Unpaid Bills? Good Luck Starting Future Laptops

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What do you think of a laptop, one that is subsidized by your internet service provider, that can be remotely bricked if you stop paying your internet bill?

LM Ericsson AB, the Swedish company that makes many of the modems that go into laptops, announced Tuesday that its new modem will deal with this issue by including a feature that's virtually a wireless repo man. If the carrier has the stomach to do so, it can send a signal that completely disables the computer, making it impossible to turn on.
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If they are paying for it, and your not paying the bills, then they have every right to shut it off.

Many dealers sell cars to people with shitty credit that have a kill device installed....don't make your payments and the car wont start....they then track it to where it is and repo it..
pay your bill and you will never have a problem....
 
well for 1 people should pay their bills...namely that damn internet bill.....

but as for me i would not own a laptop that can be shut off like that.....
 
Crosshairs said:
If they are paying for it, and your not paying the bills, then they have every right to shut it off.

Many dealers sell cars to people with shitty credit that have a kill device installed....don't make your payments and the car wont start....they then track it to where it is and repo it..
pay your bill and you will never have a problem....
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Did you read the article? The fuck gives an ISP the right to make your entire computer not work if you don't pay the bill?

The car analogy is stupid. You don't buy computers from ISPs. ISPs don't come and repo your computer if you don't pay a bill. They have the right to shut off the internet if you don't pay, they sure as hell don't have the right to touch your computer.
 
If you have to get a laptop that is subsidized by your ISP, then I am assuming you can't afford anything better and will take it. Just like those that buy a car from those places that charge you 20-30% interest or buy a computer from bluehippo.

When you have no other choices you will go with something like this.
 
Derangel said:
Did you read the article? The fuck gives an ISP the right to make your entire computer not work if you don't pay the bill?

The car analogy is stupid. You don't buy computers from ISPs. ISPs don't come and repo your computer if you don't pay a bill. They have the right to shut off the internet if you don't pay, they sure as hell don't have the right to touch your computer.
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yes, I read the article..did you?

The company can cut off the computer's wireless access, but the carrier would still be out a couple of hundred dollars. The buyer would be left with a computer that's fully usable except for cellular broadband.
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Derangel said:
Did you read the article? The fuck gives an ISP the right to make your entire computer not work if you don't pay the bill?

The car analogy is stupid. You don't buy computers from ISPs. ISPs don't come and repo your computer if you don't pay a bill. They have the right to shut off the internet if you don't pay, they sure as hell don't have the right to touch your computer.
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Did YOU read the article? The laptops are FROM the isp's...
 
Whisperfang said:
Did YOU read the article? The laptops are FROM the isp's...
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Exactly.....

AT&T late last year started subsidizing small laptops known as "netbooks," which normally cost about $400, so that RadioShack Corp. can sell them for $100. The buyer commits to paying $60 per month for two years for AT&T's wireless broadband access. Such offers have become very common in Europe.
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I don't have a problem with this, esp. if it's stuff like netbooks that are pretty much given away with a 2 year 3g commitment.

If they give the laptops away or make you pay $100 for a $300 or more netbook, I'd gladly buy it.
 
EDIT:

If it's used on any laptop, esp. ones you pay in full, then yeah, that would be very bad.

I wonder if the dictatorship in Britain is planning that right now....
 
Derangel said:
Did you read the article? The fuck gives an ISP the right to make your entire computer not work if you don't pay the bill?

The car analogy is stupid. You don't buy computers from ISPs. ISPs don't come and repo your computer if you don't pay a bill. They have the right to shut off the internet if you don't pay, they sure as hell don't have the right to touch your computer.
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According to the article, no you aren't exactly buying the laptop from the ISP but they are paying for part of it for you as long as you agree to a certain plan. In the case they gave Radio Shack sells a netbook for $400 or $100 if you agree to 2 years of internet service from AT&T. That means that AT&T pays the other $300 for your laptop.

However from the tone of the article not a lot of people are considering using the feature even though it is there for them to.

Crosshairs said:
yes, I read the article..did you?
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Actually that is how it is now. If you don't pay your internet bill your internet gets turned off and your laptop is still usable.

What they the article is talking about is a new "feature" installed in wireless (cellular) modems that would allow AT&T or whomever to send a kill laptop function to your laptop that prevents you from ever turning it on if you don't pay your AT&T bill.
 
couldn't they umm pull the cmos battery, or reset a jumper, or reset the bios, or format the hd?

or switch ips and take the laptop lol
 
I don't have a problem with it. The laptop is "free with internet service" like cell phones are "free with a contract" - if you drop your end of the contract, you don't get to keep the free hardware.
 
Derangel said:
Oh yeah this isn't going to cause massive lawsuits.
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I Think you are confusing the Us with the world.

If you tried and sue for this in the EU you would first be met by laughter.
When people then realized you where serious, they roll their eyes...and no laywer would take you seious.

You can't sue like in the US in the rest of the world...we got better things to do :p
 
Atech said:
I Think you are confusing the Us with the world.

If you tried and sue for this in the EU you would first be met by laughter.
When people then realized you where serious, they roll their eyes...and no laywer would take you seious.

You can't sue like in the US in the rest of the world...we got better things to do :p
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Um no. The EU is just as bad as the US when it comes to lawsuits.
 
Dumb idea, but it will be very popular, just like Aarons/rent a center with their 100% intrest.


People will buy anything they don't have to drop a grand on upfront, just because the initial dollar amount is lower
 
Exavior said:
If you have to get a laptop that is subsidized by your ISP, then I am assuming you can't afford anything better and will take it. Just like those that buy a car from those places that charge you 20-30% interest or buy a computer from bluehippo.

When you have no other choices you will go with something like this.
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Um, if you have to have a computer subsidized maybe you don't really need a computer. Sorry, but if you are smart enough to earn enough money to buy your own computer, then having one will do you no good anyways. You need to work on asking if I want fry's with my order.
 
I give it less than a day before someone hacks the laptop. Also, what's to say if I buy the laptop, why would i even have to put it on their network.
 
I wouldn't be suprised if someone figures out how to shut these down remotely - that doesn't represent the ISP. What a fun day at Radio Shack that would be...
 
InorganicMatter said:
I don't have a problem with it. The laptop is "free with internet service" like cell phones are "free with a contract" - if you drop your end of the contract, you don't get to keep the free hardware.
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Uh, yes, you do. However, typically you have to pay a $150-$200 "deactivation fee". :rolleyes:
 
Lebowski said:
Um, if you have to have a computer subsidized maybe you don't really need a computer. Sorry, but if you are smart enough to earn enough money to buy your own computer, then having one will do you no good anyways. You need to work on asking if I want fry's with my order.
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I think the same about bluehippo and all those places like that. If your credit is for screwed up that you can't afford a computer through the "normal" channels then you probably shouldn't be buying a computer. You probably should be using that money to pay off some of your bills and trying to fix your credit.

However I will say that if you are already planning on buying the service and where wanting that machine then there is nothing wrong with getting it subsidized to save some money. However if you are only buying it because it is subsidized and you can't afford anything else then yah you really don't need it.

Also the whole idea of ISPs subsidizing a computer isn't new. I remember back in the day when they use to do that with dialup. $200+ off if you sign a 3 year deal to use some dialup.
 
I think the best thing would be to stay away from such devices. If people stopped buying them, maybe they'd get the message that the idea is pretty fucked. :D
 
From the article:

It's unlikely that carriers would resort to wielding the "kill pill." But the technology, developed with Intel Corp., has other uses. For instance, a company could secure its data by locking down stolen laptops wirelessly. Lenovo Group Ltd. has said it will build this sort of feature into its laptops.
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Well, they can lock the laptops down all they want, but someone who's on a mission to steal data will likely just take the hard drive and leave the dead laptop, anyways. I suppose they would start thinking of self-destruct sequences, instead?

KABOOM!:D
 
Already tore apart an HP Mini personally, they don't have anything built into them so odds are its software side and they just block the 3g modem from being usable on the network...
 
I don't think this is integrated yet. It's still a future tech. Outside of 30 days Radio Shack wouldn't care. If someone came in they'd be laughed out of the store. I don't know if they are available somewhere else, but those laptops sell for 499 I believe without a contract. As I tell people inquiring about them and balking at the 60 dollars a month, if you don't want the service get a cheaper laptop.

As to the debate about free phones not being free. I'd agree...because you still have to pay around 200 for the phone (if you cancel the service). Which is not much more than the phone would have cost you outright.
 
Something came with cellphones, few years ago, now is coming to computers. But really, I don't believe they can totally block computers, maybe reflash is needed or system format and computer will work again. They doing it because when you buy a connection the bonus is notebook for extra low price, but you are under liability for 2-3 years, that you will pay the service whole the time. But it's stupid it giving rights to ISP to control your life.
 
If you sign up for the laptop, knowing it will be bricked if you don't pay, you have no right to complain when its get bricked.
 
Now the Government will have an easier time spying on its citizens. Yeah, I want my modem running all the time without an active firewall.... Who knows what kind of data will be sent back and forth. I will never agree to such a rights violating device. Get that sh*t out of here. I won't buy another laptop until there is a bios hack. This is disgusting, and I can't believe all of these companies are vouching for it.
 
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