Roku Issues a Mandatory Terms of Service Update That You Must Agree To or You Can't Use Your Roku

chemicalwonka , 4 months ago

ditch all this proprietary shit and start your path to freedom

enoqe , 4 months ago

For anyone who gets this abhorrent soft brick on their Roku TV, MAC address filter your TV on your router (prevents it from accessing the internet and phoning home). Hard restart your TV (unplug and replug since they lock you out of restarting via GUI), and Bob’s your uncle (dumb TV with no forced agreement for continued "dumb" use).

Unclear how long this will last, but as long as you keep your TV off the internet you should be good to go.

rekabis , 4 months ago

This just ensures that I will never get a Roku. Thanks for making that decision for me, Roku!

Now if only Sony could make an OLED 4K dumb TV about 78″ or larger. Yes, I know the alternative is called “Digital Signage”, but almost all of DS is still just standard LCD and entry-level visual tech.

phoenixz , 4 months ago

Yeah, was considering buying a Roku TV, ain't ever going to happen now.

nothingcorporate , 4 months ago

I am constantly elated that I decided years ago to buy a used micro PC on eBay and install Linux on it as my streaming box.

Fuck Roku, fuck Amazon, fuck Google, fuck Samsung, fuck Vizio.

Anticorp , 4 months ago

This shit should be illegal for paid hardware. They should be forced to refund everyone the cost of their device purchase.

radiohead37 , 4 months ago

It is ridiculous how long TOS agreements are. It is clearly not meant for a lay person to read. It is so much one-sided bullshit that it should be illegal.

Marcbmann , 4 months ago

This is not surprising. Roku enabled smart TVs do not function if they cannot communicate with Roku servers. Can't even watch TV or use a console.

AdmiralShat , 4 months ago

This is why all OSs need to be open source and we should only argue over hardware

PrinceWith999Enemies , 4 months ago

We need legislation put in place that prevents companies from arbitrarily changing EULAs.

Changing a EULA should require the company to refund the price of the product (to be returned at the company’s expense), in addition to refunding customer purchases associated with the services associated with the product.

stevedidwhat_infosec , 4 months ago

Lmao.

Can’t wait for all the ewaste this will fucking generate just to save this companies theoretic ass in a theoretical lawsuit which will likely end in consumers producing a lawsuit anyway on top of the ewaste it’ll create.