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[ news_security_news ]Winternals Picks A Fight With Geek Squad
David Utter Staff Writer 2006-04-13  Security News RSS Feed
The white-shirt, black-tie clad, VW-driving computer support crew at Geek Squad have been using Winternals software to diagnose customer computer problems; unfortunately, they apparently didn't bother to license the software from Winternals first. Geek Squad and its owner, big-box electronic retailer Best Buy, have been sued in federal court by Winternals for copyright infringement, circumvention of copyright protections systems, and misappropriation of trade secrets. The software company claims Geek Squad staffers used cracked copies of its ERD Commander software to fix computer systems. Winternals had been negotiating a multi-million dollar licensing contract for Geek Squads 12,000 employees. Part of the negotiation included permitting Geek Squad to try out Winternals software, using a time-expiring version. During training sessions for the software, Winternals claims certain employees of Geek Squad and Best Buy approached them and reported they had been using the software in an unlicensed form for some time. In February 2006, after the training session and after Best Buy had indicated it wanted to purchase a longer-term license, Best Buy ended negotiations. That raised suspicions at Winternals. The Austin-based company contacted several Geek Squads for computer repairs, and found they were using ERD Commander to perform the repairs, or at least had a copy of it in their possession. Winternals next step took them to US District Court for the Western District of Texas, where they filed suit against Best Buy and Geek Squad. They have asked the court to compel Geek Squad and Best Buy to surrender all the copies of Winternals software they possess, and to pay damages and legal fees. --- Tags: Winternals, Geek Squad, Best Buy Add to | DiggThis | Yahoo! My Web | PreFound.com Get all the updates in RSS: 
About the Author: David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews, WebProNews, and InternetFinancialNews. More news_security_news Articles Security News RSS Feed
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