Well shit, I came across this....
HAVE you ever been to a department store or supermarket that goes through your bag to make sure you haven’t shoplifted? Necessary as it might be to stop shoplifters, I always felt as a consumer that such measures were inappropriate and reflected poorly on the stores. Such establishments might catch the odd shoplifter but they alienate thousands of legitimate customers who may never come back again.
Today, if you run Windows XP and you’ve got a live Internet connection, you’re being frisked at the gate. Worse, the security guard follows you home and reports back to the store at regular intervals. That’s because along with the system updates that are sent to you over the Internet, you’re also getting Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), a tool that checks to see if you’re using a pirated copy of Windows then phones home to tell Microsoft about it. PCs found to be using pirated Windows wills top getting automatic updates and get on-screen warnings instead.
The WGA program recently completed pilot testing in the United States and is now part of Microsoft’s regular antipiracy program everywhere, including the Philippines.
Is Microsoft spying on you? Brian Johnson, a Los Angeles resident, thinks so. He’s filed a class action lawsuit against Microsoft claiming that WGA is spyware, software that is installed without a user’s consent and that stealthily collects information and sends it back to a remote server.
Johnson claims Microsoft misled users about WGA’s true purpose, failed to obtain their consent before installing it, and used to program to learn more about users’ computers without their knowledge. Johnson also accused Microsoft of violating California and Washington state laws that define and ban spyware.
Even before the lawsuit, Microsoft had come under attack for quietly slipping WGA into users’ personal computers along with a “critical” security update that didn’t mention the antipiracy tool.
Moreover, media reports that WGA secretly sent information back to Microsoft every time users connected to the Internet outraged many privacy advocates.
Under fire, Microsoft released a new version of WGA that phoned home less often, and labeled it a “high-priority” rather than a “critical” update. A new end-user license explains more clearly what WGA is and what it does. Microsoft also published instructions on how to remove the previous, more intrusive version of WGA.
WGA isn’t mandatory, Microsoft says, but users who don’t install it will be unable to download noncritical updates, such as the latest Internet Explorer or Windows Media Player. The company also denies rumors that there’s a kill switch in WGA that will disable PCs running on unlicensed Windows.
A company statement, however, makes it clear that antipiracy measures will be more stringent in the next generation Windows Vista.
Microsoft’s tough approach is hardly surprising. You might say it’s in its DNA. In February 1976, a 21-year-old Bill Gates wrote a scathing “Open Letter to Hobbyists” berating his fellow computer enthusiasts for what he called the theft of the programming language that he and Paul Allen wrote for the Altair 880. “Most of you steal your software,” the young Gates charged in his letter. So much for subtlety.
Since those early days, Microsoft has consistently devoted time and resources to stopping others from copying its software. It’s bankrolled the Business Software Alliance, which relentlessly pursues companies that use unlicensed software. In 2001, it introduced an obnoxious “product activation” feature that forced people who bought their software to register them—or the programs would stop working. This really didn’t stop mass production pirates, but inconvenienced legitimate users and prevented them from installing a second copy at home on their kid’s computer.
Now the company might have gone too far with WGA.
In the Windows Secrets newsletter, Brian Livingston writes that WGA “qualifies as spyware under any objective definition” and urges people to turn off Automatic Updates, install a third party patch management software and get rid of WGA once and for all.
“No security-minded company or individual can allow a program to stealthily contact a distant server and morph its behavior at will,” he says.
Windows users are highly agitated but the most deeply offended by the WGA fiasco are the outside professionals who have defended Microsoft for years against charges that it’s “an evil empire,” Livingston adds.
Microsoft really ought to treat its customers better. The widespread availability of excellent software alternatives and the interconnectivity that the Internet brings mean buyers who resent unreasonable security checks no longer have to shop at the Microsoft store. Under these circumstances, bullying tactics would only diminish rather than enhance any genuine advantage of being on Windows.
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=business06_july04_2006
HAVE you ever been to a department store or supermarket that goes through your bag to make sure you haven’t shoplifted? Necessary as it might be to stop shoplifters, I always felt as a consumer that such measures were inappropriate and reflected poorly on the stores. Such establishments might catch the odd shoplifter but they alienate thousands of legitimate customers who may never come back again.
Today, if you run Windows XP and you’ve got a live Internet connection, you’re being frisked at the gate. Worse, the security guard follows you home and reports back to the store at regular intervals. That’s because along with the system updates that are sent to you over the Internet, you’re also getting Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), a tool that checks to see if you’re using a pirated copy of Windows then phones home to tell Microsoft about it. PCs found to be using pirated Windows wills top getting automatic updates and get on-screen warnings instead.
The WGA program recently completed pilot testing in the United States and is now part of Microsoft’s regular antipiracy program everywhere, including the Philippines.
Is Microsoft spying on you? Brian Johnson, a Los Angeles resident, thinks so. He’s filed a class action lawsuit against Microsoft claiming that WGA is spyware, software that is installed without a user’s consent and that stealthily collects information and sends it back to a remote server.
Johnson claims Microsoft misled users about WGA’s true purpose, failed to obtain their consent before installing it, and used to program to learn more about users’ computers without their knowledge. Johnson also accused Microsoft of violating California and Washington state laws that define and ban spyware.
Even before the lawsuit, Microsoft had come under attack for quietly slipping WGA into users’ personal computers along with a “critical” security update that didn’t mention the antipiracy tool.
Moreover, media reports that WGA secretly sent information back to Microsoft every time users connected to the Internet outraged many privacy advocates.
Under fire, Microsoft released a new version of WGA that phoned home less often, and labeled it a “high-priority” rather than a “critical” update. A new end-user license explains more clearly what WGA is and what it does. Microsoft also published instructions on how to remove the previous, more intrusive version of WGA.
WGA isn’t mandatory, Microsoft says, but users who don’t install it will be unable to download noncritical updates, such as the latest Internet Explorer or Windows Media Player. The company also denies rumors that there’s a kill switch in WGA that will disable PCs running on unlicensed Windows.
A company statement, however, makes it clear that antipiracy measures will be more stringent in the next generation Windows Vista.
Microsoft’s tough approach is hardly surprising. You might say it’s in its DNA. In February 1976, a 21-year-old Bill Gates wrote a scathing “Open Letter to Hobbyists” berating his fellow computer enthusiasts for what he called the theft of the programming language that he and Paul Allen wrote for the Altair 880. “Most of you steal your software,” the young Gates charged in his letter. So much for subtlety.
Since those early days, Microsoft has consistently devoted time and resources to stopping others from copying its software. It’s bankrolled the Business Software Alliance, which relentlessly pursues companies that use unlicensed software. In 2001, it introduced an obnoxious “product activation” feature that forced people who bought their software to register them—or the programs would stop working. This really didn’t stop mass production pirates, but inconvenienced legitimate users and prevented them from installing a second copy at home on their kid’s computer.
Now the company might have gone too far with WGA.
In the Windows Secrets newsletter, Brian Livingston writes that WGA “qualifies as spyware under any objective definition” and urges people to turn off Automatic Updates, install a third party patch management software and get rid of WGA once and for all.
“No security-minded company or individual can allow a program to stealthily contact a distant server and morph its behavior at will,” he says.
Windows users are highly agitated but the most deeply offended by the WGA fiasco are the outside professionals who have defended Microsoft for years against charges that it’s “an evil empire,” Livingston adds.
Microsoft really ought to treat its customers better. The widespread availability of excellent software alternatives and the interconnectivity that the Internet brings mean buyers who resent unreasonable security checks no longer have to shop at the Microsoft store. Under these circumstances, bullying tactics would only diminish rather than enhance any genuine advantage of being on Windows.
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=business06_july04_2006
