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FTC urged to make smart devices say how long they will be supported | Sudden subscription fees, lost features causing users "death by a thousand cuts."

Sudden subscription fees, lost features causing users "death by a thousand cuts."

As we've frequently covered here at Ars, startups and big tech companies are guilty of rendering hardware obsolete and/or stripping it of core functions. "While the FTC has taken some limited actions with regard to this issue, a lack of clarity and enforcement has led to an ecosystem where consumers cannot reliably count on the connected products they buy to last," the letter reads. The letter, which includes signatures from members of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Software Freedom Conservancy, and Repair Cafe, compared the loss of features on already-purchased devices to "death by a thousand cuts."

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