Here's more on the activation feature in windows XP.  I wish I could
provide more technical information, but as the article states, Microsoft
has chosen not to release a technical document listing the specifications
of the activation feature.  It is still unclear what the decision making
structure will be in determining which users get activated and which ones
don't.  For example, a disability rights activist who files a 508
complaint with the government saying that a Microsoft product is
inaccessible might be denied activation in an attempt by the company to
limit the reach of its critics.  Also, what happens when there is a
system failure or a virus becomes so widespread that it forces a reformat
or re-install of the operating system?  How will Microsoft know that this
is not a second instillation?  If the decision is made to deny activation
to a user, Microsoft has not committed itself to an appeals process so if
end users allege constitutional or civil rights violations in activation
decisions, the company can reverse decisions without the end user needing
to go to court.  I am sure we will learn more in the upcoming weeks.

Kelly

The Wall Street Journal
July 12, 2001
[WSJ.com -- Mossberg's Mailbox]

Users Must Get Permission
Each Time 'XP' Is Activated

By WALTER S. MOSSBERG


Q. I have two questions about the new Activation system in Windows XP.
First, do you really have to call Microsoft every time you reinstall
Windows XP on
the same PC? Second, what happens if I buy a replacement PC -- not an
additional one, but a replacement -- and I want to move my licensed copy
of Windows
XP from the old PC to the new one?

A. Every time you install or reinstall Windows XP, you will have to
"activate" it -- that is, you will need to get Microsoft's permission to
use it, either
via the Internet or by phone. If you don't go through activation, the
operating system will stop functioning 30 days after it is first run.
Whether that
activation request will be approved, and how it will be handled, is
entirely up to Microsoft, and the company has published only a general
description
of the system, not a detailed set of rules and scenarios. Different
Microsoft spokesmen answer some of these activation questions in
different ways on
different days to different journalists.

As the public discovers the activation plan, however, and criticism
mounts, Microsoft seems to be loosening the rules, at least according to
the answers
being given by spokesmen in the past few days. Here's the latest:

The company now claims that in many cases, a Windows reinstallation on
the same PC will result in an instant activation approval over the
Internet, with
no phone call required. That sort of instant approval might recur again
and again, up to some numerical limit set by Microsoft. In other cases,
you will
have to call Microsoft to explain what's going on and beg them to let you
keep using the copy of Windows XP for which you have already paid.
Exactly what
it would take to require a phone call isn't clear, but the company is
stressing this week that it will strive to make phone calls as rare as
possible.

That sounds considerably more conciliatory than last week's description.
But, the whole system is filled with uncertainty and seems rather fluid
right now.
Here's an even more surprising example, which answers the second
question:

On the issue of replacing one PC with another, a Microsoft spokesman
tells me that "in this instance, we will err on the side of the user. We
will trust
that the user is doing the correct thing and not just going after
additional activations." He says, "The process is simple: A user would
call into Microsoft
and say they want to transfer the license to a new machine they have. And
we will give them a new activation code."

This seems to open a big loophole in the whole activation scheme, since
the replacement-PC explanation could be used by people who actually want
to use
the same copy of Windows XP on two machines. Go figure. I don't think
we'll know exactly how this will work until after Windows XP ships on
Oct. 25 --
and, since Microsoft controls the system, and its exact rules are secret,
the company could loosen, or tighten, its policies even after that date.


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