[ClumsyPilot]

"It’s not a crime, since the advertising includes OTA as a feature"

My car includes free service as a feature, that doesn't mean they can take off the wheels while I sleep and call it 'service'.

Similarly I don't think any reasonable person or judge will agree bricking a device is called 'update'.

[reaperducer]

Similarly I don't think any reasonable person or judge will agree bricking a device is called 'update'.

I had a bunch of IoT lightbulbs intentionally bricked by the manufacturer. I can't remember the name of the company now. Something beginning with "F," and ending with "Electric," I think. This was back in the days before HomeKit, when IoT was even more Wild West than it is today.

I had about a dozen of the light bulbs around the house, all controlled by the company's hub, and an app on the phone. One day the company sent an e-mail stating that the system was no longer supported and would no longer function, and it also sent a forced software update to the hub, disabling everything.

I searched around the internet and found lots of people who were mad that the gear they paid for suddenly stopped functioning for no reason. Lots of speculation, but nobody ever seemed to nail down why.

[ClumsyPilot]

That atrocious. Either this is vandalism, or we have no rights to private property any more

[christophilus]

Or, just don’t buy “smart” devices whose software isn’t FOSS? Otherwise, you really never can be sure that you own a smart device.

[ClumsyPilot]

'should we do something about criminals shooting random people in the street?'

'Just don't leave hone without a bulletproof vest'

There are no 'dumb' tvs left any more. Soon the same fate will befall all other devices.

[christophilus]

I don't disagree with you. But all the same, I don't buy smart anything, if there's any viable alternative. My light switches, blinds, bed, clothing, shoes, light bulbs, toaster, etc are all dumb.

If I did buy a "smart" thing, it would have to be rootable and hackable and OSS-friendly (e.g. I need to be able to control it if the company goes belly up) or I won't buy it.

[christophilus]

Should’ve been suspicious when I read their tagline: “We put the F in F-electric”

[kingcharles]

What about just letting the air out of the tyres?