"Right To Repair" Bill Advances In Massachusetts 478
Wannabe Code Monkey sends along an article from the Patriot Ledger about an effort in Massachusetts to pass a "Right to Repair" bill. "Since the advent of congressionally mandated computers in vehicles more than 15 years ago (for emissions), cars have evolved into complex machines that are no longer just mechanical. Computers now monitor and control most systems in the car from brakes to tire pressure and all the electronics and engine fluids... [and] car manufacturers continue to hold back on some of the information that your mechanic needs in order to properly repair your car and reset your codes and warning lights... Massachusetts is now poised to solve this problem and car-driving consumers should pay attention this fall when the Massachusetts Legislature takes up landmark legislation that would force manufacturers to respect the right of consumers to access their own repair information. The legislation, known as Right to Repair, is seen by car manufacturers as a threat to the lucrative service business in their dealerships and they are massing their lobbyists on Beacon Hill in an effort to defeat it."
Ron Paul (Score:5, Funny)
This isn't fair to the automaker's shareholders, the government is infringing on their right to receive a return on their investment as determined by the objective free market. Forcing them to give up their intellectual property based on some absurd notion of repair rights (good luck finding that in the constitution) is just another form of wealth redistribution.
Re:What? Letting people repair their own cars?! (Score:5, Funny)
A thousand times, yes. People seem to forget the extent to which industry (yes, *capitalist industry*) deserves credit for so many of the modern luxuries they enjoy. We should be happy enough that there are people willing to work hard enough to create and run companies like GM and Ford before we gang up and start punishing them for trying to make a buck. Consumer protections and safety standards are just marketing terms for the real agenda: the expansion of government regulation until you can't even build a house or open a theme park without getting a bureaucratic stamp of approval.
I tried to think of a car analogy... (Score:5, Funny)
and found myself in an infinite loop...
help
Re:What?! Being allowed to repair your own car?!?! (Score:3, Funny)
. . . Or whatever the term is that is the most fashionable to complain about nowadays.
Neocon
Re:Do the same to Microsoft (Score:5, Funny)
Re:This is Massachusetts, folks (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Yes! (Score:5, Funny)
And I'm guessing the fix involved putting the key on a hard, flat surface and hitting it with a hammer....
Re:This is Massachusetts, folks (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Yes! (Score:5, Funny)
Educational BALs can only be used by somebody with a current learner's permit; but may be treated as evaluation VALs for up to three (3) hours/day if at least one VAL has been purchased for the car and no other BALs are in concurrent use on the same vehicle.
In order to ensure healthy demand for Small and Medium Family VAL/BAL licence packs, any single VAL holder of greater than eighteen (18) years of age is entitled to one "Guest BAL" for purposes about which our PR flacks will never speak plainly.
Re:Yes! (Score:5, Funny)
I'll be waiting for Ford Genuine Advantage to shut down my car, thinking it's stolen.
Jailbroken cars (Score:3, Funny)
"But will they run Linux?"
Yes, but since they're not trains I'm afraid they'll have trouble running Ruby on Rails.
(Ouch.)
Wait, what? (Score:3, Funny)
Did you just use a computer analogy for a car problem? Is this Soviet Russia already?