Grisoft fighting to reclaim AVG Web site

Angus Kidman
Friday, 08 December 2006 03:50

Your IT - Home IT

Security software developer Grisoft is trying to reclaim the domain associated with its anti-virus product, AVG.

Grisoft global security strategist Larry Bridwell told IT Wire that the company is "very active" in trying to gain ownership the AVG.com domain -- no surprise given that the product name is arguably much better known than that of the company itself.

The domain has been registered since 1994, and is listed as being owned by Original Web Ventures of Canada. The site currently displays a search portal linked to paid advertising site Information.com.

The Internet presents other challenges for Grisoft as well. Bridwell said a frequent source of aggravation was companies registering plausible-sounding domains and then charging users fees to download the free version of AVG.

The strategy of allowing home users free access to its anti-virus systems, first adopted in 2000 when Grisoft expanded into international markets from its Czech homebase, has proved successful in marketing the product. "AVG Free was a bit of a masterstroke," said Peter Cameron, managing director Australian Grisoft distribution partner Avalanche Technology Group.

Perhaps surprisingly, that strategy has also proved successful in attracting enterprise customers as well. "Over half of the purchased licences globally are sold under a licence for 100 seats or more," Bridwell said.

Bridwell also confirmed earlier reports in IT Wire suggesting that Grisoft could easily port its current FreeBSD version of AVG to Mac OS/X, though he said there were no immediate commercial plans to do so.

A Mac user himself, Bridwell said the security benefits of the platform had nonetheless been overstated. "If you're buying OS X just because you think you're totally secure, you're living in dreamland."

Bridwell noted that while Microsoft's move into platform security should not be underestimated -- they are "a force to be reckoned with" -- corporate users would be reluctant to embrace such solutions. "They have some great perception issues that they have to overcome, and that will take a few years."