[DCPatriot]

You've been owned.

...since you applied for your SS#.

[coconutt2000]

I don't see a problem with this. It is Microsoft's business decision, and it opens up an opportunity for competition from Linux and Apple to erode Microsoft's dominance in the consumer and small business markets.

[TheSpottedOwl]

You don't own your house or car, either. Thanks for posting this article. The truth is never pretty.

[Michael Barnes]

MS is teh sux0r

WTF, might as well kick it off early.. ;-)

/suse user
//stalking
///stalking
////stalking
/////stalking
;-)

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

If your XP software is up-to-date
and online
it negotiates its validity with Microsoft servers every day.

Mine is...
is...
and doesn't.

No way.
Not unless I tell it to.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Thus, as Microsoft knows that laptop's geographic location whenever it's online, it's easy to envision Homeland Security shadowing John Q. Public as he meanders across the country with his laptop... or Chinese authorities tracking a political dissident who had the temerity to use the word freedom.

Perhaps, but don't hold your breath for Microsoft to hand over that info for free. Homeland Security and the Chinese authorities would have to pay through the nose to get that info. And if they try any nasty tricks to get it without paying, Microsoft will do even nastier tricks to THEIR computer systems. Imagine how fast the US or Chinese government could be made to back down, if Microsoft decided to hold every Windows-operating PC in the country hostage until the government backed down.

[ShadowAce]

[KoRn]

This should be considered spyware at best. What they are doing is totally unethical and they need to be called out on it. I'm no expert in laws regarding IT, but I bet what they are doing gets pretty close to being illegal. If it is indeed considered illegal they could be open to one of the biggest class action law suits in history.

[phantomworker]

fyi

[Echo Talon]

If you know what you're doing you can remove this check from the registry... so, if this geek is so worry he should already know how to fix it...

[Reaganwuzthebest]

Instead, they averred, the feature simply allows Microsoft to disable the validation checker, Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), if it should ever malfunction.

Microsoft is going overboard with their anti-pirating paranoia. I inadvertenly downloaded the latest WGA so their spyware wgatray.exe found its way onto my system. Fortunately with a dual boot I could go into Windows 98SE and remove it easily from XP but they should have told people ahead of time it would be phoning home everyday.