【 Case 】 A smart TV sold by an electronic technology company will automatically play a startup advertisement for about 15 seconds when it is turned on, and it will not be prominently reminded or informed to consumers during sales, and the relevant advertisements cannot be closed. After receiving the complaint, the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Rights Protection Commission (hereinafter referred to as the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Commission) conducted centralized interviews with multiple smart TV operators, including the company, and informed them that startup advertising infringed on consumers' rights to information, choice, and fair trading, and sent a rectification notice. Most manufacturers have solved the problem through technical means, but the company has not actively rectified it. The Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Commission subsequently filed a public interest lawsuit. After the court's trial, it was ruled that an electronic technology company should, from the effective date of the judgment, provide a one click shutdown function for its sales of smart televisions with startup advertisements while the startup advertisements are playing. According to the Consumer Rights Protection Law of China, consumers have the right to independently choose goods or services. The court believes that the law does not prohibit advertising operators from pushing advertisements or other commercial information to consumers through the internet or other means, but consumers should be guaranteed the right to refuse (the right to choose). The right of consumers to choose whether to receive commercial information is based on their own will without the need to explain reasons. Setting a one click close window in a prominent way is a legal form to ensure the realization of this right, and it is also an unconditional legal obligation that operators should bear. The legal obligation should be immediate and thorough. Only when the closing window appears simultaneously with internet advertising and can the advertising be completely closed can consumers' right to choose be fully protected, achieving the legal goal of "ensuring one click closure" and "not affecting users' normal use of the network". The smart TV sold by a certain electronic technology company provides consumers with the function of setting startup photos and videos, but this function only grants consumers the right to choose to watch startup photos, videos, or startup advertisements, and does not give consumers the right to refuse to watch startup advertisements or other startup photos and videos, improperly limiting the scope of consumer choice. Therefore, this function cannot exempt or replace the legal obligations of the operator. The "Test Report" and "Expert Opinion" submitted by the Jiangsu Provincial Consumer Protection Commission prove that playing startup advertisements prolongs startup time, increases consumers' waiting time, and there is no technical barrier to setting a one click shutdown function while playing startup advertisements. The startup advertisement loaded on a brand smart TV produced and sold by an electronic technology company only pops up a one click close window until the last 5 seconds of playback, allowing consumers to choose to close the startup advertisement. This significantly reduces the consumer's experience of watching TV and infringes on their right to choose. The court stated that the competition allowed by the market should be legitimate and fair, and any innovation in commercial profit models cannot be at the cost of violating legal provisions, distorting market competition, or damaging the legitimate rights and interests of consumers and other operators. The widespread illegal phenomenon in the market cannot be used as a reason to exempt specific operators from legal liability. (New News Agency)