IMO this argument blurs the line between two separate concepts. I think it's fair to say that a company shouldn't be allowed to sue you or have you arrested fo

IMO this argument blurs the line between two separate concepts. I think it's fair to say that a company shouldn't be allowed to sue you or have you arrested for doing whatever you want to a device that you have purchased. For example, see the John Deere lawsuits where they are trying to DRM repairs to tractors and make it illegal to work on them. What I think is less fair is arguing that a company has a requirement to make it easy or possible for you to work on your device. You're entering the world of engineering and end-user trade-offs and starting to talk about forcing companies to add or remove features that might be in the end-user's best interest. Would a screw with a proprietary screw-head be ok if the company could argue that it made assembly easier? Would you require that they prove there is some tangible engineering benefit to all decisions? What's the line between "general purpose computing device" and "electronic toy"? You could probably write a law that made it illegal to add restrictions whose sole purpose was to prevent the user from modifying or repairing their device but the only way you'd ever be able to enforce it is if someone was caught writing incriminating emails. Pretty much anything could have some imaginary engineering justification behind it. If you can crack a proprietary protocol or re-create a proprietary screwdriver then more power to you, you shouldn't be arrested or sued. But telling a company they're not allowed to use a proprietary screw-head is a messy road to start down, and that's what you're saying when you're asking for companies to be forced to allow you to do what you want on your device. Vote with your wallet and if the choice you vote for doesn't win then you're free to go create your own. But don't outlaw business models or legislate engineering choices. You should have a right to repair, you should have a right to get your data, you shouldn't have a right to tell me what my engineering choices need to be.