Explained: What is the Right to Repair Movement and how are tech giants reacting to it?
Right to Repair Movement aims at pressurising manufacturers to produce spare parts, tools and share repair guides for the products to increase their lifespan and help keep them from ending up in dump yards. Check details about the movement that dates back to the 1950s.
Arfa Javaid
Created On: Aug 6, 2021 20:02 IST Modified On: Aug 6, 2021 20:32 IST
Explained: What is the Right to Repair Movement and how are tech giants reacting to it?
Recently, US President Joe Biden inked an executive order calling on the Federal Trade Commission to prevent companies from restricting consumers' from repairing products on their own including laptops, smartphones, cars, washing machines, and heavy manufacturing equipment.
To date, 32 US states have proposed legislation to the right to repair act, while Massachusetts is the only state that has passed a law. The law makes it compulsory for vehicle manufacturers to provide consumers with repair guides and independent repair facilities for any car made in 2015 or later.
The United Kingdom also introduced the right to repair laws effective from 1 July 2021 to allow consumers to repair products and make complicated parts available in repair shops. The law aims at extending the lifecycle of products by up to 10 years.
Manufacturers of daily use products like washing machines, TVs and refrigerators are required to make spare parts available to consumers. It, however, gives a two-year window to the manufacturers to make the necessary changes along the lines of new legislation. Laptops and smartphones are excluded from the legislation.
Right To Repair Movement
While purchasing a new product, the consumer is aware that it may become obsolete within a few years as its manufacturer releases more amped-up versions. As the product grows older, consumers face several issues ranging from smartphones slowing down to a point where the consumer has to dump it to purchase a new one to requiring too many hard resets of laptops and gaming consoles. At this point, the consumer is left at the mercy of the manufacturers who make repairs inaccessible for most.
Most present-day products house fragile and irreparable components which reduce their life. Additionally, manufacturers drop support for functional devices and non-standard parts.
With products becoming difficult to repair, activists and consumer organizations are advocating the 'Right to Repair' movement to help allow consumers to repair their products either by themselves or a third-party technician. The movement dates back to the 1950s.
The movement aims at pressurising manufacturers to manufacture spare parts for products, tools and share repair guides for the products to increase their lifespan and help keep them from ending up in dump yards.
Significance of Right to Repair Movement
If consumers are provided with the Right to Repair by the manufacturer, it will not only help in reducing electronic waste but will also boost business for small repair shops, an important part of local economies.
Furthermore, it will reduce the monopoly of manufacturers on repairs, bringing down the prices while maintaining the quality.
Are manufacturers practising a culture of planned obsolescence?
As pointed out by an American industrial designer, Brook Stevens in the 1950s, the term planned obsolescence refers to a marketing practice wherein manufacturers design their products specifically to last a limited amount of time, thereby encouraging consumers to purchase new products every few years.
While the practice is good from the sales point of view, it harms the environment and wastes natural resources.
The reaction of tech giants
Tech giants such as Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Google and Tesla are against the movement citing threats to the protection of intellectual property and trade secrets, along with privacy concerns.
It is worth mentioning that Apple Inc. was fined $113 million in 2020 for intentionally slowing down all older models of the iPhone. The tech giant has long faced criticism for allowing repairs of its devices by select technicians and not providing spare parts or repair manuals.
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