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posted by janrinok on Monday January 08 2018, @08:04PM   Printer-friendly
from the suspected-is-now-guilty dept.

Internet slowdowns at home aren't just annoying anymore. They can be hazardous to your health or dangerous if you're in an area that freezes.

Internet service provider Armstrong Zoom has roughly a million subscribers in the Northeastern part of the U.S. and is keen to punish those it believes are using file-sharing services.

The ISP's response to allegedly naughty customers is bandwidth throttling -- which is when an ISP intentionally slows down your internet service based on what you're doing online. In this case, when said ISP believes you're doing something illegal.

As part of its throttling routine, Armstrong Zoom's warning letter openly threatens its suspected file-sharing customers about its ability to use or control their webcams and connected thermostats.

The East Coast company stated: "Please be advised that this may affect other services which you may have connected to your internet service, such as the ability to control your thermostat remotely or video monitoring services."

Source: https://www.engadget.com/2018/01/05/pirates-risk-being-left-in-the-cold/


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  • (Score: 4, Informative) by SomeGuy on Monday January 08 2018, @09:15PM (9 children)

    by SomeGuy (5632) on Monday January 08 2018, @09:15PM (#619707)

    Another Reason Not to Buy IOT Crap.

    Or more importantly, to insist on non-IOT.

    Last year I got a new AC unit, and the installers tried to shove one of those IOT thermostats down my throat, even though I had specified a simple thermostat up front. It was hell getting the them to install the correct thermostat and getting the unit properly configured to use it. It turns out these "modern" air conditioners actually REQUIRE a retarded "smart thermostat" to operate 100% properly, the ability to use a normal on/off thermostat is implemented as a half-assed afterthought. (Also, Protip: always get a price breakdown that specifies the cost of the thermostat). Oh, and "Reliable Heating and Air" of Atlanta Georgia are complete incompetent boobs.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 08 2018, @09:49PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 08 2018, @09:49PM (#619733)

    It turns out these "modern" air conditioners actually REQUIRE a retarded "smart thermostat" to operate 100% properly

    As in, without a "smart" thermostat you will not be able to get hourly readings while sitting in a plane over the North Pole, or it won't turn the furnace on unless it downloaded updated firmware over the network after the NSA approval for heat was granted?

    • (Score: 2) by SomeGuy on Tuesday January 09 2018, @08:58PM

      by SomeGuy (5632) on Tuesday January 09 2018, @08:58PM (#620209)

      No, as in the blower would run too fast with a normal thermostat (instead of variable speed controlled), causing condensation on the evaporator coils to splash up in to the ductwork, where loads of mold then grew and made me very physically ill.

  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Apparition on Monday January 08 2018, @10:00PM (3 children)

    by Apparition (6835) on Monday January 08 2018, @10:00PM (#619740) Journal

    Or more importantly, to insist on non-IOT.

    It's too late. More and more appliances and devices are becoming "smart" with no "dumb" equivalents for sale. Try to find a new "dumb" television for sale in 2018. I tried about a year ago, and couldn't do it. It's only a matter of time before refrigerators, dishwashers, thermostats, etc. follow suit.

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @12:08AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @12:08AM (#619777)

      They are actually still 'smart tvs' under the hood, but AFAIK have no wifi or other provisions for network access. They DO however apparently run linux under the hood based on research into them.

      They are both budget brands, may have dead/stuck pixels, but with 2160p at 250-500 dollars for 42->60+ inch screens, they seem like a decent deal, especially if you're trying to get something newer/higher res and don't want it phoning home, or worse yet spying on you with a webcam or microphone built in.

    • (Score: 3, Interesting) by crafoo on Tuesday January 09 2018, @02:01AM (1 child)

      by crafoo (6639) on Tuesday January 09 2018, @02:01AM (#619824)

      I got a Samsung TV about 3 years ago. It was the last dumb model on the shelf. I actually bought it from a Best Buy! The salesman there was shocked that I didn't want the smart TV version. Why would I want to pay more for a laggy java shit interface and spyware? puzzling.

      It hasn't gotten really bad yet though. It will be bad when some sort of network validation is required to enable core features of the device. It's coming, no doubt about it. They will get there through all the standard underhanded bullshit. Unadvertised restrictions hidden in the details. Shipping broken firmware and then "highly recommending" a patch to make the device usable. All the bullshit they are pulling in video games now.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @05:22PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 09 2018, @05:22PM (#620095)

        Does it have a true off switch? That is, not just a standby, but a real off which actually physically cuts the power?

  • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday January 08 2018, @11:05PM

    by Grishnakh (2831) on Monday January 08 2018, @11:05PM (#619763)

    Huh? I just had a new heat pump installed and they put in the cheapest, most feature-less Honeywell thermostat you could possibly find. There's 2 buttons on it: up and down.

  • (Score: 2) by legont on Tuesday January 09 2018, @12:58AM (1 child)

    by legont (4179) on Tuesday January 09 2018, @12:58AM (#619789)

    Most of appliances have computers inside and computers don't have on/off switches for a long time already. Besides, it's unethical to kill our new AI masters.

    --
    "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
    • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Tuesday January 09 2018, @06:33AM

      by maxwell demon (1608) on Tuesday January 09 2018, @06:33AM (#619886) Journal

      There are still power supply units that have a power switch. Granted, it's in an inconvenient position (since it's part of the PSU), other than the prominent standby button on the front.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.