Big Tech, Independent Shops Spar Over 'Right to Repair' in US : Full Report |Bionick

Trade groups representing big tech companies clashed with independent fix-it shop owners in Monday committee hearing within the Nevada Legislature over a proposal to need hardware manufacturers give repair shops the means to repair devices like computers, phones, tablets, and printers.

Whether government should require companies to supply independent shops — instead of just authorised dealers — access to the parts and schematics needed to repair devices is one front during a larger societal battle over the way to regulate the technology industry as their products become more and more necessary in lifestyle .

 It distills anti-trust policy debates right down to how and where consumers can fix a broken smartphone and whether the businesses that have transformed communication by producing them have a right to safeguard their property .

So-called "Right to Repair" bills, which are into account in 25 statehouses, are loosely supported a Massachusetts ballot initiative that voters approved last year to form car parts and plans available to repair shops.

 Nevada's bill would apply to consumer electronics worth but $5,000( roughly Rs. 3.6 lakhs) wholesale and exempt equipment used for gambling. Lawmakers in Nebraska have tailored repair legislation to agricultural equipment and farmers while California is considering requiring medical equipment manufacturers make available information on the way to repair devices like ventilators.

Assemblywoman Selena Torres, a Las Vegas English teacher who once worked at A battery store that did repairs, said adding the need to state law would protect jobs within the electronics repair industry, enabling people to repair their devices locally instead of having to ship them to out-of-state manufacturers. 

She said she was sponsoring the bill to supply consumers cheaper repair options — something that's particularly urgent because the pandemic has forced students and remote workers to believe technology, she said.

The Clark County administrative district distributed tens of thousands of Google Chromebooks to facilitate distance learning, but it took months to make sure all students within the Las Vegas area had internet and device access, consistent with Nevada's " Connecting Kids " task force.

Early within the pandemic, a nationwide laptop shortage left many students unprepared for virtual learning. 

As a teacher I saw firsthand how families struggled to share one device with several school-aged children," Torres said. "The right to repair will give schools and other institutions the knowledge they have to take care of equipment and empower the refurbished computer market, saving taxpayer dollars and improving digital access."

TechNet, a trade group that lobbies for Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Honeywell, and other device manufacturers, has mounted vigorous opposition to the repair bills in state legislatures.

Cameron Demetre, the organisation's regional executive , said manufacturers worried about "unvetted third parties" having access to the private information stored in consumer electronics. 

He said the bill had "the potential for troubling unintended consequences, including serious adverse security, privacy, and safety risks."

Repair businesses wonder why fixing batteries or smartphone home buttons compromises cybersecurity and say that over the past decades, manufacturers have made it increasingly difficult to get the parts needed to repair machines. 

they assert the businesses direct customers to exchange their printers or computers albeit only an inkjet or motherboard needs repair.

"It's changed from having the ability to try to to anything you would like to repair your computer or printer to 'You can't do anything now.' Everything's changed to being disposable or impossible to repair," said Curtis Jones, who runs the Technology Center in Sparks.

Without parts and schematics, Jones worries that his business will soon need to shutter. His staff often jokes about how, during a few years, they'll be packaging new devices in an Amazon warehouse instead of fixing ones ready to be repaired.

Jones believes tech companies want to regulate the repair business and would rather customers purchase fresh devices instead of repair aging ones. 

When devices are repairable, he worries about unnecessary long-term environmental impacts pushing people to get new technology will bring: "We're getting to have landfills so overloaded, we're getting to need to start living on top of old printers or computers," he said.

Consumer Electronics Association lobbyist Walter Alcorn noted how device manufacturers operate during a competitive marketplace and told lawmakers that their worries about unauthorized repair shops tinkering with their technology could compromise public perception of their products.

"One of the explanations that consumer electronics manufacturers are so sensitive is that their business model is predicated on their brand reputation," he said.

 "The concern that these companies have in protecting their brands — and therefore the se products still carry their names on them — is especially that the repairs are going to be done wrong or that substandard parts are going to be included and the customer experience are going to be different."