This is my list of bad companies, tech giants, corporate conglomerates, who lie, cheat, steal, or force you into contracts that are bad for the end user. I will include as much source information as possible.
THIS PAGE IS UNDER CONSTRUCTION.
ASUS - Locking bootloaders. Advertising as free.
Firstly, bootloaders should not be locked. At least, not so much that it makes it difficult for technically inclined people like myself or others to install a new operating system. Installing your own OS used to be a normal thing to do, because no one likes OEM spyware. But ASUS takes it a step further. They have a tool, which connects to ASUS servers, which don't work now, making the tool do nothing. But if you want to unlock your bootloader, you have to futz around with emailing them and paying ASUS over 180 dollars. JUST TO UNLOCK YOUR BOOTLOADER. Save your money, don't buy ASUS until they scrap that whole idea.
Disney - Forced Arbitration. Even in vastly different areas. Sign up for Disney+ for streaming? Can't sue Disney if you are poisoned at one of their restaurants.
Wait... What? How can a STREAMING terms of service apply to eating at a restaurant? Easy. Because Disney.
ROKU - Want to connect your TV to the internet? Oops, you're FORCED to set up an account, you are FORCED to accept the terms. There is no Decline. Only Accept. You know who else literally won't accept No as your answer? A rapist. Roku's privacy policy states that they will collect information about your device, your home wifi network, OTHER DEVICES ON YOUR NETWORK, OTHER NETWORKS, YOUR VOICE, WHAT IS DISPLAYED ON YOUR SCREEN, EVEN IF IT'S ON YOUR OWN HDMI-SOURCED HARDWARE. Connect a DVD player to your TV? Roku is going to spy on that. Computer display on your TV? They'll spy on that too. What do you do on your computer? Yes. They'll spy on that, too.
"But Shadow, why would they do that?" Because they want to advertise to you. They want to identify what brands you look at, or what themes you're interested in, so they can advertise to you.
(Shadow, fact check this: Roku (I think) has (wanted to, or introduced?) injecting ads INTO YOUR HDMI INPUTS. Connect a DVD player to your TV, pause the DVD? They'll stick an AD over it.)
How to get around that one? Don't connect your Roku TV to the internet. Ever. Don't even go into the setup. Because as soon as you try to connect it to Wifi... The moment you open the MENU to connect to the wifi, you get locked in. And you cannot access the menus to factory reset, until AFTER they rape y- sorry, until AFTER you create an account.