Microsoft Windows Live Will Spy On You

New Microsoft product will give up its' users location to Big Brother ...


Okay, I admit it.

There was once a time when I liked and admired Bill Gates and the software empire he built seemingly out of nothing. I liked Windows, and actually worked as a software tester for three of their Windows products; Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT. I accumulated an expertise related to computers and the entire Windows platform.

On the day of its' public release, I published online, the Windows 95 Registry FAQ, which was the first-ever document on the Registry, and this FAQ document can still be found online to this very day.

The computer knowledge that I gained from this experience, still benefits me to this very day. Being an expert at something like this helps me to understand and maximize the efficiency of the computer system that I currently own --- a system which is NOT running on Microsoft Windows. Furthermore, because of privacy issues and concerns, I will never again purchase any of Microsoft's products.

In late February 2003, I received a spam e-mail, which had come to my own MSN dial-up account. The nature of this e-mail was hugely pornographic and highly offensive. It asked me if I wanted to see a video of a young woman giving oral sex to a horse. Of course, bestiality is ILLEGAL and as such, I immediately reported it to MSN. Besides, I am NOT one of those people who are constantly thinking of and obsessed with sex. However, instead of writing out a NO-SPAM report, and sending it to MSN; I sent my report to Bill Gates' himself. Accompanying this report, naturally, was a copy of the actual spam e-mail I had received.

I then FAXed the whole thing to Gates' office in Redmond, Washington. In this report, I mentioned that I was resigning my MSN account, which I had since the service first started a few years earlier.

To my surprise, a couple of days later I received a telephone call from Bill Gates' private secretary. She had told me that Mr. Gates was extremely upset at the matter which saw me resign my MSN membership, and he wanted to make sure I walked away a satisified customer. The solution was to refund my entire multiple-year MSN payments, which were $19.95 per month.

In all, I ended up with several hundred dollars refunded to my account, which I thought was an honorable thing for Mr. Gates to have done, considering the circumstances.

I also ended up hearing about a very secret Registry Key for Windows, which was known as NSAKEY. This referred to the NSA [National Security Agency], and was tantamount to a governmental back-door in Windows 2000 Professional, which was the operating system I was running at the time.

I did some research, and spoke with many people about the NSAKEY issue, which I had proven beyond any doubt, was a true story. There was only one thing for me to do, and that was to get the Hell off of Windows.

As coincidence would have it, around this very same time, an APPLE STORE had opened its' doors for business at a local shopping mall. I went there, and spoke with a salesperson who I will call John. I asked him if he had ever heard of the Windows Registry NSAKEY. He responded by telling me that not only had he heard of it, but they were having sales meetings on how to convert people from Windows users to Mac OS 10 owners.

So, I came home with a brand-new system which I am still using to this day.

Now it appears that Microsoft has developed a GPS [global positioning satellite] version of Windows, which is called Windows Live. The GPS geolocator software is so precise that it is good to FIVE DECIMAL PLACES, i.e. 741.74147. This will be able to pinpoint YOUR location to within feet of where you are actually located.

As a matter of fact, in the Windows Live licence agreement, Microsoft admits that it will use the information collected to provide the user with a “more effective customer service, to improve Location Finder and any related Microsoft products or services.”

Microsoft will disclose Windows Live location information if asked by a member of the police or judiciary. It will also use the information "to protect the personal safety of Microsoft employees or agents, users of Microsoft products or services, or members of the public." So, now Micorosft is the official protector of the public good? This not only applies to the USA, but, the licence states it applies to "any country in which Microsoft or its affiliates, subsidiaries or agents maintain facilities."

And, they are going to do this with a operating system that is riddled with holes, back-doors, viruses, and spam attacks?!

Boy, I feel SAFER already!


Sources:

The following sources were used in the creation of this Kentroversy Paper . . .

Microsoft's Windows Live Will Spy On You (December 12, 2005 - 6:53am)

Microsoft Stonewalls NSAKEY Questions (May 25, 2000)

NOTE: The following link contains the "Windows 95 Registry FAQ" near the bottom of the page, under the section WINDOWS 95 CLASSICS ...

Windows 95 Registry FAQ (PDF File in .ZIP format)