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Microsoft Sued Over WGA

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the phoning-home dept.

Hope Thelps writes "The Seattle PI is reporting on a lawsuit being brought against Microsoft in response to their WGA spyware. Groklaw is also covering the story. Although there are a lot of similarities to Sony's rootkit, the actual harm done is less concrete. It'll be interesting to see how this turns out."

2 of 460 comments (clear)

  1. Remove WGA by cciRRus · · Score: 5, Informative

    Just thought that you guys might wanna know that Microsoft has came up with an article on removing WGA.

    --
    w00t
  2. Re:I recall a full disclosure and ... by ipfwadm · · Score: 5, Informative
    Clear notice that this was an optional install. I could have elected not to install it and had my machine function as before.

    Let's see... I just ran Microsoft Update, then I clicked "Custom". It tells me:

    To use Microsoft Update, you must first install the latest version of some Windows components. This will allow your computer to work with these new features on the site:
    • More updates: Get updates for Windows and for popular Microsoft programs such as Microsoft Office in one place.
    • Faster updates: The latest Windows Installer (MSI) improves the way updates are installed, delivering updates in the smallest possible packages in the shortest amount of time.
    • Easier navigation: Now you can find updates by priority or by product while helpful links and important messages help ensure you are installing all high-priority updates for your computer.
    No mention of WGA. So I click "Details" and lo and behold, it's the WGA Validation Tool that I must install. My only option is "Download and Install Now". There is no skip, ignore, anything. So as far as I can tell, in order to continue receiving updates, I must install this spyware. I don't feel that that qualifies as an "optional" install.