Microsoft forced to pay up after anti-spyware blocks legit sites

A Dutch company has forced Microsoft to pay damages after the software giant wrongly branded its homepage as a browser hijacker.

Ilse Media, a Dutch web firm and owner of the Netherlands' most popular portal Startpagina.nl, found that users could no longer set the portal as their homepage and were warned the site could be malicious by Microsoft's AntiSpyware software.

Director of Ilse Media Bert Wiggers told silicon.com he had repeatedly tried to contact Microsoft to let them know about their error.

"I tried to reach them, I tried to call them, I tried to send them a letter. They did not answer. I sent them a letter saying I would see them in court. Then they got their voice back."

Wiggers said he was "very insulted" when Microsoft branded Startpagina as malicious.

Wiggers added he was content with the settlement, which forced Microsoft to apologise and update its AntiSpyware software to reflect the site's non-malicious status but added he thought that turning to the law was the only way to get Microsoft to change its position.

"I don't think that without the court they would have changed [the software]... it's hard to get Microsoft on its knees," Wiggers said.

Wiggers added that six million versions of the previous beta which blocked Startpagina had been downloaded, 100,000 by Netherlands users.

A Microsoft spokeswoman said: "This specific issue has been addressed in the latest update of the Windows AntiSpyware beta, and users of the latest version can access Startpagina.nl and set it as their home page unhindered."

She added: "Microsoft has posted a notice on the websites of Microsoft Netherlands and Microsoft Belgium that includes an appeal to download the new version of Windows AntiSpyware and provides an apology for the difficulty this issue may have caused Startpagina.nl and its users."

Microsoft has agreed to pay damages to the media company but would not disclose how much. Some estimates have put the figure at €10,000.