Recently Motorola followed by Samsung started disabling/locking devices flagged as “illegal” through Mexico marking a precedent over the remote control manufacturers have over the devices they sell! Only after Mexican government made an official request to manufacturers they removed the lock.
Sources: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1537307-android-phones-disabled-remotly-in-mexico/ https://www.sammyfans.com/2023/10/23/samsung-stops-blocking-illegally-imported-galaxy-phones-in-mexico/
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That they would even build such a remote lock into “not their phone” is Orwellian technofacism.
Where did you get that the phones were illegally imported?
I’m confused about that too. Apparently it is in the contract that you aren’t allowed to take your device you legally purchased with you where you want, or to sell it after buying it? Or are they only allowed to sell their phone to people in the same country as themselves? Or something?
So people illegally imported cell phones. Illegal in the eyes of the Mexican government? If so, it’s interesting that they care about protecting the consumers of illegal devices.
Its not illegal.
This is about manufacturers not wanting to loose their control on distribution and price setting.
I presumed exess media attention to the matter pushed them towards this response.
This has been a thing for software licenses for a while, it was only a matter of time.
Bricking someone’s hardware, that they’ve paid for, is a crime already. It should be treated like a crime even if the person doing the bricking is the phone manufacturer. It’s not their phone once they’ve sold it
Ownership no longer has the same definition in the eyes of corporations and governments!
As concerning as that is, more so is the fact that the same infrastructure could be used for malicious intentions. That is ransomware level of control they reserve simply because they manufacture these devices.
If we wanted to own the devices we bought, we would have needed to start 20 years ago.
Now it’s too late, the only reasonable thing you can do is clawing back control over your device by installing a custom ROM.
Agreed. But it’s good for authorities, and as the mexicanist authorities demonstrated, to treat this as a crime. To prevent companies from doing this.