Microsoft is spying on you.

[PKRWUD]

Being a Mac guy, I found this unbelievable, but maybe you Windows people are okay with it. This is from an article in yesterdays paper:

Microsoft Secretly Collected User Data

By D. Ian Hopper
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - Microsoft's new version of it's popular Media Player software is logging the songs and movies that customers play.

The company said Wednesday it was changing it's privacy statement to notify customers about the technology after inquiries from the Associated Press.

The system creates a list on each computer that could be a treasure for marketing companies, lawyers and others. Microsoft says it has no plans to sell the data collected by Media Player 8, which comes free with the Windows XP operating system.

The new privacy policy was issued Wednesday.

The media player has been bundled as a free addition to Windows for several years and allows users to play music CD's, DVD movies and digitally stored songs on their computers.

When a CD is played, the player downloads the disc name and titles from a website licensed by Microsoft. That information is stored on a small file on each computer in the latest version of the software.

The new version released with Windows XP last fall also added the same technology for DVD movies.

Microsoft's original privacy statement informed customers that they were downloading the information about CD's, but never stated it was being stored in a log file on each computer.

The new statement makes clear that information is being downloaded for both DVD's and CD's, but does not explain how users can eliminate or get into the log file.

There is no easy way to clear out the log, Microsoft said, without crippling Media Player. The only way to keep Media Player from going to the Microsoft web site is to make the player think it is working without an internet connection, which can be tedious if the user switches between watching DVD's and listening to internet radio stations.

As part of downloading the information about songs and movies from the web site, the program also transmits an identifier number unique to each user on the computer. That creates the possibility that user habits could be tracked and sold for marketing purposes

I am just blown away by that. Every single one of you guys that is using Windows XP is being tracked by Microsoft. They know what you do, where you go, what you watch and what you listen to. And there's nothing you can do about it.

Yeah, that's one killer operating system.

Take care,
-Chris

[Coupe Devil]

That sounds like a good reason not to buy and xp machine. I realize that one day I will upgrade but I will however still not use windoes media of anytype. It sucks. I always download soem other type of non windows linked media players for music and video.

Brad

[PKRWUD]

QuickTime is the studio standard.

[Coupe Devil]

Is quicktime a windows applicable program. I dont use it very much, but if it is I will be sure and download something else. This is just the man try in to get me down. More communists bull crap, oh wait never mind were just talkin about a couple videos.

Brad

[MidNiteBlu 5.0]

Windows Media Player sucks anyways. I always use winamp for playing music and morpheus for playing videos that i download. Quicktime is for both windows and macs but i think was developed by MAC. I wont buy a mac thuogh at least not now because the games for macs come out soooo much later then they do for PC's LOL

Later

[LX XLR8R]

ill burn a cd using window media player but besides that i use winamp or Kazza;s media player for movies..the only thing that i would wathc on media player is porn..so if they wanna keep track of that they can go right aahead

[Ty'97Cobra]

I use Windows Media Player along with ZoneAlarm. Zone alarm will ask the user if they want to let any application access the net. It is very easy to use and it is FREE!

I also use Morpheus for file sharing. Cool Program. If any of you all use it, you might want to uninstall 'webhancer'. This was installed with Morpheus. I believe this program also tracks what you use and which websites you visit. I found that it slowed my computer down. I uninstalled it and everything runs smooth and operates fine.

[Skyman]

I really dont care if they are tracking that.

****, they could be watching much more of what you do, and they probably are.

Is it really going to affect me? no. Its just another way for them to make more money.

its not going to make me not use Windows XP.

Skyler

[Unit 5302]

I wouldn't be the least bit suprised if Macintosh software did the exact same thing.

[MidNiteBlu 5.0]

Hey Ty how do u uninstall the webhancer? Where do i find it in Morpheus?

Thanks,
Nick

[srv1]

Chris, i just read that. i believe it 100%!! tell you what. i have XP NEWSROOM EDITION. it doesnt seem to have a serial key.......hmmmmm i believe it doesnt have some other crap too, but i dont know. well im trying it out on my old computer. i have 98SE right now. its ok. i think it is more stable the Millenium and 2000! as for XP, i got it for free i hate Microsoft!! yeah, windblows media player sucks donkey balls, but i dont use the windows media player 7 and up. here is the trick. get or keep the original media player that came with 98. dont upgrade, just get the codecs you need for whatever you are doing. so far i have very little problems with it. when 7 came out it was slooooow and unstable. still is! so my advice is to get rid of any media player 7 or newer and install the old one and update the codecs! i hate to say this.......*sigh*......but a Mac is where this would come in handy! eat it up while you can Chris! j/k i wish somehow i could give everybody a copy LEGALLY of XP. just to piss off Microcrap!

[1969Mach1]

Yeh, I'm not a big fan of them doing that. But hey that's Microsoft for you. And by using Morpheus it doesn't make a difference, play a movie right click on it and go to About you'll see it is Windows Media player it's just put into the program. Only way I can see how to get around this is download another program such as Quicktime or if you can get a hold of a older version of Windows Media Player.

Either way, we're being watched. You stop them one way but they'll get you 1000 other ways. This is just one known way people worry about, companies get ahold of your cookies witch store all your personal info too, it's endless. Spyware is everywhere.

Take Care All,
§am.

[Mustangbelle306]

Wow 929Phoenixsquid told me that, and I thought he was blowing smoke up my tailpipe

All of a sudden I'm GLAD I'm using Win 98...I mean, I'm only crashing about once a week now....

[PKRWUD]

Originally posted by Unit 5302
I wouldn't be the least bit suprised if Macintosh software did the exact same thing.

I know you wouldn't.

srv1-
Dude, this wasn't meant as a Mac vs. PC thread. I was just shocked when I read that. The article said they were notifying users, so I figured you guys might have already known about it. The thing I find even scarier is how so many people just accept it. Oh well, we don't need any privacy anyway, right? I mean, if this keeps up, we won't need passwords, virus software (PC guys), or anything to "protect" us. Think of the money and time we'll save! Sky is right in that there is much more to this than they are admitting to. AOL did something similar a couple years ago, but it was designed more torwards corrupting your software rather than learning everything about you.

Sky-
I've got to admit, XP is the best interface I've seen yet from Microsoft. It's no OS X, but it's a step in the right direction. I just can't accept the fact that MS is tracking what it's users do, in the "privacy" of their own homes. I think it's kind of ironic how just a month ago, the FBI released an official warning to all XP users about the system having seriously flawed secuity issues, and then finding out that MS is spying on you anyway. I guess MS is still above the law.

Speaking of XP, I have a question for you. When I got home from working on the Sprint car in Moorpark yesterday, I got a call from a neighbor who said that her 6 day old XP equipped HP computer was "broken", and could I come look at it. It gave a blue warning screen (not the BSOD) and suggested restarting for the last known good start, or whatever. I tried several times, and could not get it to start properly. I couldn't get into the BIOS, or safe mode. I was able to get the various options for safe mode, but none of them would work. It either returned to the blue screen, or listed dozens of files, and then the blue screen. I didn't have a start-up disk to start from, so I left it as it was. Any thoughts?

Take care,
-Chris

[1969Mach1]

Originally posted by PKRWUD

Speaking of XP, I have a question for you. When I got home from working on the Sprint car in Moorpark yesterday, I got a call from a neighbor who said that her 6 day old XP equipped HP computer was "broken", and could I come look at it. It gave a blue warning screen (not the BSOD) and suggested restarting for the last known good start, or whatever. I tried several times, and could not get it to start properly. I couldn't get into the BIOS, or safe mode. I was able to get the various options for safe mode, but none of them would work. It either returned to the blue screen, or listed dozens of files, and then the blue screen. I didn't have a start-up disk to start from, so I left it as it was. Any thoughts?

If you can'tget into the Bios then I'm thinking it could be hardware related. What happens exactly when you start the computer?

[PKRWUD]

It flashed something. Hard to say for sure because it was so quick, but I think it was an HP startup screen. Then it went dark for a few seconds, and up came the blue screen. If I hit F8 when restarting, it would give me a timed black screen with 5 or 6 starting options , including 3 different safe modes. None of the options worked. All eventually led back to the blue screen. When I tried starting from the last good whatever, it brought me to another black screen with one OS option, which was Windows something something something, I don't remember exactly, but it wasn't anything I had heard of before. Anyway, it was the only option on that page, and it led back to the blue screen. Also, the only way to get it to restart was to shut it off by depressing and holding the power button, and then pressing it again to start. Once the blue screen appeared, the keyboard became useless. FWIW, when I first showed up, the NUM LOCK was stuck on too. I didn't feel worthy of my A+ certification.

She had repacked the thing away by the time I left, and was going to return it. She bought it on impulse, and didn't like it anyway. Her boyfriend kept ragging on her about not buying a Mac, and I guess a friend of hers at work said the same thing. She didn't have to ask my opinion. Still, I'm curious to know if anyone recognizes the problem.

Take care,
-Chris

[PKRWUD]

I just ran across a news article on Lycos that was discussing this same issue, and they added this point:

Privacy experts said they feared the log file could be used by investigators, divorce lawyers, snooping family members, marketing companies or others interested in learning about a person's entertainment habits. It also could be used to make sure users have paid for the music or movie, and have not made an illegal copy.

"The big picture might be the owners of intellectual property wanting to track access to their property," said Peter Swire, a law professor at Ohio State University.

Great. I'm sure everyone here only has music that they paid for, right?

Take care,
-Chris

[Ty'97Cobra]

Originally posted by MidNiteBlu 5.0
Hey Ty how do u uninstall the webhancer? Where do i find it in Morpheus?

Thanks,
Nick

It is a separate program that tracks where you've been. It isn't part of the Morpheus program.
Just click start; settings; control panel and choose add/remove programs. If you have it installed on your computer, it will show up there. Click remove and it's gone!
Later-

[srv1]

Chris, i know this wasnt a flame war between Mac and PC's. i just wanted to give you a chuckle



CAN ANYONE SAY, UNIX?

[shadowblue89]

UNIX--MacOSX--UNIX--MacOSX

Alright I will start the little flame then.

UNIX--MacOSX--UNIX--MacOSX

The best on one machine oh I forgot to mention "MacOSX"

(all in good fun)