Companies Are Simply Ignoring Many New State ‘Right To Repair’ Laws

Legal Issues

from the fix-your-own-shit dept
Tue, Sep 3rd 2024 05:28am - Karl Bode

Last March Oregon became the seventh state to pass “right to repair” legislation making it easier, cheaper, and more convenient to repair technology you own. The bill’s passage came on the heels of legislation passed in Massachusetts (in 2012 and 2020), Colorado (in 2022 and 2023), New York (2023), Minnesota, Maine and California. All told, 30 states are considering such bills in 2024.

While the popular reforms are a nice example of U.S. consumer rights headed in the right direction, many of the bills (like New York’s) were watered down almost to the point of uselessness to appease larger tech companies. And in many states, companies simply aren’t complying because enforcement has been largely absent.

A recent report by PIRG examined 21 different mainstream tech devices subject to New York’s recently passed electronics Right to Repair law, then graded them “based on the quality and accessibility of repair manuals, spare parts, and other critical repair materials.” Most fared poorly in terms of easy access to parts and manuals, and New York’s done zero enforcement of its own law so far:

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