The Federal Trade Commission in the United States has released a 50-plus page report on how much tech manufacturers are limiting consumers' repair options. While Right to Repair has been a much-discussed issue for years, it has gained a new level of urgency in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, where devices like laptops, cellphones, and game consoles have become many people’s sole line of communication for schooling, work, and socializing.
Repairs are more important then ever, doubly so due to the scarcity of new devices to replace broken ones, thanks to the current semi-conductor crisis that is affecting not just the manufacturing of iPhones, PlayStations, Switches, and Xboxes, but things like cars and household appliances too.
Initially reported on by The Verge, the FTC’s new report by and large condemns the business practices of many tech manufacturers that go out of their way to hinder consumers’ ability to repair their own products or seek out repairs from third-party sources. The FTC report accuses manufacturers of intentionally designing products to be too hard, and sometimes even too dangerous, for consumers and third-party repair shops to repair without special instructions, tools, and parts that the manufacturers refuse to share with the rest of the world.
Manufacturers often claim that their secrecy is to protect their products from corporate espionage and to protect their customers from cybersecurity risks. But the FTC refutes these excuses, saying in its report that “There is scant evidence to support manufacturers’ justifications for repair restrictions.”
The FTC report also notes that when manufacturers inadvertently force their customers to deal with the original manufacturer for repairs, it enables them to charge premiums for repairs that “may place a greater financial burden on communities of color and lower-income Americans.” Those same secretive practices also hurt small business repair shops by limiting the kinds of repairs they can do.
This report was commissioned by the United States Congress. The FTC report encourages manufacturers to self-regulate but warns that legislation may be needed if manufacturers do not change. It also suggests that manufacturers could be more forthcoming about how repairable their devices are in order to help consumers deciding on what to buy.
The FTC has already had an impact on the video game industry in the past. In 2018, the committee demanded that Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony stop putting the “Warranty Void If Removed” stickers on their consoles or face legal action. Those stickers were in violation of a 1975 law that forbade manufacturers from directly forcing consumers to deal solely with them.
The FTC also reported on loot boxes in 2019, revealing that publishers pay content creators to open loot boxes. Sadly, not much seems to have changed in that realm. As with Right to Repair, the US government may need to intervene with legislation.
Source: FTC via The Verge