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Microsoft Denies the Windows Kill Switch
WindozeSux writes "Microsoft has denied that WGA will kill pirated copies of Windows. According to Waggener Edstrom,"Microsoft anti-piracy technologies cannot and will not turn off your computer." Microsoft also says that WGA is a necessary part of its campaign to catch those illegally using Windows XP which leads one to think what WGA really does then."
"Because we broke power management in the latest update. We will, however, make sure Windows doesn't boot once your computer is on."
...it automatically sends a raid order of your premises to Tomas Bodström and the swedish police!
Three rings for the Elven-kings in the sky
One can but hope.
Slashdot tends to shake your faith a little.
Well duh. It's not a "Kill Switch"
It's a "Happy Sleepy Funtime Switch!"
Democrats or Republicans. They are both taking us to the same place and they are not afraid of us anymore.
On one of the computers at my church, the WGA Notifier came through MS Update. Fair-dos, I thought. But the church logs anonymous users in through the guest profile. You can see where this is going...
When I tried to use the guest profile, the system tray spouted an icon that said "you may not be running genuine Windows." I logged out, logged in as the system administrator, and asked why.
"The product key could not be read."
Well, do you think you'd LET guest users look at the product key so they can steal your copy of Windows, even if the PK isn't attached? But Microsoft contradicted itself, and I went home happy that I'd found a bug in Microsoft software. (I wasn't off the ceiling for several hours.)
Mercifully, an update was issued that allowed the program to check the PK in the Guest profile. But note the wording of the bubble:
"You MAY not be running Genuine Windows."
May? That, translated out of marketing-speak and into English, reads:
"Oh, dear. You might well have a legit copy of Windows but we believed our computer, so we assume you're a fake. So, we're going to display consistent nag screens until you cough up two hundred pounds to buy Windows."
Or throw the (beep) thing away and use Linux or a pen and paper.
Those using pirated Tinysoft signatures(TM) are a real threat to society and should all be thrown in jail.
One can but hope. Slashdot tends to shake your faith a little.
Shh... Slashdot users aren't meant to understand irony.