Windows 10 Reserves The Right To Block Pirated Games And 'Unauthorized' Hardware
from the Microsoft-being-Microsoft dept
While Windows 8 annoyed many users for its attempt to duct-tape two disparate computing styles (traditional Windows and a touch interface) together while demanding you stand impressed by the genius of such a move, Windows 10 initially appeared to be seeing some positive responses (at least among those who use Windows). That was, at least until people started to realize how nosy the operating system is, how frequently it feels the need to phone home to Redmond, and some of the more obnoxious language buried in the terms of service.Not too surprisingly (this is Microsoft we're talking about) the OS opts users in to all manner of information sharing from the start, and there's some indication the OS doesn't really heed its own opt-out settings for many of these "services":
"Unfortunately for privacy advocates, these controls don't appear to be sufficient to completely prevent the operating system from going online and communicating with Microsoft's servers. For example, even with Cortana and searching the Web from the Start menu disabled, opening Start and typing will send a request to www.bing.com to request a file called threshold.appcache which appears to contain some Cortana information, even though Cortana is disabled. The request for this file appears to contain a random machine ID that persists across reboots.While much of this phoning home appears to be innocuous, it's obviously annoying to users who expect an OS that operates quietly and securely on the network. Other ingrained features of the OS may or may not be more troublesome, depending on how seriously you'd like to take the Microsoft's fine print. One provision in particular appears to have caught the eye of numerous news outlets: namely that Microsoft has the ability and reserves the right to disable first-party (aka Microsoft) titles should they be found to be pirated. The TOS also notes that Microsoft reserves the right to block "unauthorized hardware":
"We may automatically check your version of the software and download software updates or configuration changes, including those that prevent you from accessing the Services, playing counterfeit games, or using unauthorized hardware peripheral devices. You may also be required to update the software to continue using the Services."Comforting! It's possible Microsoft will never utilize this particular portion of its TOS, but its inclusion is understandably troubling all the same, and with the capability embedded, it's hard to think our friends at the MPAA and BSA won't urge Microsoft to include their products. Update: one commenter points out the TOS in question that has everyone in a tizzy refers to Windows services, not necessarily Windows 10. Windows 10 is covered by Microsoft Software License Terms. In short, while Microsoft could declare Windows 10 as a service, it still seems highly unlikely that the company is going to invite the wrath of millions by using Windows 10 as a piracy and device nanny, especially if they want the OS to succeed.
If you're looking for some additional bright side, Windows 10 at least blocks some of the more obnoxious, invasive flavors of DRM that have made the rounds over the last few years, including SecureROM and SafeDisc. Unfortunately, that means titles that used this DRM simply won't work on the new OS without a patch.
Either way, worries about Windows 10's spying and reporting habits appear to have freaked out a few BitTorrent trackers. One tracker by the name of iTS has decided to block all Windows 10 users entirely, redirecting them to this YouTube video explaining the perceived dangers of the new OS. In a post over at Reddit, tracker admins explain why they're not particularly welcoming of Windows 10 users:
"Many of you might have heard or read about the terrible privacy policy of windows 10 recently. Unfortunately Microsoft decided to revoke any kind of data protection and submit whatever they can gather to not only themselves but also others. One of those is one of the largest anti-piracy company called MarkMonitor. Amongst other things windows 10 sends the contents of your local disks directly to one of their servers. Obviously this goes way too far and is a serious threat to sites like ours which is why we had to take measures."This is likely somewhat of an overreaction, since Microsoft has been working with MarkMonitor for many years now, in some instances to protect customers from phishing attacks. Still, it's understandable that Microsoft's decision to embed Windows 10 with all manner of chatty behaviors would raise a few eyebrows. If Redmond wants to avoid the fractured adoption issues that plagued earlier versions of Windows, hopefully executives there can be publicly pressured to ensure that opting out of the more chatty and invasive aspects of the new OS actually works.
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Filed Under: control, infringement, ownership, pirated content, unauthorized hardware, windows 10
Companies: microsoft
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Re:
This is going to be the best Microsoft operating system of all time.
But arguably, the best Microsoft OS might have been Xenix, although it was a miserable Unix, it was still Unix, hence better ;).
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Microsoft Xenix was very good to me!
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Re: Re:
I don't think that fixes it. Windows 10 isn't as good as Windows 7.
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Re: Re: Re:
"This is going to be the best spyware of all time."
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What a joke.
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Re: What a joke.
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Re: Re: What a joke.
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Re: Re: Re: What a joke.
The other way to try out Linux is via Virtualbox, which is a good option for longer term testing.
It is also worth noting that Linux will run on a 1GHz single core Celeron with 512MB of ram, or any other early XP machine; especially if a lighter weight desktop like LXDE, XFCE or Mate is used.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: What a joke.
Linux makes VASTLY more efficient use of hardware than Windows.
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Re: Re: Re: What a joke.
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Re: What a joke.
Held in high esteem by many and loathed by some, Richard Stallman's philosophy on personal computing should be read by all. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Free_Software_Definition
A program is free software if the program's users have the four essential freedoms:
The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose (freedom 0).
The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
On my last three computers I left a Windows partition for emergency use by my daughter and grandkids. It has rarely been used and each time I have had to boot into Windows I am reminded why I no longer use it. Even before reading this article I was hesitant about upgrading the Windows partition from 8.1 to 10.
Right now on my desk I have a USB stick and DVD with Ubuntu on it that I am going to give to a friend of mine to try Linux. Might I suggest you all do the same.
For those of you interested in some of the legal history of Microsoft I would recommend researching the archives at www.groklaw.net especially the Comes vs MS documents:
http://www.groklaw.net/staticpages/index.php?page=2007021720190018
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Re: Re: What a joke.
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Re: Re: Re: What a joke.
I very much appreciate how forward looking and 'wear a tinfoil hat for the right reasons' he has been and for founding the Free Software Foundation.
At the same time I think it is unfortunate that a more charismatic spokesperson has yet to eclipse the very notoriety you reference with true celebrity.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What a joke.
Ask someone to count to three and see what number they say first.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What a joke.
3, sir
3
https://youtu.be/QM9Bynjh2Lk?t=298
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: What a joke.
A B C D ...
so with numbers you go:
0 1 2 3 ....
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Re: Re: What a joke.
And one of the reasons was Windows 95. I had a beta in summer 1995, and came to the conclusion that this was the same DOS-based shit as Windows 3.11, in a nicer packaging.
Just at this moment, a friend lent me his Linux install CD, and I was hooked. I still had DOS and Windows 3.11 for maybe a year or two on the other partition, but then came Quake in 1996, and that was the point where I threw out DOS and Windows. Obviously, they weren't needed anymore, the important games were working on Linux ;).
My machines run Linux ever since, sometimes I had some Windows in a VMware, but never on the metal. But lately, wine has obliterated the need for most Windows VMs, because it's so much faster and runs about 90% of all Windows applications and 80% of all games, out of the box. Of course, now I don't even run wine so much, since a lot of games now get ported.
In any case, apart from OCR, Desktop Publishing and Image Manipulation, there is no need to use anything but Linux. And for the above three things, MacOS X has always been better than Windows anyway.
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Re: Re: What a joke.
Have you tried Mint too? I haven't used it much but it seems nice. I used to use Ubuntu (when I used Linux) but I don't like Unity so I found Mint and I like it better.
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Re: What a joke.
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Re: What a joke.
And... it's been downhill ever since. To be able to schedule when my updates happen, I'd have to upgrade to professional, making Win10 a non-free upgrade. Then all this crap with privacy, or lack thereof.
I have had problems and disliked some previous Windows OS versions (notably ME and Vista), but I never seriously considered switching to Linux before. Now, I am. If Windows 10 is still looking awful in a year's time, I'm just going to plan to switch over to Linux by Windows 7's end-of-life. I may seriously do it anyway, because I no longer trust Microsoft at all.
Congrats Microsoft.
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Re: Re: What a joke.
I think I'm in that boat with you. As a bonus, if I ran Linux maybe I wouldn't need such a powerful machine for development.
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Re: Re: Re: What a joke.
There's no "maybe" about it. You might be surprised how much machine power Windows wastes.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: What a joke.
I would not be surprised, I've seen what comparatively wimpy hardware will run the latest and most advanced Linux distributions without complaint or issue. And really really pathetically slow and outdated hardware will run something like Xubuntu. I've just never done development on Linux on a lower power machine. Maybe I should ask my boss if I can put Linux on this pathetically slow laptop...
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Re: What a joke.
I should mention that while the installation was going on I could surf the Internet from the live DVD.
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Re: What a joke.
My next system will be linux.
Seems like this is the kick in the balls I needed to switch systems.
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Windows 10 is spyware
I am not an attorney, this is not legal advice, but: I think anybody running Windows 10 in a health care setting is instantly in violation of HIPAA.
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Re: Windows 10 is spyware
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Re: Re: Re: Windows 10 is spyware
/half-s
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Windows 10 is spyware
It seems a keystroke logger that phones the data home to a 3rd party would be an obvious violation.
I might violate copyright law how? What is /half-s?
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Windows 10 is spyware
So as long as you have the corporate licence you _might_ be OK.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Windows 10 is spyware
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Re: Windows 10 is spyware
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Who can authorize?
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Re: Who can authorize?
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Re: Re: Who can authorize?
FTDI is a semiconductor manufacturer that has a line of very nice, popular USB to microcontroller interface chips; they are flexible, easy to program on both sides and fairly cheap.
This makes them perfect targets for Chinese counterfeiters: these chips are moderately complex internally, do not require very advanced silicon process and will easily sell in small batches at prices that are just below the official.
FTDI tried to "combat these counterfeit chips" by using a trick to brick them. Unfortunately, due to nasty issues with global electronics supply market, these chips were found not just in Shenzen market gizmos, they made their way to quite serious hardware sold by very serious companies.
The big problem is that the only way to be 100% sure that you buy "original" chips is to go directly to the manufacturer.. and the manufacturer was not very interested in selling quantities smaller than a hundred thousand chips with thirteen weeks delivery time.
P.S. it's theoretically possible to un-brick devices with these chips, it just requires high levels of electronics and OS experience along with familiarity with a given product.
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Autoupdate harmful drivers.
The malignant driver were updated silently, and it bricked the equipment silently.
Most equipment that used reverse engineered FTDI USB to serial and FTDI USB to parallel chips is harmed by the driver. Reverse engineered as in: made to talk to the most used USB bridge driver in windows and work as transparently and well as possible. Actual copies is immune, as they share the bug that prevent the 'genuine' chips from executing the malignant code. Thus, the driver has malignant code that is ONLY run by reverse engineered chips.
They can't. Many 'fake' chips were marked as FTDI, a trademark violation. They were marked so well in fact that industry professionals usually guessed wrong when trying to guess the origin of the chips (as the copies were made by a more modern and advanced process).
The USB address were set to zero, an address that Windows don't want to use. The vast majority of the users affected would believe that the equipment have failed, and not understand that Microsoft/FTDI bricked it.
As there is a significantly elevated risk by using software and hardware from Microsoft and FTDI, an effort should be made to avoid them. Many have done so allready, and is safer because of it.
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Re: Autoupdate harmful drivers.
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Re: Who can authorize?
Afaik Microsoft defines that. Because of the Secure Boot and TPM stuff they can revoke the cert for certain hardware and more or less brick the box.
f.e. they only want AMD cards then the can remove the Nvidia certs and you can't use the cards anymore.
But that is nothing new. Win 8 has that too.
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Re: Re: Who can authorize?
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Re: Who can authorize?
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Re: Re: Who can authorize?
I install plenty of unsigned drivers in Win 7 and have never experianced a blue screen/crash/instability. So that kind of excuse just doesn't cut it.
They are simply control freaks.
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Re: Re: Who can authorize?
Really.
It looks like you are trying to brick your 'puter with crap software, would you like help with that?
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Re: Re: Re: Who can authorize?
"This is going to be the best spyware of all time."
I almost forgot the joys of that Clippy crapware.
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Unauthorised Hardware?
What peripherals would they mean? Can you get USB assault rifles yet?
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Re: Unauthorised Hardware?
Similarly, what right does the OS have to decide what software you run on your computer?
Both of these questions should be purely rhetorical with the answer of, simply, 'none'. That this discussion is even needed is cause for serious alarm.
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Re: Re: Unauthorised Hardware?
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Re: Re: Re: Unauthorised Hardware?
I hope you're not suggesting that gaming consoles are just for children.
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Re: Unauthorised Hardware?
Maybe you should direct your question at Apple too. With Windows you can at least build your own stuff and aren't forced to buy Microsoft computers.
Seriously, Apple does this stuff for decades and noone cares. Now that MS does something that goes into this direction but is far far from how Apple does business people are outraged.
All MS is doing is trying to get some Apple costumers in my opinion. Easy to use system which manages itself and the user can just use it without worries about drivers and such.
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Re: Re: Unauthorised Hardware?
I'm a little surprised, from time to time, that so many people are so outraged, yet continue use a product, while continuing to be outraged.
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Re: Re: Unauthorised Hardware?
Nothing to see here, move along.
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Re: Re: Unauthorised Hardware?
Yes, but developers/power users don't take apple seriously. They build toys, so no one cares as much.
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Re: Re: Unauthorised Hardware?
Lots and lots of people (including myself) care a great deal. We just deal with it by avoiding Apple products like the plague.
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Re: Unauthorised Hardware?
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Re: vista
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Re: Using Vista
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If anyone's still using Vista, I'd suggest they upgrade to 7 just to have the complete OS instead of the public beta they're using. Beyond that? I'd be wary.
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Unauthorized hardware?
Best case scenario: they only block hardware that's *literally illegal*, like... what, some equipment that serves no purpose but interfering with mobile networks maybe? I'm not actually sure.
Worst case scenario: they start a program of certified peripherals, and block anything (in some categories) that doesn't go through that certification program. Consider the Xbox consoles: almost anything that plugs into the USB ports except for a mic, keyboard, or storage device needs to be specially certified. That's why the peripheral for "Disney Infinity" comes in one flavor shared by the Wii, PS3, Wii U, and PS4, another flavor used just by the XB360, and another flavor used just by the XB1. They're all USB, they all *look* identical, but the Microsoft versions are certified for those specific consoles (not even for the whole console family).
Unfortunately likely scenario: they block peripherals that violate *industry group requirements*, like any HDMI capture hardware that can be configured to bypass HDCP.
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Re: Unauthorized hardware?
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Nothing new
Worst fucking form capitalism imaginable. Own nothing but pay rent forever.
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Re: Nothing new
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Re: Nothing new
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Re: Nothing new
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Re: Re: Nothing new
It's a used car, I didn't buy it for the stereo, but I really didn't expect a gatekeeper in my car.
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Re: Nothing new
Yes, back in my day, real cars ate cassettes and didn't connect to your boombox (which you could comfortably rest on the bench seat and even buckle in with the aftermarket seat belts!). And we liked it! I remember the time I fed my car Celine Dion. I got better gas mileage from that car, until I lost the second Dion tape I'd been threatening it with.
I still suspect the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Buicks for that one.
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Re: Re: Nothing new
It's not as though you have a choice of "infotainment" (blech) systems for a particular car. Perhaps that wasn't an important consideration for him.
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Re: Re: Re: Nothing new
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Nothing new
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Nothing new
Just because a feature was not important enough to sway his decision on what kind of car to buy doesn't mean he should never use it. I didn't get my car because it has heated side mirrors, but I still turn them on when the mirrors are icy.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Nothing new
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Nothing new
Not everyone can afford to order them from the factory with custom options.
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Re: Nothing new
'Just bought a car with MS Sync'
You're welcome.
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Unauthorized hardware?
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Windows doesn't air your dirty laundry in public...
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This has been going on for a VERY long time.
For those who just noticed, welcome to the party. May I recommend petitioning game companies to release software on bootable DVDs in the future. At this point, the kernel is tiny compared to the average video game.
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Re: This has been going on for a VERY long time.
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Re: This has been going on for a VERY long time.
Can you please elaborate on this? What exactly got reactivated?
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Unauthorized hardware
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Re: Unauthorized hardware
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Re: Re: Unauthorized hardware
P.s. Grrr my keyboard and browser hate me. refreshed in the middle of typing the comment.
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Re: Unauthorized hardware
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Can't agree with that. We do not know what it is taking or how or when. That is the problem. There is no real informed consent.
"...hopefully executives there can be publicly pressured to ensure that opting out of the more chatty and invasive aspects of the new OS actually works."
That is one possibility. But in the absence of genuine data protection laws I can't see this happening. The problem, like so many others, remains that the company is allowed to bribe government officials, across many jurisdictions, in exchange for them turning a blind eye to abusive behavior.
A credible nation state needs to a take a stand and say enough is enough. Meanwhile we should all be evangelizing Linux.
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The old days
I was behind the times technologically. I was running a OS that could get hacked by everyone and anyone.
Now that Windows 10 is out, I'm real tempted to laugh at those who upgraded to it, because they're being hacked by the company that makes Windows 10.
But I will refrain-because I finally upgraded to 7, that's far enough for me.
Now who's calling who paranoid?
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Re: The old days
That said, I did buy a new one recently which I'm waiting to arrive. This has Windows 8.1.
And when I probably need to buy a new laptop in ten or so years, I don't know what I'll do.
Fuck Microsoft and their spying.
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Re: Re: The old days
just saying :D
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http://news.softpedia.com/news/can-windows-10-really-disable-your-pirated-games-not-really-489 401.shtml
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Re:
"Windows 10 Reserves The Right To Block Pirated Games And 'Unauthorized' Hardware"
Where does this headline confuse Win10 with WinServices?
Perhaps the confusion in your head.
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Re: Re:
The confusion is right there in the headline, the start is about windows 10 the middle and end are about the xbox. Y'see it's confounding 2 things.
Teh confusion n yr head.
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There is at present a licence for windows and a separate one for xbox/live.
Windows dials home and the xbox won't play pirate games or take unauthorised hardware.
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Re:
So are the trolls here. So why did you prove this wrong?
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Re: Re:
https://www.thurrott.com/windows/windows-10/5337/windows-10-tip-understand-and-configure-priva cy-settings
http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/17/9164153/windows-10-privacy-concerns
Should we keep an eye on what MS is doing? Definitely. Is MS scanning your hard drive for pirated software? No. Are there privacy concerns with Windows 10? Yes. Are there settings to mitigate those concerns? Also yes. Should you upgrade to Windows 10? I don't care whether you do or not. If you can get done what you need to get done with Windows 7, 8, Linux, OSX or some other OS, go for it. I don't have a dog in that fight. I would advise strongly against sticking with a pre-Windows 7 OS and even Win7 will need to be updated once support expires in a few years, but that's a decision that you can put off. I will say as someone who uses Win7 and Win10 every single day that Windows 10 is a better OS overall.
What this story amounts to is: Click-bait websites have created a mountain out of a molehill. Some people (like the ones running the BitTorrent tracker mentioned in the article) are making decisions based on these articles exaggerating the non-issues.
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Do those settings actually work? Sort of.
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But they're very incomplete. Even if you set them all to "don't spy on me", Windows still spies on you -- it just does less of it.
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And if these terms are an issue, pretending like it is a Windows 10 issue (even though they aren't Windows 10 terms) means people will end up still using the services that the terms ACTUALLY apply to and just avoiding the software that they DON'T apply to. People that have issues with this should be shouting that Skype, OneDrive, Outlook.com, etc are a problem and that you shouldn't use them. Making it a Win10 issue just to get those clicks confuses the real issues.
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And if you want to call me a shill for calling out an inaccuracy in the story, which has since been CORRECTED, that's totally cool. Generally, people that accuse others of being shills are just people who have nothing worthwhile to say anyway (See any of the trolls that accuse Mike of being a Google shill.)
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
I don't use any of the other Microsoft services you mentioned. That is why I don't complain about them much.
If you are not a shill then you are doing a remarkably good job of repeating their talking points.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Which is spying.
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It's easy enough for those that are freaked out by this to switch to a different OS and not use Microsoft's services. Most other people either won't be aware of it or won't care.
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Microsoft is made up of a lot of people, some of whom have a tendency to get stupid and abuse their monitoring position.
Kinda like Google and the NSA. In Google it seem fairly rare (or they cover it up really well). In the NSA it's prevalent but not considered abuse from within for (say) a tech to stalk his exes and collect private cheesecake photos.
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Except of course, it's not as misleading as you say it is.
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"Windows 10 Reserves The Right" -- NO, IT TAKES YOUR RIGHTS! You can't even get the headline right!
Are you all Luddites who want nothing new and gloriously better?
Don't you worry about being a small minority of techo-phobes who stubbornly won't keep up, creating security problems for hundreds of millions of "normal" people? -- Who see you as NUTS?
What are you going to do when new games and Office formats won't work on your antique Windows 7?
Going to forego mandatory updates and leave yourself vulnerable to the many old flaws Microsoft left?
How exactly have you determined that the spying in 7 and 8 is acceptable? Just haven't yet heard the news that those are being "updated" to same levels?
Can you not see the trends of corporate spying lead directly to zero privacy for you and total control for them?
HOW have you managed to avoid seeing that trend over the last decade?
Don't you think would have been wiser if started complaining and saying NO to corporate spying a decade ago?
Think you're "voluntarily" trading a little privacy for wonderful new "services"? Or just totally clueless about current level of surveillance from those "services"?
Do you expect this trend to even slow down, let alone stop at respecting any little shreds of our privacy?
Do you all only get your "news" from Techdirt? (Gosh, that'd explain a lot...) Or just so devoted that you saved your comments for the entire month?
After all these years, NOW that it's too late, you're waking up? Sheesh. You're nothin' but lurbles.
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Asshole.
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Luddites who want nothing new
...with deliberate malware and new and shiny file formats.
'We' resist Windows 10 better than most. In fact 'we' resist widows better than most!
Techdirt is really good BTW. Sometimes they fall for what I am convinced is an elaborate hoax; such as "anti-propaganda" propaganda with bots linking to bots instead of influencing people, sites and news media; but they excel among news media. They eclipse all main stream media.
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I'm trying
And every time, after a week or so, there is something I need to do that I just can't get working in Linux. And so, with the shame of a junkie going back to the dealer, I reboot in Windows and end up staying there.
So here's the irony. Using Linux really does require extra effort for most users. And Microsoft is making damn sure it's worth the effort.
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Bad news for this moose.
Using Win7 for now with no intent to upgrade, though I fear for Microsoft surreptitiously installing spyware akin to the Win10 monitoring agents.
I may just make my future systems linux and leave this one Win7 as long as possible.
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I'd also say Linux is not for everyone, but then, Windows is for nobody ;)=
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Of course in the real world, the amount of people bothered by these things probably amounts to about .01% of all the computer users in the world. :(
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Microsoft Vanquished
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Good to know
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Re: Good to know
Good idea, except that Windows is well known for ignoring the hosts file. So, it has not been taken care of and another solution is required. Several options exist, one could wipe the HD and install some other OS or never connect it to the internet. A well thought out firewall would also do wonders.
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Re: Good to know
As the earlier commenter mentioned, no, it's not taken care of. Using the hosts file is not a good solution.
If you insist on running Win 10, then the only actual solution is to run a separate firewall.
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Being a bit lazy, I would prefer something with a user GUI so I can actually see what connections are doing what.
On the Linux side, I was using Firestarter and just recently realized that it doesn't seem to do anything for IPv6 connections.
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Yes, my broadband router at home does have firewall features on it, but that won't stop outbound connections from my computer at all. Nor will help if I connect my laptop at other places, like work. I'm talking about a personal firewall to keep an eye on what software is making connections from my computer that I would rather not allow.
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I think they all do and I know I can go that route if I really want to, but like I said above, I'm a bit lazy and not really wanting to be editing text files or what not all the time. What I was hoping for is a GUI program that monitored the connections where you could simply select a connection and set it "block" or "allow" or "allow once" kind of thing. I've checked out a couple of the Linux offerings on this, but most seemed to be pretty complicated and overkill for what I'm looking to do. I might have to dust off Anjunta and try to write my own, I guess.
And since I rarely use Windows outside of work, I was wondering if something similar was out there for Windows too.
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The only times that I've had some problems is when playing a new full-screen game - you can't see the popup because of the game, and the game stops loading until you dismiss the popup or it times out. I reduced the timeout to 10 seconds, so I don't have to wait too long (sometimes there are multiple popups). It only happens with some games, and since you can also set up rules in the firewall options, it's not a big problem.
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Yeah, I've looked at few of them. Most seemed to be overkill for what I want to do and most had a pretty large learning curves to overcome in order to use them correctly.
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Then your router's firewall is worthless (as many of them are). Get a standalone one, or pick up an old computer from a secondhand shop and turn it into your firewall.
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I don't use Windows for my firewall. It runs Linux, using the firewall capabilities that are built in. I use Shorewall to ease configuration.
My firewall sits between the internet and the rest of my network, so it protects everything attached to my LAN, regardless of what OS they're running.
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Ah, ok. I'm not sure that would work real well for me. I also have 3 other adults who live in my house who connect through the router with various devices and I'm not really looking to be a nanny for them and their devices.
I was thinking more in terms of a personal firewall at the device level. I'll have to check out Comodo, that the AC above recommended.
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I know this, becuase back in the 1990s, I used a pirated version of CyberSitter, when I had housekeepers that would bring kids with them. Even with the warnining that countefeit registation numbers would be traced and prosecuted, I never was, becuase I blocked the IP address at Solid Oak, that the program used to "tattle" on you, and I was never caught when I did that back in the 1990s.
A "tattle tale" device, whether by Solid Oak, or Microsoft, can easily be defeated with a firewall. It is just a matter of finding out what IP addresses it uses, and then blocking them.
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/conspiracy theory
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This is worth a read. I am well versed in computer networking, and Windows 10 sends packetized data back to their servers with a number of actions by the user (including search queries and scanning for media files on your hard drive) and automatically, by no action of the user. To put it simply, this data is encrypted, so we do not know what it contains, but it might be sending the contents of your computer, or data, or metadata.
No other version of Windows is so invasive in sending data to a Microsoft server, the contents of which is presumed ownership or stewardship of Microsoft, a company, and not just yourself (from where the data originated, and presumably is 'owned' in any conventional sense*).
* Note that 'legally' this may be 'owned' in an unconventional sense, or even not mean owned at all.. as ever, it all depends on interpretation.
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It's a crying shame that Microsoft is pushing so much of their monitoring as compulsory.
But Microsoft has made it clear that they demand all your data, and they will use it against you if they think you are doing them wrong. And they will hand over your data to any affiliate they like and the government if it pleases them (or makes them money).
People only take that sort of bullshit when they have to, when they're at gunpoint. And as soon as someone creates a hack to circumvent such monitoring / persecution (Like this. Warning: Don't know it's veracity!).
Soon to come (I hope): hackware that gets your Win10 install to send gobs of false data to big micro.
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I failed to complete my sentence.
As Windows Genuine Advantage in XP, Vista and Win7 taught us, putting draconian DRM in your operating system (e.g. phoning home) is a way to assure that the crack will be written not by mischievous student hackers, but by high end software engineers.
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No way in hell I am getting the windows 10 update. I would just love to trust my computer to a corporation that has proven it does not give a dam for its customers.
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For those sticking with Windows 7 / 8
http://www.hakspek.com/security/updates-make-windows-7-and-8-spy-on-you-like-windows-1 0/
In short: screwed if you do upgrade, screwed if you don't ...
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Re: For those sticking with Windows 7 / 8
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Hope hell is real for MS
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Re: Hope hell is real for MS
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Re: Hope hell is real for MS
Well, I took the free upgrade to 10, knowing it would be mainly spyware, because Win8 sux rox and was driving me crazy and because one has to be guilty of something illegal to worry much about such things as self incrimination.
Besides, the reports of CIAF BIN SADOJ's data interception and dissemination capabilities already point out that if the Feds want to bust your ass for something, all they have to do is plant the evidence on your computer and then send in the Heavy Metal Cops to bust down your door and take your computer in for forensic interrogation.
Voila, you're breaking rocks for twenty years.
I will however admit that Win10, while definitely better than Win8 - (Win5 was better than Win8 - I think Win10 is the latest incarnation of NT actually) - is so filled with call home shit that I do recommend that all who might use P2P, or have nasty pics of Clinton or any other Bush, or any other kinds "self-incriminating" stuff, or more importantly, if you're running a legitimate business, keep all such material/records stored on an offline computer, or, of course, not at all.
I'm still trying to get all the spyware "apps" shut down, and upgrades take place without your consent or assistance and cannot, as far as I can tell, be shut off, or manipulated in any fashion at all by the borrower/user.
They do allow you to determine/schedule when you want to shut down the computer for reboot after the upgrade installs though - so nice of them eh. :)
In the simplest terms - using W10, is exactly like borrowing a computer from Microsoft. Its their computer and you're just being allowed to use it, until they decide to stop letting you use it.
They can terminate any process they don't want you to run, and if you use it for such things as graphics, or effects heavy games, you'll notice that everything comes to a stop for whole seconds, every so often, so the computer you're being allowed to use, can finish an important dump of your property to whosoever is paying Microsloth for the data dump.
They've made "agreements with gaming groups too. Just before the upgrade, my AMD settings for TES4 Oblivion stopped working and refused to work when reset thru CCC.
I had to turn on anti-aliasing in the game engine itself.
Then, a couple days after the Win 10 upgrade, a huge AMD upgrade happened and suddenly I have a Raptr App called Gaming Evolved on my machine and the first thing it does is pop up a screen telling me it has fine tuned the graphics for Oblivion - and it has, perfectly.
However, if I want to keep those finely tuned adjustments, I have to let the Raptr App stay connected. Cool deal eh. :)
Took me half an hour to shut down everything you're allowed to shut down in that little piece of spyware.
It follows all my gaming activity and God's know what else, and reports directly to God's know who, as long as I'm connected to the Internet - all supposedly so it can tell me how many hours I've played the game and let me chat with other gamers - an activity I find repulsive at best.
I've no doubt Win10 also perfected the CPU's selective software malfunction process that makes non-MS software and apps that come from non-MS-Crony companies run wonky and CTD after half an hours use.
Sadly, this is the future of the Personal Computer and will in ten years be universal - no more Linux or any other non-Player OS allowed, unless people finally get up off their fat sofas and demand real change, starting at the top - which is about as likely to occur as finding gold bullion in your shitter every Friday.
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The way to tell Microsoft to piss off
OK, all at once now, go to Microsoft's website and do a search for Windows 9. Anyone think they will get the message?
Nah!
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Thanks for being sorry though.
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Nothing M$ Does Affects Me Too Directly
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Piracy is, and always will be, what this lame site is about.
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Wait...wait...
Trollish!
Yar har!
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Almost spit Pepsi on my keyboard laughing at that one. Props.
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Have fun getting your spammy ass blocked again, dumbshit.
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I don't usually use profanity, but in this case, its DEFINITELY warranted...
FUCK YOU MICROSOFT... sooooo glad I made the switch to Linux back around 2011, never going back...
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ISDS
The ISDS is above the Supreme Court, it is above the legislative body, and it above the government, and above the democracy itself.
It is the only way ISDS can overrule and convict governments!
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Is this why Windows now hangs when I try to run Heroes II?
Where can I get these patches? They have no right to disable any functionality without our informed consent.
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Ribbitt..... ribbbbittt.......... ribbbbbittt.... rib..gah!
You're probably referring to the Pre-9/11 Anti-Trust laws, which of course, like most other business oriented laws and the US constitution, no longer apply to those who are in power, or those who are in charge of directing the actions of those who are in power.
If the FTC got involved in this, it would be primarily to get a raise in personal graft check deposits, to help pay for the ever escalating costs of yacht parts, bimbos and cocaine.
What was it the Borg used to say to every being they were in the process of assimilating....
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