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Report: Consumer Hardware Still Often Impossible To Repair Despite New State ‘Right To Repair’ Laws (www.techdirt.com)

submitted 3 months ago by ForgottenFlux@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world

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The U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) examined 21 different mainstream tech devices subject to New York's recently passed electronics Right to Repair law, and found mixed results:
- 9 devices earned A's or B's (including all smartphones)
- 3 products received D's
- 6 popular mainstream devices earned F's
The devices that fared poorly, like the HP Spectre Fold laptop, Canon EOS r100 camera, and Apple Vision Pro/Meta Quest 3 VR headsets, usually lacked spare parts or useful repair manuals.
While New York's law requires manufacturers to provide tools, manuals, and parts for affordable, easy repair, PIRG says the law has been watered down with loopholes, and there has been no enforcement action taken despite numerous companies failing to comply.
The cellphone sector has made significant strides in repairability, but other sectors like VR headsets and cameras still have major issues.
30 states are considering "right to repair" legislation in 2024, but these bills are at risk of being weakened by industry lobbyists.

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[–] BrightCandle@lemmy.world 4 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

The law comes in two parts, the actual written bit that says what it is and the enforcement. Most people consider the first part what is necessary and lobby hard for it but really the most important bit in a practical sense is how it gets applied and enforced, without which the law is worthless. In many countries one way to defang laws is simply underfund the legal system or quangos that do the enforcement, another is putting someone in charge at the attornies office who de-prioritises those cases. The law as written isn't worth the paper/bytes its written on unless there is a plan for enforcement that doesn't involve every poor person using the rich mans legal system against giant corporations with infinite defence money.