Enigma Software Group Resolves Bleeping Computer Litigation

P

PEllis

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CLEARWATER, FL, March 2, 2017 − Enigma Software Group USA, LLC ("ESG") announced today that it reached a settlement in the lawsuit it filed last year against Bleeping Computer LLC. The case will now be dismissed. ESG filed suit against Bleeping Computer in federal court in New York on January 5, 2016. The complaint alleged false advertising, defamation, and related claims.

The terms of the settlement are confidential, but Bleeping Computer explained in its press release on the settlement that it has now removed the posts written by its staff member that gave rise to ESG's lawsuit. All of Bleeping Computer's counterclaims in the lawsuit will be dismissed by the court with prejudice, along with ESG's dismissal of the case.

Bleeping Computer had moved to dismiss ESG's lawsuit, alleging that its statements were protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The court rejected that motion in a decision handed down last summer.

Ryan Gerding, a spokesman for ESG, said of the development, "ESG is pleased to put this matter behind us and to get back to making the best anti-malware products on the market. It is unfortunate when litigation becomes necessary, but ESG is grateful to the court for its assistance."
 

_CyberGhosT_

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"Ryan Gerding, a spokesman for ESG, said of the development, "ESG is pleased to put this matter behind us and to get back to making the best anti-malware products on the market"
That's his opinion :rolleyes:
In my opinion, They went after Bleeping because it presented the softest target, even though Bleeping's sentiments were echoed
by many others and on more than one occasion.
That makes them cowards in my opinion, and their shrinking market share says many see them in the same light.

Can someone tell me how I can directly contact the owner of ESG?
@Wave, If you find a contact, PM me too Wave, Thanks
 
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W

Wave

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It's an interesting read, and not one sided toward Engima as I had expected. I (surprisingly) think the outcomes listed are reasonable. Of course time will tell if Enigma mean what they say.
I think that ESG are completely out of order. They know what forums like BleepingComputer are for, Quietman7 was expressing a personal opinion about a product of theirs (whether it shed light on a fact or not is irrelevant). ESG caused lots of drama for the removal of some posts which won't change their financial status most likely at all, they wasted peoples time and also their own... Money was also spent on both sides.

If I was the owner of ESG I would be incredibly embarrassed and would be considering my pride right now.
 

roger_m

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I think that ESG are completely out of order.
I agree with that completely.

It will be interesting to see if anything comes of the following, considering that I often see SpyHunter being promoted on websites with removal instructions for unwanted software, where they offer SpyHunter as the solution to remove unwanted software that can be removed quite easily via Add/Remove programs.
As part of this conversation, ESG has expressed that they do not condone affiliates who improperly market their products and want people to notify them if any affiliate does anything of concern. To facilitate this, they have set up an Abuse Form (https://www.enigmasoftware.com/about-us/report-abuse/) where anyone can directly notify ESG of abuse issues or any concerns.
 

Winter Soldier

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I read the story, well, I see aggressive marketing and very aggressive policy to defend the interests.
In my opinion the marketing has to be used to promote a technically valid product but not to replace it.
 
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cruelsister

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Oh Roger- the threat is not fictitious at all! It just doesn't work the way they say and can't be removed.
 

Ink

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They a bad reputation, that's a fact because it's in their DNA and they cannot control their own Affiliates or Resellers either.

Maybe I am talking rubbish (I live outside the USA), but Freedom of Speech is a load of a rubbish in the Land of the Free, especially how the Courts in-bed with them (or vice-versa).

"Here, don't need to tell anyone, but take our $20,000 that we made from our victim's customer's through our 'Loyal and Trusted Affiliates/Resellers'".

Oh, don't sue me.

On the real funny side, you don't see Microsoft crying to the Courts when people call their Windows 10 Spyware.
 

uninfected1

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I don't know why I didn't notice this thread at the time but I think it's worth resurrecting because of the very worrying precedent this ruling sets.

This seems to me like a pretty clear victory for Enigma. All of Bleeping Computer's counter claims were rejected by the court, and under the terms of the settlement BC has had to remove all of quietman7's contentious posts.

Enigma CEO Alvin Estevez also expressed concerns about what people post about his software product on sites like BleepingComputer.com. and unbelievably he appears to have got his way on this too. It seems BC members are now forbidden from discussing Enigma, and any concerns BC has will now be communicated to Enigma, rather than discussed openly.

It would also be interesting to know the full financial terms of the settlement, in particular, if these included payment by BC to Enigma.

All in all, very disappointing and rather worrying.
 
5

509322

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I don't know why I didn't notice this thread at the time but I think it's worth resurrecting because of the very worrying precedent this ruling sets.

This seems to me like a pretty clear victory for Enigma. All of Bleeping Computer's counter claims were rejected by the court, and under the terms of the settlement BC has had to remove all of quietman7's contentious posts.

Enigma CEO Alvin Estevez also expressed concerns about what people post about his software product on sites like BleepingComputer.com. and unbelievably he appears to have got his way on this too. It seems BC members are now forbidden from discussing Enigma, and any concerns BC has will now be communicated to Enigma, rather than discussed openly.

It would also be interesting to know the full financial terms of the settlement, in particular, if these included payment by BC to Enigma.

All in all, very disappointing and rather worrying.

The court only ruled on BC's claim of ESG's case being spurious due the Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

This case has established no precedent. Both parties chose to settle and therefore the court dismissed the case. And it is almost a certainty that BC settled so as not to incur excessive legal fees from a drawn-out case. However, it is a virtual certainty that if BC had the financial means and had chosen to pursue the case further, that the outcome would have been different. The deciding factor in this case was obviously one of an inability to pay the ongoing legal expenses to pursue the case to the fullest.
 
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