Slashdot Mirror
Anti-Piracy Windows 7 Update Phones Home Quarterly
Lauren Weinstein sends in news of a major and disturbing Microsoft anti-piracy initiative called Windows Activation Technologies, or WAT. Here is Microsoft's blog post giving their perspective on what WAT is for. From Lauren's blog: "The release of Windows 7 'Update for Microsoft Windows (KB71033)' will change the current activation and anti-piracy behavior of Windows 7 by triggering automatic 'phone home' operations over the Internet to Microsoft servers, typically for now at intervals of around 90 days. ... These automatic queries will repeatedly — apparently for as long as Windows is installed — validate your Windows 7 system against Microsoft's latest database of pirated system signatures (currently including more than 70 activation exploits known to Microsoft). If your system matches — again even if up to that time (which could be months or even years since you obtained the system) it had been declared to be genuine — then your system will be 'downgraded' to 'non-genuine' status until you take steps to obtain what Microsoft considers to be an authentic, validated, Windows 7 license. ... KB971033... is scheduled to deploy to the manual downloading 'Genuine Microsoft Software' site on February 16, and start pushing out automatically through the Windows Update environment on February 23. ... [F]or Microsoft to assert that they have the right to treat ordinary PC-using consumers in this manner — declaring their systems to be non-genuine and downgrading them at any time — is rather staggering." Update: 02/12 02:08 GMT by KD : Corrected the Microsoft Knowledge Base number to include a leading 9 that had been omitted in the pre-announcement, per L. Weinstein.
Yes, how horrible that MS take steps to get paid for what they produce. I take it MS is supposed to do nothing and hope that you'll be nice and pay them?
Steps like these need to be taken because, well, people pretty much can not be trusted to do the right thing without the fear of a reprisal looming over their head.
"I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are."
typical slashdot to not give a fuck about the actual problem (piracy) but to kid themselves that its all going to be about 'false positives'. yeah right.
W7 cost tens of millions to develop. They have the right to protect that investment, despite the best efforts of pro-piracy thieves here who think they were born with an entitlement to other peoples work.
This will have ZERO impact on legit buyers of Windows 7. I think its awesome that the slashdot thieves will have to put up with this. As a legit W7 buyer, I won't. Deal with it pirates.
dear MS employee:
1. bullshit. was there a way to avoid installing WGA? why would WAT be different?
2. bullshit. nag screens (at the least) reduce functionality.
3. bullshit. "...because most people don't know they are." damn near everyone using pirate copies knows it perfectly well. it's not like the cracks to install aren't separate, unavoidable steps.
4. bullshit. "...many of which include malicious code." they're duped install discs. or iso's taken from install disks. if there's malicious code on them, you put it there (like WAT?).
5. bullshit. uh-huh. like all the details you've released on what you provide to TSA and NSA. why would anyone believe this?
6. i don't think servers are the point. but i don't know enough to call bullshit anymore. gave up on windows awhile ago, and the last server i installed was 2003.
gates knew. he realized early on that people stealing the OS (DOS, at the time) were some of his best and steadiest customers. at the beginning he was upset (i seem to remember an open letter...) - but one of the main reasons he's as rich as he is, is that he accepted piracy of the OS for the greater profits of Office & etc.
balmer is a rah-rah sales and marketing guy, who's life is dedicated to extracting every thin dime from every deal - even if that dime costs a dollar, later.. he'll be the end of it.
Nice try you sandbagging fuck, how about you mix up some bleach and drain cleaner and end your shit life.
As Microsoft keeps tightening up on people, I really have to wonder why anyone still puts up with it.
because linux won't play an encrypted DVD out of the box? because my media key volume controls don't work? because it will never support the fingerprint reader on my laptop? because my the battery on my new laptop lasts less than one hour with linux? because there are almost no major label games developed for linux? there's no itunes for linux? netflix doesn't work on linux? i can go on.
i run linux at home and work, so i'm not a windows fanboi. but let's not pretend that linux is ready for desktop prime-time. it's not. mod this troll if you want, but those things i listed are deal breakers for the average user.
Fuck you. Burn in hell, you piece of shit. You fucks aren't any different. You think you're slick trying to lull people in with your bullshit? Go choke on Ballmer's cock, fucker. Emphasis on the choke.
Because at the end of the day the Windows box still does what people want better than a linux one.
Hmm... you still haven't explained how those are different from most taxes.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
Apple straight up deletes any Apple pirated software if you take it in for servicing.
Who give a shit that linux supports far more obsolete/niche hardware, when the drivers are broken for commonly used hardware?
On my laptop,
- mic doesn't work (snd-hda-intel)
- wireless doesn't work if shutdown from Windows and then boot into Linux (iwl3945)
- 3D is too slow to even play Warcraft III (xf86-video-intel, GM965)
The morons that modded you up probably do not even know how Windows 7 looks like.