Normally advertisement dispute ads between ISPs are handled by the National Advertising Division of the Better Business Bureau, a sort of self-regulated industry mechanism to handle disputes so that regulators and the courts don’t get involved.
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Brown found Cablevision’s claims of lying to be false and imposed a temporary restraining order requiring Cablevision to stop running ads accusing Verizon being a “liar”, having “crooked facts” or otherwise being dishonest by Friday.
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.
Despite the court victory, Verizon’s FiOS platform has itself come under scrutiny from New York City for missing deployment deadlines.
The wheels of justice grind slowly in part because the gears get clogged with nonsense.
The case is Cablevision Systems Corp v. Verizon Communications Inc, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, No. 15-456. “But when a competitor exceeds the bounds of decency by falsely impugning the integrity of a competitor, it runs afoul of the law”, said Judge Gary Brown from the bench Tuesday afternoon.
Despite Brown’s ruling, Cablevision insists its service is just as fast as Verizon’s.
“Verizon’s claim that it has faster WiFi than Cablevision is false, deceptive and designed to mislead consumers”, Cablevision said in a press release in January.
Cablevision then goes on to say FiOS is “inferior” because its customers have to pay extra for weekend installs, while Cablevision provides this penalty-free.
The Post report notes: “Cablevision, which operates Optimum-branded TV, phone and broadband service, has been in a long-term battle with telecom operator Verizon FiOS, which overlaps its footprint in the New York tri-state area”.
In a statement to PCMag, the company said it will continue to challenge Verizon’s claims, “not only through the legal system but also in the court of public opinion”.
The commercials by Cablevision, which owns Newsday, spoof western, science fiction and kung fu movies, and depict a character representing Verizon’s FiOS service who is confronted by a hero representing Cablevision’s Optimum service.
A Verizon representative praised the ruling.
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“Cablevision’s obfuscation of the truth is nothing but a campaign to keep accurate and factual information away from consumers”. “The Cablevision lawsuit and its other tactics have a great effect, even if it’s the opposite of what Cablevision had hoped”.
