[Wolves] Microsoft licensing - (continued from the LUG meating)

Andy Wootton andy.wootton at wyrley.demon.co.uk
Mon Jan 10 21:06:03 GMT 2005


I decided that in order to see a 'Webinar' (Yuk!) presentation from the
States tomorrow night I would install software on my home Win 98 PC. It
requires me to update Media Player. Here are some of the licence
conditions that certain LUG members (*) believe would be better ignored
by us pedants:

"Digital Rights Management (Security).  You agree that in order to
protect the integrity of content and software protected by digital
rights management ("Secure Content"), Microsoft may provide security
related updates to the OS Components that will be automatically
downloaded onto your computer. _* These security related updates may
disable your ability to *_copy and/or play Secure Content and _*use
other software on your computer.  *_If we provide such a security
update, we will use reasonable efforts to post notices on a web site
explaining the update. "

It's lucky that we trust Microsoft not to do that kind of thing to
disable a competitors software isn't it? (No one mention DR_DOS, Lotus,
Netscape...) and that their automatic updates always work without a hitch.

If Apple makes iTunes play Windows Media files I don't want my PC to be
the battle ground between two music publishers fighting to protect their
proprietary formats that I believe are evil.

I'll just agree to it, it's easier.

Woo

* Names deleted to protect the guilty but Mr O'B. knows who he is.




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