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Fighting Microsoft's piracy check | |
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| Time: 12:41 EST/17:41 GMT | News Source: CNET | Posted By: Todd Richardson | ||
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Counterfeiters aren't Microsoft's only opponents in its effort to combat piracy: Some of its customers are against it, too. The company is forging ahead with a program, Windows Genuine Advantage, tied to its free software downloads and updates, that checks whether the Windows installation on a PC is pirated. But some people, including some who say they own a legitimately acquired copy of Windows, have challenged the need for such validation. Most of their criticism is directed at the way Microsoft's antipiracy technology, Windows Genuine Advantage, interacts with a PC. Recently, the software maker was lambasted over its WGA Notifications tool, which it pushes out as a "high priority" update alongside security fixes. There have also been complaints about the tool collecting information from PCs and causing system troubles. | ||
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| #1 By 992 (88.108.81.166) at 6/21/2006 1:44:58 PM |
| Source link that links directs to the CNET post, just goes back to AW |
| #2 By 665 (67.185.84.40) at 6/21/2006 3:21:28 PM |
| Sorry about that - should be fixed now. |
| #3 By 2960 (68.101.39.180) at 6/21/2006 4:02:58 PM |
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I don't care about the check, but it's only needed ONCE.
The constant phoning home is very suspicious. TL |
| #4 By 23275 (68.17.42.38) at 6/21/2006 5:19:59 PM |
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I'm with TL... once the system is "Activated" and SW "Validated" GET OFF OF AND STAY OFF OF MY MACHINE!
Once is quite enough. This is going to prove to be very unpopular and as much as I despise casual litigation, this is one area where I can't see myself entirely opposed to a massive class action suite that I do assess might undo all MS has built. I've seen so many less worthy cases eat up companies and I sense that the way WGA continues ot stumble and nag people will invite clever and perhaps even skilled lawyers that sense an opportunity. MS needs to dump this one and find another way to combat piracy. I mean, I updated a system's BIOS and was asked to "WGA" all over again.... not that it took much time, but I am very tired is "WGA'ing" a part of my day on the same hardware and SW... |
| #5 By 1401 (65.255.137.20) at 6/21/2006 10:58:04 PM |
| I like to call Microsoft everyday on the phone and tell them that I paid for my copy of Windows XP... |
| #6 By 8556 (12.217.111.92) at 6/23/2006 10:47:14 AM |
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Chris: Which 800 phone number gets the most attention at MS? If a few million people called every day they might notice that customers are not pleased with being spyed on, especially since WGA has "1984"'s Big Brother potential.
WGA has the potential of "biting a lot of hands" that feed MS, and also of opening the eyes of tunnel vision Windows users so they realize that OS X and Linux are viable options that don't come with WGA spyware. >> A tangent: Has anyone noticed that ABC's streaming media complete TV episodes have a right menu item that gives them permission to TURN ON AND USE YOUR CAMERA AND MICROPHONE? |
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