>>>>>[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?
>>>
>>>I understood the analogy. I just don't think it characterizes the situation.
>>>The scanner will send an alarm to employees if someone walks out with an active tag on an item of merchandise. But, the employees do not require patrons leaving the store to identify themselves as they are scanned. Microsoft's "scanning" is not the same as a retail store scanner.
>>
>>
>>Ok, how about this. If you buy a phone card at Wal-Mart the clerk must activate it before it can be used. Does the clerk get your personal info? You bet, if you pay with a check or credit card. Should you be upset? By your standards, yes. MS basically, according to the thread I refered you to, handles the activiation much like a cash sale. No names, address, SSN, credit card number, or pin.
>
>
>I've already applied to the credit card company with my personal info, just as I have to my bank. That is part of the integral credit system established around this country. MS and I are not establishing a credit relationship that should require my personal info. Good try, though.


The point was that MS activation sounds painless. Like activating a phone card at a cash sale, no personal information is exchanged. Where are you getting the idea that activating will require personal information? I thought message #544542 would clear that up.


>BTW, because of the terrible service and performance of my long distance services, I plan to cancel both of them and just use prepaid phone cards, which don't require personal info to activate. The clerk at SAMS isn't setting up a personal info database to use as a datamine of 'propriatary' to sell to others.


The same people that handle the phone cards handle your long distance now. I'm not a big user of long distance, but I would think having a relationship with a company will get you better service than someone who's only good for $5 worth of business. Plus, I think phone cards are more expensive per minute. That itemized bill is handy also. I could be wrong though.

>
>JLK
>
>[snip]