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How Microsoft Lost In Court Over Windows 10 Upgrades (digitaltrends.com)
In June a California woman successfully sued Microsoft for $10,000 over forced Windows 10 upgrades, and she's now written a 58-page ebook about her battle (which she's selling for $9.99). But an anonymous Slashdot reader shares another inspiring story about a Texas IT worker and Linux geek who got Microsoft to pay him $650 for all the time that he lost.
"Worley built a Windows 7 machine for his grandfather, who has Alzheimer's Disease, [customized] to look like Windows XP, an operating system his grandfather still remembered well..." writes Digital Trends. "But thanks to Microsoft's persistent Windows 10 upgrade program, Worley's grandfather unknowingly initiated the Win 10 upgrade by clicking the 'X' to close an upgrade window." After Worley filed a legal "Notice of Dispute," Microsoft quickly agreed to his demand for $650, which he donated to a non-profit focusing on Alzheimer's patients.
But according to the article, that's just the beginning, since Worley now "hopes people impacted by the forced Windows 10 upgrade will write a complaint to Microsoft demanding a settlement for their wasted time and money in repairing the device," and on his web page suggests that if people don't need the money, they should give it to charities fighting Alzheimer's. "If Microsoft isn't going to wake up and realize that lobbing intentionally-tricky updates at people who don't need and can't use them actively damages not only the lives of the Alzheimer's sufferer, but those of their whole family, then let's cure the disease on Microsoft's dime so their tactics and those of companies that will follow their reckless example aren't as damaging."
Worley suggests each Notice of Dispute should demand at least $50 per hour from Microsoft, adding "If recent history holds steady they might just write you a check!"
But according to the article, that's just the beginning, since Worley now "hopes people impacted by the forced Windows 10 upgrade will write a complaint to Microsoft demanding a settlement for their wasted time and money in repairing the device," and on his web page suggests that if people don't need the money, they should give it to charities fighting Alzheimer's. "If Microsoft isn't going to wake up and realize that lobbing intentionally-tricky updates at people who don't need and can't use them actively damages not only the lives of the Alzheimer's sufferer, but those of their whole family, then let's cure the disease on Microsoft's dime so their tactics and those of companies that will follow their reckless example aren't as damaging."
Worley suggests each Notice of Dispute should demand at least $50 per hour from Microsoft, adding "If recent history holds steady they might just write you a check!"
It's the other way around - personal time is worth more than work time (not less).
If our personal time were worth less to us, we'd be working then, wouldn't we?
Everybody's price goes up as they run out of time. Supply and demand.
Uh, WA i.e. Seattle is as Leftist as CA is. The reason it's called the Left Coast is San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle. They are probably more Leftist than Havana, Caracas, Managua or Pyongyang
extort: obtain (something) by force, threats, or other unfair means.
how is asking for a fair amount owed to you by a company, that does you direct harm by forcing an upgrade on you that make a fully functional computer become an expensive brick, equal extortion?
you sir have a funny way at looking at justice. do you work for microsoft?
My personal time is sold at market rates. For the simple reason that I could sell it at market rates at any time. IT security people are sought after and, let's be honest here, we can pretty much demand what we want and it's being paid.
The point is, why should my personal time be any cheaper than my "professional" time? It's not like I'm doing what I really enjoy doing when upgrading an OS, we're not talking about playing my favorite game.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Are you proud of the work you've done here, making life suck for Alzheimers' patients and countless other customers who lack the capacity, the autonomy, or the technical background needed to circumvent your bosses' intentions?
If you work for Microsoft, then the world is a worse place because you went to work today. Re-evaluate your career options.
Remember, you're engineers. As a group you are capable, experienced professionals in a strong labor market. You have those options, unlike a lot of other people.
And as engineers, you also have ethical obligations, even if they're unwritten ones. Honor those obligations by working somewhere else besides Microsoft.