Ask Lemmy

It would be the biggest self-own in history but apparently the yanks are into that these days.

Yes, IIRC they already did this for Russia.

Microsoft has the ability to do this if they really wanted to. It would completely destroy their business if they did, though, so they won't. I mean, who would keep using Microsoft products if the company was willing to just take it away from you at a moment's notice?

The US government cannot do it so easily. They'd have to order Microsoft to do so. Microsoft would resist and take it to court. The US Court system makes a LOT of really fucked up rulings, but the one thing they do reliably is side with big business. I'm inclined to think that in this hypothetical showdown, the courts would side with Microsoft.

Maybe if we ask nicely.

Yes, technically they could cause massive disruptions. Not likely they will.

1. They would not get paid.

2. Europe would suddenly have a very good reason to spend billions of euro on funding competitors.

Microsoft is an Eldritch hydra monstrosity. I think it has become its own civilization. I think it's so large that it just exists as a self sustaining chaos phenomena. I don't think the organization can make a decision. One department of thousands makes a decision. And they all jostle about breaking each other's shit every other day.

https://youtu.be/Apq-U81i8kI

Of course they could. One update could render the system worthless or come with malware that infests systems in the network.

Sure, but they like money, so not happening.

Stopping Windows from running, probably not. MS could stop sending updates and could deactivate it, but it would mostly keep running. And, if any EU/Russian systems were not connected to the internet (yes, this sort of thing still happens in 2025), nothing MS did would matter. Office/Azure and other cloud based services are more vulnerable. Yes, Microsoft could geo-fence those services such that they did nor work if you were coming from an IP address in EU/Russia. Though, the simple workaround for this is to install a VPN. And given US sanctions on Russia, this is probably happening right now anyway.

As much as the tin-foil hat crowd likes to think about MS having some master control switch, it's incredibly unlikely. The problem with backdoors is that hackers are constantly looking for ways to attack systems, especially Windows. If there was some sort of master "off switch" baked into the code, it's likely some one would have stumbled upon it by now. Even if it's that well hidden, it's a "one use" item with high reputational damage attached. Stop and consider for a moment, what happens when that kill switch gets used? It's going to be picked up on. People record internet traffic for fun. As soon as that kill command went out, security researchers, the world over, would be dissecting logs to find the command, and then it would be reversed engineered. That MS had such a kill switch in their codebase would cause massive distrust in MS software going forward. No one would want to take the risk of having that kill switch running in their environment, certainly not on anything critical. Also, given how bad people are at updating Windows, we'd probably see a lot of systems killed by hackers just doing hacker things. Since the versions with the kill code would be know, you'd get bored teenagers searching Shodan for vulnerable systems and sending the kill command for fun. And all of this would be "Microsoft's fault" for having the backdoor. It would be a PR nightmare. And since everyone would now know what the kill command looked like, anyone who mattered would install filters to block it at the firewall. So, it got used once, caused some damage with a lot of damage to MS's reputation but is now neutralized. Was it worth it? Probably not to Microsoft.

Don't threaten me with a good time!

They can send all of their online services like Office 365 and Copilot, as well as sales or registration of Windows very quickly. I wish they would! I'd love to see Linux and Libreoffice take over, and maybe a new European player on the market. That would be a boon for consumers worldwide.

I can't imagine a better result.

Sure. But don't worry, our bright leaders have obviously considered that tiny little potential but veeeeeeery unlikely issue the day they decided to rely on US-tech. They must have a backup plan. They did have a backup, right?

Beside Windows and Office, thinking about all the European data that US clouds have been tasked to 'safekeep' for us by our so very lucid leaders, the same leaders that have persistently refused to listen to the few people around here telling them that maybe that was not the fucking smartest idea ever to let go of that control on our essential data... I do wonder how many vital, key or even just nice to have European services will instantly stop working if the US was to ever pull the plug?

I also wonder if my bank would still be able to work? And what about my medical data?

Not that our US friends would ever do such a thing to their dearest European allies, obviously they love us (read the last few paragraphs).

USA + EU = BFF & <3

Time to enjoy free open source clones

Technically, yes. But it would be the end for Microsoft.

Yes, no problem with those rented licences.

Haven't used a Microsoft product at home in years, at work though is a very different story. Everything is Microsoft and its horrible and frustrating.

Fingers crossed.

Yes but not legally. They are also legally bound to EU laws, which would protect the clients that bpught the software. But! Just like plenty of companies pulled out of Russia, if the US does not care and decides ro enable this behavior then they could do it without too much trouble.

But I doubt this would happen, the EU is a big part of their income, and money is what they care about.

Yes and no.

For non-cloud stuff, the EU would quickly legitimize cracks that circumvent anything they would try.

For Cloud stuff, they can more easily turn that off, but then they would need to forfeit all their EU business and assets.

Now with 365, they can ban you from your own computer by simply flipping a variable from 0 to 1.

And it wouldn't matter if you tried to reinstall the machine, as long as the HW identifiers on the machine are the same the ban will stop the machine from be used after being connected to the internet.

As surely as you could set $100,000 of your own money on on fire, yeah.

Technically yes, but bypasses are easily and widely available for all non-cloud stuff. MS licenses are a joke for anyone already unconcerned about following the rules. MASgrave is your friend in that regard.

Also, Microsoft fucked over the IRS to degree that they still haven't recovered from when the IRS tried to get them to stop using tax loopholes more than a decade ago. They aren't going to let the US government bully them. You have to remember that MS has the US government IT infrastructure by the balls, for better or worse.

Its has already turned off all mainline windows but the worst one so.

Absolutely

They could, but so could any other cloud provider. The main difference is that with a European based provider there is hopefully not a likely scenario where they would do this.

They could block Windows licenses going forward, but it wouldn't impact all the activations already done. Windows is not a subscription.

Update could brick your computer intentionally, and on a regional basis. Could steel your data. Mix of love, loyalty and money for US government and its global dominance all that is needed.