What is the ‘right to repair’ movement?

Context

• It refers to the right of consumers to be able to repair their own electronics and other products.

The goal of the movement:

• to get companies to make spare parts, tools and information on how to repair devices available to customers and repair shops.
• It wil increase the lifespan of products and to keep them from ending up in landfills.

Reasons behind the start of movement

• Manufacturers of electronic appliances are encouraging a culture of 'planned obsolescence' meaning that devices are designed specifically to last a limited amount of time and to be replaced
• leading to immense pressure on the environment and wasted natural resources.
• Consumers totally depend on manufacturers who make repairs an inordinately expensive affair by limiting technology.

What are the benefits?

• It may give a boost to small repair shops, which are an important part of local economies.
• make repairs less expensive.
• reduce pressures on environment by reducing wastage.

RTP laws in various countries:

• Countries around the world have started passing effective ‘right to repair’ laws.
• US President has signed an executive order calling on the FTC to counter restrictions imposed by companies that resist consumers from reparing their own items.
• The UK introduced right-to-repair rules that would make it much easier to buy and repair daily-use gadgets such as TVs and washing machines.

Opposition to it:

• It has faced strong resistance from tech companies like Apple and Microsoft over the years.
• opening up the intellectual property to third party repairers could lead to exploitation and impact the safety and security of their devices.
• such initiatives threaten data security and cyber security.

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