A commercial court has overturned a temporary injunction obtained by Switzerland’s biggest telecommunications provider Swisscom to stop newspaper NZZ from publishing data stolen from the company.
Swisscom said on Friday in a statement that it accepted the decision, while the NZZ said that it was satisfied by the outcome.
The spat dates back to September 2013, when the Zurich-based newspaper announced that it had received four files of information. Names and contact details of Swisscom clients and the status of various projects were contained amid more mundane internal emails about barbecues and company cars, the NZZ reported.
Swisscom, worried about the possibility of sensitive client data being contained on the tapes – which went missing en route to being destroyed under routine circumstances – immediately filed a criminal complaint against persons unknown.
NZZ then published the names of a number of customers – some of them prominent Swisscom clients – in a December 20, 2013 article, which led to Swisscom asking for the temporary injunction against further publication of the data.
«Although the Bern Commercial Court has now overturned the injunction, it clearly states in its reasons for the judgement that any further piecemeal publication of information gained from these data tapes may constitute a breach of the Unfair Competition Act (UGW),» Swisscom said in its Friday statement.
It added that it was doing everything it can to ensure that all data in the NZZ’s possession was fully destroyed, and said it hoped that «the NZZ will continue to help establish exactly how the data tapes were stolen from Swisscom. Swisscom is liaising with the NZZ to find a solution in the matter». The company has also boosted its own security measures.
The NZZ told the Swiss news agency on Friday that it was «satisfied but not surprised» about the court’s decision. A spokeswoman said that the newspaper now considered the matter closed.