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Comment by version_five | Hacker News Reader

If you can't resell it, you don't really own it.

I wonder how this is enforced? Is there some kind of mandatory registration with Ford that is required for the car to work? Or are they threatening to sue if they find out you sold it?

Any car I have owned, reselling it has nothing to do with the dealer. This is one reason I would never a vehicle that came with any kind of software subscription from the dealer / manufacturer. It's just another tool they can use to extract money from you and deny your ownership rights.

In this case, it's not clear what the enforcement mechanism is though, it may not be software related.

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Yeah, I have a hard time seeing the courts enforcing this. There are precedents with books - publishers tried to prevent people selling used books, and the courts smacked them down.

I have a slightly less hard time seeing the courts allowing Ford to use technical means to prevent resale. (Though if Ford does it without informing buyers, that would probably be a major red flag to the courts.)

The key here is that Ford can just say "no sale" if you decline to accept the offer; someone else will be willing to buy it under those conditions.

OK, but courts can and do rule that certain provisions of contracts are not enforceable.

> If you can't resell it, you don't really own it.

The provision is for a one-year no-resale provision:

> Purchaser hereby agrees that it will not sell, offer to sell, or otherwise transfer any ownership interest in the Vehicle prior to the first anniversary of the date hereof.

The product is hot, it's understandable that Ford wants to prioritise users of the product over scalpers.

All Ford can do is take them to civil court, and it remains to be seen if any court will consider the contract enforceable.

It's a slight difference, sure, but not a meaningful one. If you buy the product, and are subsequently disallowed by the original seller to do what you please with it, then you don't own it and are merely leasing it - at least for the first year.

Then don't buy it. I don't buy iPhones for this exact reason.

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