Tag: GENUINEADVANTAGE

On Friday we reported on a lawsuit filed by a California man against Microsoft for the spyware-like behavior in its Windows Genuine Advantage anti-piracy tool. Lawsuits travel in packs, so it's no surprise that today brings a new one, this time filed against Microsoft on behalf of two Washington state businesses and three Seattle-area residents. Among other things, the suit questions the accuracy ...

ZDNet blogger Ed Bott, who reported last week that Microsoft might be planning to introduce a "kill switch" that would allow their Windows Genuine Advantage anti-piracy software to disable Windows if it thinks the OS is pirated, has posted an email from Microsoft's PR agency, which begins, "No, Microsoft anti-piracy technologies cannot and will not turn off your computer." The rest of the email is ...

We've spent quite a few keystrokes covering the development of Microsoft's Windows Genuine Advantage from fairly passive anti-piracy software to something a little more aggressive, and clearly we're not the only ones. This week Microsoft got hit with a lawsuit from LA resident Brian Johnson, who alleges that it violates anti-spyware laws by "phoning home" to Redmond without the user's knowledge or ...

Remember when Windows Genuine Advantage became nagware, notifying you over and over again when it thought your copy of Windows wasn't legitimate? And remember when it started "checking in" with Microsoft every day? All's fair in the name of anti-piracy, Microsoft seems to be saying, and the latest rumor is that this fall Microsoft will make WGA mandatory on all Windows PCs, and what's more, will ...

Here's a bit we missed when it went around on Wednesday: Remember Windows Genuine Advantage, the app from Microsoft that will helpfully notify you, over and over again, if it thinks your copy of Windows or Office is pirated? It turns out nagging isn't its only trick. Windows Genuine Advantage also quietly phones home to Microsoft's servers, "checking in" each and every day. Microsoft calls the ...

This week we're getting a small preview of what Windows Vista's anti-piracy features will be like in the form of Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications, which Microsoft will begin testing this week. The software, which according to ZDNet will be downloaded via Windows Update for a random sample of users, will show users alerts "at startup, login and during their use of the operating ...