Microsoft Wins Windows XP WGA Lawsuit

Rish writes "A lawsuit that accused Microsoft of misleading consumers to download and install an update for Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) under the guise that it was critical security update has been tossed out. Last month, a federal judge refused to certify the lawsuit as a class action, which would have meant anyone who owned a Windows XP PC in mid-2006 could join the case without having to hire an attorney, and on Friday the same judge dismissed the case completely."

Comments

No good

[Anonymous Coward]

I work in computer repair, and the worst part of WGA is that after doing a repair, sometimes a customer will get that update and the customer will get confused and click cancel or that they decline. This automatically tells them that their software is not genuine.

Microsoft knows how to carefully word their alert to make sure they understand that it could be caused by counterfeit software, but does not even suggest that this alert could be because they just haven't yet validated, or they need to activate.

I used to get angry calls because customers thought I was providing them stolen software. So then I decided I'd make their copies of windows genuine for my customers before they leave. But that's when the pirates come out of the wood work! What do you do when a copy won't validate? Well now you've got a customer who thinks you've stolen their software right off the bat due to the non-genuine alerts you just caused.

It's lose/lose for the pc repair industry- and it's win/win. How many frightened people have gone to staples and picked up a new copy to avoid getting in legal trouble? I know a few...

Re:No good

[IndustrialComplex]

Then refuse to repair people's computers if they have invalid keys. Or request their Windows CD when they take it to the shop. There are about a hundred ways around this.

Yeah, 100 ways to fold your business.

Re:No good

[FredFredrickson]

folding, there's a difference between activation and WGA validation. There isn't a direct line for WGA validation, and they often attempt to charge for that support.

Also, your DVD player analogy is flawed. Consider the same analogy, except after 1 year, the player breaks because the manufacturer installed a kill switch, that they decided to push. That wouldn't exactly be the fault of the consumer, would it?

XP users shouldn't expect lifetime free security and feature updates. But what they should expect is that the software will continue to function as it did when it was purchased. If it discontinues to function, it would need to have been caused by anything except the manufacturer of the software. Viruses and hardware failures are expected. MS killswitches are not.

Re:No good

[HungryHobo]

And then the customers says "hey, why did mass effect stop working, this is useless for everything I want to use it for"

Re:No good

[bzipitidoo]

if you have the guts to pick up the phone

But why should anyone have to do that? The software failed not because of an honest mistake or bug but because they deliberately broke it. Defective by design. Software is quite buggy and unreliable enough as is without anyone purposely making it worse! Stop apologizing for MS.

Even fairly sophisticated users might not know the finer points of the difference between an OEM license and a retail license. And why should anyone have to know or care about that? Wholly artificial distinctions created by MS that does absolutely nothing for their customers and tramples upon the First Sale doctrine.

Even if you believe that they're allowed to add DRM to their new products, should they have the right to change old products retroactively? But never mind rights. Is it smart? No!

And why did they try to sneak it past everyone, lying about what it really was? It seems they anticipated that their customers would take a dim view. So instead of being sensible and not doing it, they compounded the problem by trying a stupid deception. Anyone in MS who didn't understand they'd be found out wasn't using their brains-- if indeed they have any. And also the very name-- "Genuine Advantage"-- was, as everyone quickly learned, an offensively steaming load of marketspeak that insulted our intelligence. It is sad how often corporations try this sort of idiocy. And most people are far too forgiving of it. I at least don't want to use products that were screwed up by people who have demonstrated their incompetence in such a wanton fashion. I don't trust Windows. Bad enough wondering if this incompetence means their honest bugs will be worse than usual. But to also have to wonder what more the managers of this software might arrogate is beyond the pale. What will they try next, have the Malicious Software Removal Tool go rather beyond its stated purpose and also check for piracy of other MS products such as Office? Maybe even disable the software? Check your music collection on behalf of the RIAA? Does Windows also purposely sabotage competitors' offerings, making it slower and buggier? Who do they think their customers are?!

It's too bad MS was let off the hook. The court didn't do them any favors. They'd be a better company if they got roasted for this. Instead, MS is still pushing the DRM, and still trying stupid cheap marketing to try to smooth things over with wholly cosmetic changes. They've renamed it to WAT in an attempt to move on from the bad name WGA deservedly earned. WAT is the same old thing, and it shows that they still don't get it.

Re:No good

[DMUTPeregrine]

And what, exactly, about bypassing a broken WGA is a violation of their copyright? Sure, it can be used as such, but if that's your reasoning we should ban all CD-burning software.