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Samsung Is Cutting the Note 7's Access To Mobile Networks In New Zealand (techcrunch.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: No one can claim there hasn't been ample warning. The Samsung Galaxy Note 7 saga dragged out over multiple months, encompassing two recalls, several travel bans and then, ultimately, the untimely end for the troubled handset. Even still, some people just have trouble letting go. Starting November 18, Note 7 owners will not be able to connect to mobile networks in New Zealand, courtesy of a joint effort by Samsung and the The New Zealand Telecommunications Forum (TCF) to "blacklist" the device. No calls, no texts, no mobile data. Users will still be able to access WiFi, but the device will essentially be turned into a big Samsung iPod Touch. Samsung New Zealand added that it will work to contact all remaining Note 7 owners twice prior to the shut down, "to ensure they have received adequate notice." It remains to be seen whether the company will take similar action in other markets. "Numerous attempts by all providers have been made to contact owners and ask them to bring the phones in for replacement or refund, this action should further aid the return of the remaining handsets," TCF's CEO said in a statement issued today.
Its sort of concerning that Samsung can just reach out and kill your phone, in effect at their whim.
What a clusterfuck of a situation...n1 Samsung
How would that affect emergency services access? Does NZ have rules such as Canada requiring all cell phones to be able to call 911?
caption: tyrants
While I applaud their efforts at refunds and replacing the Note 7s - ordering the telecomm service to block access to the devices is unethical at the very least if not outright criminal.
I PAID for the device - it's MINE and not a threat to the telecommunications infrastructure so neither Samsung nor TCF have the right to deny access to these phones. Sure it might explode in my hand but that's beside the point!
What next? Are we going to have authorities and yank IoT devices out of your house without a warrant if they ARE a threat to the internet? It's for your own good citizen.
I recently flew back from SE Asia and the airline basically ordered people who might be carrying a Note 7 to declare it before they boarded the plane.
I'm not sure if the people who had one were prohibited from flying with it or if it was put in some kind of secure container for the trip, but they called the Note 7 out by name specifically. I believe there were some stiff penalties for not declaring it before boarding (aside from the plane possibly catching fire and crashing, that is).
Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
I hear that Samsung is going to kill the earphone jack. Now they are really hitting below the belt.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
The company with the most explosive product of the year. The will no doubt sear the competition.
Maybe some want to keep them as collectors items.
Some things become rare and valuable after misprints and recalls like the that Beatles album with the baby heads photo on it.
Imagine having one of the very few Note 7 devices in the world that never caught on fire.
So they cut your water if you're using a recalled water boiler? You want to dismiss his point, but you miss a very basic point here!
New Zealand telecoms regulator does not own your device, Samsung does not own your device. There is no mandatory recall law here. It is not a crime to decide you're Note 7 is fine (which 99.995% is better than most products). They cooked up this little bit of nanny statism, taking away your right in the process.
Look around you at all the connected devices you have, how many could be turned off because of private company+ government decisions?
The PC you have, has it ever pirated anything? Microsoft+gov = mandatory upgrade uninstalls software. You see how this is not acceptable.
something must still be cooling down?
"They do, however, own the networks your phone is trying to connect to"
No, they are the regulator, not the owner of the network. You have a contract with the network service providers, and that contract said no such thing about enforced recalls cutting your connection. You did not agree to that, and the regulator has no such authority granted to them.
Empire Building 101.
Leveraging one power into an expanded power is called empire building and its not new. It's something civil servants do all the time. Network operator has no right to breach their contract on this condition, the right to violate a contract is not part of the empire the regulator is building. Likewise the power to cut service based on a commercial recall is not there.
It's similar to the Ennetcom case in Holland. Dutch police arrest the owner for providing encrypted phones which might be used by criminals (i.e. attacking encryption). They admit encrypted phones are not legal, rather asserting a right to close the company as a tool of crime while actually filing unrelated charges (a money laundering claim and gun possession license violation against the owner, as excuse to seize the company servers and shut the encryption down).
Given the situation of Russian hacking of US elections, strong encrypted communications is clearly now essential for basic freedom. That empire the police are building is a threat to Dutch free democracy.
If a phone that is not stolen cannot connect to the network on grounds of having been stolen, subscribers will blame the carrier. And if the carrier insists that the same device that you've always been using on that account has been stolen, despite your possession of the device in the carrier's local store and showing photo ID whose name matches that of the subscriber, ultimately the "stolen" message could be considered slander of title.