A bit late getting to this but the underlying story, the power of monopolies, is so important that better late than never applies.
From Bloomberg, May 20:
Justin Millman has always fixed things. He tinkered with gadgets growing up before opening a repair shop in Westbury, New York, a few blocks south of the Long Island Expressway. Students from a nearby school started trickling in with their busted devices and business was brisk enough that Millman worked only on those. Each month he now fixes some 2,000 iPads and Chromebooks, computers that, since the pandemic, have become education essentials.
Sometimes, though, Millman can’t fix them. It’s not that he’s technically incapable. It’s that the parts and schematics aren’t available, usually because device manufacturers, including the world’s richest companies — like Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc’s Google — don’t share them. Several students recently came to Millman with defective WiFi cards on their Chromebooks, laptops designed only to work when connected to the internet. That card widget “is not a particularly hard-to-find or expensive part,” Millman explained — but the laptop maker requires a specific version to be installed and Millman isn’t on the shortlist of approved repair providers. He counts 25 schools he works with facing an identical flaw. “And that’s just me,” he said.
For years, technology companies have imposed strict limits on who can fix chipped iPhones, broken game consoles and a wealth of other non-working (or defective) gadgets. Components are kept in short supply or simply not shared with independent shops to mend things like USB ports and batteries. After seeing these restrictions firsthand, Millman joined a cadre of small business owners, hobbyists and activists pushing right-to-repair bills across the country. These measures are designed to undo rules businesses set to restrict repairs to authorized providers for a vast range of products from a Kindle to a wheelchair.
Twenty-seven states considered such bills in 2021. More than half have already been voted down or dismissed, according to consumer groups tracking the proposals. To advocates of these bills, the current repair system is a major reason why we cycle through personal devices so quickly, furthering the environmental impact of these gadgets.
America’s smartphone habit alone eats up some 23.7 million tons of raw material, according to a report from US PIRG. The consumer group estimated that people holding onto their smartphones for an extra year would be the emissions equivalent of taking 636,000 cars off the road.
One reason these legislative efforts have failed is the opposition, which happens to sell boatloads of new devices every year. Microsoft’s top lawyer advocated against a repair bill in its home state. Lobbyists for Google and Amazon.com Inc swooped into Colorado this year to help quash a proposal. Trade groups representing Apple Inc successfully buried a version in Nevada. Telecoms, home appliance firms and medical companies also opposed the measures, but few have the lobbying muscle and cash of these technology giants. While tech companies face high-profile scrutiny in Washington, they quietly wield power in statehouses to shape public policy and stamp out unwelcome laws. Tech companies argue that right-to-repair laws would let pirates rip off intellectual property and expose consumers to security risks. In several statehouses, lobbyists told lawmakers that unauthorized repair shops could damage batteries on devices, posing a threat of spontaneous combustion.
Consumer groups don’t buy these claims. They say tech firms are holding fast to a status quo that forces consumers to pay more for repairs or simply buy new devices. “These companies have monopoly power,” said Brianna Titone, a Colorado legislator who sponsored a repair bill. “They’re not looking for a compromise. They’re looking for, ‘Leave us alone. Stop this. Go away.’”
TechNet, a trade group representing several large tech firms including Google and Apple, sent letters to lawmakers in multiple states as part of an industry coalition. “Allowing unvetted third parties with access to sensitive diagnostic information, software, tools, and parts would jeopardize the safety and security of consumers’ devices and put consumers at risk for fraud,” David Edmonson, a TechNet vice president, said in a statement. “States have continually rejected legislation like this, with 25 states alone last year deciding not to take action.”
Pressure is not going away, however. Advocates are pressing forward in New York and other states using testimony from local business owners like Millman. In early May, the Federal Trade Commission released a report to Congress arguing that the current system for consumer electronics harms competition and economic development in low-income areas. “The pandemic has exacerbated the effects of repair restrictions on consumers,” the agency wrote, noting the particular shortages of school laptops. “[T]here is scant evidence to support manufacturers’ justification for repair restrictions,” the agency concluded. Edmonson from TechNet said the group is “actively considering” the agency’s findings.
It started with cars. In 2012, voters in Massachusetts passed a law requiring automakers to share information on vehicle systems with dealers and unaffiliated repair shops. Since then, consumer advocates have called for similar measures to apply to electronic gadgets, ventilators and farm equipment — but none have been successful....
....MUCH MORE
Previously:July 2019
Pearson, Biggest Textbook Publisher, Pushing Students To Ebooks You Can't Resell (PSON.L)
Combining a couple threads from days gone by. Do you, or don't you, own what you've paid for?
And one of the best market calls ever. ...
May 2019
"Apple Is Telling Lawmakers People Will Hurt Themselves if They Try to Fix iPhones" (AAPL)
April 2019
"U.S. Farmers Are Being Bled by the Tractor Monopoly" (DE)
This is a major story and not just for farmers and people who eat food....
"Why American Farmers Are Hacking Their Tractors With Ukrainian Firmware" (DE)
April 2015
John Deere Tells Patent Office That Purchasers Don't Actually Own the Machine They Paid For (DE)
May 2015
"John
Deere Clarifies: It's Trying To Abuse Copyright Law To Stop You From
Owning Your Own Tractor... Because It Cares About You" (DE)
November 2016
For the Next Two Years Auto Manufacturers Can't Have You Arrested...
...for trying to repair or modify the software on your own car.
March 2018
"The Right to Repair Battle Has Come to Silicon Valley"
You didn't thinks all those posts on John Deere and "Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc."
were simply about tractors and textbooks did you? I mean, sure they
were, but they were also about whether you own the stuff you buy and if
the Supreme Court would uphold the First Sale Doctrine.
Oct. 2018
A Major Win For the Right to Repair Your Own Stuff (AAPL; DE)
We've chronicled how manufacturers, most egregiously John Deere of all people, have been inserting clauses into purchase agreements that basically state, errrmmm, that you didn't actually purchase anything more than a service."The 'Right to Repair' Movement Is Gaining Ground and Could Hit Manufacturers Hard"
The U.S. copyright office would beg to differ with the manufacturers on one weapon they've been using....
What started as a single observation has become a series, this manufacturer's claim that when you buy their product you've actually just entered into some sort of neo-feudal lease arrangement, some links below....
