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Aiming to crack down on counterfeit software, Microsoft plans later this year to require customers to verify that their copy of Windows is genuine before downloading security patches and other add-ons to the operating system. Since last fall the company has been testing a tool that can check whether a particular version of Windows is legitimate, but until now the checks have been voluntary. Starting Feb. 7, the verification will be mandatory for many downloads for people in three countries: China, Norway and the Czech Republic. In those countries, people whose copies are found not to be legitimate can get...

I hadn’t heard anything via the news today, but the DIS (Department of Information Services) the department responsible for upkeep of the state’s computer systems (Government, Schools, etc.) instructed all schools statewide that all computers, including workstations, servers, etc. MUST be shut down at the end of the school day today (Friday 4/16/2004). This is to apply to ALL computers tied in with the state network. The reason? An unmanageable number of viruses and an attack by hackers (probably allowed in via the email worms infecting the system). The network is suppose to be completely down through 8:00 AM Monday...