Apple, among other technology companies, through their pressure groups, the “lobbyists”, have managed to modify a law in the state of New York, which will allow the company to recover part of the control it had lost. Although the change to this law is not effective, they have already managed to introduce some texts in their favor, within this law already in force.
Apple and the right to just compensation
New York State passed the first fair reparations law in 2022. This law for the right to electronic repair, as reported by 9to5Mac, “requires that all manufacturers in the state that sell electronic and digital products, put tools, parts and repair instructions on provision of customers and independent stores.
These characteristics are the general lines on which the law is based. However, 9to5Mac echoes the information published in Grist and Ars technica, which explain that the changes and modifications that were carried out in this law, for its approval, are identical to those proposed by TechNetone of the lobbyists representing large technology corporations, including Apple.
El Medio Grist habla explains that the modified texts had “explicit exclusions for everything from household appliances to police radios.” In addition, “TechNet requested that the law apply only to products sold after the fact in the state, that products sold through corporate and government contracts be excluded, and that printed circuit boards are excludedwith the argument that they could be used to counterfeit devices”, they explain.
From Ars Technica, they explain that the TechNet lobby said that the first draft of the law, before the modifications, “presented unacceptable risks for the privacy and security of consumer data.” To which they add: “the final law is still a transfer of intellectual property, consumers have access to more options than ever.”
From 9to5Mac they provide more context to this information, explaining Apple’s role in this situation. “Legislative and PR pressure continued to mount,” pointing to some notable headlines such as “Steve Wozniak defends right to remedy, argues company relies on open source,” “AAPL shareholder resolution calls for company to company support the right to redress”, “FTC Unanimously Adopts Right To Repair Policy To Ease Restrictions From Manufacturers Like Apple.”
Made the law, made the service
Once the law was approved, despite the modifications that Apple itself and other companies introduced, this led Apple to remove its program from “self service repair”. This technical service consists of the fact that the company itself provides you with the necessary parts so that you can repair your iPhone at home.
Of course, the service has not yet reached many countries, and as 9to5Mac explains, “the site offers replacement batteries, inferior speakers, cameras, screens, SIM trays and Taptic Engines.” Likewise, they explain the tools that are included to carry out the repairs and the restrictions for users: “they were expected to launch the site with support for more devices”.