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Belkin shows tech firms getting too comfortable with bricking customers' stuff

(arstechnica.com)
83 points speckx | 3 comments | 11 Jul 25 19:18 UTC | HN request time: 0.535s | source
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greatgib ◴[11 Jul 25 19:38 UTC] No.44536107[source]▶
I'm not against manufacturer stopping support for their Internet Of Shits devices, but there should be a law making it mandatory for them to release source code, protocol specs and whatever is needed so that a man of the craft could be able to do what is necessary to continue using the product that he bought.
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thomassmith65 ◴[11 Jul 25 19:46 UTC] No.44536178[source]▶
I'd rather a law mandating that all devices include an 'offline' option for any hardware features that could conceivably support one.

I don't want to create an account for my toaster, nor have my lightbulb send updates to an analytics server, nor have my washing machine cease to function when my wifi goes down.

A ban on products tying hardware features to an internet connection would fix all those problems in addition to giving them theoretically eternal life.

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1. Angostura ◴[11 Jul 25 20:49 UTC] No.44536659[source]▶
I love this idea. But “ features that could conceivably support one.” is going to be the tricky bit to regulate
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2. Rygian ◴[11 Jul 25 21:00 UTC] No.44536743[source]▶
"Must be fully operational as described in the brochure without an internet connection. Any features that require an internet connection must be priced and sold as optional enhancements."

Done.

3. Mister_Snuggles ◴[11 Jul 25 21:36 UTC] No.44536993[source]▶
Rather than regulating features, I'd start with a dependency list.

So a smart plug might have a list saying:

- Functionality requires 2.4GHz WiFi, Internet access, access to whatever.vendor.com, and a vendor.com account.

- Provisioning requires the above plus BLE and Vendor's app.

A smart washing machine might be more complex:

- Express wash requires nothing special.

- Regular wash requires 2.4GHz WiFi, Internet access, access to whatever.vendor.com, and a vendor.com account.

- Heavy Duty wash requires the above plus a vendor-supplied detergent cartridge.