We've all seen those annoying "Warranty Void if Removed" stickers on electronics. They're normally either slapped over a screw silo or wrapped around where two pieces of metal/plastic join together to discourage you (or a third party) from opening up the device to tinker with it yourself. Well, the Federal Trade Commission (
FTC) has now deemed these stickers to be illegal.
The FTC says that is has put six major companies on notice for the use of these stickers (among other practices), and say that they violate the
Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (MMWA) that provides guidelines for consumer product warranties. The MMWA specifically states:
No warrantor of a consumer product may condition his written or implied warranty of such product on the consumer’s using, in connection with such product, any article or service (other than article or service provided without charge under the terms of the warranty) which is identified by brand, trade, or corporate name.
The FTC goes on to say that of the six companies that it has warned, they include automobile, smartphone and video game console manufacturers. With regards to game consoles, both
Microsoft and
Sony are guilty of liberally applying the stickers on their
Xbox One and
PlayStation 4 in an effort to deny warranty repair claims if the seal is broken.
