Google has officially expressed support for right-to-repair (R2R) legislation. Specifically, the company supports SB 542, championed by Oregon Sen. Janeen Sollman (D). While Google may be motivated less by newfound altruism and more concern for regulatory action that seems increasingly inevitable, as they say in the sports world, “a win is a win.”
The company expressed its new R2R stance in a blog post and white paper published Thursday. “Today, we are pleased to reaffirm our support for the right-to-repair movement by releasing our first repair white paper while supporting Oregon’s proposed right-to-repair legislation, which provides a mandate for other states,” the company wrote. A model that convinces people.”
Google lobbied against right-to-repair legislation as early as March 2021, when it opposed Colorado’s HB21-1199 R2R bill. California also has a record of opposing AB1163. The company’s stance had shifted before today, in line with regulatory winds. (It is related to i fix it Self-repair starting in 2022. ), but it seems disingenuous for Google to suggest that today’s statement simply “reaffirms” the values it has always supported (while ignoring documented evidence to the contrary).
Google’s advice to regulators
Google’s wording in the white paper reveals a legislative strategy. An entire section titled “Policy Perspectives” breaks down the language and boundaries that companies believe R2R regulations should contain.
The policy section of the document includes a paragraph on “design flexibility,” urging lawmakers not to restrict device manufacturers by imposing strict design specifications. Google writes in its white paper: “Well-intentioned regulations that set specific design requirements and standards to improve repairability can have unintended consequences that stifle innovation and inadvertently lead to undesirable consequences, such as more e-waste. “Design-related repair policies should focus on defining repairability outcomes rather than setting strict design standards.”
Another “reasonable implementation period” in the policy section calls for regulations that will not disrupt existing production plans. “Consumer electronics have long product development cycles, often spanning several years,” Google wrote. “New regulatory measures should be phased in over a reasonable timetable to ensure manufacturers can meet the new requirements without Creates an undue burden. Regulations should not apply to products that have already been designed and launched, as such measures are problematic and can have unintended negative consequences, such as generating more e-waste.”
None of these requests seem unreasonable—the point about e-waste can be taken at face value—but coincidentally or not, they do serve Google’s business interests.
Apple’s Digging and…Project Ara?
Google also took a dig at Apple. “Policies should restrict OEMs from engaging in unfair anti-repair practices,” the document reads. “For example, parts matching, the use of software barriers to prevent consumers and independent repair shops from replacing components, or other restrictive repair barriers should be discouraged.”
Of course, Apple is notorious for parts matching, which means digitally linking part serial numbers to device serial numbers, locking out third-party repair services (and leaving annoying incompatibility warnings for those who pay).
Google’s paper highlights its historical examples of support for R2R and similar initiatives, even citing the (cancelled) Project Ara modular phone from a decade ago as an example of a project that “pushed boundaries and better understood user repair needs.” (It would be nice if it was only available to consumers.)
The paper also touts Google’s enhancements to its repair capabilities, seven years of software support for Pixels, and seven years of support for hardware components. All of this can be seen as a huge victory for the R2R movement, although the corporate motives are still not as noble as they would like to appear.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/google-claims-to-reaffirm-right-to-repair-support-third-years-after-lobbying-against-it-205828956.html ?src=rss
Source link
