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> Better Idea: A Lemon Law for commercial equipment. Even better idea: Amend the DMCA to permanently add an exemption for bypassing DRM for repair purposes.
by pwg 3y ago
> Better Idea: A Lemon Law for commercial equipment.
Even better idea:
Amend the DMCA to permanently add an exemption for bypassing DRM for repair purposes.
Of course it likely won't happen because those most impacted by the adjustment of the statute would buy a sufficient number of congress critters to block passage of the amendment.
- Simulacra 3y agoBe thankful for your government, it's the best that money can buy.
- madeofpalk 3y agoThat is actually what the FTC and DOJ is proposing here, when reading their actual ask rather than blogspam poorly rehashing it. > This proceeding concerns possible temporary exemptions to the DMCA’s prohibition against circumvention of technological protection measures (“TPMs”) that control access to copyrighted works, including functional software that facilitates the repair and monitoring of consumer and industrial product McDonalds soft serve are mentioned only as an example of what would benefit > As described by Public Knowledge and iFixit, four “index” examples of commercial and industrial device categories would benefit from the proposed expansion: commercial soft serve machines, proprietary diagnostic kits, programmable logic controllers, and enterprise IT > The proposed expansion would benefit competition in areas beyond those outlined by Public Knowledge and iFixit. For example, increasingly sophisticated agricultural equipment often employs onboard computers that control error identification and repair, limiting options for farmers in need of quick repairs. https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/ATR-FTC-JointComment.pdf https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/ATR-FTC-JointCo...
- mikepurvis 3y agoNice to see PLCs called out here— they're ground zero for traditional factory automation, and are typically the easy route to anything that needs to be low volume and programmable while also being capital-s Safe. But anything smarter than a tape-following AGV also has a computer on it running a bunch of high level perception and control software, so there's a natural friction point there, particularly if the PLC can only be flashed from proprietary Windows-based software.
- bsza 3y agoIt will probably cost you a lot of money to figure out how to bypass the DRM though, assuming that’s even possible at all. That’s money you should never have to pay in the first place.
- teeray 3y agoSounds like we also need a DRM FOIA.
- donmcronald 3y ago> It will probably cost you a lot of money to figure out how to bypass the DRM though This is the reason I think we've been "allowed" to get some right to repair laws passed. The legislators are a decade behind and, now that tech is good enough to make bypassing impossible, the lobbyists are letting the government pass legislation that gives you the right to do something that's technically impossible. The legislators are like a younger sibling playing with an unplugged Nintendo controller. And, even if someone can figure out a bypass, the barrier to getting there is so high that they'll most likely charge a huge premium too.
- extraduder_ire 3y agoTo what extent though? If you remove the blu-ray drive from a ps3, it will not play any games, even digital ones. The only way to fix it is to install a noBD custom firmware or use custom firmware and recovery tools to "remarry" another drive to the console. I don't think either of those things should be illegal, but they currently are. Having an exception may result in designs changing to make such repairs easier, however.