INTRODUCING THE CONSUMER PROTECTION DATABASE: EXPOSE EXPLOITATION & HOLD COMPANIES ACCOUNTABLE! (youtube.com) (Louis Rossman)
115k views with 20k likes.
A weekly that logs companies attempts to remove right to repair, take away consumer rights and protections, revoke licenses. Consumer protection means something different in 2025 than 1970. It's not about ages 3-5 being changed to 8-10 because it's a choking hazard. Today it's a bunch of tricks to take data and sell it, despite promises and expectations. ‘Accept enforced arbitration.’
The cost for this kind of project is moderation, because it requires a lot, to be able to have user-submitted content. Provide citations, show it's on page6 of the ToS and show how hard it is to find the ToS terms, with links for that.
'One of the only thing that allows people to get justice for this ... is class action lawsuits.' Macbook pro with a bad GPO gets replaced for free rather than costing $600. 'It's one of the few ways in the US to hold companies accountable and responsible, because the government doesn't.'
‘Companies are not held accountable or responsible by our government.’ Actually, that's a statement I've suddenly seen a bit recently, so maybe that's an upcoming trend. That corporations are the way to commit crimes or not pay taxes without the accountability individuals are held to. Same government, different treatment, it seems to many, for corporations and individuals.
It is more difficult to find parts now. The repair industry Rossman had been trying to improve, is an industry where it's more difficult now than 5 years ago. Parts used to be cheap and available, like $5, and now it's like $400 (Apples uses a ‘quality control, quality assurance’ certification to limit parts for repairers, I guess.)
All the problems go under the umbrella of Right to Repair, Rossman noted. Do you own your camera (and the manufacturer turns the service to its server off for some reason), or does the company still own it?
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