Vista - Paul Thurrott.... a software pirate.

Paul Thurrott, one of the most important Microsoft advocates, has been bitten by Windows
Genuine Advantage. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?s...52221&from=rss


http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/wga.asp

I've found Microsoft's recent forays into customer relations with Windows Genuine Advantage
(WGA) to be somewhat amusing. I mean, after all, Microsoft is a huge company just brimming with
really smart people. How could they do something so silly?
If you're not up on the WGA saga, here's a recap. Microsoft announced its Genuine Advantage
software initiative in March 2006. It's designed as part of the company's wider assault on
software piracy (another infamous part of this fight, Product Activation, won fame and fortune
for Microsoft went XP was released in late 2001). The Genuine Advantage initiative is comprised
of three parts: Education (customers should understand the risks of pirated software),
Engineering (Microsoft's ongoing investment in anti-counterfeiting technologies and product
features), and Enforcement (Microsoft is helping law enforcement agencies go after the world's
worst software pirates).

WGA is a component of the Engineering part of that unholy triumvirate. It's a bit of software
that gets installed on Windows XP (it's part of Windows Vista right out of the gate, naturally)
and is comprised of two components. The first, dubbed WGA Validation, determines whether the
version of Windows on which its running is legitimate. The second component, WGA Notifications,
displays annoying alerts on pirated Windows copies and provides a way for the user to pay for a
legitimate copy of Windows.

Aside from basic trust issues--Apple, for example, does not burden users with Product
Activation or any similar anti-piracy technologies in its Mac OS X operating system--Microsoft
made two major mistakes with WGA. The first was to silently post a beta version of the tool to
Windows Update as a Critical Update, thus ensuring that it was quietly and underhandedly
installed on hundreds of millions of customers' PCs: I mean, seriously. Is Microsoft honestly
making guinea pigs out of its entire user base?

The second mistake was that WGA Notifications was also "phoning home" information to Microsoft
on a regular basis. That's right: Not only was the software secretly installed on your PC, but
it then regularly contacted Microsoft servers and provided them with data about the instances
of pirated and nonpirated software out there. Customers and security experts reacted with
alarm, as well they should: Microsoft had literally shipped spyware to its customers.
Microsoft, meanwhile, reacted as they often do when something like this happens: They made as
if nothing serious had happened and acted shocked that anyone could think otherwise. So much
for the Glasnost of the consent decree.

After a few days of freaking out customers, Microsoft finally changed WGA in mid-June 2006 so
that it wouldn't phone home every single time a PC rebooted, which is how frequently it had
been doing so. Now, WGA will still send back piracy data to Microsoft the first time it tests a
system, and then it will only sporadically phone home after that. The company also released a
set of instructions for disabling or removing the "pilot" version of WGA though Microsoft
contends that the final version of the software, due soon, will not support these activities.

After the dust had settled, sort of, I was still sort of curious what WGA looked like on a
system that was suspected of being pirated. This week, I got my wish: A copy of Windows XP
Media Center Edition 2005, installed in a virtual machine, came up with various WGA alerts
after I installed a bunch of updates from Windows Update. Screenshots of this machine can be
found below.

You're probably wondering how it is that I'm running a pirated copy of Windows. It's a
legitimate question.

We're all friends here, right?

Truthfully, I can only imagine what triggered these alerts. The software was installed to a VM
a long time ago and archived on my server. I no doubt used a copy of XP MCE 2005 that I had
received as part of my MSDN subscription. If the WGA alerts are to be believed, it's possible
that Microsoft thinks I've installed this software on too many machines, though that seems
unlikely to me. I can't really say.

Anyway, that's what it looks like to be a suspected pirate. Like many people who will see these
alerts, I don't believe I did anything wrong. I'm sure that's going to be a common refrain in
this new era of untrusting software and companies. Ah well.




--
Michael
______
"The trouble ain't that there is too many fools,
but that the lightning ain't distributed right."
- Mark Twain

MICHAEL wrote:
> Paul Thurrott, one of the most important Microsoft advocates, has been
> bitten by Windows Genuine Advantage.
> http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?s...52221&from=rss
>
>
> http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/wga.asp
>
> I've found Microsoft's recent forays into customer relations with
> Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) to be somewhat amusing. I mean, after
> all, Microsoft is a huge company just brimming with really smart people.
> How could they do something so silly?
> If you're not up on the WGA saga, here's a recap. Microsoft announced
> its Genuine Advantage software initiative in March 2006. It's designed
> as part of the company's wider assault on software piracy (another
> infamous part of this fight, Product Activation, won fame and fortune
> for Microsoft went XP was released in late 2001). The Genuine Advantage
> initiative is comprised of three parts: Education (customers should
> understand the risks of pirated software), Engineering (Microsoft's
> ongoing investment in anti-counterfeiting technologies and product
> features), and Enforcement (Microsoft is helping law enforcement
> agencies go after the world's worst software pirates).
>
> WGA is a component of the Engineering part of that unholy triumvirate.
> It's a bit of software that gets installed on Windows XP (it's part of
> Windows Vista right out of the gate, naturally) and is comprised of two
> components. The first, dubbed WGA Validation, determines whether the
> version of Windows on which its running is legitimate. The second
> component, WGA Notifications, displays annoying alerts on pirated
> Windows copies and provides a way for the user to pay for a legitimate
> copy of Windows.
>
> Aside from basic trust issues--Apple, for example, does not burden users
> with Product Activation or any similar anti-piracy technologies in its
> Mac OS X operating system--Microsoft made two major mistakes with WGA.
> The first was to silently post a beta version of the tool to Windows
> Update as a Critical Update, thus ensuring that it was quietly and
> underhandedly installed on hundreds of millions of customers' PCs: I
> mean, seriously. Is Microsoft honestly making guinea pigs out of its
> entire user base?
>
> The second mistake was that WGA Notifications was also "phoning home"
> information to Microsoft on a regular basis. That's right: Not only was
> the software secretly installed on your PC, but it then regularly
> contacted Microsoft servers and provided them with data about the
> instances of pirated and nonpirated software out there. Customers and
> security experts reacted with alarm, as well they should: Microsoft had
> literally shipped spyware to its customers. Microsoft, meanwhile,
> reacted as they often do when something like this happens: They made as
> if nothing serious had happened and acted shocked that anyone could
> think otherwise. So much for the Glasnost of the consent decree.
>
> After a few days of freaking out customers, Microsoft finally changed
> WGA in mid-June 2006 so that it wouldn't phone home every single time a
> PC rebooted, which is how frequently it had been doing so. Now, WGA will
> still send back piracy data to Microsoft the first time it tests a
> system, and then it will only sporadically phone home after that. The
> company also released a set of instructions for disabling or removing
> the "pilot" version of WGA though Microsoft contends that the final
> version of the software, due soon, will not support these activities.
>
> After the dust had settled, sort of, I was still sort of curious what
> WGA looked like on a system that was suspected of being pirated. This
> week, I got my wish: A copy of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005,
> installed in a virtual machine, came up with various WGA alerts after I
> installed a bunch of updates from Windows Update. Screenshots of this
> machine can be found below.
>
> You're probably wondering how it is that I'm running a pirated copy of
> Windows. It's a legitimate question.
>
> We're all friends here, right?
>
> Truthfully, I can only imagine what triggered these alerts. The software
> was installed to a VM a long time ago and archived on my server. I no
> doubt used a copy of XP MCE 2005 that I had received as part of my MSDN
> subscription. If the WGA alerts are to be believed, it's possible that
> Microsoft thinks I've installed this software on too many machines,
> though that seems unlikely to me. I can't really say.
>
> Anyway, that's what it looks like to be a suspected pirate. Like many
> people who will see these alerts, I don't believe I did anything wrong.
> I'm sure that's going to be a common refrain in this new era of
> untrusting software and companies. Ah well.
>
>
>
>
Please don't post any more links to trash dot.
THX
Frank

I consider Paul Thurrott the Michael Moore of Windows journalism. I hear
he's doing a documentary on Microsoft titled "Fahrenheit 1024x768."

"Frank" <fb@nospamm.cmm> wrote in message
news:e7jz5xUrGHA.3380@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> MICHAEL wrote:
>> Paul Thurrott, one of the most important Microsoft advocates, has been
>> bitten by Windows Genuine Advantage.
>> http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?s...52221&from=rss
>>
>>
>> http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/wga.asp
>>
>> I've found Microsoft's recent forays into customer relations with Windows
>> Genuine Advantage (WGA) to be somewhat amusing. I mean, after all,
>> Microsoft is a huge company just brimming with really smart people. How
>> could they do something so silly?
>> If you're not up on the WGA saga, here's a recap. Microsoft announced its
>> Genuine Advantage software initiative in March 2006. It's designed as
>> part of the company's wider assault on software piracy (another infamous
>> part of this fight, Product Activation, won fame and fortune for
>> Microsoft went XP was released in late 2001). The Genuine Advantage
>> initiative is comprised of three parts: Education (customers should
>> understand the risks of pirated software), Engineering (Microsoft's
>> ongoing investment in anti-counterfeiting technologies and product
>> features), and Enforcement (Microsoft is helping law enforcement agencies
>> go after the world's worst software pirates).
>>
>> WGA is a component of the Engineering part of that unholy triumvirate.
>> It's a bit of software that gets installed on Windows XP (it's part of
>> Windows Vista right out of the gate, naturally) and is comprised of two
>> components. The first, dubbed WGA Validation, determines whether the
>> version of Windows on which its running is legitimate. The second
>> component, WGA Notifications, displays annoying alerts on pirated Windows
>> copies and provides a way for the user to pay for a legitimate copy of
>> Windows.
>>
>> Aside from basic trust issues--Apple, for example, does not burden users
>> with Product Activation or any similar anti-piracy technologies in its
>> Mac OS X operating system--Microsoft made two major mistakes with WGA.
>> The first was to silently post a beta version of the tool to Windows
>> Update as a Critical Update, thus ensuring that it was quietly and
>> underhandedly installed on hundreds of millions of customers' PCs: I
>> mean, seriously. Is Microsoft honestly making guinea pigs out of its
>> entire user base?
>>
>> The second mistake was that WGA Notifications was also "phoning home"
>> information to Microsoft on a regular basis. That's right: Not only was
>> the software secretly installed on your PC, but it then regularly
>> contacted Microsoft servers and provided them with data about the
>> instances of pirated and nonpirated software out there. Customers and
>> security experts reacted with alarm, as well they should: Microsoft had
>> literally shipped spyware to its customers. Microsoft, meanwhile, reacted
>> as they often do when something like this happens: They made as if
>> nothing serious had happened and acted shocked that anyone could think
>> otherwise. So much for the Glasnost of the consent decree.
>>
>> After a few days of freaking out customers, Microsoft finally changed WGA
>> in mid-June 2006 so that it wouldn't phone home every single time a PC
>> rebooted, which is how frequently it had been doing so. Now, WGA will
>> still send back piracy data to Microsoft the first time it tests a
>> system, and then it will only sporadically phone home after that. The
>> company also released a set of instructions for disabling or removing the
>> "pilot" version of WGA though Microsoft contends that the final version
>> of the software, due soon, will not support these activities.
>>
>> After the dust had settled, sort of, I was still sort of curious what WGA
>> looked like on a system that was suspected of being pirated. This week, I
>> got my wish: A copy of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, installed in
>> a virtual machine, came up with various WGA alerts after I installed a
>> bunch of updates from Windows Update. Screenshots of this machine can be
>> found below.
>>
>> You're probably wondering how it is that I'm running a pirated copy of
>> Windows. It's a legitimate question.
>>
>> We're all friends here, right?
>>
>> Truthfully, I can only imagine what triggered these alerts. The software
>> was installed to a VM a long time ago and archived on my server. I no
>> doubt used a copy of XP MCE 2005 that I had received as part of my MSDN
>> subscription. If the WGA alerts are to be believed, it's possible that
>> Microsoft thinks I've installed this software on too many machines,
>> though that seems unlikely to me. I can't really say.
>>
>> Anyway, that's what it looks like to be a suspected pirate. Like many
>> people who will see these alerts, I don't believe I did anything wrong.
>> I'm sure that's going to be a common refrain in this new era of
>> untrusting software and companies. Ah well.
>>
>>
>>
>>
> Please don't post any more links to trash dot.
> THX
> Frank

> Please don't post any more links to trash dot.
> THX
> Frank

Firstly, Learn how to edit a post so ppl don't have to wade through all the
previous post to get to yours.........

And secondly, it is a free world and even though you may not find it
interesting..others may.. If you don't like what he is posting.. Kill file
him..

Just like have just done to you...

Taz

Barry & Melissa wrote:
>
>
>> Please don't post any more links to trash dot.
>> THX
>> Frank
>
>
> Firstly, Learn how to edit a post so ppl don't have to wade through all
> the previous post to get to yours.........
>
> And secondly, it is a free world and even though you may not find it
> interesting..others may.. If you don't like what he is posting.. Kill
> file him..
>
> Just like have just done to you...
>
> Taz
Screw u! I only edit when I feel like it!
PLONKKKKKKKKKKK!
Frank

You have labelled the subject "
Paul Thurrott.... a software pirate." yet this is *misleading*.

Anyone with an ounce of intelligence can read the article & conclude that he
is not a "pirate".

What does your post have to do with Vista anyway?. Nothing.



"MICHAEL" <u158627_emr@dslr.net> wrote in message
news:OkI2Q7TrGHA.4680@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Paul Thurrott, one of the most important Microsoft advocates, has been
> bitten by Windows Genuine Advantage.
> http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?s...52221&from=rss
>
>
> http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/wga.asp
>
> I've found Microsoft's recent forays into customer relations with Windows
> Genuine Advantage (WGA) to be somewhat amusing. I mean, after all,
> Microsoft is a huge company just brimming with really smart people. How
> could they do something so silly?
> If you're not up on the WGA saga, here's a recap. Microsoft announced its
> Genuine Advantage software initiative in March 2006. It's designed as part
> of the company's wider assault on software piracy (another infamous part
> of this fight, Product Activation, won fame and fortune for Microsoft went
> XP was released in late 2001). The Genuine Advantage initiative is
> comprised of three parts: Education (customers should understand the risks
> of pirated software), Engineering (Microsoft's ongoing investment in
> anti-counterfeiting technologies and product features), and Enforcement
> (Microsoft is helping law enforcement agencies go after the world's worst
> software pirates).
>
> WGA is a component of the Engineering part of that unholy triumvirate.
> It's a bit of software that gets installed on Windows XP (it's part of
> Windows Vista right out of the gate, naturally) and is comprised of two
> components. The first, dubbed WGA Validation, determines whether the
> version of Windows on which its running is legitimate. The second
> component, WGA Notifications, displays annoying alerts on pirated Windows
> copies and provides a way for the user to pay for a legitimate copy of
> Windows.
>
> Aside from basic trust issues--Apple, for example, does not burden users
> with Product Activation or any similar anti-piracy technologies in its Mac
> OS X operating system--Microsoft made two major mistakes with WGA. The
> first was to silently post a beta version of the tool to Windows Update as
> a Critical Update, thus ensuring that it was quietly and underhandedly
> installed on hundreds of millions of customers' PCs: I mean, seriously. Is
> Microsoft honestly making guinea pigs out of its entire user base?
>
> The second mistake was that WGA Notifications was also "phoning home"
> information to Microsoft on a regular basis. That's right: Not only was
> the software secretly installed on your PC, but it then regularly
> contacted Microsoft servers and provided them with data about the
> instances of pirated and nonpirated software out there. Customers and
> security experts reacted with alarm, as well they should: Microsoft had
> literally shipped spyware to its customers. Microsoft, meanwhile, reacted
> as they often do when something like this happens: They made as if nothing
> serious had happened and acted shocked that anyone could think otherwise.
> So much for the Glasnost of the consent decree.
>
> After a few days of freaking out customers, Microsoft finally changed WGA
> in mid-June 2006 so that it wouldn't phone home every single time a PC
> rebooted, which is how frequently it had been doing so. Now, WGA will
> still send back piracy data to Microsoft the first time it tests a system,
> and then it will only sporadically phone home after that. The company also
> released a set of instructions for disabling or removing the "pilot"
> version of WGA though Microsoft contends that the final version of the
> software, due soon, will not support these activities.
>
> After the dust had settled, sort of, I was still sort of curious what WGA
> looked like on a system that was suspected of being pirated. This week, I
> got my wish: A copy of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, installed in
> a virtual machine, came up with various WGA alerts after I installed a
> bunch of updates from Windows Update. Screenshots of this machine can be
> found below.
>
> You're probably wondering how it is that I'm running a pirated copy of
> Windows. It's a legitimate question.
>
> We're all friends here, right?
>
> Truthfully, I can only imagine what triggered these alerts. The software
> was installed to a VM a long time ago and archived on my server. I no
> doubt used a copy of XP MCE 2005 that I had received as part of my MSDN
> subscription. If the WGA alerts are to be believed, it's possible that
> Microsoft thinks I've installed this software on too many machines, though
> that seems unlikely to me. I can't really say.
>
> Anyway, that's what it looks like to be a suspected pirate. Like many
> people who will see these alerts, I don't believe I did anything wrong.
> I'm sure that's going to be a common refrain in this new era of untrusting
> software and companies. Ah well.
>
>
>
>
> --
> Michael
> ______
> "The trouble ain't that there is too many fools,
> but that the lightning ain't distributed right."
> - Mark Twain
>
>

> And secondly, it is a free world and even though you may not find it
> interesting..others may.. If you don't like what he is posting.. Kill file
> him..

Free world or not, the post is not relevant to this discussion group and is
inappropriate. While WGA may be involved with the release version, this
group is for support and discussion of items currently related to Windows
Vista. Michael's post is designed to promote arguements about a subject that
has naught to do with the public preview of Windows Vista. Were the group
monitored, the post and ensuing thread would be removed as non-topical.
There are plenty, and I do mean plenty, of Windows groups where this topic
is appropriate.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 06:14:42 -0400, Rick Rogers wrote:

>> And secondly, it is a free world and even though you may not find
>> it interesting..others may.. If you don't like what he is
>> posting.. Kill file him..
>
> Free world or not, the post is not relevant to this discussion
> group and is inappropriate.

<Groan!>

--
Chris Game

Rick Rogers wrote:
>>> And secondly, it is a free world and even though you may not find it
>>> interesting..others may.. If you don't like what he is posting..
>>> Kill file him..
>>
>> Free world or not, the post is not relevant to this discussion group
>> and is inappropriate. While WGA may be involved with the release
>> version, this group is for support and discussion of items currently
>> related to Windows Vista. Michael's post is designed to promote
>> arguements about a subject that has naught to do with the public
>> preview of Windows Vista. Were the group monitored, the post and
>> ensuing thread would be removed as non-topical. There are plenty,
>> and I do mean plenty, of Windows groups where this topic is
>> appropriate.
>>
>> --
>> Best of Luck,
>>
>> Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
>> http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
>> Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

It's Windows Vista General .. and generally speaking Microsoft will
generally be employing WPA, WGA and - God forbid - even the spyware/trojan
WGA N in Windows Vista. Seeing as PT is really big on Windows in general,
and Windows Vista in particular, some readers might construe that the OP
was right on topic, generally speaking of course.

"Frank" <fb@nospamm.cmm> wrote in message news:e7jz5xUrGHA.3380@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> MICHAEL wrote:
>> Paul Thurrott, one of the most important Microsoft advocates, has been
>> bitten by Windows Genuine Advantage.
>> http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?s...52221&from=rss
>>
>>
>> http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/wga.asp

> Please don't post any more links to trash dot.

http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?si...657241&tid=109
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=84
Is Microsoft about to release a Windows "kill switch"?
by Ed Bott

> THX
> Frank

You're welcome!

-Michael