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Until data storage becomes recognized legally as a kind of real property, your outrage won't matter. Most law is concerned only with computers as an extension o

Until data storage becomes recognized legally as a kind of real property, your outrage won't matter. Most law is concerned only with computers as an extension of simpler technology, and the data as IP. There isn't any concept of people's "lives" being on these devices.

deogeo 7y ago
There's already lots of laws against breaking into computer systems - they just don't get applied if the one doing the breaking-in made the device.
GhettoMaestro 7y ago
Your outrage won't matter once a law even does exist. Do you really think China is going to give a shit about some Western law? Lol.
- codedokode 7y ago
  And in my case the backdoor (Cosiloon) wouldn't do anything if the tablet was in China (don't remember how it detected the country, maybe by IP address or language).
javajosh 7y ago
IANAL, but I've always wondered if one good way to approach this is as a "micro-theft" of user resources. Specifically, network bandwidth, battery capacity, and screen size. An additional theft, which is your attention, can also be priced according to "the market", and indeed, if an ad obscures another sites ad then there is, in fact, another (large) set of people the manufacturer is stealing from. Moreover, that last class of people have some powerful advocates in the way of the networks, to wit, Google. But this theft is less straight-forward, I think. I would argue that the most important theft, which is your right to be secure in your computer mediated dealings, is hardest to argue. But that's there, too. It's entirely possible that this theory has already been tested, and lost, in US courts.
- shostack 7y ago
  Without touching on legality of such things, it's interesting also in that these things probably have have a very clear record dollar amounts involved for such an act in terms of revenue generated, CPMs for ads, etc. This scene from Office Space comes to mind.[1] [1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZjCQ3T5yXo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZjCQ3T5yXo

deogeo 7y ago

There's already lots of laws against breaking into computer systems - they just don't get applied if the one doing the breaking-in made the device.

GhettoMaestro 7y ago

Your outrage won't matter once a law even does exist. Do you really think China is going to give a shit about some Western law? Lol.

codedokode 7y ago
And in my case the backdoor (Cosiloon) wouldn't do anything if the tablet was in China (don't remember how it detected the country, maybe by IP address or language).

javajosh 7y ago

IANAL, but I've always wondered if one good way to approach this is as a "micro-theft" of user resources. Specifically, network bandwidth, battery capacity, and screen size. An additional theft, which is your attention, can also be priced according to "the market", and indeed, if an ad obscures another sites ad then there is, in fact, another (large) set of people the manufacturer is stealing from. Moreover, that last class of people have some powerful advocates in the way of the networks, to wit, Google. But this theft is less straight-forward, I think. I would argue that the most important theft, which is your right to be secure in your computer mediated dealings, is hardest to argue. But that's there, too. It's entirely possible that this theory has already been tested, and lost, in US courts.

shostack 7y ago
Without touching on legality of such things, it's interesting also in that these things probably have have a very clear record dollar amounts involved for such an act in terms of revenue generated, CPMs for ads, etc. This scene from Office Space comes to mind.[1] [1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZjCQ3T5yXo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZjCQ3T5yXo