Right-to-Repair Bid Sprang From Enterprise Computing Practices; DOJ Not Expected to Intervene

Association. Member iFixit alleges major tech firms link security updates to service subscriptions (see 1903170001). Cisco, HP Enterprise, IBM and Oracle “linked access to safety and security updates to having a separate maintenance contract in place with the OEM entitled by serial number,” said Gordon-Byrne. "Third parties cannot acquire patches and fixes even on behalf of the customer unless the customer has such a contract.” None of the companies she cited responded to queries Monday. Right-to-repair advocates argue such arrangements are “illegal” under U.S. antitrust law, emailed Gordon-Byrne. Advocates met with DOJ’s Antitrust Division, but “we came to understand very quickly that anti-trust law wouldn't come to our rescue in our lifetime,” she said. The department advised the advocates to “seek a legislative solution -- which we have done,” said Gordon-Byrne. DOJ didn’t comment. Right-to-repair bills were introduced in nearly two dozen state legislatures this year, but the bills historically have had a poor success record (see 1904030028). When consumers “can't repair our stuff, the only route we have if it is available is the manufacturer's service,” Georgian David Bley commented last week in docket FTC-2019-0013. “I hear about people submitting legislation to gain the right to repair the stuff that they own,” he said. “I am not sure when we lost that right, because as a kid, we always tried to fix whatever we owned that broke.” Comments are due April 30 for submitting “empirical research” in the FTC’s inquiry into whether manufacturer limitations on third-party repairs can thwart consumer protections under the 1975 Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (see 1903130060).