The article (and comments) don't seem to make what I think are essential points. * Free-market competition is essential for price-setting. Aftermarket parts mu

The article (and comments) don't seem to make what I think are essential points. * Free-market competition is essential for price-setting. Aftermarket parts must be allowable. IMO no solution will ever work if the prices are set by a single vendor. People get mad, but * "Parts pairing" and DRM are a real problem. They prevent the establishment of a market for replacement parts. I would like to see a discussion of banning this practice. * Patents preventing the manufacture of "clone" replacement parts is another issue, but even that takes a back seat to software lock (or hardware lock, as a comment below mentions [1]). [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39096846 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39096846 > [...] they have a battery backed latching relay to detect if the boards are disconnected [...]