Microsoft WGA Phones Home Even When Told No

Aviran writes "When you start WGA setup and get to the license agreement page but decided NOT to install the highly controversial WGA component and cancel the installation, the setup program will send information stored in your registry and the fact that you choose not to install WGA back to Microsoft's servers."

Comments

Re:Doesn't work

[illumin8]

In MSFT's defense it is a smart move. That way a virus can't modify update.microsoft.com

It sounds like a smart move but I believe it has some more nefarious purpose. If all they are concerned with is the integrity of update packages, why does this matter? The updates are already signed with Microsoft's private key and the signature verified before installation. This should stop any malicious package pretending to be a Windows update made by Joe Q. Hacker. It's far more likely that they want to embed their own web-enabled products like Live Office, Live Search into the OS and they want to prevent any third-parties from offering competing solutions. If the OS is hardcoded to go to microsoft.com to receive it's search queries, and there is no way to override this through a hosts file, MS has a real lock on the internet services and can use this monopoly power to eliminate competitors like Google.

Re:I detect hypocrisy

[suv4x4]

Because many of these people change their user agent string, use TOR [eff.org] and "what not" while browsing. I suppose that these are also the folks for whom firewalls will catch and optionally block this traffic as well, so they might be complaining out of principle.

Do you see people randomly hiding their face with masks in public? What would you think of someone just thought he has the right of privacy and wears a big black sock on his head with little holes for his eyes and mouth? Is this normal? Would you suspect that maybe this guy's up to something?

Where would you draw the line of "privacy" and our tolerance to privacy freaks, at the expense of normal operation of our society? You have:

• agreed to purchasing a computer with Windows on it;
  
• proceeded to using it (and not formatting the disk or anything)
  
• agreed to receiving Windows Updates
  
• agreed to receiving that particular WGA update (or during the Windows setup, agreed to receive all updates automatically without consent, YES, the setup will ask you specifically which way you want updates working).
  

And.. now suddenly Microsoft should feel guilty because a bunch of dorks with pirated Windows are freaking out that Microsoft saw them declining an EULA.

Re:Like the GPL?

[Overly Critical Guy]

BZZZZT! Wrong! Copyright law takes away the freedom. The GPL restores some of the freedom.

BZZZT. The GPL relies on copyright law to function.

By definition, the GPL removes freedom because it does not allow you to do whatever you want. You'll simply have to accept this fact even as it flies in the face of RMS dogma.