06-30-2006, 05:00 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Is Microsoft Readying A "Kill Switch" For Windows?
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=84
"Two weeks ago, I wrote about my serious objections to Microsoft�s latest salvo in the war against unauthorized copies of Windows. Two Windows Genuine Advantage components are being pushed onto users� machines with insufficient notification and inadequate quality control, and the result is a big mess. Guess what? WGA might be on the verge of getting even messier. In fact, one report claims WGA is about to become a Windows �kill switch� � and when I asked Microsoft for an on-the-record response, they refused to deny it." (Emphasis added)
A week or so ago, I wrote about how Windows Genuine Asininity (WGA) phones home daily to see what it needs to do, a "feature" they have recently removed via the June 27 WGA update. Now though, it seems MS is forging ahead with WGA to the point where the system may essentially revoke your license if it sees fit to do so. I actually hope they push ahead with this at 200mph. Then, I am going to sit back and wait for the Wall Street Journal headline where some Fortune 500 company had a mission critical server disabled by WGA and is in the process of filing a lawsuit against MS for the financial cost of the downtime. I am trying to think of something stupider MS could do here and the only thing I can think of is to collaborate with their hardware partners to put a credit-card swipe mechanism on the front of the computer that the user has to swipe at least weekly before logging in, renting more Windows time from Microsoft.
I guess Windows Mobile is somewhat shielded from this. We often can't get legitimate updates for our devices because they simply don't exist. MS probably isn't worried too much about illegal ones. Yet. :?
 Update: Microsoft officially denies Kill Switch technology. Microsoft anti-piracy technologies cannot and will not turn off your computer. :clap:
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06-30-2006, 05:12 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 260
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I have always foreseen the time when I would have to move strickly to a linux system in my home. Whether one OS is better than the other one is not the point. I enjoy windows because of all the software available, from games to business needs. But with Microsoft now trying to take so much control of the users system, I just see Linux as my next move, and I am saying this a person who has legitimate copies of Windows. But it's ok.... If Microsoft does this it will be the beginning of their down fall and a mass migration of Linux will begin to happen from businesses, to govrnment office, to those people who are too cheap to by windows.
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06-30-2006, 05:34 PM
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06-30-2006, 05:50 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 211
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This was discussed quite a bit on SlashDot yesterday evening/early this morning. Seems the original rumor was just from a front-line support person. While MS may not deny the rumor, the general consensus is that this will pretty much bring down MS - not quickly, but it will tick off enough people that they will seriously consider the possibility of moving to a Mac.
(While I like the freedom and potential that Linux offers, it also doesn't really offer a good desktop experience for Joe User. Install an app - sure, just untar this file, compile with these exact switches, then chmod the resulting file to do .... It's getting better, but there's still just a little too much of this in Linux for your average user.)
You joke about the Credit Card/Time thing, but I seem to remember that MS is actually working on this or already released something like it for people who don't spend most of their day in front of a PC. It bills you per time used on the PC and when you've paid the amount that Windows is worth, you're unlocked and charged no more. If that works, I can see that as a pretty decent alternative to buying an upgrade outright (wouldn't work for me as the first bill would be for the total amount).
Anyway, most of the more serious posts just touched on the usual points. If this became reality, the only people actually affected would be the legal users who get false hits on this WGA stuff and MS after it affects a mission critical workstation(s) at a really large company or in the government. Pirates will have a crack/patch/workaround within a day. Kind of sad, but I've heard enough of the stories from people who have legit copies of windows and are forced to buy another copy because something goes wrong with activation after upgrading a piece of hardware or just wanting to change boxes completely because the old one is dead.
Interesting post and I'm hoping that it really does just boil down to rumor. Vista is a whole 'nother story. I've read some rumors circulating about Corporate VLK "Authentication" servers to periodically authenticate your VLK copy of Windows. I can see the same problem there. Extended vacation. Pick up the laptop at some point to surf the web. Windows doesn't work because it hasn't/can't check in with the corporate server. Not a pretty picture there.
-Pete
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06-30-2006, 05:54 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 92
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I find WGA patches to be an annoyance in much the same way all Windows patches are an annoyance. Maybe a bit more so because they're so frequent and (from my perspective) useless. That being taken into account, I'm not too worried - as I recall, a lot of people freaked out when MS first added a requirement to activate Windows and Office. Having had to re-activate assorted copies of MS software when I switch computers (I tend to do that a lot), I've found the process to be mostly painless. I've never gotten the third degree from any MS tech. (would that I could say the same for some other software vendors whose licensing is even more convoluted and annoying than Microsoft's) On the other hand, if Redmond ever did decide to get heavy handed, there are other OS options available. I prefer Windows, but I'm not allergic to Linux or OSX...
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06-30-2006, 09:11 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 260
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by capo
hat being taken into account, I'm not too worried - as I recall, a lot of people freaked out when MS first added a requirement to activate Windows and Office. Having had to re-activate assorted copies of MS software when I switch computers (I tend to do that a lot), I've found the process to be mostly painless. I've never gotten the third degree from any MS tech. (would that I could say the same for some other software vendors whose licensing is even more convoluted and annoying than Microsoft's)
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Well, it's always nice to hear about the 1, 2 or even a hundred thousand people who never had a problem re-activating Microsoft's software, until it the one time it happens to you. A laptop with a presentation you have to show in the next 4 minutes or you'll be fired. A server that has stopped responding which now has brought down the entire company. A student who can't email their home work that is on the computer and thus gets a failing grade.
I am sure the above examples would be remote from the stand point of millions of users, but the fact that it can happen and does, is just not acceptable to legitimate users who legally paid for the use of their software. The only downfall to the people above was that they were honest law-abiding consumer of Microsoft's product or they just used Microsoft's product in the first place. So which is the greater evil here?
Sure the above situation is hypothetical, but with Microsoft's history of releasing buggy incomplete software coated in the attitude of "Everything is done My Way Only", it'll only be a matter of time before stories like the above will overshadow any good or success Microsoft might of done.
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06-30-2006, 10:07 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 307
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To be fair, Microsoft is an American company, and thefore is undoubtedly influenced in its assumptions by the behaviour of the American public.
So they no doubt quite reasonably assume that if you'll swallow the whole Homeland Security Fear For Profit Show you'll swallow anything.
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06-30-2006, 10:54 PM
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06-30-2006, 11:37 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 171
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by paschott
While I like the freedom and potential that Linux offers, it also doesn't really offer a good desktop experience for Joe User. Install an app - sure, just untar this file, compile with these exact switches, then chmod the resulting file to do .... It's getting better, but there's still just a little too much of this in Linux for your average user.
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Have you tried Ubuntu? Add/Remove programs works with network repositories so there's no downloading, untarring, building unless you choose to.
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07-01-2006, 02:14 AM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 1
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I preface my comments by noting that I disagree with most of the replies to this post. Please also note that I am not a Microsoft employee, nor have I ever been a Microsoft employee.
Microsoft is a for-profit business. As such, they do have the right and responsibility to protect the value of their product. They also protect and defend their product through their agreement(s), the End User License Agreement(s), which each consumer who installs their product agrees to prior to installation.
If a business has installed a product that cannot be validated by Microsoft, then there is high probability that the product is counterfeit. As such, Microsoft is merely protecting and defending their rights under the their respective agreement(s) with the consumer. They are merely using all of the tools at their disposal.
Please remember these things the next time you choose to install a Microsoft product, and read the EULA. If you disagree with the EULA, don't install the software, and please don't complain or whine about the consequences.
As for Service Packs, select the custom install option. Do not blindly accept whatever is sent to your computer by Microsoft, or by any other software provider that provides a push feed. The options are there for the configuration by the software user. Microsoft does not install software blindly, as in the case of Sony.
As a software developer/system administrator/database administrator, I am not in the business of software development for leisure. I am in the software development business for profit. I do have the expectation that the software products I develop will enjoy the same rights afforded to Microsoft.
I also expect that the market will judge the products that I produce in the same manner that Microsoft products are judged, with a critical eye.
Please note that Microsoft still holds a major share of the end-user market. As such, they have created a product which satisfies the needs of the market sufficent for them to make a profit.
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