Windows 10 ‘Kill Switch’ Can Identify and Block All Illegal Downloads

This is nonsense -- a complete misinterpretation of the patent.

Read the patent title:

> Disabling Prohibited Content And Identifying Repeat Offenders In Service Provider Storage Systems

This is for online storage services, like OneDrive. It has nothing to do with desktop OSes.

A lott will depend on who the future Windows customer is in the consumer space. Is it the end-user paying for an operating system to get his computer to do the things he wants, or will Windows be 'free at the point of service', and will IP owners pay Microsoft to produce a consumption platform the masses. Of course, both are not mutually exclusive.

I think that such wide popularity of internet is driven by illegal content (music, tv shows, movies, books, etc). At least that is one of the rare thing that have some value on the internet. If you take away that, what is left? Cat memes, and fake Facebook friends?

I'm not even sure what Windows 10 is, is it a PC OS or a sort of consumer tablet OS designed for consuming media? Currently, we're testing LTSB to cut out all this cruft and that's the cruft we know about. How long until these secret features are activated on a newer version that MS threatens us with every 6 months? I saw MS cut out the GPO setting to block the store on its Pro versions recently. I think monetizing their store is their main concern and 'illegal' downloads cut into their margins.

Turning a PC OS into a front-end for a store has very perverse incentives. I suspect this stuff is going to get much worse going forward.