Re: FTC Complaint filed

garyd wrote:
cwdjrxyz wrote:
On Feb 24, 9:40 pm, garyd <s...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
cwdjrxyz wrote:
On Feb 24, 1:37 pm, garyd <s...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
I have filed a complaint with the FTC about the "stealth" methods being
used by Microsoft to load DRM, Media Connect, and WMP11.
I am restoring my system for the 3rd time to get rid of that crap,
because applications failing and hanging. (This time from a disk image!)
DRM patches were a selectable download at one time, as was Media
Connect, and WMP11.
Now they seem to "automagically" appear. I only find it when I'm
checking on why some applications fail, or when I can't look at or
process recording (home movies or broadcast TV-not HD).
I think everyone who has these kinds of problems should also file
complaints with the FTC. They will take Adware companies to court, why
not M$?
I am done playing the bloatware upgrade game! I have spent over $2000 in
the last 8 years buying new components, or building new systems, because
they broke what I had working. It is expected to have to upgrade some
things when changing versions of Windows, but I refuse to buy new
software and/or hardware because of software incompatible upgrades being
installed under the guise of an update, and without any notification or
right to refuse it!
I don't let Microsoft are anyone else automatically upgrade or
otherwise change my programs. When the yellow shield at the lower
right of the screen indicates that Microsoft has a download, I go to
the Microsoft update site and read the fine print before I accept the
update, for example. If you do not want to be bothered again, you can
select to not have the update offered again. Then when you go to the
update sight again, you will only get a message that you have hidden
some updates, they might have an effect on security - blah, blah,
blah. I have done this for the IE7, which I do not want. Some who
allowed automatic updates got the IE7 installed without selecting to
do so.
I am not a lawyer, and I have no idea how likely you are to get
anything done at the FTC. However, if you find WMP so bad for your
needs, there is no reason why you have to use it. Recent additions to
the Real player allow it to play nearly, if not all, formants that
WMP11 will play, and when you install Real you may also select several
additional formats of video and audio. Real now even can use
Microsoft .wax and .wvx playlist files. You also need to select to
make Real your primary player. For a few more unusual audio types that
do not come with Real or WMP as delivered, Winamp is a good additional
player, because a huge number of unusual audio plugins are available
for it. Real will play most streaming formats such as Microsoft mms as
used by many radio stations.
Real has nothing to gain by pushing hardware or software other than
their player, and there are versions of Real for many non-Microsoft
OSs as well as Microsoft ones.
Real wants to sell you downloads just as do Microsoft and many other
player makers - that is one reason they can offer you the players for
free. Real can be a bit pushy with their ads, but just be careful what
you check or sign up for. There are several services that will sell
you downloads including Apple, Microsoft, Real, Napster, Walmart, to
name a few. Unfortunately you sometimes have to use their special
player software to play their downloads or record them to portable
devices, because of "digital rights" controls that the recording and
movie companies insist on. I have never bought an mp3 on the web. A
music mp3 is of lesser quality than a CD because it is compressed and
a CD is not. Moreover commercial CDs are not encrypted and it is quite
legal to record backup copies of them for your own use only. When CDs
were introduced, there was no idea that home CD recorders would be
possible, and commercial CDs required a multi-million dollar factory
with clean rooms to reproduce. Some CDs have been recorded with errors
or an added data track that trip up recording on some computers, but
the better CD burning programs have ways to overcome these intentional
errors. Moreover such errors have caused some CD players, especially
older ones, to malfunction. The quality of most movie downloads is
laughable, and most reviews I have seen of them are quite negative.
The reason is that DVDs are already highly compressed, and movie
downloads are even far more so. For these reasons, HD DVDs with much
less compression are now being made. I find Netflix and other such
movie rentail services quite satisfactory for movies you do not watch
enough to make you want to buy the DVD.
Gee, do you think I haven't tried to stop it? I have never allowed the
DRM patches, Media Connect,IE7, or WMP 11 to be downloaded since the
first time I crashed! I have flagged all four as "updates" NOT to be
displayed again or downloaded, yet they appear on my system unnoticed
until I am looking for why something no longer works! Removing WMP11
and/or IE7 does not fix anything, because the other code slipped in is
not entered in the add/remove programs anymore. It's inserted in
"stealth" mode, just like adware/spyware/rootkits. In every case, every
time a running application dies, I have found Media Connect, IE7, WMP11,
or DRM code installed. A restore does not remove it/them. It won't be
long before the hackers learn how to do that too if M$ keeps the back
door open.

I am NOT looking for a replacement for WMP. 10 works just fine with the
software I am using. IE is ONLY used for Windows Updates. I do not run
any M$ applications. I am just trying to keep my systems running without
having to use recovery disks to get rid of code I didn't ask for or give
permission to be downloaded to my systems.

I don't have an XBOX. I don't copy DVDs-I buy or rent them and play them
on a DVD player, watching them on my HDTV. I don't rip music from CDs-I
don't even listen to CDs. I don't have an mp3 player to upload to, I
don't stream video or audio from internet sources, so why does Windows
Update keep slipping the code onto my system when all I load is
"critical" fixes?

I just want what I bought/built to keep working using software "I"
install...

I used to support and maintain 150+ systems and it's classified networks
(hardware and software). I have had more problems just trying to keep my
3 systems RUNNING, because of crap "appearing" on my windows systems in
the last 6 months than I did in 10 years on the above mentioned network.
We (the government/DOD) did not allow Windows to be connected because
they are not secure, cannot be made secure, and cannot be kept secure.
My problems are a good example of "why" it was mandated not to allow
Windows. Adding software and/or features without your knowledge also
allows new avenues of attack, which will cannot be stopped because of
the "rootkit" known as Windows Update.

As much as you seem troubled, I think you need to use a non-Microsoft
OS, perhaps installed on a computer you build with absolutely no
programs on the HD when you start. I don't know why you have had so
many problems. I have few problems using the XP OS despite the fact I
have had up to 8 browsers installed at one time, have used up to 5
players on the computer at the same time, and use some very demanding
audio and video processing programs including recording and burning in
DVD-Audio. I doubt if you can get the FTC do do anything soon.
Microsoft has been challenged by the EU for bundling WMP etc with
their OS. However this has resulted in many years of legal fights on
both sides. Some lawyers on both sides have become rather rich in the
process. So whatever the merits of your complaints, don't expect any
changes soon, if ever. In the meantime, try to get away from Microsoft
OSs so that you will no longer have so many problems. Life is too
short to let things such as this bother you too much if you can avoid
the source of trouble.

I know I will not get anything done during my lifetime, I'm 60. I also run Solaris and Linux, and there is open-source efforts to get the capture/editing running on them. It would be nice!

Perhaps the FTC can look at M$ again, to see if the "rootkits" they build into their updates are documented. A secure system is no longer a luxury, it should be a condition of the purchase. Downloading unwanted or unneeded software without notification or permission should be just as illegal as the spyware/adware is now.

I had no problems running any of my software, even with the large amount of decoders and codecs installed. My problems only occur when, as I said, WMP11 and the retargeted Vista DRM code is downloaded. IE7 does the same thing,ie loads WMP11 AND all of the DRM and Connect stuff if it's not loaded. Every new interface it adds through "stealth mode" adds DRM code too, even if you don't use it! I still don't know how the sync stuff got loaded once, I don't have ant portable devices...

Perhaps if the DRM code would just work correctly, I could upgrade to an extreme version of a pentium to handle the unneccesary overhead while I edit my UNPROTECTED videos.

My original complaint is still valid. There is no way to limit what M$ wants to install on your system because they hide the descriptions, and the code.

Since I cannot download 10 anymore, I'm just screwed. I could, I guess, uninstall all my applications. Install all the junk M$ wants installed, with their bug-ridden DRM code, and then TRY to install my applications. They all say XP/SP2 and WMP10 or above. My experience is that I would end up in the middle of M$ and the other claiming it's each other's fault, and I should buy a NEW version of appxxx, or get Vista and upgrade EVERYTHING except the cpu/mem/disk, which means ANOTHER video card, and OOPS-the drivers aren't stable...

Rants.............

How many times do I have to download the "Genuine" junk? If my system was valid, was confirmed as valid, why download another copy? I think it's because they need another way to insert more copy protection code, and anything else they want to which will break third-party software that competes with their applications. Hell, they even break their own-how many versions of WORD files are there?

I still have a local network with Win95, and Win98 (not SE),and Win98SE systems running hardware and applications I cannot afford to upgrade. This is NOT unusual in the technical/business world.

Examples:
A COBOL Compiler. Cost $400, upgrade was $3000 for XP,$4000 for Unix. The compiled programs WILL run on XP, the compiler won't! I could convert to .net versions, but I don't write anything that needs the M$ internet bloatware "features", which is where the developers went. I also have a command line and windowed versions of COBOL interpreters I use. They work fine and last a long time, for quick and dirty programs, and have animation/on-the-fly viewing/correction/etc. (What's a project? Why have 652 components, that just leave 100s of security holes in the linkages?)

Lotus 123/Amipro. I have the upgrades for 98 and XP, but I use Amipro for doing formal documents and PCB documentation. It will let me insert multiple graphics, cut and overlayed, even transparent and merged for multilayer boards. I can't reinstall it on anything, because the floppy disks can't be read anymore...

A PCB design program. Cost $149, upgrade $700. There are free or cheaper ones, but they don't allow the control of each line/pad/part. It also supports my pen plotter. I can't reinstall it because the 5.25" floopys can't be read anymore...

Two ATI display cards that capture TV, but won't run under '98 because M$ changed their drivers to support Windows TV, EVEN if you didn't install it! I still use them to capture some programs, and they even work better than the XP/MCE systems at 1/10th the horsepower! Progress???


Gary
Just an observation.
WMP11 (It just got loaded again...)has a great marketing interface for buying media. I assume they get a cut of the action for everything purchased. (As if "I" would trust ANY M$ "secure" interface to purchase something.) Perhaps that's why they try so hard to install it, and why they force loading of all the DRM so if you download media, you can't use it elsewhere? I'll bet that makes the vendors/publishers happy too. M$ is even more $$ driven now, and to hell with the customer! No wonder the Open-Source movement is getting so much attention.

Just for fun, I will uninstall, run RegMech, reboot, and reinstall the WINDVR app to see if it runs AFTER the crap has been installed.
.

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