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Honestly, how long until all kinds of shady actors come up with excuses to gain access to the api? My device, my choices. If it is not paid, sue me in a legal c
by gostsamo 6y ago
Honestly, how long until all kinds of shady actors come up with excuses to gain access to the api? My device, my choices. If it is not paid, sue me in a legal court. Everything else is private enforcement.
- crankyoldcrank 6y agoIf it's financed it.. isn't really your device until it's paid off. By your logic repo men should be illegal.
- gostsamo 6y agoNo, the phone is mine, it is a collateral for the loan. If I'm not paying, the court must acknowledge the fact before the lender has the right to private enforcement.
- kshacker 6y agoWell they are changing the perspective. The phone is theirs until the payment is complete. Very likely that's how they write the contract too. They may still sell it like "auto pilot" but the paperwork defines the actual contract.
- p49k 6y agoThey are "changing the perspective" to a behavior which is predatory and stacked against one party. A company cannot just write anything they want into a contract and expect it to be enforceable; there are rules surrounding what is and isn't acceptable in contracts.
- Aeronwen 6y agoRent-to-own has been a thing for ages. While predatory, it's apparently acceptable in contracts.
- gostsamo 6y agoEverything is legal in a sufficiently corrupt system. It doesn't make it moral.
- NeutronStar 6y agoFurthermore, it's not because it's written in a contract that the clause is legal.
- robocat 6y agoEven if the phone were destroyed, you would still have to pay the debt. When purchasing a phone on credit, you sign a contract which gives the lender certain rights they wouldn’t otherwise have. No “rights” are broken.
- gostsamo 6y agoYes, I must pay the sum because I've borrowed the money and what happens to the phone is my responsibility. It has nothing to do with the rights of the lender. Their rights are to repossess the phone if it is not paid because the phone is collateral, not because they own it.
- p49k 6y agoUsing repo men (self-repossession) is in fact illegal in much of the civilized world.
- Shivetya 6y agoif its not paid how is it your device? If the agreement does not surrender complete control and with regard to the subject mentioned they are not, it is not yet your device. now if you complete the agreement then if becomes your device. however contracts which usually allow for remote control specify it very clearly.
- gostsamo 6y agoBecause I'm borrowing from the lender to buy from the seller. The fact that they are the same entity is not significant.
- cortesoft 6y agoSo do you think it is wrong for a bank to send a repo man to take back a car that someone hasn't paid the note on? What if they set it up as a "rent to own", where you can get to rent a phone for $x a month, and after N months you own it? Would it be ok to restrict functionality then?
- gostsamo 6y agoThe bank can repossess a collateral if the contract is broken. That's why it is collateral. However, this is a legal procedure and is not subject to their whims. If they set it as a rent, I'll just go to the guys who give me the same money, but I'll own the device. Renting it means that I have no legal recourse against unreasonable search for example. This is not a house and I don't have any rights written anywhere.
- NeutronStar 6y agoCan the bank lock your car because you missed a payment? No.