[...] it very much seems likely to me that there's some regulation that's forcing all these companies to do it.
[...] If we assume it is indeed some law that is forcing companies to restrict access to products and/or information,
[...]
Last time I checked, laws and regulations were public in most civilized countries. I am not buying into "some government agency is forcing them to do it, and stopping them from talking about the reasons" -- that's conspiracy BS. And if there are whatever liability concerns, warranty or other consumer rights implications, or just plain cost and overhead savings behind this, I don't see what stops R&S from explaining the reasons.
DO NOT put words in my mouth!!!
Nowhere did I say that the laws and regulations are secret, nor that the government has forced them to not talk about the law/regulation.
What I said is that the laws/regulations may restrict access to information. As in technical information. The law/regulation is not the “information” here.
(I will note that there are examples of secret government orders that prohibit disclosure of said order. That isn’t conspiracy theory, it’s established law in many countries. Look at public libraries and telecom/online service providers in USA and
warrant canaries. I am not suggesting that is the case here, though we can’t rule it out 100%.)
Though I generally disagree with it,* many, many companies have policies of basically not explaining
anything. And legally, they don’t owe it to us (unless part of a lawsuit, in which case it may be subpoenaed). It’s entirely possible, and IMHO likely, that export restrictions of some kind are the root cause here, but it’s up to the company to decide whether or not to explain what the cause is.
Also, do not underestimate the extent to which many companies apply those same principles
within. Not only do higher-ups withhold information from customers, many withhold it from their own employees. When I worked at the “fruit stand” years ago, and people asked us “when’s the new [iProduct] coming out?”, I was able to answer in complete honesty “I have no idea, we find out the same time you do”, because that is exactly how it worked. A lot of people seem to think that everyone in a company is equally informed on everything, but that is far from the truth, especially in large ones. R&S isn’t the size of the “fruit company”, but it’s not a little family-owned small business, either. They have around 13,000 employees, which means many divisions and many layers of management. And since some of those divisions do stuff that is defense-adjacent, I’d be very surprised if there weren’t specific regulations in place that affect certain operations.
Another reason companies keep quiet is to make sure nobody accidentally makes a statement that has legal repercussions. That is one reason many companies give their employees specific phrases to use when answering certain questions, because answering the wrong way would create liability of some sort. (For example, that is why AppleCare is not an “extended warranty”, but a “protection plan”, because apparently calling it a warranty would have some legal repercussions. Don’t ask me what they are, as I don’t know, and I’m not a lawyer anyway.) It’s also why many companies funnel all press inquiries to dedicated spokespersons and prohibit employees from talking to the press without prior permission. It’s also why many chain stores expressly prohibit employees (including store managers!) from posting any signage or documentation other than what is provided by corporate or required by law.
*I say “generally” and not “completely” because I have had enough customer- and user-facing work to experience firsthand how some people will take whatever totally reasonable explanation you give them and then twist your words and try to use it against you. It’s exhausting and time-consuming, and generally goes nowhere as their opinion is already formed and immutable, so I totally understand why many companies choose to just say nothing. Your own behavior in this thread actually kinda steps into that territory, as evidenced by you trying to twist my words into things they did not say.
Home
Help
Search
Login
Register
