diff -ur rpyc-3.0.7/rpyc/core/netref.py rpyc-local/rpyc/core/netref.py
--- rpyc-3.0.7/rpyc/core/netref.py	2009-09-22 13:38:29.000000000 +0200
+++ rpyc-local/rpyc/core/netref.py	2009-11-29 17:39:55.000000000 +0100
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 _local_netref_attrs = frozenset([
     '____conn__', '____oid__', '__class__', '__cmp__', '__del__', '__delattr__', 
     '__dir__', '__doc__', '__getattr__', '__getattribute__', '__hash__', 
-    '__init__', '__metaclass__', '__module__', '__new__', '__reduce__', 
+    '__metaclass__', '__module__', '__new__', '__reduce__', 
     '__reduce_ex__', '__repr__', '__setattr__', '__slots__', '__str__', 
     '__weakref__', '__dict__', '__members__', '__methods__',
 ])
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@
     """the base netref object, from which all netref classes derive"""
     __metaclass__ = NetrefMetaclass
     __slots__ = ["____conn__", "____oid__", "__weakref__"]
-    def __init__(self, conn, oid):
+    def _netref_init__(self, conn, oid):
         self.____conn__ = conn
         self.____oid__ =  oid
     def __del__(self):
diff -ur rpyc-3.0.7/rpyc/core/protocol.py rpyc-local/rpyc/core/protocol.py
--- rpyc-3.0.7/rpyc/core/protocol.py	2009-09-22 13:38:29.000000000 +0200
+++ rpyc-local/rpyc/core/protocol.py	2009-11-29 17:39:39.000000000 +0100
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@
     allow_pickle = False,
     connid = None,
     credentials = None,
+    call_by_value_for_builtin_mutable_types=True,
 )
 
 _connection_id_generator = itertools.count(1)
@@ -180,7 +181,15 @@
             self._local_objects.add(obj)
             cls = getattr(obj, "__class__", type(obj))
             return consts.LABEL_REMOTE_REF, (id(obj), cls.__name__, cls.__module__)
-    
+
+    def _valuefy(self, obj):
+        if self._config["call_by_value_for_builtin_mutable_types"]:
+            if isinstance(obj, list):
+                return list(obj)
+            elif isinstance(obj, dict):
+                return dict(obj)
+        return obj
+
     def _unbox(self, package):
         """recreate a local object representation of the remote object: if the
         object is passed by value, just return it; if the object is passed by
@@ -211,8 +220,10 @@
             info = self.sync_request(consts.HANDLE_INSPECT, oid)
             cls = netref.class_factory(clsname, modname, info)
             self._netref_classes_cache[typeinfo] = cls
-        return cls(weakref.ref(self), oid)
-    
+        inst = object.__new__(cls)
+        netref.BaseNetref._netref_init__(inst, weakref.ref(self), oid)
+        return inst
+
     #
     # dispatching
     #
@@ -423,7 +434,17 @@
     def _handle_hash(self, oid):
         return hash(self._local_objects[oid])
     def _handle_call(self, oid, args, kwargs):
-        return self._local_objects[oid](*args, **dict(kwargs))
+        r = repr(self._local_objects[oid])
+        if "Type" in r: # XXX make more distinct or check whether needed for all types
+            meths = args[2]
+            for meth in meths: # build wrappers around netref funcs for qt
+                def make_wrapper(meth):
+                    return lambda *a, **kw: meth(*a, **kw)
+                methfunc = meths[meth]
+                if callable(methfunc):
+                    meths[meth] = make_wrapper(methfunc)
+        return self._local_objects[oid](*[self._valuefy(arg) for arg in args], 
+                **dict(kwargs))
     def _handle_dir(self, oid):
         return tuple(dir(self._local_objects[oid]))
     def _handle_inspect(self, oid):