The U.S. District Court in Islip, Long Island, has ordered Cablevision to pull its advertisements that claim that rival Verizon is lying to consumers about having the fastest wireless network.
The ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge Gary Brown is released just days after he also ruled against the bid of Cablevision to prevent Verizon advertising that it owns the fastest Wi-Fi available, with the company claiming that Verizon was misleading the consumer market.
According to Brown, the ruling that he released means that Verizon is not lying to consumers with its claims that it offers the fastest Wi-Fi through its FiOS fiber optic network.
Brown said in a hearing that the advertising campaign of Cablevision, which the company launched in January after it filed the lawsuit against Verizon, was implicitly false and literally untrue and could mislead customers.
The information was revealed through a transcript that was released to the public on Aug. 11.
Advertisements released in print media showed representatives of Verizon that have their pants on fire, as liars have in the famous saying, or as the fictional character Pinocchio, who is known for his lying issues.
Cablevision previously said to Brown in July that it will be voluntarily discontinuing the advertisements that brand Verizon as a liar. However, it told the court of its plans to release a series of new advertisements, wherein one advertisement would have a sheriff saying to Verizon that "this town's had enough of your lies."
Brown found the claims of Cablevision that Verizon is lying as false, and on Aug. 10 placed a temporary restraining order upon Cablevision that would have the company stop publishing advertisements that accused Verizon of lying, releasing false facts or otherwise showing dishonesty within the week.
While Brown said that the law, just like the economic system, allows for spirited competition, exceeding the boundaries of decency by a competitor falsely attacking the integrity of another competitor is against the law.
Verizon VP of consumer marketing Susan Retta welcome the released ruling, stating that the advertising of Cablevision looked to prevent consumers from receiving actual and accurate information.
Cablevision spokeswoman Lisa Anselmo, however, said that the company will still continue in its challenges against the claims of Verizon, not just in court but also in the opinion of the general public.
Photo: Mike Mozart | Flickr
