journalism has a new principal. Jürg Lehmann will succeed 69-year-old Fridolin Luchsinger, who will step down from his post in May 2009 for reasons of age.
Lehmann worked for the Ringier publishing house for several years, including four years as Blick editor-in-chief from 1999. The 59-year-old has been a member of the editorial team at Basler Zeitung since 2004. He began his journalistic career 30 years ago by attending the Ringier School.

Have you set up a second office in your home, or do you sleep in your business premises when you are pressed for time? This can certainly make a difference under tenancy law - especially when it comes to termination and financial matters. Tenancy law has a few special rules for business tenancies:
- The amount of the rent deposit is not limited when renting commercial premises - in contrast to residential rents, where the deposit may not exceed three months' rent.
- The minimum notice period for commercial leases is six months, whereas for residential leases it is only three months.
- In the event of termination by the landlord, the tenancy can be extended for up to six years in the case of commercial premises; in the case of rented apartments, the extension is limited to four years.
- In addition to subletting, business tenants can transfer the tenancy directly to a third party, who pays the rent directly to the landlord from this point onwards.
- The landlord of business premises has a right of retention for claims arising from the tenancy - above all for outstanding rent and ancillary costs: he may take furnishings, machinery, vehicles or parts of the warehouse as a pledge for the expired annual interest and the current half-yearly interest and have them utilized.
The rental type is not freely selectable
Depending on the business strategy, the advantages of a commercial lease may outweigh those of a residential lease. For example, if you are reliant on being able to keep your business premises for as long as possible and certainly do not have to expect termination within a few months, you are certainly better off with a business lease. If, on the other hand, you are more interested in remaining flexible and having to spend as little money as possible on the tenancy, a residential tenancy is more suitable. The problem, however, is that you cannot decide for yourself whether you are renting a commercial or residential property. If the rented premises serve a business purpose, tenancy law automatically assumes a business tenancy. This is clearly the case for an office, store, warehouse, store, salesroom or advertising agency. If the rented premises serve both residential and business purposes, the predominant use is decisive. So if you set up an office in your apartment to spend a "home office day" there from time to time, you cannot invoke the business tenancy.
Landlords liable for loss of turnover
Under liability law, it is not worth working at home anyway. This is because the landlord is only liable to pay compensation in the case of commercial leases if the tenant suffers a loss of turnover due to a defect. Example: Customers are unable to visit the store due to blocked parking spaces. In such a case, however, it is important to note that the landlord is only liable if he is at fault for the defect in question.

New for SMEs: legal advice on issues affecting your business.
The new Beobachter service: expert legal advice for SMEs and their employees. 6 months for only CHF 99. You can reach the legal experts Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. by calling
043 444 54 09. You will also receive full access to the HelpOnline.ch consulting platform and an Beobachter magazine every 14 days. The price also includes a gift: the standard work for SMEs from the Beobachter book publisher "So kommen Sie zu Ihrem Geld", worth CHF 48. Order the consulting subscription for SMEs by phone: 0800 83 0800.

Schmid goes, Simonazzi comes: As announced on Wednesday, André Simonazzi will be the new Vice-Chancellor and Federal Council Spokesperson. On Wednesday, the Federal Council elected the 40-year-old from Valais to succeed Oswald Sigg, who will retire at the end of March next year.
Simonazzi has worked in the Information Service of the Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) since 2004. He has held the position of Head of Information since October 2005. Prior to this, the trained journalist worked for Caritas Switzerland for around ten years.
His predecessor Oswald Sigg took over from Achille Casanova at the beginning of August 2005 and will retire at the end of March 2009 at the age of 65. The second Vice-Chancellor since the beginning of June this year is Thomas Helbling, who took over from Corina Casanova, who was promoted to Federal Chancellor.
(Image: Keystone)

On Wednesday, an obviously fake edition of the New York Times appeared in New York with the headline: "The Iraq war is over". The 14-page newspaper, which had been copied down to the smallest detail, was dated July 4, 2009, the USA's Independence Day. However, the newspaper not only announced the end of the Iraq war and the immediate return home of American troops, it also reported the passing of a law that caps income and an indictment against outgoing US President George W. Bush for treason. Who the publishers are has not yet been established with certainty, but some leads point to "The Yes Men", a network of activists and artists who have already made a name for themselves in the copycat WTO website. Whoever it was, he or she has projected a possible future into the world, and not a bad one at that.

The Swiss Press Association is promoting newspapers and magazines with ten new advertisements. Under the motto "We are close to the action, so you can read it too", the association wants to help increase readership and motivate people to order subscriptions. The advertisements show various events, such as a rescue helicopter approaching with a small newspaper van attached to it. The car is to be understood as a metaphor for newspapers and magazines and as the means of transportation that brings the event home to readers, as the association explains in a press release.
The advertising campaign designed by Wyler Werbung is linked in terms of content and timing to the press show, in which 82 newspapers and magazines are participating. The advertisements appear as banners and skyscrapers on the internet platforms of the member publications and as spots on publishers' radios. Campaign posters can also be seen on SBB intercity trains and commuter trains. All advertising material refers to the Internet subscription portal Presseabo.ch. The campaign will run from mid-November in German-speaking Switzerland and from mid-December in French-speaking Switzerland until the end of April. It is to be continued from fall 2009.

From summer 2009, Publicitas Cinecom will be working with the Publiplan booking and processing program from Publisuisse. This means that media agencies can now also book their advertising online for the TV channels 3Plus, Sat.1 and Kabel Eins. The tool is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Daily updates of performance values and program information give users an insight into the campaign status. In addition, interfaces to other market-relevant TV tools allow users to carry out their own analyses.
Publiplan is already in use in all major media agencies in Switzerland, according to a press release issued by Publicitas Cinecom on Tuesday. This eliminates the need for time-consuming installations and training at the agencies. The tool was developed more than ten years ago. According to Tim Dührkoop, Head of Electronic & Interactive at Publicitas, Publiplan has since been constantly adapted to new TV market conditions and now covers all relevant booking, billing and reporting aspects of television advertising.

A British journalist gives new impetus to the myth of the "unhealthy journalist". After recently reporting on the catastrophic health of Chinese journalists, another example has now reached us. While last time we concentrated on cigarettes as the culprit, this time we are shifting the focus to alcohol as a potentially harmful stimulant. Adam Smith, also known as Steve Zacharanda, serves as an illustration. The British journalist drank a little too much when he was reporting directly from the USA on the last elections on behalf of the Birmingham Mail. Completely drunk - after all, Obama's victory had to be celebrated - he admitted that he had stolen his reports from the BBC. Having really got into the swing of things, he announced to his employer that he wanted to resign and launch his own newspaper. As it turned out, his confession found its way to Youtube and thus reinforced the negative health image of journalists. However, we are not letting the latest developments get us down and are not (yet) giving up hope for a better state of health in the industry. A counter-movement called "Save us journalists" aims to restore the fitness of media professionals. Suggestions and ideas for realizing our ambitious goal are always welcome.

The Swiss telecommunications giant Swisscom accepts the prices for the last mile set by the Federal Communications Commission ComCom. After the deadline for complaints expired on Monday, the company announced that it would not be taking legal action. The last mile was opened up to Swisscom's competitors in April last year.
On October 9, ComCom reduced the price for domestic telephone connections for 2007 and 2008 to CHF 18.18 following complaints from Swisscom's competitors. The interconnection prices were also reduced: For the shared use of telecom networks of other providers, the fee is now 20 to 30 percent lower.
In fact, the decision means that Swisscom, which dominates the market, will have to charge its competitors lower costs for the shared use of its facilities. The ComCom decision provides legal and investment security for all market participants, according to the Swisscom communiqué issued on Tuesday. This raises hopes of falling prices. There had already been speculation about lower telecoms prices after the ComCom decision was announced in October.
ComCom had based its prices on the legally prescribed calculation method, Swisscom continued, explaining its decision. The exact level of the prices was one of the most contentious points in the run-up to the ComCom ruling. The plaintiffs included Sunrise and Orange. Inevitably, Swisscom has to follow suit. The company estimates that it has invested CHF 70 million in unbundling the last mile since spring 2007. According to Swisscom, it is currently giving its competitors access to 1.5 million households.
In Swisscom's view, some parts of the ComCom ruling are contrary to the law. In particular, Swisscom will appeal to the competent Federal Administrative Court with regard to the provisions on telecommunications secrecy and data protection.
Competitor Sunrise welcomed Swisscom's decision in a statement on Tuesday. This was a step in the right direction. However, Swisscom must now also abandon its "obstructionist policy" in other areas. For example, Swisscom should now implement the Telecommunications Act and offer its competitors fast bitstream access to broadband Internet. Sunrise also demanded open and transparent access to the fiber optic network that Swisscom wants to build in Switzerland.

There is always a reason to write about the singer Grace Jones because of her unique appearance and her great music. At the moment, however, a mention of the great style icon - now a proud 60 years old - is almost inevitable. Not only has the Jamaican singer just released her first album in 19 years, but James Bond, who owes some of the most memorable scenes in his long life story to her performance in "In the Face of Death", is also currently back on the road in public, encouraging everyone to recap his adventures to date. Adventures that the London-based singer can easily outdo: In the October issue of the German music magazine Spex, you could read about how she had annoying fans such as Roisin Murphy, who is also very interested in fashion, banned from her hotel or - in the absence of interest from those around her - suddenly felt compelled to engage in hysterical dancing or escapades. How much of this was due to genuine madness or theatrical desires remains - as with any real star - in the dark. What we liked best was the story about the first recordings with the legendary reggae producers Sly & Robbie in a studio on Barabados: The head of their label wordlessly pinned a poster of the supercool Grace to the musicians' wall. That had to be enough to prepare them for the studio sessions. Music and image have never been so cleverly coordinated as with Grace Jones. It's great that she's back.

The copy: "Grace Jones", 2002, by Guðrún Benónýsdóttir

The original: Grace Jones on the cover of her album "Island Life" (1985)

And this is how it went: Manual retouching with scissors