11 States are Pushing for Right to Repair Legislation

If you have ever broke your smartphone screen or the screen of another gadget you know that having it repaired by the manufacturer is a very expensive proposition. At times replacing a screen on your smartphone is almost as expensive as having to buy a new smartphone. Often the manufacturers won’t even sell you parts so that you can have your device repaired elsewhere for a lower cost.

In 11 states in the US legislators have introduced new bills that would give owners of gadgets the “right to repair” and this is great news for gadget fans. This proposed legislation would require manufacturers to sell replacement parts to consumers and independent repair companies. It would also require the manufacturer of your beloved gadgets to open source their repair manuals.

The bills in the 11 states would also give independent repaid professionals the ability to bypass any software locks that prevent repairs so they could return your device back to factory settings. The three states that most recently introduced these bills include Iowa, Missouri, and North Carolina. If passed the legislation in these states would stop the repair monopolies that gadget makers like Apple have long enjoyed.

The tech companies are fighting back against these bills and in three of the 11 states, the bills are effectively dead right now including Minnesota and Nebraska, Tennessee has decided to put off voting on its legislation until 2018. All eleven states considering this legislation include Minnesota, Nebraska, Tennessee, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, Kansas, Wyoming, Iowa, Missouri, and North Carolina. Vice.com warns that legislature like this in most states is a multi-year approval process and could be a while coming.