Enigma Software Decides The Best Way To Deal With A Negative Review Is To Sue The Reviewer

Defamation

from the ungracious,-ESPECIALLY-in-defeat dept

Nothing pushes a negative review of your product out of the public eye faster than a lawsuit, am I right? That’s the line of thinking Enigma Software has chosen to entertain. It recently filed a lawsuit against BleepingComputer, alleging that its 2014 “review” (actually a forum post detailing Enigma’s SpyHunter history as “rogue” software and the deceptive business practices the company has deployed) is defamatory.

What would seem to be a mixture of opinion and fact-based assumptions (backed by links to other sources) is portrayed by Enigma as a malicious attempt by BleepingComputer to damage its reputation so the site can push readers to affiliate partners and advertisers.

Enigma Software claims in its lawsuit that BleepingComputer has the negative SpyHunter review because it takes part in an affiliate advertising program which grants BleepingComputer a commission for redirecting users to Malwarebyte’s site. The Enigma Software Group claims, “Bleeping not only has unlawfully benefited from its smear campaign to the detriment of ESG, it has damaged the reputation of ESG by refusing to take down its false and misleading statements which have been reposted numerous times on other anti-spyware related forums and websites.”

Other computer security sites have already leapt to BleepingComputer’s defense. Malwarebytes has donated $5,000 to the site’s legal fees and points out that BleepingComputer is not some fly-by-night operation that solely acts as a funnel to preferred vendors.

The content is provided by the volunteer efforts of security professionals and the more than 700,000 registered users who ask and answer all questions presented on the site. To summarize, Bleeping Computer is a valuable resource in the efforts to help users live in a malware free world.

Over at CSO’s Salted Hash, Steve Ragan points out the reputation Enigma claims BleepingComputer is destroying has already been severely damaged by the company’s own actions over the years.

[T]he lawsuit says, “Bleeping has a direct financial interest in driving traffic and sales to Malwarebytes and driving traffic and sales away from ESG.”

While that claim is true at face value, the affiliate programs used by Bleeping Computer help keep the website online and they use affiliate links for a number of vendors, not just Malwarebytes.

Also, most of the comments that are critical of Enigma Software and SpyHunter exist because the company has gained a bad reputation over the years due to spam, as well as questionable detection rates.

Ragan then runs down Enigma’s history, including the high number of refunds it’s had to hand out to maintain its A+ BBB rating, as well as the years it spent being blacklisted as a security risk by respected anti-virus firms.

He also notes, as BleepingComputer did in its disputed forum post, that SpyHunter has never been classified as malware or targeted for removal by competing anti-virus products, but that’s apparently largely due to Engima’s past litigious efforts, rather than Enigma dropping the more questionable “features” of its product — like automatic renewals, suspicious scan results and its “pay-to-clean” pricing. (The scan is free. The removal requires a six-month subscription, which will be automatically renewed by Enigma in perpetuity unless otherwise instructed.)

The lawsuit is already off on the wrong foot, what with it clearly being filed solely to shut down criticism. While Enigma may find New York’s lack of a universal anti-SLAPP statute useful (the current version only protects speech related to the discussion of public permits, and even then, it only protects certain people [bloggers, non-traditional journalists] from SLAPP lawsuits brought by government entities), it’s now facing Marc Randazza, who has taken up BleepingComputer’s defense.

Adding to this is the fact that the specific statements Enigma claims are false and defamatory aren’t even directly quoted from the posted review. They’re rephrased to put words in the mouth of the forum moderator who posted it. This low-level deception might have made sense if Enigma hadn’t included a screenshot of the post it’s misquoting as an exhibit in the filing.

Here are Enigma’s claims, followed by the actual wording used by BleepingComputer.

In these posts, Bleeping makes the following assertions falsely and without any reasonable basis to believe that the statements were true when made:

That SpyHunter 4 or ESG engage in “deceptive advertising which violates several consumer protection laws in many states”;

[The “quoted” statement does not actually appear in this post, or in any of the ones following it in the thread.]

ES: That SpyHunter 4 or ESG has a “history of employing aggressive and deceptive advertising”;

BC: SpyHunter by Enigma Software Group USA, LLC is a program that was previously listed as a rogue product on the Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware Products List because of the company’s history of employing aggressive and deceptive advertising.

[This claim is backed up by a footnote linking to an outside source that reinforces BC’s claim.]

ES: That SpyHunter 4 is a “rogue product”;

BC: SpyHunter by Enigma Software Group USA, LLC is a program that was previously listed as a rogue product on the Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware Products List…

BC: SpyHunter is not classified as malware or rogue security software and other antivirus and antimalware vendors do not target it for removal.

ES: That SpyHunter 4 or ESG have not cooperated in submitting their program for testing “most likely due to the program’s ineffectiveness and high rate of false positives?”;

[Again, this “quoted” phrase does not appear in the post, or in any the moderator’s posts in the same thread. The moderator notes it has not been tested by other AV firms to determine its effectiveness, but does not make any related claim about false positives or ineffectiveness. The closest thing to it is this sentence, which is clearly an opinion.]

In my opinion SpyHunter is a dubious program with a high rate of false positives.

[This is backed up by a link to supporting information from an outside source.]

ES: That SpyHunter 4 or ESG engage in deceptive pricing;

BC: While there are mixed reviews for SpyHunter, some good and some bad, my main concern is the reports by customers of deceptive pricing, continued demands for payment after requesting a refund, lack of adequate customer support, removal (uninstall) problems and various other issues with their computer as a result of using this product. For example, some users are not aware that when purchasing SpyHunter, they have agreed to a subscription service with an automatic renewal policy.

[Again, these statements are supported by links to information sources. The addition of “my main concern” clearly shows the moderator is making a statement of opinion based on available information. And the connecting phrase “reports by customers” makes it clear he’s making an inference based on statements by others.]

ES: That most users of SpyHunter 4 “are not aware that when purchasing SpyHunter, they have agreed to a subscription service with an automatic renewal policy”; and

[See the above quote and note, again, that multiple links in the review direct readers to outside sites backing up this statement, like the numerous complaints about this practice found at ComplaintsBoard and the Better Business Bureau.]

ES: That SpyHunter 4 is “malware” or “rogue security software” despite not being classified as such by security vendors.

BC: SpyHunter by Enigma Software Group USA, LLC is a program that was previously listed as a rogue product…

BC: SpyHunter is not classified as malware or rogue security software and other antivirus and antimalware vendors do not target it for removal.

[These two directly contradict the assertion being made by Enigma in its lawsuit. The author of the post never states that SpyHunter is “malware” or “rogue security software.”]

Enigma doesn’t have much of a case. But it has just enough of one to be troublesome. It’s forced others to bend to its will in the past by aggressively litigating, and it can drain BleepingComputer of time, energy and money just by forcing it to defend itself from ridiculous claims.

Filed Under: anti-slapp, defamation, free speech, reviews, slapp, software, spyhunter
Companies: bleepingcomputer, enigma software