Telco Company Claims Freedom of Speech Includes Misleading Ads

An anonymous reader writes "Rogers Telecommunications is claiming that a ruling by Canada's Competition Bureau violates Rogers' freedom of speech. The company is in court over a 2010 ad campaign where it claimed that its discount brand 'Chatr' was more reliable and suffered fewer dropped calls than the competition. The Competition Bureau found 'no discernible difference in dropped-call rates between Rogers/Chatr and new entrants' and began legal proceedings against Rogers for violating Canada's Competition Act. The Bureau is seeking a $10 million (CDN) fine, an end to the ad campaign, and for Rogers to issue a corrective notice."

Comments

Corporations are people?

[Stormthirst]

I realize Rogers is a Canadian company, so the parallels aren't quite right, but how do the Americans feel this would have played out in the States given Citizens United?

Re:Corporations are people?

[dywolf]

Corporate Personhood was not a footnote inserted by some clerk.

Corporate Personhood (CP from here in) is essentially just another in the long line of Unintended Consequences.

Specifically the claim was made that the contract was with the corporation, not the individuals behind it, and since a corporation was not a person, it could not be sued. Thus when they failed to meet the contractual obligations (and get sued for breach) the person wronged was left without any method of redress. CP was a method of holding corporations accountable, and forcing them to fulfil contracts. It was actually fought by many corporations initially.

Re:Corporations are people?

[mcgrew]

We still have laws against deceptive advertising

Yes, but those laws are easy to work around. Take the auto industry's past slogans:
Chevy: like a rock! (damned thing won't start)
Ford: quality is job#1! (they have their work cut out for them)
Plymouth: we build excitement! (brakes, steering, and handling suck)

Notice that American advertisers seldom actually sell the product on its merits. "Sell the sizzle, not the steak."

Look at the Partnership for a Drug Free America. They formerly stated flat out that marijuana causes cancer until a study proved that not only does it not cause cancer, but prevents cancer in tobacco smokers. So they changed it to "marijuana contains carcinogens" which the average person who hasn't heard of the study will take to mean "marijuana causes cancer." Why note that a substance contains carcinogens when it's been proven not to cause cancer?

Re:Corporations are people?

[LSDelirious]

Corporations are not people, they are just property that can own other property! The 13th amendment outlawed slavery, i.e. The buying and selling of people as property, so therefore if a corporation can be bought and sold then they are NOT a person!

"Telco Company"? Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

"Telco" means TELephone COmpany, so the headline starts, "Telephone Company Company...". At least the summary doesn't mention "ATM machines" or "PIN numbers". Is it just me, or has the quality of writing on /. fallen off a cliff lately?

Lie - but accept the consequences,

[AlecC]

While I can accept that freedom of speech includes the freedom to lie, it includes the duty to accept the consequences of lying.

So I would say that anybody who made a purchase based on a premeditated lie should be able to request not only a refund of anything paid but punitive damages. It should refund all customers who bought the lied about product, say, three times the amount they paid plus allowance for disruption and time wasted.