list of contributors - GALA

The Jury found that:
- company B’s campaign resulted in illicit comparative advertising, likely to
mislead consumers,
- phone operator B’s rates were not always and absolutely cheaper than
charges made by A (in particular the bonuses granted from A to all
subscribers determined that only from a certain level of traffic on B could
claim to be cheaper than A),
- subsequently the claims contained in the commercial (suggesting the
opposite) appeared apt to mislead viewers,
- denigration occurred as the testimonial’s gestures and statements were
likely to induce viewers to believe that operator A’s attitude when billing its
phone services was that of a greedy company.
Therefore the Jury ordered company B to stop any further diffusion of the
particular commercial immediately.
Comments: This case is an eloquent example of how tough competition currently is in the
market of phone services. While the break of the monopoly position of the
only former national carrier clearly resulted in a huge benefit to users, it’s
also obvious that nowadays a harsh battle takes places among phone services
operators in order to attract as many clients as possible. Price competition
and aggressive advertising campaigns are key aspects of the ongoing
struggle for increased market shares. Commercial promotions frequently are
close to the edge of correct advertising and therefore more and more
industry self-regulation control authorities (e.g. the Market and Competition
Commissioner, competent on misleading and incorrect comparative
advertising) exercise close scrutiny on companies active in the sector of
phone services.
7. Legislation
Topic: Intellectual Property – A Consolidated Act
When: March 2005
Where: Italy
What Happened: On March 19 th , 2005 the new Italian ‘Industrial Property Code’ (Law by
Decree no. 30 dated February 10 th , 2005) came into force.
The new Code consists of 245 sections and substitutes a total of 39 laws,
which previously ruled different aspects of intellectual property.
The consolidated act intends:
- to introduce a simplified and harmonized legal framework for governing
important aspects of fair market competition and important sectors of
domestic economy,
- to enforce protection of industrial property in accordance with the
principles set by the EU’s directives and regulations as well as by national
statute law,
- to redefine the competences of the local patent and trademark offices,
- to grant proper protection to inventions resulting from academic or
scientific research.
8. Legislation -
Guidelines
Topic: Data Protection: Intelligent labels – Fidelity cards
Who: Privacy Commissioner