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Can Microsoft sue for defamation of character? or Slander?

Started by Shotokan Jul 8, 2002 at 10:30 PM 21 replies 1.8k views

Original Post

Jul 8, 2002 at 10:30 PM

The Apple.com/Switch commercials. I''ve seen about 4 different ones. I''m not too knowlegeable about laws or anything, but can people actually go on tv and publically say something like "...im an IT Professional, I don''t use windows because it sucks..." I''m not sure what the exact words are in the commercial, but you get the idea. How are they able to do this? Or is this commercial completely legal, and I''m just your average idiot?

aegrimonia

Jul 8, 2002 at 10:51 PM

It is the way they phrase it that makes it ok.. but not very tasteful..

they say "i used to use windows, but i thought it was too clunky, and i was always loosing my files, and forgetting where i put them".

In the end it doesn't matter... Microsoft will always win the war, no matter how many battles Apple wins..

The war is based on price #1, and Wintel machines will always win that one hands down... next would be software base, and wintel wins that one hands down as well.

Though i do hope it rattles the Microsoft cage a little bit.. maybe they will go back and fix the bugs they have been claiming to fix since windows 1.0.

But Apple has always been into negative advertising... Remember the First Mac commercial? the free runner came in and threw the sledge hammer at 'big brother' aka IBM.. breaking the screen on PC's... That didn't work either...

Macs are still cool... for making a cool fish tank. but little else.

[edited by - aegrimonia on July 8, 2002 11:57:48 PM]

alexmoura

Jul 8, 2002 at 10:55 PM

I doubt it. If they could, they''d be rich by now... wait...

andromeda

Jul 8, 2002 at 11:00 PM

Was there really a Windows 1.0? I''ve never seen it. Guess I wasn''t old enough to be into computers back then. Anybody ever used it? What was it like?

andromeda

Jul 8, 2002 at 11:02 PM

heh, never mind, next time I''ll STFW.

SpaceRook

Jul 8, 2002 at 11:19 PM

quote:
Original post by Shotokan
The Apple.com/Switch commercials. I''ve seen about 4 different ones. I''m not too knowlegeable about laws or anything, but can people actually go on tv and publically say something like "...im an IT Professional, I don''t use windows because it sucks..." I''m not sure what the exact words are in the commercial, but you get the idea. How are they able to do this?

Or is this commercial completely legal, and I''m just your average idiot?

Microsoft and other companies (such as Oracle) have sued people for publishing reviews of their products in magazines. Apparently, the EULA''s have some language that says you can''t comment on the software in public. I''m sure these commercials fall into that realm. However:

A) Microsoft suing a company over a commercial would be a huge PR blunder.
B) The resulting outcry would cause a Constitutional review of the aforementioned practices, under which Microsoft et al would unquestionably lose.

Fruny

Jul 8, 2002 at 11:23 PM

LessBread

Jul 8, 2002 at 11:25 PM

quote:
Original post by andromeda
Was there really a Windows 1.0? I''ve never seen it. Guess I wasn''t old enough to be into computers back then. Anybody ever used it? What was it like?

STFW!

- I''ve never seen it, but from what I gather Windows wasn''t viable til version 3 and 3.11. The first PC I ever bought came with 3.11 installed, but only because I bought it a month before Win95 came out. Before that I used a 286 running DOS 5 that a friend loaned me. One thing to note about PC''s back then (~1990), video card technology was a major limitation.

Lohrno

Jul 8, 2002 at 11:25 PM

Microsoft probably has a clause in their EULA that lets them shut off the computers used to print that...

-=Lohrno

Colin Jeanne

Jul 9, 2002 at 12:00 AM

Those commercials scare me. I''m waiting for one that''s like:

"Before I switched to Macs I had a PC. I just didn''t get it, it was too complicated with all the coords I decided to tie in a knot because I don''t know how to organize things that bend and have never heard of a twist tie. Also that whole ''Start'' button deal was too difficult because it would always fill up with these things called ''icons'' or whatever from all the crap I downloaded. It also had lots of viruses - I think it came with them there already but they only showed up once I downloaded stuff. I took it to the shop and they said that they''d have to patch my firewall in order to reroute the IP to fix the bitmap compression decoder algorithm or something like that.

Then I switched to the Apple IMac and everything was perfect. It was even blue and see-through!

I''m Jork and I''m a cardiac surgeon"

I will not make a list of links... I will not make a list of links... I will not make a list of links...
Invader''s Realm

Gabriel Fleseriu

Jul 9, 2002 at 2:17 AM

There is a site called www.fuckmicrosoft.com. And it''s still active....

Forever trusting who we are
And nothing else matters - Metallica

Andrew Russell

Jul 9, 2002 at 2:31 AM

AFIK (pretty far in this case), In Australia at least, you can show any facts about a compeditor''s product but you cannot just abuse it (eg: "...im an IT Professional, I don''t use windows because it sucks...")

Do not meddle in the affairs of moderators, for they are subtle and quick to anger.

Zarquon

Jul 9, 2002 at 3:28 AM

quote:

"...im an IT Professional, I don''t use windows because it sucks..."

But I am an IT Professional and windows does suck!

I doubt that you can be sued for the truth

besides Apple and their Mac''s are mearly a side-show, It will take a long time for them to move the IBM pc standard.

"Making it up! Why should I be making it up. Lifes bad enough as it is without wanting to invent more of it."

Colin Jeanne

Jul 9, 2002 at 5:20 AM

quote:
Original post by Andrew Russell
AFIK (pretty far in this case), In Australia at least, you can show any facts about a compeditor''s product but you cannot just abuse it (eg: "...im an IT Professional, I don''t use windows because it sucks...")

I would think that Apple could just say, "Sucks is subjective. What sucks for us may be amazing for you."

I will not make a list of links... I will not make a list of links... I will not make a list of links...
Invader''s Realm

superpig

Jul 9, 2002 at 6:18 AM

quote:
Original post by aegrimonia
Remember the First Mac commercial? the free runner came in and threw the sledge hammer at ''big brother'' aka IBM.. breaking the screen on PC''s... That didn''t work either...

Big B

Jul 9, 2002 at 1:37 PM

MSFT could sue if Apple was saying things that were untrue in their ads.

If they said "I dont use windows because it sucks big hairy donkey balls", then MSFT could sue and it would be up to Apple to prove that Windows does indeed suck big hairy donkey balls or pay a lot of money. Of course MSFT would have to show that their sales were affected.

If they said "I dont use Windows because I think it sucks big hairy donkey balls", MSFT couldn''t sue (at least around here). You can''t sue someone for their opinion.

After watching some of those ads, I think Apple is pretty safe. They are all personal testimonies which could be seen as people giving their opinion. Not to many of them state facts so much as opinions. Saying "OS X works great" is not saying that Windows doesnt work great, just that OS X works great.

University is a fountain of knowledge, and students go there to drink.

IADaveMark

Jul 9, 2002 at 2:50 PM

I noticed that they were very carefull in one of those commercials. She was talking about all sorts of nifty features that "you couldn''t do very easily " on a PC. My hackles were just starting to rise on the few words leading up to the qualifier.

Dave Mark
President and Lead Designer
Intrinsic Algorithm Development
"Reducing the world to mathematical equations!"

Kwizatz

Jul 9, 2002 at 4:38 PM

I dont know but if what the comercial actually says is "i used to use windows, but i thought it was too clunky, and i was always loosing my files, and forgetting where i put them".

they are not saying Windows sucks, rather they are saying the average user is an idiot that doesnt even know what a hard drive is used for, putting "I am an IT Professional" before that is insulting to IT professionals dont you think?.

I am not an MS fan, and whoever has read my posts knows that, but hey! does this mean that if Windows is meant to be "dummy proof" Apple is meant to be "complete iliterate imbecil" proof?.

anyway Linux Rocks!

aegrimonia

Jul 9, 2002 at 4:44 PM

quote:
Original post by superpig
[quote]Original post by aegrimonia
Remember the First Mac commercial? the free runner came in and threw the sledge hammer at ''big brother'' aka IBM.. breaking the screen on PC''s... That didn''t work either...

Didn''t work? IIRC, the guy who directed that advert (Ridley Scott, he of Gladiator fame) won an award for it. And playing it once at the superbowl? It worked like a charm, mano. It was launching a new machine, and sales completely took off.

Superpig
- saving pigs from untimely fates
- sleeps in a ham-mock at www.thebinaryrefinery.cjb.net

hehe.. well.. look at their market share some 20 years later... It didn''t work. It would be like saying Royal Crown''s advertising works, and forgetting to compare its sales with Coke and Pepsi.

Sure, they sold some Macs... I can remember that commerical playing... I thought my C64 was more interesting, at that time.

ElCrazon

Jul 10, 2002 at 3:04 PM

Ah the glory days of Windows v1. Now it can be found in all its glory at http://members.rogers.com/oldos/os.html . download and be amazed...

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