Amazon Bans USB Type-C Cables That Don't Follow Standards

We have talked about a guy called Benson Leung before, Leung is an engineer who worked on the Pixel C project for Google. This guy took the task upon himself to cruise listings for USB Type-C cables being sold online and to test if the cables comply with the specifications set out by the USB Implementers Forum. The problem with cables that don't follow these specifications is that they can damage your device.

The results of Leung's testing was a dead USB Type-C charging device thanks to improperly made cables. The death of his gear has resulted in Amazon implementing a ban on any USB Type-C cable that doesn't meet the standards set for the cables. It's unclear just how Amazon plans to test these cables or how it plans to determine if any new listings are for cables that don't meet specifications

The only way to do this is to test the cables somehow and there is no word if Amazon pans to do this. The alternative would be to ban sellers or products only after a buyer orders and damages their products when trying to use a non-compliant cable. The cable that caused Leung to lose one of his devices and the one pictured here is a Surjtech 3M USB A-to-C cable that was pulled from Amazon.

That particular cable had been miswired resulting in damaging the man's Chromebook. The cable had also been advertised as USB 3.1 compliant, but only had four of the nine wires needed to support that specification. For its part in banning this sort of product, Amazon added a line to its Prohibited listings for electronics that reads, "Any USB-C™ (or USB Type-C™) cable or adapter product that is not compliant with standard specifications issued by "USB Implementers Forum Inc."

SOURCE: Google Plus