Does this bother anyone?

[jman01pa]

I am a fan of Microsoft. Without them or someone like them I would not enjoy my job / hobbies I have today. However this does bother me. How about you?

Microsoft's product-activation technology
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-6536843.html?tag=mn_hd

J http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[smokin1]

It bothers me a lot..sort of like guilty until proven innocent IMHO. I buy software, and like to be able to reconfigure my hardware on a constant basis..and calling in to "big brother" when I do so doesn't appeal to me at all. I feel there is a real privacy threat that has not been addressed. Yes..you can trace MAC addresses..it's hard wired in to your NIC..and yes..you can glean a lot from it..not all info..but it is being worked on..I just spend a fair amount of time trying to fly below the radar at times..and I feel it is an unjust intrusion to my privacy. I don't do anything 'wrong" while on the net as a rule..but I also don't want to be added to a harvested data base because of a program I have installed..btw..the thing that bothers me the most is the MAC addy being tracked..I change my NIC a lot to prevent that...
3c
CDN
http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[Richard_Cranium72]

If the whole world was aware of MS's attempt to "control" the users abilities, then perhaps a total "Boycott" of the product is justified.

Don't buy it, tell everyone who will listen not to participate in a Big Brother move like this.

[Roy]

Two thing here bother me.

1. " the vast majority of users will never have to reactivate once they activate initially " means that when I upgrade, which I seem to do every 6-8 months, I'd have to go through the reactivation process. So I guess I'll never be graduating beyond W89SE.

2. Topic Headings like this with no information.

[DemonKnight]

w89se? http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif Why dont you try win2k? its a good OS.

[JScottieC]

Not that I promote or participate in the illegal act of software piracy... ahem... but won't this just motivate our friends in the hacking community to rise to the challenge. How soon, do you think, there will be a crack somewhere on the net capable of breaking through XP? Just speculation... (I'm content with 98SE) will this deter piracy anymore than previous microsoft ventures?

[krusty the klown]

How soon, do you think, there will be a crack somewhere on the net capable of breaking through XP?

How soon? Well, a story on http://www.vnunet.com/ was posted on 5/5/01 about Win XP being cracked (it's now not on their site), whilst Orifice XP has been cracked also:
There is increasing evidence on the internet that Microsoft's flagship Office XP has been cracked, despite Microsoft's denials.
vnunet.com can confirm that a number of sites are hosting bootleg copies of Office XP which, when installed, appear to bypass the Product Activation sequence that Microsoft claimed would prevent "casual copying".

One warez site [websites that trade in bootleg software] offered an ISO 9660 version of Office XP Professional Retail that could be downloaded and burned onto a CD. Punch in the accompanying serial number, and you get access to a full working version of Office.

If you click on the 'Activate Product' button, the program assures us it already is activated, circumventing the need for an illicit user to connect to Microsoft and get an activation key.

The retail version of Office is the off-the-shelf product that typically would require the user to contact Microsoft for a key. It is only licensed to be installed on two machines, a primary desktop and a secondary laptop.

It would appear that someone has managed to beat the Redmond Giant's copy protection scheme, and judging by the number of sites offering Office XP, piracy is as rife as ever.

but MS deny it:

Microsoft has denied that its flagship Office XP suite has been cracked, just days after the high-profile launch.
Rumours have been appearing after an article went up on unofficial Windows news website W2Knews.com, claiming that a bootleg copy of Office XP worked without being activated by Microsoft.

This led some people to believe that the product activation system on Office XP had been cracked. However, the real answer may lie in a misunderstanding over the details of Microsoft's new licensing agreement.

If you buy a copy of Office XP off the shelf, or for a single user, the accompanying activation key will allow Office to be installed and activated on two machines: a primary desktop and a secondary laptop.

But in a corporate environment the activation key does not have to be entered on every machine, otherwise the systems administrator would be "tearing his hair out in frustration", according to a Microsoft spokesman.

It is likely that, in this case, someone had obtained a copy of the corporate edition of Office XP, which would already have been activated.

A spokesman for the Redmond giant said that, as far as Microsoft is concerned, "the code had not been cracked" and, although some bootleg copies of Office are appearing, "the activation system was only designed to stop casual copying of software".

[This message has been edited by krusty the klown (edited 07-11-2001).]

[JScottieC]

Well, I'll be darned, looks like the MS spin doctors are trying to cover thier butts... again. You know, maybe if MS invested as much time and $$ into cleaning up thier act and conducting themselves as a moral company, more people would be inclined to purchase thier product. Oh well, thats another discussion entirely. Thanks for the quick response.
Scott