Idk, hardware modification of the first Playstation that allowed to play ripped games became mainstream very quickly in my country (France) and you could even go to some shops that sold Playstations to get it done. It only stopped when it was made openly illegal.
“I paid for this shit, I do what I want with it” is a very powerful sentiment (and a legitimate one actually: corporation adding “Digital Right Management” system to deprive people from their property right is dystopian as hell).
Not quite as convenient, but lack of invasive mod was the tradeoff.
I remember this. Chip on chip iirc. The period is stored in my memory because it was also when DVD media first broke the $1/disc barrier. It wasn't very good media at $1 per but exciting times nonetheless.
So logically, it isn't modding/unlocking the console itself that's illegitimate. But it can be used for certain illegitimate actions, yes (along with legitimate ones).
And these use-cases aren't only legitimate, in France they are even legal and in exchange we pay a tax whenever we buy a media storage device (Taxe sur la copie privée).
If you can't afford to maintain an expensive car, you can't afford to purchase an expensive car.
Depends on how you acquire it. I can get a couple BMW's for cheap to free but I've heard too many repair stories around the campfile to blind dive into that particular rabbit hole.
VW Audi Group developed an entire infrastructure called SWaP (Software as a Product) and FEC (Feature Enable Codes) many years ago, and ever since, there has been a cottage industry in bypassing the system to enable features like CarPlay, Navigation, and Performance Monitor which are usually locked by software trim levels.
Do you think there will ever be ECU/TCU tunes maintained as open source projects? Maybe not quite as user-friendly as the Cobb ecosystem and the like, but good enough to make $600+ tunes a thing of the past for DIY types who are into mucking about but want the peace of mind that comes with using maps that enough other people are already using? Not that tuners shouldn't be paid for their work, but I feel like they could focus on the custom tune segment and be ok. My current understanding is that free software exists (I haven't actually played with any myself yet, but I've heard of TunerPro, WinOLS, etc. and I see you maintain VW_Flash, very cool) but then the user needs to know how to create a custom tune from scratch, no free and widely used "off the shelf" / "staged" files floating around for common cars (the main value proposition of APR, EQT, IE, UM, etc.), correct?
I doubt any of this works anymore though
One of the ladies doing the nails says, "He no work here no more, check dry cleaner across the street." We get back in the car and I'm like, "What was that all about?". "My DirecTV card got disabled and that's where I get it reprogrammed".
We go across the street to the Dry Cleaners. There are three ladies in the lobby watching TV, and a guy behind the counter. He asks the man, "Is Ken here?" The man says, "I'll check" as he walks into the back. Now, the man was coming from the back when we came in, so I assume he already knows if Ken is there or not, but Ken probably only comes out if he recognizes my friend.
Sure enough, Ken comes right out all smiles and they have a quick chat. My friend hands over his card and Ken says, "we had to get new equipment, it's now $100, ATM next door".
Ken disappears for about 10 minutes and comes back. My friend gives him cash and away we went. About 4 months later, he had to get it reprogrammed again.
In the satellite realm, DishNetwork was always the easier service to hack. The FTA scene was completely overrun with folks buying 3rd party tuners. Once Dish switched to an encrypted signal, a few vendors (nFusion if I recall) even could rotate keys in a matter of hours to decrypt Dish's new encryption schemes. I doubt any of that works these days simply because there's no reason to push too hard for content that is likely available via easier means.
Nothing.
For this particular instance I don't feel too bad for a number of reasons:
1. Tesla is a luxury product so people on a tight budget will likely find a better value solution elsewhere.
2. The way these locks are implemented greatly restricts user freedom on the whole car so they see somewhat unethical to me.
But in general I believe that making one model and artificially locking it can be ethical. It is just taking advantage of economy of scale (by only making one model) without removing your base price point.
So, I guess these Tesla hacks should be fine so long as they're only enabling things that the vehicle has been designed to do.
On the other hand, I don't think my car has any unlocked features I want. I mean, I didn't pay for FSD / Autopilot but I'm not sure I'd use either.
Employees have opened their own "stores", where they remove activation locks, or unlock iphones remotely for a small fee.