Microsoft Talks Daily With Your Computer

An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft Corp. 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. The company said the undisclosed daily check is a safety measure designed to allow the tool, called Windows Genuine Advantage, to quickly shut down in case of a malfunction." The EULA is suppose to disclose this daily call-in feature. Lauren Weinstein, who is co-founder of People for Internet Responsibility, was one of the first people to notice the daily communications to Microsoft. Report from Yahoo.com"

Comments

Re:Yawn

[iMouse]

You sound like you work for Microsoft or have no desire to keep your computer and its contents to yourself. Yeah, Microsoft isn't gonna actually "spy" on you, nor will they look at any of your personal information. But it seems our government over the last 6 years has a problem with properly interpreting Constitutional rights to free speech and privacy. If you question their motives, you're a terrorist. If you continue your thoughts or actions against us, you are allowing the terrorists to win. Bullshit. AT&T allowed the NSA to wiretap lines without notifying its users, who's to say that Microsoft won't do the same? Well, I guess you're just "renting" the use of your glorious operating system anyway...they'll do what they damn well please with it.

Re:What kind of bullshit excuse is this?

[molarmass192]

For laptops, SuSE 10.1 is the most complete Linux distro hands down. If you have an ATI or nVidia chip, the Xgl desktop is simply an amazing piece of eye candy that puts anything you've seen on Windows to shame. On that note, if it's a small footprint and performance you're looking for, PuppyLinux 2.0 on 256M of DDR can't be beat but at the cost of looking a bit Win2K-ish. If you're a Linux newbie or want all the bells and whistles, go SuSE. If you want raw speed at the cost of some creature comforts and have played with Linux before, go Puppy.

Firefox does this too

[LS]

You all know that Firefox, BY DEFAULT, checks for updates and installs them before letting the user know right?

Where are the cries of foul here?

LS