Would copying registry entries to get access to all installed TTS voices be against the MS TOS?

Question

Would copying registry entries to get access to all installed TTS voices be against the MS TOS?

AlexS 45

Hello,

I'm building an accessibility app that uses TTS voices already installed on a Windows 10/11 machine. However, GetInstalledVoices() provided by the SpeechSynthesizer class only gives me two options despite having installed German, English, and Dutch language packs. I need at least one voice per language to be available.

After some research, I discovered voices are registered at different registry locations: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech\Voices and HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Speech_OneCore\Voices. Unfortunately, only the voices in the first location are accessible by the SpeechSynthesizer.

All solutions I can find for this suggest I copy the voices from one location to the other. However, I'm worried this might be against the Microsoft TOS.

Anonymous

2024-08-26T08:52:52.1+00:00

Hi @AlexS , Welcome to Microsoft Q&A,

Copying registry keys to access all installed TTS voices may violate Microsoft's Terms of Service (TOS), especially if you bypass official Microsoft-provided APIs or tools to access and use TTS voices. Some TTS voices may be subject to specific licensing terms that may prohibit unauthorized access or distribution. For example, some voices may be limited to specific applications or system use. Microsoft generally provides official APIs to access and manage TTS voices. Bypassing these APIs and directly modifying the registry or otherwise accessing TTS voices may be considered a violation of the Terms of Service. To ensure compliance, it is recommended that you carefully read the Microsoft licensing agreements related to TTS voices and use official Microsoft-provided tools and APIs to access and manage these resources. If in doubt, it is recommended that you consult legal counsel, as the forum cannot confirm this.

Best Regards,

Jiale

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Anonymous

2024-09-04T09:40:08.3766667+00:00

Hi @AlexS , Is there any update in this issue?
AlexS 45 Reputation points

2024-09-04T09:43:59.7833333+00:00

@Anonymous I'm actually implementing and testing right now. The solution @Castorix31 has proposed looks very promising. We decided against registry changes to avoid possible TOS issues.

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Anonymous

2024-08-26T08:52:52.1+00:00

Hi @AlexS , Welcome to Microsoft Q&A,

Copying registry keys to access all installed TTS voices may violate Microsoft's Terms of Service (TOS), especially if you bypass official Microsoft-provided APIs or tools to access and use TTS voices. Some TTS voices may be subject to specific licensing terms that may prohibit unauthorized access or distribution. For example, some voices may be limited to specific applications or system use. Microsoft generally provides official APIs to access and manage TTS voices. Bypassing these APIs and directly modifying the registry or otherwise accessing TTS voices may be considered a violation of the Terms of Service. To ensure compliance, it is recommended that you carefully read the Microsoft licensing agreements related to TTS voices and use official Microsoft-provided tools and APIs to access and manage these resources. If in doubt, it is recommended that you consult legal counsel, as the forum cannot confirm this.

Best Regards,

Jiale

If the answer is the right solution, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.
Anonymous

2024-09-04T09:40:08.3766667+00:00

Hi @AlexS , Is there any update in this issue?
AlexS 45 Reputation points

2024-09-04T09:43:59.7833333+00:00

@Anonymous I'm actually implementing and testing right now. The solution @Castorix31 has proposed looks very promising. We decided against registry changes to avoid possible TOS issues.

Answer 1

You don't need to copy registry keys with SpeechLib

You can use SpObjectTokenCategory.SetId with the 2nd registry path to get the voices.

Test :

// Add reference to : Microsoft Speech Object Library (SAPI)

At beginning :

SpVoice voice = new SpVoice();

Then :


{
    ISpVoice pVoice = (ISpVoice)voice;
    SpObjectTokenCategory otc = new SpObjectTokenCategory();
    //otc.SetId("HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Speech\\Voices");
    otc.SetId("HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Speech_OneCore\\Voices");
    ISpeechObjectTokens tokenEnum = otc.EnumerateTokens();
    int nTokenCount = tokenEnum.Count;
    Console.WriteLine("Number of voices: {0}", nTokenCount);
    foreach (ISpeechObjectToken sot in tokenEnum)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Voice : {0}", sot.GetDescription());
        {
            pVoice.SetVoice((ISpObjectToken)sot);
            try
            {
                uint n = 0;                       
                pVoice.Speak("Hello! This is a test", 0, out n);                        
            }
            catch (System.Exception ex)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Cannot speak with the voice : {0}", sot.GetDescription());
            }
            Marshal.ReleaseComObject(sot);
        }
    }
}

AlexS 45 Reputation points

2024-09-04T12:07:59.1733333+00:00

@Castorix31 I only just found the time to test this today and it worked like a charm. Thank you so much.
Anonymous

2024-09-05T02:17:34.5566667+00:00

Hi @AlexS ,If the answer is the right solution, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

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Would copying registry entries to get access to all installed TTS voices be against the MS TOS?

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