It's not the real name for the crime, obviously. But, it's true that section 1201 of the DMCA makes it illegal to bypass "access controls", which are so loosely defined that just about anything qualifies. As a result, any device with "access controls" gets to define how you're allowed to interact with it, and if you interact with it in the wrong way, even if you own it, you're committing a felony.
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s comment in his famous letter from Birmingham Jail: "One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws."
Some cheaper brands, which are subsidized via ads, actively search for unsecured networks. Disabling the Wi-Fi as completely as possible might be worth the time, if you have such a model.
I do this. It's the best. You can buy used HP or Dell mini workstations on eBay for super cheap.
Full Linux, full ad blocking, full access to every streaming service instead of just whoever makes an app for your particular TV.
And with the enshittification of smart TVs injecting ads everywhere they can, keeping it disconnected is the only way to fly. Modern tech is like Skynet, you can't let it connect or it's the end of the world.
Sorry, streaming from a browser on a Linux PC is limited to 540x860 due to an inability to establish an HDCP chain. Have you tried using the TV's native Netflix app instead?
Because I like to take advantage of subsidized pricing and I have yet to encounter a brand that's been able to break through my pfSense box's adblocking coupled with bimonthly reviews of traffic logs from suspect devices
What's a good solution for a remote control and "TV like" interface for browsing accessing things? I really just want a good YouTube and jellyfin interface with a normal remote.
A PC. You can buy an n100 mini PC. There's different interfaces and os's for htpc's. You can buy a remote that works with PC's and those handheld keyboard/trackpad combo's work pretty well.
The 2.4ghz connector for those trackpad/keyboard combos never worked more than like 10 feet away so the couch wasn't an option (until I got one that used BT)
I have an old laptop hooked up my tv already, but using the Bluetooth keyboard and TouchPad to navigate traditional desktop focused applications is such a cumbersome activity that both my husband and I never bother to use it, we just grab the remote and use the default tv interface.
I was specifically asking about the remote control and more tv- like interface software. I've never managed to get kodi to be anything good, not sure what I'm missing with that but it's always super clunky and bad to use.
Someone else suggested plasma big screen, I'm going to install and try and get that configured up today, see how it goes.
I tried for hours to get this working and could not. Steam big picture can actually be used as a launcher if you use boilr to import flatpaks. Might be worth it to try steamOS as an HTPC.