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Microsoft's Virus Information Alliance (VIA) was formed to share information on viruses. However, antivirus companies do this already on a monthly basis - more often if necessary - outside of VIA.

Kaspersky is not part of VIA but Natalya Kaspersky said that Microsoft had approached the company to join up to the consortium. She said that the contract Microsoft wanted Kaspersky to sign was too demanding. She said she wasn't going to give away Kaspersky's intellectual property for free, not when she knew Microsoft was developing an antivirus solution of its own.

Subsequently, added Natalya Kasperksy, the head of Microsoft Europe had made a second proposal with a different contract and that she was still considering it.

However, she added that Symantec's CEO John Thompson had voiced similar concerns in a recent meeting between them - and while Kaspersky remains outside of VIA, Symantec was one of the first companies to join.

UK security company Sophos is also a member. Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant, said the company had no misgivings over Microsoft's ambitions with VIA. 'It's not like we're divulging any different information than we share with any antivirus vendor,' he said.

'I think it's important to work with Microsoft because of the large number of customers it has. They may be the first

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to send in reports of new viruses,' he added.

Cluley said he thought that the contract to sign up to VIA was standard, so perhaps Kaspersky was getting special treatment. Certainly Natalya Kaspersky said that the developer division at Microsoft used Kaspersky in the labs, so is held in high regard at Redmond.

Microsoft didn't say whether the VIA contract was standard or negotiated individually. And Raimund Genes, president of European Operations at Trend Micro said that 'There's no contract that I'm aware of.' Like Cluley he too said that 'there shouldn't be a concern over intellectual property' with regard to membership of VIA.

Microsoft described relations between itself and VIA antivirus vendors thus: 'Microsoft has had a great response from all of our VIA partners and continues to work closely with our partners and the AV community to provide guidance and resources to help secure our customers.

The spokesperson said that 'Microsoft has been very happy with the information that the VIA partners are sharing with us. We have recently enhanced the VIA program based on partners' feedback to work even closer to help keep our common customers secure.'

Microsoft bought out the Windows division of Romanian antivirus company GeCAD in June 2003 but has been very quiet about exactly what its plans for an antivirus product of its own are. Vinny Gullotto, VP of Anti-Virus Research, McAfee, said that Microsoft got 'only two well-known antivirus researchers,' from its GeCAD buy. Researchers are key to a company's standing within the antivirus community.

Much of the expertise at GeCAD was with Linux. The Linux developers from GeCAD were taken on by Kaspersky and are still working out in Romania, while GeCAD itself has become the Romanian arm for Trend Micro, selling its security products.

Symantec had not responded to requests for comment by the time of publishing.