Microsoft Genuine Advantage Anti-Piracy Program Tracks Users

It turns out that Microsoft's Genuine Advantage anti-piracy program is also keeping daily tabs on Windows users. Who knew?

Well, until a few days ago, nobody outside of Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Wash., knew.

According to an Associated Press report, David Lazar, director of the WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) program, Microsoft was doing this as "kind of a safety switch."


More at source

The explanation makes no sense at all to me.

In order to protect you from being tracked MS tracks everything you do if you use their new software. And they had to destroy the digital village in order to save it.

The last thing anti-piracy software users want is for their software to do exactly what MS did.

If they didn't think of this all by themselves they are idiots!



[edit on 11-6-2006 by Malichai]

I block those packets through my Software Firewall so no being tracked for moi. This is also not the first time Microsoft has done something like this either, and frankely the fuss isn't the fact that they are tracking you, it's about how they disclose that information(or don't disclose it as is the case here). If it were in the EULA then people would have known about this since the minute they added in this "feature" because, believe it or not, there are people who scour EULA's on a regular basis of large software companies, just because they don't trust 'em. Will microsoft get in trouble for this? I doubt it, either that or a slap on the wrist like a 50 million dollar fine or some such. Gates won't care, he makes more on interest alone per day then a measily fine like that.

Yay. Good ol microsoft,they never fail to dissapoint. This is ridiculous,but personally i havent bought a copy of windows since windows 98se. Currently im running on xp pro corporate edition with sp2. I wont pay $200 for a pos os, so i get it for free. Just waiting for more programs and apps, to be compatible with linux.

hmm WGA is easy peasy to remove just google it. M$ os's are crap anyway, I mean file systems that need defragmenting... pleeeeassse.

WGA is easy to get around having to install, but the idea behind it was enough to push me over the edge and switch completely to Linux for desktop use. Although I still run some Windows apps in emulation and virtual machines. I have a lot of unix experience so the transition from MS to Linux was easy, but distributions like Debian and RedHat have evolved to the point where a typical Windows user can learn pretty quick.

The time has come! Cast down and forsake evil while repenting in the light of the penguin! And maybe some little demon guys too. Penguins and demons.