Redistribution of Hotfix KB943198
in [Win32 Kernel]
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From: Peter Fernandez on 11 Jul 2008 12:12 Hi, I'm not sure if this is the proper place to ask this question, as it's not technical, but legal. But I've not found information about this elsewhere, so here goes........ I am involved in the development of a product that uses 'usbser.sys' and a large proportion of the target audience will be running XP. For users ruunning Windows XP SP2 a minimum of Hotfix KB943198 is required. This Hotfix is a free download, however once you follow the download link you then see that all users must pass WGA tests before being allowed to download this free update. My preference is to bundle the Hotfix into my program's installer and install it automatically (I've already constructed the Bootstrapper Package to achieve this). This is the easiest solution for the end user, but I suspect it will violate some legal requirement of MS......... So my question is: can I distribute Hotfix KB943198 as part of my Install in a way that doesn't break any MS legal requirements? Thanks in advance for your help
From: Smithsonian on 11 Jul 2008 23:20 Im pretty sure you can't. I'm not 100% positive but i doubt it. "Peter Fernandez" <peter.fernandez(a)cevolution.co.uk> wrote in message news:%23AyFtD34IHA.1892(a)TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl... > Hi, > > I'm not sure if this is the proper place to ask this question, as it's not > technical, but legal. But I've not found information about this > elsewhere, > so here goes........ > > I am involved in the development of a product that uses 'usbser.sys' and a > large proportion of the target audience will be running XP. For users > ruunning Windows XP SP2 a minimum of Hotfix KB943198 is required. This > Hotfix is a free download, however once you follow the download link you > then see that all users must pass WGA tests before being allowed to > download > this free update. My preference is to bundle the Hotfix into my program's > installer and install it automatically (I've already constructed the > Bootstrapper Package to achieve this). This is the easiest solution for > the > end user, but I suspect it will violate some legal requirement of > MS......... > > So my question is: can I distribute Hotfix KB943198 as part of my Install > in > a way that doesn't break any MS legal requirements? > > Thanks in advance for your help > > >
From: Peter Fernandez on 12 Jul 2008 04:56 Ok thanks for the info. Doing some more digging around I've come across "Description of the standard terminology that is used to describe Microsoft software updates" (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/824684/). Under the section entitled 'Hotfix' it reads as follows: "...........Additional Information: Hotfixes are distributed by Microsoft Product Support Services. Customers may not redistribute hotfixes without written, legal consent from Microsoft." So my next question would be: who do I need to contact in Microsoft to petition for legal consent? Would it be an appropriate program manager? If so, do you have the contact information for the appropriate program manager? Thanks in advance for your help "Smithsonian" <irc_smithsonian(a)hotmail.com> wrote in message news:7C81D058-E58F-414B-B229-8813A6BD85F3(a)microsoft.com... > Im pretty sure you can't. I'm not 100% positive but i doubt it. > "Peter Fernandez" <peter.fernandez(a)cevolution.co.uk> wrote in message > news:%23AyFtD34IHA.1892(a)TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl... >> Hi, >> >> I'm not sure if this is the proper place to ask this question, as it's >> not >> technical, but legal. But I've not found information about this >> elsewhere, >> so here goes........ >> >> I am involved in the development of a product that uses 'usbser.sys' and >> a >> large proportion of the target audience will be running XP. For users >> ruunning Windows XP SP2 a minimum of Hotfix KB943198 is required. This >> Hotfix is a free download, however once you follow the download link you >> then see that all users must pass WGA tests before being allowed to >> download >> this free update. My preference is to bundle the Hotfix into my program's >> installer and install it automatically (I've already constructed the >> Bootstrapper Package to achieve this). This is the easiest solution for >> the >> end user, but I suspect it will violate some legal requirement of >> MS......... >> >> So my question is: can I distribute Hotfix KB943198 as part of my Install >> in >> a way that doesn't break any MS legal requirements? >> >> Thanks in advance for your help >> >> >> >
From: Stefan Kuhr on 14 Jul 2008 09:41 Peter, Peter Fernandez wrote: > Hi, > > I'm not sure if this is the proper place to ask this question, as it's not > technical, but legal. But I've not found information about this elsewhere, > so here goes........ > > I am involved in the development of a product that uses 'usbser.sys' and a > large proportion of the target audience will be running XP. For users > ruunning Windows XP SP2 a minimum of Hotfix KB943198 is required. This > Hotfix is a free download, however once you follow the download link you > then see that all users must pass WGA tests before being allowed to download > this free update. My preference is to bundle the Hotfix into my program's > installer and install it automatically (I've already constructed the > Bootstrapper Package to achieve this). This is the easiest solution for the > end user, but I suspect it will violate some legal requirement of > MS......... > > So my question is: can I distribute Hotfix KB943198 as part of my Install in > a way that doesn't break any MS legal requirements? > > Thanks in advance for your help > Why don't you simply refuse installation of your product if usbser.sys cannot be found on the system in an appropriate version? Give a friendly message box (or an installer log entry when started silent) to the user that this hotfix is a requiement. Am I missing something? -- Stefan
From: Peter Fernandez on 14 Jul 2008 09:58
Hi Stefan, Yes, I could do that - and it is relatively easy to do. But then the user has to go out to the Internet and download the hotfix; my preference (as I say) is to bundle the Hotfix into my program's installer and install it automatically because that would give the user the best install experience Pete "Stefan Kuhr" <kustt110(a)gmx.li> wrote in message news:uYdPmfb5IHA.2336(a)TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl... > Peter, > > Peter Fernandez wrote: >> Hi, >> >> I'm not sure if this is the proper place to ask this question, as it's >> not >> technical, but legal. But I've not found information about this >> elsewhere, >> so here goes........ >> >> I am involved in the development of a product that uses 'usbser.sys' and >> a >> large proportion of the target audience will be running XP. For users >> ruunning Windows XP SP2 a minimum of Hotfix KB943198 is required. This >> Hotfix is a free download, however once you follow the download link you >> then see that all users must pass WGA tests before being allowed to >> download >> this free update. My preference is to bundle the Hotfix into my program's >> installer and install it automatically (I've already constructed the >> Bootstrapper Package to achieve this). This is the easiest solution for >> the >> end user, but I suspect it will violate some legal requirement of >> MS......... >> >> So my question is: can I distribute Hotfix KB943198 as part of my Install >> in >> a way that doesn't break any MS legal requirements? >> >> Thanks in advance for your help >> > > > Why don't you simply refuse installation of your product if usbser.sys > cannot be found on the system in an appropriate version? Give a friendly > message box (or an installer log entry when started silent) to the user > that this hotfix is a requiement. Am I missing something? > > > -- > Stefan |