Having someone use a remote kill command for an item you bought for reasons other than imminent threats to safety ought to be illegal. This shouldn’t be treated differently from a car salesman bricking your windshield after you drive off the lot.
I’m no law expert, but as far as i know, there were already similiar cases. Reasoning (german law): Software required to run the product is not “licensed to use” but part of the product, which was bought, belongs the user and not the company. Remotely making the device unusable would indeed violate that term.
At least in EU the manufacturer can’t revoke licenses on sold physical products with no cause (can’t expire before EOL either) and can’t remove advertised functionality. If any feature is conditional or temporary it has to be disclosed before sale.
The issue you’ll run into is that the data runs through their servers, and you ages to let them kill it off. Should that be legal? I honestly don’t know. But they shouldn’t force you to use their servers to begin with, which would make the entire issue moot.
Having someone use a remote kill command for an item you bought for reasons other than imminent threats to safety ought to be illegal. This shouldn’t be treated differently from a car salesman bricking your windshield after you drive off the lot.
In germany there’s the “Computer sabotage” crime.
Is it still sabotage if the only thing they have sold is a license to use their product not the product itself. That is still their property.
I’m no law expert, but as far as i know, there were already similiar cases. Reasoning (german law): Software required to run the product is not “licensed to use” but part of the product, which was bought, belongs the user and not the company. Remotely making the device unusable would indeed violate that term.
At least in EU the manufacturer can’t revoke licenses on sold physical products with no cause (can’t expire before EOL either) and can’t remove advertised functionality. If any feature is conditional or temporary it has to be disclosed before sale.
Hopefully, such terms would violate the above law and not hold up against it.
yes. and no its not their property.
The issue you’ll run into is that the data runs through their servers, and you ages to let them kill it off. Should that be legal? I honestly don’t know. But they shouldn’t force you to use their servers to begin with, which would make the entire issue moot.