[dazhbog]

I used to always be pro-consumer in cases where the manufacturer does something like that to clones (Salae and FTDI cases)

After slowly getting into the manufacturing game myself and after USPS auctioned some of my cute early engineering samples that ended up on ebay, I definitely think this is totally reasonable from the manufacturer. Also the title of the article is already attacking the manufacturer. If you brick the devices, you hurt the person stealing and indeed it seems that this wasn't the first time it happened to them. On the consumer side maybe a discount would also be a nice gesture.

[woodrowbarlow]

i'm curious to hear more about your story!

if i'm understanding you correctly, the postal service somehow ended up in possession of your early prototypes and they sold them to somebody who then re-listed them on ebay. was this a lost parcel situation?

[dazhbog]

We sent the prototypes with USPS, within US, and down the line they said they couldnt deliver and we asked them to re-route it to another address because of that. They even gave us a tracking number.

After a month went by (adding to the already another month of delay) they said its on its way, etc. We randomly searched ebay with our brand name and saw an active listing with our prototypes in it. Other things in the box like our gopro were gone, but at least we found the prototypes and contacted the seller. The seller said that she got the items at an auction for items that couldnt be delivered a MONTH earlier, while USPS was telling us it was on the way.

Seller ended up giving us the prototypes for a small fee.