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____/ nessuno on Friday 12 Feb 2010 15:12 : \____
> <Quote>
> Back in June 2006...Microsoft was performing unannounced "phone home"
> operations over the Internet as part of their Windows Genuine
> Advantage authentication system for Windows XP....Microsoft has
> continued to push the anti-piracy envelope, now under the name Windows
> Activation Technologies (WAT).
>
> This time around, to the company's credit (and many thanks to them for
> this!) Microsoft reached out to me starting several months ago for
> briefings and discussion about their plans for a major new WAT thrust
> -- on the basis, to which I agreed, that I not discuss it publicly
> until now.
>
> The release of Windows 7 "Update for Microsoft Windows (KB971033)"
> will change the current activation and anti-piracy behavior of Windows
> 7 by triggering automatic "phone home" operations over the Internet to
> Microsoft servers, typically for now at intervals of around 90 days.
>
> The purpose? To verify that you're not running a pirated copy of
> Windows, and to take various actions changing the behavior of your PC
> if the WAT system believes that you are not now properly authenticated
> and "genuine" -- even if up to that point in time it had been
> declaring you to be A-OK....
>
> These automatic queries will repeatedly -- apparently for as long as
> Windows is installed -- validate your Windows 7 system against
> Microsoft's latest database of pirated system signatures (currently
> including more than 70 activation exploits known to Microsoft).
>
> If your system matches -- again even if up to that time (which could
> be months or even years since you obtained the system) it had been
> declared to be genuine -- then your system will be "downgraded" to
> "non-genuine" status until you take steps to obtain what Microsoft
> considers to be an authentic, validated, Windows 7 license....
>
> The update will reportedly be tagged simply as an "Important" update.
> This means that if you use the Windows Update system, the update will
> be installed to your Windows 7 PC based on whatever settings you
> currently have engaged for that level of update -- it will not
> otherwise ask for specific permission to proceed with installation.
>
> If your Windows Update settings are such that you manually install
> updates, you can choose to decline this particular update and you can
> also uninstall it later after installation -- without any negative
> effects per se. But don't assume that this will always "turn back the
> clock" in terms of the update's effects...
>
> Also, reportedly if the 90-day interval WAT piracy checking system
> "calls" are unable to connect to the Microsoft servers (or even if
> they are manually blocked from connecting, e.g. by firewall policies)
> there will reportedly be no ill effects....
>
> Downgraded systems will still function much as usual fundamentally,
> but there will be some very significant (and very annoying) changes if
> your system has been designated non-genuine.
>
> The background wallpaper will change to black. You can set it back to
> whatever you want, but once an hour or so it will reset again to
> black.
>
> Various "nag" notifications will appear at intervals to "remind" you
> that your system has been tagged as a likely pirate and offering you
> the opportunity to "come clean" -- becoming authorized and legitimate
> by buying a new Windows 7 license. Some of these nags will be windows
> that appear at boot or login time, others will appear frequently
> (perhaps every 20 minutes or so) as main screen windows and taskbar
> popup notices.
>
> Systems that are considered to be non-genuine also have only limited
> access to other Microsoft updates of any kind (e.g., access to high
> priority security updates, but not anything else, may be permitted).
>
> And of course, under the new WAT regime you run the risk of being
> downgraded into this position at any time during the life of your
> PC....
>
> All of this brings us to a very basic question. Why would any PC owner
> -- honest or pirate -- voluntarily participate in such a continuing
> "phone home" authentication regime?
>
> Obviously, knowledgeable pirates will avoid the whole thing like the
> plague any way that they can....
>
> If Microsoft's main concern were really just notifying users about
> "contaminated" systems, they could do so without triggering the non-
> genuine downgrading process and demands that the user purchase a new
> license (demands that will be extremely confusing to many users)....
>
> Fundamentally, for Microsoft to assert that they have the right to
> treat ordinary PC-using consumers in this manner -- declaring their
> systems to be non-genuine and downgrading them at any time -- is
> rather staggering.
> </Quote>
>
> http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000681.html
>
> Ubuntu doesn't turn my wallpaper black....or nag me with popups that
> my software is not "genuine"....And I don't have to keep proof that I
> actually paid for my software...
Considering all the time you save on that nuisance (say, over the course of 3 years), that alone
saves you as much as a Windows licence.
Microsoft does not know how to extract revenue from Windows. Many people use
Windows, but not many people pay for it.
- --
~~ Best of wishes
Syntactic sugar causes cancer of the semicolon. -- Alan Perlis
http://Schestowitz.com | GNU is Not UNIX | PGP-Key: 0x74572E8E
roy pts/0 :0 Fri Feb 12 10:02 still logged in
http://iuron.com - proposing a non-profit search engine
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