In another case, a useful unofficial home assistant tool for Mazda car owners developed from traffic monitoring disappeared in 2023 after its almost sole developer received a legal notice and DMCA takedown request from Mazda. . The programmer told me in an email at the time that he believed his project was “morally upright and legally protected,” but that “because of what I spend my spare time helping with, “We cannot afford the financial risk of litigation.” Other. ”
That's why I get nervous when I find and write about this kind of DIY tech stuff – something very specific and very useful. I feel like I've discovered an underground rock club, but my dad has a good relationship with the local cop and he fitted a GPS tracer to my used Accord.
The three programmers said they were fine with Rinnai knowing about their work and the problems they discovered early on. Mr. Barber is working on connecting his network locally to Rinnai's servers and the Wi-Fi module to avoid the possibility of a Mazda/Chamberlain incident.
Schoutsen said Home Assistant works with companies and contributors who have been accused of wrongdoing by companies. But even with the foundation's support, Home Assistant currently “doesn't have the resources to take these cases to court.” It's also impossible to actually win. “Winning individual lawsuits doesn't change anything. Companies always find new ways to lock users out. This cat-and-mouse game won't end until we have laws that force users to access their data.” Shoutsen wrote.
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Press the button and hot water will come out. All it took was two open source projects, a huge Swedish retailer, and a mild crisis of conscience.
kevin purdy
But the water is still warm
For now, my open source workaround is actually working and much better than the app. It responds instantly, gives clear feedback on whether it's working, and displays lots of useful data. It also gave me another favorite of mine: a home automation project.
Rinnai sells wireless pushbuttons and motion sensors (through licensed installers) that are ready for distribution. Based on the small chip IDs, these are his white-labeled Zigbee devices that connect to the Control-R module. What is their range? Will they repeat each other as expected from Zigbee devices? How long will they be supported? That's unclear.
Instead, I was able to use Home Assistant to trigger water recirculation via Ikea's Tradfri button. Tradfri buttons are much cheaper and look better. After pairing the Zigbee and updating the firmware, I was able to press a button to send hot water. Additionally, other triggers on the Ikea button (such as double-click or long press) can be assigned to other actions, such as dimming the bath lights.
Hot water now comes out of the faucet when you need it. I took a strange and circuitous route to get there.