[News] 'Warranty Void if Removed' stickers illegal warns FTC

[StyM]

http://hexus.net/business/news/legal...gal-warns-ftc/

'Warranty Void if Removed' stickers are a pretty common sight to any technology enthusiast. You commonly see them on laptops, AV hardware, phones, and games consoles, among many other things. Interestingly, depending where you reside in the world such warnings may carry no legal weight at all, or might even be illegal.

Consumers in the USA will welcome the recent publishing of a letter by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in which it asserts that "it is Illegal to Condition Warranty Coverage on the Use of Specified Parts or Services". This, in effect, means that common-or-garden 'Warranty Void if Removed' stickers are illegal, simplifies a news report published by Motherboard.

It turns out that the FTC has sent warning letters to six major companies that market and sell automobiles, cellular devices, and video gaming systems in the United States. The companies targeted by the communications aren't named but could well include the likes of Microsoft, Sony and/or Nintendo as there aren't really any other major console makers around.

• The use of [company name] parts is required to keep your . . . manufacturer?s warranties and any extended warranties intact.
• This warranty shall not apply if this product . . . is used with products not sold or licensed by [company name].
• This warranty does not apply if this product . . . has had the warranty seal on the [product] altered, defaced, or removed.

[BenchZowner]

So, sometime in the near future, we might be able to change the thermal paste on our graphics card without having to resort to magic tricks to avoid losing our warranty for such a harmless thing.
Good!