The FTC Declares "Warranty Voiding Stickers" on Consoles Illegal

So, if you were to pick up your console and give it a quick look around, you might notice that theres a little sticker on the seam of the console. If its there, then its warning you that if this sticker is broken, itll void the warranty that protects the device. If its not there, then I have bad news about your warranty, but the good news is it might not stay that way for long.

See, the FTC  you know, those people who decided net neutrality isnt important has recently ruled that the warranty policies of six companies, including Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, is currently violating their market and warranty-voiding principles, and thus, will need to be changed. In theory.

Specifically, theyre saying that these stickers which obsessively exist to prove that the insides of the machine havent been tampered with are in violation of the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which states that no manufacturer charging more than $5 for a product may put repair restrictions on a device it's offering a warranty on."

Now, heres the thing: each company has been sent their own unique letter detailing the problems the FTC has with their current warranty policies and has 30 days to fix them. The catch, however, is that the FTC is not actually empowered to force companies to change their warranty policies, so this threat is actually pretty darn empty. Its how companies like Apple have been able to scam people out of paying for repairs for years now.

Pretty sick stuff. That sicker in the back is kind of a pain in the butt to deal with, and its a good cause for paranoia, so I would be more than happy to see it vanish. That said I wouldnt really hold my breath on that if I were you. So sorry if the opening paragraph got your hopes up.