It's not just AV software. The entire software industry operates this way.
1. Shovel feature-rich bug-ware onto unsuspecting schlubs to build "brand" (especially in the enterprise/IT market where the person purchasing the software is often not the person who has to use it, so they make decisions based on feature list and brand name rather than quality) 2. Wait for hobbyists, researchers, or smaller companies to figure out how to do it right 3. Buy their companies 4. Repeat
Remember when Norton was actually decent? It was before Symantec bought them. After the acquisition, Symantec went back to Step 1 and gradually bloated and encrapified the antivirus. Now they are on Step 2. I wouldn't be surprised if they bought up someone like TrendMicro soon, spouting promises of a glorious and euphoria-inducing Norton/PC-cillin integration.
-- 77IM
They already have, they bought up Sygate and shut it down, since it was competing with their firewall product. Now they are supposedly impementing some of sygate's technologies, but honestly I just no longer trust Nortons products. Sygate Personal Firewall
You're already carrying the sphere!