U.S. consumers “overwhelmingly support” the right to repair their own devices or have them repaired by an independent repair shop, a Consumer Reports survey found. CR commissioned the University of Chicago to canvass a nationally representative sample of 2,075 adult consumers Nov. 11 to Dec. 6, finding 84% favoring policies that would require manufacturers to make repair information and parts available to independent repair shops or to product owners, said CR Monday. Asked if they believe consumers have enough choices in picking where to get something repaired, 57% answered no, it said. More than half (53%) said they had replaced a broken product “sooner than they wanted to because they couldn’t find a repair professional they were happy with to fix it,” said CR.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) supported digital right-to-repair legislation Tuesday. The Minnesota House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee heard testimony on HF-1156 at a livestreamed hearing. Manufacturers limiting how and by whom a consumer-owned product may be repaired “makes affording your life that much tougher,” said Ellison in prerecorded testimony: HF-1156 would make "repair markets competitive.” It wouldn’t harm manufacturers, protecting their ability to preserve trade secrets, the AG said. If after receiving a complaint, the AG office decided a company wasn’t complying with the law, it would give the company a chance to voluntarily resolve the issue before using litigation as a “last resort,” Ellison said. TechNet sees safety, security and privacy problems with the bill, said Executive Director-Midwest Tyler Diers: It could interfere with manufacturers’ existing contracts with authorized service providers. Multiple committee Republicans raised enforcement concerns in questions to sponsor Rep. Peter Fischer of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. Fischer said his bill would give consumers more choice, reduce e-waste and promote local tech repair shops.

Right-to-repair advocates hailed the introduction Wednesday of House legislation to remove or ease most Digital Millennium Copyright Act restrictions against self-repair. The Freedom of Repair Act, sponsored by Reps. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., and Victoria Spartz, R-Ind., “would permanently fix an important aspect of copyright law, making almost all electronic repairs legal by default,” blogged Elizabeth Chamberlain, iFixit director-sustainability. The DMCA “made it illegal to circumvent technological protection measures for any purpose, repair included,” she said Wednesday. The “limited exemptions” advocates have won from the Copyright Office over the years “don’t allow people to share the tools or software necessary” to do their own repairs, she said. The Jones-Spartz bill “would simplify all of this” by clarifying that “working around digital locks when fixing things isn’t a copyright violation,” Chamberlain said. “Making tools and software for those repairs would become legal. All products with embedded electronics are included, with the exception of medical devices. (We’re not thrilled about this exception.)” Enacting the legislation would be “a major victory for the right to repair,” said Public Knowledge Policy Counsel Kathleen Burke. “The DMCA was never intended to prevent consumers from repairing things they own.”

A Washington state digital right-to-repair bill cleared the House Appropriations Committee 18-14. Democrats supported the bill; Republicans were opposed. HB-1810, opposed by industry at a hearing last week (see 2201280026), would require manufacturers to make documentation, parts and tools available to owners and independent repair providers on fair and reasonable terms. Urging a no vote at Tuesday's webcast hearing, Rep. Drew Stokesbary (R) worried HB-1810 would hurt companies’ intellectual property rights without benefiting consumers. The House Consumer Protection Committee voted 4-3 Wednesday to clear HB-1801 to study creating a repairability index. All Republicans voted nay. The vote was on a substitute by Chairman Steve Kirby (D) that removed language that would have required manufacturers to label products with repairability scores, which had raised concerns (see 2201190049). More study is needed before requiring a score, said Kirby at the livestreamed hearing. Task force recommendations would be due July 1, 2023, with annual updates on the same day in the next two years.

A Washington state committee cleared a proposed update to the state’s emergency communication law for next-generation 911. The House Appropriations Committee adopted HB-1703 by unanimous voice vote at a virtual hearing Thursday. Washington 911 “needs to stay up to date with modern technology,” said sponsor Rep. Cindy Ryu (D) at the hearing. The bill would also coordinate 911 with the state’s new 988 system, she said. The committee heard testimony but didn’t vote on digital equity and right-to-repair bills. CTIA opposed requiring carriers to participate in broadband adoption programs envisioned by HB-1723, which cleared another House committee earlier this month (see 2201180057). Such a mandate is preempted by federal law; legislators should make wireless participation voluntary, said CTIA lobbyist Jeff Gombosky. Seattle Digital Equity Program Manager David Keyes supported the adoption bill as a "critical companion to infrastructure support." Industry slammed HB-1810, which would require manufacturers to make documentation, parts and tools available to owners and independent repair providers on fair and reasonable terms. It passed another committee this month (see 2201190049). TechNet opposes requiring manufacturers to provide “unvetted third parties with sensitive diagnostic information and software, tools and parts without requiring the critical consumer protections afforded by authorized repair networks,” said Vice President-State Policy David Edmonson. The market gives consumers a wide range of repair choices, said CTIA Director-State Legislative Affairs Lisa McCabe. Adding a private right of action would reduce enforcement costs for the Washington attorney general’s office, suggested Consumer Protection Division Assistant AG Amy Teng.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 1201 violates the First Amendment by limiting accessibility, security and right to repair, Public Knowledge said Thursday. PK joined some 15 accessibility, security and repair advocates in an amicus brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Green v. DOJ (see 2201140045). The court will decide whether appellants can proceed with a constitutional challenge against Section 1201. The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a 2016 lawsuit on behalf of researcher Matthew Green and technologist Andrew Huang, whose fair use projects, according to EFF, could “run afoul” of the DMCA’s “anti-speech provisions.” The exemption process Congress built into Section 1201 doesn’t “provide the adequate balance between copyright protection and fair use because it overly favors rights holders,” said PK Policy Counsel Kathleen Burke.

Wireless and consumer tech industries opposed a digital right-to-repair bill Wednesday at a Washington state House Consumer Protection and Business Committee virtual hearing. HB-1801 would require manufacturers to label products with a repairability score. Sponsor Rep. Mia Gregerson (D) said an upcoming amendment would change the bill so it would set up a task force to study right to repair. The committee later voted 5-2 on HB-1810, which would require manufacturers to make documentation, parts and tools available to owners and independent repair providers on fair and reasonable terms. The panel voted 4-3 for HB-1697, which would ban websites from marketing or advertising certain products or services to minors, restrict certain online ad practices based on minors’ personal information and give minors the right to request removal of certain information posted online. HB-1697 would be enforced solely by the attorney general. Ranking Republican Rep. Brandon Vick, voting no, complained the privacy bill is too vague. Testifying on HB-1801, CTA lobbyist Charlie Brown said it would be tough to have a state right-to-repair standard that doesn't align with standards in other countries. CTA supports setting up a work group, he said. It would be better to handle this issue at the national or international level than to pass a state law that would be “extremely operationally burdensome,” said TechNet Vice President-State Policy David Edmonson: The proposed score would paint an incomplete picture of devices’ overall quality and confuse consumers. CTIA thinks the "requirements in this bill are unworkable,” said Director-State Legislative Affairs Lisa McCabe. Other attributes besides repairability, such as water resistance, factor into a device’s longevity, she noted. iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens backed HB-1801. Apple AirPods and Samsung Galaxy Buds are similar in quality, but Samsung’s product lasts longer because it has replaceable batteries, he noted: Consumers currently have no easy way of knowing that. Another right-to-repair advocate, Owen Rubel of SecuRepairs, doesn’t think it’s wise to trust manufacturers with determining their own repairability score, he said: A standards body should do that.

Many in the tech industry "may skip" CES 2022 due to COVID-19 concerns, “but no virus can stop unsafe, unrepairable, and utterly unnecessary devices" from commercial introduction, said right-to-repair advocacy group the Repair Association in a plug Monday for its annual "Worst in Show" Awards to be held virtually Jan. 7 on YouTube. Advocates in the privacy, security, repair and environmental sectors “will announce their picks in different categories of awfulness,” it said, emphasizing in a disclaimer that the awards have no affiliation with CES or CTA. Electronic Frontier Foundation Special Adviser Cory Doctorow will host the 12:30 p.m EST presentation.

The White House is "heartened" by the FTC's move to boost consumers’ rights to self-repair and access to third-party independent repairs, said National Economic Council Director Brian Deese during an American Economic Liberties Project virtual town hall Thursday (see 2107210061). "We're not here to kill tech; we're here to save it," said White House Special Assistant-Technology Policy Tim Wu: "Our grave concern is that the major tech platforms ... seem determined to pull up the ladder for the next generation." The "robust enforcement and antitrust law is absolutely key to promoting innovation," Wu said, noting the FTC and DOJ were asked to revise merger guidelines.

CTA “welcomes manufacturer efforts” to promote self-service repair of “complex, highly integrated, and world-changing consumer technology products,” emailed Walter Alcorn, vice president-energy and sustainability policy, of Apple’s decision to make its parts, tools and manuals available for consumers who are comfortable servicing their own devices (see 2111170034). “As manufacturers assume more responsibility for product safety and security long after their devices are sold to consumers,” said Alcorn Wednesday, “it’s important to find the balance between safety and empowering consumers to repair their devices.” Manufacturers in the FTC’s two-year investigation into repair restrictions “provided no data to support their argument that injuries are tied to repairs performed by consumers or independent repair shops,” reported the agency in May (see 2105070013). Its report also criticized the tech industry for assertions that repair restrictions protect consumers from cybersecurity risks. The FTC unanimously approved a policy statement this summer aimed at bolstering consumers’ rights to self-repair and access to third-party independent service shops by vowing to crack down on manufacturers whose restrictions are deemed to skirt antitrust or consumer protection laws (see 2107210061).