Microsoft Media Player logs users' DVD picks Mail to a friend

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

En mediaplayer doet het ook :(.

http://www.itworld.com/AppDev/1471/IDG020221mediaplayer/

Microsoft Corp.'s latest media player software keeps track of what
DVDs are played on a PC and shares that information with the software
maker via the Internet, privacy watcher Richard Smith said in an
advisory.

Windows Media Player 8, which comes with Microsoft's Windows XP,
contacts a Microsoft Web server each time a new DVD is played on a
computer. The server is given a unique fingerprint for the DVD and
the media player client, allowing Microsoft to track what movies are
watched on a particular PC, Smith wrote in his advisory posted at
http://www.computerbytesman.com/privacy/wmp8dvd.htm.

The unique code Windows Media Player 8 sends to Microsoft identifies
the software, not the person using it. However, the anonymity could
be lifted if the user signs up for the Windows Media e-mail
newsletter, according to Smith.

Title and track information on the DVD are retrieved from Microsoft's
server and stored in a file on the user's computer, Smith wrote in
his advisory. This local file could pose a privacy problem if the PC
is used by more than one person. A user could uncover what movies
another user is watching
[knip]

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