[TeMPOraL]

I can encrypt my e-mail. Can I encrypt my video signal so that the TV doesn't read it off?

Also, Gmail gives me a pretty damn good service in exchange for me allowing them to read my e-mail - I get free search, categorization and arguably the best spam filtering solution in the world. What do I get from Vizio in exchange for all its spying?

[throwaway160303]

A cheaper TV - or to go a level deeper, still having the manufacturer in question in the business of making TVs. TVs, and more generally high-unit-volume embedded hardware products, are incredibly competitive. This is particularly true at the price points where Vizio moves significant volume. Margins were squeezed to zero years ago.

[TeMPOraL]

> or to go a level deeper, still having the manufacturer in question in the business of making TVs.

As a consumer, that's not my problem. If a commodity company can't survive on their margins, then so be it.

The problem is that even if such "innovation" allows a company to increase its margins (and maybe decrease price), there's nothing stopping competitors from adopting it too, and soon margins are back to near-zero - but the user-hostile crap remains a permanent part of the new landscape. This process needs to be actively opposed, and individual consumers are unfortunately nowhere near powerful enough to do so.

[throwaway160303]

I understand. But understand that from their perspective, as a business deciding whether or not to stay in a particular market, it's also not their problem. They're going to act in their own interest; if the incentives are aligned as they are, the resulting behaviors shouldn't be surprising. Whether they should be condemned or whatnot is perhaps something interested people could debate, but interested they are not.

And, with a $2.2m settlement, the incentives are still solidly weighted towards behavior like this.