[userbinator]

It's scary to consider that whoever added that "feature" was probably thinking of region-locking...

Before, I used to think that hardware specifications and protocols would be simpler purely because hardware people don't really like complexity and it would make implementation harder, and that was usually the case. Now it seems like elements of Enterprise Java have slowly creeped in...

The fact that the adapter has far more nonvolatile memory than it needs is somewhat unsettling, not just in the wasteful sense but also in the "hidden surveillance device" sense.

[sitkack]

Yes.

The spec includes cryptographic signatures for the whole signal chain for "authenticity".

http://www.siliconch.com/authentication.html

http://www.usb.org/developers/presentations/USB_DevDays_Taip...

[opencl]

And companies have in fact used this to make their devices only work with their own brand of chargers. I know HP has at least, because I have one. Does a pretty great job of defeating the "universal" aspect of the Universal Serial Bus.

In addition to preventing the use of third party power bricks, it also makes all of those USB-C docks with power passthrough useless.

[TeMPOraL]

My god. I never thought I'd see the day they DRM power.

[noja]

I am genuinely shocked. This is definitely not widely known.

[eitland]

And meanwhile Enterprise Java has become lightweight and simple (to use at least, - and the fact that TomEE exists implies that it possible to implement and support a compatible server even for a small company/team, as long as they know what they're doing.)