>[snip]
>>
>>Many people have stated how bad the activation will be. SSNs, Mother's maiden name, Church Affiliation, blah, blah, blah. I think Mike Stewart posted something that pretty much shot down those arguments, for now.
>
>Better look again:
>http://www.epic.org/privacy/consumer/MS_complaint.pdf
>http://www.epic.org/privacy/consumer/MS_complaint2.pdf
>
>
>>I've have not heard anyone propose a better solution to protect Microsoft. Should MS make you have the CD mounted when you turn on the machine? There scheme sounds OK to me. I'm sure some might be inconvienced here and there, but they need to relaize that it's the pirates who are to blame, not MS. Look at what they do at the mall. You have to walk through these 'scanners' that look for 'price' tags or something. I'm not a thief, why do I have to walk through them and feel like I'm not trusted? The same people who complain about MS activation should complain about these as well.
>
>Sorry, that is a non-sequiter. The tag scanners at the mall don't know who you are and don't require that you submitt your personal information, CC number, SSN, date of birth, mother's maiden name, age, to enter or leave the store.... You just walk through. You don't even know if they are on, and sometimes they aren't.

Jerry,

You missed it. The purpose of the scanners is to help protect the store from theft. The purpose of MS activation is to protect against theft. If you are not a thief you must still walk through the scanners. If you are not a thief, you must still activate your software. The store does not have a 'non-thief' lane where I can bypass the scanners. Should MS give me a "lane" if I say I'm not a thief?

If you're against MS taking steps to prevent theft, why wouldn't you be against the store taking steps to prevent theft? What is the difference between the two? The store gets to pick their method (scanners, cops, cameras, etc.) so why can't MS?

As far as the peronal information goes, you should check out thread #533752 message #544542 from August 16.

Dan