A U.S. District Court judge has ordered DirecTV to stop showing TV commercials in which Jessica Simpson and William Shatner say DirecTV’s high-definition television service provides better pictures than Time Warner Cable’s.
U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain apparently accepted TWC’s argument that both companies’ HD service provided the same HD resolution. The decision is a preliminary order in effect while the case, filed in December, winds through the system.
DirecTV remains free to air ads that claim its overall picture quality is superior to TWC’s because evidence has not established that DirecTV’s all-digital service as a whole is not superior to cable’s mix of digital and analog, the judge was quoted deciding in reports from AP and Reuters.
The judge also turned down TWC’s request that DirecTV be required to show corrective advertising, saying such extraordinary relief was not warranted in this case.
DirecTV was also enjoined from posting similar advertisements on its Web site, or other sites, according to the court order.