Once you have enough power to legislate and enforce this, what's to stop a future administration from tightening the ratchet just a little bit further and forcing users to purchase TPM computers with unbreakable DRM and encrypted blobs running who knows what, and no ability for users to modify their system, change hardware or operating systems without either running afoul of the law or losing access to banking and insurance?
My comment (GGGP) was about regulating devices to require physical switches to allow the owner of the device to opt for freedom. I'm not sure where you got DRM-type stuff out of that.
I think efuses being blown by device manufacturers should be illegal.
I think bootloaders that don't allow the device owner to run whatever software they want should be illegal.
I think device owners should be permitted to repair their devices without losing functionality because of DRM embedded in the parts themselves.
I think a physical switch, exercisable only with physical access, should be present on locked-down devices to allow the owner to exercise their ownership over the device. If that means that "attestation" functionality breaks and that causes some third-party software to "break" so-be it.
(I think the problem with banks, etc, requiring "trusted" devices is also in the realm of consumer protection, probably in banking regulation. I haven't thought about it deeply.)
Think about it some more. I'm talking about the incremental increases in power coupled with unpredictable administration changes, and how each new increase in federal power creates multiple branches for slightly increasing power even more, until without realizing it, we've let our government slowly move the Overton window right where it needs to be for an authoritarian power grab and restriction of freedoms. We have to be extremely careful about the powers we give our governments, because they do not give them back without a fight, and they're always looking to expand their reach.
Well, you do realize that there are already a lot of laws covering these things, right? If you're this cynical, then you need to realize that stuff like what you describe could be legislated at any time. There's no real barrier.
Obviously, why do you think I'm raising awareness? Right-to-repair is a huge issue across multiple regions and industries, with uneven progress across the US.
