Thinus Ferreira, TeeVeeTee (via the excellent Overspill blog):

Samsung South Africa has announced that it has activated a TV Block Function on all Samsung TV sets stolen during the looting, violence and unrest in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng during July that saw TV sets stolen from Samsung warehouses.

And:

Samsung’s television block technology is already pre-loaded on all Samsung TV products and the company says that all sets taken unlawfully and stolen from Samsung warehouses are being blocked, rendering them useless.

And:

A TV blocking system has been activated on Samsung television sets stolen from its warehouse and the blocking comes into effect when the user of a stolen television connects to the internet, in order to operate the television.

Once connected, the serial number of the television is identified on the Samsung server and the blocking system is implemented, disabling all the television functions.

Similar to what Apple does with gear stolen from Apple Stores, though users of Apple gear have the ability to shut down their iPhones themselves.

Interesting that there appears to be a shift to require internet connection to verify the TVs, as opposed to purely if you want to access the app infrastructure (think the Apple TV or Roku apps). I have not given my TV my household WiFi password. Wondering if my next TV will require it.