That's an argument for them being a monopsony, not a monopoly. And since they were colluding with other companies, it fits the definition of a cartel better.

Read all the way through to the third article. It does go into which kinds of guns are used in homicides, which is much easier data to come by (and perhaps more relevant to the concerns at hand).

Autoplays video with sound.

Seriously, such an idiots. I mailed them like a year ago about this crap. Nobody has made anything. I have 2 kids and sometimes you forget to turn off the sound late at night. My god, the worst experience ever.

That is a staple on Bloomberg. Disabling scripts is the only way out.

Or Safari

I believe gp meant, "if the bulk of a tree's mass comes from dirt, why isn't the dirt around the tree used up as the tree gains mass?"

That's exactly what "Regulatory Arbitrage" means. The author calls it out explicitly.

Depends on your threat model.

From TFA: Another attack on Samsung Smart TVs was published last week that used malicious commands embedded in broadcast TV signals.

So, even if it's airgapped, a tv that's been compromised in this way is effectively a hostile general-purpose computer with a wifi card running inside your house.

If this is something you would do for a Klondike bar, then go ahead. I'll keep my dumb TV and my Kodi box, though.

Agreed. These "smart" TVs mostly run outdated and buggy software which are difficult if not impossible to update either because of technical limitations or because the manufacturer doesn't care enough after getting your money.

So why bother with a "smart" TV if you're going to be using an external computer anyway. Saving a few hundred dollars to spend on that external computer seems like a better investment. I run a "dumb" big LG TV hooked up to a raspberry pi running Kodi via LibreElec. I'm very happy with the set up in terms of functionality and price.

Edit: the attack via signal is linked from the article, reading now.

> So why bother with a "smart" TV if you're going to be using an external computer anyway. Saving a few hundred dollars to spend on that external computer seems like a better investment.

I'm in the market for a 4k TV with low input lag. If you look at input lag tests (e.g., http://uk.rtings.com/tv/tests/inputs/input-lag) you'll see that every single TV listed there is a smart TV, at least in the 43"-50" range anyway. In fact, are there even such things as "dumb" TVs anymore?

That said, I've done some more research and realised tha the LG UH6* range is actually also pretty good for low input lags and runs webOS to boot so I think I'll go for an LG instead.

I actually got a "GO TO HELL" response when I did this once. After he told me what the company was.

Yes, I forwarded the e-mail chain on to them.

I got what you meant, and that was my first thought too.

The main reason I haven't bought an Echo (and am looking into self-hosted solutions instead) is the privacy concern.

Was really concerned about that. But in the end it's really no different from a smartphone/laptop. If someone compromises my device it could also always send. I have to trust the manufacturer of my phone not to transmit audio unless I tell them to, and the same is true for Amazon.

I'm also pretty sure that people would've noticed if it always sends by default, guess some people will have monitored traffic from/to the device.

I'm using the Echo now, but I keep playing around with raspberry pi solutions. I'm waiting for Respeaker to deliver. I'd prefer to have it all in-house, but until I come up with something that works as well I'll keep the Echo plugged in.

Well, according to Amazon nothing is sent to their server unless Alexa is awake (after saying the magic 'Alexa' keyword).

And we all know Amazon would never lie, and that the Echo could never be compromised...

Simultaneously and independently, with exact copies of all registered voters.

Perhaps. But it happened to both my account and my sister's account.