<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
<html>
<head>
<meta content="text/html;charset=ISO-8859-1" http-equiv="Content-Type">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
<p>I wanted to let you know that a new blog post has been added:<br>
</p>
<p> <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://badvista.fsf.org/blog/stealth-updates-deletions">http://badvista.fsf.org/blog/stealth-updates-deletions</a></p>
With the full text at the bottom of this email. Feel free to blog,
digg, and slashdot it :-) <br>
<br>
Thanks!<br>
<br>
Joshua Gay<br>
<h3>Stealth updates, deletions</h3>
Microsoft's Nate Clinton has used a bogus excuse to explain why Windows
Update installs stealth updates without the user's consent. He writes
in the <span class="link-external"><a
href="http://blogs.technet.com/mu/archive/2007/09/13/how-windows-update-keeps-itself-up-to-date.aspx">Microsoft
Update Product Team Blog</a></span>:<br>
<br>
<blockquote>One question we have been asked is why do we update the
client code for Windows Update automatically if the customer did not
opt into automatically installing updates without further notice? The
answer is simple: any user who chooses to use Windows Update either
expected updates to be installed or to at least be notified that
updates were available.<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
Well, if Microsoft understands that a person wants to decide to
install their own updates, then they should be respectful of that
user's choice and be consistent with their policy. Being consistent
means that they should tell the user that an update to Windows Update
is available and that if they want it to continue to work properly,
that this update should be installed. Maybe the user will decide to
stop using Windows Update altogether, or maybe they will install the
update. Either way, it should be the user that decides, not Microsoft. <br>
<br>
However,
this should come as no surprise. There is other evidence that these
types of policies apply to other pieces of Microsoft software as well,
including Windows Defender. In the End-User License Agreement for
Windows Vista it states that after searching your computer for
software, if Defender finds any "potentially unwanted software rated
'high' or 'severe,' [it] will automatically be removed after scanning
unless you change the default setting." Where "high" and "severe," are
undefined terms, and where the default behavior is to delete the
software (instead of just quarantining the software and asking the user
if they want to delete it). It gets worse. Later on in the same section
they warn you that Defender may remove or disable software that is "not
potentially unwanted software." In layman's terms, "not potentially
unwanted software," is also known as "your software." <br>
<br>
At least Microsoft stays consistent with one policy: keep the user
confused and unclear on all policies.
</body>
</html>