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Hackers manage to unlock Tesla software-locked features

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Re: Hackers manage to unlock Tesla software-locked features

#511
post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Against face recognition you could use CV dazzle makeup [1] to look less like a face. However I wouldn't recommend using that approach for your vehicle 1 https://dangerousminds.net/comments/foil_facebooks_facial_re...

I think that's actually quite common on new car models. The dazzle paint job makes it harder for the press to see the shape. E.g.: https://www.bmw.com/en/automotive-life/prototype-cars.html

I vaguely recall reading (probably in the book All Corvettes Are Red) that the C5 Corvette was driven around with Camaro body panels to fool the media.

Re: Hackers manage to unlock Tesla software-locked features

#512

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why I also rotate license plates and repaint my car twice a year.

That's why my license plate is shaped like 3 different light bulbs, and is hidden in a grid of light bulb shaped objects.

Oh hey, I just did your license plate as a CAPTCHA!

Re: Hackers manage to unlock Tesla software-locked features

#513
I would have thought that EFF and FSF would be more active in trying to promote open source in automobiles for privacy, security and being able to repair and modify the vehicle. I would think that it would be rather mind blowing how much information is gathered by the new vehicles about oneself. I have enough money to buy any model of Tesla, but will not due to privacy, security and safety reasons. (I consider drive by wire braking and acceleration a safety issue. With a stick shift I can insert the clutch and know that the drive system can be disabled. I also consider that the software can be modified over the air forcibly by Tesla a safety issue because it could be used for nefarious purposes.)

Re: Hackers manage to unlock Tesla software-locked features

#514
post #404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's true at all, or what the person you're replying to is getting at. If you sell me a bunch of hardware, that hardware is now mine, and I should be able to do whatever I want with it. If you sell that hardware with a bunch of software on it, I should again be able to do anything I want with that software. That doesn't entitle me to updates of that software, or ongoing use of the company's cloud infr…

I agree in principle. Are you also absolving them of any warranty on the car once you begin modifying it?

Only if your modifications directly cause the damage that would have been covered under warranty. That’s actually been covered multiple times in US law and is fully your rights as a consumer, to maintain the warranty.

Re: Hackers manage to unlock Tesla software-locked features

#515

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the difference between the second and the third?

Second is "I pay $50 once to unlock heated seats in my car forever. This car now has heated seats and anyone that I sell it to also gets heated seats" Third is "I pay $5/month for heated seats for the entire time I own the car. Anyone that I sell the car to would also have to pay $5/month for heated seats." Edit: The other version of the third option (your BMW account is not tied to this vin) is something like "I pay…

Third seems slightly better, cause at least the secondary buyer clearly knows it's $5/mo instead of having to make sure the one-time payment sticks.

Re: Hackers manage to unlock Tesla software-locked features

#516

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This market already exists for things like enabling Navigation on VW/Audi cars. People were offering to enable the hidden Android Auto support on my Porsche Macan for $600, which I almost went for until I found the scripts and instructions to do it myself.

This is how I got CarPlay on the used BMW I bought. Gave some guy in Thailand my VIN and $60, he sent me firmware to install, and now I drive around with working CarPlay and the vague notion that I've maybe been p0wned in ways I don't fully understand.

Wait, CarPlay is a "premium" feature on a BMW?

Re: Hackers manage to unlock Tesla software-locked features

#517
post #494
post #311

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about games with monthly membership fees like world of warcraft?

That's fine, since there's an on-going cost to maintain the cloud infrastructure that the game needs to function. The company is well within its rights to say "if you stop paying us, you stop getting to use our cloud services". But if there was a single-player or LAN version of the game (I know that's not really possible with something like WoW, but for the sake of the argument...), then players should absolutely not…

There's been plenty of WoW private servers throughout history hosted by people who had nothing to do with Blizzard.

Re: Hackers manage to unlock Tesla software-locked features

#518

I would have thought that EFF and FSF would be more active in trying to promote open source in automobiles for privacy, security and being able to repair and modify the vehicle. I would think that it would be rather mind blowing how much information is gathered by the new vehicles about oneself. I have enough money to buy any model of Tesla, but will not due to privacy, security and safety reasons. (I consider drive…

Sooner or later, some city is going to be held for ransom by a group that has disabled (or hijacked) all of the Teslas in it. "Give us a king's ransom or your roads will be clogged with immovable cars, and thus unusable, for weeks". Right now, there are not enough software-hijackable cars on the road for this to work, but that is changing. Once you have a critical mass of perhaps even just 5% of the cars, you can bring all traffic to a halt until your demands are met.

Re: Hackers manage to unlock Tesla software-locked features

#519

There's a lot of missing the point in these threads about software locks. Building a car in a uniform way for economy of scale savings, fine. Having a software unlock for hardware you already have (but didn't pay for in the price). Fine. Using software to rent-seek on one time costs like heated seats. Not fine. Less fine too if the seat subscription can't carry to secondary market. This can he used to cripple seconda…

What's the difference between the second and the third?

Probably the same sentiment between DLC vs Expansions in gaming.

But fundamentally no difference because you are getting a discounted price in exchange for the soft locked feature. So 2 and 3 are the same imo.

Re: Hackers manage to unlock Tesla software-locked features

#520
post #392

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Against face recognition you could use CV dazzle makeup [1] to look less like a face. However I wouldn't recommend using that approach for your vehicle 1 https://dangerousminds.net/comments/foil_facebooks_facial_re...

I wonder how the face painting antics of Death Metal bands would hold up to face recognition software?

Sorry for being pedantic, but it's usually Black Metal bands that wear the face paint that you're thinking of :)
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