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aiolos

Thu 08 Jun, 2006


micros0ft: Oops, We Forgot to Mention, WGA Calls Home Daily1

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Microsoft Corp.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> 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.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> <b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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The company said the undisclosed daily check is a safety measure designed to allow the tool,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> called Windows Genuine Advantage,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> to quickly shut down in case of a malfunction.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> For example,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> if the company suddenly started seeing a rash of reports that Windows copies were pirated,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> it might want to shut down the program to make sure it wasn't delivering false results.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"It's kind of a safety switch,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> said David Lazar,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> who directs the Windows Genuine Advantage program.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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Lazar said the company added the safety measure because the piracy check,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> despite widespread distribution,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> is still a pilot program.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> He said the company was worried that it might have an unforeseen emergency that would require the program to terminate quickly.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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But he acknowledged that Microsoft should have given users more information about the daily interactions.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"We're looking at ways to communicate that in a more forward manner,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>"<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> he said.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>
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Lazar also said the company plans to tweak the program soon so that it will only check in with Microsoft every two weeks,<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b> rather than daily.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>


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cyberval

Fri 09 Jun, 2006



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I am sure there will be workarounds to avoid this feature liek earlier releases.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>.<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>


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aiolos

Tue 13 Jun, 2006


Re: micros0ft: Oops, We Forgot to Mention, WGA Calls Home Da

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There's a good article about WGA with info on what exactly is being sent from your computer to miscrosoft
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h__p:<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>/<b style="color:#FFA34F"></b>/www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20060608002958907