Threat Management

Enigma Software files lawsuit against Bleeping Computer for bad review

The makers of SpyHunter - the anti-malware software product, are filing a lawsuit against Bleeping Computer, the tech blog, after one of its moderators posted a bad review of SpyHunter on their forum.

Enigma Software says that Bleeping Computer participates in an affiliate program run by Malwarebytes which earns them a commission for every new customer they introduce to the company, which means Bleeping Computer would find it beneficial to allow a negative review of SpyHunter on their forum. This is the argument put forward in their lawsuit.

Filed in the US Southern District Court of New York on January 8, 2016, the lawsuit filed by Enigma Software accuses Bleeping Computer's parent company, Bleeping Computer LLC, of false advertising, commercial disparagement, and defamation.

Lawrence Abrams, Bleeping Computer's owner, made a statement on their site and said that the lawsuit has, "the hallmark of an SLAPP suit, which is what we think this is, is to file a frivolous claim to try and silence your opponent."

SLAPP, which stands for "strategic lawsuit against public participation" is the type of lawsuit where because of such a high cost of legal defence fees, even if the plaintiff is right, they may sometimes look to settle with the opposition just to avoid huge financial costs.

To handle the cost of the legal defence which currently stands at £70,000 GBP ($100,000), Bleeping Computer has put up a GoFundMe campaign and is also taking donations via PayPal.

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