Re: Microsoft updates Windows without users' consent
On Thu, 13 Sep 2007 10:05:43 -0600, Bruce Chambers
<bchambers@cable0ne.n3t> wrote:
>Silicon neuron wrote:
>>
>>
>> Microsoft has begun patching files on Windows XP and Vista without users'
>> knowledge, even when the users have turned off auto-updates.
>>
>>
>
>
> Actually, this is *not* being done _without_ user consent. Just the
>opposite. Every user of each operating systems has been given advance
>notice that such things could happen, and has consented to it.
>
>Read the Vista EULA. Section 7 makes it clear that this could happen:
>
>========================================================================
>
>7. INTERNET-BASED SERVICES. Microsoft provides Internet-based services
>with the software. It may *change* or cancel them at any time.
> a. Consent for Internet-Based Services. The software features
>described below and in the Windows Vista Privacy Statement connect to
>Microsoft or service provider computer systems over the Internet. *In
>some cases, you will not receive a separate notice when they connect.*
>You may switch off these features or not use them. For more information
>about these features, see the Windows Vista Privacy Statement at
>http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=20615. By using these features,
>you consent to the transmission of this information. Microsoft does not
>use the information to identify or contact you.
>
>========================================================================
>(Emphasis mine)
That patently FAILS to give Microsoft a unilateral right to download
and install software without the user's permission. NOR does it
intrinsically grant Microsoft any such right. If it does, the very
next sentence puts the quietus on Microsoft's "right", since it gives
the user the right to turn said services OFF, and makes no provision
for Microsoft to turn them back on without the user's permission. Once
the user turns them off, they should STAY off untill HE turns them
back on. This includes updates to the Windows update mechanism
itself, which may be installed at any time according to the user's
leisure. It is not so important that Microsoft has to violate its own
license, as well as our privacy, to install these "necessary upgrades"
against our will.
I remember one of those "necessary upgrades" Windows Update always
used to sneak into my upgrade cycle. I knew that upgrade was poison
to my OS, and would kill it the minute I attempted to boot back into
XP after running Windows Update, and I tried my darndest to make sure
it did not sneak in somehow during a regular upgrade cycle.
But Microsoft STILL insists that it is a NECESSARY upgrade for my
Apple, and I have it hidden. Yet WU periodically trys to insert it
into the list of proposed updates.
THAT'S why we DON'T WANT to use Windows Update automatically.
IF Microsoft is STILL delivering upgrades to your computer when you
supposed you had turned them OFF, they are obviously violating your
rights under the said clause.
Now they are trying to weasel out of their responsibility to HONOR
THEIR OWN LICENSE, by saying, "It really doesn't mean what most would
think it means", as if Microsoft uses some special dialect of English
in their written EULAs which only they can comprehend.
Microsoft has used this tactic on more than one occasion when they
wanted to get out of their responsibility to honor their own license
when it was no longer expedient for them.
[the rest is not important]
> Do I approve of this practice? Not really. I'd prefer to know about
>each and every change as it happens, just on the off chance that, if a
>problem occurs, I've better information on which to base my
>troubleshooting. But I'm an exception; most people simply don't want to
>know about technical details of how the OS is working.
So, because "most people don't mind being violated without their
knowledge or permission", it's ok to do it?
And you don't think any other thinking man wants as much information
as possible to use as a basis for trouble-shooting his own daily
problems? You are little different than any other man, sir, so you
aren't the "exception" you imagine yourself to be.
Don't sell the "hoi poloi" so short, my friend. Some day, they might
be your saviors.
Anything can happen in this Quantum Universe
Donald Mcdaniel
