Kaspersky Lab has temporarily lifted its complaints against Microsoft which stated that the computer giant is negatively applying its market influence to force out anti-virus software makers such as itself. The announcement comes from none other than founder and Chief Executive Eugene Kaspersky.
The anti-virus pro, which earlier threatened Microsoft this November with a complaint in the European Commission, said that they would keep talking to Microsoft on the subject and ask the software giant to make certain changes before proceeding with their case in a few months.
The Kaspersky CEO told Reuters:
They are listening to us and they made a few changes. It’s an ongoing process. Of course if Microsoft agrees to all our requests we will not file it.
Kaspersky says that Microsoft is imposing its Defender anti-virus software on its Windows 10 platform, creating a hard time for its rivals and independent anti-virus firms to enter the market.
He declined to make remarks on what changes he had requested, or what changes Microsoft had made following the requests.
In a blog post in November titled : “That’s it. I’ve had enough!”, Kaspersky complained that Windows is not giving sufficient time to independent developers to adapt to new versions of Windows. He also said that Microsoft did not warn users that their anti-virus software could be replaced when upgrading Windows, and is not even seeking users approval before installing defender.
In his November blog, he wrote:
Microsoft’s actions aren’t only making things worse for users and killing off the whole ecosystem of independent developers.
He added:
They’re also undermining users’ trust in Microsoft: creating an illusion of security while destroying the main competitive advantage of its platform – openness and democracy.
Russia’s anti-monopoly commission has been investigating into the complain lodged by Kaspersky against Microsoft for allegedly abusing its dominance in the antivirus software market. The commission is known to bear down pretty heavily with regards to monopoly complaints (just ask Google!) and as such Microsoft would probably prefer to sort the issue out out of courts.
