Recently Motorola followed by Samsung started disabling/locking devices flagged as “illegal” through Mexico marking a precedent over the remote control manufacturers have over the devices they sell! Only after Mexican government made an official request to manufacturers they removed the lock.
Sources: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1537307-android-phones-disabled-remotly-in-mexico/ https://www.sammyfans.com/2023/10/23/samsung-stops-blocking-illegally-imported-galaxy-phones-in-mexico/
Bricking someone’s hardware, that they’ve paid for, is a crime already. It should be treated like a crime even if the person doing the bricking is the phone manufacturer. It’s not their phone once they’ve sold it
Ownership no longer has the same definition in the eyes of corporations and governments!
As concerning as that is, more so is the fact that the same infrastructure could be used for malicious intentions. That is ransomware level of control they reserve simply because they manufacture these devices.
If we wanted to own the devices we bought, we would have needed to start 20 years ago.
Now it’s too late, the only reasonable thing you can do is clawing back control over your device by installing a custom ROM.
Agreed. But it’s good for authorities, and as the mexicanist authorities demonstrated, to treat this as a crime. To prevent companies from doing this.