Press Release ScriptumLibre, Februari 7, 2008
World-wide call for Trend Micro boycott after patent attack on ClamAV virus scanner
ScriptumLibre calls for a world-wide boycott of Trend Micro products after the virus scanner manufacturer took legal action against its competitor Barracuda Networks for patent infringement. ScriptumLibre feels Trend Micro's behaviour is excessively agressive, and that its actions highlight substantial problems with the US system of software patents.
Barracuda Networks delivers boxed security solutions for organisations and uses a virus scanner called ClamAV. Trend Micro claims to own a software patent in the USA (U.S. Patent No. 5,623,600) that Barracuda allegedly infringes upon. Trend Micro demands that Barracuda discontinue delivery of ClamAV, or payment of a license fee. Trend Micro implicitely claims that all users of ClamAV are infringing on its patent.
A general problem with software patents is that they often monopolize a broad area of technology---thereby severely hindering the free operation of markets---and that they nearly always have a trivial character. The Trend Micro patent concerns a general concept (virus scanning at the points of entry of a computer system) that is very obvious to every expert in the field. Normally software patents are used defensively, to be used in event of another party using patents against you. Trend Micro however uses them offensively and has extorted several organizations such as Symantec and McAfee in the past, and now also extorts end-users.
For Scriptum Libre this is reason enough to call for a boycott of Trend Micro. ScriptumLibre's chairman Wiebe van der Worp: "Trend Micro crosses the boundaries of decency in a disgusting way. A law system that permits software patents is weak, bad news for the economy and needs a reform. But the existence of flaws of the law system is no excuse to abuse it and attack end-users. What happens here is totally unacceptable and should be punished."
For most companies, the cost of settlement is cheaper than the cost of protracted litigation---a factor that companies count on when they attempt to collect licensing money. Barracuda however will fight Trend Micro in court. The virus scanner manufacturer feels that the Trend Micro patent is both inapplicable and invalid because of prior art. It fears that Free and Open Source Software projects (FOSS, such as Linux, Firefox and OpenOffice.org) "remain vulnerable to commercial patent holders attempting to unjustly hinder the [...] community."
In order to back the boycott ScriptumLibre made banners and cartoons freely available on their site.
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