Gregory's ServerOregon governor signs nation’s first right-to-repair bill that bans parts pairing
Starting in 2025, devices can't block repair parts with software pairing checks.
 37 comments
 @irenes @arstechnica lol I suspect the geo logic for lock-in features on iPhones is going to get so convoluted over the next few years. @irenes @megmac @arstechnica so, what, the good repair shops will have “GPS rooms” that will make devices think they’re in a better jurisdiction? @ShadSterling @irenes @arstechnica I mean that wouldn't help if the parts matching check happens when it leaves the "good" jurisdiction, and then you're bricked. @megmac @irenes @arstechnica yeah, but if that’s how it works I guess no one can travel with anything but a pristine phone. Not that that would stop them @ShadSterling @megmac @arstechnica this is in the category of thing where we kind of don't want to game it out in public here because of the risk we'll come up with a genuinely good idea for the monopolists which they wouldn't otherwise have thought of...  @ShadSterling @irenes @megmac @arstechnica GPS RF simulators weren't that expensive last time I sold one and I'd assume they are a bit cheaper now, so expensive for a repair shop but not impossible. But as you've got the phone open inserting messages pretending to be the GPS chip would work (unless that is integrated into the SOC?). May also need to spoof a mobile tower to match the GPS location, WiFi too (but that is cheap).  @andyhilmer @arstechnica Patents are the number one thing. If the feds assign patents rights to a company covering parts-pairing, then a state government cannot say companies cannot use them! ToS second. But ToS *can* be struct down by the state courts. @jann@twit.social @arstechnica@mastodon.social east coast loser mindset 💀BORN TO ENSHITIFY / TECH WORLD IS A FUCK / Foss Em all 25 February 1989 / I am trash man / 410,757,864,530 DEAD TECH BROS I came here to ask that exact thing: Printers? Does the bill accidentally/intentionally encompass those Genuine HP cartridges with the built-in serial numbers?    @arstechnica I wonder how vendors will replace the security guarantees they'll lose. Maybe Some kind of post-boot warning along with a way to pair all the new installed parts. @arstechnica Oregon’s new right-to-repair law, the first of its kind, is a significant step towards consumer rights. Starting 2025, it bans software checks that block repair parts, promoting repairability and reducing electronic waste. This could set a precedent for other states to follow. #RightToRepair  @steelefortress @arstechnica My guess is that you'll see Apple continuing what they've been doing, and when challenged in court they'll spend years arguing that it's not a software check but actually a hardware check. Que years of following lawyers arguing whether firmware in ROM is actually hardware or software.  @arstechnica I hope that it will end in other way than "the state where you cannot buy Apple products". @hrw @arstechnica that seems unlikely. it’s too big a market to miss out on compared to the losses from extra repairs instead of buying new  @arstechnica I see many Apple/HP comments but the real target here, I suspect, is John Deere. Remember the stories about Ukrainian hacked farm tractor firmwares used in US farms? The reason was to circumvent parts pairing that made repairing them impossible without an official tech installing them.  @arstechnica Does this mean that Microsoft can no longer disable your Windows if you upgrade your computer? @arstechnica @ruawhitepaw doubt it. this is about companies like apple doing things like bricking your phone when it detects a third party battery. what windows is doing is keying your installation to certain HWIDs to prevent you from swapping the hard drive into a new computer because the license you bought only applies to one computer. I imagine windows hardware locks will have to be addressed in a different way. I could be totally wrong though 🤷    @alexr @arstechnica Oregon, where all drugs are legal but calibrated subcomponents are not. |
@arstechnica finally some good news for once