The law that allows the FTC to take action on the matter is the fact that they exist.

Congress does not have to address it, because Congress created the FTC to address things like this a century ago. Congress doesn't need to delegate anything because this is explicitly within the FTC's jurisdiction already. It also doesn't matter that the founding law doesn't mention specific products and services - the role of the FTC is to protect consumers.

Keep in mind that there has been nothing official from the FTC yet, but they have the power to step in and try (perhaps not successfully) to regulate, alter or annul even state-level laws that they feel are to the detriment of consumers. That is precisely the reason they exist.

And since you mentioned them, the FTC has also bumped heads with the AMA back in the 1970s for somewhat similar reasons. The AMA lost.
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So they rig the laws in their favor, such that they aren't doing anything that's illegal by the letter of the law, and that's 100% fine? That's the only criteria? As long as they get the laws changed they can do whatever they want and you'd be totally cool with it because it's by-definition legal? No such thing as an unjust law, or even a law which is itself illegal?

What's your opinion on the Voting Rights Act?

And yes, the MANUFACTURERS are indeed part of it, not just the dealers.
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So you don't think, that corporations are practicing "unfair trade practices" just because the actions of corporations are made by proxy through state government via lobbying? It's somehow not a problem if state laws allow it?

What's your opinion on the Voting Rights Act?
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It's in the state's interest because the auto dealers and manufacturers lobby to make it the state's interest. That's pretty much how government works...

Auto dealers don't want competition, especially from a seller who doesn't have the overhead of maintaining a series of brick-and-mortar shops. Manufacturers don't want competition from another manufacturer. Together they put pressure on the state governments to mold laws in such a way as to keep the competition out.
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Dealers don't sell cars on behalf of the manufacturer, they buy the cars from the manufacturer and re-sell them.

Part of the abuses was manufacturers forcing dealers to buy cars. This enabled the manufacturers to continue making profits and claim sales numbers even though the cars never left the dealer's lots.

See also the "Automobile Dealer's Day in Court Act" - 1956.
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The creation of the FTC is the law Congress passed in order to deal with these issues.

So yes, the FTC DOES in fact have the authority, because Congress gave it to them back in 1914.
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I had the same question and started clicking around. I came up with this:

http://www.bppe.ca.gov/lawsreg...

Just browsing through the dense wall of legalese, it seems largely related to being clear (and documented) in purpose and intent, having structured hierarchy of responsibility, good record keeping practices, providing appropriate resources (access to staff, libraries/labs, equipment etc), having clearly defined financial policies in place, making sure your faculty is competent and up to date on their subject matter, have clearly defined admission standards, etc.

I don't see anything particularly onerous in these requirements.
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I dunno, but compliance is not necessarily a bad thing.

I want all of my electrical and electronic devices to comply with appropriate standards and regulations so they all work together and are safe to use.

I want vehicles and buildings to comply with the myriad of safety regulations.

I want my food and food preparation/handling facilities to comply with best practices.

I don't know what the BPPE requires with respect to compliance (article does not say in what way these places are not in compliance), but maybe I want that too.
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"It works in Kerbal Space Program."

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1. There are valve assemblies on "top" of each piston assembly, and these valves are flipped back and forth by the motion of the pistons themselves.

2. The tubes are only a few inches long between valve and piston, and the valve itself vents the "off" side. At most you only need to depressurize a few inches of tubing at a time.

3. There appears to be four pistons per assembly, 16 assemblies per stack, and 4 stacks. Each piston assembly has a small crankshaft which outputs to a gear, and then each assembly in the stack combines their power via a set of gears to a shaft, and each stack contributes to the shaft. You don't have (or need) a single central crankshaft like with a typical car engine.

4. It doesn't necessarily need bearings, but it's entirely possible to make select sections that are round enough or use a series of wheels that ride in a round-enough track for support. Alternatively, the gearboxes on either end could be non-LEGO, leaving only the shaft to be built with no support required. (I suspect this is the case at least for the rear axle)

5. Each piston has a travel of ~3cm and has dick-all inertia.

6. Agreed, but there's a dropbox linked through the official site has some better photos.

Being an experiences LEGO nerd, there's nothing obvious that completely rules out such a contraption. I suspect they may have used glue on some parts, though, at the very least.
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With a little finagling, you can print serviceable PCBs and functional transistors using the same basic machine. Not in any real quality of course, but "it technically works" proof of concept stuff so far.

But after a certain point, you're no longer printing parts but just commodity items. For example, there's no point in printing nails for a wooden frame because nails are literally cheaper than a dime a dozen to begin with.
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