The Schweiz.ch case goes to civil court

The owner of the three domain names Schweiz.ch, Suisse.ch and Svizzera.ch intends to challenge the decision of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) under civil law. WIPO awarded the three domain names to the Swiss Confederation at the end of May. After years of unsuccessful attempts by the Federal Chancellery to persuade the holder of the domain names to hand over the internet addresses to the Confederation without compensation, it took the matter to WIPO last February. It wants to use www.schweiz.ch for a national entry portal that will open the door to federal and cantonal websites. Stefan Frei, who lost the case, has now told the NZZ am Sonntag that he will not simply hand over the domains to the Confederation, but will take the dispute to a civil court. WIPO had not considered many of his arguments. On the one hand, the Confederation is insisting on the domain revenues Schweiz.ch, Suisse.ch and Svizzera.ch, while on the other hand it is allowing private individuals to snatch up the addresses Schweiz.info, Schweiz.eu or Switzerland.eu, Frei continued. He also plans to found an association and transfer the disputed Internet addresses to it. The association would be supported by the more than 10,000 users of the websites concerned.