False advertising by Ta Hsin Tien Min Chu Cable Television Limited Company (hereinafter "Ta Hsin Tien") concerning operator qualifications

False advertising by Ta Hsin Tien Min Chu Cable Television Limited Company (hereinafter "Ta Hsin Tien") concerning operator qualifications

Chinese Taipei

Case:

False advertising by Ta Hsin Tien Min Chu Cable Television Limited Company (hereinafter "Ta Hsin Tien") concerning operator qualifications

Key words:

false advertising; cable television; system operator; license

Reference:

27 January 1999 Decision of the 378th Commission Meeting, Disposition (88) Kung Ch'u Tzu No. 012

Industry:

Television (8520)

Relevant Law:

Articles 21-3, 21-1, and the fore part of Article 41 of the Fair Trade Law (" FTL" )

Summary:

Ta Hsin Tien is a Hsin Tien area cable television programming service provider. After another enterprise named Hsin T'ang Ch'eng obtained a cable television systems operator license for the Hsin Tien area issued by the Government Information Office (GIO), Ta Hsin Tien continued to display large canvas advertising posters emblazoned with the wording "The Only Legal Cable Television in the Hsin Tien Area" in Hsintien City at the end of the Pi T'an Bridge and in two spots located on Peiyi Road and Hsinwu Road. However, since Hsin T'ang Ch'eng had already obtained an operator license issued by the GIO, Ta Hsin Tien was in fact no longer the only legal cable television operator in the area.
Ta Hsin Tien argued that it had corrected the aforesaid advertisement after Hsin T'ang Ch'eng obtained its operator license. However, a site inspection by the Fair Trade Commission personnel revealed that Ta Hsin Tien had not in fact corrected the advertisement.
In the aforesaid advertisements, Ta Hsin Tien made assertions with respect to the legal qualifications of local cable television programming broadcasters that were false and misleading. It is a violation of Article 21-1 of the FTL as it applies mutatis mutandis under Article 21-3. Ta Hsin Tien was therefore ordered to cease its conduct and correct the advertisement pursuant to Article 41 of the FTL.

Author: Wang Li-ta
Section Chief: Wu Ting-hung

Addendum: Ta Hsin Tien Min Chu Cable Television Limited Company (English name unavailable)
Uniform Invoice Number: 96972100