Could someone please explain (perhaps using a practical example) what does the word "repair" mean in this context?
Someone in this thread made an example which involves repairing a mobile phone, but I am struggling to find a meaningful connection between repairing a peace of hardware and copyright laws.
Its about DRM and the anti-circumvention section in the DMCA part of US copyright. Owners, like those who have bought a car, a computer, a mobile phone, a espresso machine (and so on) want to be able to repair their property without being labeled a criminal for it. The problem is, the car won't start if it detects an unauthorized part that is made by a third-party, and some server manufacturer has started to use DRM so that owners can't just buy replacement hard drives from third-party onces a drive fails, but is instead forced to buy it from dell.
Its a basic scheme by the seller to restrict use of third-party parts in order to create a monopoly, increase price and guarantee future revenue after product has been sold. In the extreme end they can even tap into the aftermarket, demanding a cut each time the car or what ever is resold. Most of this is enabled because of current copyright law, through consumer protection laws are also lagging behind current technology.
I find myself reminded of an tv ad Volvo ran back in the day.
They had stacked a bunch of boxes with a Volvo logo on in the rough shape of their sedan. Then the presenter, after giving a spiel about non-brand parts, replaced one box with another that held a different logo, whereby the whole stack collapsed.
BTW, i think there was a recent dustup about HP printers and third party cartridges, where said cartridges stopped working after a certain date.
Just as an example of these restrictions I bought a Lenovo desktop from an auction, and the darned thing required a proprietary power supply. After reading forums etc, I heard that they were selling a 450 watt power supply for around $285, where you could buy an non-proprietary power supply with a better build for $40. Luckily I was able to get a 24 pin to 14 pin adapter for a couple of dollars from Hong Kong.
As far as I know it is the same with current HP desktops as well. Don't buy Lenovo/HP.
Seperate personal commentary: Basically, messing around with your product and changing certain bits of it can be copyright infringement. As can making videos on how to repair something (I don't have the source for that right now). Somehow, that is messing with copyrighted tech - the companies basically say that you lease the software, not own it at all. How a phone works under the case is protected information. And so on.
It seems like a scam to me, but it is what it is at this point.
Someone in this thread made an example which involves repairing a mobile phone, but I am struggling to find a meaningful connection between repairing a peace of hardware and copyright laws.