On Thursday, February 2, 2017 at 11:47:27 AM UTC-8, wrote:
On Thursday, February 2, 2017 at 2:11:07 PM UTC-5, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
This might be of interest. A farmers group is leading a movement to
require manufacturers to supply service information, parts, etc.

I think it will ultimately die out. It's a great idea, but manufacturers will say it's a safety issue or a proprietary issue.

So? Let 'em document a safety issue. Iindustrial safety is NOT a closed-book issue,
it's a matter of public interest.
Sponsor a reverse-engineering session on any proprietary technology (and
publish everything). Customers, unlike employees, are not barred from disclosure.

The real issue, unfortunately, is that 'require to supply parts' is only possible if the
company and its suppliers exist unchanged as long as the goods do. Workarounds
like last-time-buy are prohibitively expensive in some
states (where inventory is taxed annually).

No current production line can replicate a 30-year-old engine computer.