'Right to Repair' debate in DC continues, focuses on monopoly busting
Right-to-repair advocates -- and opponents -- are filing opinions with the US Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice, all hoping to influence the debate on whether or not tech firms have the right to dictate how and where their devices are repaired.
Lobbyists on both sides of the right-to-repair argument have headed to Washington physically and digitally to discuss whether or not an end-user has the right to repair a device themselves or through a third-party company.
Gay Gordon-Byrne, the Executive Director of the Digital Right to Repair Coalition, issued a statement to the Department of Justice's Anti-Trust subcommittee during following an initial hearing on July 16. The statement focuses on how monopolies hurt small businesses and cost consumers more in the end.
"Technology repair is being thwarted across many industries in the same way as it had been thwarted for automotive repair. Monopolized repair is common because it is easy to do, highly lucrative, and until recently, has gone unchallenged," the statement reads. "Repair as a business is separate from that of manufacturing, retailing or software development. Tying repair to the sale shouldn't be allowed, but has become the norm. Manufacturers consistently assert that they alone should be allowed to make repairs."
The issue has spread across the U.S., with over a dozen states introducing right-to-repair legislation in the last couple years. If the legislation were to pass, manufacturers, such as Apple, would have to provide repair manuals and spare parts to the public. Proponents, including Gordon-Byrne, argue that this would help small businesses thrive, save consumers money, as well as reduce environmental impact.
Other advocates, such as Nathan Proctor, who directs a separate Right to Repair Campaign, had said that companies such as Apple have an incentive to restrict the repair of their devices.
"Earlier this year, in a letter to shareholders, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that iPhone sales were lagging behind projections. Among other reasons, Cook noted a contributing factor was "customers taking advantage of significantly reduced pricing for iPhone battery replacements," the first time Apple has admitted repair hurts its profits," Proctor said in the July 16 hearing before The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law.
There's an argument to be made for letting Apple-authorized service providers have the exclusive rights to repairing a device as well. As the years have advanced, and devices have gotten slimmer, design choices like sealed devices and glued-in batteries have reduced failure rates over the last 20 years. But, these choices can, and do, cut back on what consumers can easily or safely repair.
Repairs attempted by someone without proper training could lead to damage to the device, or more worryingly, injure the person providing a repair. Lithium-ion batteries are especially dangerous. A 2018 incident in China saw a man rupture a replacement battery by biting into it -- obviously not a safe act, nor a particularly repair-oriented one.
Apple has responded to the right-to-repair issue, citing customer safety and environmental sustainability as reasons to dissuade customers from repairing their devices outside of an Apple authorized service provider.
"We want to make sure our customers always have confidence their products will be repaired safely and correctly, and in a way that supports recycling," said an Apple spokesperson in a statement, according to Axios. "We are continually growing our network of certified technicians and most recently announced that any Best Buy store in the U.S. is now an authorized service provider."
But, Apple may be slightly changing tack from a previous hard-line stance on the matter. In March, Apple quietly launched the new "Apple Genuine Parts Repair" program, which puts Apple service materials in the hands of some companies with lighter restrictions than than before. Access to repair materials is a key request of right to repair advocates.
Lobbyists on both sides of the right-to-repair argument have headed to Washington physically and digitally to discuss whether or not an end-user has the right to repair a device themselves or through a third-party company.
Gay Gordon-Byrne, the Executive Director of the Digital Right to Repair Coalition, issued a statement to the Department of Justice's Anti-Trust subcommittee during following an initial hearing on July 16. The statement focuses on how monopolies hurt small businesses and cost consumers more in the end.
"Technology repair is being thwarted across many industries in the same way as it had been thwarted for automotive repair. Monopolized repair is common because it is easy to do, highly lucrative, and until recently, has gone unchallenged," the statement reads. "Repair as a business is separate from that of manufacturing, retailing or software development. Tying repair to the sale shouldn't be allowed, but has become the norm. Manufacturers consistently assert that they alone should be allowed to make repairs."
The issue has spread across the U.S., with over a dozen states introducing right-to-repair legislation in the last couple years. If the legislation were to pass, manufacturers, such as Apple, would have to provide repair manuals and spare parts to the public. Proponents, including Gordon-Byrne, argue that this would help small businesses thrive, save consumers money, as well as reduce environmental impact.
Other advocates, such as Nathan Proctor, who directs a separate Right to Repair Campaign, had said that companies such as Apple have an incentive to restrict the repair of their devices.
"Earlier this year, in a letter to shareholders, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that iPhone sales were lagging behind projections. Among other reasons, Cook noted a contributing factor was "customers taking advantage of significantly reduced pricing for iPhone battery replacements," the first time Apple has admitted repair hurts its profits," Proctor said in the July 16 hearing before The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law.
There's an argument to be made for letting Apple-authorized service providers have the exclusive rights to repairing a device as well. As the years have advanced, and devices have gotten slimmer, design choices like sealed devices and glued-in batteries have reduced failure rates over the last 20 years. But, these choices can, and do, cut back on what consumers can easily or safely repair.
Repairs attempted by someone without proper training could lead to damage to the device, or more worryingly, injure the person providing a repair. Lithium-ion batteries are especially dangerous. A 2018 incident in China saw a man rupture a replacement battery by biting into it -- obviously not a safe act, nor a particularly repair-oriented one.
Apple has responded to the right-to-repair issue, citing customer safety and environmental sustainability as reasons to dissuade customers from repairing their devices outside of an Apple authorized service provider.
"We want to make sure our customers always have confidence their products will be repaired safely and correctly, and in a way that supports recycling," said an Apple spokesperson in a statement, according to Axios. "We are continually growing our network of certified technicians and most recently announced that any Best Buy store in the U.S. is now an authorized service provider."
But, Apple may be slightly changing tack from a previous hard-line stance on the matter. In March, Apple quietly launched the new "Apple Genuine Parts Repair" program, which puts Apple service materials in the hands of some companies with lighter restrictions than than before. Access to repair materials is a key request of right to repair advocates.
Comments
Apple wants to control quality and safety. Safety is self explanatory, but quality is about resell value which is huge for Apple’s brand.
If it was just about the dollars to repair an Apple device, Apple wouldn’t have authorized Best Buy for service and repairs. Best Buy has about 4x as many stores in the USA vs Apple.
Lets face it... the easy days of repairing devices is over. This isn’t just Apple, but all the major electronics companies...everything is now glued or soldered on. Consumers have benefited from increased durability and smaller devices. Smallish repair shops can’t maintain high quality in this new environment. It’s not just quality components (OEM) being available, but diagnostics equipment, etc.
FYI: I’ve been an IT Technician/Network Administrator/Consultant/Manager.
I enjoy doing upgrades and repair myself, but with most mobile devices, it’s no longer worth it.
The “discussion” is over... but no one has told the politicians.
Monday, comes along and I'm at the Apple Store. The Genius did the same thing I did and said there was nothing else they could do "have you seen the new iPads? They are really incredible and you should just get one of the new iPads" I express to her how I purchased this one right when it came out and how I paid a lot for it with the extra storage. "That's the problem with the iPads and the screen" they didn't really finish their sentence "I read on Apple's website that I could get a new screen for $599" I finally said. They had to look into it on their side "Well yeah you could get a new screen and we could fix it or while we don't recommend it you could go to an Apple Authorized dealer to try to get it fixed but the screen might end up working for a year before it fails again. I would really recommend just getting one of the new iPads." That was that.
I left feeling incredibly displeased, and honestly a little angry. I spent over a thousand dollars on an Apple product that was less than two years old and here I was being told to just buy a new one? Is this really the new norm from Apple? I remember when I worked at an Apple Store the Genius would actually do some tests to see exactly what could be wrong with it, rather than just a simple hard reset which anyone could do. I take very good care of my Apple products because I know they are so expensive (and I don't have a disposable income) so for the the display just to die seems like a freak accident that they should look into a little further.
I think we cannot blame Apple for warning the customer in advance about subsequent failures. You can make it repaired for $600 and use it for one year before it fails again, this is what the store staff told you. Or you can buy a new one by paying just the difference (since you already consent to pay $600 for repair). Apple doesn’t prevent your right to service in this incident, they just notify you about the options.
I feel like hearing shoutings like “then why Apple doesn't upgrade to a new model at the repair cost, i.e $600?”. Err, Apple is not that stupid, then crowds would drop their iPads and raid Apple stores to get a brand new model at the repair cost ! There are more civilized ways to upgrade a product.
Edit: some repairs may last longer than previewed but only experienced service personnel can inform you about the longevity of a repair. I suggest to get a second, third, fourth opinion by contacting authorized and trained official Apple service centers (not Angela-formatted Apple store staff, independent businesses).
or just check if you can find a new/used screen cheap on eBay.
What was that scared you?
You get what you want.
Enjoy my free advice.
It's very simple: Before somebody buys an Apple Product they need to be informed that they need to return to an authorized repair center if it needs repairs -- or, a laundry list of bad things can happen -- including a voided warranty and unpredictable behavior.
Most things today can be reused and recycled. The big lie is the fact we all have been "recycling" for 30 yrs and most of what gets recycled never got recycled as everyone thought it would. Much of it was burned to generate electricity or other power. what was not burn shipped to China which they attempted to recycled, but much of it was buried or dumped into the sea (where do you think the island of plastic came from it was not American though their straws overboard). The Reason recycling did not work, is because consumers were unwilling to do what is necessary to properly recycle like not mixing plastic types or plastic which are not easily recycle, you know the cap on water bottle can not be recycled. The only thing in the US which is consistently recycle is steel from Cars and Appliances. Most AL is recycled but is mostly was shipped to China not recycled in the US.
To this point you can not legislate behavior nor can you legislate to fix stupid. Every person has to decide to not be part of the throw away society there are lots of things people can do themselves to lower their impact. At our house our garage only go to curb once every 3 weeks, we did recycle as much as we can, but now I know most items never get recycled we looking at how to reduce recycling except for steel and AL. We also try to reuse, but people today do not want peoples old stuff. We try to give away furniture and unless it perfect no one wants it. The problem are not simple and you can not expect government to fix it, people have to decide they want it.
I remember when milk bottles and soft drink bottles were returnable. I also remember when "things" got fixed rather than replaced.