PARIS (Reuters) – The Paris public prosecutor’s office announced on Monday that it had opened an investigation against Apple after a complaint for planned obsolescence and deceptive commercial practices filed by the Halte à l’obsolescence programmed (HOP) association.
An investigation has been opened following a complaint about deceptive marketing practices and planned obsolescence filed by HOP, a spokesman for the prosecution told Reuters.
“The HOP association filed a complaint against Apple in December 2022 for planned obsolescence and obstacles to repair,” HOP said in a press release.
The association says it welcomes the opening of an investigation by the public prosecutor and hopes that it will “sanction and demonstrate the criminal nature of the serialization practices questioned by the association”.
“Serialization”, specifies HOP, amounts to associating the serial numbers of spare parts with that of a smartphone, which allows the manufacturer to restrict repair by non-approved repairers or to degrade a smartphone repaired with generic parts. from a distance.
(Report GV De Clercq, written by Kate Entringer, edited by Tangi Salaün)
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