Don't Pirate Or We'll Mess With Your Connected Thermostats, Warns East Coast ISP (engadget.com)

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. According to Engadget, "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. Armstrong Zoom's warning letter openly threatens its suspected file-sharing customers about its ability to use or control their webcams and connected thermostats." From the report: 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." All U.S. states served by Armstrong Zoom will be experiencing temperatures around or under freezing over the weekend and into the near future. Bandwidth throttling for customers in those areas who have connected thermostats could mean the difference between sickness and health, or even life and death. Seems like an extreme punishment for any allegedly downloaded Game of Thrones cam rips.

Comments

Hyperbole much?

[Obfuscant]

Bandwidth throttling for customers in those areas who have connected thermostats could mean the difference between sickness and health, or even life and death.

If you are needing to adjust your thermostat using the network, that means you aren't at home to do it manually. You are not where the thermostat controls the temperature. I.e., if you freeze to death because you didn't walk across the room to turn the thermostat up, it ain't the ISPs fault.

Yeah, maybe death of your pet fish if you aren't home to turn it up and the tank gets too cold, but "difference between ... life and death" is not something you usually hear with reference to fish.

Or are people facing death from the cold really so lazy that they'd rather freeze than walk across the room?

Re:Hyperbole much?

[Xenx]

They aren't touching the thermostat. They're throttling the internet speed in response to copyright infringement notices. Their terms of use and related documentation likely covers what can happen in regards to copyright infringement. If you don't like that practice, that is a different argument.. one that I would likely side with you on. However, it's up to the customer to understand the policies and what it entails. The ISP isn't targeting smart thermostats or the like, it's only warning the customer of possible issues if their connection is throttled.

Re:Hyperbole much?

[aardvarkjoe]

They're not "messing with your thermostat." They're messing with your internet connection, which you've connected your thermostat to.

If lack of internet connectivity is going to cause your house to flood, or your granny to die, then you probably need to re-evaluate how you're using these devices.

Re:Hyperbole much?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's the perfect crime

Hooray! (dupe)

[ls671]

Hooray! I remember reading the exact same story on /. a few days ago.

Let me google it, "connected thermostat site:slashdot.org". Here we go:

https://yro.slashdot.org/story...

Maybe editor should do the same and Google it before posting dupes ;-)

Re:dont mess with my thermostat

[Anonymous Coward]

Just report them to the authorities.
This threat is no different from "It is a nice house you have here, would be unfortunate if something were to happen to it."

It is illegal as fuck for them to make a statement like this.

They aren't law enforcement. If they have a problem with someones possibly illegal online activities they should report it and let a court determine if the action was a copyright violation or not.
Taking the law in your own hands isn't generally accepted.