14 DAY TRIAL // People from different security websites thought this was over, the Comodo community thought this was over, we thought this was over. We were all wrong. Yesterday, we received yet another email from the Comodo PR team. Although after publishing the article Softpedia barely made a few statements concerning this matter – all intended to relieve some of the tension, underlining the fact that we respect the Comodo team and its community and we did not intend to make a media scandal out of a public statement regarding our position and principles – we received a follow-up ending as the first cease and desist did: with a warning of redress.
If the first email targeted the listing of Comodo Internet Security on Softpedia, this time, the innocent "victim" is the very article that explained our actions (Comodo Software Removed from Softpedia). This second email focuses on two paragraphs that might leave room for misinterpretation and do not properly explain the installation process.
That being said, from Comodo’s point of view, the user is made aware of the option to install SafeSurf several times, for example: a user may uncheck the first two boxes (“Install COMODO SafeSurf, I agree to the above terms” and “Make Ask.com my default search provider”) or a user cannot proceed without clicking the “Next” button. Furthermore, Comodo shared with us their own concept of the word attempt, which, apparently, is a change made behind the scene and hidden.
Although the reasoning in this second mail continues to ignore the fact that our concept and definition of adware is not up for discussion, nor will it be changed in favor of a certain company or software, we have updated the article for the second time. We feel the current version eliminates any ambiguities in the article that, as stated above, might have left room for misinterpretation, and clarifies our opinion regarding the setup process, from both our and the average end-user’s point of view.