US Calls Switzerland An Internet Piracy Haven (torrentfreak.com) 119
An anonymous reader writes: The Office of the United States Trade Representative has published its annual Special 301 Report calling out other nations for failing to live up to U.S. IP enforcement standards. This year European ally Switzerland has been placed on the Watch List for protecting file-sharers and playing host to many pirate sites. "Generally speaking, Switzerland broadly provides high-levels of IPR protection and enforcement in its territory. Switzerland makes important contributions to promoting such protection and enforcement internationally, including in bilateral and multilateral contexts, which are welcomed by the United States," the USTR writes in its assessment.
Is this something good or bad for switzerland (Score:5, Interesting)
is this something good for swiss business, or something bad?
I mean tax havens are doing great as well.
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Good. It's only bad for Swiss business if the products pirated by the Swiss come directly from other Swiss people.
But if they are pirating software from foreigners, then the money is obviously staying within the economy to be spent on more relevant resources that aren't capeshit movie #235, a Justin Bieber album, or another broken EA game that's 90% DLC.
Re:Is this something good or bad for switzerland (Score:5, Insightful)
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Neither is assuming every other country wants your corporate funded erosion of copyright law.
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Harmful speech is not your personal right.
(my point: any personal right can be spun into a negative with clever wordplay).
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Unless you live in the US, where you can insult the monarchy. And in Switzerland, you can share copyrighted works.
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Scorn and mockery make a lot of sense to be picked as control mechanism for astroturfing, mind.
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That's right you had BETTER post that libel anonymously, troll.
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Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
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So you are saying to not condemn Those serial killers because there are Other serial killers doing the same? Bravo!
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You forgot sex trafficking. That's the latest one to get added to the list.
What... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:What... (Score:5, Insightful)
The world in general needs to grow a pair and tell the corporate-owned-US-government to go fuck itself to death.
Re:What... (Score:5, Insightful)
The world in general needs to grow a pair and tell the corporate-owned-US-government to go fuck itself to death.
So do US voters. And I think they are finally trying. It may not work this cycle, but when change still fails it will piss off a LOT of people.
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... and the torches and pitchforks come out?
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Re: What... (Score:2)
Re: What... (Score:5, Insightful)
There definitely needs to be a balance between personal rights and corporate rights.
Why?
What is the reason you think corporations should have any rights at all? Is it not sufficient that the persons involved have their rights.
Why do corporations need extra rights on top of that?
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What is the reason you think corporations should have any rights at all? Is it not sufficient that the persons involved have their rights.
Why do corporations need extra rights on top of that?
Well, to be fair there are a few rights that a corporation needs:
* the right to construct and enforce contracts (the latter meaning enforcement via civil tort).
* the right to some basic protection from crime by way of access to the police and recognition as a victim (e.g. burglaries, embezzlement, fraud, etc).
There are of course others, but these two immediately came to mind.
Re: What... (Score:5, Insightful)
the balance should be 100% personal rights and 0% corporate rights. corporations are made of people, they are not people there fore they deserve no rights. if people have all the rights then no corporation would survive that doesn't support the people.
when people say corporate rights, they mean a different set of rules for the people who own/run the business. Understand what you are saying when you say corporations need rights because they don't! every person should have the same rights, from the janitor to the investor.
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Understand what you are saying when you say corporations need rights because they don't! every person should have the same rights, from the janitor to the investor.
So if some entity renegs on a contract with a corporation, who sues the guy? Does he pay it all out-of-pocket and get reimbursed by the company later? What about if a company itself does something lawsuit-worthy - who do *you* sue... the CEO personally?
Re: What... (Score:1)
Exactly. If you are run down by a car because the driver was snorting coke from the dashboard, would you sue the car?
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they are not people there fore they deserve no rights
That's stupid. My dog isn't people either and it at least has minimal rights to not be tortured and such.
That said, if my dog bites a kid, the kid's right to personal safety far outstrips my dog's right to life and it gets put down. If a company dumps a shitload of lead into that same kid's water supply though (hello, Flint,) they get a slap on the wrist and asked not to do it again.
"Think about the children!" is certainly a powerful (if super over/abused) argument but "Think about the profit!" trumps eve
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Wait until they find out that the EFF, ACLU, Linux Foundation, FSF, and the BSD one (whose name escapes me right now) are all corporations.
Re: What... (Score:1)
Ah, the U.S. Trade Representative--constantly acting against the wishes of the American people in favor of multinational corporations as always.
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Yes, they should that is the right thing for their people and governments to try to do.
I would argue its also the right thing for our government to try to secure 'a good deal' for American's and American business where it can be hand.
I am totally in support of mercantilism as a foreign policy; I just want to combine it with a laissez-faire capitalist low tax system of benign neglect as a domestic policy.
Re: What... (Score:1)
Please stop with the Greengrocers' Apostrophe's [onlinesalesmessages.com] (sic). :o)
Please note that this is an act of self-preservation - each time I see this it hurts - please stop
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"American's" in this case own the "good deal"
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"I would argue its also the right thing for our government to try to secure 'a good deal' for Americans and American business where it can be hand."
They can still own the good deal without Greengrocers' apostrophes :P
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We can only hope. But Merkel recently defended the new super secret [and it seems rather sleazy, why else it is so secret] trade agreement between EU and US. Most of Europe is up in arms [strange that media in US does not seem to give this the attention it deserves].
I think this issue will be a very good test. Let's see what will happen.
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Yes - we un-elected the Surfette from the federal council, she was the one who basically sold out our country to the US...
Government or the people? (Score:4, Insightful)
The title is misleading. "US calls "Switzerland..." implies "US population calls Swiss population...", which we all know didn't happen. The correct title of this article is "US government calls Swiss government..."
That is, unless you actually believe in the fairy tale that government and the people are one and the same.
Re:Government or the people? (Score:5, Insightful)
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That is, unless you actually believe in the fairy tale that government and the people are one and the same.
Well, I believe that one originated with the US... er... government.
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The title is misleading. "US calls "Switzerland..." implies "US population calls Swiss population...", which we all know didn't happen. The correct title of this article is "US government calls Swiss government..."
That is, unless you actually believe in the fairy tale that government and the people are one and the same.
This is splitting hairs. The US governement is the legitimate representative of the will of the citizens of the US.
The fact that most US citizens don't give a shit about voting (and no coming once every 4 years out the woods to choose a president doesn't mean you're engaged in the political process) is your problem. Maybe civic duty has to taught again in schools ? I'm amazed at how superficially patriotic most Americans are (the pledge of allegiance, the national anthem being played everywhere, the narrati
Re: Government or the people? (Score:1)
Legitimate according to a set of rules invented by the very people benefiting from the application of those rules. Hmmmn. I'm sure that's beyond suspicion.
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The main and foremost export of the USA is entertainment. Movies, music, and arguably video games. But emphasis on movies, television, and music.
Given it's their 1st and biggest income revenue, it makes sense that they are fanatically obsessed with it.
Of course, since the US government has done a great job indeed of alienating most of the planet, including its former allies who are now allies on paper only,
in addition to the aforementioned movie and music industries being so fucking shit these days,
the only
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The profit margin on a car is only a few percent where the profit margin on royalties and licensing is almost 100%
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What, because they refused to bow down and enforce the US's laws in their territory?
Keep in mind that EU countries do that all the time to the USA. The US is certainly not alone in that. The EU's "right to be forgotten", which as is typical for many EU countries is a bit of feeling sorry for poor criminals, has been said by several EU courts to apply everywhere in the world. For example, Google can't just restrict searches that originate in Germany from finding results where some applicant has applied for a crime to be "forgotten" in Germany, the EU courts don't want any Google search
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Don't forget Canada, we've been on the USTR's list of evildoers for ages.
Or, you know, privacy that really means something (Score:5, Interesting)
Yup. Just moved all my personal stuff to hostpoint.ch.
They give you free SSL, ssh access, and they need a warrant before they'll release anything, *and* they'll tell you if a warrant has been issued.
I've got nothing to hide. My life is disturbingly normal and boring, but it's the principle of the thing. I don't think government should rifle through every piece of my postal mail, and I don't think they should do the same to my email / digital data either.
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Hey, I'm not a natural born citizen. I've *always* been a target. First thing they did was treat me like a criminal and force me to give them my fingerprints if I wanted a green card...
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Hey, I'm not a natural born citizen
and I, for one, welcome our synthe-sapien overlords.
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Your status has been elevated to Bullseye!
A much smaller, harder-to-hit target?
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Dude, we got treated like criminals as children, don't feel bad. We had a fingerprinting push when I was a kid, because "won't someone think of the children". Anyone who knows anything about the cops know that they dust for prints maybe 1% of the time that they might find some... no, sorry, way less than that. There is literally no chance whatsoever that this ever found a child. But they made sure to get us in their database...
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Could you imagine having a job going through everyones internet traffic mostly ads peppered with lolcats, facebook, and candy crush.
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You are now a target.
These days, if you are not a target, you really can not be trusted.
Good for them (Score:3)
Beginning of the wrong kinda beautiful friendship (Score:4, Funny)
Swiss and Slashdotters: We are shocked. Shocked!
Bittorrent: Your files, sir.
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Corporate heaven?
Lackeys, not heaven...
AAAARRRR!!! (Score:1)
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I disagree.
The days of execs making money on *other* peoples' music are definitely disappearing fast, cause screw that. The days of actual artists making money on their *own* music are just getting started.
And there's nothing much wrong with piracy (Score:3)
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Except that's not how they measure economics. I mean you could argue that it should be, but its not. They measure economics by the amount of money that changes hands, not by the amount of goods that change hands. No money = no economic gain. Quality of life isn't part of the equation.
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Switzerland isn't Sweden as much as Indiana isn't India.
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Switzerland != Sweden
Re: Makes me wish I spoke Swedish (Score:1)
Yeah you need to speak German, French or Italian.
Well if your country is on some US list (Score:5, Informative)
its means they are afraid of the extra freedom/rights your country affords you. That also means they are trying to take away those freedoms, like they took away from their own citizens. Best to just ignore them and let them squawk.
From Canada (Score:2, Insightful)
Welcome Switzerland, we were getting lonely and will enjoy the company on this prestigious list. We have been on it for years now and if our politicians would listen to the people they represent we would be much higher on the ranking.
FFS, the list pretty much says that the countries on the list wont completely bend over for the US. I think its time Canada reminds the US what happened in 1812, the last time they tried to invade our country.. its the same thing now, except the US is doing it through trade, I
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1812 wasn't a war involving Canada-as-a-country, since it wasn't even a country back then.
It was a war between the US and the UK. The people of Canada lost, having to remain loyal subjects of a foreign crown. Canada is lucky not to have turned that bad over the years, but back then it was still a big loss for Canada, just like if the US lost its independence war.
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1812 wasn't a war involving Canada-as-a-country, since it wasn't even a country back then.
It was a war between the US and the UK. The people of Canada lost, having to remain loyal subjects of a foreign crown. Canada is lucky not to have turned that bad over the years, but back then it was still a big loss for Canada, just like if the US lost its independence war.
Lol, Canada wasn't a country back then, but neither was the US. You were just a collection of loose colonies or that fact isn't taught in school anymore ? As for the people of Canada having lost, Jesus man the colonists up north didn't want regime change. That's why they sided with the crown and beat you up. They couldn't give a rat's ass about your revolutionary ideals.
The motto of the US should be : We've been in the regime change business, since 1777.
Seems nothing has changed since then eh ? Born bullies
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1812 wasn't a war involving Canada-as-a-country, since it wasn't even a country back then. It was a war between the US and the UK. The people of Canada lost, having to remain loyal subjects of a foreign crown. Canada is lucky not to have turned that bad over the years, but back then it was still a big loss for Canada, just like if the US lost its independence war.
Lol, Canada wasn't a country back then, but neither was the US. You were just a collection of loose colonies or that fact isn't taught in school anymore ? As for the people of Canada having lost, Jesus man the colonists up north didn't want regime change. That's why they sided with the crown and beat you up. They couldn't give a rat's ass about your revolutionary ideals.
The motto of the US should be : We've been in the regime change business, since 1777. Seems nothing has changed since then eh ? Born bullies, always bullies.
You failed to understand his point. There was no "Canada" - there were British settlers who lived north of the United States. When the US rebelled, they came up with a new name and established themselves as an independant country, which the world eventually recognized. Canada at the time was simply unclaimed land and didn't become a country for many years later. Your argument makes about as much sense as saying the United States teamed up with England to fight the French in the colonial wars. It makes no se
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I think you have your years a little bit off - the United States pulled itself together long before the war of 1812. Prior to 1789 I could accept part of your argument (the Articles of Confederation had such a weak federal government it was pretty powerless), but we had the Constitution was ratified in by 1789, we elected General Washington to the Presidency, and the First Congress was in session. Perhaps you should review early American history?
Hey US mind your own business (Score:5, Insightful)
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I'm very pleased to be bearing witness to the erosion of US dominance. I do hope the USD loses it's perceived "global reserve" status and we can all start benefitting from a much more decentralised world with much less bloodshed.
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A quick example, the US forced Switzerland to automatically provide information on bank account but at the same is refusing to do the same.
Maybe they're not refusing, it's just that no Swiss citizens have decided that when depositing money in a highly secure private bank account, why screw around with the United States when you could just walk across the street. You know, to a Swiss bank...
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A quick example, the US forced Switzerland to automatically provide information on bank account but at the same is refusing to do the same.
Maybe they're not refusing, it's just that no Swiss citizens have decided that when depositing money in a highly secure private bank account, why screw around with the United States when you could just walk across the street. You know, to a Swiss bank...
The US has forced (via threat of financial sanctions) FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) on numerous countries in order to obtain financial account information on US citizens. Meanwhile the US has so far refused to reciprocate in any meaningful way. The result is that for non-US citizens, the US is the best tax haven around (google "Delaware Nevada Wyoming tax havens").
Meanwhile the US also refuses to sign up for the OECD CRS (Common Reporting Standard).
So, the other guy is totally correct - the US
US laws are the problem (Score:3, Insightful)
The whole ideology of 'intellectual property' proposed by the Americans is unwelcome in Europe. The Americans need to understand that we do not share their greedy 'IP' maximalist agenda, and that we don't want it here. We should place the United States on a corporate totalitarianism watch list, and tell their corporate rulers where to stick their backward laws. I'd like to see patents abolished, and the reach and term of copyright significantly reduced. I hope more forward thinking countries like China will not pander to US blackmail and bullying.
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An American citizen has also received political asylum in Russia because he is not safe in America.
You guys aren't the good guys any more!!!
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And you make it sound like that distinction even matters. Anyone with even remotely useful reading comprehension can understand that when an outsider says "America" or "the Americans," we mean "the people that dictate American foreign policy" and every single one of the 350million American citizens.
Or do you believe that every single person in Utah is a Mormon? Or that every single person in California is a Democrat? Its just easier to apply a group label when the context is (or at least should be!) obvi
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and _not_ every single one
Wow how missing one little word can totally invert an argument!
World Calls U.S. An Asshole Haven. (Score:5, Funny)
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Well, to be fair, we do have more assholes than all but two countries.... and that's without even counting Washington D.C.
Woohoo (Score:1)
Thanks for the info. Where can I download a plane ticket to Switzerland?
EXCELLENT! (Score:1)
If there is any reason for a net, it is the open distribution of material governments and corporate slime would rather you not have unless THEY decide you should.
The biggest joke about it (Score:5, Interesting)
...is probably that the whole copyright shit is based on the Berne Convention [wikipedia.org].
Take a guess where Berne is. Hint: It's in the link.
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