Europe's right-to-repair law asks hardware makers for fixes for up to 10 years
- Reference: 1679506572
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/03/22/new_eu_right_to_repair/
- Source link:
The new [1]rules [PDF] will need to be need to be negotiated between the European Parliament and member states before they can be turned into law. If they are, a lot more than just repairability requirements will change.
One provision will require companies selling consumer goods in the EU to offer repairs (as opposed to just replacing a damaged device) free of charge within a legal guarantee period unless it would be cheaper to replace a damaged item.
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Beyond that, the directive also adds a set of rights for device repairability outside of legal guarantee periods that the EC [3]said will help make repair a better option than simply tossing a damaged product away.
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Under the new post-guarantee period rule, companies that produce goods the EU defines as [6]subject to repairability requirements (eg, appliances, commercial computer hardware, and soon cellphones and tablets) are obliged to repair such items for five to 10 years after purchase if a customer demands so, and the repair is possible.
OEMs will also need to inform consumers about which products they are liable to repair, and consumers will be able to request a new Repair Information Form from anyone doing a repair that makes pricing and fees more transparent.
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The post-guarantee period repair rule also establishes the creation of an online "repair matchmaking platform" for EU consumers, and calls for the creation of a European repair standard that will "help consumers identify repairers who commit to a higher quality."
"Repair is key to ending the model of 'take, make, break, and throw away' that is so harmful to our planet, our health and our economy," said Frans Timmermans, EVP for the [8]European Green Deal , which aims to make the whole of EU carbon neutral by 2050.
On that note, the EC proposed a set of [9]anti-greenwashing laws alongside passing its right to repair rule yesterday that would make it illegal to make any green claims about a product without evidence.
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Citing the fact that 94 percent of Europeans believe protecting the environment is important, the EC said its proposal covers any explicit, voluntarily-made claims "which relate to the environmental impact, aspect, or performance of a product or the trader itself." Any such claims, like a laptop being made from recycled plastic, would need to be independently verified and proven with scientific evidence, the EC [11]said .
New rules don't do enough, say right to repair advocates
The Right to Repair coalition said in a statement that, while it welcomes the step forward taken by the EU's new repairability rules, "the opportunity to make the right to repair universal is missed."
While the EC's rules focus on cutting down on waste by making products more easily repairable, they don't do anything to address repair affordability or anti-repair practices, R2R said. Spare parts and repair charges, the group argues, could still be exorbitantly priced and inaccessible to the average consumer.
[12]John Deere urged to surrender source code under GPL
[13]Dual Tesla lawsuits pull Elon Musk into right-to-repair war
[14]HMD offers Nokia phone with novel concept: Designed to be repaired by its owner
[15]Second-hand and refurbished phone market takes flight amid inflation hike
"We need a truly universal right to repair including independent providers and granting universal access to affordable spare parts, repair manuals and diagnostic tools," R2R Europe coordinator Cristina Ganapini said.
Ganapini said that truly universal right to repair laws would include assurances that independent providers were available to conduct repairs, and that components, manuals and diagnostic tools would be [16]affordably priced . She also said that, even with the addition of smartphones and tablets to repairability requirements, the products it applies to is still too narrow.
"We call on the EU Parliament and Council to step up the ambition of this first right to repair proposal in the EU," Ganapini said. ®
Get our [17]Tech Resources
[1] https://commission.europa.eu/system/files/2023-03/COM_2023_155_1_EN_ACT_part1_v6.pdf
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZBuIl7kTvQgh@RGHS1VgVgAAABY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_1794
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZBuIl7kTvQgh@RGHS1VgVgAAABY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZBuIl7kTvQgh@RGHS1VgVgAAABY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/QANDA_23_1795
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZBuIl7kTvQgh@RGHS1VgVgAAABY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en
[9] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_23_1692
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZBuIl7kTvQgh@RGHS1VgVgAAABY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_23_1693
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/17/john_deere_sfc_gpl/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/16/dual_tesla_lawsuits_brings_musk/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/27/nokia_g22_repairs/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/10/idc_secondhand_phones_sales_bright_spot_in_crappy_phone_market/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/28/apple_selfservice_slammed/
[17] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
A repair regulation requiring that not only are devices repaired, but they are designed to be repaired, will have a significant effect on the current climate issues. Think about all the efforts made to create all the items and components that we have to throw in the trash can when the phone battery dies, or a computer working great and running Windows 7 can't be upgraded to any of the later operating systems - virtually all of which have been "upgraded" to force users to throw away their old systems.
Microsoft keep upgraded their operating system, stopping old computers from being kept used. But think how life would go in America and a lot of other countries if the gun manufacturers keep "upgrading" their guns to use 1mm larger bullets every two of three years and then stop making the old bullet sizes.
"But think how life would go in America and a lot of other countries if the gun manufacturers keep "upgrading" their guns to use 1mm larger bullets every two of three years and then stop making the old bullet sizes."
I'm currently trying to think of a downside to making it more expensive and / or difficult to own firearms, and I can't currently think of one.... I'm from the UK, and the "right to bear arms" is completely alien to me.
-> I'm from the UK, and the "right to bear arms" is completely alien to me.
In the UK, it is mostly criminals or the police that have guns. Congratulations. Yes, I know that farmers have them too.
re: "right to bear arms" is completely alien to me.
Agreed. The general public/man on the clapham omnibus (in the UK)does not feel the need to own a gun let along go around 'tooled up' with an AR-15 (other weapons of mass destruction are available)
The first time I saw a pickup in the US with a rack of guns behind the driver gave me the heebie-jeebies.
The fact that there are 400+ million firearms in the USA and only 330 million (or thereabouts) in the population should make everyone worried.
My wife is big on the right to bear arms - the little thing just loves being securely wrapped in their fluffy warmth.
A good start, but ...
Not quite far enough. Needs:
* When sold it should be prominent on the box/web-site when the support for the device ends and when guaranteed availability of parts ends.
* Security updates should be available for 10 years. Feature enhancements can stop quickly, not so important.
If a vendor wants to stop security updates early it can if there is a user friendly way of replacing the OS with something long term supported, eg Replicant or LineageOS.
* Apple/John-Deere style blocks on independent repairs to be out-lawed.
* Spare parts & tools to be available at reasonable cost.
Re: A good start, but ...
And the spare parts should be parts , not assemblies that cost a fortune and contain parts that aren't available to anyone but the manufacturer.
I can easily picture Apple charging £229 for a new charging port and £539 for a new display or whatever, if they are forced to provide replacements. I believe them or Samsung is also currently providing "assemblies" with multiple parts instead of individual parts, for a higher price of course.
The law must state that essential components(display, biometrics, speaker, camera, battery, charge port, etc.) need to be separate and individually replaceable. This is in addition to all other parts and components being able to be replaced, with the total cost of all parts being unable to exceed launch month price.
And even with these measures I can still inagine Apple pissing on everything in new and imaginative ways... The only green bills they like have US presidents printed on them.
A few years ago a cat chewed my daughters friends' Apple DC power supply cord, the Apple store offered to replace the power supply for $150 but I just used a little solder and heat-shrink to fix the cable for her for free - it only took three minutes to repair it, including the safety testing after the repair.
Bad-Manufacturer's Workarounds to the Law
... are obliged to repair such items for five to 10 years after purchase if a customer demands so, and the repair is possible.
The circuit boards will be "potted" -- covered with a thick layer of black goo which hardens to a nearly-rock-hard substance -- and thus repair will not be possible.
Western Electric did this with some subsystems of the telephones they produced solely for AT&T. (Western Electric's potting was designed as an anti-reverse-engineering measure, but it also prevented certain component groups from being repaired. You had to replace the entire, populated circuit board.)
What stunt will 'Elon the magnificent' play to get around this?
As Tesla will not sell spares to owners and only reluctantly supply some body parts to repairers, I think that they will be lobbying against this big time.
Re: What stunt will 'Elon the magnificent' play to get around this?
Is the EU a big market for Tesla? It might be easier for him to just quit selling there.
Whilst I applaud the right-to-repair, there also has to be the equivalent of a "right-to-use" i.e. No doing a Google and after 18 months shutting down the servers whiich allow your device to work. (I'm not even getting into the whole software update debate. I'll leave that for others.)