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Comment by 12xo | Hacker News Reader

Right... That’s why you have an “unlimited” data plan that is “guaranteed” or it’s “free”...

There is no such thing as truth in advertising. There is only a Make Lawyers Rich lawsuit..

Don't those unlimited plans state that data may be throttled, etc? Unless you cite a specific example it's pretty tough to argue against.

To argue against your theoretical case: If there is a data plan that advertises unlimited data without giving any fine print describing the throttling behavior, or other strange details after high data usage, then yes, they should be able to have false advertising claims pressed against them successfully.

Come on. In theory, with "unlimited" legal resources, you can take such matters to trial and onward to a victory...

What mechanism other than litigation and the consumer protection bureau do you think should enforce against false advertising? How much resources should be expended to fight it? Do you have an alternative to propose, or do you prefer instead to attack a known-to-be-imperfect system?

Often there is fine print explaining the terms. You have to read it, though.

No. These are words and phrases that hold literal meanings. They are used by advertisers to deceive people. There are/is no fine print in broadcast or digital ads. Except in Pharma... which is only allowed to advertise in the US and NZ. No where else on earth allows pharmaceutical advertising on TV.

Sometimes the meaning can be different between the literal or regulatory defined meaning and what people assume or expect.

The USDA's minimum for "free range" labeling for example for non-certified organic foods can be met with a standard chicken coop with a door and a few feet of screened in porch the chickens may or may not ever actually use. "No Hormones" on the other hand has the technical definition and the layman definition aligned, but is federally mandated anyway making it a meaningless feature.

https://www.thebalancesmb.com/what-does-free-range-really-me...

Yes, and then there's the advertising get-out-of-jail-free card of "puffery". You can lie all you want in your marketing materials as long as your lawyers can convince a judge that no reasonable person would actually believe what you said.

It's this kind of of nonsense that led me to consider all marketing messages and claims to be lies by default.

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