Broadcasting Company and the Social Networking Services

This is my personal opinion on the matter whether announcement of broadcasting company on a particular social networking services constitute unfair competition, to the detriment of other social networking site. This blog do not constitute a legal advice or legal opinion.

Nowadays, people cannot live without computer especially those live in rural areas and thus we are engaged in exploiting internet in our everyday life. The introduction of social networking services attracts more people to utilize internet whether to check upon their friends, relatives, love ones or their enemies. |There's this saying that keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer in a discreet manner or else you will be “blocked”. Not only for that, people engaged in social network because of the different services it provides such as hundred choices of games, chat and even video conversation. With this services broadcasting companies used this as a means to promote and advertise their own network. The question raised now is that, among different social networking services, facebook and twitter being the most popular, would it be unfair to utilized this famous social networking services to the detriment of other services such as friendster, multiply etc?

On my opinion, the used of facebook and twitter being the most popular social network services by broadcasting company or broadcasting personnel do not constitute unfair competition to the detriment of other social networking services. Our constitution promotes the freedom of speech, of expression and the freedom of the press. The used of facebook and twitter is just a tool in exercising freedom of speech, expression and of the press. Broadcasting company especially those tv and on-air personnel do not directly promote the said networking services but utilized it as a means to reach their audience and listeners.

Moreover, it do not constitute unfair competition under Republic Act 166 Section 29 An act to provide for the Registration and protection of trade-marks, trade-names and service-mark, defining unfair competition and false marketing providing remedies against the same and for other purpose. It provides that any person who shall employ deception or any other means contrary to good faith by which he shall pass off the goods manufactured by him or in which he deals, or his business, or services for those of the one having established such goodwill, or who shall commit any acts calculated to produce said result, shall be guilty of unfair competition, and shall be subject to an action therefor. In the present scenario, there is an absence of bad faith on the part of media personnel or company in promoting the social networking services to the detriment of other social networking site. In fact there is no intention on the part of such company and broadcasting personalities to endorsed such site but rather used this to facilitate in the dissemination of information to the public.