"We definitely have not started anything," said a Microsoft spokeswoman. "We have contacted the writer of the article to clear up the inaccuracies, and he has since filed a new story as there have been no recent updates to WGA in Windows Vista."
The report said that a warning email was sent by Microsoft to a large OEM distributor of Vista warning of the impending activation. The email said that the screen would go black after one hour's use.