Microsoft Misrepresenting WGA"s Functionality?

"According to an article on Groklaw, Microsoft is misrepresenting what the
Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) tool is to pressure people into installing
it. It comes with no uninstall, it fails to disclose many pieces of
information it provides to Microsoft, and it misrepresents itself as
a 'critical update' when it does not address any security vulnerability,
although it remains to be seen if it can create one. ZDNet has a series of
screenshots so that you can see exactly how badly it misrepresents itself.
Oh, and it also checks for updates, so Microsoft can presumably execute
arbitrary code on any machine with it installed, merely by making that code
part of a WGA update."

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/06/11/2053214&from =rss

Imhotep

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Re: Microsoft Misrepresenting WGA"s Functionality?

[X] Tell news. WGA has been misrepresented up from first day.

It was told to give advances to users of genuine software. But which
one? The WGA-authenticated funny tools/addons? Those would have also
been there for everyone if WGA had never been deployed.

Those harassments with fuck-up proxy settings, whereas even the WGA
Plugin for Firefox uses the IE proxy settings which are locked down to
127.0.0.1:9 for good reason and where the damn load balancer makes
whitelisting a pain in the ass? Well, how long did it take until they
first released this first browser plugin? (IE doesn't count!)

And even if it worked flawlessly, the least effect is that you have to
make another mouse click in MS Download Center on some downloads.

Still searching for the promised advances...

Re: Microsoft Misrepresenting WGA"s Functionality?

Sebastian Gottschalk wrote:

> [X] Tell news. WGA has been misrepresented up from first day.
>
> It was told to give advances to users of genuine software. But which
> one? The WGA-authenticated funny tools/addons? Those would have also
> been there for everyone if WGA had never been deployed.
>
> Those harassments with fuck-up proxy settings, whereas even the WGA
> Plugin for Firefox uses the IE proxy settings which are locked down to
> 127.0.0.1:9 for good reason and where the damn load balancer makes
> whitelisting a pain in the ass? Well, how long did it take until they
> first released this first browser plugin? (IE doesn't count!)
>
> And even if it worked flawlessly, the least effect is that you have to
> make another mouse click in MS Download Center on some downloads.
>
> Still searching for the promised advances...

....let me know when you find it!

--
*************************************
Pass a Net Neutrality Law in the US!!!!

Save the Internet:
http://www.savetheinternet.com/

Its our net:
http://www.itsournet.org/

*************************************

Re: Microsoft Misrepresenting WGA"s Functionality?

imhotep wrote:
> Oh, and it also checks for updates, so Microsoft can presumably execute
> arbitrary code on any machine with it installed, merely by making that code
> part of a WGA update."
> http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/06/11/2053214&from =rss

If you don't trust in Microsoft, just don't use their products.

There are enough alternatives out there, and if you want to, you even
can use Free Software and can read any source code you want to examine.

Why bothering?

Of course, Microsoft did good spreading their products by letting
"piracy copies" doing the main job: now Windows is on nearly every
PC.

And now, when they have the monopoly, of course they're changing their
strategy, and are trying to enforce all those users to pay as much money
as they can press out of them.

It's a clever marketing concept, like Microsoft is an enterprise full
of clever marketing concepts, led by geniuses and masterminds of
marketing ;-)

But: this is business. Why not? If people are buying their products
anyways, what is the harm of it?

Of course, because Windows now is a monopoly game, there is harm of it:
many people already are enforced to buy Windows because of being a
platform for the programs they really need.

This now is a question for the Antitrust Divisions and cartel offices
in this world. I'm expecting them to react.

Yours,
VB.
--
"If you want to play with a piece of windows software that makes you
click all over the place, there's always minesweeper."

Kyle Stedman about "Personal Firewalls" in c.s.f

Re: Microsoft Misrepresenting WGA"s Functionality?

Volker Birk wrote:

> imhotep wrote:
>> Oh, and it also checks for updates, so Microsoft can presumably execute
>> arbitrary code on any machine with it installed, merely by making that
>> code part of a WGA update."
>> http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/06/11/2053214&from =rss
>
> If you don't trust in Microsoft, just don't use their products.

I don't and I don't use their software either...

> There are enough alternatives out there, and if you want to, you even
> can use Free Software and can read any source code you want to examine.

I know, I am using "Free Software" now (and it is heavily used at my job
also). However, you are missing the point. If Ford was missrepresenting
itself to it's customers I would still say it was wrong...and no I do not
drive a Ford!!!!!!! Get it????

> Why bothering?
>
> Of course, Microsoft did good spreading their products by letting
> "piracy copies" doing the main job: now Windows is on nearly every
> PC.
>
> And now, when they have the monopoly, of course they're changing their
> strategy, and are trying to enforce all those users to pay as much money
> as they can press out of them.
>
> It's a clever marketing concept, like Microsoft is an enterprise full
> of clever marketing concepts, led by geniuses and masterminds of
> marketing ;-)
>
> But: this is business. Why not? If people are buying their products
> anyways, what is the harm of it?
>
> Of course, because Windows now is a monopoly game, there is harm of it:
> many people already are enforced to buy Windows because of being a
> platform for the programs they really need.
>
> This now is a question for the Antitrust Divisions and cartel offices
> in this world. I'm expecting them to react.

....and I am waiting for the EU to take a stand...We'll see...


> Yours,
> VB.

Imhotep

--
*************************************
Pass a Net Neutrality Law in the US!!!!

Save the Internet:
http://www.savetheinternet.com/

Its our net:
http://www.itsournet.org/

*************************************