It shines light on a troubling broader issue: As information and communication technologies (in which many of us are involved) spread, they put power in the han

It shines light on a troubling broader issue: As information and communication technologies (in which many of us are involved) spread, they put power in the hands of those who control them, from Google to Verizon to your electric company (via your smart meter) to car loan agencies. It gives them power over other people, including whether they can drive their own car. Not everyone wants to give others this power, but do we and will we have a choice? Perhaps legislators will pass laws protecting the interests of people like those reading HN, or vendors will appease us because of our economic and political power. It is the poor, powerless, and disenfranchised who will be abused, with little recourse (other than not owning a car, a phone, etc.). If something like what the article described happened to HN readers, there would be an uproar. But these things will and probably already do happen off our radar to marginalized groups. Perhaps that's why the Internet protocols put control in the hands of the end users.