Mmm, I'm sure that isn't a UK law; are you sure the law is not that they have to offer to fix it (ie, have the capability), but may charge you for it when out of warranty?

As stated, the law would seem to mean that if you had a washing machine that broke down out of warranty then it'd have to get fixed for free...

Yes, if your control broke out of warranty then it would be a chargeable repair, as it would with any such product. The kernel patches posted here by mike are an attempt to resolve the issue in software; it's not that the control is broken, it's just that as they get older, they age (as with any switch) and you get "noise" on the rotary signals.

Hugo