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

arstechnica.com

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2w ago

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

arstechnica.com /gadgets/2025/07/belkin-shows-tech-firms-getting-too-comfortable-with-bricking-customers-stuff/

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Alphane Moon @lemmy.world

3w ago

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

arstechnica.com /gadgets/2025/07/belkin-shows-tech-firms-getting-too-comfortable-with-bricking-customers-stuff/

14 comments

but they said it's after careful consideration !!
- After careful consideration we're bricking the perfectly functioning shit we sold to you so now you have to buy new shit from us
  
  maybe the new models will also have AI on the label instead of smart
- After careful consideration, i have made the difficult decision to firebomb your offices. Any features that rely on not being on fire will no longer work.
  
  those are some of my fav emojis!
- and with great difficulty
I have been considering starting an IoT company that just packages home assistant and zigbee devices so that people who don't want to mess with computers can just have something set up quickly. Then no matter what, all of their things still work.
- ESPHome could pretty easily be used as the basis for an IOT device manufacturer, provided they can sell the individual devices at a high enough margin. I'd gladly pay a pretty big premium for open software on open hardware, especially for something as potentially invasive as an IOT product.
  
  Very true. Even for low power devices there is the esp32-h2 , which can be programmed with Arduino. I know zigbee can push new firmware to devices, but I don't know if you can push new Arduino code it.
If Stop Killing Games actually becomes some sort of law in the EU, it will be interesting to see how it intersects with this kind of thing.
They sold you software (and the hardware it came on) that you can no longer use because they shut down their servers. Why should the fact that it’s software for a smart device instead of a game make a difference? A Stop Killing Games law, if worded as “software” instead of “games” which seems likely, would directly apply here.
Could we trick the EU into passing sweeping consumer protections for all licensed software because they think it’s just for video games?
"No simple solution" I can think of a few...
- Buy a normal Refrigerator and Lightbulb instead of Some Bullshit!!!!!
  
  Of course, but all is shite nowadays. There are still DDR fridges in use. Nothing today will compare. My fantasy would be ban it under penalty of led poisoning to the back of the skull. And bill them for the cost.
  But from a consumer perspective today, if you want something connected , do your research first and only go with something that can run Foss firmware. For routers there are openwrt tomato and others. For home automation there is home assistant etc.
force them to at the very least unlock and release the source code, so someone else can operate the servers.

14 comments