Re: Florida Statute According to RLB

["Robert L Bass" <robertbass1@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> IF the customer signed a contract
> agreeing that at all times the panel
> remains property of the alarm
> company then it is wrong to unlock
> that board...

Agreed, but how would the person servicing the board know it is yours?  About the only way I can think of would be for companies
which lock panels for legitimate reasons to silk-screen the board with their company name and phone number.  Even then you'd need to
maintain a database with serial numbers and account status just to know which boards are still under contract.  Considering the
small number of accounts which might be lost, this all seems like an expensive solution.

Without a means of warning others that the board is under contract, it's impossible for honest service techs like Bob Campbell to
know that the board is yours.  Besides, companies that make it a practice to steal accounts unjustly would simply ignore any notice
you printed on the board.

> Ownership of a proprietary panel doesn't
> change in a real estate transaction between
> the client and new owner of the house...

True, but if you don't take action to recover the panel within a reasonable period of time once you discover that the home has been
sold the panel becomes abandoned property and the new homeowner can rightfully dispose of it or use it in any manner he wants.  I
don't know how you handle such situations but I do know that the largen, national alarm companies routinely abandon the systems.
Since those are the source of the majority (they sell more than all small dealers combined) of unusable, locked systems, Bob is not
being unreasonable in assuming the best of his clients.

> Using proprietary information to unlock
> boards is also wrong IMO.  It's hacking.

Actually, Bob has simply learned ways to cause the panels to do a reset.  That's not the same as hacking, which implies learning
secret passwords, reading private data, etc.  Bob is actually erasing any private data.  Considering the number of locked alarm
systems which regularly transmit alarms to central stations, his service can actually be beneficial to honest dealers.

> If it's not a proprietary panel or a leased
> system, and the customer owns it outright
> then have at it, but unlocking anything
> other than a client owned system is unethical.

Can you come up with a way for Bob to know a panel he receives belongs to you?  If so, knowing Bob I'm certain he'd refuse to unlock
it.

> On a side note, you're cursing like a
> sailor lately, Bob, and it's about fucking
> time.

OTOH, a certain other New Yorker we know sails like a cursor.  :^)

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

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