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FTC urged to make smart devices say how long they will be supported
(arstechnica.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
I'd be a fan of a law that companies who drop support of their product would have to release code that lets 3rd parties or users themselves offer alternative support. If you want to fully abandon a product opensource it. If you're a big company that doesn't want to do that release a feature for users to self host before you cut ties. I know it's not a simple thing to do in the current world but if laws mandated it then tech would have no choice but to adapt.
This is a commendable goal; though it would still rely on good faith that a lot of these companies won’t have.
They’d rather screw the users anyway, sell the IP and let it rot within the maws of some holding company.
We’ll need some clauses that the tech cannot go inactive as it trades hands as well.
Further, some teeth will be needed toward feature deactivation, as there’s nothing stopping a company from yanking features and packaging it up as efficiencies made or product evolution.