Microsoft's DVD Spy!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Buzzman151]

I pasted the whole article in the tread that I got from http://www.maximumpc.co.uk Now this is a bunch of bullshiat from the company that we have come to hate:





<< PC PLUS NEWS
Microsoft's DVD spy

Media Player reports on what you watch

It appears that Microsoft's Media Player has a little extra which isn't mentioned anywhere. It contacts a database to retrieve DVD titles, not so unusual, but it also identifies you and logs what you are watching. Shades of Big Brother here. Microsoft is highly unlikely to be doing anything with this information but the point remains, why is it collecting it? It could possibly be used for user profiling, possibly as useful marketing data. If the information is sold on to another party that's a fairly blatant infringement of people's privacy. The idea that the internet can be used to build extensive user profiles, so you can be targeted with suitable advertising is an attractive one for many companies. Whether or not you'll appreciate your personal life reduced to a set of marketing data and traded about is another matter. The least Microsoft could do is tell you exactly what's going on and give you the chance to opt-out. >>




Grrrr..... Mircosoft Sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ns1]

hello and welcome to last week =P

media player does alot more than just check on your dvd's

it's a repost, somewhere...

 

[gopunk]

this is one of the most over hyped "privacy" issues i've ever seen. that data doesn't go anywhere outside of your computer.
this has NOTHING to do with any privacy issue... if ms was going to collect that info and sell it, they don't even have to keep that database, they can just send the info when you play the dvd.

OMG OMG did you know that windows keeps track of all the programs you've installed? IT MUST BE BIG BROTHER!

 

[killface]

You wasted your 666th post on a repost? Shame on you

 

[Buzzman151]

<< You wasted your 666th post on a repost? Shame on you >>



yeah i know... i just realized that

 

[im2smrt4u]

Microsoft always does stupid sh*t like this! :|

 

[DessertCart]

Buzzman,

The users of this website do not react favorably to topics that have already been posted. They call them reposts. If you continue to do this you will have many enemies. I do not mind, but most Doober Dinks do.

 

[Elledan]

<< this is one of the most over hyped "privacy" issues i've ever seen. that data doesn't go anywhere outside of your computer.
this has NOTHING to do with any privacy issue... if ms was going to collect that info and sell it, they don't even have to keep that database, they can just send the info when you play the dvd.

OMG OMG did you know that windows keeps track of all the programs you've installed? IT MUST BE BIG BROTHER! >>


I wonder, though, why WMP has to send a unique ID to Micros~1 to get the title etc. of a song or movie...

 

[ssanches]

Microshaft have been spying on us since a long time. I still remember about those GUIDs that were saved with documents created in MS office 97...

 

[DaiShan]

<< Buzzman, >>



<< The users of this website do not react favorably to topics that have already been posted. They call them reposts. If you continue to do this you will have many enemies. I do not mind, but most Doober Dinks do. >>

hahahah dessert boy strikes again! come back for more eh?

 

[Saltin]

You can disable this behaviour. Tools>Options>Internet Settings>Allow web sites to uniquely identify your player.

Just uncheck the box.

 

[Sestar]

So does winamp, and so does every other media player. Why? They download song titles/dvd titles from an online database, and store it locally so they dont have to redownload every time. Why is this a big deal AT ALL?

 

[yakko]

<< I wonder, though, why WMP has to send a unique ID to Micros~1 to get the title etc. of a song or movie... >>

The same reason every computer needs its own unique IP address.

 

[MadRat]

Just block the website.