> > > First of all, you need to understand that this article, like nearly all of > my other articles, is about /marketing/. I've never made any bones about > this. > > If you know anything about marketing, you know that it involves > exaggeration > and hyperbole. It sometimes involves bending the truth. The point of > marketing is to persuade on an emotional level, not a logical one. > > This is exactly what companies like Apple and Microsoft do. If you think > Apple ads tell the absolute truth, then you are terribly naive. > > So, is Pharo being used to fight Ebola? Not exactly, but who cares? I'm > trying to change people's perception. I'm trying to *move* them. If I have > to exaggerate, I will do so. >
Actually there is a guy that I know that he actually cares very much he is called "Mr Law" When a marketing , bends the truth and especially when it lies under UK, Greek and European Law is called "fraud" and it punishable under crimininal (jail time) and civil (compensation for damaged cause by fraudalent marketing) law. The penalties can be extemely severe if the fraud caused a substantial amount of damage in some way. Under those legal systems I have studied (I am a lawyer) the only case that someone is allowed to lie is when he defiends himself. If you ever wondered how its possible lawyers to lie , now you know. Lying and bending the truth in this case is a legal principe set since ancient times by law to provide extra pressure to prove the a party is guilty. Its called "proof beyond reasonable doubt" and is a very important legal principle. Outside that, say I submited a document as a defense lawyer that is edited or changed in some way , its fraud and especially fraud against the court is even more punished. If a witeness , exaggerates , bends the truth and especially if he or she lies, its fraud and the court can send him straigh to jail with his lawyer. Apple certainly does not do what you. Actually Apple goes to great lenghts proving its claims , usually when Apple says "iPhone has a battery of 10 hours" you will see an asterisk that will point you to small letters in the bottom of the page that says exactly under which conditions 10 hours can be achieved. On the other hand its use of words like "magical" is not of objective value and by no means can misled or tell a lie because well, magic does not exist. The law assumes the a person has at least average intelligence and knowledge (exceptions of course people with mental disablities). Most of the words that Apple uses in the ads that could be considered lies or bend truth are purely subjective terms. https://www.apple.com/iphone/ "Your face is now your password. Face ID is a secure and private new way to unlock, authenticate, and pay." Say some experts come forward and prove that Apple's technology is not safe and especially if they prove that Apple knew it was not safe when it launched it, Apple is liable under law for fraud. There is of course a lot of illegal marketing out there, fraud after all is according to my experience the most common offenses that I have came accross in my 10 years carrier as a lawyer , but I can assure you just it may happen quite often does not make it any less illegal. You going to be shocked how many illegal things happens on the internet and the law's complexity and sophistication in providing protection against those things. Of course I am not saying that someone is going to bother sue you tommorow, as its highly unlikely that someone will take your posts seriously as they are dominated by exaggerations and I have told you so many times in the past. But that does not mean he cannot. Maybe USA law is more relaxed, because it not the most respected legal system, as USA has a notorious bad record with human right and consumer protection. But none the less I can promise you in Europe, what you do is not legal and there are special legislation to protect consumers for these scenarios.
