On Wed, 14 Mar 2007, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.computer.security, in article
<W8TJh.127291$_73.117328@newsread2.news.pas.earthl ink.net>, Ron Lopshire wrote:

>Moe Trin wrote:

>> Sorry - didn't mean to kick over the ant-hill, but the bottom line is
>> that you need to read the EULA, and then figure out if that agreement
>> is what you want. You may be thinking about the stink that was raised
>> when Sony was caught installing spyware in late 2005 (google for the
>> key "Sony+spyware" if you've forgotten). The difference in the Sony
>> case was that there was no notice, and no consent of any kind. Microsoft
>> is also a major player in the Digital Rights Management arena, and the
>> difference is that they tell you they are doing this - but few people
>> bother to read the agreements they are accepting when they install or
>> update their windoze computers.
>
>I am sure that MS has their collective asses covered by their EULAs,

They have lots of lawyers to make it not worth your time/expense to try to
get them into court

>but I still consider these to be /dirty tricks/.
>
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03...a_phones_home/
>
> http://www.securityfocus.com/archive/1/431032
>
>No one would expect that clicking on Cancel would establish an internet
>connection. MS has responded that it is no big deal.

Yeah, I'm waiting for the next virus du Jour to go through and reset the
WGA "globally unique identifiers (GUIDs)" code so that it returns some
specific number for every system it infects. Microsoft then discovers
that all the systems calling home have the same serial numbers - must be
pirated copies, so disable them all!!! Anyone want to start a betting
pool of when this is going to happen? You _know_ that microsoft is
aware of the possibility and has some additional mechanism hidden in the
code to try to alleviate the resulting disaster. Hope everyone has good
backups. Hope everyone else has read the EULA and realizes that microsoft
is under NO obligation to anyone who has installed windoze or _any_
application, other than to return the purchase price when you return the
software in an undamaged condition. If any of your data is suddenly toast,
that's tough bananas. Virus damage is explicitly listed as voiding even
that "warranty".

>The information that is sent, of course, is not the issue. Being above
>board is.

Hey - they put the information in the privacy statements. Is it _their_
fault that no one reads the statements? I _was_ going to clean the
heads on my VCR by sticking into the washing machine until I found the
warning in the user guide not to get it wet. I guess that means I've got
to send it out to the dry cleaners. Sure glad I read that user guide
from cover to cover.

Old guy