Oregon's New Right to Repair Law Bans 'Parts Pairing' Restrictions

[ThailandToo]

The problem, and I am shocked that I haven’t read of Apple making this argument, that stolen Apple products become much more valuable when making this law as such. One has to think through all the ramifications not just is it more beneficial for those who wouldn’t use a stolen part like an OLED display from an iPad Pro 13” that may cost $750 to repair at Apple or $600 from a third party. All products that require this eliminate stolen parts being used on valid legally owned products. Theft goes up!

Oregon sure can screw up anything. Lived in the PNW for over a year and I will say the homelessness and drug problems prove good intentions don’t lead to positive outcomes for all.

 

[NT1440]

It’s not just the NSA that will be thrilled in .01% of cases but the average consumer in the other 99.9% of cases. Weird omission but I’m glad to help you out!

Security is security. If you spray enough vulnerabilities out there they will eventually be exploited. Imagine a batch of a few thousand iPhones getting exploited and turned into a botnet.

It’s happened with routers, it’s happened with servers, it’s happened with “smart speakers”, etc.

I could give less of a **** about someone trying to save a buck by getting their FaceID components repaired by the guy at the kiosk at the mall.

 

[klasma]

It would be. Apple doesn’t void your warranty if you have a third-party screen installed, for example. They won’t fix the screen and they won’t fix damage caused by a bad installation (for free, at least), but they’ll still repair your device if possible.

Under warranty? I mean it’s fine for me if they do, I was talking about general expectations, not specific to Apple. If you replace some part of a device or machine with a third-party part, and/or have the replacement performed by a third party, of course the one performing the replacement carries the liability. I see no good reason to prevent someone from doing so.

 

[0339327]

Apple’s repair policies have nothing to do with profits and everything to do with control. Apple does not make significant profits from repairs. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they broke even or lost money all things considered.

Keeping repair cost high encourages device replacement over repair, thus affecting profits.

 

[AlmightyKang]

Why is it always Apple? How come people don't go after DELL for selling absolute trash? Can't people just leave Apple alone and if you want to fix your broken computer, Dude get a DELL.

Yes this.

I'd just like to point out that we had a whole pile of Dell Precision 5550's fail which were $3000 a piece and us being corporate scum they had 1 year warranty on them and Dell gave us the middle finger. Average life was 12-18 months.

I really wish people would stop going on about Right To Repair and start promoting Supplier Held Accountable For Reasonable Warranty Period. That's the best consumer outcome. When I say that I mean I expect Dell to sell a laptop that will last 5 years and if it doesn't because they hired the lowest bidder for all the parts, then they will have to replace it like for like. And if you break it they will have to make all repair costs visible up front before you buy the thing so you can make a decision on your risk profile.

Throwing a crap product with 1 year warranty on the market, then promising to supply parts that you never have in stock (Lenovo I'm looking at you) and opening the market for independent repairers to do the work only helps the independent repairers who can then make money out of poor engineering from the vendor and absolves the vendor fo any responsibility for quality.

Look who's promoting RTR (independent repairers) and ask who is gaining from this? Is it the end user? Probably not.

Note: I was a low volume local independent repairer for a long time. I only made money because customers bought crap and it broke.

 

[NT1440]

The problem, and I am shocked that I haven’t read of Apple making this argument, that stolen Apple products become much more valuable when making this law as such. One has to think through all the ramifications not just is it more beneficial for those who wouldn’t use a stolen part like an OLED display from an iPad Pro 13” that may cost $750 to repair at Apple or $600 from a third party. All products that require this eliminate stolen parts being used on valid legally owned products. Theft goes up!

Oregon sure can screw up anything. Lived in the PNW for over a year and I will say the homelessness and drug problems prove good intentions don’t lead to positive outcomes for all.

That’s actually a really funny point. I remember years ago a story about how theft was way up in NYC because people were stealing iPhones to part out.

Guess it would be a good time to get into that line of “business” should this law go nationwide without the appropriate *technical* considerations.

 

[NT1440]

LOL thinking Apple’s serial number pairing actually stopped the NSA?

I promise you it’s a non-issue for them.

I don’t think anything stops intelligence agencies. Security is a cat and mouse field. I see no reason to make their job *easier* under the guise of an overly broad right to repair paradigm.

There is also a cryptological handshake going on in the pairing process, it’s not merely checking a serial number 😂

 

[klasma]

The problem, and I am shocked that I haven’t read of Apple making this argument, that stolen Apple products become much more valuable when making this law as such.

Not necessarily, because Apple can still track the parts and see which is built into which device (using a similar mechanism they use now for enforcing pairing), and have users mark them as stolen, or conversely, as sold for parts.

 

[ender78]

I really wish people would stop going on about Right To Repair and start promoting Supplier Held Accountable For Reasonable Warranty Period. That's the best consumer outcome. When I say that I mean I expect Dell to sell a laptop that will last 5 years and if it doesn't because they hired the lowest bidder for all the parts, then they will have to replace it like for like. And if you break it they will have to make all repair costs visible up front before you buy the thing so you can make a decision on your risk profile.

Love this idea. Ensure that a better regulated repair chain exists so that certain devices can still be repaired for lets say 5 years.

 

[oldmacs]

I wouldn’t care if there was a warning displayed in settings that a part was either 3rd party or a part from another iPhone, but functionality should not be limited - that’s both anti consumer and anti environment.

I’d like to have repairs and replacements done to my Apple products after Apple stops making said parts.

 

[AlmightyKang]

LOL thinking Apple’s serial number pairing actually stopped the NSA?

I promise you it’s a non-issue for them.

I wouldn't assume the NSA do as much complicated stuff as everyone thinks they do. I remember having to crack open routers and look for implants when I was working in defence sector years ago. Literally had a "what to look out for" guide and a whole supply chain security team. We never found anything interesting but the majority of their stuff is really damn stupid because stupid stuff is cheap.

Doing an FRU replacement with something compromised would be cheap, stupid and pretty fast which fits the trifecta of "in budget" which is probably their main concern.

 

[AlmightyKang]

Love this idea. Ensure that a better regulated repair chain exists so that certain devices can still be repaired for lets say 5 years.

Framework (laptops) seem to have a good approach to that. But their warranty is still crap.

Edit: also they only run Linux and Windows which I would rather avoid.

 

[jakey rolling]

Why is it always Apple? How come people don't go after DELL for selling absolute trash? Can't people just leave Apple alone and if you want to fix your broken computer, Dude get a DELL.

This law will apply to Dell as well. The only reason Apple is highlighted (other than it being this website) is because they are especially egregious in their anti-repair designs.

 

[ender78]

Not necessarily, because Apple can still track the parts and see which is built into which device (using a similar mechanism they use now for enforcing pairing), and have users mark them as stolen, or conversely, as sold for parts.

But with no parts pairing what's the point of Apple knowing that the part is stolen when they are forbidden to do anything about it in the state of Oregon. Apple may full well know that the installed part is stolen but be prevented from locking it down.

 

[mjs916]

As a consumer, am I getting genuine parts? I’d think not.

If they are going to do this I think repair shops should offer OEM and aftermarket repair parts/pricing.

May the best parts win!

 

[NT1440]

This law will apply to Dell as well. The only reason Apple is highlighted (other than it being this website) is because they are especially egregious in their anti-repair designs.

Can you elaborate on the egregiousness and how it compares to competitors? What parts are we talking here?

 

[Dammit Cubs]

So Apple will stop selling iPhones in Oregon. Cool.

I wish there was this alternative universe where we see Apple be like "okay, we are done. we aren't selling products anymore" and shuts everything down. Curious how ridiculous things would get.

 

[Larabee119]

Good! Now also pass a law to jail the ones who sell low quality parts

 

[klasma]

But with no parts pairing what's the point of Apple knowing that the part is stolen when they are forbidden to do anything about it in the state of Oregon. Apple may full well know that the installed part is stolen but be prevented from locking it down.

They can display the fact on the device, and send emails to both the old and the new owner. The seller of the stolen parts will thus be known, and the victims can pursue an investigation against them. That should provide an effective deterrence.

 

[SVTmaniac]

Ah yes, can’t wait to see people complain about their new battery from Temu and their screens from Wish. If you’re poor just say so, go buy a $2 android, that’s why those phones are still being made.

 

[Pakaku]

Yay for ensuring supply chain infiltration will always be an avenue for spying.

That's a problem with the government being evil, not the people who want to repair their computers, phones, etc.

 

[Sippincider]

Good, put John deere and apple in their places

Along with many automakers.

Too many items now are "modules" which need to programmed/VIN-matched in order to function.

 

[NT1440]

That's a problem with the government being evil, not the people who want to repair their computers, phones, etc.

And security is security. It’s not affected by moral arguments. It either is or isn’t secure. Leaving open an attack vector without defining what mitigations are available is insecurity *by design*.

I don’t think that’s a concept that people grasp. Technical realities do not care about human concepts of morality, so you better design and engineer accordingly.

 

[FlavorfulTreat]

How many of these comments are real and not subterfuge of some sort?

To think that requiring repairable tech made with finite known resources is some how worse for consumers and the planet, is naive at best and devious at worst.

This does nothing but lower the prices and increase options to prevent needless waste and control.

If you think this law is bad, I feel bad for you.

 

[Mveight]

Cool, the NSA’s TAO division is going to be thrilled.

Yay for ensuring supply chain infiltration will always be an avenue for spying.

Dramatic....