On Sat, 8 Sep 2001 12:58:30 -0400, jennifer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On Saturday 08 September 2001 11:56, richied wrote:
> > On September 8, 2001 09:42 am, Siavash Sefidvash wrote:
> > > Apologies for sounding naive, but is not fair to get paid for your
> > > efforts.?
> >
> > ...There's actually a bigger issue at stake.  Win XP is actually taking a
> > fingerpint of your system.  Your NIC, HDD, CD-ROM, CPU, etc all have unique
> > serial numbers and Win XP gathers them all up with your name and address
> > and sends them to Redmond, WA so you can get an unlocking code in return
> > for your copy of the OS.
> >
> > While it does guarantee a reduction in piracy is is a flagrant disrespect
> > on your privacy, forcing you to divulge information for the sake of using
> > an OS you've already paid for!  This is Totalitarianism at its utmost,
> > placing to interests of the individual so far beind their own wishes.
> >
> > Obtaining a hack for Win XP does not necessarily preclude piracy but gives
> > one the CHOICE of what information to divulge to the world-at-large.
> >
> > Of couse, there are lots more choices than that and they begin with
> > Mandrake, Red Hat, Debian, Slackware, etc, etc, etc...
> >
> > Richie
>
> I am actually curious as to how someone without internet access is supposed 
> to get this unlock code. has microsoft addressed this or are they only going 
> to make their product availible to those who live in areas that have internet 
> access? I know that there are huge areas in the southwest that still don't 
> have internet access.

Take a look at this article:

http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/comment/0,5859,2810195,00.html

Here's an excerpt:

 "For those who haven't yet experienced it, the new scheme is concealed
 under the 'Product Activation' label. At installation, the
 package creates a unique code combining the software serial
 number with the hardware present in the machine it's running on.
 Within 30 days of installing Office or Windows XP, you are
 required to contact Microsoft over the Internet or via a call centre
 to give them this code number; Microsoft will then give you
 another ID code to enter so that the package will keep working. If
 you don't, then Office XP will not let you create new documents
 or save existing ones after editing, while Windows XP will not stop
 working--imagine the squeals from other application software
 companies if that happened!--but will have reduced functionality.

 "There's more. If you're not connected to the Internet, then you will
 have to read out a 50-digit code to a telephone operator without
 errors, and take down another error-free 50-digit code to carry
 on using the software you've paid for."

-- 
Sridhar Dhanapalan.
        "There are two major products that come from Berkeley:
        LSD and UNIX. We don't believe this to be a coincidence."
                -- Jeremy S. Anderson

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Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com

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