The Week in Repair: July 3 -9
The FTC turns up the heat on illegal warranty restrictions by grill maker Weber. Australia’s right to repair law takes effect. Also: the environmental cost of upgrading your smart phone.
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FTC brings the heat to Weber over illegal warranty restrictions on grills
On the heels of the nation’s largest grilling holiday, the Federal Trade Commission announced Thursday that it is sanctioning Weber for illegally voiding the warranties of grill owners who installed third-party products on their gas grills.
This is the third punitive action against a major, beloved American company in the last several weeks from the FTC and indicates that the Biden government is serious about the right to repair, the concept of ownership, and consumer protection. Last month, the FTC took similar action against Harley Davidson and appliance manufacturer Westinghouse. (VICE.com)
What are the environmental costs of upgrading your smart phone?
When we average the carbon emissions of all iPhone 13 models, we get an average of 67 kg of carbon emissions per phone. If we multiply that by the number of phones sold for 2021's holiday season, we get an astonishing 1,420,400,000 kg of carbon emissions. That's equal to the carbon footprint of year-long energy use of nearly 180,000 homes—all for needlessly upgrading devices.. (Makeuseof)
The Ministry of Economy announces 200,000 Euro for circular economy projects
The Ministry of Economy has published the draft Government Decision on the approval of the Mechanism for granting financial support from the state budget through the Transition to the Circular Economy Program for the manufacturing industry.
The project aims at both the development of new industrial sectors and the revitalization of traditional industrial sectors by processing and using existing resources, waste that have a strong negative impact at national and international level, compared to the territories of our neighboring states. (thediplomat.ro)
Spotlight on the right-to-repair movement and IP rights in India
India does not have right-to-repair legislation yet. However, there are judicial pronouncements that have tacitly recognised this right.
The judgment of the Competition Commission of India (upheld by the now defunct Competition Appellate Tribunal) in the case of Shri Shamsher Kataria v Honda Siel Cars Limited & Ors (2014) is significant as it tackled competition issues juxtaposed with IP concerns in the automotive sector. In this case, 14 automobile manufacturers were held liable for engaging in the anti-competitive conduct of abusing their dominant position and selling spare parts only to authorised dealers and not to independent outlets. The commission held that IP rights cannot be used as a defence for an alleged misuse of a dominant position under the competition rules. The court ruled that the companies shall provide repair rights to third-party outlets, along with the relevant spare parts and data.
Canadians confused about who owns car data
A new report from AIA Canada entitled, Data Awareness, Ownership & Sharing: Vehicle Owner Attitudes Towards In-Car Data, has revealed that a large percentage of Canadians are unsure of who owns their vehicle-generated data.
The new report indicates that 34 percent of Canadians think they own vehicle data, while a close 30 percent think vehicle manufacturers own it—21 percent said they had no idea whatsoever. Despite confusion over who owns vehicle data, over 75 percent of respondents indicated that they believe that drivers themselves should own it.
The question of data ownership comes amidst right to repair support in Canada and a petition presented to the House of Commons. The proposed right to repair legislation gives consumers the choice of where to fix their vehicles alongside open access to OEM tools, software and vehicle data. (collisionrepairmag.com)
Macs are getting fewer updates than they used to. Here’s why it’s a problem
Using data from Apple's website and EveryMac.com, Ars Technica pulled together information on more than two decades of Mac releases—almost everything Apple has released between the original iMac in late 1998 and the last Intel Macs in 2020.
Measuring support from the time each Mac was discontinued shows us a trend line with the same basic shape as before: a sustained drop during the transition to Intel and a sustained increase once Intel Macs were well-established—but with a more pronounced decrease in support for Intel Macs released in and after 2014. Sometimes, Apple will keep older hardware around as entry-level models after introducing a significant hardware redesign, like it did with 2012's non-Retina MacBook Pros, 2015's Intel MacBook Air, or (most recently) 2020's M1 MacBook Air. Buying those Macs can save you some money in the short term, but you need to weigh the savings against the likelihood that you could stop getting macOS updates a year or two earlier than if you bought brand-new, just-launched hardware. (Ars Technica)
Even experienced technicians find Apple’s repair problem is hard to navigate
Self-repair is one of the cornerstones of the right-to-repair movement. The idea is simple. If I own a product, I should be able to repair it. Apple has been one of the movement's staunchest opponents, but the tech giant faced increasing pressure in the last year. Last July, President Biden signed an executive order directing the Federal Trade Commission to crack down on companies that restrict repair. More than 25 states have introduced right-to-repair bills. Nathan Proctor leads the right-to-repair campaign for U.S. PIRG, a nonprofit advocacy group. Proctor says Apple's current repair system pushes consumers to buy new phones over small, fixable issues. (npr.org)
What eBay’s certification partnership means for resellers
One of the world’s biggest e-commerce channels, eBay, has launched a program allowing refurbishers to sell Phonecheck-certified devices through the platform. One expert explained what the development means for remarketers.
Last month, eBay announced a partnership with Los Angeles-based mobile device certification provider Phonecheck, which uses advanced software to evaluate and pull device history data for a device – essentially a Carfax for refurbished electronics. (resource-recycling.com)
Australian ‘right to repair’ law guarantees data access to repairers, not part makers
Independent repairers in Australia now have access to all OEM information needed to diagnose, service, and repair vehicles under legislation meant to “establish a fair playing field” in the industry.
Under the Motor Vehicle Information Scheme (MVIS), which took effect July 1, OEMs are required to make service and repair information available to independent shops at a price that does not exceed fair market value. (repairerdrivennews.com)
Former Harley Davidson partner Vance and Hines weighs in on FTC order
The FTC’s decision was a strong message to Harley-Davidson, and it’s hard to imagine that several aftermarket companies were not pleased at this, particularly Vance & Hines, whose HD-oriented products are also popular with non-race customers. According to multiple powersports news sources, including Powersports Business, Mike Kennedy, V&H’s CEO, issued a statement after the FTC’s finding saying:
“This action taken by the FTC is a huge win for motorcycle riders. While we still need to see how this plays out, we anticipate that riders will have more choices in how they repair and update their motorcycles during the warranty period, which is clearly a big deal for companies in the motorcycle aftermarket, too. I hope that the ‘it will void your warranty’ threat for someone who just wants a better sounding or smoother running Harley is a thing of the past.”
Other Repair News...
Tired Earth: An Interview with Göran Finnveden (tiredearth.com)
New York Passes Nation’s First Right-to-Repair Law for Electronics (Lexology)
ICYMI: Citing Tariffs & Supply Chain Woes, American Businesses Double the Pace of Reshoring Manufacturing (American Economic Liberties Project)
Antitrust advocates grade USDA efforts as passing but just barely (Agriculture.com)
Australia right to repair law takes effect (collisionweek.com)