 ZOverLordPremium
join:2003-10-20
Minneapolis, MN | Microsoft Piracy Check Comes Calling From: »news.com.com/Microsoft+piracy+ch···nefd.top
Microsoft piracy check comes calling
By Joris Evers
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: April 24, 2006, 4:10 PM PDT
Microsoft is taking its fight against software piracy to the desktop.
Starting Tuesday, the software maker will push out a test tool that checks whether the copy of Windows a PC is using is properly licensed. It will be sent to millions of people in the United States, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand, Microsoft said Monday.
Following download and installation of the "Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications" tool, users of a pirated copy will see alerts at startup, login and during their use of the operating system. The alerts read: "This copy of Windows is not genuine; you may be a victim of software counterfeiting."
Those who use a legitimate copy of the software won't see any messages, Microsoft said.
People will be able to decline the tool download or uninstall it, said David Lazar, director of the Windows Genuine program at Microsoft. They can also suppress the alerts by right-clicking on them when they appear during the running of Windows.
In addition, Microsoft this week is kicking off Office Genuine Advantage, which checks on installations of the productivity package, which includes Excel and Access. The plan is to test out the program initially in seven languages: Brazilian Portuguese, Czech, Greek, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Russian and Spanish.
The efforts are part of Microsoft's antipiracy fight. Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) was launched in September 2004. Since last July, Windows XP users have had to validate their operating system to be able to download additional Microsoft software, such as Windows Defender, Windows Media Player or Internet Explorer 7. Hackers, however, have repeatedly found ways around the checks.
The alerts include a link that goes to a Web site that explains what people with pirated versions of Windows need to do, Lazar said.
Earlier, Microsoft confronted people with the piracy checks when they attempted to download such add-ons. The switch to desktop alerts was introduced on PCs in Norway and Sweden in November 2005, then expanded to the Czech Republic, Denmark, Israel, Poland, and Taiwan in February. Tuesday's move is a further expansion of the trial program.
The WGA expansion is a precursor to the antipiracy features Microsoft is building into Windows Vista, the update to the operating system expected in January 2007. In Vista, certain operating system features will only work as long as it is a properly licensed copy.
Microsoft isn't pushing Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications out to all Windows users, but to a random subset, Lazar said. It is using its Windows Automatic Updates feature to deliver the tool. Automatic Updates, typically used to deliver security fixes, is enabled on the PCs of most Windows users, according to Microsoft.
To date, more than 150 million PCs have participated in the WGA program, according to Microsoft. About 65 percent of users in seven countries have accepted the Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications tool download, it said.
Microsoft's piracy checks won't prevent users from getting security updates. Regardless of whether a system passes the genuine test, security updates have been available to all Windows users, via either manual download or Automatic Updates.
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| Well it's a good thing my XP is Genuine!!!!!  |
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 mers2Premium,MVM
join:2004-03-20
USA
kudos:8 | So thought a number of people who had legit copies who failed the checks when they first started requiring them for add ons. While I understand MS wanting to cut down on pirated versions of their software, this is just one more irritation to their legitimate customers, while accomplishing very little on the piracy front.
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Team Discovery
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 richk_1957If ..Then..ElsePremium
join:2001-04-11
Minas Tirith | reply to ZOverLord
Even though mine is & I sent MS copies of the receipts, ect, their software says it's not - I'm told I have to buy a ' consumer version'. I've quit arguing with those A$$holes, not worth it. |
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 HA NutPremium
join:2004-05-13
USA | reply to ZOverLord
I agree that MS's WGA program does not work as well as they say it does.
I was one of the legitimate XP owners that had trouble getting my Windows Updates in March. MS did get a workaround out to those of us affected but IMO, it should never have happened. IMO, in their haste to shore up a legitmate revenue issue, innocent and honest users get needlessly hassled... |
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| reply to ZOverLord
Wasn't WGA enough? |
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HMS1
join:2006-01-14
Austin, TX
1 edit | reply to ZOverLord
My copy of Windows is 100% legitimate, and Microsoft claims the "tool" won't affect properly licensed copies. Nonetheless I won't allow Microsoft's little electronic policeman in my computer. Why would I be expected to even consider it? The promise that it would remain dormant makes no difference. It's offensive and I don't trust it.
The more intrusive Microsoft gets with things like this, the faster I transition to Linux. I hope they alienate many others too by the time they start selling Vista.
On edit: All I can think of it being intended for is to scare naive consumers who bought PCs at dodgy shops, or casual infringers who don't know what they're doing.
It has no benefit for anyone else. It wouldn't be useful on business LANs, even if the management is concerned about licencing compliance. An organization still has to have all its paperwork. The issue with BSA is too many copies, usually, not pirate versions. |
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 redxiiPremium,Mod
join:2001-02-26
Sherwood, MI
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| said by HMS1:On edit: All I can think of it being intended for is to scare naive consumers who bought PCs at dodgy shops, or casual infringers who don't know what they're doing. That was the point of activation; not stop piracy but to keep casual infringers who haven't a clue what they're doing. Then it got a buddy named WGA. I think they are going overboard. It was bad enough that people with legit licenses failed validation (not myself included, though). But if it does happen again, you have it right there in writing; "won't affect properly licensed copies." I say the EULA doesn't hold water if you can't even use your legit license. |
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 antdudeA Ninja AntPremium,VIP
join:2001-03-25
kudos:2 | reply to ZOverLord
Also on »digg.com/software/Microsoft_Is_M···ge_WORSE ... |
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 salzanExperienced OptimistPremium
join:2004-01-08
WA State | reply to ZOverLord
Seems like a really effective way to get people to turn off auto updates. Or stop getting updates at all.
Does anybody know what versions are targeted?
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A silver bullet without a gun is just a fancy rock. |
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 jbobReach Out and Touch SomeonePremium
join:2004-04-26
Little Rock, AR | said by salzan:Seems like a really effective way to get people to turn off auto updates. Or stop getting updates at all. Wasn't there some talk of this when MS initally turned off updates after SP1 was installed onto hacked versions? Didn't MS say they would always allow security updates? Guess MS is caught between a rock and a hard place on this one. Allow updates even on pirated copies to help cut down on infection rates vs try and cut down on losses by using advanced WGA techniques. |
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 McShakenPremium
join:2006-02-20
Olympia, WA | reply to ZOverLord
This just goes to show that even the richest of companies will never have enough money to be satisfied... Microsoft, RIAA/MPAA, Big Oil, etc... If they had their way, they'd charge you for something that they didn't even provide...
Need I say more?
Can you tell I'm just a bit jaded? 
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 heels_fan1.20.09 The start of SocialismPremium
join:2003-02-07
Columbia, TN
kudos:1 | reply to ZOverLord
Its going to be another Microsoft funded and sponsored hackers competition.
Just like all the other anti-piracy tools were |
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 dadkinsCan you do Blu?Premium,MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA
kudos:18 | reply to ZOverLord
Here, if Microsoft has an issue with my laptops, they will get forwarded to Sony.
I seriously doubt Sony installed bogus XP on these machines.
Microsoft knows who and where I am, and what model VAIOs their OSs are installed on - from the day I frist started these laptops.
Not worried about a thing!
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Think outside the Fox... Opera |
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 OwlbetIgnite the IcePremium,MVM
join:2002-09-24
Palmer, AK | reply to ZOverLord
I abhor piracy. And being an accountant, I totally understand a company's bottom line. All of my software has been purchased with hard-earned cash. A fair amount of my favorite freeware programs are paid for. If I like a freebie product and it's creator accepts donations, I pay an amount I see fit. I've done it before and I'll do it again.
If push comes to shove and Microsoft says I don't have a legitimate OS, I'll exercise my right to pursue redress in a court of law.
In time, with enough owners of legitimate licenses refused updates and downloads because Microsoft says their operating systems don't pass their Windows Genuine Advantage, consumer rights advocates will take notice and Microsoft will once again find itself in court.
My operating system passes Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage. |
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 DustynPremium
join:2003-02-26
Ontario, CAN
kudos:7
·Rogers Hi-Speed
| reply to ZOverLord
Cool beans!
I have no problems with Microsoft wanting to verify that my copy of Windows XP Home SP2 is genuine.
Nothing but genuine Windows here! 
Microsoft has every right to check.  |
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 daTKnow thyself, then be yourself.Premium
join:2002-09-15
Toronto, ON | Microsoft has every right to check. Yup, but, how many times is enough?
Once?
Twice?
How about every time they develop a new tool?
At what point is enough... enough?
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daTerminehtor |
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Don't you mean "their" XP? We're just licenced users, right? LOL |
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DustynPremium
join:2003-02-26
Ontario, CAN
kudos:7
3 edits | reply to daT
Those are questions for which I have no answer.
But I have no problems with Microsoft's new piracy plan. |
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public
join:2002-01-19
Santa Clara, CA | reply to redxii
said by redxii:said by HMS1:On edit: All I can think of it being intended for is to scare naive consumers who bought PCs at dodgy shops, or casual infringers who don't know what they're doing. That was the point of activation; not stop piracy but to keep casual infringers who haven't a clue what they're doing. How so??
The casual user buys a used computer at Joe Wong shop for $149. Amazingly it has WinXP professional and Office 2003 professional installed.
Joe actually went into enough trouble to change the FCKGW key to something else, although still invalid.
In the third world a this is the rule in 99% cases. |
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