FTC Report Finds Manufacturers’ Repair Restrictions Unwarranted

https://www.ifixit.com/News/50251/ftc-report-congress-nixing-fix-repair-restrictions-reactions

in other words, you are allowed to fix your own stuff.

In reply to mad_machine (Forum Supporter) :

Oh good. Cause I was gonna do that anyways. They'll have to murder a lot of us before we give up our right to repair. 

Vajingo said:

In reply to mad_machine (Forum Supporter) :

Oh good. Cause I was gonna do that anyways. They'll have to murder a lot of us before we give up our right to repair. 

"Right to repair" means that they have to provide service information, instead of keeping it secret as a "trade secret".

Magnuson-Moss (cited in article as having been violated)  involves the manufacturers having to supply certain things for free if not using them will void the warranty.  This is so they can't say, you must use Denbeighs brand oil in your new Denbeighs or the warranty is void, and by the way, it's gonna cost you 45 pounds sterling per litre.  (This is why no automaker says you MUST use certain brands to maintain warranty, but they do call out a SPECIFICATION, that they darned well can void your warranty if you weren't using it)

Does this apply to farm implements? Because there might be some sod busters that bleed green and yellow shedding tears of joy.

Appleseed said:

Does this apply to farm implements? Because there might be some sod busters that bleed green and yellow shedding tears of joy.

Hopefully.

Automotive RtR laws are in place because of the EPA: if service information is not available, emissions may increase.

This involves the Federal Trade Commission, which is far more broad in scope.

I wonder how they will determine if a design was deliberately done to make repair difficult, or work with trademark abuse.  (Allegedly, for example, some automakers will deliberately design, say, an A/C line to require a strange shape in order to clear things in the vicinity - and then trademark the shape, so the aftermarket can't make it without permission and paying a royalty)

I hope that the people in Washington don't give in to the pressures of big business on this one.  I can see them drafting up a paper tiger of a law trying to appease both sides of this one.  

People seem to forget that you don't have to buy an Apple or Testla product. If a product has an aspect to it that you don't like don't purchase it. But that seems to get lost in all this.  Imagine  if people got together and decided not to purchase Apple products for a couple years.  

In reply to dean1484 :

It's a little more complicated when a vehicle is part of your livelihood rather than for pleasure like an Apple product.  

But if you could convince ALL farmers not to buy a single John Deere for, say 5 years, holy hell would they change their attitude.

I like this.

Appleseed said:

In reply to dean1484 :

It's a little more complicated when a vehicle is part of your livelihood rather than for pleasure like an Apple product.  

But if you could convince ALL farmers not to buy a single John Deere for, say 5 years, holy hell would they change their attitude.

A couple of the apps we use at work are iPad only.

As far as boycotting John Deere is concerned... I am sure most of their ag products are bought by decent sized agribusinesses where they shrug and just look at the bottom line.

An aside, that may be relevant.  Guy I used to work with was lamenting how everything is made in China and something needed to be done about that.  I pointed out that he bought everything on Amazon going for price first, and if he cared that much then he should pay attention to where things were manufactured.  He looked at me like I was nuts, and said something to the effect of having a duty to always buy the cheapest thing.  He just could NOT put two and two together.

I have little hope that senators will do the right thing and finally make RTR laws. I won't dox myself, but I used to live in a particular red farming state that has had these laws on the books for god-knows how long, and they shot them down each time because major players like Microsoft came knocking for even the smallest thing. The more I learn about corporate lobbying, the more I hate it to it's core. I think in this case, at best the FTC backed by the White House and independent state actions (Massachusetts) will be all we have.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Not to stray in the politics minefield on a car forum, but I get that so frequently irregardless of personal politic. Like, convenience trumps everything now and nobody is willing to take the time and research or simply wait for something not using Uhugyr slave labor.