For some of us, there are few things more annoying than having a gadget stop working because of a software change. As we’ve discussed here at Ars before, startups and big tech companies are guilty of making hardware obsolete and/or stripping away core features, and a slew of activists are pushing the Federal Trade Commission to get involved.
In a letter sent today to Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, and Serena Viswanathan, deputy director of the FTC’s Division of Advertising Practices, representatives from 17 groups including Consumer Reports, U.S. PIRG and iFixit urged the FTC to issue “clear guidance” on software tethering. Software tethering, the letter says, “is the practice of making device functionality dependent on embedded software that the device transmits back to a manufacturer’s servers.” As it stands, the practice harms customers through “unfair and deceptive practices,” such as suddenly locking features behind a subscription, as the Snoo smart bassinet recently did, or locking out devices that have already been purchased, as Spotify did with its Car Thing.
The letter to the FTC argues that such practices hinder the ability of owners to own their hardware.
“While the FTC has taken some limited action on this issue, a lack of clarity and enforcement has created an ecosystem where consumers cannot trust that the connected products they buy will last,” the letter said.
“Death by a thousand cuts”
The letter, signed by members of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Software Freedom Conservancy and Repair Cafe, compared the loss of features on already-purchased devices to “death by a thousand cuts.” In addition to losing what users consider critical functionality, the devices could also lose resale value if their capabilities are changed after purchase.
For example, Peloton last month mandated that pre-owned Pelton fitness equipment would not work until the new owner paid a $95 “used equipment activation fee.” The move was criticized as hurting the pre-owned market while benefiting consumers by keeping the smart, expensive devices from being considered e-waste.
The letter cites numerous devices that have suddenly been significantly or completely hampered by software updates. For example, the letter, citing Ars' reporting, points to Oral-B toothbrushes losing Amazon Alexa functionality. It also cites blocked Google Dropcams, Amazon Halos and many more examples (in some, but not all, examples, customers have been offered refunds).
Proposed FTC Guidance
The letter suggests FTC guidelines that the authors believe could help shoppers decide whether a smart gadget is worth investing in. These include requiring “disclosure of a guaranteed minimum support time on product packaging”:
Companies should plan and communicate to consumers their plans for both security updates and expected engineering and cloud resources to keep a product functional until a certain date. This date can be extended at the company's discretion…
