RichardHarlos.com

You’d think that if your copy of Microsoft Windows was going to automatically contact Microsoft Corp. every day that your computer was running, someone at Microsoft Corp. would let you know in the body of the EULA (End User Licensing Agreement), wouldn’t you?

That’s what I’d expect, too. But like you, I’d be disappointed that this is not the case. The ‘Genuine Advantage’ software does contact Microsoft Corp. on a daily basis but… oops!… somebody at Microsoft just happened to overlook including this little tidbit of information in the licensing agreement.

According to the definition on Wikipedia, what we’ve got here is a bona fide case of corporate spyware (please note: bold and italics in the following quotes are my own emphasis and not part of the originals).

In the field of computing, the term spyware refers to a broad category of malicious software designed to intercept or take partial control of a computer’s operation without the informed consent of that machine’s owner or legitimate user.
-from Spyware, Wikipedia.org

Not much of a controversy over whether the behavior of Microsoft Windows ‘Genuine Advantage’ software does this, right? Oh… you’re not convinced? Hm… here, then, consider this:

Microsoft Corp. acknowledged Wednesday that it needs to better inform users that its tool for determining whether a computer is running a pirated copy of Windows also quietly checks in daily with the software maker.

The company said the undisclosed daily check is a safety measure designed to allow the tool, called Windows Genuine Advantage, to quickly shut down in case of a malfunction. …

[David Lazar, who directs the Windows Genuine Advantage program,] said the company added the safety measure because the piracy check, despite widespread distribution, is still a pilot program. He said the company was worried that it might have an unforeseen emergency that would require the program to terminate quickly.

But he acknowledged that Microsoft should have given users more information about the daily interactions.

“We’re looking at ways to communicate that in a more forward manner,” he said.

Lazar also said the company plans to tweak the program soon so that it will only check in with Microsoft every two weeks, rather than daily.
-from Microsoft plans better disclosures of tool, 07 June 2006, Yahoo! News

In my book, Microsoft’s ‘Genuine Advantage’ software is functionally equivalent to ‘spyware’ so if it looks, acts and sounds like a duck, is it a duck? Me thinks it is!

So… if you’re running Microsoft Windows with ‘Genuine Advantage’ software, you need to know that your computer is reaching out to other computers owned by Microsoft Corp. every day, whether you know it or not, and whether you like it or not.

Isn’t that special? Not!