Re: [Off Topic] Windows Genuine Advantage

[Harry Binswanger hb@xxxxxxxx]

Patricia wrote:
Harry Binswanger wrote:
. . . turn it around: what value, proper or improper, could MS get from
having pointless revalidations of the software license--hundreds of
millions of them?!
But does anybody really believe MS is going to sell info to
advertisers or something like that? That would be business suicide.
What has a lot of people worried is that there are persistent rumors
(which I don't think M$ has unequivocally denied) that they may someday
use such a hook to deactivate an older opsys when they, in their infinite
wisdom, have decided that everybody must upgrade to their latest and
[supposedly] greatest. One day you boot up a 9x or W2K box and up pops a
message:
"Microsoft has discontinued this version and it is no longer operative.
Please upgrade to Windows Ultra" (or whatever).
Can't happen. I never read EULAs, but I'm sure taking back the product
would be a violation of the terms of sale.
Also that they may prevent you from using applications that they "don't
like" (published by a competetor that they're trying to buy out or put out
of business).

Please!
Or suppose I were more vocal in my dislike, and was working on a book
denouncing M$. If it looked like hitting home, and they found the text on
my hard drive, you think they wouldn't do something?

That's right, I think they wouldn't. I *know* they wouldn't.

If these are the fears, then I say, "Don't worry, be happy."
I trust them to be greedy enough to see that there
is >>no future for them in doing that.

Well, yes, but didn't Aristotle say something to the
effect that "men do not become tyrants to keep
themselves warm"? Or as a later philosopher put it,
"All power tends to corrupt, and absolute power
corrupts absolutely."
But we're getting 'way off track. As the chief offender, I suggest that if
anyone wants to continue this, we take it off-list. I can almost hear
Robert cursing in the background at the waste of time and bandwidth.


Harry Binswanger
hb@xxxxxxxx