- http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/06/08/ms_wga_phones_home/
8 June 2006
"Microsoft has admitted that Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) will phone Redmond every day - something it neglected to tell users before they installed it. WGA is designed to detect pirated copies of MS software but is also creating some false positives - two UK dealers have contacted the Reg to report customers complaining that WGA had branded their software as an illegal copy. Microsoft has admitted that Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) will phone Redmond every day - something it neglected to tell users before they installed it. WGA is designed to detect pirated copies of MS software but is also creating some false positives - two UK dealers have contacted the Reg to report customers complaining that WGA had branded their software as an illegal copy. More from Seattle Post Intelligencer here*…"
Utility Stamps Out Microsoft's "Phone Home" Anti-Piracy App
- http://www.techweb.com/article/printableAr…_section=700028
June 23, 2006
"…Firewall Leak Tester, which specializes in firewall stress tests, has released RemoveWGA, a program that deletes the Windows Genuine Advantage Notification Tool. The tool is one of two components that Microsoft has been aggressively promoting as a way to detect counterfeit copies of Windows ( WGA Validation Tool), then nag the user if a bogus Windows is found (Notification Tool)… Firewall Leak Tester's RemoveWGA utility only deletes the in-testing Notification Tool; it leaves the Validation Tool intact. "The Validation part is mandatory for some not critical downloads from Microsoft, but the Notification part is not mandatory at all, and you are able to install all of the security updates without installing this one," Firewall Leak Tester said on its Web site. RemoveWGA can be downloaded from here*…"
MS Makes Anti-Piracy Tool Less Intrusive
- http://www.techweb.com/wire/security/189602009
June 27, 2006
"Microsoft Corp., stung by criticism over the daily phone-home feature within its Windows Genuine Advantage tool, released on Tuesday an upgrade of the anti-piracy software that communicates less with the company's server. In addition, Microsoft replaced the end user license agreement with one that the company said more clearly explains the purpose of the software and how it operates… To correct previous mistakes, the WGA upgrade no longer calls to Microsoft servers each time a computer launches on the Web. Instead, the software will validate the copy of Windows when first installed, and only run the check again when a new version of the tool is deployed. In addition, WGA would be distributed as a "high priority" update, rather than a "critical update," and a preamble added to the end user license agreement provides a high-level summary of the program, its purpose and functions. Finally, Microsoft also made available instructions for people who downloaded the previous version and wished to remove it. The instructions were available through the knowledge base on Microsoft's support site, using the KB number 921914*. Installing the anti-piracy software is not mandatory, but the version of Windows XP running on a computer must be validated before updates are installed via Microsoft's Automatic Updates and Windows Update features, or Microsoft update Web sites…"
EDIT/ADD:
WTF???
- http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921914
"…Important These instructions have not been tested on the general release version of the WGA Notifications. Therefore, these instructions are not supported. Microsoft will offer the general release version of WGA Notifications to users who uninstall the pilot version at a later date. These users will obtain the general release version through the Microsoft Automatic Update service. WGA Notifications is part of the Windows Genuine Advantage program…"
WGA to switch off PCs in September
- http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=32706
29 June 2006
"MICROSOFT is refusing to deny (?) that it plans to turn its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) program into a method of shutting down PCs it considers are running pirated software. Vole was asked by ZD Net* to confirm or deny the rumours which it has refused to do. Currently Vole annoys WGA punters who it thinks are running hot software with pop-ups. Unfortunately the level of complaints that Vole has had, have indicated that what WGA thinks is hot software and what actually is pirated are two different things. WGA apparently has "issues" with some people's drivers and others do not like the idea of Vole having the power to change their security settings at will. According to one punter who contacted ZD Net, he was told by Windows support that those that do not run WGA in Autumn will have their computers switched off. Windows will give you a 30 day warning and then if it's not installed, Windows will stop working. The official Volish quote on the matter was that as the WGA Notifications program expands in the future, customers may be "required to participate"…"
* http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=84
- http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=89
July 3, 2006
"You don't need to look very hard to find outraged Windows customers who have been branded pirates by Windows Genuine Authentication. And a hefty number of them claim they're being unfairly targeted, with legitimate Windows copies that are being tagged as stolen or pirated. I've heard from several dozen people, and I've also seen credible stories posted on Microsoft's public WGA newsgroups… Trying to pry answers out of Microsoft is difficult, because they refuse to grant interviews on this subject… I'll keep beating on this stone wall for as long as I can stand it."
Windows genuine disadvantage
- http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/409
2006-07-05
"…Those who were the "victims" of software piracy and who presumably wanted to "get legal" were the ones who purchased OEM products that were unlicensed – and they were the ones being forced by Microsoft to "walk the plank." Arrrrrrrrrrrrgh. It's not like Microsoft was going after the OEM manufacturers and distributors of unlicensed product, obtaining monetary judgments and then giving that money to the purchasers of the products. No, the enforcement actions were aimed at obtaining license fees and civil and criminal sanctions for the company, all the while the company was claiming that the unwitting purchasers were the victims. In fact, even if the Redmond giant successfully squeezed license fees or other sanctions from the OEM selling the unlicensed software, they still retained the right, through the WGA program, to go after the individual (and possibly unwitting) purchasers for the license fees again… "In Windows Vista, we are making it notably harder and less appealing to use counterfeit software, and we will work to make that a consistent experience with older versions of Windows as well." Sounds an awful lot like spyware to me… Lets see exactly what information Microsoft is having its OS call home with. Sure, it sends the key, and configuration information. But it sends it over the Internet. This adds one more piece of information to the mix – the system's IP address. The government is increasingly demanding that ISPs – and now entities like Myspace.com – retain information for years about IP address holders specifically so that it (and private litigants) can use the IP information to determine the true identity of users. Does Microsoft's promise that it does not collect information from which it can learn your identity mean that it doesn't collect the IP information for millions of computers that connect to its servers? I think not. Or that it doesn't retain (at least briefly) that information? Somehow I doubt it… What all this means is that whenever you collect personal information – whether actively or passively – that could be used to identify people, you need to let them know in clear, unambiguous and easily accessible language. Don't worry, nobody is going to read it anyway. And in the case of Microsoft, do they have any meaningful choices? Sure… that little Antarctic bird…"
- http://www.scotsnewsletter.com/83.htm#wgaoff
August 2006 - Vol. 6, Issue No. 83
"…Microsoft is going directly after its own customers — not the serious bad guys — with WGA. I'm sure the software giant believes it must do this in order to get the counterfeiters, the repair shops that use the same XP CD and product key over and over again, the system builders who sell the same license repeatedly, and the smaller enterprises that, while they have purchased machines that are properly licensed, are using a single Windows image and product key (not acquired through volume licensing) for all their new PCs… The actual numbers of false positives don't matter. It's about the perception. It's glaringly obvious that Microsoft cares not a whit about individual Windows users. Its only focus is larger volume-licensing customers and OEM PC makers. Since it's all about Microsoft recouping money, it's hard not to look at this as corporate greed at the expense of unsuspecting corporate customers and end users… If you prefer not to mess around with the System Registry yourself, there's a free utility called RemoveWGA* available for download on the Internet from Firewall Leak Tester. I've tested RemoveWGA 1.2 and I recommend it as an alternative…"
* http://www.firewallleaktester.com/removewga.htm
- http://www.theregister.com/2007/03/09/ms_wga_phones_home/
9 March 2007 ~ "Microsoft has admitted that the latest update to its Windows Genuine Advantage program will phone back to Redmond even if the user clicks cancel. WGA is meant to help Redmond fight piracy, but has been criticised on privacy grounds and because previous versions have incorrectly labelled people with genuine software as pirates. But if you cancel the installation of WGA, maybe because you dislike the privacy implications, the software will still phone home…"
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