Federal government buys www.schweiz.ch after all

The back and forth about the national Internet address of "central importance" has come to an end: The Confederation is paying up. Contrary to earlier announcements, the Confederation is paying the current holder Stefan Frei a "voluntary amount" of CHF 50,000. The Berner Zeitung writes in its Wednesday edition that this means there will be no trial.
The Confederation receives the addresses www.schweiz.ch, www.suisse.ch and www.svizzera.ch and the right of first refusal to the identical addresses ending in .org. Frei may use these as it wishes for the next five years, but must clearly state "Non-official site" on the websites. From 2011, the Confederation has the option of acquiring the addresses for a further CHF 50,000.

Win-win for all
Although the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has recognized the Confederation's exclusive right to its Internet addresses (see
WIPO awards Switzerland domain names), the federal government has apparently decided against going to civil court. It will therefore receive the desired addresses at the end of November and can redirect Internet surfers from www.schweiz.ch to the existing portal www.ch.ch as planned. Stefan Frei also expressed his satisfaction with the solution found to the Berner Zeitung. He sees the amount from the federal government as compensation for the ten years of work he has put into the website. The five years of legal certainty and free right of use are a significant step forward compared to the current situation.