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Is this the first time this has happened? Let's ignore the privacy and consumer rights implications of what you're proposing for a second. Is the cost of addin

Is this the first time this has happened? Let's ignore the privacy and consumer rights implications of what you're proposing for a second. Is the cost of adding remote tracking and disabling capability to every EVGA video card worth it? How does that impact their ORM customers knowing that they're now on the hook for any security failure EVGA has? They could introduce a vulnerability far worse than anything they prevent. Any hacker that compromises EVGA's remote kill switch keys could now hijack their entire user base. So EVGA loses a truckload of hardware in a theft in an event so rare that the fact that it happens makes the front page of hackernews. Unless this starts to be a pattern, it makes far more sense for them to file an insurance claim and write off the loss than to try a risky technical solution - which might not even work, given that hackers are really good at bypassing DRM solutions anyway.

theshadowknows 5y ago
I was clear in my comment that I wasn’t advocating for that to be a feature. How is it that you learned to type before you learned to read?
- landryraccoon 5y ago
  There's no need to be rude. My comment still stands. You asked why the feature doesn't exist, and I gave a very reasonable possible answer.
Sebb767 5y ago
Auto-updating software and drivers have been around for ages by now, quite often with pretty lousy security. A lot of companies even require you to register your hardware to use all features - NVidia, for example, but AFAIK Razer does, too. Oculus comes to mind as well. Wacom even tracks you from within their driver [0] and I won't even go into the insanity that AV software does. They might theoretically be on the hook for damages they introduce, but in reality, there's already a ton of services running on every device that can compromise you if the infrastructure behind it is hacked. EVGA wouldn't even be a worthwhile target. And, as mentioned above, NVidia already has the necessary infrastructure in place. So the effective cost for doing this would be close to zero. > which might not even work, given that hackers are really good at bypassing DRM solutions anyway. Hackers are, yes. But the price you fetch for a card will go down massively if you need high technical skills to run it. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22247292 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22247292
- landryraccoon 5y ago
  It’s not just a technical cost, it’s a user cost. Would you purchase an Evga card if you knew they could disable it remotely? How about if you’re an OEM and you’re bundling video cards, would you risk the hit to your brand? From the pov of the end user this is an anti feature. It makes the product worse.
  - Sebb767 5y ago
    I don't disagree that this is an anti-feature. My point is, companies get away with far worse and people probably wouldn't stop buying EVGA because of it. In fact, they obviously don't, as the NVidia driver already has that capability. Windows does, too. So the answer to > How about if you’re an OEM and you’re bundling video cards, would you risk the hit to your brand? is clearly yes, as has been shown in the last years. Hell, we have cars that can be disabled remotely. Nearly nobody cares about about them creating a capability you could reasonably assume they already had. You and I might, but most consumers care about FPS - and getting a card at all - much more.

theshadowknows 5y ago

I was clear in my comment that I wasn’t advocating for that to be a feature. How is it that you learned to type before you learned to read?

landryraccoon 5y ago
There's no need to be rude. My comment still stands. You asked why the feature doesn't exist, and I gave a very reasonable possible answer.

Sebb767 5y ago

Auto-updating software and drivers have been around for ages by now, quite often with pretty lousy security. A lot of companies even require you to register your hardware to use all features - NVidia, for example, but AFAIK Razer does, too. Oculus comes to mind as well. Wacom even tracks you from within their driver [0] and I won't even go into the insanity that AV software does. They might theoretically be on the hook for damages they introduce, but in reality, there's already a ton of services running on every device that can compromise you if the infrastructure behind it is hacked. EVGA wouldn't even be a worthwhile target. And, as mentioned above, NVidia already has the necessary infrastructure in place. So the effective cost for doing this would be close to zero. > which might not even work, given that hackers are really good at bypassing DRM solutions anyway. Hackers are, yes. But the price you fetch for a card will go down massively if you need high technical skills to run it. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22247292 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22247292

landryraccoon 5y ago
It’s not just a technical cost, it’s a user cost. Would you purchase an Evga card if you knew they could disable it remotely? How about if you’re an OEM and you’re bundling video cards, would you risk the hit to your brand? From the pov of the end user this is an anti feature. It makes the product worse.
- Sebb767 5y ago
  I don't disagree that this is an anti-feature. My point is, companies get away with far worse and people probably wouldn't stop buying EVGA because of it. In fact, they obviously don't, as the NVidia driver already has that capability. Windows does, too. So the answer to > How about if you’re an OEM and you’re bundling video cards, would you risk the hit to your brand? is clearly yes, as has been shown in the last years. Hell, we have cars that can be disabled remotely. Nearly nobody cares about about them creating a capability you could reasonably assume they already had. You and I might, but most consumers care about FPS - and getting a card at all - much more.