Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 20th Nov 2006 19:27 UTC, submitted by Flatline
Microsoft "Buried in a Knowledge Base article that Microsoft published to the Web on November 14 are details of Microsoft's plans to combat Office 2007 piracy via new Office Genuine Advantage lockdowns. Microsoft's intentions are clear: Just as it is doing with Vista, Microsoft plans to incorporate what basically amounts to a 'kill switch' into Office 2007. Office 2007 users who can't or won't pass activation muster within a set time period will be moved into 'reduced-functionality mode', according to Microsoft."
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hmmm
by Flatline on Mon 20th Nov 2006 19:36 UTC
Flatline
Member since:
2006-03-06

As many false positives as WGA has reputedly generated in XP-land, this could become quite the annoyance.

RE: hmmm
by Kroc on Mon 20th Nov 2006 20:53 in reply to "hmmm"
Kroc Member since:
2005-11-10

The annoyance is that my legal real-world receipt I hold in my hand apparently isn't valid to Microsoft. (for my XP Pro CD, bought weeks after release, now n'lited and streamlined with SP2).

The worst thing? The legality of this whole thing has to be contested by somebody with a lot of money, this sort of thing should be clear to begin with, the same as we have with the Sale of Goods Act etc, defining what is legal with regards the sales of goods.

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 1

RE[2]: hmmm
by sbenitezb on Mon 20th Nov 2006 21:12 in reply to "RE: hmmm"
sbenitezb Member since:
2005-07-22

"The annoyance is that my legal real-world receipt I hold in my hand apparently isn't valid to Microsoft"

It may seem I'm selling you something, but have you considered using other OS (no names here)? If I buy something and the provider makes my life hard, I just say f--k them and don't buy again from them.

"The worst thing? The legality of this whole thing has to be contested by somebody with a lot of money"

Money and time and patience. You should read the EULA before buying anything from Microsoft. If you still buy from them, then don't complain. You still can get a cracked version and use that. As you already have a licence to use the software, it doesn't matter if it's cracked or not.

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 5

RE[2]: hmmm
by wirespot on Mon 20th Nov 2006 21:56 in reply to "RE: hmmm"
wirespot Member since:
2006-06-21

You know what's annoying? Paying owners harrassed by WGA, when you know that the cracks are already out and thousands of people on forums all over the Internet gloat about already using Vista, IE7 and Office 2007 as we speak. So I ask you, what's the point of WGA at all?

Reply Parent Bookmark Score: 4