more on How innocents can be penalized by Windows Genuine Advantage

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Robert Alberti <ip () sanction net>
Date: June 13, 2006 7:26:16 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] How innocents can be penalized by Windows Genuine  
Advantage
Reply-To: alberti () sanction net

Here's how my laptop got on the list:

I bought a Sony Vaio TX with a preinstalled version of Windows XP. I
discovered when I opened the box that Sony does not provide any driver
or OS DVDs with the machine - you can download all the drivers, or pay
extra for them to mail you the DVDs.

I did not like the configuration as delivered: tons of garbage demo
software that I did not want was included, and the drive was partitioned
in a manner I did not like.  So I wiped my drive and used my own
original windows XP disk to reinstall XP, including all service packs
and Sony drivers that I wanted.

I attempted to use the Windows key provided in the sticker on the bottom
of the laptop, but for reasons I do not know the key would not work with
my original version of Windows XP.  So I used the Windows XP key that
came with the disk, which I have always used for each of my laptops in
turn - laptops which I wipe with secure erasure software when I move off
of them (assuming the drives work, which is not always the case).

Maybe being installed on several laptops in turn has gotten my key onto
a list of "pirated" keys, or maybe some other criteria has failed.
Regardless, when WGA was rolled out, my laptop did not pass.

If Windows wants to provide me with a key-changing program, I would be
happy to try the code that came with my laptop. Maybe it will even work.

I'm not holding my breath.

Robert Alberti, CISSP, ISSMP
Sanction, Inc.
http://sanction.net

On Tue, 2006-06-13 at 18:34 -0400, David Farber wrote:
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com>
> Date: June 13, 2006 12:24:27 PM EDT
> To: dave () farber net
> Cc: lauren () vortex com
> Subject: How innocents can be penalized by Windows Genuine Advantage
>
>
> Dave,
>
> In the wake of the controversy triggered by my earlier discussions
> regarding Microsoft's "Windows Genuine Advantage" (WGA) behavior,
>
> ( http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000178.html ,
>    http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000179.html )
>
> I've received a lot of e-mail from folks who assert that they are
> being unfairly tagged by Microsoft WGA as having illicit systems,
> with continuing warning messages and attendant future restrictions
> on their ability to obtain non-critical updates.
>
> As I've noted previously, I have no sympathy for genuine pirates.
> However, there is a common thread running through many of the
> reports I'm seeing, suggesting that innocent users may easily end up
> with "pirate" versions of XP without their knowledge, and with no
> entirely clear and practical path to rectifying the situation.
>
> The scenario is obvious once you think about it.  People start off
> with the legit copies of the Microsoft OS that come pre-installed on
> their computers (relatively few people ever install their own OS, or
> would care to risk the process in any case -- most use what comes on
> their machines).  The OS copy is legal, authenticated, and paid for
> as part of the system.
>
> Now the trouble starts.  They have a disk crash or other serious
> system problem.  They take their computer back to the store's repair
> depot, or to a third party computer repair entity.  The computer is
> fixed and seems to be fine again.  Then suddenly, they start
> receiving WGA piracy warnings.
>
> Why?  It appears that it is *exceedingly* common for repair
> operations to reinstall based on "cloned" or otherwise duplicated
> copies of the Microsoft OS, rather than try to restore or
> reauthenticate based on the original users' OS serial numbers or
> authentication codes.  Original restore disks and key information
> cards/labels are frequently missing, making it difficult to
> duplicate the original authentication environment.
>
> Service depots tend to frequently have a working configuration that
> they can easily clone to repaired systems, and since the user
> originally paid for one copy of the OS (with their computer, now
> wiped out as part of the repair process), and ends up with a single
> copy afterwards, it's not like there's now an additional copy in use.
>
> Once their systems have been flagged by WGA, users may have a
> serious dilemma, even if MS is willing to provide clean versions of
> the OS to persons who can demonstrate that they are unwilling
> "piracy" victims.  Most of these users don't have original "pirated"
> disks to send over to MS.  In fact, such users are likely not to
> understand what is going on at all in this respect, since -- as far
> as they knew -- their systems had simply been fixed and then were
> working fine -- until WGA kicked in, that is.
>
> If MS could provide such users with a simple way to update their
> authentication keys that might be one solution, but an alternative
> such as having to completely reinstall a fresh copy of the OS
> would be completely beyond the pale for most users.
>
> I have not yet received a response from officials at Microsoft to
> e-mail I sent several days ago, asking specifically how they
> intended to deal with these kinds of WGA situations.
>
> As Microsoft ramps up WGA enforcement, we are likely to see
> scenarios such as these -- involving innocent users -- appearing in
> potentially very large numbers.
>
> --Lauren--
> Lauren Weinstein
> lauren () vortex com or lauren () pfir org
> Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
> http://www.pfir.org/lauren
> Co-Founder, PFIR
>     - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
> Co-Founder, IOIC
>     - International Open Internet Coalition - http://www.ioic.net
> Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
> Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
> Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
> DayThink: http://daythink.vortex.com
>
>
>
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