The affair surrounding child pornography images on Radio Suisse Romande (RSR) is spreading. The radio management has filed a lawsuit against persons unknown. The reason for this is that IT data has disappeared in connection with the affair, as reported by SDA. "Unauthorized connections" to certain servers were established at the radio station, the radio directorate wrote in a press release. The missing data relates to 2005, the year in which a computer scientist discovered child pornographic images from the Internet belonging to a member of the management (see
RSR: BoD launches investigation into child pornography affair).

The National Council's Legal Affairs Committee (RK) does not want to ban "oversexualized and gender-discriminatory" advertising by law. In a communiqué, the RK states that criminal law already sets certain limits on public advertising with the ban on pornography. In their opinion, a strict ban would be difficult to enforce.
According to the SDA, the commission also rejects the creation of an ombudsman's office suggested by the initiator. The industry's Swiss Fairness Commission considers gender-discriminatory advertising to be unfair. It could intervene more flexibly and quickly than a government agency.
Furthermore, the cantons and municipalities are responsible for advertising regulations, according to the Commission's communication. They could take account of the "regionally differing sensitivities".

The Swiss Advertising Association is generally in agreement with the "Swissness" bill, which aims to regulate the use of the Swiss coat of arms and flag, among other things. This is clear from the association's consultation response. "We are positive about the law because it does not make things any more difficult for the industry and finally makes it possible for goods to be legally advertised with the Swiss cross," legal consultant Marc Schwenninger told Werbewoche. Until now, it would not actually have been permitted - true to the letter of the law - for the national symbol to be printed on goods. Services, on the other hand, were allowed to be advertised with it. "Until now, Victorinox, for example, was not actually allowed to print the Swiss coat of arms on its pocket knives, but could use it on its stationery," explained Schwenninger. This discrepancy is now to disappear. Instead, a new distinction will be introduced, namely between the coat of arms and the flag. The coat of arms remains reserved for the Confederation, while the flag may be used in advertising if certain conditions are met: The Swiss share of the manufacturing costs of a product must be at least 60 percent. Swiss advertising expressly welcomes the fact that the Swiss flag can now be used freely in this case. It is less pleased that the coat of arms will also be denied to companies that have been using it in their communications for many years. The association would like to see this part of the bill deleted: "If this were to pass, it would be an intolerable restriction for advertising," says Schwenninger.
No advertising with foreign flags in future? The Swiss advertising industry also disagrees with the fact that foreign flags may no longer be used in advertising in Switzerland. This was previously regulated by law, "but everyone knows that this provision is constantly disregarded and many businesses use foreign flags to draw attention to products from abroad," said Schwenninger. The lawyer criticized the fact that this should no longer be possible in the consultation response. However, he is not overly optimistic that the request will be successful. Schwenninger assumes, however, that the existing practice in the legal gray area would continue even with the new law.
Swiss advertising, on the other hand, is pleased that the Swiss flag has now been officially defined for the first time. However, it would like to ensure that advertisers are not obliged to use the flag exactly as defined: They should still be able to modify it, for example in wave form or in combination with other graphic elements.
Negative consequences if the bill fails Other associations also view the bill positively, such as Economiesuisse, the Swiss Made interest group and the Swiss Tourism Association. However, there are also negative voices. Consumer organizations would like the Swiss content of a "Swiss Made" product to be 90 percent. And various political parties, like the Swiss advertising industry, are annoyed that the coat of arms should not be used in advertising in future. Of course, those directly affected, such as Victorinox and the Touring Club Switzerland (TCS), are also campaigning against this. However, Marc Schwenninger warns against massively torpedoing the bill. "The Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IPI) has threatened that it will rigorously enforce the existing law if the revision fails." This would mean that the previously unlawful but quietly tolerated practice would no longer work. This would mean that countless companies would have to remove the Swiss cross from their products.
 

 Ticino media entrepreneur Filippo Lombardi has to pay a fine for forgery and traffic offenses, but will be spared a prison sentence. 52-year-old Lombardi has been sentenced by a single judge in Bellinzona to a conditional fine of 60 daily rates of CHF 480 each and a fine of CHF 3,000. Lombardi was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, failure to control the vehicle and forgery.
The public prosecutor's office in Ticino had already sentenced the CVP member of the Council of States for these offenses last summer. They also wanted to commute a 2001 conditional sentence for driving under the influence of alcohol to 15 days in prison. Lombardi lodged an appeal against this. In the ruling published on Saturday, the single judge has now decided not to commute the conditional sentence to imprisonment.
The forgery concerns falsified circulation figures for the Ticino Giornale del Popolo, of which Lombardi was editor-in-chief from 1987 to 1996. The media entrepreneur had not denied that the figures for 1994 had been falsified. However, he is of the opinion that this does not constitute forgery within the meaning of the penal code. Lombardi is a board delegate of the private broadcaster Tele Ticino and president of Telesuisse, the Swiss regional television association.

 From Monday, Radio 24's morning show Ufsteller will feature a number of new features. Former DRS3 presenter Patrick Hässig will host the show for the first time. At the same time, the relaunch will also see an expansion of news and services. As early as 5 a.m., there will be daily reports on the weather and traffic situation, and an interactive general knowledge quiz called "Toast Hässig" and new comedy formats will also provide entertainment. "Quartierverein 8024 Züri" replaces the previous "Züritdütschkurs". And instead of the "Bundesrats-WG", Fabian Unteregger, the voice imitator known from Viktor Giacobbo's TV show, will perform his successful parodies once a week.

 The discovery and promotion of young talent has always been a major concern of the Zurich Film Festival organizers. In order to realize this goal even more effectively in the future, the festival management now wants to work even more closely with its patrons. To this end, the Zurich Film Festival Donors Association has now been founded. A considerable amount was already raised when the association was founded. It enables the young directing talents from all over the world to receive not only intensive support but also higher prize money. The amount of the competition prizes awarded was increased from CHF 30,000 to CHF 50,000. Matthias Luchsinger, Managing Director of Condor Films and President of the newly founded association, proudly announced in a press release on Friday that the increase in prize money would increase the international recognition of the event, which in turn would improve the quality of the program. This year's festival will take place from September 25 to October 5.

 Tele Ticino can be pleased about a good first quarter: with a market share of 1.8 percent in the target group of people aged 3 and over, the Ticino station has achieved 0.2 percentage points more than in the first quarter of 2007. Since 2002, it has been able to double its share and is now in its sixth year of continuous market share growth, according to Radiotele, which markets the station. The figures would be reflected in the performance of the advertising blocks and lead to greater demand for spot bookings. For this reason, Tele Ticino is introducing new prices from the second half of 2008, which will "correspond to performance and demand", the press release continues. The new rates will be published in time for the industry-wide publication date of the TV advertising offers on April 11, 2008.

 Ernst & Young Switzerland is losing its Head of Communications and Marketing. As the company announced in a press release on Friday, Markus Bernhard will be leaving the company on April 11. In future, he will be responsible for communications at the ETH Board, the supervisory body elected by the Federal Council to oversee the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology and research institutes. Bernhard worked for Ernst & Young for eight years, and Anne Catherine Rüegg, Head of Corporate Publishing & Advertising, will head the department on an interim basis until a successor is found.

 Although Roger Schawinski still has to worry about the new FM license for his Radio 1, the station can now at least be received via Cablecom's cable network throughout German-speaking Switzerland. This is in response to the high demand outside of Zurich, according to a press release on Friday. The station can now also be received in St. Gallen (106.40 MHz), Olten/Aarau/Zofingen (92.3 MHz), Limmat-Reusstal (93.0 MHz), Lucerne/Sarnen/Altdorf (96.15 MHz) and Bern/Biel/Thun/Murten (104.10 MHz), among others. In Zurich itself, the station can be found on the airwaves at 93.0 and on the cable network at 98.7.

 The rumors surrounding Myspace's own music service have come true: The social network is entering into a cooperation with Universal Music Group, Sony BMG and Warner Music Group. In doing so, it is competing with Apple's iTunes. The integrated music service offers digital downloads and free audio and video streams. According to a press release, "Myspace Music" will bring together Myspace's music community of five million artists and the music content offered by the major labels. The online music service provides music and videos as ad-financed streams, which are still free of charge for users. The e-commerce platform offers all music content as digital downloads. All content can also be downloaded to cell phones via the mobile storefront.

 The federal government is aiming to reposition disability insurance among the population. TV commercials, newspaper advertisements, a brochure and online information are intended to bring about a cultural change. The new principle of "integration before retirement" applies. A large proportion of the population is still not sufficiently aware of the key role of IV in integration. As a rule, the IV is primarily associated with pensions. The costs for the four-year campaign amount to around CHF 1.5 million per year. The commercials, which will be broadcast in three national languages on SRG channels and in the Swiss advertising windows of German-language private channels from April 7, show examples of how the IV supports insured persons after accidents or illnesses under the theme "Lifeline", according to the FSIO. They were produced by the agency Saatchi & Saatchi Simko; the project manager on behalf of the Federal Social Insurance Office is Antoine Exchaquet, Head of Control I.

 Xerox has introduced a sustainability calculator. The so-called "Sustainability Calculator" is designed to show companies how they can improve the environmental compatibility of their document processing and save costs at the same time. The application measures the environmental impact generated in a company: It records the entire office environment with all printers, copiers and other systems. According to Xerox, simple tips such as moving devices or replacing outdated products with multifunctional systems can often make a big difference.