Android phones disabled remotly in Mexico

[TexZeTech]

Summary

 

In Mexico Cellphone manufacturers primarily Samsung & Motorlal disabled Android phones (I just view this as ransomware)

while others just sent out a system message stating the phone might not be compatible in this region.

 

and not just disabled like oh you can still use the calculator app. no disabled as you lose access to your entire phone. no email, no bank app.

Louis covers it in a 9min17second video

From https://pisapapeles.net/bloqueo-celulares-mexico

Translated so bear with me on this.

 

https://pisapapeles-net.translate.goog/bloqueo-celulares-mexico/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US

Quotes

Quote

Cell phone blocking begins

Subsequently—and to complicate things— Motorola announced that all mobile phones imported—and activated—in Mexico after July 27, 2023, will be subject to total blocking.

To do this, they will receive two notifications, where one of them will arrive on the same day of activation, and the second, 10 days later. After that time, the device will be completely disabled, without the possibility of accessing the applications, functions or files on it, only available for emergency calls. A paperweight , in other words.
 

The only exceptions to this rule are devices activated in the country of origin and used in Mexico, as well as those activated before the specified date. In the case of the former, they will only receive a notification informing them that their devices may not work with Mexican networks.

As a bittersweet compensation for damage, Motorola offers a 30% coupon on the purchase of a new smartphone within the national territory, after validating the IMEI of the affected device, which the user must send by email, using a special form on the official website. This code will be valid for 30 days from the date of issue.

Samsung and the drastic blocking of cell phones
 

For its part, Samsung decided to get on the cell phone blocking train, announcing measures similar—and even more aggressive—than those of previous manufacturers. Specifically, they began sending retroactive notifications to all imported devices activated from September 21, 2023, starting with the blocks from October 11, 2023.

As stated in a press release related to the subject , all affected devices cannot be regularized in any way, and will be blocked in their entirety. This implies that, if users have not made a backup of the information contained, the device will not allow them to access it, or the applications or tools. Like Motorola , and in a bitter attempt to calm the waters, Samsung Mexico also offers a 30% discount to purchase a new device through its official store, by contacting the company by telephone and providing the IMEI of the device. affected cell phone, which can be exchanged no later than December 31 of this year.

 

My thoughts

Well as for why it's interesting. I'm not even remotely okay with companies telling me what I can and cannot do with my hardware after I buy it. The fact that a corporation can just arbitrarily ransomware a phone I own.                          Who's to say someone else won't exploit that code to their own ends as well? There are tons of issues I can't even begin to think of just from the showing of this hand let alone the breach of trust in these companies and people running them.

 

Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln4rsxWq3WM
https://pisapapeles.net/bloqueo-celulares-mexico

 

[porina]

Did I miss it, but why? I can think of two reasons: 1, it does not meet technical regulations in the region, or 2, are they grey imports and they want to "protect" native sellers?

[IkeaGnome]

5 minutes ago, porina said:

Did I miss it, but why? I can think of two reasons: 1, it does not meet technical regulations in the region, or 2, are they grey imports and they want to "protect" native sellers?

Since the OP misses out on a couple key parts of this;

Mexican governments asks Samsung to not block illegally imported phones - SamMobile

Quote

According to reports from the local media, at least one out of five phones in Mexico is sold via the gray market. So, it has become challenging for the South Korean firm to do fair business in the country. There are no official records as to how many such phones are being used in Mexico.

 

[TexZeTech]

Reading the comments on Louis video one was

Quote

@Nems271

2 hours ago

As a Mexican, I would like to add that one of the reasons they did this is because they were probably pressured by Telcel. Phones are crazy expensive and overpricedb through the official channels. A xiaomi mi 12 that could be bought for 700usd in AliExpress was selling for almost 1500usd in telcel. The small s23 was about 1400usd. I can almost promise you that taxes will grow for import phones.

But I have no way to verify that.

[TexZeTech]

2 minutes ago, IkeaGnome said:

Since the OP misses out on a couple key parts of this;

Mexican governments asks Samsung to not block illegally imported phones - SamMobile

 

Thank you for adding more information. One of the reasons The main reason I just posted what I did.... I'm on my laptop and it is crying with 5 tabs open right now. #4gbSolderdToBoardLife #AsusTiachi31 #Crys

[jagdtigger]

Seen the video, pretty dumb TBH. If it were a simple compliance issue they couldve just disabled the cellular radio and whatnot. But they instead locked out the owner from the phone, somethings stinking....

 

 

3 minutes ago, TexZeTech said:

Thank you for adding more information. One of the reasons The main reason I just posted what I did.... I'm on my laptop and it is crying with 5 tabs open right now. #4gbSolderdToBoardLife #AsusTiachi31 #Crys

#TryLinuxMint 

[TexZeTech]

2 minutes ago, jagdtigger said:

Seen the video, pretty dumb TBH. If it were a simple compliance issue they couldve just disabled the cellular radio and whatnot. But they instead locked out the owner from the phone, somethings stinking....

 

 

#TryLinuxMint 

Currently running Manjaro for better or worse.

[Senzelian]

Someone is illegally importing devices and manufacturers want to stop that. What's the problem now? I don't get it.

[DrMacintosh]

3 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

Someone is illegally importing devices and manufacturers want to stop that. What's the problem now? I don't get it.

The problem is that people paid real money for these phones. Illegally imported or not, the consumer likely had no part in that and simply purchased a phone from a store/private seller. These people have no phone and are now being graciously given a 30% off coupon to buy a new one. 

[Senzelian]

Just now, DrMacintosh said:

The problem is that people paid real money for these phones. Illegally imported or not, the consumer likely had no part in that and simply purchased a phone from a store/private seller. These people have no phone and are now being graciously given a 30% off coupon to buy a new one. 

As I understand Samsung is not doing anything about devices that were already activated.

And Motorola... Well yeah, fuck Motorola. But then again, this ain't really their problem. They didn't import them illegally. Fuck the sellers.

[TexZeTech]

7 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

Someone is illegally importing devices and manufacturers want to stop that. What's the problem now? I don't get it.

On top of what DrMacintosh said its also a security issue, A manufacturer should not EVER have the power to arbitrarily brick a device, I don't care how good their security is all it would take is the one-time "oopsy" and little bobbyscript kiddy can brick phones left & right. Also It's not Their phone its the consumer's phone.

 

[Senzelian]

Just now, TexZeTech said:

On top of what DrMacintosh said its also a security issue, A manufacturer should not EVER have the power to arbitrarily brick a device, I don't care how good their security is all it would take is the one-time "oopsy" and little bobbyscript kiddy can brick phones left & right. Also It's not Their phone its the consumer's phone.

 

But it's not the consumer's software. 

[TexZeTech]

3 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

As I understand Samsung is not doing anything about devices that were already activated.

 

No from my understanding if they were active IN that region then they got locked out (admittedly I would have to read it more but that is my current understanding) the only time this didn't affect people is if I activated my phone in Canada and phone move over there and haven't reset my phone for whatever reason. At least this is how I read it. I could be 1000% wrong.

[Senzelian]

Just now, TexZeTech said:

No from my understanding if they were active IN that region then they got locked out (admittedly I would have to read it more but that is my current understanding) the only time this didn't affect people is if I activated my phone in Canada and phone move over there and haven't reset my phone for whatever reason. At least this is how I read it. I could be 1000% wrong.

In the quote, it says "starting with the blocks from October 11". For me that means that anything before October 11th is fine.

[TexZeTech]

5 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

But it's not the consumer's software. 

that is utterly irreverent. If I buy a phone the MOST they are allowed to do is say "you don't get to use our cloud software and get no more updates" AT THE MOST. beyond that is like saying "My fridge should be bricked because I don't own the design of it and I haven't praised [insert manufacturer name here]" If I bought it then it should retain the base functionality I paid for (eg; if it says 5 years of updates I get that) when I exchanged money. Anything beyond this is "You will own nothing and be happy" <--- this logic is messed up.

[Senzelian]

Just now, TexZeTech said:

If I buy a phone the MOST they are allowed to do is say "you don't get to use our cloud software and get no more updates" AT THE MOST

No, I don't think that's true. Don't get me wrong, I don't like it either, but I just see it realistically. And realistically Samsung, Motorola and Google know exactly how to fuck you over. So why even pretend I own the device? I expect to lose everything at any moment at this point  

[Alex Atkin UK]

Yeah this is suspect to me:

Quote

Such phones can affect the quality of the service and can pose problems with validating the warranty terms.

 

What does the former even mean?  It might not support certain bands, then that's the consumers problem for buying a grey import.

 

The latter is utter FUD as its been standard practice for brands to not support registering a warranty out of the region the device was originally sold in anyway.

 

I take issue at the idea of there being such a thing as "illegal" import of a consumer device, unless the device is forbidden by the government of the country.  The manufacturer should have no say in where I can and cannot use their device, regardless of where I bought it.

 

If said device does not meet regulatory requirements, that should be my problem not theirs and given the Mexican government are asking them NOT to block them, this seems unlikely to be the issue.

[HenrySalayne]

23 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

Someone is illegally importing devices and manufacturers want to stop that. What's the problem now? I don't get it.

Illegally imported?

If these devices are not of an illicit origin (stolen) and the manufacturer has been paid, this should be fine. If this is a tax or customs evasion problem, it should certainly not be resolved by the manufacturer.

[Senzelian]

6 minutes ago, HenrySalayne said:

Illegally imported?

If these devices are not of an illicit origin (stolen) and the manufacturer has been paid, this should be fine. If this is a tax or custom evasion problem, it should certainly not be resolved by the manufacturer.

I honestly don't care who cracks down on illegal imports and I don't see how this matters. Governments have done this for decades and in any case the customer is always the loser when buying an illegal import or a fake product or whatever else it might be. That's just how things go.

 

Also you know just as well as I do that Mexico won't be able to crack down on these illegal imports.

[Levent]

Over here in this shithole, we have strict import rules on anything that connects to cell network. If its a phone, you cant import it through online resellers abroad, you can only bring one phone with you every 5 years and have register it within 90 days of first connecting to local network and also have to pay stupid amounts of fees so that it will keep connecting to cell network using a local sim. This seems like a tax move too.

 

EITHER WAY, there are ways to raise your middle finger in both cases.

[TexZeTech]

Lets go into the land of imagination for a while.

You have purchased a house with smart bulbs, no switches all smart bulbs that you must use your phone for its odd but you like it because #FUTURE TECH.

5 years have passed and you are comfortable in you're home and actually like the light setup, you then get a notification on your phone that says "You're trial period for the SMART LIGHTS OF THE FUTURE LTD has ended. Thank you, To continue using your lights you must subscribe to one of the following packages."

You then say "This cannot be right." and promptly phone up their customer support line. You have to wait on hold for the remainder of the day but finally get thought.
The customer AI service representative picks up the phone and says "Hello, this is SMART LIGHTS OF THE FUTURE LTD thank you for calling. How can I help you?"

You then try to explain your issue, the AI just keeps responding with generic prompts that are not helpful, you in a fit of rage and desperation keep mashing on the 0 key, the phone line rings again. You get a different voice, "This is SMITH from SMART LIGHTS OF THE FUTURE LTD." there isn't even a semblance of care in his voice.

 

You tell him you're issues and he simply responds "I'm sorry you have to start paying a monthly fee for the use of lights in your home and you have only X hours you can have them on for anything. Past X you pay an overage fee." You say "Why? you don't supply my electricity!?" he simply whispers back and you think he might even be grinning "It's our software. *heavy breathing* we own it, we own you."

[TexZeTech]

38 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

But it's not the consumer's software. 

This was my better response to this. *references post directly above.*

[HenrySalayne]

12 minutes ago, Senzelian said:

I honestly don't care who cracks down on illegal imports and I don't see how this matters. Governments have done this for decades and in any case the customer is always the loser when buying an illegal import or a fake product or whatever else it might be. That's just how things go.

 

Also you know just as well as I do that Mexico won't be able to crack down on these illegal imports.

No. Manufacturers are not the police. This is an outrageous abuse of powers manufacturers shouldn't even have in the first place.

[Senzelian]

17 minutes ago, TexZeTech said:

Lets go into the land of imagination for a while.

You have purchased a house with smart bulbs, no switches all smart bulbs that you must use your phone for its odd but you like it because #FUTURE TECH.

5 years have passed and you are comfortable in you're home and actually like the light setup, you then get a notification on your phone that says "You're trial period for the SMART LIGHTS OF THE FUTURE LTD has ended. Thank you, To continue using your lights you must subscribe to one of the following packages."

You then say "This cannot be right." and promptly phone up their customer support line. You have to wait on hold for the remainder of the day but finally get thought.
The customer AI service representative picks up the phone and says "Hello, this is SMART LIGHTS OF THE FUTURE LTD thank you for calling. How can I help you?"

You then try to explain your issue, the AI just keeps responding with generic prompts that are not helpful, you in a fit of rage and desperation keep mashing on the 0 key, the phone line rings again. You get a different voice, "This is SMITH from SMART LIGHTS OF THE FUTURE LTD." there isn't even a semblance of care in his voice.

 

You tell him you're issues and he simply responds "I'm sorry you have to start paying a monthly fee for the use of lights in your home and you have only X hours you can have them on for anything. Past X you pay an overage fee." You say "Why? you don't supply my electricity!?" he simply whispers back and you think he might even be grinning "It's our software. *heavy breathing* we own it, we own you."

I have Philips Hue lamps and bulbs. That's exactly how I envision my future to be like, but I won't even bother calling them. I'll just accept it, rip it all out of my house and get something else.

 

Just now, HenrySalayne said:

No. Manufacturers are not the police. This is an outrageous abuse of powers manufacturers shouldn't even have in the first place.

Sure, then the police will take it away from you if that makes you happy. idk, seems the same to me lol

[suicidalfranco]

17 minutes ago, TexZeTech said:

Lets go into the land of imagination for a while.

You have purchased a house with smart bulbs, no switches all smart bulbs that you must use your phone for its odd but you like it because #FUTURE TECH.

5 years have passed and you are comfortable in you're home and actually like the light setup, you then get a notification on your phone that says "You're trial period for the SMART LIGHTS OF THE FUTURE LTD has ended. Thank you, To continue using your lights you must subscribe to one of the following packages."

You then say "This cannot be right." and promptly phone up their customer support line. You have to wait on hold for the remainder of the day but finally get thought.
The customer AI service representative picks up the phone and says "Hello, this is SMART LIGHTS OF THE FUTURE LTD thank you for calling. How can I help you?"

You then try to explain your issue, the AI just keeps responding with generic prompts that are not helpful, you in a fit of rage and desperation keep mashing on the 0 key, the phone line rings again. You get a different voice, "This is SMITH from SMART LIGHTS OF THE FUTURE LTD." there isn't even a semblance of care in his voice.

 

You tell him you're issues and he simply responds "I'm sorry you have to start paying a monthly fee for the use of lights in your home and you have only X hours you can have them on for anything. Past X you pay an overage fee." You say "Why? you don't supply my electricity!?" he simply whispers back and you think he might even be grinning "It's our software. *heavy breathing* we own it, we own you."

imagination?

it's already happening

 

https://www.asmag.com/showpost/27547.aspx

https://gizmodo.com/wink-pulls-ultimate-dick-move-by-forcing-users-into-man-1843314626

 

at that point after half a decade of ish happening i'll just blame the coonsumer for being a complete moron and buying into this crap

 

on the topic: how is this different from this?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12570943/Philadelphia-looters-Apple-DISABLED-stolen-phone.html

 

funny that some of the people here going "how dare you" are the same people who would trash anyone buying game keys from g2a

im going to use the same argument they use in those cases: "muh stolen credit cards"