Are they going too far?

Microsoft set to push out updated antipiracy tool

Microsoft will soon start pushing out a new version of its controversial Windows Genuine Advantage Notifications antipiracy tool to Windows XP users.

The updated WGA Notifications package includes additional changes in response to continued criticism Microsoft has faced over the software, the company said Tuesday. Microsoft in June also updated the tool after critics likened it to spyware because it checked in with Microsoft after each Windows restart.

In the latest update, Microsoft has changed the installation procedure of the tool so it's clearer to people what it does, said David Lazar, director of the Windows Genuine program at Microsoft. In the original version, WGA Notifications displayed only a wordy user license, which people don't typically read.

"We received a lot of feedback that people wanted more information when the package came down through Automatic Updates and was offered to them," Lazar said. The first screen of the new version gives an introduction to WGA Notifications in plain English, explains the benefit and the possible consequences if the XP copy is pirated, he said.

It's been clear for a while that Microsoft wants to use the internet to validate every MS product every time it is launched. It is a cornerstone of Vista.

In their zeal to squeeze every dollar out of the Windows franchise, they risk chasing many people away. Since the beginning of time, it has been a few users -the mavens if you will- who have led the public to new products or technologies. These people are more than early adopters; they are the ones who are on the bleeding edge.

Like it or not, piracy is important to getting these people on your side. It was the ability to record a full length movie on VHS that killed Betamax, not picture quality. Microsoft has benefited greatly from early piracy of its products. Now they think since they are the 400 pound gorilla they can eliminate it.

Mavens don't work that way.

Open source software is a real threat to Microsoft. If the mavens switch (can you say Firefox) so goes the world. As more of the mavens switch away from MS products more of the mainstream world goes with them. It was Linux fanboys who switched the French Parliament to Linux last week.

The optimal way for Microsoft to handle piracy is to make the copy protection robust enough to stop your average Joe sixpack user but open enough to let the mavens get thru. That is admittedly a tall order in the age of P2P sharing.

If Microsoft does eliminate all piracy of their product, they'll eliminate all their sales too.