From: /m 

On Sun, 27 Feb 2005 09:45:30 -0500, "Geo"  wrote:

>"Adam Flinton"  wrote in message
>news:4221a503$1{at}w3.nls.net...
>
>
>> Esp if the virus makes it so no new number will work. Imagine the
"phone
>> queues" of a global nature where people are calling to re-init winxp.
>
>all it needs to do is change the serial number to a random number. I don't
>think anyone realizes just easy it would be to completely hose the whole
>product activation thing. Microsoft has designed windows to watch to see if
>it was tampered with (that setting that changes workstation to server) and
>they have now designed their strategy for updates to depend on stuff that
>can be changed by software that executes on the users machine.
>
>I've always thought this was a really nasty security issue, first they
>wanted the stupid serial number stickers on the outside of the computer
>where anyone can see them, write them down, and post them to the internet
>thus getting your key blacklisted. Second even if you remove the sticker
>there are programs like http://www.nthelp.com/40/productid.htm which can
>simply read the number and display it so you can copy it down.
>
>Imagine what would happen if the next big virus changed this setting to one
>of the blacklisted serial numbers. It would basically mean users have to
>reinstall to fix the problem and if you happen to have an OEM version which
>now isn't going to let you reinstall without calling well...
>
>So when is MS going to realize that software piracy is a law enforcement
>issue and why it's a bad idea to take the law into your own hands? It's so
>easy to frame users so that MS thinks they are running pirated windows..


I don't think they are ever going to realize that.

 /m

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