WGA discussion

[cunawarit]

Personally I haven't had problems with WGA, but false positives do appear to be a problem with some users. I have to admit if that were to happen to me I'd be rather angry, when I pay for software I expect a quality product and painless user experience, I don't expect to be accused of thievery when I have done no wrong.

It is no secret that in comparison to many one you guys I am an bit of an MS fanboy. This thread is not to flame Microsoft or promote other OSs, simply it is to discuss several aspects of this particular anti-piracy meassure. This aspects include: morality, alternatives anti-piracy methods, the effect of WGA on Microsoft's image.

One question I do have is what happened to anti-piracy dongles? If I remember correctly when I was a wee lad some programs like AutoCAD came with anti-piracy dongles that attached to the parallel port. Does anyone today to USB anti-piracy dongles? And do you think this would be any less intrusive than WGA? How easy are these things to pirate? It would be a pain of every bit of software came with a dongle, but why not just Windows Vista? In this way you could replace WGA.

In a way it seems better to me, even if they are piratable it would be a bit more complex for users than just downloading the cracked software.

[blastus]

The way I see it is this; I paid money for my computer and I paid money for the OS that runs on it. I don't like the idea that Microsoft has the power to render my computer useless (without an OS, my computer is useless.) IMO, they have no business using the network bandwidth that I paid for and knowing when I install Windows, my hard drive serial number, my motherboard manufacturer etc...

The BSA, Hollywood, Microsoft etc... make absolutely no distinction between say downloading pirated software off the Web and actually walking into a retail store and walking out with the software without paying for it. Or better yet, downloading a DVD movie is no different than stealing a purse from a poor old woman. So too it is no different than me buying a car, but the manufacturer continuously monitors the use of my vehicle and has the power to remotely disable it at any time, and has told me that this vehicle can only be resold once. Futhermore, the hood is welded shut and it is a criminal offense to even figure out how it works!

You can take it to the bank that even after Vista has been out for years, Microsoft will still claim that Windows piracy is on the rise and they will still claim that billions have been lost. It's only a matter time before the anti-piracy measures in Windows fail and screw over a business or many users. These kinds of screw ups won't be tolerated.

[meng]

I don't consider piracy to be a major threat to MS revenues. Windows piracy has been thriving for years, and I don't see MS profits shrinking. Indeed it could be argued that piracy at home helps to perpetuate users familiarity with Windows, while businesses and institutions will continue to pay their license fees as always.

I don't see any elegant solution against piracy, whether software or hardware based. Any determined effort to overcome anti-piracy measures will succeed eventually, but the question is can it be made troublesome enough that pirates will give up?

A dongle? what happens if I lose it/break it? Will my system come to a halt or will I have a grace period of 30 days of reduced functionality? WGA seems as good a solution as any, in terms of efficacy, convenience and minimizing the number of users who become disillusioned with Microsoft.

[randomnumber]

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