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ZOverLord
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ZOverLord

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Microsoft Piracy Check Comes Calling

From: »news.com.com/Microsoft+p ··· 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.

Potty Time
join:2005-07-03
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Potty Time

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Well it's a good thing my XP is Genuine!!!!!

mers2
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mers2

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said by Potty Time:

Well it's a good thing my XP is Genuine!!!!!
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.

richk_1957
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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.

HA Nut
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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...

Nogard is me
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Wasn't WGA enough?
HMS1
join:2006-01-14
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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.

redxii
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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.

antdude
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Also on »digg.com/software/Micros ··· ge_WORSE ...

salzan
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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?

jbob
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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.

McShaken
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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?


heels_fan
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Its going to be another Microsoft funded and sponsored hackers competition.
Just like all the other anti-piracy tools were

dadkins
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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!

Owlbet
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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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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.

daT
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daT

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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?
DarkSithPro (banned)
join:2005-02-12
Tempe, AZ

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said by Potty Time:

Well it's a good thing my XP is Genuine!!!!!
Don't you mean "their" XP? We're just licenced users, right? LOL

Dustyn
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Those are questions for which I have no answer.
But I have no problems with Microsoft's new piracy plan.
public
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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.
Mele20
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Another reason to keep auto updating disabled. I won't be getting this tool that I would find offensive.

I think this excerpt from Paul Thurott's scathing analysis of Vista (I won't touch Vista with a 100 foot pole after reading his article) sums it up rather well:

"The company itself has turned into that thing it most hated (read: IBM), an endlessly complex hierarchy of semi-autonomous middle managers and vice presidents of various levels and titles, many of whom can't seem to make even the smallest of decisions. The company is too big and too slow to ship updates to its biggest products. It's collapsing under its own weight.

For Windows, specifically, the situation is dire. As I've noted in the past, the Windows Division retains, as employees of the software giant have told me, the last vestiges of the bad, old Microsoft. This is the Microsoft that ran roughshod over competitors in order to gain market share at any cost. The Microsoft that forgot about customers in its blind zeal to harm competitors. The Microsoft, that frankly, all the Linux and Apple fanatics always imagined was out there, plotting and planning their termination. The Microsoft that threatens Windows fans with needless legal threats rather than reaching out and creating constructive relationships with the very people who prop up the company the most....

... Sadly, Gates, too, is part of the Bad Microsoft, a vestige of the past who should have had the class to either formally step down from the company or at least play just an honorary role, not step up his involvement and get his hands dirty with the next Windows version. If blame is to be assessed, we must start with Gates. He has guided--or, through lack of leadership--failed to guide the development of Microsoft's most prized asset. He has driven it into the ground."

»www.winsupersite.com/rev ··· 8_05.asp

(Bold is my addition).

TK421
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I think that MS is taking the apparent success of having most people accepting WGA to mean they can now expand the anti-piracy check, making it effective (for MS).
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.
Allowing MS to validate some downloads with "Genuine Advantage" didn't really bother me much, but now they want to install a tool that will check at startup, login and during use?
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."
Worth noting:
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.
"You can uninstall Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications by using Add or Remove Programs in Control Panel."

I also suspect that the installation will eventually become mandatory if Microsoft discovers relatively few users don't accept WGA. My installation is and always has been valid, so I expect to never have any trouble with WGA -- but on the other hand, simply knowing it's there is a little disturbing. This all reminds of copy-protection devices used by games... if it were feasible, wouldn't MS like everyone to "insert the original Windows CD-ROM" to use their computers? Just joking (I hope).

Anonymous_
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LegitCheckControl.dll good working one from your Friends computer
is a u need to pass WGA

i do not even update anyways cause it's a waste of disk space that could be use for something else

LeeBee
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said by Anonymous_:

LegitCheckControl.dll good working one from your Friends computer
is a u need to pass WGA

i do not even update anyways cause it's a waste of disk space that could be use for something else
I don't mean to sound funny but.... »This is incredible, 5 second infection.
Sounds like you want to use the space.....disk is cheap, your time and effort are likely more expensive

confused5
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Just to add, we have had this in Norway for a long time already. Talking about the article first in this thread.

We were among the first to try it.

Nothing scary, for me anyway.

Don't see the problem, really.

H.Lecter
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said by Mele20:

The Microsoft, that frankly, all the Linux and Apple fanatics always imagined was out there, plotting and planning their termination. The Microsoft that threatens Windows fans with needless legal threats rather than reaching out and creating constructive relationships with the very people who prop up the company the most....
My favorite oxymoron:

All stereotypes are wrong.

I'm writing this on OS X, and my other computer runs SuSe 10. I don't think Microsoft is evil or anything of the kind. I just think they are the McDonalds of software vendors. Tasteless, odorless, lacking everything but fat, empty calories, and loads of marketing. They are everywhere, like Windows. Well maybe not everywhere Stamping Ground is still not blighted by fast food of any kind yet. Nor is my house blighted by Windows.

As for threatening their users, that's their choice to do so. McDonalds doesn't threaten their patrons. It merely kills them slowly, turning them into overweight diabetics at risk of heart failure. Sure there's a salad or two on the menu ... even one with a spoonful of yogurt and some fruit. However, to real salad fans, they are less than appealing.

Likewise, I believe if many Windows users got a taste of Mac OS X or a good commercial Linux like SuSe 10, Mandriva, or RedHat, they would find all the functionality and more they are used to, plus better ease of use, stability, and in the case of Mac OS X, safety and security. They would find that they could still interact with their friends still using Windows by using Star Office or something similar ... or if they must, Microsoft Office for Mac. Which by the way, has features which are now available that won't be on the Windows version until the next release.

Bottom line, I see this development as bad timing. Apple now sells Intel based computers which will run Windows. When Gary Krakow, staff writer on a Microsoft joint run website, says of the new Intel based iMac "The result is the fastest version of Windows I’ve ever used. Please believe me, I’m not exaggerating. Windows XP flies on this machine.", it's a sign to me that Microsoft is blind to the fact that the competition is surging ahead full steam and is unable to catch up. Sure, they still have to install a genuine version of XP on it, and as a result will get these annoying "Big Brother" types messages which waste bandwidth and hard drive space, but lurking on the same hard drive is Mac OS X ...

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Looks like Bill's taking a page for Georgie Porgie's book,
about not losing "Nerve" on the anti-piracy fight.. but in all reality, this will lead to pirates finally "BREAKING" all WGA checks in xp and vista, the bar just gets set a little higher.. all those CD-DVD locks on securecom and starcom, etc didn't prevent dvd software from getting pirated! At first it was easier to just avoid the hurdle, but now it seems the pirates will have to blow the protections out of the water and release(s) their own "UPDATES" to the o/s. Actually, I don't think this was aim at the U.S. market or even Europe(where you'd think he'd want revenge for the new req. version of o/s without browser) No, this is really aimed at CHINA, where piracy of most intellectual property is BIG BUSINESS. As we know big business has a vested interest in keeping the software 'free' to support the money to continue to flow in.. so Um, Bill will lose again, boo hoo!

As if people haven't dissected/reverse engineered XP kernel and WGA by now 100's of times over, muahahaha... and vista will be no different!

confused5
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Reread the article and found this:

"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."

I mentioned Norway, but forgot Sweden(sorry Sweden), as the first 2 contries to get the desktop alerts 6 months ago.

HL

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Ah the sweet nectar called "Duty of Care".

Microsoft, or Bill Gates, wanted Windows to be the main software, or OS on every computer in every house, world wide. The evolution of the "internet".

As mentioned here already they were made to update every computer, cracked version or not, "duty of care".

It just makes you think of the saying "the worm has turned". Will Microsoft build a database of "cracked OS's" and then use it in court, saying, "we gave them enough tools to check the legitimacy of the OS on their computer, it's the end user's duty of care now".

It doesn't seem too far away.

OldschoolDSL
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I'm always worried about Microsoft wanting to check my copies of Windows XP Home. I've had nothing but problems with them doing so.

Legal Copy - Good

Beta Tested SP1 - Good

SP1 Final - Error (requested new key, called up M$ and was given one free of cost)

Beta Tested Sp2 - Good

Sp2 Final - Error (requested new key and was given one by M$, free of charge)

Sp2 with Microsoft.com - Still remaining good, but I'm still worried & some day I fear I will not be given a new key.