The report notes that, in 2021 alone, 27 out of 50 states have considered Right to Repair bills. However, of these, more than 50% have already been “voted down or dismissed.” That’s bad news because no Right to Repair laws makes it harder to, fix devices which results in them being abandoned sooner.
Contributing to Electronic Waste Problem
This then contributes to the growing e-waste problem. If people held onto their smartphones for just one extra year this would reportedly be equivalent to taking 636,000 cars off the road in terms of the environmental damage it causes (or, in this case, wouldn’t cause.)
The report provides plenty of examples of how tech companies have exercised their power, such as Apple offering to endorse repair programs at local colleges as an exchange for killing a specific repair bill. Bloomberg writes that:
A trade group called TechNet, which represents Apple and Google, among other tech firms, sent letters to lawmakers in multiple states. The letters said that allowing “unvetted third parties” to access “sensitive diagnostic information, software, tools, and parts” could put consumers in danger.
Vested Interests
But consumer groups accuse tech companies of having a vested interest in not getting these rules passed. That’s because, in many cases, it can lead to higher prices for repairs or customers having to shell out to buy new devices. Both of these result in more money for the firms in question.
The Right to Repair electronics movement refers to government legislation designed to let customers easily repair and modify the gadgets they buy without having to go through the companies that made the devices.
