The right to repair is gaining strength around the world

Something that has been in the media for a few years is the right of citizens that the devices we buy are easily repairable so that they last longer, and that we also not depend for their repair on the company that manufactured them, but that it is “forced” to put replacement materials on the market for a certain number of years.

The large companies that manufacture mass-market products (mobile phones and others) have resisted as much as possible, because they are interested in people not repairing their products and buying the new model, and they have tried to control their repair on behalf of “security” and other nonsense like that, because there is a lot of money at stake.

At last it seems that things are opting for the application of this “right” and both in Europe and the USA are expected to have specific laws in not long.

Many large companies (Apple and others) will continue to resist but I think they have a losing battle after President Biden’s executive order to the FTC in that direction.

In Europe there are already rules in some countries (UK and others) but the incorporation of the USA to this trend reinforces it in an important way.

For those who are interested there is a WEB called ifixit that provides information on the subject and the level of “repairability” of many equipment.

We are all interested in defending the independent workshops that repair our products, as they ensure a longer life for our products, and that these workshops do not lack spare parts to work with.

Let’s hope that Europe and the North American FTC will react quickly and these rules will be a reality as soon as possible. Although I am sure that the “big companies” will continue to resist until the end with all series of justifications, because they have a lot of money at stake.

Time will tell.