Windows 95 Espionage ( ?? )

[Bernd.Lehle () RUS Uni-Stuttgart DE (Bernd Lehle)]

Can anybody confirm this ? A little late for April Fool's Day... :-)

> >  Microsoft officials confirm that beta versions of Windows 95 include a
> >  small viral routine called Registration Wizard.  It interrogates every
> >  system on a network gathering intelligence on what software is being run
> >  on which machine.  It then creates a complete listing of both Microsoft's
> >  and competitors' products by machine, which it reports to Microsoft when
> >  customers sign up for Microsoft's Network Services, due for launch later
> >  this year.
> >
> >  "In Short" column, page 88, _Information Week_ magazine, May 22, 1995
> >
> >  The implications of this action, and the attitude of Microsoft to plan
> >  such action, beggars the imagination.
> >  An update on this. A friend of mine got hold of the beta test CD
> >  of Win95, and set up a packet sniffer between his serial port and the
> >  modem. When you try out the free demo time on The Microsoft Network, it
> >  transmits your entire directory structure in background.
> >  This means that they have a list of every directory (and, potentially
> >  every file) on your machine. It would not be difficult to have something
> >  like a FileRequest from your system to theirs, without you knowing about
> >  it. This way they could get ahold of any juicy routines you've written
> >  yourself and claim them as their own if you don't have them copyrighted.
> >
> >  Needless to say, I'm rather annoyed about this.
> >  So spread the word as far and wide as possible: Steer clear of Windows 95.
> >  There's nothing to say that this "feature" will be removed in the final
> >  release.


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