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Comment by JimmyL | Hacker News Reader

Anyone know more details about this, and if it's been approved? My understanding is that everything that's part of a home wiring system (like this) needs to go through a bunch of test (UL, etc.) before it can legally be installed in a house - and that seems like a lot of work for a small-ish third-party accessory company to go though.

EDIT: Looks like it's not yet - from the ordering page, "This item is currently waiting on final UL Approval. It is scheduled to begin shipping in early 2010."

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Was just about to post that its awaiting approval... hopefully this idea will catch on!

"Patent pending" might stop that from happening...

Why?

He is saying that if there is a patent, not as many people will try to implement this.

Like CD? BluRay? DVD? Patents don't stop things from being implemented. Sounds like propaganda to me.

That depends primarily on whether the patent holder licenses it, and for a reasonable price.

AFAIK they can patent it all they want, if it's introduced as an acceptable electrical standard (with the mass usage of USB devices, this possibly isn't too far off) then the patent means shit and there's little to no recourse the company can take.

"before it can be legally installed"

Does that only count for wiring that is attached to a public grid?

E.g. if I have a homebrew energy system that doesn't touch a grid, am I free to attach anything I want including such USB outlets?

Depends; it would be reasonable for a dense city to still have restrictions since fire has a propensity to spread and if your place burns down, your neighbors' might too.

The UL is a certification program, They can't really tell you what you can/can't install in your own home. They can't even tell you what you can/can't sell to someone else. The issue is that most distributors won't buy/sell things w/o UL approval (for good reason). I'd most certainly guess that the creators have had them in their home for some time.

When I worked in commercial electronics, it was very typical for engineers to install development products in their home, long before UL approval.

E.g. if I have a homebrew energy system that doesn't touch a grid, am I free to attach anything I want including such USB outlets?

It needs to meet the building codes if you ever plan to sell your house or collect from your insurance policy if it burns down.

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