Passport

[voidmain]

Microsoft currently has dominance in the PC desktop world as you know (and rapidly gaining dominance in many other non-computer areas). Now they want to own the roads and toll booths and know as much as they can about the poeple who travel those roads.

If a site participates in MS Passport and requires you to get a Passport ID to gain access to their site you will automatically be able to access every other site participating in Passport (this is their claimed benefit).  

What if you don't want a Passport ID and you don't want your personal info being relayed to all the Passport participants for who knows what evil purposes?  I guess you just can't access those sites...

I like sports and I already stopped going to espn.com because they are surrouned by MSN crap! I'm certainly not going to register a Passport account which means I may lose out on some web content but I will stick to my guns as long as I can....

Any comments about Passport?

[Centurian]

Hey VoidMain,

I have a passport account through hotmail but I got it several years ago. At that time they did not even ask for your name. I have heard alot of people complain recently that passport is asking that you fill out a long form (but I don't know that for a fact). In any case I am glad I got it way back when I first got on the net. Don't think I would do it now. Btw I am one of those paranoid people who won't even leave cookies on my machine once I close out the browser. Since hotmail is the last place I go they never get to track me for long.  

Later
Centurian

[voidmain]

Hmmm, Passport account several years ago?  On hotmail?  Several years ago MS didn't own hotmail and up until the last couple of years hotmail was run on UNIX servers (BSD if I recall).  Now what they may have done was taken all the user accounts and migrated them into Passport accounts.  Are you saying they did this without your knowlege?  Why are you still using hotmail? Use a non-MS system, especially if Passport is involved...

As far as the cookies go.  In KDE/Konqueror you can disable cookies completely or just deny/allow cookies from certain sites.  Nice feature.  Ditch Microscrap...

[ December 14, 2001: Message edited by: VoidMain ]

[jtpenrod]

Let's see: I'm suppose to entrust my name, address, social security no., my credit card nos. pass words, and God knows what else to the same outfit with this really stirling record on security? Perhaps His Gatesness will part with a few of his $billions; I have a fine old New York landmark that's been in the family for generations that I'd be willing to part with. Hell, I'll even throw in that underwater Florida farm land!

BTW: Before Macro$uck acquired hotmail, they had 10 million accounts and ran UNIX servers. Now that M$ has it, there are ~50 million accounts - and hotmail *still* runs UNIX servers. What's good enough for the goose doesn't appear to be good enough for the gander!

[voidmain]

quote:Originally posted by jtpenrod:
BTW: Before Macro$uck acquired hotmail, they had 10 million accounts and ran UNIX servers. Now that M$ has it, there are ~50 million accounts - and hotmail *still* runs UNIX servers. What's good enough for the goose doesn't appear to be good enough for the gander!

They STILL have some FreeBSD servers? According to this zdnet article article a small percentage of the servers were Win2k by middle of last year, and netcraft shows them as Win2k too.  It wouldn't surprise me if the bulk were still FreeBSD though because even MS knows their OS is not stable or capable.

Back to Passport.  I have a feeling it could get very hard NOT to get a Passport account at some point but I am going to hold out as long as possible.

[ December 14, 2001: Message edited by: VoidMain ]

[Centurian]

quote:Originally posted by VoidMain:
Hmmm, Passport account several years ago?  On hotmail?  Several years ago MS didn't own hotmail and up until the last couple of years hotmail was run on UNIX servers (BSD if I recall).  Now what they may have done was taken all the user accounts and migrated them into Passport accounts.  Are you saying they did this without your knowlege?  Why are you still using hotmail? Use a non-MS system, especially if Passport is involved...

As far as the cookies go.  In KDE/Konqueror you can disable cookies completely or just deny/allow cookies from certain sites.  Nice feature.  Ditch Microscrap...

[ December 14, 2001: Message edited by: VoidMain ]

Yes apparently that is exactly what they did. When I first signed up for Hotmail I think they had about 7 million users. As time went on it grew and changed went under Microsoft Control. Now it is to the point that it sucks badly.  

I use Hotmail now mostly as a spam account. Whenever I sign up for anything I initially use that account. Then if I see that the place does not send alot of spam I eventually switch it over to one of my online or pop3 accounts.

Thanks for the tip in Konqueror. I am expecting Mandrake Linux to arrive today (if UPS gets off their ass) so hopefully I will be able to dump Windows soon.

Later
Centurian

[jtpenrod]

To VoidMain: According to my sources, the bulk of hotmail servers are still UNIX, Macro$uck uses some Win servers strictly as window (no pun intended) dressing, and these only for non-critical functions, just so they can say that hotmail uses Win servers without outright lying.

Maybe they can make you get Passport, but they can't control what you put into it. Just before ditching Win 95, just for shits and giggles I signed up for a Passport. Here is what I entered:

Name: Tursiops "Flipper" Truncatus

Address: Coral Key Marine Preserve, FL 90210

E-mail: [email protected]

Credit Card: MasterCard

Account No. 1234 1234 1234 1234

Anyway, that's what I remember and you get the idea. Let 'em choke on it. Now that I run a pure Linux rig, I'm not so sure I'd even be welcome at any M$ web site. It's not as if I'd actually want to visit one anyway.

[gump420]

I know Microsoft recently started culling out inactive accounts (which means the account I was using last year is gone now); it probably won't be long before people who signed up for a pre-XP Passport account will be forced to resign up to access Hotmail or MSN Messenger, though. On the other hand, there's not really much they can do if you give them false information. In fact, that's a pretty effective way to mess with their grand plan of tracking everything about you.

Apparently a site can opt to use Passport in conjunction with another authentication system. AFAIK eBay does just that. However, I've started boycotting eBay along with any other Passport site simply because it's an option (not that the miniscule amount of buying/selling I did will make one lick of a difference).

[bubaslubas]

When I installed XP Pro, it asked me for an email account to subscribe to Passport. I used an email meant for that sort of shit within Hotmail. It NEVER asked me anything else, and that email account NEVER received a mail from MSN (except the standard Hotmail-team announcements).

What the hell is HailStorm anyway? I've NEVER had ANY problems visiting websites...

Could this be because I'm not in the States? Maybe they think we Portuguese just can't afford to buy stuff of the internet...  

[bubaslubas]

By the way, you have to read this...
http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-5181485.html
AKA
The All Good-Intentioned Guys @ Microsoft

[Calum]

Can't you just fill in the form with a load of untrue gumph and get a passport that way? If all you need to do is log in to sites, then you could probably claim to be Minnie Mouse and be living in Antarctica, it's only when you start trying to buy using credit cards and all that stuff that it starts getting hairy. I'm sure my passport is all incorrect by now, not a .net passport by the way, an old one. which still works. which i need for msn relay chat to work. And that's necessary because icq fucks up yr hard drive and no mistake!
Unfortunately M$ still have the monopoly on some things!  

[stout762]

One of my former college professors worked for MicroSuck and he created an online forum for our class. The problem is that he made participation mandatory to pass and hosted it on msn. So to get in there I had to get a passport account (YUK!!!). As a matter of course I lied my ass off on the forms but you have to use a legit e-mail address (one shot account on yahoo) to get the account. And would you beleive that the second I signed up for passport that box was FLOODED WITH SPAM! It was getting something like 100 a day. Privacy YA RIGHT! Give bill my credit card info? OVER MY DEAD BODY!

FIGHT THE POWER RUN ANYTHING OTHER THAN WINBLOWS

[Calum]

well, sign up for another hotmail account and use that as yr real email address!
I get so much email and rubbish that i use my hotmail account as my 'virtual rubbish bin'. Any mailing lists i might like, but might want to block get signed up using my hotmail account. it actually has a couple of blocking/ignoring features that can help if yr not too bogged down with shit from different email addresses...
Still, i do sympathise.

[Neon92k]

i estimate that in my hotmailm address i have around 1000 emails. (all spam)

[Hak]

Talking about passport! does anyone know how to hack hotmail accounts!

i heard there are some security flaws can someone help me hack hotmail accounts maybe some programs that can be used or info about anything that can help....

thx.