[Mimedefang] Trend Micro patent idiocy - and so it begins

[Kevin A. McGrail]

What year on the prior art are you aiming for because I used to use this 
Norton's product in 1997.  This was later renamed to SMTP for Gateways, I 
believe.

regards,
KAM

http://www.symantec.com/about/news/release/article.jsp?prid=19970224_01

News Release
Symantec Ships Norton AntiVirus for Internet Email Gateways
Norton AntiVirus for Internet Email Gateways Provides Robust Anti-Virus 
Protection for SMTP Gateways; Detects and Destroys Viruses Before They 
Invade the Corporate Workplace
CUPERTINO, Calif. --February 24, 1997-- Symantec Corporation (Nasdaq: SYMC), 
the world's leading supplier of utilities and anti-virus software products 
today shipped Norton AntiVirus for Internet Email Gateways. This product 
provides anti-virus protection for corporations using Internet e-mail based 
on the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), by catching and destroying 
viruses found in e-mail attachments before they invade corporate computer 
networks. Norton AntiVirus for Internet Email Gateways provides an 
unparalleled added level of protection at the Internet gateway.

"Norton AntiVirus for Internet Email Gateways addresses the growing need for 
virus protection from Internet e-mail transmissions," said Enrique Salem, 
vice president of the Symantec Securities and Assistance business unit. "By 
detecting and destroying these viruses before the network is invaded, the 
corporate workplace is ensured of protection. Our development of robust 
anti-virus solutions such as Norton AntiVirus for Internet Email Gateways is 
a serious commitment towards providing anti-virus protection to our 
corporate customers at all levels of their network infrastructure."

Product Features
This latest addition to the Norton AntiVirus enterprise solutions is based 
on the award-winning Norton AntiVirus engine. All SMTP mail passing through 
the gateway must first pass through Norton AntiVirus for Internet Email 
Gateways before it is allowed to fully cross into the internal corporate WAN 
or LAN. Residing behind firewalls, Norton AntiVirus for Internet Email 
Gateways is easy to configure through a graphical user interface (GUI) and 
is transparent to users with no significant performance degradation to 
networks. Norton AntiVirus for Internet Email Gateways offers these 
additional unparalleled features:

  a.. Separate and configurable virus scanning policies for inbound and 
outbound traffic -- allowing an administrator to set different levels of 
protection for inbound and outbound traffic.
  b.. Provides unmatched scanning capability -- including the ability to add 
a virtually unlimited number of user-specified file extensions, providing 
more scalability and flexibility. When a virus occurs in a new file 
extension, users simply add the extension in and Norton AntiVirus for 
Internet Email Gateways will scan traffic that contains this file-type. 
Norton AntiVirus for Internet Email Gateways also scans ZIP, UUENCODE and 
MIME files, and finally, uses a multi-threaded scanning system to handle 
multiple simultaneous requests.
  c.. All-in-one package -- complete with e-mail forwarding, attachment 
decoding and virus scanning elimination.
  d.. Provides administrators with detailed logging capabilities --  
including three options for administrators to handle infected files: 
withhold, repair/remove, and pass-through administration and configuration 
using an HTML-based graphical user interface (UI.)
  e.. Includes Symantec's patent-pending Striker technology -- for detecting 
the dreaded polymorphic viruses. Striker technology employs a revolutionary 
approach to the chameleon-like polymorphics. Each time Norton AntiVirus for 
Internet Email Gateways scans the gateway, it sets up a "virtual PC." This 
becomes a "clean room" in which Norton AntiVirus for Internet Email Gateways 
safely executes the potentially infected file without endangering other 
files.
  f.. Automatic and free virus definition updates -- provided from the 
Symantec AntiVirus Research Center (SARC) without any interruption of daily 
network.
About Symantec AntiVirus Research Center (SARC)
Norton AntiVirus for Internet Email Gateways is backed by the Symantec 
AntiVirus Research Center (SARC). SARC is comprised of a dedicated team of 
virus experts whose sole mission is to provide swift, global responses to 
computer virus threats, proactively research and develop technologies that 
eliminate such threats, and educate the public on safe computing practices. 
As new computer viruses appear, SARC develops identification and detection 
for these viruses, and provides either a repair or delete operation, thus 
keeping users protected against the latest virus threats. These virus 
definitions updates are available free of charge (other than normal phone 
and Internet access charges) to users of Norton AntiVirus, and are easily 
obtained by using LiveUpdate or Intelligent Updater.
Pricing, Availability and System Requirements
The Norton AntiVirus for Internet Email Gateways is available through 
resellers in license packs of 50, 100, 500, 1000, and 5000. Using industry 
standard configuration and pricing each license pack provides a license for 
the number of PCs that will be supported by Norton AntiVirus for Internet 
Email Gateways. Estimated street prices range from $1,499 for 1-500 users 
per SMTP server to $5,999 for 1,001 users or more per SMTP server.

Minimum recommended system requirements include Pentium 133 MHz or above 
CPU, Windows NT 3.51 or above, CD-ROM, 16MB RAM, 10MB hard disk space, 1GB 
hard disk space for efficient server operation and TCP/IP connection.

About Symantec Corporation
Symantec Corporation develops, markets, and supports a complete line of 
application and system software products designed to enhance individual and 
workgroup productivity as well as managed network computing environments. 
Platforms supported include IBM personal computers and compatibles, Apple 
Macintosh computers as well as all major network operating systems. Founded 
in 1982, the company's global operations span North America, Europe and 
several fast growing markets throughout Asia Pacific and Latin America. 
Information on the company and its products can be obtained by calling (800) 
441-6054 toll free or visit our site at the world wide web at 
www.symantec.com.

NOTE TO EDITORS: If you would like additional information on Symantec 
Corporation and its products, please view the Symantec Press Center at 
http://www.symantec.com/PressCenter/ on Symantec's Website.


Brands and products referenced herein are the trademarks or registered 
trademarks of their respective holders. All prices noted are in US dollars 
and are valid only in the United States and Canada.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Nels Lindquist" <nlindq at maei.ca>
To: <mimedefang at lists.roaringpenguin.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 1:16 PM
Subject: [Mimedefang] Trend Micro patent idiocy - and so it begins


> Hi, folks.
>
> I figured this might be of interest to the community:
>
> http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080125135544713
>
> The short of it is that Trend Micro is suing Barracuda Networks because of 
> their inclusion of ClamAV, claiming infringement of their patent on virus 
> scanning at the firewall or gateway level.  The patent was discussed on 
> this list in 2005 in a thread starting here:
>
> thttp://lists.roaringpenguin.com/pipermail/mimedefang/2005-May/026938.html
>
> Obviously they're going after Barracuda instead of ClamAV directly because 
> the former actually has money.  Whatever your opinion of Barracuda's 
> products or corporate practices, they've decided to defend against the 
> claim in court, and they're on the side of open source in this case.
>
> They're asking the community for possible prior art, specifically looking 
> for a copy of MIMESweeper.
>
> David, I seem to recall from the early days of MIMEDefang that you had 
> originally wanted to call it MIMESweeper but changed it because of that 
> other package.  Does that sound familiar?  Don't suppose you've still got 
> a copy of that kicking around somewhere, eh?
>
> Anyway, if they're starting to go after commercial entities which use open 
> source in this way, CanIt might get some notice before long. :-( Maybe we 
> can do something now to help prevent that eventuality.
>
> Nels Lindquist
> _______________________________________________
> NOTE: If there is a disclaimer or other legal boilerplate in the above
> message, it is NULL AND VOID.  You may ignore it.
>
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