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Microsoft Will Never Again Sneakily Force Windows Downloads on Users (betanews.com)
A reader shares a report Windows users in Germany were particularly unimpressed when Microsoft forcibly downloaded many gigabytes of files to upgrade from Windows 7 and 8 to Windows 10. Having held out for 18 months, and losing its case twice, Microsoft has finally agreed to stop its nefarious tactics. After a lengthy battle with Germany's Baden-Wurtenberg consumer rights center, Microsoft made the announcement to avoid the continuation of legal action. A press release on the Baden-Wurtenberg website reveals that Microsoft has announced it will no longer download operating system files to users' computers without their permission: Microsoft will not download install files for new operating systems to a user system's hard disk without a user's consent. The consumer rights center hoped for this resolution to be reached much sooner, but Microsoft's decision will please the courts and could have a bearing on how the company acts in other countries.
And we made sure of this because we locked up the fuckers responsible.
Right??
Next time they'll just send it out piecemeal anyway
honest injun we wont!
So where do users who were sneakily forced go to get reparations?
You can trust us this time. Honest! We have changed.
There are no demands to make up for all of the inconvenience, wasted time, overages on bandwidth, etc?
Slap on the wrist...
Twinstiq, game news
By now there probably aren't that many people left to force an upgrade to Windows10. They need to stop these automatic updates and reboots. Rebooting a PC without explicit permission from the owner of that PC is as criminal as what Sony did with their rootkit. Microsoft may own the IP in the OS but they don't own my PC.
Microsoft Will Again Sneakily Force Windows Downloads on Users
because let's be real, they've got a track record.
I wonder if this will be implemented globally, or whether there will be a "Windows 10 G" edition. Windows N and Windows KN editions for South Korea and the EU were created to remove Media Player and force the user to make a browser choice before IE is turned on by default.
Some people were beyond pissed when this happened, so maybe they'll just cut their losses and do it across the board. The sneaky upgrade dialog was the thing I wasn't happy about, but I'm sure there are some people out there who are very privacy-minded, and any files they didn't explicitly ask for are a no-go for them. I work with people all over the world, and the EU and Germany in particular has some of the strictest privacy laws. 99% of the information harvesting that your average one-trick web startup gets away with in the US is just forbidden by law there. Facebook and Google are constantly lobbying to have the rules not apply to them because their business model falls apart without full access to people's data.
As much as I disagree with forced patches, it has kept the 0 day rate down lately.
Sue to extend this to system updates so MS is forced to restore the previous functionality that was available to users.
love is just extroverted narcissism
Germans complain about Microsoft and come back proclaiming "Peace for our time".
Have gnu, will travel.
They said (emphasis mine):
Microsoft will not download install files for new operating systems to a user system’s hard disk without a user's consent.
How about you just don't upload or download anything without the user's consent?
... they pinky-swear that they have changed. Bullshit! If they ever have a chance to do anything similar and it will make them money, they'll do it. I've been MS-free for years and it's been a real joy to convert so many family and friends to it. Plus, BTW, I no longer get calls from them about the latest thing that Windows is doing. Great!!
From now on, our subsidiary [name yet to be revealed] that "isn't Microsoft" will instead force downloads on users for us^H^Hthem.
Inheritance is the sincerest form of nepotism.
has convinced them to do it in the full open.
They really need a clear definition of "consent" because from what I remember just hitting the "X" on the upgrade Window instead of "Cancel" was actually considered consent by MS. It's purposefully misleading and you know they'll do it again with Windows 11 or whatever bullshit name they call it.
Microsoft will never sneakily force updates on users through large downloads and only in Germany
FTFY
doing a reverse of lives are money thing then as they have cost people MILLIONS then a case could be made they are "serial killers".
hey i would be nice and load their jumpsuits with a buncha gold coins first.
I seem to recall them claiming (a year or so ago?) that Windows 10 would be the last version of Windows, it's rolling updates from here on out. In which case this announcement is a completely meaningless way to duck punishment - they promise to no longer download files for a new operating system... because they will no longer release new operating systems. Just massive updates to their only one.
--- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
What about windows 10 S store only will the EU come down or that or the new windows 10 update that disables ReFS unless you upgrade at an added cost to windows workstation?
UPDATED EULA VERSION
By using the software you hereby consent to ....
....
.... [ 25 pages later ]
....
Your computer automatically downloading and installing updates for bugfixes, security patches, and operating system upgrades with no further notification required, with no guarantee of visible a UI indication, options dialog, or other opportunity being provided defer, pause, cancel, undo, revert, or to opt-out of this process of automatic self-updating.
Because sneaky upgrades were seriously annoying.
Also, does this apply globally, or just in Germany?
Until the next time.
Where's my Bill Gates / Borg avatar. Come on Slashdot, you're slipping.
"Shall we play a game?" -W.O.P.R.
A good laugh is always welcome!
Mainly because we've already force-upgraded everyone who didn't nuke their machine.
Slow down, cowboy! It has been 4 hours since you last posted. You must wait another few hours.
What they agreed to is stopping updates without knowledge. This says nothing about not forcing people to upgrade / update without their consent. If they REALLY wanted to fix the system, they would enable every version of Windows 10 to block certain updates / upgrades and go back to the single update system instead of the update packages.
"I faithfully promise upon my heart and soul that under no circumstances will I stick my hand up your dress ever again until the next time. And I truly mean what I say, Missy.
I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
being microsoft i assume that means only in germany. do you think they will adhere to that policy world wide? no expectations no disappointments for me.
Windows 10 is possibly the worst spyware ever made
Quote: "Buried in the service agreement is permission to poke through everything on your PC."
Microsoft Will Never Again Sneakily Force Windows Downloads on Users
Ya got that right! - Ex-Windows user
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_Fraud_and_Abuse_Act
TLDR? From the first paragraph of the wikipedia summary:The law prohibits accessing a computer without authorization, or in excess of authorization.
Putting file on a computer for the purpose of an unrequested upgrade certainly seems to be 'in excess of authorization', especially when you factor in the several million counts of it. The people who authorized this decision are CRIMINALS.
HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
When American companies fuck you up the ass, the EU will come along and sort it out eventually.
The German state is called "Baden-Württemberg"!
>> There was no way to stop that crap.
Of course there is !
1) push the power button for about 5 sec.
2) plug in LinuxMint USB drive
3) start up, click install
4) Crap is stopped.
aaaaaaa
And I promise I won't come in the mail.
Cue oily-weasel style redefinition of the words/phrases/concepts "download", "new", "operating systems", "user", <the concept of ownership>, "hard disk" in 3, 2, .....
(*) "consent" has already been heavily flexed as a concept so will likely be last to receive a refresh.
Requiem for the American Dream
No idea what you mean. I certainly didn't spend a whole day and seventeen attempts to update windows the other day because <unknown error which wasn't displayed but caused microsoft-built 'laptop' to repeatedly overheat, switch off and thus rewind the update>. Sure, why would I want the fan to come on, or have the option to control whether it's on, or even when the option's been un-hidden and enabled, have it come on. Far better to switch off and show a giant thermo meter on the screen.
Anyway, yeah - I love m$ so from my perspective, your slur is unfair.
Requiem for the American Dream
>> "it will no longer download operating system files to users' computers without their permission"
Translation: we will simply add yet more opaque/vague terminology to the already far too long EULA so no-one actually reads it all, where clicking through implies consent.
Unfortunately, our justice system routinely falls far short of this mark when dealing with corporations.
For Microsoft, the jump to Windows 10 represented a one-time only change of business models.
And even as the legal dust settles, we didn't make them wish they hadn't done what they done.
Why can't corporations also be lowly worms under the law?
____
JUDGE Who said that? Who the fuck said that? Who's the slimy little communist shit twinkle-toed cocksucker down here, who just signed his own death warrant? Nobody, huh?! The fairy fucking godmother said it! Out-fucking-standing! I will P.T. you all until you fucking die! I'll P.T. you until your assholes are sucking buttermilk.
Judge grabs Poettering by the shirt.
JUDGE Was it you, you scroungy little fuck, huh?!
POETTERING Sir, no, sir!
JUDGE You little piece of shit! You look like a fucking worm! I'll bet it was you!
POETTERING Sir, no, sir!
MICROSOFT Sir, I said it, sir! Sergeant steps up to Microsoft.
JUDGE Well ... no shit. What have we got here, a fucking comedian? Private Microsoft? I admire your honesty. Hell, I like you. You can come over to my house and fuck my sister.
Judge punches Microsoft in the tenders. Microsoft sags to his knees.
JUDGE You little scumbag! I've got your name! I've got your ass! You will not laugh! You will not cry! You will learn by the numbers. I will teach you. Now get up! Get on your feet! You had best unfuck yourself or I will unscrew your head and shit down your neck!
MICROSOFT Sir, yes, sir!
JUDGE Private Microsoft, why did you join my beloved Private Sector?
MICROSOFT Sir, to kill, sir!
JUDGE So you're a killer!
MICROSOFT Sir, yes, sir!
JUDGE Let me see your war face!
MICROSOFT Sir?
JUDGE You've got a war face? Aaaaaaaagh! That's a war face. Now let me see your war face!
MICROSOFT Aaaaaaaagh!
JUDGE Bullshit! You didn't convince me! Let me see your real war face!
MICROSOFT Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!
JUDGE You didn't scare me! Work on it!
MICROSOFT Sir, yes, sir!
Abuse comes in a soft or hard option.
One legal reason why most software EULAs aren't enforceable in Germany:
If someone buys Windows from some retailer, the buyer enters into a contract with that retailer.
Any additional crap one party wants to enforce has to be made part of that contract; if the EULA isn't made explicitly a part of that contract, it's not enforceable:
If the seller hides a piece of paper with additional terms the customer doesn't know about somewhere in the box, then those terms aren't enforceable afterwards; and putting a sticker on the box a la "by opening the box, you agree to the unknown terms hidden inside" has been ruled to be a waste of sticker materials.
But the most important bit:
If the customer doesn't buy directly from MS (i.e. if MS isn't that retailer), then MS is not a party in that deal and has no say whatsoever regarding its terms
The customer enters into a contract with the retailer and nobody else.
There's no business relationship being established between the customer and MS just because MS happens to be the manufacturer of a product which the customer bought from somebody else.
As it points out in your Atlantic link, you can thank Eric Holder and his ilk.
the so-called Holder Doctrine, a June 1999 memorandum written by the then–deputy attorney general warning of the dangers of prosecuting big banks—a variant of the “too big to fail” argument that has since become so familiar. Holder’s memo asserted that “collateral consequences” from prosecutions—including corporate instability or collapse—should be taken into account when deciding whether to prosecute a big financial institution.
Just another day in Paradise
Never is a very long time..
hehe well there is no need to agree to the new eula to get it automatically installed anyways.
people didn't "see" it coming because trying to forcibly install it and break applications of users, especially business users. is generally seen as such a big dick move that businesses change providers.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
"Microsoft Will Never Again Sneakily Force Windows Downloads on Users".... in Germany.