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Apple Will Fight 'Right To Repair' Legislation (vice.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the Fix-It-Felix dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Motherboard: Apple is planning to fight proposed electronics "Right to Repair" legislation being considered by the Nebraska state legislature, according to a source within the legislature who is familiar with the bill's path through the statehouse. The legislation would require Apple and other electronics manufacturers to sell repair parts to consumers and independent repair shops, and would require manufacturers to make diagnostic and service manuals available to the public. Nebraska is one of eight states that are considering right to repair bills; last month, Nebraska, Minnesota, New York, Massachusetts, Kansas, and Wyoming introduced legislation. Last week, lawmakers in Illinois and Tennessee officially introduced similar bills. According to the source, an Apple representative, staffer, or lobbyist will testify against the bill at a hearing in Lincoln on March 9. ATT will also argue against the bill, the source said. The source told me that at least one of the companies plans to say that consumers who repair their own phones could cause lithium batteries to catch fire. So far, Nebraska is the only state to schedule a hearing for its legislation.

10 of 310 comments (clear)

  1. the real reason theyre arguing it. by nimbius · · Score: 5, Insightful

    consumers who repair their own phones could cause lithium batteries to catch fire.

    yep, and changing the oil on my motorcycle could cause scalding hot oil to burn me, but well documented processes from the vendor generally limit this risk. Repairing the power regulator for my refrigerator could have caused a shock, however repair manuals clearly instructed me to unplug and de-energize the appliance.

    the reason these bills are being fought incessantly is because modern consumer capitalism is predicated on brand consumption, not product consumption, and includes concessions to allow for the hedonic treadmill to spin freely. Sure, Apple may be forced to support older architectures that do not support the latest whizbang features but the real argument is that they would have to support the idea that the user owns the device instead of rents it until the next model comes out. being able to repair a cellphone or tablet, or even a macbook for that matter erodes the concept of the brand as an experience and slowly drags apple back to the earthly realm of hardware manufacturer and not a lifestyle. Owning a product, and not a brand in the 21st century is a slow death for any company.

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    1. Re:the real reason theyre arguing it. by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 5, Insightful

      its a lie.

      it has nothing to do with hazzards, other than the 'hazzard' of the company losing BIG PROFITS from captive repair bills.

      apple is really looking bad, here. there is nothing credible they could state to defend this 'you shall not be allowed to repair things you actually own' bullshit.

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    2. Re:the real reason theyre arguing it. by jonwil · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Good luck completly replacing the ROM contents on any current Apple device.
      Every device Apple currently sells (including the iPhone, iPod, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch and all Mac models) have firmware that will only run if its digitally signed by keys hardcoded into the CPU (not sure if the Macs require signatures for the entire firmware or just for the Intel Management Engine, that would probably depend on exactly which CPU is in a given product but either way you cant just replace the ROM chips and have a working system)

  2. Fighting it is evil by Baron_Yam · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If you SELL me something, it's mine. You don't have to sell me documentation, you don't have to make replacement parts available, but there's only one reason to stop me from repairing it myself and that's so you can squeeze more money out of me.

    Try renting instead of selling, then you can do whatever the hell you want, otherwise all you get to do is void any remaining warranty and refuse responsibility for damage caused by end-user repair.

    It's about time consumers started lynching CEOs over shit like this.

    1. Re:Fighting it is evil by edtice1559 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think that you may be the only one who is confused. Right to repair laws don't require any design changes in order to make things easier to repair. They simply require that parts are available for purchase and instructions are obtainable.

    2. Re:Fighting it is evil by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'd be fine with, "Manufacturers can prohibit personal and 3rd-party repair of devices sold for the advertised lifetime of the device, if and only if they provide free repair parts and services for that same period".

      We used to call that a warranty.

      Those used to be worth something.

      And they used to last for a reasonable working lifetime for a device, not provide the bare minimum standard of protection required by law to private customers, and provide even less to business customers as an incentive to sign-up for overpriced maintenance contracts on top of the original purchase price.

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  3. Fighting what they once were by HalAtWork · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Apple, once founded by tinkerers, is now fighting the tinkerers

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  4. My TRS-80 rocked by Snotnose · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Not only did Radio Shack give me all the software information I could want, I bought the technical manual that had the schematics and how it all worked. I used that info, I learned CS from that info. I made a career out of that info.

    Apple can suck a petrified mammoth dick over this move.

  5. Re: car to be dealership only service by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This is it exactly, only, if I recall correctly, in Nebraska for farm equipment that operates on the same repair scheme as apple. In other words, the farmer is not allowed to fix their own tractor.

  6. This won't solve anything. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If it actually goes through, Apple will just jack up the price of their replacement parts to the point that it'd be cheaper to buy a new computer.

    They already charge obscene prices for components, it's just that the repair centres don't pay anything as long as they ship back the defective component. For example, when I bought my 2010 Mac Pro, it came with a defective LG burner. That part cost around $20 to buy, apart from the Apple firmware customizations, which made it a $750 drive. The repair centre didn't actually pay $750 for a replacement part- it didn't cost them anything, because they shipped the defective part back to Apple.

    So Apple could quite easily double or quadruple the "price" of their replacement parts, and it wouldn't change anything service centre wise. It'd just fuck over the public, which is exactly what they'll do if they're forced to do anything.

    PS: What is there to replace in a modern day Mac? Everything is soldered to the main board. I guess the iMacs have a separate PSU module and a small DC fan, but that's about it, and you still need to cut that horrible foam striping around the LCD panel just to pull out the monitor so you can replace stuff, and then you need a replacement foam kit just to seal it back up again (remember that time the LCD glass panel was held on by magnets and removable by suction cups?). It's like people want to repair computers that are purposefully built to be as unrepairable as possible, which doesn't make much sense...