Groups request standards for companies that use software to control and limit device functions after a consumer buys the device
WASHINGTON – Consumer Reports and U.S. PIRG, along with 15 other groups, submitted a letter today to the Federal Trade Commission urging the Commission to develop clear guidance to address “software tethering.” Software tethering is where manufacturers use software to control and limit how devices function after a consumer has purchased it.
“Consumers need a clear standard for what to expect when purchasing a connected device. Too often, consumers are left with devices that stop functioning because companies decide to end support without little to no warning. This leaves people stranded with devices they once relied on, unable to access features or updates,” Justin Brookman, director of technology policy at CR and a former policy director of FTC’s Office of Technology, Research, and Investigation, said. “Companies that sell connected devices must recognize their responsibility to the people buying them. The FTC should step up and ensure that businesses not only market these devices transparently but also decommissions them in a way that respects the consumer’s investment and trust.”
One of the ways that companies may harm consumers with software tethering is by locking features behind a subscription wall after the purchase of a device. For example, Happiest Baby limited consumers’ ability to resell their product. In July, customers who had spent $1,695 on a Snoo connected bassinet, manufactured by Happiest Baby, discovered that some of the features that originally were advertised with the product would become part of a new, $19.99 monthly subscription, starting July 15. Customers who already had purchased the bassinet for those features don’t have to pay the monthly fee, but if they want to resell their Snoo or give it to others, the new buyers will not have access to those features.
Other times, companies “brick” a connected device, by using software to render it nonfunctional after purchase. This often leaves consumers with devices that no longer function, even if the consumer still wants to use the product, and it contributes to the massive amount of electronics piling up in our nation’s landfills.
In May, Spotify told people who had bought its $89.99 Car Thing device that support for the product would end in December 2024 — only 22 months after Spotify first sold the product. Initially, Spotify didn’t offer any sort of refund for device owners, but later did provide customers who complained refunds on their Spotify subscriptions.
“Manufacturers increasingly use software to lock us into only using our tech in ways that just-so-happen to generate the most profits for them,” Lucas Rockett Gutterman, Designed to Last Director with U.S. PIRG, said. “If we want to stop the tech industry from pushing us into replacing products that still work, we need to stand up for consumers’ right to get what we’ve paid for in the age of connected devices.
“Nobody wants a drawer full of broken junk—that’s why we keep fighting for our right to fix everything. But too often, gadgets become expensive paperweights not because the hardware breaks but because companies ended software support,” Liz Chamberlain, Director of Sustainability at iFixit, said. “Customers get left with no way to save or repurpose their hardware. It’s time for the FTC to step up and protect consumers from these shady, wasteful business practices.”
“Letting one company totally control a product’s updates and features, and whether it works at all, causes huge harm to users, the environment, and the economy,” Denver Gingerich of the Software Freedom Conservancy said. “When we can fix our own devices, communities can make resources available to keep devices running securely for years or decades, from non-profit projects to independent repair shops to their neighbors across the street. We strongly support these recommendations to the FTC.”
The FTC has a number of tools at its disposal to help establish standards for company support of internet-connected devices. The groups are calling on the agency to set norms around the following five items:
- Require disclosure of a guaranteed minimum support time on the product packaging: Companies should plan for and disclose, to the consumer, their plans for both security updates but also anticipated engineering and cloud resources to keep a product functional to a certain date.
- Require companies to ensure that the core functionality of a product will work even if the internet connection fails or the software stops getting updated. An e-bike should start without a connection to the server or control from an app. An oven should maintain its ability to heat food and a thermostat should still retain the ability to control an HVAC system.
- Encourage tools and methods that enable reuse if software support ends. Companies could create and distribute tools and software to repurpose products so products provide continued use. Tools could include upgrades to hardware so manufacturers can continue software support, or software that would allow consumers to repurpose the hardware for offline use, and should be continually available for the reasonably likely lifespan of the hardware.
- Protect “adversarial interoperability.” One way products can be repurposed is when a competitor or third-party creates a reuse or modification tool — something that adds to or converts the old device. Adversarial interoperability could revitalize the reuse market and ensure that far less hardware gets trashed when it loses software support.
- Conduct an educational program to encourage manufacturers to build longevity into the design of their products. Much like the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency has pushed its Secure by Design program to encourage companies to build security into their products from the beginning, we encourage the FTC to create a clear list of design principles that would promote the longevity of the connected products manufacturers sell.
The letter is available online here. The 17 groups that signed the letter to the FTC are:
Consumer Reports
U.S. PIRG
iFixit
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Software Freedom Conservancy
Californians Against Waste
Center for Economic Justice
SRFF (Secure Resilient Future Foundation)
Fixit Clinic
BigBattery, Inc.-OutBack Power, Inc.-TitanGreen, Inc.
Zero Waste Washington
Plastic Ocean Project, Inc.
Repair Cafe Hudson Valley
Repair Cafe
Inventurous
Digitunity
Hamilton Computer Repairs
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Contact: Cyrus Rassool, cyrus.rassool@consumer.org