[LUAU] I Warned You About This!!!

[George Toft]

> Microsoft to address Windows 98 privacy issue
> 
> By Martin Wolk
> 
> SEATTLE, March 7 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp <<A HREF="aol://4785:MSFT">MSFT.O
> </A>>. will fix a flaw in Windows 98 that allowed the software giant to
> collect unique computer identifying information without a user's knowledge,
> company executives said on Sunday.
> 
> But a software programmer who detected the problem said he remained concerned
> Microsoft was amassing a huge database that theoretically could be used to
> track down the authors of individual documents.
> 
> Rob Bennett, a group product manager at Microsoft, said the company learned on
> Friday that Windows 98 users were transmitting a unique hardware
> identification number during the registration process -- even when they
> specifically elected not to send data about their hardware.
> 
> The problem first was disclosed in Sunday's New York Times.
> 
> Bennett said the bug would be fixed in an update to the widely used 8-month-
> old operating system, expected to be released over the summer.
> 
> The issue affects only users whose computers have Ethernet adapter cards, most
> common in office computers connected to a local area network, but it raises
> new questions about privacy in a world in which people increasingly exchange
> electronic information over the Internet.
> 
> Microsoft also said it plans to eliminate a feature in its Office 97 word
> processing and spreadsheet software after concerns were raised about the use
> of the hardware identification number to generate unique numbers for each
> document.
> 
> "We're very, very concerned about privacy issues and the perception of privacy
> issues, so this is not going to be there in Windows 2000," said Steven
> Sinofsky, a Microsoft vice president.
> 
> Richard Smith, president of Phar Lap Software Inc. in Cambridge, Mass., said
> he discovered the Office and Windows issues and brought them to Microsoft's
> attention after privacy concerns were raised about identification numbers on
> Intel Corp's <<A HREF="aol://4785:INTC">INTC.O</A>>. new Pentium III computer
> chips.
> 
> "I was explicitly looking for a problem like this," said Smith, whose company
> produces industrial operating systems and software development tools,
> including many that support Microsoft platforms.
> 
> He said he was concerned that Microsoft is building a database of Ethernet
> addresses that "allows them to track where documents came from."
> 
> And he said he suspected that the automatic transmission of Ethernet addresses
> in the Windows 98 registration process was part of an effort by the company to
> detect software piracy.
> 
> "I don't think this is a bug," he said. "I think it's very intentional."
> 
> Microsoft's Bennett denied the machine identification numbers were being used
> in anti-piracy efforts.
> 
> And he said Microsoft's database of such numbers -- provided during the
> optional registration process -- is used only when users call the company for
> technical support.
> 
> "We're not using these IDs for marketing or for tracking user behavior," he
> said. "It's not something were interested in doing. It's not something they're
> designed to do."
> 
> Sinofsky, who heads up Microsoft's Office operations, said that because
> anybody could use a given computer or change identifying information on a
> document, it was "not conceivable" that a specific document could be linked to
> a specific person. But he acknowledged there was a legitimate "emotional"
> element to such concerns.
> 
> "I would say most people don't quite get how computers work, and they're
> suspicious of computers in general," he said. "That's probably why a lot of
> these privacy concerns are happening."
> 
> 16:14 03-07-99
> 
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I hate to say I told you so, but I warned you all about a
year ago that 
Microsoft had both the technology and desire to do this with
Win98.

First come product keys (like anyone who copies the disk
won't copy 
the number, also).  Once people get used to the numbers,
then
it's time to collect the numbers and MS products in a big
database 
via the Internet.  Then the e-mail will come "We noticed you
have MS whatever 97 installed on your computer, and it is
also 
registered by 15 other people.  We don't want to accuse
anyone 
of software theft, but it is obvious someone copied someone
elses 
CD.  Please buy a license for MS whatever 97 at our online
store for
the low price of $499.  Failure to comply will result it the
removal 
of this software from your computer.  Thank you."

Think it can't happen?  I work with someone who has already
experienced 
this.

On the technical side, what happens when you mix a
money-hungry 
corporation who leads the war on software piracy with a
worldwide 
communication medium and active desktop technology?  A
graphic 
interface (Win98) that can do to your computer whatever the 
folks in Redmond want to do.

Trust nothing that comes from Microsoft!!!  Open-Source is
the
only way to compute.

GB
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