You may get lucky and have a band that doesn't care or won't notice your operation, but Spotify has music from the big labels and they do care and they will notice.
It very much is and Spotify would definitely get sued if they weren't paying. I got a cease and desist for an app I made about a decade ago for this very thing
This one is actually out of their hands. Lyrics aren't free sadly and they have to pay for API calls. It's fucking stupid but the labels are the ones at fault here.
Excellent rant, I hate that doomer mindset. Old people used DOS, kids figure out vpns to get on gambling sites. People aren't stupid they just haven't had a reason to learn, or didn't have someone to make them care.
They really ought to include this info about mirrors on their website. They have an aside about checking file hashes which can give paranoia to people who don't know what's going on.
I think they were following the guide based on what they said was frustrating them. I think Mint could simplify the instructions for non tech people and remove the asides like checking file hashes.
I have pulled mine apart too. I have an old one from before the tracking law and I didn't find anything nefarious. The one I have from after the tracking law went into effect is transmitting its location and ID but I didn't find much else even on a network intercept.
Maybe there is some way to open a stream to China buried deep in the firmware, but I don't see what use China would have for that. They have other methods of surveillance
I can assure you that we won't. There has not been a time in the history of this country that lower competition has resulted in improved products or prices.
There is zero US based competition in the hobbyist and consumer spaces unless you DIY. US companies mostly do products for emergency services, large commerical operations like spraying pesticides, or military. There are a handful of brands making smaller drones, but they're all a decade behind DJI in features and quality control, or they cost $20,000.
I'd be fine with a ban if there was a legitimate security concern, but there isn't, this is just part of the trade war and it only stands to harm US consumers and small businesses. The entire aerial photography industry is going to collapse and one's only option will be large companies with hex rotor drones and Red cameras.
This is honestly ridiculous. The security concerns are unwarranted. Any surveillance that these drones could accomplish if hacked can just be bought off of any GIS website.
"But military bases" go fly a drone by one and see what happens. This already isn't a surveillance concern.
This is going to set the hobbyist and professional drone market back a decade.