Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have  considered tackling in-built obsolescence in relation to internet search engines, equivalent to legislation in France under decree 1482, and if not, why not.

Decree 1482 concerns obsolescence in appliances rather than computer software. The Government is not specifically considering obsolescence in computer software but has protected consumers in a different way. Since October 2015 consumers have had new rights under the Consumer Rights Act in relation to digital content including software. Software must be of satisfactory quality which includes remaining functional for the period a consumer can reasonably expect.

Decree 1482 does not cover internet search engines and the concept of in-built obsolescence in relation to internet search engines is unclear so the Government has no plans to address this issue.