The (Potential) Iron Fist Of Microsoft's WGA

Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage is drawing the ire of a number of experts, analysts, and users. The program is intended to guard against "counterfeit or non-genuine" copies of Windows; it also leads the way to "free downloads" and "free updates." But many people think it's getting a little too Big Brother-y. Although Microsoft claims it "values your privacy, and we do not collect any information, such as your name or email address, that can be used to identify you or contact you," Ed Bott spoke with a Microsoft employee who said that "in the fall, having the latest WGA will become mandatory and if it's not installed, Windows will give a 30 day warning and when the 30 days is up and WGA isn't installed, Windows will stop working . . ." A Microsoft spokesperson (sort of) substantiated that comment, writing to Bott that "as the WGA Notifications program expands in the future, customers may be required to participate." The readers' responses to Bott's article (and Del.icio.us") | Yahoo! My Web Technorati: Doug is a staff writer for Murdok for the latest eBusiness news.