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People Are Jailbreaking Used Teslas to Get the Features They Expect:
People have certain expectations when they buy a car. For example, they expect it to work for years afterwards needing only basic maintenance. They also expect that the purchase price includes ownership of not only the physical car itself but all the software that runs it.
Tesla doesn't agree.
Last week, Jalopnik ran an article about a person who bought a used Tesla from a dealer—who in turn bought it at auction directly from Tesla under California's lemon law buyback program—advertised as having Autopilot, the company's Advanced Driver Assistance System. The entire Autopilot package, which the car had when the dealer bought it, costs an extra $8,000. Then, Tesla remotely removed the software because "Full-Self Driving was not a feature that you had paid for." Tesla said if the customer wanted Autopilot back, he'd have to fork over the $8,000.
Tesla clawing back software upgrades from used cars is not a new practice for the company. "Tesla as a policy has been doing this for years on salvage cars," said Phil Sadow, an independent Tesla repair professional. One former employee, who used to work in an official Tesla service center and asked to remain anonymous because he still works with Tesla in another capacity, said he was told to put the software features back if people complained to avoid bad publicity. He left about a year ago.
But that doesn't mean Tesla owners are helpless. Sadow and others have ways to push back against Tesla by jailbreaking the cars and getting the features owners feel are rightfully theirs.
"As far as I am concerned removing a paid-for feature, regardless of the state of the car, is theft," Sadow said. "It's as if a bunch of guys show up in a van and take your upgraded 20" wheels. Just because it's software, it's no different."
(Score: 4, Insightful) by edIII on Thursday February 13 2020, @06:29PM (17 children)
Then fuck it. Jail is never ever going to be deterrent to me owning my fucking hardware. I will proudly march into that court room with civil disobedience and tell them to suck my big fat cock.
I really hate it when people go authoritarian and talk about prison and death as the reasons we won't stand up for ourselves and our FUCKING RIGHTS. Well fuck that, suck my cock, burn in fucking hell. I'm an American, and when England was pulling that shit on us what did we do?
Exactly. I'll jailbreak every fucking device I have to, to own my own fucking hardware. It's American Freedom to do so, and eventually we will take the heads off the fucking c-suite cocksuckers that think they can just take from us with impunity.
At the moment though, nobody is forcing me to give dollars to Tesla, or that piece of shit, Musk. So I very much still have a choice in purchasing transportation, that actually has no computer chips or firmware in it. If I had 70k to blow on a car, and more in the aftermarket costs, I would convert an old truck to electric or biofuel. That vehicle, would have nothing on it that needed to be jailbroken.
As far as the road safety is concerned, you don't get to put that on me. That is, and always will be, on Tesla. They offered a vehicle with auto pilot, it's on them to be certified, and that software is 100% transferrable with the car. If Tesla fucks with it, that's their liability not mine. The car was supposed to have working auto pilot, and jailbreaking something is in actuality fixing it.
If we have to go to war to own our own devices, so be it. Freedom is the only choice ever, and death fighting for it is the second choice when the first one is being taken away.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday February 13 2020, @06:41PM (15 children)
Thanks for the good laugh on a very early thank-God-is-Friday day.
I hope you do know your analog electronics very well, controlling electrical currents in the 10A range isn't gonna go well with pure mechanical thingies and you just refused digital processing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Thursday February 13 2020, @10:32PM (3 children)
12Volt, 10 to 15 Amp circuits can be dangerous.
Luckily, the land rover I rewired was already in house paint, so easy to touch-up when a temporary earth wire melted..
Also, mechanical injection systems can be awful [youtube.com]
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday February 13 2020, @10:57PM (2 children)
Now imagine when you get in the 250-270 kW [wikipedia.org] range.
12V is of no use, otherwise the entire car will be made entirely from copper... ummm... busbars.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Friday February 14 2020, @12:10AM
No need to crash the vehicle!
Zap the occupants!
Fry the pitiful humans!
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 2) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Friday February 14 2020, @06:21AM
So we're going to see the ladder chassis' comeback?
It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Thursday February 13 2020, @11:16PM (2 children)
You can laugh, but it's extremely offensive to Americans that give a shit about freedom, when you say we should live in fear of consequences from bad laws and bad actors. It's not the American way, although I honestly question if any real Americans even exist anymore, or if America (especially its heart) even exists. We (true Americans) fight that fascist shit hard, and for somebody that lives in the UK (correct if I'm wrong), you should remember that. We fought it together. Anytime you want to tell Americans in the future to fear death and prison because we dare to rise up against oppression and injustice, don't be surprised when we bite back. With all due respect, don't act like a daft authoritarian loving prick.
In regards to the digital processing, I'm not against computers or digital processing. I'm against it being controlled in any way, beyond the owner, which is me. Whatever your talking about can be obtained, or designed and implemented, without such controls.
As far as Americans and cars are concerned, aftermarket complete ownership is important to us. Important enough that we had legal battles regarding it to enshrine into law the restrictions on manufacturers exhibiting control after the point of sale. It's our RIGHT to modify our property after the point of sale in way that we want. Unfortunately, that battle is being fought again with tractors and farming equipment.
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday February 14 2020, @12:34AM
Correction: Melbourne, Australia.
Born in one of the East European countries under a former communist regime. What this does teach one: pick you fights, you may finish dead over a nothing; if you end disappeared, at least there should be a worthy reason for it.
Hint: Tesla disabling autopilot in its second hand cars doesn't worth a fuss - vote with you wallet and be done with it - there's nothing about "human rights" or "my liberty" in there, just buy another car.
No disrespect meant or intended in the below, and I admit I may be wrong, but this is how I see you from outside.
You - the American people - never dared on your own. If the french weren't to finance it [wikipedia.org], I think it's very likely your Independence War wouldn't have started then (or ever - nothing wrong with that, Australia didn't have a war over its independence and is well and fine independent today, thank you). "Tyranny, oppression, injustice"? Heh, that's what the french told you, that you war was "the incarnation of the Enlightenment Spirit against the English tyranny" (it would have to be kinda ironic to raise against royalty with money provided by a king)
And it's also likely you couldn't maintain your independence, were it not for the french, dutch and spanish to support you afterwards (just to spite the brits, of course). The French even gave you a statue as a reminder to be proud of your achievements.
After that, whenever you went to die over something, it was because you - the people - have been tricked into it, not because you actually wanted it. Even the WWII.
Post 9/11, you de-facto lost heaps of your liberties - I don't see, within the population, any effort to regain them in any way, by any means (ranging from voting persons that support that, political movements, civil street protests, rioting or revolution). It looks you are more afraid of losing jobs than you are afraid of losing your rights and more preoccupied to fight with you fellow than with those who stole your freedoms (thanks God your infighting is using speech only).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Friday February 14 2020, @01:18AM
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Friday February 14 2020, @01:14AM (7 children)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday February 14 2020, @01:29AM (6 children)
Are we still in the context of EV? 'Cause it seems we're talking together and understanding each other separately.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Friday February 14 2020, @01:51AM (5 children)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday February 14 2020, @02:08AM (4 children)
10 amp is not EV
Not, it's not. However it's the limit in which you will start needing to pay attention to the rating of the electronic components you are using and the point in which you need to start thinking twice about controlling the current with a simple mechanical trimpot/rheostat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Friday February 14 2020, @02:26AM (3 children)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday February 14 2020, @02:48AM (2 children)
Wasted energy because they had it from a thermal engine that generated other on the spot.
A thing that no longer exists when everything you have as an energy source is a battery.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Friday February 14 2020, @03:19AM (1 child)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday February 14 2020, @03:22AM
Sure, whatever you say.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 14 2020, @06:34PM
There's already a movement to create open source control software for all the popular fucking products, though most fucking machines themselves are just motors with a speed dial so DRM or addition software isn't worthwhile. The highest-end machines do use control software, but also don't have DRM though their software is really crappy. Some type of VB.Net monster with a bad UI and communicating with the machine through a serial connection. Most of the time the software fails. Sadly those machines are too expensive for the open source community to work on (around $2,500-$4,000 USD). Most people just build their own non-programmable, fucking machine instead.
There was a patent troll crushing all computer controlled adult devices, but that expired a few years ago. The open source community is now slowly growing. If you're jail breaking every fucking you device you have, please join them.