The court of public opinion is a powerful one, and that’s why people with little or no character often resort to vile means, like SLAPP lawsuits, to stop all discussion of bad products and worse behaviour.

It’s a hallmark of a lousy company when it resorts to lawyers when their product’s flaws are exposed. It’s also the hallmark of the poor character of the person giving those lawyers their marching orders.

I’ve long been a fan of what I term “voting with my dollars.” I refuse to do business with companies that, by their own actions, show themselves to be poorly managed. I find companies who show, by their actions, to be managed well and do business with them instead.

Enigma Software appears to qualify for the category of “poorly managed” by this criteria.

Enigma Software is the creator of a product called “SpyHunter”. The main issue, aside from the numerous complaints claiming the product does not actually work as advertised, is their deceptive pricing policy and terrible customer support.

Again… all reasons that back up my primary point that my policy of voting with my dollars is an effective one.

Enigma Software is run, it appears, by people who lack good character. Anyone with good character would ensure their customers concerns are handled quickly and to the customer’s satisfaction. Anyone with good character would ensure their pricing policy is clear and up front, not hide their auto-renewal policy deep in the fine print at the bottom of their purchase page.

SpyHunter is a 6 month subscription spyware detection/removal service. By making this purchase, customers agree, for their convenience, to be autorenewed every 6 months in order to receive ongoing spyware protection, definition & program updates, custom fixes to their specific spyware problems, and advanced technical support from our Spyware-Helpdesk. You will receive an e-mail notification to opt-out, if you do not wish to be autorenewed.

This isn’t the first time Enigma Software has attacked others critical of their software.

When Lavasoft called Enigma Software’s product a security threat back in 2004 Enigma Software immediately called in the lawyers and filed a complaint in US District Court, followed by this statement:

SpyHunter is not a security threat, and Enigma intends to defend its position vigorously against any business that seeks to use this erroneous designation as part of a strategy to undermine competition. Contrary to these listings, SpyHunter helps consumers protect their computers against unwanted spyware and malware.

In 2004, Enigma was labeled as a security threat by its competitor Lavasoft. In response to this listing, as well as to an orchestrated campaign of false statements posted on Lavasoft’s website forum, Enigma filed a complaint in the United States District Court Southern District of New York.

When other anti-virus software creators listed SpyHunter as a security risk in 2007 the people who run Enigma Software immediately sent cease and desist orders to the following companies:

• Aladdin Knowledge Systems Cease and Desist Letter – http://www.enigmasoftware.com/legal/Aladdin_Knowledge.pdf
• BitDefender LLC Cease and Desist Letter – http://www.enigmasoftware.com/legal/BitDefender.pdf
• BullGuard Cease and Desist Letter – http://www.enigmasoftware.com/legal/BullGuard.pdf
• CheckPoint Software Technologies Cease and Desist Letter – http://www.enigmasoftware.com/legal/CheckPoint.pdf
• Fortinet, Inc. Cease and Desist Letter – http://www.enigmasoftware.com/legal/Fortinet.pdf
• G Data Software Cease and Desist Letter – http://www.enigmasoftware.com/legal/GData.pdf
• Grisoft Inc. Cease and Desist Letter – http://www.enigmasoftware.com/legal/Grisoft.pdf
• IKARUS Software Cease and Desist Letter – http://www.enigmasoftware.com/legal/Ikarus_Final-Notice.pdf
• Kaspersky, Inc. Cease and Desist Letter – http://www.enigmasoftware.com/legal/Kaspersky.pdf

In the interests of fairness and openness (ha!) all of the cease and desist letters to these companies have been removed from Enigma Software’s website. The folder “http://www.enigmasoftware.com/legal/” is empty.

Enigma Software clearly doesn’t want people reading their actual threats to competitive anti-virus companies. One is left to wonder what it is they do not want us to see.

I want to thank Steve Ragan, Senior Staff Writer at CSOOnline.com for bringing the atrocious policies of Enigma Software to my attention.

Enigma Software’s attempt to silence legitimate criticism of their products with a SLAPP lawsuit is appalling and is indicative of the poor character of whoever runs that company.

I personally will never do business with this company and would encourage others to do the same. “Voting with our dollars” is a simple and time-honored tradition when it comes to dealing with lousy companies run by people lacking character.

Hint to Enigma Software: If you don’t want people writing negative reviews of your product… improve your product! If you don’t want people speaking negatively about your character, then find some. It’s really quite simple. It’s also what people with integrity do. They don’t resort to SLAPP lawsuits to shore up what little reputation they may still retain.

And if you, my valued reader, are looking for a good anti-virus software alternative my choice is Kaspersky Internet Security. Kaspersky Lab is an excellent company with an excellent reputation and an excellent line of products. I’ve used them for many years and all my experiences with their customer service were outstanding.

Did I mention they are “excellent”?

And to the SLAPP-happy thugs running Enigma Software: No, that’s not an affiliate link. This is simply what I do when I deal with an excellent company who creates excellent products and supports them well. I recommend that company and their products to others.

Imagine that.