SB 898

The Unfair Competition Law (UCL) prohibits a person from engaging in unfair competition, including any unlawful, unfair, or fraudulent business act or practice. This bill would require a manufacturer of a connected consumer product sold at retail to establish and disclose to any prospective buyer of a connected consumer product a minimum guaranteed support timeframe, as prescribed, and would prohibit a manufacturer from reducing that timeframe. The bill would further require that a minimum guaranteed support timeframe be no less than 5 years, as specified. This bill would also require a manufacturer to provide a notice of a connected consumer product’s end of life to the public and to any owner of the product, including, among other notice requirements, that the notice be delivered on specified dates and by specified means. The bill would require a manufacturer to provide a consumer the means to opt in to the product’s end-of-life notifications, and would authorize a manufacturer to request a product owner’s contact information for the sole purpose of the product’s end-of-life notifications. This bill would require a business that owns or controls a connected consumer product that it leases or otherwise provides to its customers as part of a service to ensure that updates provided by the manufacturer for the connected consumer product are promptly received and applied and, when the connected consumer product has reached its end of life, replace the connected consumer product, at no additional cost to the customer, with a comparable product capable of receiving necessary updates and support if a comparable product is reasonably available to the business. The bill would further require a business to notify a consumer when the leased connected consumer product has reached its end of life. This bill would define “connected consumer product” to mean a physical product, as specified, that is intended for consumer use and depends, partly or in whole, on an internet connection. The bill would also define “end of life” to mean the point after which the manufacturer no longer provides necessary support or security patches for a connected consumer product. This bill would specify that a violation of its provisions constitutes a deceptive act or practice under the UCL.