...that whether or not MS sells a buggy/insecure product, whether or not they charge too much, and whether or not their business practices are unethical, if you steal a copy of Windows you're even more in the wrong as they are. You can't rationalize the law away. Taking software that you didn't pay for is stealing, period.
That said, Microsoft has every right to require you to let them check if you have a legal copy before using Windows Update. I would agree that they don't have the right to FORCE someone to verify, but to say they have no right to ask you to verify before you use THEIR bandwidth to download THEIR patches and fixes is wrong. If you don't want to verify, then download your patches elsewhere and quit whining.
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...that whether or not MS sells a buggy/insecure product, whether or not they charge too much, and whether or not their business practices are unethical, if you steal a copy of Windows you're even more in the wrong as they are. You can't rationalize the law away. Taking software that you didn't pay for is stealing, period. That said, Microsoft has every right to require you to let them check if you have a legal copy before using Windows Update. I would agree that they don't have the right to FORCE someone to verify, but to say they have no right to ask you to verify before you use THEIR bandwidth to download THEIR patches and fixes is wrong. If you don't want to verify, then download your patches elsewhere and quit whining.