The producer and presenter of the radio program "Forums", Pascal Décaillet, has triggered a fierce controversy in French-speaking Switzerland. His dispute with the head of information at Radio Suisse Romande (RSR) is being aired publicly via the media. Décaillet slammed the door in exasperation last week after a discussion with RSR Head of Information Patrick Nussbaum because, as RSR Director Gérard Tschopp announced, he did not want to accept program adjustments. Pascal Décaillet will not be forced out of the production of 'Forums', Tschopp told the media on Thursday, according to the daily newspaper Bund. He would like Décaillet, who has been on sick leave this week, to be back in front of the microphone on Monday evening at 6 p.m. to make the necessary adjustments to the program. He had been offered the opportunity to work for the radio station in the morning hours between 7 and 8 a.m., the best broadcasting time with over 380,000 listeners every day. Décaillet turned this down. So he was told that he could stay on "Forums", a discussion program about politics.
However, after 5 years as producer and presenter of this program, he now had to make some adjustments, said Patrick Nussbaum. Décaillet took this the wrong way. Since Sunday, he has made statements in the media such as "He (Nussbaum) wanted to execute me" or "It is difficult to discuss with a murderer". According to Tschopp and Nussbaum, Décaillet's door is still open. The condition, however, is that the polemics stop.

The Vogel Medien Group in Augsburg and the US company Tech Target want to cooperate. The plan is to develop a series of websites with a new concept for measurable advertising. The websites set up by Tech Target in the USA will serve as a model. According to the press release, the core of these websites are the so-called "White Papers": industry research, market studies and product information. Tech Target claims to have demographic information on more than three million registered members. Last year, the 4,200 white papers available online led to more than 1.6 million qualified contacts for advertising customers, Vogel Business Medien reported. First click, then charge for this contact - that is the concept of the business model. A wealth of user data is available via registration. In the USA, this has resulted in a "demonstrably highly efficient sales lead from online advertising". Vogel Business Medien expects the benefits of advertising to become measurable in this way. For the Group, this is the first step in the development of sustainable business-to-business communication. The first joint online offerings from Vogel and Tech Target are to be launched in October of this year. The aim is to have around 25 jointly operated platforms.

Eric Hengartner takes over the management of Zurich-based AAA AG for Digital Printing. He replaces Christian Wulle. Hengartner brings with him many years of experience as managing director of a digital printing company in eastern Switzerland and training as a Polygraphic Engineer HF TGZ. AAA AG is a company of the Neidhart + Schön Group. Its product range includes personalized digital printing, large format production and CD duplication.

According to the Basel-based "Regionaljournal", the Federal Office of Communications (Bakom) is investigating an episode of the TV show "Café Bâle" for surreptitious advertising. This was reported by Onlinereports.ch. In the third edition this year, a female protagonist advertised CoopMobile's cell phone conspicuously, including with the words "super-affordable" and "mega-practical". The cell phone also appeared very prominently on the screen, as the NZZ reported. CoopMobile and Prix Garantie were sponsors of the program in question. Bakom is now clarifying whether this exceeded the limits of what is permitted. "Café Bâle" is produced by the production company Allcomm on behalf of the Basler Zeitung and broadcast on SFzwei as part of the publisher's television program Presse-TV (PTV).

On Thursday, Bern's city parliament unanimously said yes to simpler structures for the official gazette of the Bern region, as reported by SDA. The joint publication of the city and 14 surrounding municipalities still needs the approval of the people. If decisions need to be made, they always have to be taken by two bodies: the municipal association Anzeiger Region Bern and the City of Bern. There is still a city and regional edition today.
The city is now joining the association of municipalities. This should make these structures leaner and more efficient. In future, the official section would be identical across the entire distribution area. By joining the association, the city is relinquishing competencies. This is balanced out by an appropriate say, which is anchored in the new association regulations. According to the SDA, the annual return for the city of Berne after joining the association should still be around CHF 1.1 million, half of the current profit transfer.

In February 2006, 118 websites had their access data measured and certified by Wemf's NET Audit. 113 of the sites examined are relevant to advertising. In February 2006, they generated a total of 436 million page impressions or 43 million. Visits. On average, 10 pages were accessed per visit to one of these sites. The websites Oltnertagblatt.ch, PartyGuide.ch and Schweizerbauer.ch and the newly formed network "Mittelland Kombi" were certified for the first time. 91 websites can be traced back over at least the last 12 months. Traffic to these sites increased significantly in February 2006 compared to the previous year. Overall, page impressions increased by 35 percent, visits by 29 percent and unique clients by 32 percent. The sites relating to weather, leisure and entertainment saw particularly strong growth: page impressions rose by 74 percent and visits by 37 percent compared to February 2005. The classifieds and media sites grew only moderately: The former recorded 6 percent more page impressions and 7 percent more visits, while growth for media sites amounted to 13 and 14 percent respectively. News, magazine and search engine pages were in the middle of the field with an increase in page impressions of around 25 percent.
The NET Audit measures the categories of page impressions, visits, unique clients and use time. Page impressions are the number of visual contacts of any Internet user with a measured website. Visits are related usage processes on the websites. The NET audit summarizes those page impressions of an Internet user into one visit, between which the time distance is a maximum of 30 minutes. Unique clients are the number of PCs from which a website is accessed.

Comunica-ch, a Swiss platform on the information society, is concerned about the Federal Council's message on the partial revision of the Copyright Act. The technical measures and access barriers, such as digital rights management, would be overemphasized. This would not improve copyright protection for media and cultural professionals, but would mainly serve the interests of large media and entertainment companies. In a communiqué, Comunica-ch therefore calls for a better reconciliation of the interests of actual authors as well as users and consumers, while welcoming the efforts made so far to adapt copyright law to technical developments and international standards and to achieve an appropriate balance of interests between authors, creative and cultural professionals and the rights of users.
Comunica-ch is an association of non-governmental organizations, representatives from civil society and the Swiss media that deal with issues relating to the information society. It was founded in November 2002.

The Basel-based production company Allcomm has supported the German production company United Visions in the production of an image film for the new VW Polo "Blue Motion" - "under the strictest secrecy", as Allcomm announced. The 35-mm film production was made on location in Zurich and in the winter mountains around St. Moritz with great security precautions. The film by director Susanne Schmidt was premiered at the Geneva Motor Show. With the "Blue Motion" label, VW is presenting a new approach to the topic of economy and ecology.

Beat Roth joined the sales team at printing and graphics company Christinger Partner AG in Schlieren on March 1. According to the press release, Roth has been working in consulting and sales of lettering and digital printing for many years. He has already realized various major projects.

On Friday, the Federal Council adopted the dispatch on the ratification of two agreements of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and on the partial revision of the Copyright Act. It wants to put a stop to the piracy of literary and artistic works. To this end, Switzerland is to participate in the international harmonization of copyright law and adapt its law to the level of protection that 127 WIPO member states have agreed to by approving the two agreements. The focus is on a ban on circumventing technical measures such as access barriers for Internet services or copy locks on CDs and DVDs. The ban also covers the production and distribution of circumvention software and the offering of services to circumvent protective measures.
The right of authors to distribute protected content online is to be extended to performers, producers and broadcasting companies: Anyone who releases music or films for download via file-sharing networks can therefore be prosecuted by all rights holders. However, downloading works for personal use should continue to be permitted without restriction.
New exceptions to protection in the bill are intended to ensure that Internet service providers are not liable for copyright infringements by their customers, that libraries and archives can also fulfill their documentation mandate in the digital environment and that the use of audio and audiovisual recordings is subject to uniform exploitation rules.

Detective ID cards, zeppelins and prehistoric crabs: the gimmicks in the "Yps" comic books were cult for years. Next Monday, there will be more for young and young-at-heart fans. As the Rheinische Post reports, "Yps" will be back on newsstands. The first issue already features the popular prehistoric crabs. In addition to the title character "Yps", the plaid kangaroo, there are stories with Lucky Luke, Mister Melon, Titeuf, Die wilden Kerle, Die Abrafaxe and a new mystery thriller, according to the publisher. But watch out! The "Ypsperiment" is not missing either - the first issue is about rocket propulsion with baking powder and vinegar. The magazine also contains a detailed dinosaur story.

Axel Springer Verlag is considering the launch
a French version of the Bild newspaper. Group CEO Mathias Döpfner suspects that
a gap in the market for a daily newspaper with a tabloid slant, reports
the news agency SDA. French journalism so far
the majority of the company is state-supporting. The idea is based on the success of the
Springer-Blatt Fakt in Poland. Since the newspaper launched at the end of 2003, according to
Springer is already the largest in Poland, further markets have been
explored. The company is the first foreign newspaper publisher,
which wants to gain a foothold in the French market for newsstand newspapers.
A decision will be made this year.