Windows Genuine Advantage Suit Dismissed

A U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington dismissed a lawsuit alleging that Microsoft’s Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) antipiracy technology is spyware. WGA, which can be installed as an Automatic Update, was initially described as a security update, and some customers felt it sent personally identifiable information to Microsoft in violation of Microsoft’s own published privacy policy.

WGA (recently renamed Windows Activation Technologies) validates a software installation by ensuring that software has been properly activated, and that the activation mechanism has not been tampered with. The original release of WGA generated significant controversy and negative feedback, and Microsoft is now more transparent about what WGA does, what information it uses, and what action it takes if it detects that software has not been properly activated or is potentially not genuine. Terms and conditions for activation and validation are part of the Microsoft Software Licensing Terms (formerly End User License Agreement, or EULA).