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Judge lets Microsoft off the hook

by on21 January 2010

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Anti-piracy update scandal rolls on


A federal
judge has let Microsoft off the hook over allegations that it mislead consumers when it fed them anti-piracy software under the auspices of a critical security update. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Jones denied several motions by the plaintiffs, including one that would have let them modify their complaint a third time.

The move means that Microsoft will not be faced with a class action that could have cost it millions. The 42 month old case was based around Redmond labeling its Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) software as a critical security update. The case claimed that Redmond did not tell users that WGA collected information from their PCs, then frequently "phoned home" that data to Microsoft's servers.

After an outcry Microsoft reduced the number of times that WGA phoned home but still  relies on WGA, and its successor, Windows Activation Technologies (WAT), to snoop out pirated Windows copies. If the software finds a dodgy copy it posts nagging messages.

Microsoft opposed the class-action certification last September, at the time calling the lawsuit "fictional," "demonstrably false" and from an "alternate universe."

The plaintiffs withdrew most, but not all, of their class action allegations.Judge Jones said that all class allegations had to be withdrawn because they "need not be included for appellate purposes and would create unnecessary confusion if they were included."

He said that Redmond could demand compensation for the money it spent contesting the class-action charges.
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