Microsoft sued

Date: July 03, 2006
Source: cio.com


Microsoft is facing a class-action suit over a tool that gathers data on a user’s computer in an effort to detect bootlegged copies of its Windows operating system.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Monday, concerns Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), an antipiracy tool the company introduced in July 2005. The WGA program collects hardware and software data, delivering it to Microsoft servers. The stored information is then used to warn of possible piracy violations.

The lawsuit alleges the program violates consumer protection laws in California and Washington state, and laws against spyware, invasive programs that surreptitiously collect data.

In introducing WGA, Microsoft finds computer users already sensitized to the question of how they are notified about software installation and privacy issues. Late last year, Sony BMG Music Entertainment provoked controversy by shipping 15 million music CDs containing invasive copy-protection software that installed itself on buyers’ computers.

Sony eventually compensated users who bought the affected CDs, which had software that installed itself without user consent and transmitted data, after a class-action suit.
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