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How Come Microsoft Updates Sunbelt's CounterSpy With Spyware Definitions?
Sunbelt is not "licensing the code from Microsoft". Microsoft acquired our anti-spyware business partner Giant Software. There is a whole story here, but in short, this is what Microsoft states on its website: "Anti-spyware solutions require definition updates-signatures of known spyware and other unwanted software-that are necessary to keep the solutions up-to-date. Because of a legal agreement between Sunbelt Software and Giant that preceded the Microsoft acquisition, Microsoft will provide spyware signature updates to Sunbelt through July 2007." There is a separate link to a Sunbelt Company Newsletter called Stu's News where you can find all the background information.
right from the link you gave us. that explains it pretty much i think.
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and more
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Q: What is the relationship between Sunbelt and Microsoft?
A: Sunbelt is a Microsoft Gold Certified partner and the two companies have had a strong and friendly partnership for a number of years. In December of 2004, Microsoft purchased Giant Company Software, a company that made antispam and antispyware tools. Giant Company was previously a close partner of Sunbelt Software. Giant had granted co-ownership rights to Sunbelt for a previous version of Giant's anti-spyware product. As part of that agreement, Sunbelt has the exclusive right to innovate its own product. The new Microsoft Antispyware beta is based on the Giant Antispyware product. Microsoft fully owns its anti-spyware product that it acquired from Giant Company. In turn, Sunbelt fully owns its own anti-spyware technology, currently marketed as CounterSpy and CounterSpy Enterprise. Anti-spyware solutions require definition updates (signatures of known spyware and other unwanted software) that are necessary to keep the solutions up-to-date. Microsoft will be providing definition file updates to Sunbelt to its spyware database until July 2007. During this time, Sunbelt and Microsoft share exclusively in the ownership of these definition files. Sunbelt is actively developing new versions of CounterSpy, and adding its own threat database updates to the product. Sunbelt has its own team of developers on the enterprise and consumer versions, as well as a team of researchers finding new spyware threats.
Q: Are Microsoft Antispyware and Sunbelt CounterSpy the same product?
A: Both products originated from the same base of code. However, both are going in their own direction. While they look similar, that outward similarity will not exist in future versions of either product. CounterSpy is actively being developed by a world-class team of developers here at Sunbelt. Our research team is also adding definitions to what Microsoft sends us. With CounterSpy, you get two layers of definitions: Microsoft's and then ours.
