Feed: Slashdot
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Title: Washington Consumers Will Gain 'Right To Repair' Cellphones, Other
Electronics

Link: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/25/05/27/...

An anonymous reader quotes a report : Washington is joining a growing list of
states trying to tear down barriers for consumers who want to repair their
electronics rather than buy new ones. Gov. Bob Ferguson last week signed the
state's new "Right to Repair" policy, House Bill 1483, into law. It was a
yearslong effort to get the law approved. "This is a win for every person in
Washington state," said the bill's prime sponsor, Rep. Mia Gregerson, D-
SeaTac. In 2021, the Federal Trade Commission reported that consumers with
broken electronics don't have much choice but to replace them because repairs
require specialized tools, unique parts and inaccessible proprietary
software. And those restrictions, the FTC found, disproportionately burden
communities of color and low-income communities. Some companies engage in a
practice called "parts pairing" that can make replacing parts of a device
impossible. Washington's new law would largely outlaw this tactic. Starting
Jan. 1, 2026, the law will require manufacturers to make tools, parts and
documentation needed for diagnostics and maintenance available to independent
repair businesses. The requirement applies to digital electronics, like
computers, cellphones and appliances, sold in Washington after July 1, 2021.
Manufacturers won't be able to use parts that inhibit repairs. The state
attorney general's office could enforce violations of the new law under the
Consumer Protection Act.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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