Vendors' spat resolved

Stonesoft and Check Point make up

A dispute between competing security vendors Stonesoft and Check Point has ended after Stonesoft agreed to drop its complaint with the European Commission (EC).

Stonesoft claimed that, following its complaint last June, the EC became concerned that Check Point had threatened to withhold products from its distributors and VARs if they sold Stonesoft's virtual private network and firewall software.

Following negotiations with the EC, Check Point has agreed not to place "undue or unacceptable pressure on its partners over whether or not they can sell competing products", and will send a letter to its partners confirming this.

A Check Point representative said: "We believe, unequivocally, in promoting choice and upholding free competition. We will continue to respect the right of our partners to offer a range of product options."

Esa Korvenmaa, chief executive of Stonesoft, said: "We are very pleased with the outcome because it means our channel partners get freedom of choice over which products to sell."