[sdiy] Death of DIY?

[James Patchell]

Well, heck...here in the states (US)...it is against the law in Oregon to 
pump your own gasoline at a service station....in fact...I heard it is a 
$500 fine.  There are silly laws everywhere.

At 10:46 PM 7/16/2005 -0400, R. D. Davis wrote:
>Quothe Paul Perry, from writings of Sun, Jul 17, 2005 at 11:24:28AM +1000:
> > That is already the case in Australia.
> > In fact, graduating as an electronic engineer, does not give you
> > the legal right to put a mains plug on anything. (you need a
> > trades qualification for that...)
>
>It's actually illegal there in Australia to build anything with a
>mains plug?  Wow.  What about something so simple as repairing a lamp
>by replacing a power cord or plug?  Everyone everywhere's done that,
>right? Even a child can make such a simple repair.  While the average
>politician may not know a volt from a phillips-head screw, replacing a
>mains plug, wiring a lamp or even building a simple power supply
>connected to 120VAC (240VAC, etc.) does not require very much
>knowledge or ability... it's so simple that to require some sort of
>license/certification is ridiculous!  Of course, I guess it's
>technically illegal in parts of the U.S. for someone to do any house
>wiring, or even install a replacement wall switch or electrical outlet
>without violating some sort of local codes.
>
>If such restrictions are indicative of a growing trend, the
>implications of this pertaining to SDIY are not good.  People need to
>be allowed to do possibly dangerous/hazardous things, it's good for
>evolution... let the idiots electrocute themselves, etc. so that they
>won't reproduce further or at all. :-) ...and being certified or
>licensed to do something is no proof of competency; I'm sure we've all
>run across many certified whatevers who were incompetent.
>
>On the bright side for SDIY, who's going to know if we build our own
>mains-connected circuitry in our own homes; just because it may become
>illegal shouldn't affect our continuing on with our hobby.  Any law
>that ridiculous deserves to be broken.  That doesn't mean that we
>shouldn't fight to prevent or overturn such laws however.
>
> > Mind you, most EE courses have turned into DSP & other computing
> > to try to keep some students.
>
>Blech!
>
>--
>Copyright (C) 2005 R.D. Davis The difference between humans & other 
>animals: an
>All Rights Reserved            unnatural belief that we're above Nature & her
>www.rddavis.org 410-744-4900    other creatures, using dogma to justify such
>Help to save the wild horses!    beliefs and to justify much human cruelty.

         -Jim
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