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Apple and John Deere Shareholder Resolutions Demand They Explain Their Bad Repair Policies - iFixit:
Apple and John Deere, primary antagonists of the Right to Repair movement, may soon have to explain their domineering repair programs to one of their most demanding audiences: their shareholders.
U.S. PIRG, working with its affiliated socially responsible mutual fund company, Green Century Funds, has filed shareholder resolutions with both Apple and John Deere, asking them to account for “anti-competitive repair policies." Both resolutions admonish the companies for fighting independent repair and ignoring the broad political shift toward Right to Repair laws.
Touch ID stops working if you replace the fingerprint sensor on your iPhone. This used to brick iPhones; now it’s just the sad reality of iPhone repair.
Green Century’s Apple resolution says that the company “risks losing its reputation as a climate leader if it does not cease its anti-repair practices.” Noting that internet-connected devices will account for 14% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, Green Century’s resolution demands the company reverse course to “mitigate regulatory and reputational risks and bolster the company's ambitious climate commitments.”
[...] The John Deere resolution calls out the company’s broken promise to make crucial repair software available to farmers. "Company representatives are quick to point out that less than 2% of all repairs require a software update," Green Capital Funds notes. "However, Deere does not disclose what percentage of the repair sales the 2% represents."
(Score: 2) by Rich on Friday September 17 2021, @12:08PM
Fun fact: Years ago, I bought a little English sports car that was re-imported to Germany from Italy. Italy was late with introducing catalysts, and must have some weird EU exemptions. The car was built in 1991 and had no cat when it went to Italy. Yet I got my German papers with a cat type class, because the local regulations didn't assume any car from 1991 could be without cat. I have actual paperwork that says "Typklasse 01, 3.5% CO" for the emissions test.
Anyway, because I wanted optimum mixture/economy, I had the oxygen sensor fitted (it was literally screw-in, plug-in, all the cables were laid) and replaced the ECU software with one that recognizes the oxygen sensor. The joys of pluggable EPROMs. And because I'm such a tree hugger, I also had an actual catalyst fitted as well. Cost me a few horse, and the neat exhaust note.
Most of the time you'll find it the other way 'round, though, and people replace the catalyst with a straight-thru pipe. Now if manufacturers actually were concerned about such stuff happening, they would have long chipped the cat.