Other Litigation
In September 2005 attorney Shawn Collins filed a class action lawsuit against Zango on behalf of three plaintiffs, alleging that Zango deceptively installed spyware on more than 20 million personal computers. The company said its software was voluntarily installed by users who downloaded premium content in exchange for their consent to view advertisements relevant to what they searched for online. During pre-trial discovery, the parties agreed to a dismissal with prejudice, meaning that the suit cannot be brought again by the same complainants. Each side agreed to pay its own fees and expenses.
In May 2007 Zango filed a lawsuit against PC Tools alleging tortious interference with its business and trade libel, because the PC Tools product Spyware Doctor at that time classified Zango software as malicious and removed it without informing users. Zango dropped the suit after the judge ruled that the suit was "unlikely to succeed on the merits of any of its three causes of action" and refused to grant Zango a temporary restraining order.
Also in May 2007, Zango filed in the same court a similar lawsuit against Kaspersky Lab, accusing it of tortious interference, trade libel and unjust enrichment for blocking the installation of Zango software. Kaspersky defended itself by invoking the Communications Decency Act (CDA), saying it was immune from civil liability based on the paragraph of the CDA headed "Protection for 'Good Samaritan' blocking and screening of offensive material". The judge agreed, granting Kasperky's motion for summary judgment. In 2008, Zango appealed against the ruling. As of April 2008, the National Business Coalition for E-Commerce and Privacy was supporting Zango in the appeal. In June 2009 the court ruled that Kaspersky could not be held liable for any actions it took to manufacture and distribute the technical means to restrict Zango software's access to others.
Read more about this topic: Zango (company)