Congress Is Investigating Apple's Repair Monopoly (vice.com) 41
The United States House of Representatives' Judiciary Committee is launching an antitrust investigation into Apple and its anti-competitive behavior. From a report: Part of the investigation will focus on Apple's repair monopoly, which for years has given the company control over the useful life of its products. In a letter to Apple, the committee asked Apple to turn over all internal communications from 14 top executives at the company -- including CEO Tim Cook -- relating to "Apple's restrictions on third-party repairs," among dozens of other topics.
In particular, the committee wants information about: "Apple's restrictions on third-party repairs, including but not limited to any rules with which Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASPs) must comply, such as rules restricting or prohibiting AASPs from making any specific repairs."
"Apple's decision in December 2017 to offer iPhone battery replacements at a discounted price, or the actual or projected effects of this decision, including but not limited to, effects on iPhone sales."
"Apple's decision to introduce the 'Independent Repair Provider Program,' including but not limited to, decisions covering which specific repair parts Apple will make available through the program and at what price."
"Apple's decision in 2018 to enter into an agreement with Amazon to sell Apple products on Amazon and to limit the resellers that can sell Apple products on Amazon."
In particular, the committee wants information about: "Apple's restrictions on third-party repairs, including but not limited to any rules with which Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASPs) must comply, such as rules restricting or prohibiting AASPs from making any specific repairs."
"Apple's decision in December 2017 to offer iPhone battery replacements at a discounted price, or the actual or projected effects of this decision, including but not limited to, effects on iPhone sales."
"Apple's decision to introduce the 'Independent Repair Provider Program,' including but not limited to, decisions covering which specific repair parts Apple will make available through the program and at what price."
"Apple's decision in 2018 to enter into an agreement with Amazon to sell Apple products on Amazon and to limit the resellers that can sell Apple products on Amazon."
FIFY (Score:1)
Congress is PRETENDING to investigate Apple's repair monopoly.
There... that's better.
Re:FIFY (Score:4, Informative)
Congress is PRETENDING to investigate Apple's repair monopoly.
Congress is fishing for more campaign donations.
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This was my first thought on reading the headlines - Apple isn't contributing as much to their election/reelections as they expected....
Re:FIFY (Score:5, Insightful)
Pretty much. If they actually gave half a fuck, they would pass right to repair legislation and completely solve the problem for everyone.
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I'm sure that's on their agenda---right after "impeach Trump".
Re: FIFY (Score:1, Troll)
No, after the impeachment inevitably fails, their next item on the agenda is to rewrite the laws so they can get Trump's tax return.
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Actually they're more likely to rewrite the law to prevent the release of any legislator's taxes in the future.
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They don't need new laws for that. The House Ways and Means Committee has the authority under Section 6103 [cornell.edu](f)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code law to examine *any* taxpayer's tax return. They subpoenaed six years of Trump's tax returns back in April, but the Treasury Department has simply declined to comply.
A law suit by House Democrats in July to force Treasury to comply with the subpoena, which Treasury has just moved to quash on separation of powers grounds. This dubious argument is made by virtually ev
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"A law suit by House Democrats in July to force Treasury to comply with the subpoena, which Treasury has just moved to quash on separation of powers grounds."
That I totally get and understand. One branch of the government should not be able to request data to blackmail another branch.
Citizens who are paying into the public tax system should be able to ask for this information freely though.
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One branch of the government should not be able to request data to blackmail another branch.
Blackmail? Really? Congress' authority to oversee the executive branch is implicit in its constitutional enumerated powers. If it couldn't look into how its laws were being executed and what effect they had, it couldn't do its designated job. The Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld the role of Congressional oversight in our system of government on that basis. Until now, the White House has never truly denied it, either (though, as GP pointed out, various administrations have delayed and negotiated).
Citizens who are paying into the public tax system should be able to ask for this information freely though.
Cit
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> One branch of the government should not be able to request data to blackmail another branch.
That investigatory power is crucial to constitutional checks and balances.
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That I totally get and understand. One branch of the government should not be able to request data to blackmail another branch.
Holy shit. How bad did you fail civics?
Oversight of the executive and the courts, at the time of the country's founding was considered an inherent right and responsibility of the legislative body.
If an executive agency, or the executive himself is drifting away from the intent of a law, it's the legislature's job to patch that up.
We are ultimately a country ruled by law. The executive just executes said law. There is a separation of powers- for sure, but checks and balances require a check on the executi
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They do not need to rewrite the laws to get the tax returns. The House committee has every right to see those, except that Trump will push it up to the Supreme Court staffed with his toadies. He's very effective grifter.
Google repair policy (Score:3)
Google does not even repair their phones after the warranty. I had a friend whose Google Nexus 6P phone went in infinite reboot cycle and it was out of warranty. Google told him to contact Huawei who made the phone. Huawei told him it was a software issue. He bought iPhone. A real incident. If Google's own phone buyers have to juggle around who made hardware and who made software and whose fault it is, then imagine the plight of buyers from companies.
Re: Google repair policy (Score:3)
When that happened to my 6P, a full year after the warranty had already expired, they gave me a Pixel XL. Didn't even have to pay shipping.
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Where is this policy listed? If this was a one off, it is of no use. My friend was a poor international student and he could only afford to get iPhone because he had just graduated and got a job few months back. What they do out of band only help few people. As per policy, they did not repair or provide any relief if the phone develops issues after the warranty and that matters to most buyers.
FWIW, Google launched its repair policy recently for out of warranty repair only for Pixel phones.
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Most certainly not a one-off. I still remembered thinking I was just going to have to put up with the battery problem I had (basically, after the phone was below 30% battery remaining, it could shut down at any time, guaranteed to shut off below 15%) due to the warranty being long since expired, until I noticed a thread while randomly browsing XDA that mentioned Google was replacing them, even out of warranty.
https://www.androidpolice.com/... [androidpolice.com]
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From my time in the tech support trenches my suspicion is that the two dramatically different results depended on the initial attitude of the caller and how they treated the support people.
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Apple may be expensive, but in my observation they usually treat customers better than the alternatives.
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Monopoly? What are you, Nuts? (Score:2)
I have a tendency to break screens. I find iPhones much easier for me to repair than my old motorola razr was (which I dropped several times and needed to replace because repair was so difficult)
and I have replaced my own batteries as well.
so, as a simple user, me being able to repair my own iPhone makes Apple have a monopoly on........ What?
Just because you hate Apple (because yo
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The ignorance is strong with this one. Apple is one of the worst offenders. Fanboi status confirmed.
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I have repaired MY OWN IPHONE several times over the last several versions, starting with my first, a gift, an iPhone 3.
I have a tendency to break screens. I find iPhones much easier for me to repair than my old motorola razr was (which I dropped several times and needed to replace because repair was so difficult)
Have you considered a rubber case and some armour glass?
and I have replaced my own batteries as well.
So have I, and the degree to which stuff is glued into Apple devices is somewhat exaggerated.
so, as a simple user, me being able to repair my own iPhone makes Apple have a monopoly on........ What?
Just because you hate Apple (because you are insane? Because you have nothing better to do? because you think that all companies should run just exactly the way you want them to?) is no reason to paint them as any worse than any other manufacturer.
I think what they (Apple) are worried about is security critical components like the face and fingerprint scanners being replaced with poor quality knockoffs, scavenged parts or compromised components which might compromise the security of their devices. Another worry is probably low quality parts being installed by unlicensed 3rd rate hacks in bargain basement
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"Another worry is probably low quality parts being installed by unlicensed 3rd rate hacks in bargain basement repair shops"
Doesn't fucking matter with the anti-tying provisions of the Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act which you all seem to forget. Apple is 100% in the wrong and there is court and law precedent to back my claim up.
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You aren't replacing the battery anymore. They lock them to the phone now, so even if you swap in a genuine battery from another iPhone it will still tell you the battery is faulty.
And that kind of BS is why they are being investigated.
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Say what? it never says its faulty, never says to replace it. It just won't tell you the battery health any more. Get your facts straight.
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Apple is making less money because of people like you. See: https://apple.slashdot.org/sto... [slashdot.org]
They have every incentive to disable user-repairable phones.
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Except that it violates first sale doctrine?
It's about damn time (Score:2, Interesting)
Not monopoly (Score:2)
>"Part of the investigation will focus on Apple's repair monopoly, which for years has given the company control over the useful life of its products."
I am very anti-monopoly, but using that word in this context really isn't valid. There is a healthy free market when it comes to phones and computers. Consumers have lots of choices. So as long as Apple isn't hiding their sucky practices/policies, not honoring their warranty, or conspiring with other companies, the Fed should have no say and mind their
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"I am very anti-monopoly, but using that word in this context really isn't valid."
Yes, it is quite valid. Try reading the anti-tying provisions of the Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act.
Louis Rossman approves (Score:2)
Louis Rossman is a man who runs an independent Apple repair shop. Right To Repair has long been one of his positions, and he knows better than most why it's so important. The man is a genius with a soldering iron, removing and replacing the most microscopic components with ease and spends all day getting broken Apple products on their feet again. Frequently the customer has just been to an authorized Apple repair center and been told it's either unrepairable or a $900 repair. He diagnoses the problem with
Apple scams (Score:2, Troll)
They are dishonest and scam their customers. For example, mac books have a fuse in the power circuitry. Makes sense. You want the fuse to blow to prevent a power surge from toasting the logic board. Except the fuse is soldered in and if it blows, they tell you they have to replace the logic board - not cheap. Third party repair shops know this and will replace the fuse for a reasonable price.
Another scam. They have moisture detectors in inside the mac book. Spilling your coffee on your mac book voids
Today Apple, tomorrow John Deere (Score:2)