>>But, from http://www.epic.org/privacy/consumer/MS_complaint.pdf , page 9 reading
>>paragraphs 47 to 51 reveals another certainty: While Microsoft claims product registration is voluntary, users cannot receive support services for products without registering for Microsoft Passport and completing a profile.
>
>That document is riddled with statements that I can only assume were created from thin air. For instance, nowhere in any internal Microsoft Product Services and Support procedures document can I find information that states customers must have a Microsoft Passport in order to make a support call.
>
>Just because it's on the Internet doesn't mean it's true.

But, Mike, it IS a legal brief filed before the FTC, and as such puts the lawyers who filed it in legal jepordy of perjury if they were not truthful in their facts and logical in their assertions from those facts. But, you are right, all that we read about Passport, acitvation, registration, etc., is only on the internet or marketing materials. It would be interesting to see such claims made under threat of perjury.