If you’re considering purchasing a new gadget — whether that’s a laptop, a video game console, or a digital camera — you might expect to have access to whatever repair manuals or spare parts the manufacturer produces. But until recently, companies selling electronic devices in the U.S. were under no obligation to provide their customers with the parts or information needed to perform even simple repairs, like replacing a battery.
Last December, New York became the first state in the country to require that electronic device manufacturers make their repair materials available to the public, when the state’s digital “right-to-repair” law — the first such law in the country — went into effect. In July, similar laws in Minnesota and California became enforceable. Over the next two years, consumers in Oregon and Colorado will also be granted the legal right to repair a vast array of digital electronic devices.
Repair advocates say these laws are a critical step toward ending our culture of digital disposability, in which electronics are simply replaced when... Read more
