[Info-vax] Latest TCPIP Services seem irreparably horked...

[Jan-Erik Soderholm]

Richard B. Gilbert wrote 2012-03-05 20:47:
> On 3/5/2012 9:16 AM, Paul Sture wrote:
>> On Mon, 05 Mar 2012 00:10:53 -0800, John Wallace wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> "We don't require car manufacturers to design their cars so that one can
>>> easily swap the factory-supplied engine, or air-conditioning system, or
>>> brakes or whatever with third-party products."
>>>
>>> Actually I thought there were legal precedents to the opposite effect in
>>> some countries e.g. the UK and quite possibly the EU. If I remember
>>> rightly, vehicle manufacturers have been legally required to permit and
>>> not obstruct the supply of "compatible" after-market parts such as
>>> exhaust systems. Can't remember the full details, and as with all things
>>> legal, different countries may have different rules, and the rules may
>>> change from time to time anyway.
>>>
>>> e.g.
>>> http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/british-leyland-motor-corporation-ltd-v-
>> armstrong-patents-co-ltd
>>
>> The use of "spurious parts" (as they are known in Yorkshire anyway) is
>> discouraged by the manufacturers, but when you compare the quality and
>> price of them you can make significant savings and/or longevity gains by
>> buying third party products. Exhausts can be tricky; I once bought one
>> for circa 175 instead of the recommended manufacturer's item at nearly
>> 400, but forever after that car didn't run as it had done before,
>> stalling at idle etc.
>>
>> But when third party adjustable shock absorbers cost less than the
>> manufacturer's own item which has a design lifetime which only reaches
>> the end of the warranty period, you can get better quality.
>>
>> One thing I do recall several European car manufacturers getting taken to
>> court for was their reluctance to supply right hand drive models from
>> Europe for export to the UK. Significant savings could be made by
>> customers doing this, but the manufacturers were trying to block their
>> ability to do so.
>>
>
> This seems most peculiar! What legal theory holds that a manufacturer in,
> say, France, has a duty to supply right hand drive vehicles for use in the
> UK? It may be profitable for them to do so but I have trouble
> seeing a duty there.
>
> It's my understanding that this situation is ancient history,

Driving on the wrong side? I don't think so. :-)


> the Brits
> finally joined the rest of the world. Seems to me it was twenty or more
> years ago.
>