Kaspersky Wins Legal Battle against Zango for Calling its Software - Crudeware

Kaspersky Lab has won a lawsuit against Zango (the infamous adware company), with a judgment which could greatly safeguard developers of security software from troublesome lawsuits, as reported by The Register on July 1, 2009.

Understandably, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals gave a judgment that Kaspersky could develop technology within the limits of its rights to interfere in the operations of Zango's crudeware.

But Zango disputed that labeling its application as badware (malicious software) impeded into its capability of conducting trade with its clients. However, the panel of judges decided that Kaspersky should be exempted as per the provisions of the CDA (Communications Decency Act) from being regarded as a company supplying "interactive PC services."

Consequently, the court gave the judgment in favor of Kaspersky. Expressing alarm, it ruled that the law in its present form could allow abuse of major unfamiliar security software that might be spyware or other malware. They were installed on users' computers by falsely claiming as security software while the users neither get to know anything about it nor give their consent for the same.

Meanwhile, the lawsuit is understood to have begun in 1977 when Zango sued Kaspersky (the antivirus company) for banning the toolbar of its Web browser.

Among the security companies that welcomed Kaspersky's ruling, SecureWorks was one of them. According to this company, the 'Good Samaritan' specifications which aided Kaspersky to come out as the winner in the case could similarly apply for security investigators who issue information on vulnerabilities.

That means - the CDA aids security investigators in conducting their research on vulnerabilities without requiring them to publish their findings regularly. This could further aid them in developing security software more easily.

This is not the first instance of Zango losing a legal fight. In May 2007, when the company sued PC Tools for its alleged impediment into Zango's business as also trade libel it lost the case. Before that, in 2006, the Federal Trade Commission raised a legal complaint criticizing Zango that forced the adware firm to pay a fine of $3 Million.

Related article: Kaspersky Released Malware Statistics for September 2008

» SPAMfighter News - 7/8/2009