Oregon Governor Signs Nation's First Right-To-Repair Bill That Bans Parts Pairing (arstechnica.com) 139
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Oregon Governor Tina Kotek today signed the state's Right to Repair Act, which will push manufacturers to provide more repair options for their products than any other state so far. The law, like those passed in New York, California, and Minnesota, will require many manufacturers to provide the same parts, tools, and documentation to individuals and repair shops that they provide to their own repair teams. But Oregon's bill goes further, preventing companies from implementing schemes that require parts to be verified through encrypted software checks before they will function. Known as parts pairing or serialization, Oregon's bill, SB 1596, is the first in the nation to target that practice. Oregon State Senator Janeen Sollman (D) and Representative Courtney Neron (D) sponsored and pushed the bill in the state senate and legislature.
Oregon's bill isn't stronger in every regard. For one, there is no set number of years for a manufacturer to support a device with repair support. Parts pairing is prohibited only on devices sold in 2025 and later. And there are carve-outs for certain kinds of electronics and devices, including video game consoles, medical devices, HVAC systems, motor vehicles, and -- as with other states -- "electric toothbrushes." "By eliminating manufacturer restrictions, the Right to Repair will make it easier for Oregonians to keep their personal electronics running," said Charlie Fisher, director of Oregon's chapter of the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), in a statement. "That will conserve precious natural resources and prevent waste. It's a refreshing alternative to a 'throwaway' system that treats everything as disposable."
Oregon's bill isn't stronger in every regard. For one, there is no set number of years for a manufacturer to support a device with repair support. Parts pairing is prohibited only on devices sold in 2025 and later. And there are carve-outs for certain kinds of electronics and devices, including video game consoles, medical devices, HVAC systems, motor vehicles, and -- as with other states -- "electric toothbrushes." "By eliminating manufacturer restrictions, the Right to Repair will make it easier for Oregonians to keep their personal electronics running," said Charlie Fisher, director of Oregon's chapter of the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), in a statement. "That will conserve precious natural resources and prevent waste. It's a refreshing alternative to a 'throwaway' system that treats everything as disposable."
This is war. (Score:2)
Apple, Microsoft, Sony and a shitload of other heavy-hitters are going to be fighting this for as long as possible with an emergency injunction in place to keep their products on the market.
I'm certain most have already made court filings. It has begun.
Re:This is war. (Score:5, Interesting)
Its John Deere that is going to try to fight this tooth and claw.
Re:This is war. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Does that matter? (Score:4, Informative)
Sometimes your comments are so utterly stupid it is beyond believe.
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It's pretty entertaining that the pro corporate crowd think that Apple will have an attack of deep principles and leave tens of billions of revenue on the table rather than knuckle under. Everything except USB-C is software defined anyway, they can just ship different firmware in Europe. And lightning was getting pretty maxed, and needs adapters for their USB kit, .e. laptops and some of the iPads.
Re:Does that matter? (Score:4, Insightful)
Apple is probably already close to leaving the EU, since the financial risk of staying there is too great.
what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
Re:Does that matter? (Score:4, Informative)
Apple is probably already close to leaving the EU, since the financial risk of staying there is too great.
Apple revenue Q1'24 in (in billion U.S. dollars) https://www.statista.com/stati... [statista.com]
Americas 50.43
Europe 30.4
Greater China 20.82
Japan 7.77
Rest of Asia Pacific 10.62
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Well China business is going downhill, especially since the Chinese government is pushing the people to use the local branded devices. Probably not helped by the economy downturn there.
Leaving EU at this time will be revenue suicide. Apple may be forced to take a revenue haircut in greater China (maybe to half of the current ~20%?), will they want to reduce EU revenue to 0?
Maybe there still are people that think only USA (assuming they even understand that the term "Americas" means more then just USA) matte
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While their shareholders wouldn't be happy, that's very far from "revenue suicide", from a company that posts 25% net profit from revenue. Particularly if in their view, the net profit from that 7% is say, 5% due to compliance.
Not to hurt your diatribe with facts, or anything, but the EU is small peas for Apple.
Re:Does that matter? (Score:4, Insightful)
The EU is not 30.4% of Apple's global revenue - see here [daringfireball.net].
Yes, Gruber is an Apple cheerleader, but his facts tend to be accurate.
When Apple says "Europe" in their financials, they mean:
But there are a significant number of high-GDP countries in Europe that aren’t in the EU—the UK (most famously), Russia, Turkey, Switzerland, Norway, and Ukraine. More importantly, Apple’s “Europe” includes the entire Middle East.
I'm not going to call people "stupid" for not knowing this. Ignorant, perhaps, and ignorance is curable.
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Regardless, you are corrected.
The amount of revenue in question is around 7%, not 30%.
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what the fuck was.
Scale. As I read the claim I responded to, it was not claimed that the EU market was small per se, but that the financial risk was high.
(The list is in as noted $US billions/quarter not %. The 7% figure concerns applestore only afaik.)
Quantify the risk in $ and the chances of it happening. To give some real world figures the EU recently fined Apple about $2billion.
If someone would like to try to convince me of great financial risks that would lead to drastic measures such as pulling out of EU is a real worl
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(The list is in as noted $US billions/quarter not %. The 7% figure concerns applestore only afaik.)
Yes, the list is. However, by the list Europe accounts for 33.5%.
It's actually unclear if it's Apple Store, or all Apple products, either way- the percentage is unlikely to be drastically different.
If it's 7% of Apple Store revenue, it's also likely 7% of all revenue, and one thing that was certain is that it wasn't "EU Apple Store is 7% of earnings" as it is a meaningless metric- the Apple Store is intrinsic to the product lines.
The quote is:
Luca Maestri: Yes, and Amit, as Tim said, these are changes
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The quote is:
Luca Maestri: Yes, and Amit, as Tim said, these are changes that we’re going to be implementing in March. A lot will depend on the choices that will be made. Just to keep it in context, the changes apply to the EU market, which represents roughly 7% of our global absolute revenue.
No, this is false. You're reading the crackpot linked by another poster. The real quote is:
Luca Maestri
Yes, Amit. As Tim said, these are changes that we're going to be implementing in March. A lot will depend on the choices that will be made. Just to keep it in context, the changes applied to the EU market, which represents roughly 7% of our global app store revenue.
Your quote has changed "app store" to absolute, you can listen to the actual call with transcript https://seekingalpha.com/artic... [seekingalpha.com] in the call you can hear the relevant at about 42 minutes. The blog with the false quote also snipped Tim's preceding remark that Luca refers to as context which again makes it clear that it refers to app store revenue...
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The person linked to isn't a crackpot, though.
I'd say they just misheard.
Either way, the logic holds-
If the EU accounts for 7% of app store revenue, there's a good chance they account for ~7% of apple's total revenue as well, unless you have a reason to think that EU users utilize the app store at a lower proportion than anyone else.
It does drive the dollar amount that they'd have to be fined in order to no longer turn a p
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I don't see Apple pulling out of the EU market voluntarily, but if Apple's malicious compliance ultimately leads to a bunch of fines being racked up and Apple calls the EU's bluff by not paying them, then the EU might be forced to take more drastic measures.
It's really not that crazy, here in the US we smacked Huawei and ZTE with the banhammer (ostensibly for reasons of national security, though).
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It's a good bit different for the US to ban top companies from an adversarial nation then it is for the EU to ban a top company from a country they're allied to and they're dependent on for a significant part of their defense. If it ever got to the point where the EU was debating banning Apple the US government would almost definitely step in and moderate some kind of solution.
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That's much different than their core mobile product.
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I hope they just stop doing business in Oregon.
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I hope more than ever that right-to-repair comes to my state too!
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Good....good! I can feel your hate!
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Apple, Microsoft, Sony and a shitload of other heavy-hitters are going to be fighting this for as long as possible with an emergency injunction in place to keep their products on the market.
I'm certain most have already made court filings. It has begun.
It won't just be tech companies. The auto manufacturers will get in on trying to fight this too. I've lost cars to vin-coded shit that has no reason at all to be vin-coded. Including a stereo install place, supposedly the best in town, frying the Safety Restraint Computer in an older vehicle that couldn't be replaced because they're vin-coded and too old to get straight from the manufacturer. A whole car, sent to the junkyard because one little tiny computerized component couldn't be replaced after a dumbas
I think it's a bad idea (Score:2, Insightful)
By banning pairing, this bill makes it valuable again to steal my iPhone and gut it for parts. Thanks so much!
Re:I think it's a bad idea (Score:5, Informative)
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Correct... as can be seen by the sharp step-function in used prices between macbook w/ good screen vs. macbook w/ broken screen in models where you *can* replace the screen yourself and models where you need Apple's blessed pairing software (i.e. you have to first buy the part from Apple at their inflated price before they give you cloud access to the tool necessary to program that 1 laptop to that 1 screen). Once you cut out cheap third party + DIY repairs, you drive customers back to your own retail offe
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You don't even need to involve iCloud at all - you could include a printed TOTP secret that's associated with the device and will work with any TOTP app to generate a credential when needed, and don't be dumb enough to keep the secret anywhere on the device itself or in its bag/case. The pairing software will ask for a credential, and you give it when needed. Or you could provide the key as a YubiKey-like device, but that too would need to be kept separate from the phone/computer. Recyclers could pay a bo
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I own ~5 figures worth of Apple toys. You could say I really like their products. However, I also really like competing products (My current favorite tablet is a Samsung, for example- so my iPad Pro goes unused)
This doesn't create some weird emotional connection and need to defend the manufacturer of
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I used a linux desktop since switching for work in 2008, up until around 2020 when I bought my first MacBook. It's honestly the greatest computer I've ever owned, in spite of its silly shortcomings, most self-inflicted by it's damn OS.
Apple's tightknit integration does not require them to behave like anticompetitive shits. I'm quite certain the things they do great will continue to happen without the bad, once there are actually consequences for the bad.
They're
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There is an overarching tendency in humans to progress from the oppressed to the oppressor. To continue the cycle.
Apple struggled to survive in the nastiest and most anticompetitive large market in existence at the time. They developed a culture of fighting fire with fire. It doesn't help, that for a small company in the market with a monopolist, you can actually legally do what the monopolist cannot.
But once you are powerful enough to attempt to monopolize a market, the rules
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The 30% number (which is really 25%) is for Apple's shareholder reported "Europe" region, which includes UK, Switzerland, Ukraine, and weirdly enough- the entire Middle East. I.e., the EU isn't even the bulk economic power of Apple's "Europe" region.
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I wish I had mod points. The "Hate Apple at any cost" goons are out in force with their baseless speculations. All corporations do whatever they can to turn a profit for their shareholders, if they have shareholders (see 'Business Ethics' for a review) but Apple gets a special level of hate due to the 'religion' of OSes.
Thanks.
People on here accuse me if being a paid Apple shill (I wish!), because I keep responding to and rebutting the constant barrage of Apple Hate.
As for not offering iMessage to Android: I don't blame Apple for not wanting the additional Message Traffic on their Servers (for free!); but you just KNOW they'd be additionally excoriated if they tried to either charge for the App, or make it a Subscription. So, as usual, they're damned if they do, and damned if they don't!
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I have used sooooo many OSes over the decades and frankly I just love the way Apple products 'just work' together and work together with so many other products as well. I got my first Apple product when my brother went to work for them back decades ago and it was soooooo easy compared to the other OSes I had been used to using. Of course, as a compute
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Are you really so stupid you believe the bottom-feeder who steals your iPhone cares what happens to it afterward? If you leave your phone on a bar or have half of it hanging out of your back pocket, whoever steals it is probably going to pass it to their crack dealer. End of story.
By the time it gets two steps past the crack dealer, it's probably in China, and Apple is so busy sucking Chairman Xi's spring roll it couldn't matter less whether or not they know where all those "scrap" iPhones came from.
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There is a fine but significant difference between part serialization and part pairing.
If part serialization is done solely for protecting customer, there should be a registration/unregistration procedures that one can do to the phone components. Let say I buy a phone. There will be an app/UI that let me query my phone components source. A first-hand phone component serials combination will be pre-recorded in the phone manufacturer database. A refurbished phone done by the original phone manufacturer wil
Re:I think it's a bad idea (Score:4, Interesting)
Mandate a price cap on parts, and track the individual parts by serial number instead of just the complete device. Then disallow activation of any device which has any stolen components fitted.
People only buy black market parts if they are significantly cheaper than legitimate ones. If the parts are available close to cost price from a reputable source, there is far less incentive to take the risk on stolen parts.
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Mandate a price cap on parts, and track the individual parts by serial number instead of just the complete device. Then disallow activation of any device which has any stolen components fitted.
People only buy black market parts if they are significantly cheaper than legitimate ones. If the parts are available close to cost price from a reputable source, there is far less incentive to take the risk on stolen parts.
Mandating pricing in a capitalist country? Good luck. Also, I don't think the big issue here is about preventing use of stolen parts. It's about knock-off parts being manufactured at scale in places like China.
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Over in China they just desolder the chip from your broken screen and move it to the stolen screen. No big deal.
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By banning pairing, this bill makes it valuable again to steal my iPhone and gut it for parts. Thanks so much!
Ignorance banning law enforcement is the actual problem you’re talking about. Your phone certainly isn’t the only thing rampant crime can take from you or a loved one, and no amount of pairing is going to fix that.
Choose better leaders, taxpayer. You’re certainly paying enough for it.
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Oh c'mon, a mugger is going to steal your cell phone whether this law exists or not. This changes nothing in that regard.
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Oh c'mon, a mugger is going to steal your cell phone whether this law exists or not. This changes nothing in that regard.
Befire cars, there were horses. And we used to hang a horse thief for that crime.
Before liberals, there were deterrents. We used to arrest and punish muggers for that crime.
Start cutting off hands for stealing again. See how many get mugged after that.
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Start cutting off hands for stealing again. See how many get mugged after that.
Oh good, so now instead of a person doing their time for their crime and then getting the opportunity to start over again when they get out we'll have punishments for minor crimes that last and limit these people for their entire lives. That sounds nice and moral, just like the Taliban.
Furthermore, if the death penalty isnt a deterrent for crime https://www.wupr.org/2024/02/2... [wupr.org] then cutting off hands wont be either. Criminals like petty thieves arent exactly great long term planners, hence them being thiev
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Who's more employable and / or more likely to have a happy life? A former felon or a former felon with only one hand?
Most of the type of work that convicted felons end up with is manual labor done with the hands like kitchen work. Taking a hand away removes most of the few job opportunities they have as a felon thus making the adoption of a product life even more unlikely for them.
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product life = productive life
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Start cutting off hands for stealing again. See how many get mugged after that.
Oh good, so now instead of a person doing their time for their crime and then getting the opportunity to start over again when they get out we'll have punishments for minor crimes that last and limit these people for their entire lives. That sounds nice and moral, just like the Taliban.
Furthermore, if the death penalty isnt a deterrent for crime https://www.wupr.org/2024/02/2... [wupr.org] then cutting off hands wont be either. Criminals like petty thieves arent exactly great long term planners, hence them being thieves.
Most people who defend criminals as victims like that, have never seen real crime or harm. Stop pretending the current liberal policies destroying all forms of deterrent are effective. A thief will quickly become a long term planner when they no longer have hands, but the best part about that is the 10,001 people who made the moral choice not to become criminals, because they took one good look at how hard Stumpy McStealerson is struggling with shitty life choices.
A mugging isn’t a minor crime. It
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Huh, no room for the redemption of the individual huh? Permanent deforming punishment it is.
I'll put it this way then, there's a reason why the Taliban are considered morally degenerate to us in the West, it's because they do shit like what you advocate.
I'll leave you with that and be done with this conversation as if you're comfortable with implementing punishments that even our founding fathers (who were pro slavery mind you so hardly angels) found morally repugnant then I have no interest in debating you
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Start cutting off hands for stealing again. See how many get mugged after that.
Did you by any chance go back in time and write the 13th amendment? Because your proposal is a way to help maintain a permanent slave class.
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Start cutting off hands for stealing again. See how many get mugged after that.
Did you by any chance go back in time and write the 13th amendment? Because your proposal is a way to help maintain a permanent slave class.
The Incarcerated States of America, already has a slave class. I’d prefer actual deterrents to reduce that slave class, but more importantly to reduce the victim numbers. Yeah. I AM thinking of the children. Logically.
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By banning pairing, this bill makes it valuable again to steal my iPhone and gut it for parts. Thanks so much!
Exactly.
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Even if your premise is correct, you need to weigh that against the benefit to users that want inexpensive and hassle-free ways to repair their devices. Put differently, which is more likely to happen while owning a phone: 1) that you'll need to repair it at some point - prolonging its useful life before replacement, increasing resale value, and reducing e-waste, or 2) that it gets stolen for par
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No, you would never be so
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Possible issues. (Score:2, Insightful)
People are going to hate reading this, but I like the fact that Apple pairs parts. I don't want anyone to be able to steal my phone and then either use it or strip it for parts. I want there to be zero incentive to mug someone on the subway for their iPhone. I want that lost iPhone to be turned in to the lost-and-found instead of just being stolen.
This law could potentially revert us back to how things were 10 years ago. When owning a high-end device was a pain in the ass simply due to the troubles i
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That is a questionable claim, since the average US credit card has a limit of nearly $30,000 [credit.com]. iPhones are expensive, but not that expensive.
Re:Possible issues. (Score:5, Informative)
Functional iPhones generally aren't stripped for parts. Thieves will try to social engineer their way past the iCloud lock, and if you look on YouTube there's even people in China who have figured out hardware methods of reprogramming the phone's IMEI and serial number.
The only thing parts paring really accomplishes is annoying people who legitimately repair phones.
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Functional iPhones generally aren't stripped for parts.
Yes!!! That is exactly my point. Why strip for parts when the parts can not be reused? It pays more to attempt social engineering past the iCloud lock before the original owner disables the device. Can you really call support and make your way past a lock then even the FBI have issues with all before the user discovers they are missing their phone and disables it? Probably more profitable to send it to China.
Paired parts do annoy people that legitimately repair phones. No arguments from me here. Th
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Yes!!! That is exactly my point. Why strip for parts when the parts can not be reused?
No you missed the point. Parts weren't stripped from functioning phones even before pairing became a thing. It just isn't a viable economic model.
Can you really call support and make your way past a lock then even the FBI have issues
The FBI wants the phone unlocked and completely intact with all data. A thief doesn't give a shit, they just want to wipe it and sell it as new. Two different things with two different attack vectors.
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Functional iPhones generally aren't stripped for parts. Thieves will try to social engineer their way past the iCloud lock
That's exactly the point of making iPhone parts unusable. How many can the thieves social engineer in a day? Vs how many phones they could steal and strip if the parts were valuable for reuse?
I, as a iPhone buyer, want the parts in my phone to be unusable to anyone except myself, and I am willing to pay more, including buying a new phone, in the event of my phone breaking down. I, the buyer, should have the freedom to make that choice, right?
The bill text allows your proposal (Score:5, Informative)
Oregon citizen and friend of Charlie (who was quoted in the summary) here.
The bill specifically bans parts pairing when made effective to prevent an otherwise functional part from being used for replacement.
You can still use part serial numbering to prevent theft.
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Yeah, the summary was missing a conditional clause regarding the intent of the action, to prevent repair with an otherwise functional part.
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You can still use part serial numbering to prevent theft.
What prevent thieves from wiping out the serial number? And what prevents repair shops from buying parts without serial number (or even with stolen serial number) and putting them into customer's phones?
Generally people taking phones to repair won't open their phones afterwards to check the serial number of the parts used.
Re:The bill text allows your proposal (Score:5, Informative)
If serial number anti-removal techniques are working to prevent repair now and in the future, they will also prevent theft now and in the same time frame of the future.
The sophistication of high-tier determined thieves is about the same as professional independent repair shops. The main issue a non-thief independent-repair-shop may need to overcome is whether or not it is illegal to circumvent the protection, which things like the DMCA aren't supposed to touch even now.
What the parent poster was proposing is that registration of the same serial number as already sold may be blocked, but a non-serialized or other-serialized party would be allowed. Currently the restrictions are designed to require a match in a central registry. The central registry if it exists can simply be made to allow new things not linked to a registered owner by the manufacturer already.
And of course, for vehicles and guns we use vin and serial number etching which is manipulable too, but it is still effective at least somewhat in tracking crime. I suspect things would be similar for such electronically etched systems.
And these electronically etched systems generally work by having a writable memory that can have its write system "burned" by triggering a "fuse" that permanently makes it impossible to rewrite it without destruction or wholesale replacement of the chip itself. The goal here is to protect the chip, which is what is generally proprietary here. This also works for firmware protection too, to some extent, unless you have some especially powerful equipment.
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What prevent thieves from wiping out the serial number?
Serial numbers are blown into e-fuses in each CPU. Those can't be wiped by anyone without destroying the device.
what prevents repair shops from buying parts without serial number (or even with stolen serial number) and putting them into customer's phones?
The serial numbers are set in the factories; there are no parts without numbers.
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What prevent thieves from wiping out the serial number? And what prevents repair shops from buying parts without serial number (or even with stolen serial number) and putting them into customer's phones?
Generally you would encode the serial number as a set of blown fuses on an ID chip on the part. Then you blow the master fuse that allows writing to the data fuses. Ideally pairing a phone with a new part would involve a free app that would accept the owner's icloud credentials + phone IMEI + new part serial number and would validate that a) the iCloud credentials own the phone and b) the serial number of the new part is legit and hasn't been reported stolen.
That would allow self repair and prevent theft
Re: Possible issues. (Score:2)
I want there to be zero incentive to mug someone on the subway for their iPhone
Give people economic safety and much of that incentive will disappear. People with proper income don't mug.
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I can steal your iPhone and when the camera breaks, install an unpaired part. Your iPhone isn't stripped and sold for parts but optional pairing means there's still incentive to steal it.
Also, thieves could learn to disable the parts-pairing chip, allowing them to strip your iPhone and sell it as non-pairing parts.
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Why do you think the only option is for Apple to own the key that pairs the parts? Thought was put into locking in a revenue stream, not secure the owner of the device from theft.
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put up a web page?
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put up a web page?
No, did the stuff Described on the Web Page, you Nugget!
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And since apple already requires anyone making their parts to sign an agreement that no parts are sold to any party other than apple, it's perfect. No one gets any spare parts from anyone other than apple, which means that if apple decides that it's time for you to buy a new phone or a laptop from apple, it gives you a repair quote that is higher than the cost of a new phone or a laptop. And since these are specialist parts that require things like copyrighted microcode, no one else is allowed to make them
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People are going to hate reading this, but I like the fact that Apple pairs parts. I don't want anyone to be able to steal my phone and then either use it or strip it for parts.
That has to be the most absurd thing I've ever read. You would create mountains of waste and cost to users limiting repair problems all to solve the theft of a relatively cheap toy which statistically gets replaced every couple of years anyway.
If someone wants to mug you and your first thought isn't *shrug - hand over phone without argument or concern* then you shouldn't have an iPhone. If your most critical concern about losing your phone isn't finding the time to go to a website and ordering a replacement
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Thankfully (Score:2)
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I actually used my phone as part of my HVAC system. The system has a Bluetooth service interface, so it was helpful to see if it had a clogged condensate line or other issue that I could take care of quickly. Unfortunately my login appears to not work anymore after an update, and I suspect the manufacturer has started cracking down to limit the use of the app by DIYers.
Apple Shareholders and Employees Jump In (Score:4, Insightful)
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Honestly... if they want to use a keyed part system for the sole purpose of voiding warranty if you have an unauthorized repair, I'm OK with that.
That should not apply to parts that require replacement from normal wear & tear and can't affect other components if they fail.
But even that gets complicated. What if you replace a battery in your device with something that turns out to be particularly unstable, bursts into flame, and melts everything? A battery SHOULD absolutely be user-replaceable with a g
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Well, there are some parts that are needed for security.
After all, what if I change your fingerprint sensor to one that had the ability to record and play back fingerprints? If they're paired, then the act of replacing the sensor means it's disabled, which is what you want as an indication something foul has taken place.
But if I can replace it with a recording sensor, then I can have it replay the recorded fingerprints until it works and lets me in. Imagine how useful that is for law enforcement? Now they n
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You can put this in the users hand by prompting the user to validate the repair via the icloud app or website after a repair:
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After all, what if I change your fingerprint sensor to one that had the ability to record and play back fingerprints? If they're paired, then the act of replacing the sensor means it's disabled, which is what you want as an indication something foul has taken place.
This bill doesn't prevent clearing fingerprint sensor data when you swap it with another genuine part. It prevents it from being disabled completely.
Carving out the Point. (Score:2)
"That will conserve precious natural resources and prevent waste. It's a refreshing alternative to a 'throwaway' system that treats everything as disposable."
Yeah, except you managed to allow Greed to carve out a lot of the shit consumers are forced to replace prematurely. You’ve done next to nothing to address the ‘throwaway’ problem, including the marketing that has driven that culture and mentality now. It’ll be ironically predictable to watch Right to Repair “fix” the problem of repair about as well as “recycling” has untrashed a planet.
And what the hell is up with electric toothbrush carve-outs? Oddly enoug
Can we apply right to repair... (Score:2)
Just wait... (Score:2)
... for manufacturers will find new ways to be complete dicks while in compliance with the regulations. e.g. combining electronics into large boards that are more expensive to replace, or putting functionality into ASICs, or pouring epoxy all over everything, or using specialist tools or locking nuts, or super complex communication protocols. Basically anything that massively hinders a non authorised person from affecting a repair in a cost efficient and timely manner.
Excellent news! (Score:2)
This is great news but I hope these laws apply to software diagnostic tools as well where manufacturers find ways to ensure that only those service centers who are purchasing a VERY EXPENSIVE license for the maintenance software are allowed access to the hardware through license keys etc.
Machined matched set (Score:2)
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Also aftermarket crankshafts do exist--even for matched cases. Notice the category: https://www.scooterpartsco.com... [scooterpartsco.com]
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It's the way laws *should* be written, but I'm not sure that Oregon is a large enough market to enforce that. If they could convince a few other states to go along, though, it would be quite good.
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We live in a digital world hell-bent on planting trees to keep fucking printers alive, not humans.
There's nothing looking at a 3 inch screen and having to scroll, scroll, swipe, and pinch to look at documentation rather than having a single piece of paper with everything in view, able to readily be passed around without worry if it's dropped it will no longer work. A piece of paper which can be folded and stuck in your pocket taking up essentially no room and weighing an insignificant, unnoticeable amount
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Paper burns. It erodes. We have to go to great lengths just to preserve it for hundreds of years. And I’m more looking at the printer addict that is printing every email “just in case” and then filing it, only to feed it into a fucking shredder XX destruction-compliant months from now.
Believe me I get your point. More than you can imagine. Doesn’t dismiss the blatant waste and my $10K price tag argument for a ream of paper still stands. You want hardcopies? No problem. Prove yo