Microsoft Sued by a Beijing Student Over 'Privacy Violation'

freakxx writes "Xinhua report that a Beijing University student has sued Microsoft for allegedly gathering personal information via Windows Genuine Advantage. He has demanded a compensation of 1,350 RMB (around US$ 180) and an open apology printed in a national newspaper. The student has accused Microsoft of using WGA to gather information about his computer and himself, rather than solely checking whether or not the installed Windows XP system was genuine. A Microsoft spokesman has declined to speak on this issue and said that the matter is under investigation."

Comments

Priceless

[UbuntuDupe]

Copy of Windows in China: $10

Settlement of legal dispute: $150

Suing Microsoft for collecting your personal info when you live in the People's Republic of China: Priceless.

There are some things you can blame on the government. For everything else, there's Microsoft.

Re:Priceless

[davester666]

"A Microsoft spokesman has declined to speak on this issue and said that the matter is under investigation"

In a press release, MS claims:

We have NO idea what information is gathered as part of WGA. We promise to investigate what information is gathered, and then blame the collection of personal information on a rogue programmer who did it without the permission or knowledge of management. In the future, we promise to encrypt all the personal information we collect so you can't tell that we are doing this anymore.

No more than 2 puppies were killed to produce this press release.

Self worth

[athdemo]

$180? Where's the self-esteem, guy? They violated you!

Re:Self worth

[HappySmileMan]

$180? Where's the self-esteem, guy? They violated you! I know... I've never paid more than 75 to be violated...

Wait, what are we talking about?

Re:Self worth

[ILikeRed]

But just think - there goes 25% of Microsoft's Vista sales in China.

If only...

[Starteck81]

...He could do the same to his own government.

Re:M$ should be abelto forceM$ should be able to..

[initdeep]

Only if they can also force people who can barely construct sentences to go back to school before posting on public forums as well........

solidarity begins at home.

[porky_pig_jr]

to those living in United States. before you start making fun of China, think of the situation with privacy in your homeland. Love, PPJ.

Re:M$ should be abelto forceM$ should be able to..

[aevan]

I don't know...forcing people to sing contracts when they agree, might severely cut back on their [EULA]length. I know my voice would.

We're doomed

[Tablizer]

They are gaining in space, have cheaper manufacturing, out-hacked us (pentagon penetration last week), and finally they are taking our last remaining comparative advantage away: law-suits.

Probably the most important lawsuit this year

[SpeedDevil]

I truly hope he wins. And I am glad that he is not asking for much. I'm pretty sure Microsoft will try to settle out of court but I am also pretty sure this guy is not really doing this for the money. The Chinese government has been trying to reinforce the people's trust in their legal system so I don't think they will just push the case aside, especially after it being covered on Slashdot. I really hope this case gets the attention it needs because this case could be the answer to protecting the privacy of all of us. Setting the precedent in China will make way for more precedents elsewhere. Lu Feng ... we are with you!!! K PS: I'm pretty sure somebody in Microsoft is going nuts right now ... hehe