Today’s links Amazon Alexa is a graduate of the Darth Vader MBA: I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. This day in history: 2003, 2013, 2018, 2022 Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading Amazon Alexa is a graduate of the Darth Vader MBA (permalink) If you own an Alexa, you might enjoy its integration with IFTTT, an easy scripting environment that lets you create your own little voice-controlled apps, like “start my Roomba” or “close the garage door.” If so, tough shit, Amazon just nuked IFTTT for Alexa: https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/25/23931463/ifttt-amazon-alexa-applets-ending-support-integration-automation Amazon can do this because the Alexa’s operating system sits behind a cryptographic lock, and any tool that bypasses that lock is a felony under Section 1201 of the DMCA, punishable by a 5-year prison sentence and a $500,000 fine. That means that it’s literally a crime to provide a rival OS that lets users retain functionality that Amazon no longer supports. This is the proverbial gun on the mantelpiece, a moral hazard and invitation to mischief that tempts Amazon executives to run a bait-and-switch con where they sell you a gadget with five features and then remotely kill-switch two of them. This is prime directive of the Darth Vader MBA: “I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.” So many companies got their business-plan at the Darth Vader MBA. The ability to revoke features after the fact means that companies…Pluralistic: Amazon Alexa is a graduate of the Darth Vader MBA (26 Oct 2023)