The RFID isn’t going to be much more expensive that those anti-theft stickers in stores. (Probably exactly like the ones in library books.)
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Welcome to Europe.
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Bear in mind that the system doesn’t just affect the park’s cups. It affects all cups.
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This sounds like a TOS violation on the chipped cup, which is likely registered in his name.
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Did you expect anything different from Comcast??
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I mean it was awkward when I took in the XL plastic cup into the local Jack in the Box and just filled the soda before a drive home, then coming in the next day with a sign put up “No Refills after you leave.” But I guess I was in the right?
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a keyfob with a RFID scanner/emulator to copy another’s cup ID maybe? Lazy coding says they don’t check how many refills at once you do.
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So you’re saying we should chip the soda manufacturers then? Where are those bastards?!
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They pulled that fun trick when I went to Woodstock '94 many many years ago. Huge music fest in the middle of a field with no shade in August. You weren’t allowed to bring any liquids in at all, there was no running water, but they had booths selling bottled water for about $3 a pop. There was a lot of water theft going on until they finally started giving it away.
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I mean i’m not going to disagree… 
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So they’d get away with it once is what you’re suggesting.
A good exploit just needs to be used once…
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The crazy thing is, if i recall correctly, not all states guarantee access to water. Let me check…
And holy crap, the US does not consider access to water as a basic human right. There does appear to be legislation in various states trying to address access to water but it doesn’t appear to be guaranteed by law across the board… at least on my preliminary check.
The U.S. Code contains thousands of mentions of water , but nowhere does it state that water is a human right
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The cheap passive RFID chips + antenna are often adhesive-backed. Rip it out and stick it directly to the machine and give EVERYONE free soda for 2 hours.
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Someone above said the dispenser is metered. If not, they could probably add that as a feature with a software update even without a flow sensor by just limiting the time the machine will dispense with a break required between refills.
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I’ve avoided drink dispensers for many, many years. On two occasions – and within 20 minutes after drinking up – I got hit with food poisoning. Ill-kept dispenser plumbing.
FD: I haven’t drunk soda (however packaged or dispensed) in ~20 years. Much easier than it sounds, people. Food poisoning really conditioned me!
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Well. After seeing that video I’m much less certain about Nuka World being sufficiently exaggerated for thematic coherence with Fallout.
So far as the video was concerned the entire theme park was little more than background noise around prominently branded behavioral marketing spigots. Impressive.
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Giving up soda and all sugary drinks (including fruit juice) was the single best thing I have ever done for my health and weight.
Once you kick the sugar addiction you just don’t crave it anymore. I can’t stand the stuff now. It’s just black decaf coffee in the morning or water (beer and wine doesn’t count). I’m even the type of guy who pays extra to NOT have the combo meal just so I can have water.
The only time I use a soda fountain now is for sparkling water. Most machines have an option for just plain soda water with no syrup.
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A wise decision.
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YMMV. Don’t drink soft drinks, limit meat and eat mostly fresh vegetables. Seventy pounds overweight now, although I finally seem to have topped out.
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DRM to media companies is like refined sugar to a diabetic. Feels good for a little while then it kills you.
Oh, and I don’t think anyone has yet pointed out that this turns drink dispensers into networked IOT devices. Not like that will have any security costs going forward.
I can’t wait for the Library of Congress to get an application to break the DRM when a new model obsoletes the old cups.
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