WGA: Is it spyware?

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The most suspicious component of WGA is that it "phones home" on a regular basis, regardless of exactly how often that is. After an initial check for authenticity and reporting the result to Microsoft, why should there be any further need to "phone home" until the user wishes to download something from Microsoft (other than Critical Updates which Microsoft promises to supply anyway!)? I mean, if your copy of Windows is genuine today then won't it still be genuine tomorrow?

Has anyone monitored day-by-day exactly what data is transmitted by this WGA thing? Is it possible to even know exactly what data is being sent?

Until I see independent reputable reports of benign data gathering I'm afraid that nagging doubts will remain.....

>I just bought an un-opened Sony Laptop for $1500 at compusa last Friday and it wouldn't Pass WGA straight from the factory...

This happened to a friend of mine on FOUR systems he purchased from a major Canadian retailer.

Microsoft has totally gone bonkers and I'm about to DUMP my Microsoft shares.

Spy-Ware is Spy-Ware, Because of the sneaky way that Microsoft introduced WGA, how can I trust them. They are acting like other spy-ware companies that tell you one thing and doing another. WGA is on my computer because, I thought, Microsoft wanted check to make sure my system was authentic. That's fine, but check it and get out. I don't cotton to any kind of spy-ware. How do I know what kind of information they are looking at. A "x" rated letter from my girlfriend? A letter to my mother? Are they looking at my address book? Or are they trying to find a credit card number forgot to delete. Even if they swore on a stack of bibles I don't thank I can believe them now.

"At first, I was upset by all the hoopla surrounding WGA, but now I am rather grateful to have it. I purchased 3 computers from a local pawn shop, and was very excited to have 3 well-running computers for under $500.00."

This kind of free thinking is very scary to me. There is no such thing as a free lunch. I live in England and XP Pro lic x 3 is worth more than $500.00 and this person also received hardware as well and didn't smell a kipper?!? I guess the next step is to have the police to pull over all cars as one might be stolen....

People it is not up to the MS cops or Police department to protect us from ourselves.

How much more freedom do we need to loose because some people have lost common sense and cannot do the math on a business deal... purchasing computers from a pawn shop.... expecting legal software as well... I wonder if the computers are hot as with many things for sale in pawn shops as most police departments have a detail to check pawn shops for stolen property!

Sorry for my humble opinion but everytime I turn around another freedom has been taken away and usually it is because a small amount of people have ruin it for the rest of us by not thinking.
IceHappy

I have to agree with "IceHappy's" July 8, 2006 03:05 PM post"

He said "People it is not up to the MS cops or Police department to protect us from ourselves."

How very true. Personally, I would'nt purchase a PC from any Pawnshop without just going ahead with a full format and re-install after a complete check, being then I'll know exactly what I have. I do believe that WGA IS spyware... No matter how you cut it, no matter how much leeway you want to give Microsoft. I simply do NOT trust any corporation. Period. And when people say things like, them having their full trust, and "I have nothing to worry about", etc. etc. I think we are sure asking for trouble. Paranoid ??? I don't think so, I just do not believe that outfits like MS got where they are by being the white rose, and when ANYONE tells me they are here to help us, I just as soon stay away.

Is it just me or does it sometimes seem that Microsoft is really trying to chase people away. I just went through the WGA thing, and after getting past it, I ended up with its equivalent in Office. I have a computer here that I upgraded from Windows 98 to XP when XP came out. It had a licensed copy of Office on it and I purchased a completely legitimate upgrade from Microsoft for that, too. It was a PII/800 and was still used as a secondary box. During a lightning storm, it took a hit (it has a UPS, and I still haven't figured out how the hit got there, but that's a different story). I had to replace the motherboard, putting in an AMD upgrade. Once I got the machine running again, I started Office and was informed that I needed the original disk to reactivate it because my hardware had changed. It was installed when Windows and Office first came out and I really don't know where it is. My wife couldn't wait to get to her documents on that machine, so I installed OpenOffice. Works fine. She's quite pleased with what she's got and I'm not looking very hard for that disk anymore. Now, if I had a pirated copy, I'm sure I could have found a way to reactivate it. So what they're doing is really ticking off the good guys while the bad guys hack away.

I purchased a second hand pc running windows xp pro. With it, a laptop and another pc I started a wireless network. unfortunately the second hand pc's xp pro didn't have the correct update to use WPA encryption so I ran the update program. It informed me that I had to run WGA which I did. This informed me that the copy of XP pro was pirated and that I could fix it for a sum (less than the retail price of a new copy). Cool. Then I tried to use hotmail. Suddenly, I couldn't log in to hotmail on any of the pc's although I could from a friends and could before I ran WGA. May be I have done something else to upset the delicate machine that is windows but with 25 years of computer experience and being a c++ programmer amongst other things I smell a big hairy microsoft rat.

Not sure if WGA is spyware or not, but it sure wasn't a critical update! Microsoft almost got off the hook for abusing Windows update like this. It would of been different if they would of listed the update as optional. I have more wisdom http://the-natron-blog.blogspot.com/2006/07/you-can-stop-spyware.html . thanks!

I'm not computer smart. But I believe in the old saying, "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck... it's probably a duck." WGA looks, walks and quacks like spyware to me. What possible reason could Microsoft have to monitor my computer usage? If General Motors or Ford put a monitoring device in your car without your knowledge or consent (AFTER you bought that car), would you feel violated in any way?

But let's take this one step further. The 4th Amendment to the Constitution states in part, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated,..." Now, before all you Constitutional scholars jump up and down saying the 4th amendment applies to GOVERNMENT searches and seizures, I know that. But what makes Microsoft better than the entire government? And how do government computers running Microsoft products keep their data safe from WGA spying? Or does Microsoft make special concessions and receive tacit government approval for spying on average Americans? Does Homeland Security have anything to do with this?

Remember, a person is NOT paranoid if people really are watching him!

WGA is clearly spyware, it meets the standard definition of spyware. Even if Microsoft had the best of intentions, it has shown that it doesn't trust its customers. Misusing Automatic Updates (which is meant only for "critical" security updates) to install WGA on people's computers is sneaky and undermines the credibility of Automatic Updates. Just because there are criminals doesn't mean the government gets to treat everyone as a criminal (see e.g., 4th Amendment). Just because there are people who pirate Windows doesn't mean Microsoft gets to treat everyone who uses Windows as a pirate.

BTW, I read about whether Automatic Updates should be on or off. This is a false choice, because it leaves people with the impression that they either allow Microsoft complete control over critical updates (the Automatic setting) or that they must search for the updates they need to patch security holes. There are 4 settings for Automatic Updates. These settings are Automatic (AU automatically downloads and installs critical updates without user input unless a reboot or an EULA is involved), Download (automatic download, then user must consent to installation), Notification (user is informed when new critical updates are available, must consent before download can occur and must consent before installation can occur), and Off (Automatic Updates is disabled). Even if you choose the Off setting, simply go to Windows Update or Microsoft Update on the second Tuesday of every month to get the critical updates to which Microsoft would have sent you or of which Microsoft would notify you. For years I have had AU set to Notification mode. Twice AU notified me of WGA and each time I rejected WGA. You can have Automatic Updates on without giving Microsoft complete control over the critical updating process.

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