Microsoft Killswitch?

Discussion in 'The Lounge - Off Topic' started by ffreeloader, Jun 28, 2006.

  1. ffreeloader

    ffreeloader Terabyte Poster

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    From Ed Bott's blog on ZDNet:


    ZDNet, is from Ziff Davis Publishing, a company known for its pro MS stances. Yet, here one of their pro-MS bloggers is reporting that if you do not install WGA, even if your copy of XP is legit, your OS will be disabled.

    Anyone want to tell me how transparent MS has been on this issue? Apparently MS already has the ability, with previously installed updates into their OS to kill your system if it does not have the WGA crap installed. And, MS refuses to deny that this is true....

    Apparently any MS user is so untrusted by MS that even though you legitimately purchase your product you're still considered to be a thief....

    If you go to the link for Ed Bott's blog at the start of this post you will find links in original to some other articles on this subject.
     
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  2. simongrahamuk
    Honorary Member

    simongrahamuk Hmmmmmmm?

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    Hmmm... :hhhmmm

    Certainly an interesting read freddy.
     
  3. zimbo
    Honorary Member

    zimbo Petabyte Poster

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    very chilling story freddy... it would make me very sad if ms went ahead and shut off all those Win Xp's - legal and illegal. We talking about the worlds largest software provider taking extreme measures here... its founder and heart & sole is leaving.. is this the downfall of the greatest slowly happening?


    on a side note i thought i would share something with you guys.. on my main home machine i have got xp pro and SP2 - and thats it! been like that for 2 years now - no updates. But thats my home pc... clients and production pc's i wouldnt dare. I have no problems what so ever just in case you ask BUT i am seriously thinking of switching to linux as my main OS the only problem being at home im not the only one who uses the pc so that could be a problem.
     
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  4. ffreeloader

    ffreeloader Terabyte Poster

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    If you think this is chilling, wait until Vista comes out. This playing around with XP is MS testing what they have been implementing in Vista on a much larger scale. Get ready for "rent your OS for a limited amount of time" from MS along with all the DRM crap that's coming.

    I wouldn't doubt at all that coming MS OS's will be good for one year only and you will be forced to upgrade or your OS will be disabled. I've been saying it for quite a while now, customers are nothing but a money tree to MS, and they are not satisfied with what they have been able to shake out of your pockets up to now. If you're going to stick with Windows, get ready to rent it on a yearly, or even 6 month basis....

    If you don't think this is possible read your EULA. You agree that MS can change your rights on your computer any time they wish, and you agree to it by clicking on the accept button. In fact the EULA only gives you the right to install MS's OS. Beyond that, MS can change anything at any time.... Don't think people will accept that? You're wrong. MS has already changed the conditions which their customers originally agreed to when they installed XP, and most people have no plans on changing their OS.
     
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  5. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    I guess there are two seperate issues here.

    If WGA is dodgy and starts deactivating valid versions of the OS then that's a quality control issue. It's a bit naughty, but it is quite possible for a new car to break down too.

    The other is Microsoft's right to protect their product.
    EULAs aside - at the end of the day we choose to accept them or not, nobody says they have to be fair.

    If I marketed a product and had the ability to come down hard on thieves and pirates, I'd use it.
    So you're dodgy version of XP is going to stop working? Oh dear. That was £20 you wasted on Ebay, wasn't it?

    As Jeremy Clarkson reported, his Ford whatever has got a built in thingy which can immobilise the engine remotely if the car is stolen. They phoned him up on the motorway and threatened to kill his engine unless he could remember his password. These things happen.

    OK, it's a slightly different scenario as the car immobilizer is to protect the consumer, but the point is if someone steals his car and gets about 2 miles are they going to feel that Ford have violated their personal rights?

    Personally, I say fair play.

    What's new about this is the technology involved to distribute it. If ford sent out a letter to everyone who owned one of their cars to return it (with all the paperwork) and have a compulsory new security system installed, then we'd all have the freedom to choose if we wanted to do it. Ford couldn't make us. I'm guessing a lot of people who had stolen cars, no insurance or a moody MOT would choose not to.

    Honest owners might jump at the opportunity.

    But here, things are being changed without us realizing and out of our control - I think that's what is scarey to people.
    We can't even say it's being done without our permission because somewhere along the line we DID give permission for exactly this sort of thing...
     
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  6. ffreeloader

    ffreeloader Terabyte Poster

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    And if someone steals your computer with a valid copy of XP installed will MS's wga junk invalidate or stop your computer from working? Absolutely not. All MS cares about is if the copy of XP is valid. It doesn't care if the computer is stolen. If it is the OS will just keep right on functioning.

    MS sees the computer owner as the enemy, not someone who might steal their computer....
     
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  7. Casablanca

    Casablanca Nibble Poster

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    interesting read.
     
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  8. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    I did say it wasn't a brilliant analogy as the car example was protecting the consumer and not the manufacturer.

    But I must say, you're going a bit far with 'MS sees the computer owner as the enemy' :blink

    The computer owner is the customer.

    The software pirate or owner of illegally copied software is the enemy...
     
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  9. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    Seen this?

    Read the article here: Techrepublic
     
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  10. ffreeloader

    ffreeloader Terabyte Poster

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    If the computer owner is not the enemy then why, once a Windows install has been authenticated as legit does MS need to check, recheck, and then continually recheck to make sure their customers haven't swapped out their legit install of XP and put a pirated version there? Because they value their customers and respect them? :blink

    Their behavior does equate to valuing their customers. You respect that upon which you place value.
     
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  11. fortch

    fortch Kilobyte Poster

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    2 things jumped out in that article:

    and

    These are the two reasons for WGA, period. As for the killswitch -- it's not illegal, but this is a bad business decision for M$, until they are sure that WGA is foolproof. In an age where software piracy is the #1 product on the black market, something needs to be done.
     
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  12. ffreeloader

    ffreeloader Terabyte Poster

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    I wonder if it is possible to run a completely anonymous poll here. If it is I'd like to see the numbers from a poll indicating whether the user is running a pirated or a legit copy of XP. If MS's "estimates", and I say that tongue in cheek because I believe MS will inflate the guesses on piracy to help their agendas along, we should have around 50 to 100 regular users of this forum who run pirated copies of XP.

    I don't believe that to be the case. I'd say it's probably closer to maybe 5 or 10 users who will be running pirated copies of XP here.
     
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  13. Baba O'Riley

    Baba O'Riley Gigabyte Poster

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    I have to admit that, although my copy of XP is genuine, I once installed it with a product key I got of the web just to see how easy it was to crack WPA. Guess what. It was a piece of p1ss, it even passed the Windows validation check to download extras like the MS anti-spyware beta. I might have another try now they've got these new checks to see if it's any harder.
     
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  14. Boycie
    Honorary Member

    Boycie Senior Beer Tester

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    The MS update that rose about a month ago bringing the *this version of Windows is not genuine* warning resulted in three calls at Boyce HQ. :)
    One person, who was totally unaware of what it was all about was confused why for £90 it could be *made genuine*. I explained the licence issue. I then went on to explain that it wasn't the best way of doing it as you want the install disc as the OS likes a re-install for the sake of good house keeping every year- eighteen months.
    It was a second hand PC purchase, so i forewarned that the office suite could well be *moody*.
    By the time i quoted for XP home, MS office suite, Security suite and the labour to back up all his data and re-install i saved him a fortune and stuck him on Kubuntu!
    I know very little about *nix (sadly) but know enough that when someone wants to surf the web, use a word processor and send e-mails to a distance relative Kubuntu does the job very well for free!
    Due to the massive saving i ended up in double beer tokens, and a happy customer. :morebeer

    Back to topic, MS say they have *nailed* 80% of moody keys...
     
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  15. Baba O'Riley

    Baba O'Riley Gigabyte Poster

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    How about a picture of Boyce HQ? I envisage a towering, glass panelled edifice with a twelve foot tall golden statue of his lordship Boyce in the lobby. The employees are constanly encouraged in their productivity by being given round the clock head massages by Swedish beauties and smoking cigars that were rolled on the thighs on South American virgins. Meanwhile, clients calling for service are treated to live performances of the Stones and Bruce Springsteen while they are on hold (no muzak at Boyce HQ), and the engineers arrive at the clients' houses in custom modified Humvees each with so much computer equipment in the back they put KITT to shame. Am I close?
     
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  16. ffreeloader

    ffreeloader Terabyte Poster

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    Earlier on this thread I said MS is probably going to a subscription base for its OS. You rent it by the hour, day, month, quarter, semiannually, or annually. Well, little did I know but MS already has such plans in place. They even have a name for it, Flexgo.
    Here is the rest of the article.... http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/spiegel/0,1518,419034,00.html
     
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  17. Boycie
    Honorary Member

    Boycie Senior Beer Tester

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    See attached...
     

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  18. Baba O'Riley

    Baba O'Riley Gigabyte Poster

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    @Boyce: I like it :D ,

    @Freddy: I haven't looked at your link yet, but I heard something like that not long ago. The pay-as-you-go system is the way of paying for the PC instead of having to put the money up front. After a while, the PC belongs to the user, kind of like a HP scheme.
     
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  19. JonnyMX

    JonnyMX Petabyte Poster

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    But an evil one, obviously. :twisted:
     
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  20. Baba O'Riley

    Baba O'Riley Gigabyte Poster

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    It will consume your soul and damn you for eternity in the fiery pits of Hades. :twisted: :D
     
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