• Olgratin_Magmatoe@startrek.website
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      1 year ago

      As to why a Scientology-owned group would care about such a matter, 404 Media suggested that it could have to do with Scientology E-meters, or electropsychometers. The Church of Scientology describes the machines as an “electronic instrument that measures mental state and change of state in individuals and assists the precision and speed of auditing” and that only a Scientology minister or training minister should use. 404 Media noted that some people collect the devices and, oddly enough, you can find E-Meters sold on eBay.

      “My hunch is that the Scientologists think granting the hacking community permission to dig into their E-Meter software will expose the whole operation as snake oil. The request is like so many other anti-Right to Repair arguments: Manufacturers are afraid that access to repair materials will expose some of their other dirty secrets,” Chamberlain said.

    • hddsx@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      Nobody finds out their religious contraption doesn’t do anything and/or explains to other Scientologists what it actually does

      • TimeSquirrel@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        It’s a Wheatstone bridge, a very well-known circuit that’s used to measure resistance very accurately. That’s about it. You can slap one together at home very easily. There’s nothing special in this device that would even benefit from right to repair, any halfway decent engineer or hobbyist can figure it out. It’s like wanting to repair a desk lamp, you don’t need schematics or data sheets to do that.

        • mustardman@discuss.tchncs.de
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          1 year ago

          While they are still essentially measuring galvanic skin response, modern ones have a lot more going on internally.

    • ours@lemmy.film
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      1 year ago

      Make it harder for the free Scientology groups to operate. The groups offering the same services for free and without the accuser and they use second hand e-meters.

      It’s the methadone to the CoCs opium and the church doesn’t like it.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    1 year ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    From Big Tech to politicians and individuals who don’t think product repairability should be government-mandated, it’s been a tedious battle for a movement that has seen major wins lately.

    The Scientology group’s letter seeks to alter exemptions granted for self-repairing some consumer electronics, like video game consoles, laptops, home appliances, and farming tractors.

    With those products, the license agreement is “negotiated and agreed to in advance” of purchase and may include restrictions that are critical to “safe and proper” device usage.

    “I can imagine manufacturers using the presence of a ‘quick start’ guide for a product as evidence that their consumers are ‘specially trained in use of the device’ and thus denying broad access to repair.”

    Nathan Proctor, US Public Interest Research Group’s senior director, told 404 Media that Author Services’ requested DMCA changes would prevent people from repairing products with end-user license agreements (EULAs).

    Regardless of how an organization representing the works of the creator of Scientology ended up in the Copyright Office’s mailbox, right-to-repair advocates say the amendment would harm the movement that would extend past electropsychometers if it were ever implemented.


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