Complaint dossier
Spotify Car Thing

Generated here. Filed by you. We never see the serial.
LOVE YOU INDUSTRIES — DEPRECATE ME
PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE COMPLAINT DOSSIER
Generated 2026-10-22 · score 100/100
Not legal advice. A complaint packet, not a law firm.

TO: FTC (CA)
RE: Spotify Car Thing
FCC ID: 2A6E7-A11
Hardware prefix / OUI: 84:F3:EB
SoC: Amlogic A113X
Release year: 2021
Cloud dependent: YES
Bootloader locked: YES
Cloud sunset: 2024-12-14
Purchase date: unknown
Purchase price: unknown
Serial: unknown
Current firmware: cloud kill 2024-12-14

This complaint is directed to the Federal Trade Commission under Section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a) (unfair or deceptive acts or practices), and the Commission’s Policy Statement on Repair Restrictions under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 2301–2312.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The manufacturer sold physical hardware whose core utility was later withdrawn by an immutable firmware payload and/or a remote cloud kill switch. The consumer retains a brick, a throttled SoC, or a device that only lives if they keep paying a post-sale ransom.

The manufacturer pushed an immutable firmware payload (Version: cloud kill 2024-12-14) which unilaterally removed core functionality present at the point of sale, violating 15 U.S.C. § 45(a) as an unfair trade practice by depriving the consumer of the residual economic value of physical hardware. Where a written or implied warranty accompanied the sale, post-sale firmware that disables the product also implicates the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 2301–2312, and the FTC Policy Statement on Repair Restrictions (2021). State analogues include Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 and N.Y. GBL § 349. In the Union, Directive (EU) 2024/1799 requires manufacturers not to impede repair of goods they placed on the market.

KNOWN DEGRADATION RECORD
  - 2024-12-14 · cloud kill 2024-12-14 · cloud_shutdown / bricked
    Spotify shut Car Thing three years after launch. A $90 (later $50) car player became a brick unless you jailbreak the Amlogic board.
    Evidence: https://support.spotify.com/article/spotify-car-thing-discontinued/

CONSUMER EVIDENCE CHECKLIST
  - Device no longer powers on / functions without the vendor cloud

DEMAND

1. Restore the functionality present at point of sale, or
2. Unlock the bootloader / furnish signed firmware that runs locally without the vendor cloud, or
3. Make the consumer whole for the residual economic value of the unit plus incidental costs of replacement.

Do not report this as a software “improvement.” It is a taking of residual hardware value after the money changed hands.

WHERE TO FILE

FTC: https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/
California AG: https://oag.ca.gov/contact/consumer-complaint-against-business-or-company
New York AG: https://ag.ny.gov/consumer-frauds/filing-consumer-complaint
EU consumer: https://commission.europa.eu/live-work-travel-eu/consumer-rights-and-complaints/resolve-your-consumer-complaint_en

Send a copy to the manufacturer’s registered agent with the serial number above. Keep this dossier. If they offer arbitration, this is the demand letter.

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The file never left this device.