Regarding the information that may be automatically collected by, and shared with third parties - Will Microsoft claims it owns the information not unlike what AT&T’S DOING with it’s new privacy policy and customer phone records? Will they CATALOG OUR SOFTWARE and sell that information without our CONSENT or proper disclosure? It may sound paranoid to think so, but then again - it may not.
Will Microsoft let us permanently disable it’s spyware (even if extorted to pay extra for it), disclose it’s ultimate intent, and detail the information being collected by, and exchanged with - third parties?
Doctrine of first sale
IT Heresies
May 11, 2005
Acknowledge the doctrine of first sale and private use! When you purchase an instance of a copy of a copyrighted work, you own that particular instance of a copy of a copyrighted work. When I purchase a car, I own that car. I have the right to that particular instance of that car to use,modify ( pimp my ride ),combine, dispose or resell without having to seek permission from the car builders, vendors etc. Therefore is the following is self evident that copyright legislation should grant the following rights under the concept of fair use:
1. Acknowledge the supremacy of the doctrine of first sale : When you purchase an instance of a copy of copyrighted work, your rights to view,use,modify,combine,inter-operate with, dispose or resell that one instance should not be impeded by either legislation or technology. This fact has been recognized time and again by the US courts.
2. The doctrine of first sale applies to both physical media and digital content where the receiver pays a transaction for particular instances of a copyrighted works: When you purchase an instance of a copy of copyrighted work that involves the buyer making a choice for that instance of copyrighted work and entering into a transaction with the seller, then the buyer has the rights to that instance under the doctrine of first sale. Sellers of instances of copyrighted work cannot hide behind “provision as a service”: when you pay for an instance, you own that instance.
3. You do not have the right to record content without permission of the copyright holders of a live performance ( play, concert etc ) or private performance ( film theater ) held on private property or performance venue. You pay to attend a performance at a physical venue, not for a copy of an instance of that performance.
4. Instances of copyrighted works broadcast ( as apposed to downloaded ) and received by a device held by individual person or on that person’s property, may not be redistributed outside of that person’s household to anyone who does not receive the content though the same service. You may record an instance of copyrighted work for later viewing ( timeshifting ) and distribute a copy along to any person whos household also receives that same broadcast service ( samaritan clause ). You many not redistribute or resell content recorded from a broadcast service to anyone not receiving that same broadcast service content.
5. Although you may not redistribute recorded copies of broadcast copyrighted content outside of the terms of (4), there should be no limit to what you may do with instances of those works within your household. You should have the right to modify the works, combine with other works and inter-operate with other works. You should also have the right to transform the instances of the copyrighted work so that it operates or can be viewed on other devices (mediashifting).
6. Copyright protection extends only to the particular work copyrighted. The copyright holder’s exclusive rights should not extend to the right to deny others combining a legally acquired instance of a copyrighted work with other works. You should have the right to distribute and/or sell, patches, recipes and add-on components that refer and link to the content of the copyrighted work, as long as the distributed items do not contain content from the original copyrighted work. The resulting combined and/or transformed work that contains content from the copyrighted work sources can not be legally redistributed without the permission of all the copyright holders.
SOURCE
Links:
US COPYRIGHT LAW CHAPTER 1
US COPYRIGHT LAW CHAPTER 9
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Reader Voices: The WGA Blues
Ed Foster’s WEBLOG
August 25, 2006
Our on-going discussion about problems with Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage program has revealed many readers to be in a sour mood. But the focus of their frustration actually seems not so much Microsoft as it is customers who only complain about what Redmond is up to rather than finding an alternative.
“Microsoft has their business plan in place, and they are executing it brilliantly,” wrote one reader. “They are one of the largest and most successful companies in the United States. There may have been a time when Microsoft had a monopoly, but that is certainly not true today. If your business plan does not match up with Microsoft’s, for heaven’s sake, stop doing business with them. There are all kinds of choices: For server software, Novell has file and print services, directory services, and other products that would knock your socks off if you took a couple of days to look at them rather than spending time dealing with the WGA issues. Linux offers magnificent server products, and they are generally no or low cost. For the desktop, Apple has some terrific products, and Linux is really getting very friendly for non-techies to use; have you seriously given Ubuntu a look? It is really quite nice, and very easy to install. At least give something besides Microsoft a try. Intuitive is whatever you are used to. If all you ever deal with is Microsoft products, how will you know what else is out there, and just how easy it is to work with? Do not expect a VERY successful company to change their business model to match yours, however. Right now Microsoft is apparently succeeding in increasing profits by spending all their efforts in fighting what they call piracy. They seem to be willing to sacrifice some customer satisfaction in order to meet their goal. Microsoft is not going to change until the market drives them to change.”
Another reader suggests that the best target for customer ire over WGA is the computer vendors. “If my license of Windows is judged by Microsoft as invalid, then the entity that I bought the computer from has committed fraud on me and theft from Microsoft, plain and simple. What the supplier claims in their defense makes no difference, regardless of who they are. The real target ought to be the suppliers and they ought to be sued for this over and over again until they learn their lesson. It may be possible that Microsoft has made an error in declaring a valid license as invalid, but that is not MY problem. If we go against the suppliers, they will have to battle Microsoft, not us. If I buy a computer from CompUSA or Hewlett-Packard or Dell or PC Club or anyone else that has a fraudulent Windows license associated with it, then because the amount of theft from me is over $100, I can lodge a complaint with my local police department and my state attorney general. If enough of us do this, especially in the larger metropolitan areas, those complaints add up and put pressure on local law enforcement to go against these slugs. The pressure on the local store managers from local law enforcement ought to mount up to something worthwhile. This non-valid license nonsense needs to be nipped right at the bud.”
Some readers think a lot is riding on how people respond to the WGA fiasco. “Within the next year or so, the Western world will make a big decision, one which may even determine whether it remains the main innovative power or passes the torch to the Far East,” another reader wrote. ”We have seen here many people having increasing difficulty managing Microsoft’s complex extortion regime - er, protection racket, no, I mean licensing system - and their various XP and W2K boxen. A lot of them are not just grumbling, but committing to switch to Linux and other open source. The decision we’ll have collectively made will be readable in 2008 or thereabouts by doing a census of computers and seeing what percentage now run Linux, versus Vista. The decision whether to break the grip of proprietary operating systems will have been made then. With Vista no doubt to be ratcheted tighter with every service pack, there will be no escaping lock-in - all your data are belong to Microsoft if you go that route. You won’t be able to get your documents into OpenOffice or whatever. If enough of the Western economy changes to being based on Vista computers, MS will be able to hold the whole western hemisphere hostage at any time. They will be the defacto rulers, along with their pals in Hollywood and the RIAA and various other cartels of big businesses. And there will be no escape. There are plenty of allegories in myth; the One Ring to bind them all, the number of the beast without which you cannot buy or sell, etc. Or, we can collectively choose freedom, and migrate our important data to open formats while we still can, before gratuitous DRM features and the DMCA make it illegal to do so.”
SOURCE
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UNANSWERD QUESTIONS
15 Jun 2006, 1:20 PM UTC stevenestrada
I downloaded and applied this month’s windowsupdate patches two days ago - including WGA - then rebooted fine.
Start computer the next day, get greeted by message it needs to be licensed.
Go thru th wizard, it compains code is no good, so I call the phone support #.
I read the numbers to the robot that answered who says code is no good, then transfers me to live person. That person says code is no good, then hangs up.
Call back again, read the numbers off the silver sticker on the PC case to agent, she gives unlock code - ok again.
Total wasted time - about one hour.
Computer was bought from Dell a year ago - XP Pro preinstalled. Restore disk is still wrapped up.
Why did WGA pass Tuesday, then force two calls to MS the day after to revalidate the code?
How do I prevent this from hapening again?
Why is the computer phoning home - without notfication - to Microsoft since?
15 Jun 2006, 7:40 PM UTC Dan at IT Associates
Steven,
Please follow these steps:
Step 1 is to download and run the utility at this link http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=52012, then click the Windows tab, Copy to Clipboard, then paste the report into a response message in this thread.
Step 2 is to look on the computer or the materials that came with the computer to see if you have a Certificate of Authenticty (COA). If you have one, tell us about the COA. Tell us:
1. What edition of Windows XP is it for, Home, Pro, or Media Center?
2. Does it read “OEM Software” or “OEM Product” in black lettering?
3. Or, does it have the computer manufacturer’s name in black lettering?
4. DO NOT post the Product Key.
Not sure what to look for? Click here: http://www.microsoft.com/resources/howtotell/en/coa.mspx
Here is a MS Press Release that explains the Notifications Tool’s internet activity:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2006/jun06/06-08wgaqa.mspx
17 Jun 2006, 1:40 AM UTC stevenestrada
>> run the utility <<
Windows = genuine
License type = COA/System Builder
Office status = 100
>> What edition of Windows XP is it for, Home, Pro, or Media Center? <<
XP Pro
>> Or, does it have the computer manufacturer’s name in black lettering? <<
DELL with the slanted big E that matches the illustration in the web page provided.
>> 4. DO NOT post the Product Key. <<
...or any other number than may uniquely identity you.
>> Here is a MS Press Release that explains the Notifications Tool’s internet activity: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2006/jun06/06-08wgaqa.mspx <<
The disclosure may be incomplete. I saw traffic to both a Microsoft site and a third party site - statsupdate.microsoft.com.nsatc.net. - not mentioned in the blurb I just read. Nor did I read that WGA would deny someone his/her desktop like the license wizard that popped up on mine. I thought that should only happen if not registered 30+ days, hardware addition, or HDD corruption, which doesn’t apply to this instance.
Some of us customers block stuff that calls home, especially stuff that tries to sneak a call out during boot. Is the WGA software time bombed to throw up the license wizard if it can’t phone home and get thru in X amount of time?
Today there’s tracking web bug to microsoftwga.112.2o7.net before and after validating over the net at http://www.microsoft.com/genuine/office/WhyValidate.aspx not unlike earlier iterations of WGA that had something similar to DOUBLECLICK.NET last year.
With all this tracking - anonyminity can hardly be guaranteed - and disabling of software that’s been checked and cleared many times, reminds us all of the extreme negatives of DRM built in to commercial software.
Why did this happen?
If I take the computer running confirmed genuine Microsoft software off the internet tomorrow, and keep it that way, with no hardware/software additions/malfunctions - will it eventually throw up the license wizard or impose any DRM type restrictions?
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Microsoft’s answer…
silence
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