Today’s decision denying our TRO request in the lawsuit we filed against Kaspersky was not completely unexpected, given that the case is before the same judge who is hearing the PC Tools suit. The judge did confirm that Kaspersky (like PC Tools) has caused Zango “some degree of irreparable harm” and, while that was not enough to convince him to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) as we requested, a TRO is an extraordinary and unusual legal remedy. We are confident that the facts that will be uncovered during the discovery process will show that the irreparable harm to Zango has been caused by Kaspersky’s wrongful and improper actions.

In the meantime, the fact remains that consumers who have downloaded Zango or would like to do so in order to obtain access to free, ad-supported online content, including videos, games, music, tools and utilities, cannot. Kaspersky has stripped consumers of freedom of choice and it did so without notice and without providing an opportunity for them to either consent or intervene. The fundamental irony here is that Kaspersky’s behavior is identical to that of the malware/spyware that it purports to combat as a security company. We empower police officers to keep us safe, but rules govern how that is properly done and breaking those rules should and does have consequences.  So, too, here.