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The illegality is also inconvenient, but how likely are the cops or whoever are going to inconvenience them about that? For the bandits the disabled TVs is no
by bellyfullofbac 5y ago
The illegality is also inconvenient, but how likely are the cops or whoever are going to inconvenience them about that?
For the bandits the disabled TVs is no big deal because they'll probably manage to sell them to "bargain hunters" anyway.
- gruez 5y agoThe point is to make it harder for the bandits to offload their goods, by ruining their resale value. If someone's selling cheap TVs off the back of a truck, and you know that you'll get to keep it (as in netherlands, see sibling comments), then there's no real incentive for you not to buy it. Who wouldn't want a 75" OLED TV for $1000, no strings attached? On the other hand, if the law was that stolen property was liable to be bricked/seized, then you'd be much more hesitant in buying the TV. Sure, $1000 is still cheaper than paying retail, but if the cops find out you could be out the $1000 and the TV. In response you might not want to buy the TV at all, or are willing to pay less for it ($500 perhaps). The reduced demand/price hurts the bandits.
- bellyfullofbac 5y agoYeah yeah yeah, but this is S. Africa, a place where laws aren't automatically obeyed, unlike e.g. Singapore. If there is your law, my guess is getting caught "buying stolen goods" is probably not something many people there worry about. Sure there will be straight and narrow citizens, but my guess is, without the disable-tech, the bandits wouldn't really have a problem getting rid of their stolen goods. Even with this tech, my hunch is those TVs will still sell, but at least now the crippling will be a lesson for their bargain-hunting buyers.