Redistribution of Hotfix KB943198

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

no, you cannot redist the KB AFAIK

d

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Please do not send e-mail directly to this alias. this alias is for
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This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.


"Peter Fernandez" <> wrote in message
news:%...
> 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
>
>

On Jul 11, 10:31 am, "Peter Fernandez"
<peter.fernan...@cevolution.co.uk> wrote:

> large proportion of the target audience will be running XP. For users
> ruunning Windows XP SP2 a minimum of Hotfix KB943198 is required.

I don't like the wording in that KB article. Where does the USB spec
say that you "must" issue a ZLP on a host-to-device bulk transfer?

wrote:

>On Jul 11, 10:31 am, "Peter Fernandez"
><peter.fernan...@cevolution.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> large proportion of the target audience will be running XP. For users
>> ruunning Windows XP SP2 a minimum of Hotfix KB943198 is required.
>
>I don't like the wording in that KB article. Where does the USB spec
>say that you "must" issue a ZLP on a host-to-device bulk transfer?

When a single transfer is an exact multiple of the endpoint's packet size,
that is EXACTLY what the spec says. Without it, the transfer is considered
to be still in progress, hence the performance issue.
--
Tim Roberts,
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.

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


"Doron Holan [MSFT]" <> wrote in message
news:%...
> no, you cannot redist the KB AFAIK
>
> d
>
> --
> Please do not send e-mail directly to this alias. this alias is for
> newsgroup purposes only.
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
> rights.
>
>
> "Peter Fernandez" <> wrote in message
> news:%...
>> 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
>>
>>
>

On Jul 11, 11:42 pm, Tim Roberts <t...@probo.com> wrote:

> When a single transfer is an exact multiple of the endpoint's packet size,
> that is EXACTLY what the spec says. Without it, the transfer is considered
> to be still in progress, hence the performance issue.

I'm unconvinced. The language in the spec refers to an "endpoint",
i.e. that means to me on the device side only: (section 5.8.3 of the
1.1 spec)

"A bulk transfer is complete when the *endpoint* (emphasis mine) does
one of the following:

- Has transferred exactly the amount of data expected
- Transfers a packet with a payload size less than wMaxPacketSize or
transfers a zero-length packet."

wrote:

>On Jul 11, 11:42 pm, Tim Roberts <t...@probo.com> wrote:
>
>> When a single transfer is an exact multiple of the endpoint's packet size,
>> that is EXACTLY what the spec says. Without it, the transfer is considered
>> to be still in progress, hence the performance issue.
>
>I'm unconvinced. The language in the spec refers to an "endpoint",
>i.e. that means to me on the device side only: (section 5.8.3 of the
>1.1 spec)
>
>"A bulk transfer is complete when the *endpoint* (emphasis mine) does
>one of the following:
>
>- Has transferred exactly the amount of data expected
>- Transfers a packet with a payload size less than wMaxPacketSize or
>transfers a zero-length packet."

It's the same in both directions. Think about it logically. How else
would you ever signal to the device that a transfer is complete?
--
Tim Roberts,
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.

sorry, i do not know who to contact for that. is there a help link at the
bottom of the page you can send that question to?

--
Please do not send e-mail directly to this alias. this alias is for
newsgroup purposes only.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.


"Peter Fernandez" <> wrote in message
news:OfSzdw$...
> 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
>
>
> "Doron Holan [MSFT]" <> wrote in message
> news:%...
>> no, you cannot redist the KB AFAIK
>>
>> d
>>
>> --
>> Please do not send e-mail directly to this alias. this alias is for
>> newsgroup purposes only.
>> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
>> rights.
>>
>>
>> "Peter Fernandez" <> wrote in message
>> news:%...
>>> 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
>>>
>>>
>>
>
>

Sadly, no, there doen't appear to be one. I've had one suggestion from
another quarter, and that is to contact the folks at the Microsoft
Intellectual Property group - so I'm persuing that avenue next.

Thanks for your help with this Doron.

"Doron Holan [MSFT]" <> wrote in message
news:...
> sorry, i do not know who to contact for that. is there a help link at the
> bottom of the page you can send that question to?
>
> --
> Please do not send e-mail directly to this alias. this alias is for
> newsgroup purposes only.
> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
> rights.
>
>
> "Peter Fernandez" <> wrote in message
> news:OfSzdw$...
>> 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
>>
>>
>> "Doron Holan [MSFT]" <> wrote in message
>> news:%...
>>> no, you cannot redist the KB AFAIK
>>>
>>> d
>>>
>>> --
>>> Please do not send e-mail directly to this alias. this alias is for
>>> newsgroup purposes only.
>>> This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no
>>> rights.
>>>
>>>
>>> "Peter Fernandez" <> wrote in message
>>> news:%...
>>>> 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
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>

On Jul 13, 11:27 pm, Tim Roberts <t...@probo.com> wrote:

> It's the same in both directions. Think about it logically. How else
> would you ever signal to the device that a transfer is complete?

Who says the device has any concept of "transfers" at all? Maybe it
just consumes 64 or 512 bytes at a time and that's it.