Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Misrepresenting WGA's Functionality?
Legal Ethics writes "According to an article on Groklaw, Microsoft is misrepresenting what the Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) tool is to pressure people into installing it. It comes with no uninstall, it fails to disclose many pieces of information it provides to Microsoft, and it misrepresents itself as a 'critical update' when it does not address any security vulnerability, although it remains to be seen if it can create one. ZDNet has a series of screenshots so that you can see exactly how badly it misrepresents itself. Oh, and it also checks for updates, so Microsoft can presumably execute arbitrary code on any machine with it installed, merely by making that code part of a WGA update."
And what can us consumers do about it? If we refuse it, we don't get updates. This is punishing us the legit users, while pirates will still be laughing at M$'s latest attempt at stamping them out!
I don't know why this is even an issue these days. People, do yourselves a favor! Stay away from Microsoft!
For most needs, Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, and BSD are more than suitable. And far cheaper!
If you depend on software that only runs on Windows, petition the developers to create a Linux/Solaris/BSD/Mac OS X edition, or a port to those platforms. Say straight out that you do not want to use Windows, but you do want to use their software. Give them an alternative they can contemplate.
There is no need to become a victim to Microsoft, especially when they put the security of your data at risk. This WGA nonsense is the sort of thing that businesses just shouldn't have to deal with. And thankfully they don't. Between Solaris, Linux, BSD and Mac OS X, there are many alternative, professional operating systems out there for them to use.
well?... last time some software package was reported doing this it was labelled spyware and the company was prosecuted..
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
do we really need a play-by-play commentary of some jackass installing an update? 17 pages of ads and shit.
the question is when are the anti-malware community going to step up to the plate and provide protection from this software
the fact its made by Microsoft should be irellavent, just analyse the behaviour of the application and judge it on that
communicates unique information at any time to an American based advertising company (msn anybody?) with you the user having no idea of what data and what the implications are of giving this company that data
can your business really risk an application like this on your systems ? are you prepared for the consequences of letting this program run unchallenged inside your companies infrastructure ?
but they are not allowed to misrepresent its nature or what it does to consumers, that is called fraud.
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
It's not the fact it's there, it's the fact Microsoft is not properly disclosing everything it does. This has nothing to do w/ the anti piracy isuse.
...and that's all there is to it.
...why they have to install a piece of software to determine whether your copy of Windows is legit or not. Why not just run a check online when you're doing updates? There's GOTTA be more to this...
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Unfortunately your sarcastic comments have more truth in them than you suppose. America these days certainly isn't "for the people" but "in protection of big business." Yes, the economy would take a serious hit if Microsoft, ExxonMobil, and other major players were suddenly replaced by free alternatives, but in the long run the economy would be much better off. America needs to INNOVATE and discover brand new ways of doing everything instead of relying on the safe, profitable methods that they're used to.
/rant
If ExxonMobil figured out how to run a combustion engine on water (seperating the Hydrogen and Oxygen obviously) do you really think that they would share it with the world? Of course not! It would ruin their current business model.
What these super-companies can't fully comprehend, however, is that any little startup business with an innovative can change everything. Innovation doesn't come from big business anymore, it comes SOLELY from the little guy. And is slowly becoming less and less American.
Every business is futile to innovation. There is no stopping it, only delaying. It must be embraced.
Sorry,
--
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Now, I have one purely academic question related to this.
Can it work on reverse?
In other words, suppose we have a piece of spyware that installs itself as an IE extension. Can it mark itself to have same sort of "stickiness" as the WGA add-on?
If so, it might be a bit of a headache for spyware-cleaner types...
And a practical corollary to that academic question, and a follow-up to your instructions: Exactly how long before there will be a tool that allows you to nuke an IE extension from the orbit, no matter if it's WGA or not?
"swich to something better, nobody is forceing you to use microsoft's product http://linux.com/ [linux.com]"
If true, does that mean that the DOJ erred in calling Microsoft a "monopoly"?
When I read this, I thought, this has GOT to be a joke:
Oh, and it also checks for updates, so Microsoft can presumably execute arbitrary code on any machine with it installed, merely by making that code part of a WGA update.
Where did WGA come from? Auto Updates. What does Auto Updates do? Downloads executable code and makes it a part of your Windows OS.
"Shocking facts" like those really put Slashdot editors low in my eyes.
Letting the vendor have a backdoor into your machine is really risky. If you're in a financial institution, is the vendor bonded? If you're a healthcare provider, is the vendor HIPPA compliant? If you're in a law firm, are any of your clients competitors of Microsoft? You have no contractual guarantee that somebody at Microsoft, or elsewhere, isn't using that backdoor in some interesting way.
I poked around trying to figure out what was wrong.. Didn't see anything. I clicked the "get legal" or whatever it says button at login but nothing ever happened. I eventually remembered that this particular computer had locked up on reboot the week before on a Tuesday and thought perhaps it had something to do with the latest updates from MS. I uninstalled the last few updates I could find. Rebooted, reinstalled them and eventually everything came back to normal and no more complaints about an illegal copy.
I hope this never happens to aunt Tilly. I wonder when XP will really be ready for the desktop.
--- Liberty in our Lifetime
I wish people would quit acting as if anything was unqualifiably better. Life consists of trade-offs but to hear some people talk, life would just be a bowl of cherries if one were to just do this or that... Sheesh... Yes, Linux is better in some ways, but there's that trade-off thing at work there.
You know that http://www.shelleytherepublican.com/ is satire? If not, you should have read the "meaning and purpose" page. It is gone now, but you can still find a lot of references here.
Innovation doesn't come from big business anymore, it comes SOLELY from the little guy
You saying ALL innovation is coming from the little guy? Dam that little guy must be good.
Big business spend an incredible amount of wealth on R&D campuses around the world. If they weren't delivering, you can be rest assured they would be downsived in an instant.
Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
As I've already posted (http://blogs.itoperations.com.au/chris/general/mi crosofts-fueling-of-the-fud/), this is only part of a bigger issue. Microsoft have a history of trying out new technologies designed to restrict end users' activities. The XBox, Office's activation requirements and so on.
We've already had a number of clients who all paid for Windows XP Pro licences coming to us to fix WGA's insistance that their copy isn't genuine. This is another part of the problem - some of our clients don't see why they should pay us to fix the problem, whilst others don't see the implications this sort of "update" has for their privacy.
Yes. You trade off some functionality and eye candy for freedom. Any takers?
evil is as evil does
A while ago Adobe started a survey asking whether people wanted a Linux port of their mainstream applications (Photoshop/Flash/Illustrator and so on.)
;-)
I suggest you get in touch with Adobe and see if they have released or actioned on any of the results of that survey. There might even still be the opportunity to participate in it.
I think Adobe's (and most other dev houses) biggest issue right now is that they don't think there are enough people to justify porting their applications. If enough existing users started discussing it seriously with Adobe, I'm sure they'd be very willing to listen. They actively asked for info in the past.
I understand your issue. The applications you need don't exist on Linux yet. Thats not a fault of the various Linux platforms however. More a case of companies needing to be made aware that there are people who would buy their software if a Linux version existed.
Library hell can be avoided by static linking at compile time. Is kind of like including MFC DLLs with your applications, but a lot cleaner.
No, the solution is to change OS'es every 20 years or so.
Seriously: there's no reason why there ever has to be a "one true OS." In fact, I think that sort of thinking is harmful, because it could prevent a newcomer from gaining a foothold. Even Linux makes some basic assumptions about how a computer operates that could be challenged down the road.
This is why I'm a fan of openness in data storage formats even more than I am in source code or operating systems: as long as people have the ability to move from one platform/OS/software-package to another, we're in good shape. It's the vendor lock-in that's the problem, and honestly I think once the dominance of Windows is broken (don't ask me how long that will take, but it will happen eventually) I doubt that such a situation as we have today will ever repeat itself.
If you have openness in data storage, people can change OSes every decade or so without penalty aside from repurchase and retraining. While significant, they're not enough to outweigh a significant benefit in design or technology. However, access to years of stored data would be.
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