Microsoft gives controversial antipiracy tools new name

From InfoWorld: Microsoft has rebranded its WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) validation system in Windows 7, likely an attempt to shed the controversial image of the antipiracy program.

The company said Thursday it is renaming WGA "Windows Activation Technology" because the name more accurately reflects the way the technology works, according to comments on the company's Web site.

WGA, which Microsoft introduced as an add-on to Windows XP in 2006 but built directly into Vista, checks to see, through a variety of ways including product activation, if someone is running a genuine copy of Windows.

Microsoft launched WGA as part of a widespread crackdown effort against software counterfeiting and piracy that it has undertaken in earnest for several years. Many users griped about WGA when it was first introduced, especially because of early bugs that would deem genuine software counterfeit, forcing one user to write a work-around for the glitch and irking many others.

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