[ news_security_news ]
Microsoft Urges Genuine Windows Copies For A New Batch Of Countries
Chris Crum
Staff Writer
2006-04-26
 Insider Reports RSS Feed
Microsoft's anti-piracy initiative that the company has had in place in countries such as Sweden and Norway since November, has now been extended to the U.S., the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia.
This involves a tool that displays messages on the screens of people using illegitimate copies of Windows software that tells them they could be a "victim of software piracy", and that their copy of Windows is not considered to be "genuine" by the company.
Messages will direct users to a Microsoft site that encourages the purchase of a legitimate copy of Windows XP. According to Gregg Keizer at Information Week,
Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications won't be immediately pushed to everyone in those markets, but for those randomly chosen, Microsoft will put the tool in the "High-priority updates" section of Windows Update's and Microsoft Update's selections. (However, out of four machines used by various TechWeb reporters, however, all four were "picked" for the download.)
For the moment, users can decline to download and install the pirate alert. But that may not last long. "While the program is presently opt-in, as it expands later in the year, it may become a requirement for the AU [Automatic Updates] service," Microsoft said in a FAQ on its Web site.
If the Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications feature is downloaded, the messages will continue to appear until the computer is running a genuine copy of Windows, and the feature cannot be uninstalled.
Add to | DiggThis | Yahoo! My Web
Technorati: microsoft, windows
About the Author:
Chris Crum is a staff writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
More news_security_news Articles
Insider Reports RSS Feed
|
|
iEntry 10th Anniversary
RSS
Archive
