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Oregon’s New Right to Repair Law Bans ‘Parts Pairing’ Restrictions

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Oregon this week signed a Right to Repair bill into law, and it is notable because it is the first such law that puts a stop to the practice of parts pairing. Manufacturers like Apple are not able to require customers to use Apple-sourced parts that then have to be authenticated, with the bill giving Apple device owners the right to use new parts, used parts, or third-party parts.

Apple Self Service Repair Program iPhone
Apple has launched repair tools for both independent repair shops and consumers, but repair components must be purchased directly from Apple. Components must be paired with a device serial number after being installed, which prevents unauthorized repairs that use third-party components. The bill states that companies cannot reduce the performance of a device or display misleading warnings for parts that are not properly paired.

According to repair site iFixit, Oregon’s Right to Repair law is the strongest that has been passed to date. It does have consumer protections, such as requiring independent repair shops to have a “valid and unexpired certification” ensuring the person doing the repair has the “technical capabilities and competence necessary” to make a successful fix.

The elimination of the parts pairing restriction will allow independent repair shops to make more repairs without having to rely solely on components from Apple.

In addition to preventing manufacturers from requiring components to be free from pairing restrictions, the law requires companies to make parts, tools, documentation, and software available for smartphones produced in 2021 or later. For other electronics like computers, it is applicable to devices produced in 2015 and later.

Apple did not support Oregon’s Right to Repair bill, and the company has said that it will result in safety and security issues for consumers. Apple will need to comply with the parts pairing portion of the bill for products made after January 1, 2025.

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Entertainment

The Morning After: Airbnb bans indoor cameras

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Airbnb has announced a complete ban on indoor cameras in host properties. Hosts were allowed to have cameras in communal spaces, but they were supposed to be banned from bedrooms and bathrooms. Hosts were also supposed to disclose any cameras in the rental, which may not always have happened. The company says it established the new rules “in consultation with our guests, hosts and privacy experts” and that it’ll continue to seek feedback.

Hosts also have to disclose any outdoor cameras (that can’t point indoors or be in areas with a “greater expectation of privacy” — think showers and saunas). Because humans can be monstrous. The new rules kick in April 30.

Any hosts that violate these new policies could face having their properties banned from Airbnb — and even get their entire account removed.

— Mat Smith

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And make the process easier.

The FTC wants to compel companies to make cancellation processes easier but, during a hearing on the matter earlier this year, industry lobbyists argued that making things easier would be bad for business. So to make things worse for business (I joke), we’ve put together a guide with a few tips to help you find exactly what you’re paying for and how to cancel things you no longer need. Or perhaps, things that have rocketed in price.

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The company may brand its next Surface Pro and Surface Laptop as AI PCs.

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Microsoft

Microsoft is holding a digital event titled Advancing the new era of work with Copilot on March 21. We’re expecting new Surface devices and — given the event’s name — a lot more about dovetailing Microsoft’s AI ambitions with its hardware and software. Rumors are all over the place: We could see a new Surface Pro with a brighter OLED screen, devices powered by either Intel Core Ultra or Snapdragon X Elite chips. And possibly even nothing for consumers and just a barrage of business- and commercial-focused devices. Boo! Engadget will cover all the notable announcements on March 21 at noon ET.

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The company may have trained its NeMo AI on a controversial dataset.

The latest tech company immersing itself in AI and facing copyright troubles is NVIDIA. Several authors are suing the company over its AI platform NeMo, a language model that allows businesses to create and train their own chatbots. The authors claim NVIDIA trained it on a controversial dataset that illegally used their books without consent. They want a jury trial and are demanding NVIDIA pay damages and destroy all copies of the Books3 dataset used to power NeMo large language models (LLMs). They claim the dataset was copied from a shadow library called Bibliotek, consisting of 196,640 pirated books.

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