from the let-me-fix-my-own-shit dept
In just the last five years, the “right to repair” movement has shifted from nerdy niche to the mainstream, thanks in part to significant support from the Biden FTC. We’ve seen numerous state bills make significant inroads in passing laws opening the door to undermining repair monopolies, even though industry lobbying has, at times, neutered the proposals in a bid to make them useless (see: Kathy Hochul in New York State).
Getting any federal legislation passed has, as usual, been an uphill climb courtesy of a corrupt and dysfunctional Congress. To that end, a bipartisan coalition of 28 state attorneys general have fired off a letter to the chairs and ranking members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee urging action on stalled right to repair bills:
“The Right-to-Repair is a bipartisan issue that impacts every consumer, household, and farm in a time of increasing inflation. It is about ensuring that consumers have choices as to who, where, when and at what cost their vehicles can be repaired. It is about ensuring that farmers can repair their tractors for a reasonable price and quickly enough to harvest their crops.”
The letter cites three bills that have stalled that the AGs would like to see pushed forward in a bid to open the door to greater self-repair and independent repair of everything from consumer electronics to agricultural and medical equipment:
- The Fair Repair Act, which would require manufacturers to make certain tools and documents available to independent repair providers and owners.
- The SMART Act, which would allow repair shops to use alternative or off-brand parts to repair vehicles.
- The REPAIR Act, which would prevent manufacturers from mandating specific brands of parts and equipment be used on a vehicle, while also requiring they provide a standardized platform for owners and repair shops to access data and diagnostics.
Lobbyists have increasingly fired up their attacks on such proposals, usually by falsely claiming that cracking down on these companies’ attempted repair monopolies would create all manner of privacy and security risks for U.S. consumers. Automakers in Massachusetts went so far recently as to lie and claim the state’s right to repair efforts would embolden sexual predators.
As usual, a coalition of companies keen on monopolizing repair (John Deere, Apple, Verizon, Microsoft, U.S. automakers, U.S. medical equipment makers) have worked tirelessly to ensure any federal legislative solution remains sidelined, despite widespread, bipartisan support for such measures (polls consistently show public support for reform ranging anywhere from 75 to 95 percent).
Filed Under: consumer rights, freedom to tinker, ftc, repair monopolies, right to repair, right to repair law
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