That's not at all how I understand it, though I am not a lawyer. Art. 38 basically says that the Nachrichtendienst can intercept data, unless sender and receiv

That's not at all how I understand it, though I am not a lawyer. Art. 38 basically says that the Nachrichtendienst can intercept data, unless sender and receiver are Swiss (those are indeed defined broadly). Paragraph 2 of Art. 38 basically excludes all swiss-to-swiss cable-communication for the remainder of the text. Art. 39 then says there needs to be a court order (though there are emergency provisions). It is my understanding of those laws that a Swiss to Swiss sender/receiver connection may never be intercepted, while all other connections may be intercepted by following Art. 40. and 41.