Palo Alto Networks threatens to sue security startup for comparison review, says it breaks software EULA
- Reference: 1603475884
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/10/23/palo_alto_orca_lawsuit/
- Source link:
Israel-based Orca Security received a cease-and-desist letter from a lawyer representing Palo Alto after Orca uploaded a series of online videos reviewing of one of Palo Alto's products and compared it to its own. Orca sees itself as a competitor of Palo Alto Networks (PAN).
“What we expected is that others will also create such materials ... but instead we received a letter from Palo Alto’s lawyers claiming we ware not allowed to do that,” Orca chief exec Avi Shua told The Register this week. “We believe these are empty legal threats.”
In a note on its website, Orca lamented [1]at length the “outrageous” behavior of PAN, as well as posting a copy of the lawyer’s letter for world-plus-dog to read. That letter claimed Orca infringed PAN's trademarks by using its name and logo in the review as well as breaching non-review clauses in the End-User License Agreement (EULA) of PAN's product.
As such, the lawyer demanded the removal of the comparison material, and that the startup stop using PAN's logo and name. We note the [2]videos are still online , hosted by YouTube.
If you haven't potentially exposed 1000s of customers once again with networking vulns, step forward... Not so fast, Palo Alto Networks [3]READ MORE
“It’s outrageous that the world’s largest cybersecurity vendor, its products being used by over 65,000 organizations according to its website, believes that its users aren’t entitled to share any benchmark or performance comparison of its products,” said Orca.
The lawyer’s letter
[4]PDF
claimed Orca violated PAN’s EULA fine-print, something deputy general counsel Melinda Thompson described in her missive as “a clear breach” of terms “prohibiting an end user from disclosing, publishing or otherwise making publicly available any benchmark, performance or comparison tests… run on Palo Alto Networks products, in whole or in part.”Shua told The Register Orca tried to give its rival a fair crack of the whip: “Even if we tried to be objective, we would have some biases. But we did try to do it as objectively as possible, by showing it to users: creating labs, screenshots, and showing how it looks like.” The fairness of the review, we note, is not what is at issue here: PAN forbids any kind of benchmarking and comparison of its gear.
Palo Alto networks declined to comment when contacted by The Register .
Orca’s boss believes a law in PAN’s home state of California makes it impossible to prohibit the publishing of reviews, and also cited a case in New York where [5]prosecutors sued McAfee , under its short-lived corporate name of Network Associates Inc, for banning reviews in its EULAs.
When asked what he thought the outcome of this latest battle would be, Shua said he hoped PAN would “simply remove these clauses from the EULA,” insisting “so many people from the industry” don’t support bans on reviews. He also added, in another shot across PAN’s bows, that if formal legal action ensues, “it’ll cost us a lot of money but it won’t break Orca. I’m not going to be bullied into not doing something because someone else has deeper pockets.” ®
Get our [6]Tech Resources
[1] https://orca.security/cybersecurity-community-transparency/
[2] https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDnqJTEi6ynvsGkSJHYeEmhz6_NfzKgbf
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/09/palo_alto_fix/
[4] https://orca.security/wp-content/uploads/PANW-Legal-Letter-Cease-Desist.pdf
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2002/02/07/ny_sues_nai_so_you/
[6] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Is there anybody from Palo Alto listening?
If there is, please note that this one action by you has persuaded me that your products can't be any good because they clearly can't stand on their own feet without the support of some threatening letters from lawyers. I mean they must be soooo bad if you feel you have to prevent review of them by any means you think you can get your hands on.
If it persuaded me, I wonder how many more people there are who have been similarly persuaded by your antics, who haven't spoken out?
Well done, your competitors have probably just cracked open a few crates of champagne.
Re: Is there anybody from Palo Alto listening?
100% agree.
- Vendors that brag about performance, but will sue anyone that publishes the result of performance tests for EULA violation (Hello there, Oracle!)
- Vendors that brag about security, but try to take action against security researchers for EULA violation (Hello again, Oracle!)
All strong "Stay away from that steaming turdpile" indicators!
Re: Is there anybody from Palo Alto listening?
re:
If it persuaded me, I wonder how many more people there are who have been similarly persuaded by your antics, who haven't spoken out?
See some links that might be related -
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-palo-alto-networks-still-afraid-dameon-welch-abernathy/
https://www.nsslabs.com/blog/2014/10/1/seriously/
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6724335188131872768?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A6724335188131872768%2C6724346763479789570%29&replyUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A6724335188131872768%2C6724348359022297088%29
Re: just cracked open a few crates of champagne
and they're going to milk this David v. Goliath outrage for as long as possible, clearly. The best way to solve this would be to withdraw the claim, issue a non-apology apology on twitter, somewhere at the bottom (if there is such a thing as twitter bottom), and kick a few asses in their legal department for being too eager to please their masters. Alternative: embark on expensive court case which the other party will happily broadcast to the whole world for years to come. So, what is it gonna be, business or ego?
yes, big boys' privilege is to be a bully, and the privilege of an underdog is to whimper for the whole world to take their side.
Re: just cracked open a few crates of champagne
Not wishing to stereotype - but in my experience small Israeli tech companies (and small Israelis in tech companies) tend not to react very well to bullying attempts.
Losing
Classic tactic when losing a debate. When the facts don't support the position, then attack the opponent instead.
So if Palo attacks the competition legally, what does that tell us about the underlying facts?
Re: Losing
"When the facts are against you, argue the law. When the law is against you, argue the facts. When both the facts and the law are against you, pound the table and shout."
Sounds like PAN is at option three of that classic formulation.
Is that Barbara Streisand I hear in the background?
Well done Palo Alto! Another company takes a minor issue, a review by a competitor, and makes it into a major tech story. Yes, I believe the orchestra may be ready, and Barbara has made her appearance. Shall we start with a rousing "Send in the Clowns" to honor Palo Alto and their attorneys?
Fair comment?
I though that in the USA they had something about freedom of speech in an amendment to the constitution, plus there is almost always the defence of 'fair comment' on anything in the public domain.
Re: Fair comment?
The constitution only applies to government. In my opinion the authors had too narrow a view of tyranny.
Boot was on the other foot not long ago..
When Juniper were threatening PA... Shows how short term memory they have!
California? This should be good, they have anti-slapp laws...