You paid for it,but do you really own it?

Not if John Deere gets it’s way-

http://www.wired.com/2015/04/dmca-ownership-john-deere

They always cite complex computer code when making these delusional claims.My question is,how much of said code is needed or even used by the consumer in the first place? I’m betting not very much given the vast numbers of features that nearly every piece of consumer electronics has most of which go unused.

A recent example I stumbled across was the refrigerator owned by my employer.$1800 less than two year old unit that suddenly started spitting ice cubes on the floor one night and wouldn’t stop.The service tech came out and determined the culprit was a $350 control module.Said module looks and acts like a PC motherboard.As it turns out this controller handles over 1 million lines of code just to run and f–ing refrigerator.As it turns out not only does it control the temperature in each compartment so the ice cream is softer than the frozen food,but it also contains over 300 hundred possible settings for “religious holidays”WTF??

 

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9 Responses to You paid for it,but do you really own it?

  1. KG says:

    I’ve been bitching about this totalitarian Trojan horse for a long, long time. And make no mistake, the DMCA is just that.
    We don’t “own” our computer’s operating system, even though we paid for it. We don’t “own” antivirus software we pay for, or music or movies .
    We’re free to pay, but the concept of ownership – like the concept of privacy – is dead.
    Our newer cars spy on us, our communications effectively belong to government snoops,our children are the property of the State.
    As I quoted Francis Porretto in a previous post, voting every two or four years ain’t gonna fix this.
    The gangs in power are effectively the same gang, utterly opposed to individual liberty.
    You want liberty? You’ll get it only at the point of a gun.

    • Wombat says:

      Secession, thought utterly radical by most, will seem in hindsight quite reasonable after the bloodshed starts.

      • Darin says:

        An article V will be the trigger,when 38 states vote to directly amend the Constitution,DC won’t go along and then it will be on.How’s the song go?

        Let the bodies hit the floor,
        Let the bodies hit the floor,

  2. G P says:

    Scary shit KG. I hate it that now files go into the cloud. I don’t know if having an older computer helps at all.

    Newer cars are so expensive to fix. I recently replaced a 1992 car with a 2005 car and the clock spring was kaput in the newer car. The clock spring part was $445 plus the labour to fit the part. I have a fantastic mechanic who doesn’t gouge and I think he was embarrassed to disclose the price of the part.

    Also because cars are so controlled by computers the government could stop you in your tracks at the press of a button, something I thought that only a nuke could do previously.

    The KISS principle is dying and I’ve read that when complex societies fail they do so spectacularly, one only need to refer to the destruction that ensued from the fall of Rome and the terrible dark ages that followed. Europe almost lost the written word and it was the solitary monks in Ireland who faithfully kept transcribing holy texts that stopped total annihilation of the written word in the West.

    How many people have got rid of their landlines in this so-called advanced age? If a natural disaster or war breaks out then the satellite towers will be the first things to be knocked out.

    Call me crazy but I’m keeping my land line – it could literally be a lifesaver.

    • G P says:

      Also make sure your land line phone is not reliant on mains power supply or you’ll effectively still have a useless phone.

      Also there is a lot of debate about GMOs. Well if Monsanto owns the seeds and they are terminator seeds then you can’t grow a crop if Monsanto can’t supply you. People need to stock up on heirloom seeds that are free from political interference.

      In essence, you control the food supply, you control the population. What is isis were to take over Europe and the U S? Hello starvation for those that won’t convert on the point of a sword or rifle.

      • Wombat says:

        “Also because cars are so controlled by computers the government could stop you in your tracks at the press of a button…”

        http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/24/us-gm-recall-lawsuit-idUSBREA2N19O20140324

        If only is was as simple as just pulling you up at the side of the road?

        “According to the lawsuit, the Chevy Cobalt’s ignition switch suddenly turned from the “run” to “accessory” position, causing the steering, breaking and airbag systems to lose power. The car’s driver, 19-year-old Megan Phillips, lost control of the car, which careened off the road and struck a telephone junction box and two trees, the lawsuit said.”

        So they track you along a 100k-kph straight and wait for a tight turn, preferably next to a precipice, and then kill your car wirelessly.

        “Oh dear, it looks like that poor schmuck fell asleep at the wheel…http://falfn.com/CrusaderRabbit/wp-content/plugins/wp-monalisa/icons/wpml_wacko.gif

        http://beforeitsnews.com/crime-all-stars/2013/01/prominent-rifle-manufacturer-killed-in-mysterious-car-crash-days-after-posting-psych-drug-link-to-school-shooters-2445672.html

        Reckon a top gun manufacturer was driving a pre 2010 s#!tbox?

        • Darin says:

          The Chevy Cruise the one where GM had trouble keeping the steering wheel on.For decades prior a steering wheel hub had either a tapered keyed shaft or a double “D” shaped shaft with a nut holding it on,a real bastard to remove even with tools.Chevy got the bright idea that a fine toothed spline and a shit clip was sufficient even though the hub was made from pot metal.So there have been quite a few instances where the steering wheel comes off in traffic :shock:

          https://youtu.be/f2_b4V6C4aM

          Never heard of a proper recall did we?Helps to have friends in the government. :evil:

          • Wombat says:

            I must watch Fight Club again.

            “A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don’t do one.

  3. KG says:

    The lessons are very, very simple.
    Upload nothing to the cloud.
    Buy a very well-made and maintained older car and keep it. Spares won’t be a problem and in the long run, owning such a car is actually cheaper.
    Switch to Linux O/S and don’t use third-party antivirus. (with Linux you’re unlikely to need it anyway)
    As G P says, lay in a stock of heritage seeds.
    Guard your privacy in every way possible and make numerical “mistakes” when filling out forms.
    By all means licence firearms if essential. But keep a couple off the books and store them somewhere safe and secret.
    No, you don’t need that gadget that connects via the ‘net to the manufacturer.
    There are plenty of other ways to avoid co-operating with Big Brother and his crony capitalist mates.