It's absolutely baffling. This kind of practice is never okay, be it bricking the device(that is borderline not-okay) or injecting garbage data. I, as a consume

It's absolutely baffling. This kind of practice is never okay, be it bricking the device(that is borderline not-okay) or injecting garbage data. I, as a consumer, don't care about your IP, I care about the goods which I buy legally, using open platforms(i.e. eBay). If the manufacturer wishes to combat IP infringement, it may do so freely by doing legal action against counterfeit chip manufacturers, but affecting a device that I bought(perhaps unknowingly) is just rude.