Thanks to clutch for this one:
During a public presentation on the company´s role in intellectual privacy, Microsoft officials on Wednesday detailed a few more specifics of the product activation feature and said the company was working to bridge the gap between content providers´ intellectual property and consumers´ rights. You´ll be able to reinstall future Microsoft applications or OSes as many times as you want on your PC, but tweak enough hardware changes and you may be reaching for the phone to reactivate the OS.
The most controversial offering within Windows XP--as well as Office XP, Project 2002, Front Page 2002, and a raft of Microsoft´s future products--will be the forced activation feature. Product Activation will require all consumers to activate their new copies of Windows XP or Office XP using the Internet or a phone. Activation is far different than registration, explained Microsoft Product Manager Allen Nieman. To activate Office XP, for example, the only information a consumer is required to provide is the country he or she is in. Nieman said Microsoft is very aware that many people do not want to register software and are extremely sensitive about privacy.
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During a public presentation on the company´s role in intellectual privacy, Microsoft officials on Wednesday detailed a few more specifics of the product activation feature and said the company was working to bridge the gap between content providers´ intellectual property and consumers´ rights. You´ll be able to reinstall future Microsoft applications or OSes as many times as you want on your PC, but tweak enough hardware changes and you may be reaching for the phone to reactivate the OS.
The most controversial offering within Windows XP--as well as Office XP, Project 2002, Front Page 2002, and a raft of Microsoft´s future products--will be the forced activation feature. Product Activation will require all consumers to activate their new copies of Windows XP or Office XP using the Internet or a phone. Activation is far different than registration, explained Microsoft Product Manager Allen Nieman. To activate Office XP, for example, the only information a consumer is required to provide is the country he or she is in. Nieman said Microsoft is very aware that many people do not want to register software and are extremely sensitive about privacy.
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