[daTerminehtor]

$1:

Posted by Ed Bott @ 8:06 am

Two weeks ago, I wrote about my serious objections to Microsoft’s latest salvo in the war against unauthorized copies of Windows. Two Windows Genuine Advantage components are being pushed onto users’ machines with insufficient notification and inadequate quality control, and the result is a big mess. (For details, see Microsoft presses the Stupid button.)

Guess what? WGA might be on the verge of getting even messier. In fact, one report claims WGA is about to become a Windows “kill switch” – and when I asked Microsoft for an on-the-record response, they refused to deny it.

Last week, a correspondent on Dave Farber’s Interesting People list posted some comments about his experiences with Windows OneCare Live. In the middle of the post, he added this tidbit:

I like to review updates before they are installed. The only update that I have not installed is the latest WGA because of the security issues related to it.

I called Microsoft support to see if there is a hidden option to say, "yep, I've got updates turned to manual… it's okay." The rep said, "No and why wouldn't you want to get the latest updates to Windows."

I responded with the issues relating to WGA. He spent some time telling me that WGA was a good thing, etc. I reiterated that I have accepted all the updates except WGA and just want to review the updates before they're installed on my machine.

He told me that "in the fall, having the latest WGA will become mandatory and if its not installed, Windows will give a 30 day warning and when the 30 days is up and WGA isn't installed, Windows will stop working, so you might as well install WGA now." [emphasis added]

I'm wondering if Microsoft has the right to disable Windows functionality or the OS as a whole (tantamount to revoking my legitimate Windows license) if I do not install every piece of software that they send it updates.

That can’t be true, can it? I’m always suspicious of any report that comes from a front-line tech support drone, so I sent a note to Microsoft asking for an official confirmation or, better yet, a denial. Instead, I got this terse response from a Microsoft spokesperson:

As we have mentioned previously, as the WGA Notifications program expands in the future, customers may be required to participate. [emphasis added] Microsoft is gathering feedback in select markets to learn how it can best meet its customers' needs and will keep customers informed of any changes to the program.

That’s it. That’s the entire response.

Uh-oh. Currently, Windows users have the ability to opt out of the Windows Genuine Advantage program and still get security patches and other Critical Updates delivered via Windows Update. The only thing you give up is the ability to download optional updates. Hackers have been working overtime to find ways to disable WGA notification. If WGA becomes mandatory, would it mean that Microsoft could prevent Windows from working if it determines – possibly erroneously – that your copy isn’t “genuine”? That’s a chilling possibility, and Microsoft refuses an easy opportunity to deny that that option is in its plans.

Over at Ed Bott’s Windows Expertise, I’ve been soliciting feedback from Windows users who’ve been burned by WGA. So far, I’ve received 20 comments. Here’s a sampling:

* I have an XP Media center with a promise RAID 0 4-disc array. When I installed the WPA it broke the drivers for the array by causing failed delayed writes (half of the array just “disapears”.) If I do a system restore to before the installation of the WPA everything goes back to working just fine.
* Since installing WPA … I’ve had blue screens and a total inability to boot. I had to run the XP repair function to get the computer to boot. I had a damaged boot sector on the hard drive. I am running two drives on a RAID 1 config.
* I purchased a SEALED OEM copy of XP Professional. WGA said the license key was already used. I called MS and they said I should uninstall and buy another copy. I told them I wasn’t made of money and hung-up.
* Microsoft rejected the product key that came with the ThinkPad I’m using. I had to call in and they gave me another code to enter which supposedly worked but now I get the blue screen of death about every other time I reboot. I’ve also lost all internet connectivity.
* I sent my Compaq Presario notebook for service repair, and it fails the WGA check. I have a legal version of windows xp professional on it. But I have no way to correct this problem.

What’s most disturbing about this whole saga is Microsoft’s complete lack of transparency on the issue. And before the ABM crowd jumps in with predictable “What did you expect?” comments, let me argue that Microsoft actually has a fairly good track record on transparency issues in recent years. Windows Product Activation is very well documented, and when a similar uproar occurred in 2001, it was squelched quickly by some fairly prominent postings from high-level executives who provided details without a lot of spin. Likewise, the Microsoft Security Response Center has done an exceptional job at providing quick responses to security issues. (Just ask Adam Shostack.)

Currently, no one at Microsoft is blogging about this fiasco. No executive has been quoted on the record about it. There are very few technical details available, and those that have been published are being tumbled through the spin machine and spit out as press releases.

If Microsoft really does plan to turn WGA into a kill switch in September, be prepared for an enormous backlash.

Read it here

Isn't that just great.

I've multiple XP licenses, and multiple Office licenses and still, this crap isn't going anywhere near my network.

[Stormrider]

[daTerminehtor]

Man Sues MS Over WGA

$1:

The question of whether Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage program might qualify as spyware has been simmering ever since people figured out that the anti-piracy tool was checking in with the company's servers on a daily basis, unbeknownst to computer users. This week, Microsoft changed and clarified its practices, although it says nothing underhanded was going on to begin with.

Here's the new twist: A Los Angeles PC user has now made the spyware allegations explicit, in a suit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

Here's the complaint:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/20 ... gasuit.pdf

Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler said the suit shouldn't distract from the purpose of Windows Genuine Advantage, the company's efforts to combat piracy.

But the lead lawyer for the plaintiff, Scott Kamber, said the case aims to make sure that "when something is put on people's computers, it is done with informed consent." Kamber added: "Microsoft has every right to fend off piracy, but they have to do it in a way that is consistent with the disclosure requirements of consumer protection statutes. That's what this case is about."

More:
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/micr ... source=rss

MS Responds:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/ ... uit29.html

A Microsoft spokesman, Jim Desler, called the suit "baseless" and disputed the characterization of the tool as spyware.

"Spyware is deceptive software that is installed on a user's computer without the user's consent and has some malicious purpose," Desler said.

Windows Genuine Advantage "is installed with the consent of the user and seeks only to notify the user if a proper license is not in place."

"The statute says that people have a right to know what's on their computer," Kamber said. "We're at a point in time right now where people's rights on their own computers and technology are really at issue."

But the suit goes beyond that issue to challenge the company's practice of using the automatic updating system as one method of delivering the tool. Although Microsoft has delivered a variety of programs through Automatic Updates, it's most commonly used for security updates, and the suit alleges Microsoft effectively hid delivery of the tool under that guise.

Microsoft's Desler disputed that assertion and said the suit shouldn't obscure what he called the "real issue," software piracy. "The WGA program was carefully developed to focus on what is really an industrywide problem in a manner that is lawful, and provides customers with the confidence and assurance that they're running legitimate software," he said.

===========================================================

And so it begins.

I'm hoping this suit, (whether it succeeds is imaterial) will keep this issue in the news.

[daTerminehtor]

No WGA "kill switch," says Microsoft

$1:

Yesterday, at the end of the workday, I received this e-mail from a representative of Microsoft’s PR agency, Waggener Edstrom:

---
No, Microsoft anti-piracy technologies cannot and will not turn off your computer. In our ongoing fight against piracy, we are constantly finding and closing loopholes pirates use to circumvent established policies. The game is changing for counterfeiters. In Windows Vista we are making it notably harder and less appealing to use counterfeit software, and we will work to make that a consistent experience with older versions of Windows as well. In alignment with our anti-piracy policies we have been continually improving the experience for our genuine customers, while restricting more and more access to ongoing Windows capabilities for those who choose not to pay for their software. Our genuine customers deserve the best experience, and so over time we have made the following services and benefits available only to them: Windows Update service, Download Center, Internet Explorer 7, Windows Defender, and Windows Media Player 11, as well as access to a full range of updates including non-security related benefits. We expect this list to expand considerably as we continue to add value for our genuine customers and deny value to pirates. Microsoft is fully committed to helping any genuine customers who have been victims of counterfeit software, and offer free replacement copies of Windows to those who've been duped by high quality counterfeiters.
There is more information at our website http://www.microsoft.com/resources/howt ... fault.mspx.
[*Note, apologies but the link does not work from here, you need to get at it from the main link to the article below. Don't know why either. Thanks to Wullu for pointing this out*]
---

I’m still trying to reconcile this rambling response with the terse statement I received from a Microsoft representative on Monday, flatly refusing to deny a report that WGA will become mandatory in the fall. (posted here. In fact, I can’t find anything in this new response that contradicts the earlier statement I received from a Microsoft spokesperson, who told me that “as the WGA Notifications program expands in the future, customers may be required to participate".

I’ve asked once again for an opportunity to speak with a Microsoft executive so I can ask some specific questions about the WGA program. So far, I’ve received no response to my requests.

If I hear back today, I’ll update this post. And I’ll have a lot more to say about this subject next week, hopefully with input from Microsoft.

Update 30-June 2:15PM PDT: Microsoft says they have no intention of answering any questions about WGA. According to the same Waggener Edstrom spokesperson who sent me the statement reprinted above, "We are not granting interviews on this, as all of the information we have to share about WGA Notifications is contained in the response I provided below and the PressPass article that I sent you a link for."

Whoever is giving Microsoft its PR advice on this issue is doing them a serious disservice.

=========================

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=88

Seems to me that...
1. no one reviewed that before releasing it
2. pressure is beginning to get to them
3. they're getting upset because they 'bet the farm' on WGA and are losing the PR war

Looks to be shaping up to be a fine war at that.

... stay tuned

[hwacker]

WGA = get Linux

[Wullu]

I hope that MS can pull off something along the lines of WGA. I have never understood someone willing to dish out big bucks for somethig like a kick ass gaming system but then loose their minds when they have to dish out a lousy 150 bucks or so for the software that turns it from a very expensive paper weight into a computer!!!!

And yeah, I did buy every piece of software on both of my systems.

[daTerminehtor]

Please delete... dupe.

[daTerminehtor]

Thats ok Wullu, you just keep your head in the sand.

[Wullu]

daTerminehtor daTerminehtor:

Thats ok Wullu, you just keep your head in the sand.

Excuse me for not being a thief

[Canadaka]

linux can kiss my ass, It can't replace windows as a desktop OS at this point. and even way more so if your a gamer like me.

Even linux as a server enviroment i dont like, much prefer Windows 2003.

As Do I prefer IIS/Windows over Apache/Linux. And im not the only one, IIS market chare has been growing.
From May:

$1:

Microsoft 29.7% market share, a gain of 4.25% for the month. Apache had a decline of 429K hostnames, and loses 3.5% to 61.25%

For the money that goes into production of windows, and how much you use it, probably every day. $100-$150 is not an unfair price to pay at all. Fuck i have a client that has to pay $5000 for some retarded sign making program for his business, and its a POS program.

Plus all this WGA stuff doens't affect us as much in Canada anyway.

[Canadaka]

you wanna know how many people use linux, here is a picture. only 0.58% of CKA visitors since 11 July 2004 until now.

[hwacker]

Canadaka Canadaka:

linux can kiss my ass, It can't replace windows as a desktop OS at this point. and even way more so if your a gamer like me.

Even linux as a server enviroment i dont like, much prefer Windows 2003.

As Do I prefer IIS/Windows over Apache/Linux. And im not the only one, IIS market chare has been growing.
From May:

$1:

Microsoft 29.7% market share, a gain of 4.25% for the month. Apache had a decline of 429K hostnames, and loses 3.5% to 61.25%

For the money that goes into production of windows, and how much you use it, probably every day. $100-$150 is not an unfair price to pay at all. Fuck i have a client that has to pay $5000 for some retarded sign making program for his business, and its a POS program.

Plus all this WGA stuff doens't affect us as much in Canada anyway.

Linux is too tough for you eh, oh well another clone from M$'s college.

[Canadaka]

hwacker hwacker:

Linux is too tough for you eh, oh well another clone from M$'s college.

not at all, I just don't like going back in time. I have tried many distros over the years. Many of my friends are Linux enthusiasts. I even used to run CKA off FreeBSD, that was until Windows 2003 server came out.

[Scape]

Remove WGA

[daTerminehtor]

$1:

Excuse me for not being a thief

You really don't read the links people post here do you?

I've owned 3.1, 95, 98se, ME, 2000 and multiple copies of XP Pro... along
with multiple licenses of Office XP and 2000.

This is about privacy, and not piracy.

What I said still holds true for you, and your comment does nothing to dissuade me of that.