this post was submitted on 14 Dec 2023
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Right to Repair
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Whether it be electronics, automobiles or medical equipment, the manufacturers should not be able to horde “oem” parts, render your stuff useless if you repair it with aftermarket parts, or hide schematics of their products.
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Great channel covering and advocating right to repair, Lewis Rossman
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Modifying the software of a device YOU OWN, should never be illegal in and of itself.
Absolutely. Maybe an exception for video game multiplayer cheating, but that's the only thing I can think of. Any other situation I can think of just enriches the computer to the massive detriment of the user.
Force modified clients in a seperate lobby. Mods can be fun and extend shelflife of games immensly.
And allow selfhosting servers for (at least after) when the publisher/developer stops supporting the game.
abandoned software should be public domain, including server code and the tools for maintaining and updating it.
really the workers should own the means of production and all that stuff should be public from hello world, but we're talking about some transitional steps i guess.
I agree and I wish, I think the tricky part would be defining the criteria to what constitutes "abandomware". Is it the stop of the sale? The shutdown of the attestation servers, the shutdown of the multiplayer servers (and in that case what about single player games)? I can only imagine the creativity of publishers pretending their game is not abandonware yet it practically being so.
yeah it's a little tricky to put that sentiment into law... and to some extent we wouldn't need to if copyright law wasn't just disney's regulatory capture.
"Our 15 year old game has a single password protected server running that an employee connects to a few times a year so technically it's not abandoned and we don't have to make the code public domain, checkmate"
No, that shouldn't be illegal either. Against the rules of a server and getting you kicked out of that server, sure.
Is multiplayer cheating illegal? They have the right to kick you off their servers, but I'd be surprised if it's a criminal offense or anyone has ever had a case brought against them.
i'd be ok with videogame cheaters being executed by the state
Yeah I don't think it is. I was just trying to think of edge cases.
cheating is a problem but, actually making it illegal? nah man, I think that's too far.
which is why they're trying to move to a model where you own nothing
I am not against you, but in case of warranty - how do you draw a line of where is user's fault, and where is manufacturers fault?
well, it doesn't have to be illegal to void warranties. If you for example brick your device through software shenanigans you don't expect the maker to fix it for free for you, but you don't expect them to sue you either!
You gotta attach some base flat fee to send out the engineers that would deter fraudulent claims?