If you own a licensed version of MicroFlaccid’s Windows operating system, you have no doubt encountered the nagware program on Windows Genuine Advantage, which serves no purpose but to prevent unauthorized copies of the operating from being installed.

It should be noted that it also frequently locks people out with proper licenses, after they do things like replace a motherboard of a hard drive, and the installation of the upgrade is deceptive, saying that it provides system security, when what it really provides Microsoft with is revenue protection.

Well now, after discovering that the software phones home, a lawsuit has been filed against Microsoft as a purveyor of spyware:

A US lawsuit has alleged that Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA), Microsoft’s controversial anti-piracy software, is little better than spyware.

A lawsuit (which seeks class-action status) filed in Washington district court last week also cries foul over false advertising as well as allegations of privacy law violations, Electronista reports. More specifically, the suit alleges that the XP version of WGA was offered to users as a security update rather than as an anti-counterfeiting technology.

WGA phones home to Microsoft daily with IP address and other information on users. The latest lawsuit, like others against WGA before it, takes exception to this behaviour.

The case here is pretty easy to understand, so let’s look at what the program is and does, and compare it to spyware:

What WGA Does	Is it Spyware
Does it install on your system without notifying you of what it does?	Yes, it calls itself a security upgrade
Does it contact the “mother-ship” regularly and without your approval?	Yes, it does.
Does the Removal of the program require extraordinary measures?	Yes, the only removal mechanism is reformat and reinstall the system
Does the program have interfere with the system function? Is this intentional?	Yes Yes

Dude, you’ve got spyware!