Microsoft plans better disclosures of tool

Life Technology
1

I thought this was rather funny…MS is admitting (because they’ve been caught again) that they are invading their users boxes w/out permission.
My Zone Alarm has been popping-up on this daily. Now I know why.
A remedy for this is listed below.

[quote]Microsoft plans better disclosures of tool
By ALLISON LINN, AP Business Writer Wed Jun 7, 7:52 PM ET

SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. acknowledged Wednesday that it needs to better inform users that its tool for determining whether a computer is running a pirated copy of Windows also quietly checks in daily with the software maker.

The company said the undisclosed daily check is a safety measure designed to allow the tool, called Windows Genuine Advantage, to quickly shut down in case of a malfunction. For example, if the company suddenly started seeing a rash of reports that Windows copies were pirated, it might want to shut down the program to make sure it wasn’t delivering false results.

“It’s kind of a safety switch,” said David Lazar, who directs the Windows Genuine Advantage program.

Lazar said the company added the safety measure because the piracy check, despite widespread distribution, is still a pilot program. He said the company was worried that it might have an unforeseen emergency that would require the program to terminate quickly.

[b]But he acknowledged that Microsoft should have given users more information about the daily interactions.

[color=red]“We’re looking at ways to communicate that in a more forward manner,” he said.[/color][/b]

Lazar also said the company plans to tweak the program soon so that it will only check in with Microsoft every two weeks, rather than daily.[/quote]

A handy-dandy tool that works to remedy this, and other, intrusions.
And its free/shareware.
Anti-Spy Tool

2

Why do they need a genuine copy to sign in daily or even bi-weekly with MS, if it’s genuine it’ll probably stay genuine … no?

I suppose if I drive a toyota scarlet it will not turn in to a Jaguar suddenly … :noway: eventhough I wish :notworthy:

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[quote=“belgian pie”]Why do they need a genuine copy to sign in daily or even bi-weekly with MS, if it’s genuine it’ll probably stay genuine … no?

I suppose if I drive a toyota scarlet it will not turn in to a Jaguar suddenly … :noway: eventhough I wish :notworthy:[/quote]

I think maybe it’s 'cause what if “Joe Blow” has a legit copy of XP, but then he decides to make a few copies of it and give it to his friends along with the serial number.

Then Microsoft would see all the copies with the same serial number and would cancel them all along with “Joe Blow’s”. That would be quite a deterrant against anyone copying windows for their friends or selling copies of theirs.

Could this be it?

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[quote=“Lo Bo To”]I think maybe it’s 'cause what if “Joe Blow” has a legit copy of XP, but then he decides to make a few copies of it and give it to his friends along with the serial number.

Then Microsoft would see all the copies with the same serial number and would cancel them all along with “Joe Blow’s”. That would be quite a deterrant against anyone copying windows for their friends or selling copies of theirs.

Could this be it?[/quote]

Yup, I think you’ve got it. All that would happen is Joe Blow’s software would turn into nagware with persistent popup reminders that the software isn’t genuine. And it’s not like there aren’t simple hacks to get rid of the nagging, so I’m not really sure what MS thinks it’s accomplishing. It makes legitimate users suspicious of its tactics, just to make illegit users step through an extra hoop to keep doing what they were doing before. :loco: