Oh well that’s ironic

After signing him up as a reseller, Jason’s SuperBox contact also recruited him for a unique side gig: Whenever Jason finds a SuperBox advertised for less than the company’s suggested retail price, he buys it and sells it back to the company for a premium. He says that the SuperBox maker then checks the device’s MAC address against a list of past sales and remotely deactivates all boxes it sold to the reseller who openly advertised the unauthorized discount.

Offending sellers are then asked to pay a fine, Jason says. Consumers who happened to buy a box for the wrong price find it locked, with an onscreen warning telling them to contact their service provider. vSeeBox engages in similar practices, Mike says: “They can essentially shut off the boxes.”