The Swiss Federal Supreme Court has upheld the SWITCH’s right to provide a link to its independent subsidiary switchplus ag.

An earlier court lower court decision had precluded SWITCH from doing so. SWITCH then lodged an appeal on 22 March 2012 with the Federal Supreme Court against the verdict of the Federal Administrative Court of 13 February 2012. This verdict banned SWITCH from providing a link to its subsidiary switchplus ag on the switch.ch website. SWITCH’s appeal was upheld in its entirety by the Federal Supreme Court on 14 August 2012.

“With its decision, the Federal Supreme Court is supporting SWITCH’s economic freedom”, explains Andreas Dudler, Managing Director of SWITCH.

The decision specifies inter alia that it must be possible for SWITCH to provide information on the group website switch.ch not only about its core business for the universities but also on the services of its subsidiary switchplus. With its verdict, the Federal Supreme Court also confirms that SWITCH has not given its subsidiary switchplus an unlawful advantage.

Switchplus was originally established in response to calls from domain name customers for hosting services, so SWITCH set up its commercial subsidiary switchplus ag in 2009. This company provided services associated with an internet presence – from the registration of the domain name, via web mail and CMS hosting, right through to hosted exchange. SWITCH uses its subsidiary’s profits to support Switzerland’s universities.

After switchplus ag had been set up, a group of hosting providers prevented the market entry of the subsidiary. The decision taken by the Federal Supreme Court should now have put an end to this longstanding discussion. “We welcome this pioneering decision by the Federal Supreme Court. It confirms that SWITCH has always acted correctly”, says Marco D’Alessandro, media spokesman for SWITCH.