Microsoft's entry into the anti-spyware business has hit a potential snag. Florida-based security developer Sunbelt Software Distribution claims that it owns part of the software Microsoft bought with the acquisition of Giant Software. Last week, Microsoft bought Giant Software for an undisclosed sum and would be releasing a beta anti-spyware product in the new year for users of Windows 2000 and above. Now Sunbelt is claiming co-ownership of the code that Microsoft thought it had bought outright. It also has it has an agreement for Giant to supply the spyware signatures - unique identifiers of each bit of code - which the Giant scanner uses to search a hard disk for illegitimate programs.
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