智能设备的生命周期是不安全的

智能和联网设备的使用有望让我们的生活更轻松，但也可能让它们的制造商更好地控制我们的生活。

研究公司Park Associates的报告称，在美国有宽带连接的家庭中，有三分之一至少拥有一台智能家居设备，其中20%的家庭安装了交互式安全系统，可以实现远程连接和控制功能。

一些提供智能设备的公司，包括谷歌、Belkin和百思买，已经在没有任何警告的情况下，取消了他们的智能设备产品线，让消费者陷入困境。

加拿大约克大学(York University)助理教授娜塔莎·图斯科夫(Natasha Tusikov)称之为“通过砖块进行监管”。这是指制造商故意损害或销毁软件，“目的是负面影响产品的功能”。

Tusikov说，这种“砖”改造了对物理产品的管理，因为制造商可以“任意地、远程地影响任何软件设备的功能，甚至决定产品的寿命。”

它还赋予了这些公司“一种不公平的能力，可以单方面、自动、远程地实施它们偏爱的政策。”通过他们的软件，物联网产品保持连接…对他们的制造商来说，(这)让公司……在购买后对软件拥有重要的控制权。

原文：The use of smart and connected devices promises to make our lives easier, but it might also give their manufacturers greater control over our lives.

One out of three households in the United States with broadband connections owns at least one smart home device, and interactive security systems that allow remote connection and control capabilities are installed in 20 percent of these households, research firm Park Associates reports.

Some companies offering smart devices, including Google, Belkin, and Best Buy have killed off their smart device product lines without warning, leaving consumers in the lurch.

That leads to what Natasha Tusikov, an assistant professor in Canada's York University, calls "regulation through bricking." This is when manufacturers deliberately impair or destroy software "with the intention of negatively affecting product functionality."

Such bricking reshapes the governance of physical products because the manufacturers can "arbitrarily and remotely affect the functionality of any software-enabled device and even determine the product's lifespan," Tusikov stated.

It also gives the companies "an unfair capacity to impose their preferred policies unilaterally, automatically and remotely. Through their software, IoT products remain connected...to their manufacturers, [which] lets companies...wield significant post-purchase control over the software," Tusikov said.