content: My sentiments exactly, with one proviso - I don't think it's a good thing, at all.  Why?  Because Microsoft not only doesn't care about consumer privacy or rights, but, to the extent that they've shown an interest in the subject, they've undermined both.  So I'd say that it's near certain that this is not even a nominally good thing done for shabby reasons.  They have absolutely no interest in furthering consumer rights, so it's much more likely that they're not merely doing this for PR gain, but that they already know, just as their government cronies already know, that it's NOT going to in any way further consumer privacy or rights. At best, from our point of view, nothing will come of it.  I think it's far more likely though that it's a scam from the beginning, and that part of the reason that it's happening (besides the PR value to Microsoft) is that it will give the government the opportunity to impose some sort of enormously complex and loophole-riddled "agreement" that will, underneath all the rhetoric, further diminish consumer rights, and for the benefit of both the government AND Microsoft.