Apple lobbies against 'right to repair' proposal in Nebraska
As reported earlier this year, Apple has sent delegates to officially oppose the passage of a so-called "right to repair" bill in Nebraska that would require the company to provide consumers and third-party repair shops access to service manuals and parts.
State Sen. Lydia Brasch, sponsor of Nebraska's Adopt the Fair Repair Act, said Apple representative Steve Kester apprised her of the pitfalls of similar "right to repair" legislation in a recent meeting, reports BuzzFeed News.
Specifically, Kester, who handles state and local government affairs for the Cupertino tech giant, warned Nebraska will become a "Mecca for bad actors" if the bill is passed. The legislation could provide hackers and other unsavory characters hardware-level access to Apple products.
Though previous reports claimed Apple planned to send an envoy to present against the proposal, dubbed LB67, during Thursday's hearing, it appears Kester met with Brasch in private.
That Apple is at odds with LB67 is unsurprising. The company has consistently opposed similar government action, saying its products should only be serviced by qualified technicians. Apple, along with other companies like Samsung and John Deere that would also be impacted by right to repair laws, argue such legislation would expose industry secrets and could create security and safety concerns.
The arguments were presented in a letter to Brasch penned by a number of tech industry groups, including CompTIA, the Consumer Technology Association, and the Information Technology Industry Council. Apple, Microsoft, Google, Samsung, Nintendo and Sony are among the many interests represented by the various interest groups.
Apple itself contends that conducting repairs through authorized outlets like Apple stores and vetted shops provides customers with a consistent experience. Further, an authorized repair network helps the company control and protect its various hardware platforms. On that note, Apple told Brasch it would not oppose LB67 if phones were excepted from the legislation.
Proponents of right to repair claim companies like Apple are only interested in holding sway over the lucrative repair industry. Opening up the repair market would present consumers with more choices, thereby lowering out-of-pocket costs, supporters say.
The problem of choice is of great concern for users living in rural areas, as companies often position their repair facilities in major metropolitan cities. Nebraska, for example, has only one brick-and-mortar Apple store -- a mall location in Village Pointe. A handful of authorized repair shops are sprinkled throughout the state, but many customers living in remote areas are forced to travel long distances or send in their device for service.
For now, Apple seems to have won a brief reprieve in its Nebraska pursuits. At the conclusion of Thursday's hearing, the chair of the Judiciary Committee concluded LB67 is unlikely to be considered this year, citing the inherent challenges of passing new legislation, the report said.
Still, state houses in Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Tennessee and Wyoming are currently mulling similar bills. Nebraska is so far the only state to hold hearings on the matter.
State Sen. Lydia Brasch, sponsor of Nebraska's Adopt the Fair Repair Act, said Apple representative Steve Kester apprised her of the pitfalls of similar "right to repair" legislation in a recent meeting, reports BuzzFeed News.
Specifically, Kester, who handles state and local government affairs for the Cupertino tech giant, warned Nebraska will become a "Mecca for bad actors" if the bill is passed. The legislation could provide hackers and other unsavory characters hardware-level access to Apple products.
Though previous reports claimed Apple planned to send an envoy to present against the proposal, dubbed LB67, during Thursday's hearing, it appears Kester met with Brasch in private.
That Apple is at odds with LB67 is unsurprising. The company has consistently opposed similar government action, saying its products should only be serviced by qualified technicians. Apple, along with other companies like Samsung and John Deere that would also be impacted by right to repair laws, argue such legislation would expose industry secrets and could create security and safety concerns.
The arguments were presented in a letter to Brasch penned by a number of tech industry groups, including CompTIA, the Consumer Technology Association, and the Information Technology Industry Council. Apple, Microsoft, Google, Samsung, Nintendo and Sony are among the many interests represented by the various interest groups.
Apple itself contends that conducting repairs through authorized outlets like Apple stores and vetted shops provides customers with a consistent experience. Further, an authorized repair network helps the company control and protect its various hardware platforms. On that note, Apple told Brasch it would not oppose LB67 if phones were excepted from the legislation.
Proponents of right to repair claim companies like Apple are only interested in holding sway over the lucrative repair industry. Opening up the repair market would present consumers with more choices, thereby lowering out-of-pocket costs, supporters say.
The problem of choice is of great concern for users living in rural areas, as companies often position their repair facilities in major metropolitan cities. Nebraska, for example, has only one brick-and-mortar Apple store -- a mall location in Village Pointe. A handful of authorized repair shops are sprinkled throughout the state, but many customers living in remote areas are forced to travel long distances or send in their device for service.
For now, Apple seems to have won a brief reprieve in its Nebraska pursuits. At the conclusion of Thursday's hearing, the chair of the Judiciary Committee concluded LB67 is unlikely to be considered this year, citing the inherent challenges of passing new legislation, the report said.
Still, state houses in Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Tennessee and Wyoming are currently mulling similar bills. Nebraska is so far the only state to hold hearings on the matter.
Comments
That never could see,
the value of law,
or education,
nor integrity.
It was discovered once,
that bullying and dumce
could be applied universally,
and would only cost
the land of the free.
When the check engine light turns on in a car, you can plug in an OBD reader, get a code, refer to a manual and fix the problem. With a tractor, the light turns on or something stops working, but you can't do anything about it yourself. You need to pay an authorized person to tell you what's wrong, pay them to fix it and clear the code. Since the authorized person is the only one that can fix your equipment, they can charge whatever they want.
Right now I am sitting at a desk with:
1. An MBA2012 that Apple said needed a new logic board—the logic board needed cleaning and connectors reseating, which I did.
2. A MacPro 2008 that needed a new power supply—scavenged by me from a dead machine and now running Sierra with hacks from dosdude.
3. A 2009 iMac that had a GPU board with solder cracks under the BGA—Apple wanted $550 to replace the GPU. Since that was more than twice the value of the iMac, I pulled the GPU board and had it reflowed for $60—still going strong after 2 years.
4. An Phone 4s on its third battery and second screen that I replaced.
5. An iPhone5 on its second battery that I replaced.
6. A Time Capsule that had a dead 2 TB disk that I replaced with a 4 TB drive.
All these older pieces of Apple kit have been kept out of landfill for a few extra years. Apple brags about it solar power data centers, new HQ, etc., saving the environment, but the single biggest contribution Apple could make is to give OWNERS of their older devices access to Apple parts and manuals at reasonable prices.
What would you achieve by going to iFixit, when you don't have the parts to repair your device? Figure out that your device cannot be repaired by anyone except the manufacturer? This is not just wrong on the part of Apple, all the companies do this all the time, creating E-Waste much more than required. This should be stopped immediately. If making a law is the only way to achieve it, so be it. If companies "design" the products to be "use and throw", that should also be stopped. Hopefully, this law will help in achieving it.
eBay?!
What a mess, why should Apple be forced to co sign for such a mess?
Use the proper and established system like everyone else.
Reliable? Safe??? Peace of mind?????
Nope, I am not expecting Apple/Samsung/LG/HTC/Sony/X/Y/Z companies to diagnose what's wrong with the device, if it is out of warranty. Just make the damn parts available, so that I can go to any third party shops to try my luck instead of throwing the device to dustbin because repairing the device by Apple/Samsung/X/Y/Z company would cost the same as buying a new device. That's all.
Remember, this is not just against apple who does provide a good after sales service albeit at a higher cost. The issue comes with many OEMs who neither provide good after sales support, nor components. Higher cost of repair also contributes to more E-Waste than required. With this law, the winners would be
i) Customer
ii) Environment