In a statement issued by HTC on Monday they stated that they regretted their competitor's malicious attacks and efforts to discredit them. "HTC values product innovation and design, and we do not rule out the possibility of taking appropriate actions to protect the interests of our company and customers if necessary."

The HTC statement came after the Fair Trade Commission said Monday that it had formally set up a case last week to investigate whether Samsung was deceptively pitching its products online and attacking its rivals' devices. The commission will check whether Samsung was guilty of false advertising and damaging the reputation of another business, the agency said. The South Korean company could be subject to a fine of up to US$837,500 US if it is found to have violated the Fair Trade Act, which is a drop in the bucket for Samsung.

Samsung, the Dirty Trickster

The case stems from media reports on a post in an online forum on April 1 that said Samsung hired workers in Taiwan to open several sock-puppet accounts as part of a marketing campaign to promote its new flagship phone Galaxy S4 in the country. The post, which has gone viral online, said OpenTide Taiwan, a marketing company hired by Samsung, asked part-time workers to use multiple propaganda accounts on the Internet to promote the company's phones and attack products from its rivals.

A "sock-puppet account" is an account set up to by a user to assume a false identity, usually with the intention to deceive or mislead others in online communities.

Although Samsung denies the claims, you have to wonder if they've employed such tactics in the past against other rivals such as Apple. I don't think that such a revelation would surprise many.

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