An activist group in France are starting proceedings to sue Apple for reportedly slowing down older models of the iPhone in a bid to make people upgrade.
Obsolence is in fact a crime in France. To deliberately render something obsolete when it is still in good working order to increase rate of replacement is against the law.
The HOP ( Halte à l’obsolesce Programmé ) translated as Stop Planned Obsolence, is an environmental association who have decided to take action against Apple executives.
The court proceedings could even land them in jail. The suit was filed last Wednesday and could cost the company a hefty 5% of its income. A maximum sentence is 2 years in jail.
Planned Obsolence is being brought against them due to their global plan to program older iPhones to slow down and render them useless. All of this is in order to boost sales of the newer models.
According to HOP, Apple can be sued for the sale of every single iPhone sold in France due to a law made in August 2015 that makes obsolesce a crime.
Obsolence is to deliberately reduce the lifespan of a product to increase the rate of replacement, therefore they are in direct breach of the law.
On top of that, HOP have stated that Apple could actually be liable for a whopping fine to the value of every French iPhone sale since August 2005, when the law came into place.
The proceedings are ongoing and will be held in a criminal court.
Another shocking revelation is that the current iPhone X comes in over the current monthly full time minimum wage salary in France. At EUR1200 this attitude of pushing sales is not going down well with anyone.
Apple are already facing lawsuits in the US due to the slowing down of iPhone 6 and 7 there.
They have since apologized and are now arguing that the practice is necessary to protect the components of older phones. Apparently to prevent unexpected shutdowns as the batteries age.
What do we think about this excuse?
Hmmmmm…
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