The Computer Corner
By Charles Miller, Jan, 5 2007

No one’s at the back door

For the last few months there has been a lot of concern among Microsoft Windows XP users over whether their computers will continue working tomorrow.

A lot of people have been seeing a warning from Microsoft telling them their copy of Windows XP is counterfeit. A small number of users are seeing this message erroneously, but the rest of you are seeing this message because you did not pay Microsoft for your copy of Windows!

In a recent column, I detailed ways to obtain legally licensed software at significant savings. I encourage everyone to pay for the software you are using and stop using pirated software.

The biggest concern I have been hearing lately is that people are worried that Microsoft is going to somehow lock down their computers so they cannot continue to use the illegal software they have installed.

This week, as we observe the seventh anniversary of the Y2K scare, is probably a good time for me to prognosticate concerning another calamity I believe is unlikely to occur.

Undoubtedly, Microsoft would like to be able to reach out and throttle all the pickpockets who are using pirated software, but something is holding them back. The threat restraining Microsoft for now is what I call the fear of “Doomsday.” It is a scenario that could hypothetically play out like this:

Microsoft could release a so-called security update that sneaks a “back door” into your computer to allow them to disable your Windows if it is pirated. As soon as they did so, all the virus writers in cyberspace would pounce on this and turn Microsoft’s weapon against them. If Microsoft puts in a way for them to disable the pirated copies of Windows, the hackers will then be able to use this to disable legal copies of Windows. Imagine the chaos that might be created on doomsday when the hackers trigger this and tens of millions of legitimate copies of Windows simultaneously lock the users out from using their computers.

Businesses, emergency services, financial markets, government offices—everyone who depends on using a PC—would all come to a screeching halt. It could take days or weeks before Microsoft could reactivate all the legal copies of Windows that had been wrongly shut down. As long as the “back door” in Windows was still there, the virus writers might be able to carry on shutting down legal copies of Windows over and over again, continuing the pandemonium.

To be sure, lawmakers, denied permission to use their word processors and legally licensed copies of Windows, would use pencil and paper to write new laws that would effectively regulate Microsoft so that the computer giant would never again be able to cause such a catastrophe. But the real disaster would be putting the government, and not Microsoft, in charge of writing software.

I do not think Microsoft is going to open itself to the possibility of such stringent regulatory oversight, and so that is why I say there is no “back door” in Windows now that gives them the ability to deactivate your pirated software.

I urge everyone using pirated software to make it your New Year’s resolution to look into obtaining legal software licenses. It is the right thing to do. As I pointed out earlier, there are affordable ways to do so. Now is the time to do this while you can choose when and how much you pay. If Microsoft ever does find a way to force you to pay up on their terms, it is sure to cost you a lot more.


Charles Miller is a freelance computer consultant, a frequent visitor to San Miguel since 1981 and now practically a full-time resident. He may be contacted at 044-415-101-8528 or email FAQ@SMAguru.com.