Swiss Government Opts to Keep Piracy Legal for Personal Use

Score one for the people rooting for internet freedom, this is wonderful news!

Of course, the people who are downloading illegally should be ashamed but I'm glad for the internet as a whole, we should be free to express ourselves in any way possible.

oh Switzerland. pave the way. thanks for some empirical evidence as well.

Wow this does not surprise me that the study showed that just as much money was being spent on entertainment. The problem is that the entertainment industry feels they could be making more money if people weren't pirating. Now I think they are wrong because then people would simply be spending the money on the media and not merchandise.

Glad to see that common sense and economics won out in the end.

If you put out quality material, people will buy. Those who don't pay usually do not think the material is worth the money asked.

Pirates were never going to pay, so any measure "against piracy" usually just ends up putting hurdles in front of legitimate customers, which is another issue (customer service).

This is great, having an unenforceable law makes no sense.

Nice! the RIAA and those the likes as the RIAA can take a long walk off a short pier as far as i am concerned. 

I don't know why there is such a fuss made over so called piracy anyway. The reality is that most people that "pirate" movies, music, games or what ever tend to be very dedicated fans of what ever medium they are sampling. In other words, the same person that downloads the latest Twilight movie is also going to buy a copy when it comes out in Blueray and has probably already paid to see it in the theater or soon will and more than likely is gonna buy the t-shirt, will take notice of any advertisement that uses Twilight as a draw, and line up for the next chapter in the ongoing saga. The fact that they downloaded a copy off the internet has little to do with lost revenue but more about a loss of control over our viewing habits.

Switzerland is just too amazing,I wonder if their policies on things would work on a larger scale in a larger country (U.S. anyone?)

I agree with the study, to be honest I've pirated plenty of movies games and software, but if it's something I've really enjoyed or liked I usually end up buying it anyways, along with merchandise etc. and if not, I get rid of it so its not like I'm really using piracy to steal, but test things out... not to mention I've spent money on a lot of things I wouldn't have otherwise (like movies or games) because I accessed them through pirated content first because it was free

Is anyone else enjoying the fact that one the plast most populous in pirates is one that doesn't even border an ocean?

Terrible joke I know but I couldn't resist it >:)

This decision on the part of the Swiss government, which is notable not merely for the common (not so common) sense it shows, but also for that government's willingness to resist the enormous pressure that the main front man for the so-called «rights-holders» organisations, the US government, must be exerting upon it in this case, deserves applause and support. Would that other governments in Europe, like ours here in Sweden, adopt similar policies, but alas, with few if any exceptions, they all seem to be in the hands of the MPAA, the RIAA, and their ilk....

Henri

Here's a thumbs up to pirates & cowboys. Good to read this article! Good to be informed!

I also feel the need to be honest. I've been downloading movies and TV shows for a while now, the funny part about it is, I have also been going to the theater a lot more since starting to download, also I have bought more blurays and merch. Before my downloading days I think I went to the theater 3 times in my life. I now go once a month (if there is something good out). Also if it wasn't for 'piracy' I never would have known about some of my favorite shows - (I rarely turn on my tv). Such as Game Of Thrones, The Walking Dead, True Blood, all of which I have bought shirts or other merch for. Not to mention I buy up their boxed sets when they are available.

So I agree, the industry claiming they are losing money because of piracy is BS. In the end it balances out because there are a lot more people out there who are like me. -Spending more now because of piracy-

Like Osunday said, a lot of people don't "use piracy to steal, but to test things out" If I download a movie and end up really enjoying it I will buy it, and I spread the word to my friends and family - who aren't downloaders. So they go out and buy or rent the movie to watch it themselves. I've also gotten them hooked on tv shows which I found out through piracy sites' top downloads section. So yes it does balance out in my opion and I'm glad the Swiss gov has realized this. Hopefully the U.S and Canada will catch on as well.

The use of the term «piracy» for these practices is a deliberate misnomer, designed to make them sound like capital crimes. Absurd !...

Henri

Thumbs up for the Swiss Gov......

Well said Manduh,

I mostly agree. I know a few pirates and they see it as a "try before you buy" deal. I know that if I buy a game and it ends up being pretty bad, I'm $50+. However, with this policy, it's pretty nice to see if you like something then buying it. Granted not everyone does this and mostly just takes it for free without looking back. This is probably why people have such a huge problem with piracy. But it's the internet, it's getting bigger and bigger and piracy is part of it. 

The Swiss have it right. I'm just glad that the US recently allowed jailbreaking to be legal. 

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Scratching my head thinking about piracy being legal for personal use. Piracy is generally for the positive personal financial impact by definition is it not?

Swiss society has been forward thinking for a very long time. I'm just not surprised by this decision at all.

But I'll bet that the RIAA will now take steps to try to make the rest of the world ~comply~ for them.

Imagine now,.....suddenly all of the operators of the worldwide Internet backbone begin getting legal notices or adjudications to BLOCK any ISP's located in Switzerland.

The RIAA are just the Azzholes to do it too.

realneil:

But I'll bet that the RIAA will now take steps to try to make the rest of the world ~comply~ for them.

Imagine now,.....suddenly all of the operators of the worldwide Internet backbone begin getting legal notices or adjudications to BLOCK any ISP's located in Switzerland.

The RIAA are just the Azzholes to do it too.

No doubt that you are absolutely right about that Neil!

Yeah! I agree, all the way with pirates I say.

I have to agree as well as I'm one of the ones who torrents to try something before he buys it. I mean in this world where previews of movies and games are becoming scarser and scarser; people are moving to BitTorrent in order to download something to try it before they like it; I understand their reasoning for the reasons why they might be against piracy as there are people who would sell this stuff on the black market for the profit but there are guys who would like to try it before they spend their money on it. I mean take for instance Duke Nukem Forever; there was no demo released for that game whatsoever so what would people like to do, download the game and try it out; and guessing by the reviews, it turns out people didn't like it as much as they did.

BitTorrent can also be used to catch up on their favorite TV shows; I mean not all shows are offered on Hulu and even though it doesn't feel right by downloading the shows on BitTorrent, it is a nice way for you to catch up if you missed any episodes or if you're in the middle of getting into a new season. I don't know about the shows on HBO or Showtime but it does feel somewhat wrong. I don't know where I'm going with this but I'm guessing the moral is is that people should be able to try something out and if they like it then they should pay the money for it. A big shame they don't offer more stuff to the public like this though.

I mean the internet is in full effect here, they shouldn't be trying to restrict the content for more money. I mean back then we had game demos galore and even a while back we had Hulu where episodes were posted a day after the episode aired; now it's more restricted, game demos are scarser then ever (even going so far as to be exclusive for consoles.) and people are becoming desperate. Instead of trying to live by the old model, they should try to think of a new model for which the people who buy their content will be happy and the people who make and distribute the content will be happy. I mean this isn't the 80's. This is the 2010's, and we need to start acting like we're in the future.

realneil:

Imagine now,.....suddenly all of the operators of the worldwide Internet backbone begin getting legal notices or adjudications to BLOCK any ISP's located in Switzerland.

The RIAA are just the Azzholes to do it too.

Especially with SOPA becoming a real possibility.

i am moving to switerland

the only country in the world that has brains

INTERNET IS FREE!!!

and should remain free, let the corporation secure there products, do not limit or filter our internet connection.

VVlad:

i am moving to switerland

It's not an easy thing to do, moving to Switzerland,..........They have some tough requirements for citizenship there.

Moving =/= gaining citizen ship. It's pretty easy to move there if you choose the right international organization. Gaining citizenship is of course a whole other ordeal.

//a Swede who has lived all his life in Switzerland and who isn't Swiss (yet)