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Microsoft Dodges Class Action In WGA Lawsuit

Posted by kdawson on from the hire-your-own-lawyer dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A lawsuit that accused Microsoft of misleading consumers to download and install an update for Windows Genuine Advantage under the guise that it was critical security update will go forward, but not as a class action. A federal judge has refused to certify the lawsuit as a class action, which would have meant that anyone who owned a Windows XP PC in mid-2006 could join the case without having to hire an attorney. As Windows XP was easily the most popular operating system at the time, the ruling means Redmond has managed to avoid hundreds of millions in potential damages."

10 of 256 comments (clear)

  1. Thats fine by me... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I never planned on using the corporate justice system anyway.

    I used the consumer justice system... I pirated some of their software and then switched to Linux.

    1. Re:Thats fine by me... by wall0159 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      While switching to Linux is a punishment for MS - pirating their software is not - it merely entrenches their position.

    2. Re:Thats fine by me... by qazwart · · Score: 5, Informative

      You actually have a point.

      Back in the 1990s with the Microsoft antitrust case, many emails and discussions came out. One of the most interesting ones was Microsoft taking about their market position in China at that time. They talked about market share and how many people there were using Windows and Office and what they could do to improve this. The funny thing is they weren't talking about sales, but the number of people pirating their software. Microsoft wanted to encourage people in China to pirate more copies of Windows and Office.

      Microsoft new the number of people who could actually afford their software in China at that time was low, but they also believed that one day China would crack down on the pirating and become a legitimate market. Microsoft thought their best position was to make sure everyone was using Microsoft products -- even if they were pirated -- because people would be use to them. Then once the government cracked down on pirating, Microsoft's sales would go through the roof.

      Microsoft's biggest fear is that if people were discouraged from using pirated copies of Microsoft products, these people would turn to "open source alternatives" and would never become Microsoft customers.

  2. Hundreds of millions by Spad · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...the ruling means Redmond has managed to avoid hundreds of millions in potential damages

    All of which would have gone to the lawyers.

  3. If you can dodge a class action lawsuit... by Barefoot+Monkey · · Score: 5, Funny

    If you can dodge a class action lawsuit, you can dodge a ball.

    1. Re:If you can dodge a class action lawsuit... by Spazztastic · · Score: 5, Funny

      If you can dodge a class action lawsuit, you can dodge a chair.

      Fixed that for you.

      --
      Posts not to be taken literally. Almost everything is sarcasm.
  4. Re:good by adolf · · Score: 5, Insightful

    WGA enables other updates to be installed, it pretty much is a security update.

    Yeah, sure. It "enables" other updates to be installed, just like DRM protection "enables" movies to be watched.

    The converse, however, seems far more true: WGA restricts other updates from being installed, just like DRM restricts movies from being watched.

    There is no technical or security reason for WGA's existence. The "other updates" that it "enables" would work just fine without it, were they not arbitrarily designed to require WGA.

    --
    Kid-proof tablet..
  5. "In closing, your Honor..." by the+roAm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "This was indeed a critical security update. An update to secure the legitimacy of the software which we support."

    Then the judge rules in favor of Microsoft.
    The end.

    --
    ~The roAm
  6. TWAT by SpockLogic · · Score: 5, Funny

    WGA renamed for Vista and 7 as "The Windows Activation Technologies (TWAT)" Your Honor, I rest my case.

  7. Denial of class != ruling on merits by xymog · · Score: 5, Informative

    The problem with the case is that plaintiff's' attorneys have failed to meet the legal requirements to certify the lawsuit as a class action. The initial pleading has been repeatedly amended to add and drop plaintiffs, while at the same time it is not able to advance coherent legal arguments backed by evidence. Courts will not certify a lawsuit as a class action based on wishful thinking. The courts require prima facie evidence that the issue is widespread, that many people are harmed, and that judicial economy will be best served by having a single lawsuit. This isn't a "win" for Microsoft or a "loss" for the common man; plaintiffs' attorneys haven't done their homework and met the burden of proof for certifying the class.