This is what the current panorama looks like
The right to reparation is gaining strength in the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom, so it is hoped that it will not take long for the movement to reach a global character.
Almost every state in the American Union has proposed related acts in 2021, while Massachusetts passed a law that requires vehicle manufacturers to provide diagnostic and repair information to owners, as well as all independent repair facilities for Any car built before 2015. For his part, Joe Biden just signed an executive order so that tractor owners are not constrained by the demands of farm equipment manufacturers and turn to independent workshops or even repair them themselves if they do they prefer it.
The european parliament works on “the elimination of legal obstacles that prevent repair, resale and reuse”, backed by surveys that indicate that 77% of the citizens of the European Union would prefer to repair their equipment than to replace it. The United Kingdom has imposed a series of rules that oblige manufacturers of household appliances to sell replacement parts for ten years, regardless of whether the complete equipment has been discontinued.
To this we add the support of various activist groups among which stands out The Repair Association whose objective is “to advocate for policies, regulations, statutes and standards favorable to reparations at the national, state and local levels.” A mission based on four points: access to information, availability of parts and tools, permission to unlock and designs that make repair possible.
The advances are numerous and the future is promising, but the truth is that the right to reparation also has its controversial side. There are equipment whose external repair does not concern anyone other than those involved, such as an electrical appliance or the aforementioned tractors. The situation is complicated with connected devices whose open information could result in serious security problems.
Major companies invest significant sums to prevent hacks ranging from data theft to takeover of the different equipment, such as cell phones, computers and even cars. The manufacturers claim that they could not be held responsible if the operation of their systems is given to third parties who could well use it for all kinds of purposes.
A report by the Federal Trade Commission dismissed most of these arguments, although it recognized that an absolute opening could threaten against the intellectual property rights of the different brands.
The right to repair still has a long way to go, but everything points to less and less time for it to become a reality, which will invariably result in great support for the pockets of users, as well as for a world that we it requires being more careful with resources and waste.