PC Tools wins fight against Zango

San Francisco, 6th June 2007: Leading security software provider, PC Tools today won the first stage of the lawsuit brought against it by adware company Zango, formerly known as 180solutions. The court ruled that the Application for a Temporary Restraining Order brought by Zango be denied.

Zango sought to compel PC Tools to entirely remove the detection of their products by PC Tools’ market-leading anti-spyware application Spyware Doctor, claiming it interferes with Zango’s software.

“This result represents success for anti-spyware vendors and, most importantly a win for the public’s right to choose what software is allowed to be installed on their computers,” said Simon Clausen, Chief Executive of PC Tools. “We see this ruling as sending a strong message to other adware companies who may be tempted to bully anti-spyware makers into re-rating or removing their products from their database of malicious programs,” says Clausen.

In denying Zango’s application US District Judge John C. Coughenour in Washington, Seattle held that on the issue of alleged unfair or deceptive conduct by PC Tools: “The Court finds it unlikely that Plaintiff (Zango) will be able to prove that Defendant’s software was unfair or deceptive given that users knowingly download its (PC Tools') software to avoid potential malware”.

His Honour also added that in relation to Zango’s allegations of tortious interference, trade libel or violations of the Washington Consumers Protection Act that: “The court finds that Plaintiff (Zango) is unlikely to prevail on the merits of any of these three claims.” In delivering his views on PC Tools’ methods of classifying Zango products for its popular Spyware Doctor program His Honour added that: “Its (PC Tools’) classification is not unreasonable given Zango’s past conduct and in light of other companies’ similar classification of the plaintiff’s software”.

This lawsuit also comes in the wake of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) formal complaint in November 2006, which Zango settled and required them to give up $3 million in ill-gotten gains.

“Zango’s attempts to pursue and compel us into reclassifying through legal action, rather than following due process, is not going to get them anywhere - and is certainly not the way to rehabilitate their image,“ said Clausen.

Despite the reclassification of three of Zango’s products as PUA’s (Potentially Unwanted Applications), PC Tools cautions consumers that many other high level malicious applications remain readily available on the Internet. PC Tools will continue to detect and remove all types of malicious threats and where appropriate re-classify them.

“It is our duty as a security company to provide consumers with the most effective product we can. We will continue to be vigilant in our classification of threats and will not be intimidated by these types of lawsuits. In the end we owe a duty to our users who expect us to defend them against malware makers,” said Clausen.

ABOUT PC TOOLS™

PC Tools is a global software leader with a cache of security and utility products, including the multi award-winning Spyware DoctorTM. PC Tools is an industry leader in real-time anti-spyware and has a number of key patents pending.

The PC Tools Malware Research Center monitors trends and emerging spyware issues and provides security solutions for the consumer and enterprise marketplace. The company is headquartered in Sydney, with offices in San Francisco, London, Shannon (Ireland), Melbourne, Kiev and now Boulder, Colorado. PC Tools has a global network of distributors, resellers, and retailers.