Jones, Pamela. “Microsoft's calling home problem: it's a matter of informed consent.” Groklaw, June 11, 2006.

Summary: Microsoft claims that the “Windows Genuine Advantage” software that transmits information about the user's computer system to Microsoft once a day is not spyware, because it cannot be installed without the user's consent to an end-user license agreement. But a ZDNet article by David Berlind demonstrates that this is not true: The part of the software that collects and validates the information is installed before the user is even told about it, let alone asked for consent, and the EULA never reveals the fact that the user's system is re-validated and information about it transmitted once a day and every time the system is rebooted.

Jones also comments on several other inconsistencies, omissions, and obscurities in the EULA, suggesting that Microsoft is deliberately deceiving its customers.