Source: Biden will direct the FTC to draft new right-to-repair rules, with an explicit mention of mobile phone manufacturers expected in the directive

- Order may loosen rules on who can undertake phone repairs — Pentagon contractors, farm equipment also under scrutiny

Bloomberg 2021-07-07 Justin Sink

Context & Ripple Effects

The directive builds on a copyright exemption for device repair and a broader push for rules requiring companies to share repair parts, tools, and information. It moves the issue from legal permission to repair toward FTC-led competition policy.

Related coverage subsequently tied the proposal to Biden's broader competition executive order, and the FTC later committed to act against unlawful repair restrictions.

First-order effects

The FTC is directed to draft right-to-repair rules, putting mobile phone manufacturers' repair policies under explicit federal scrutiny.
Independent repair shops and consumers gain a clearer policy route to challenge limits on who may repair phones, while Pentagon contractors and farm-equipment makers are also named for examination.

Second-order effects

Phone manufacturers face pressure to defend restrictions on parts, tools, and repair information as regulators evaluate whether those practices raise repair costs or limit competition.
Independent repair businesses become more consequential stakeholders in FTC rulemaking and enforcement as the agency's later commitment to fight unlawful restrictions turns the directive into an enforcement agenda.

Third-order effects

If FTC action follows the proposed rules, right to repair shifts from a patchwork of repair permissions toward competition oversight of manufacturers' post-sale control over devices.
The pattern points to repair access becoming a cross-sector regulatory issue, spanning consumer electronics, government contracting, and farm equipment rather than a phone-only dispute.

The trend: Right to repair is moving from DRM exemptions and proposed disclosure mandates toward federal antitrust and consumer-protection enforcement of post-sale device control.

Discussion

@doctorow Cory Doctorow on x
#RightToRepair is a no-brainer. You - not manufacturers - should have the right to decide whom you trust to fix your stuff, even (especially) when that stuff is “smart” and an unscrupulous repair could create unquantifiable “cyber-risk.” 1/ https://twitter.com/...
@doctorow Cory Doctorow on x
Despite Deere's lobbying, patronizing and FUD, the right to repair has - finally - triumphed. Today, the Biden administration announced an executive order directing the Department of Ag and the FTC to develop R2R rules for agricultural equipment! https://www.vice.com/... 12/
@mytechmusings @mytechmusings on x
This is a great move. The benefit of extending the life of a gadget is magnitudes higher than all that glossy talk tech companies do about reusing raw materials. Reusing still uses enormous amount to energy.. https://www.macrumors.com/... @MacRumors @business #sustainability
@drandrewthaler Andrew Thaler on x
This is a huge victory. John Deere is the largest manufacturer of autonomous self-driving vehicles and one of the biggest financial backers of the You Don't Own Your Hardware movement. This is a big brick to fall. https://twitter.com/...
@xor Parker Higgins on x
This is really big exciting news, and a long time coming. But let's not let this victory take the wind out of the sails of the broader Right to Repair fight, which has always extended far beyond farmers! https://www.vice.com/...
@ruchowdh Rumman Chowdhury on x
Curious to hear from my legal friends what precedence this might set for consumers and forced obsolescence -"companies have formed repair monopolies by artificially locking “unauthorized” people out of their own machines through the use of software locks" https://www.vice.com/...
@kwiens Kyle Wiens on x
Really great overview of the events leading up to today's Right to Repair executive order from @paulfroberts https://fighttorepair.substack.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@zacksjerryrig JerryRigEverything on x
Woah, didn't see this coming, but I'm down: U.S. President Joe Biden to Direct FTC to Draft Right to Repair Rules https://www.macrumors.com/...
@chrismessina Chris Messina on x
The future wants more freedom and less security. Like things used to be. Weird. https://twitter.com/...
@natalyagrey @natalyagrey on x
Many didn't realize the current generation of John Deere tractors run off of proprietary software that's subscription-based and many farmers have had to use cracked programs to keep them running. That's why I wanted to write a leftist country song called Hackin My Tractor. https:…
@markbland @markbland on x
Anyone who buys anything and owns it should be able to repair it as long as they have a basic understanding how to do it. https://www.bloomberg.com/... via @bpolitics
@jamesajanisse James A. Janisse on x
Wow, a lot of good stuff in this upcoming executive order (I'd prefer actual legislation but we all know Congress is broken)! Great development for electronics consumers, farmers, and airline travelers. This kind of thing shouldn't be overlooked. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@stillgray @stillgray on x
Credit where it's due. Biden actually did something right by agreeing to sign an executive order granting the right to repair. This means Apple can't sue you for fixing your own phone and John Deere can't force you to buy a license to fix your tractors. https://www.vice.com/...
@ddayen David Dayen on x
Right to repair doesn't need an executive order per se, the FTC can (and I expect will) challenge the bundling of equipment and software under current precedent. https://prospect.org/... https://twitter.com/...
@dangillmor Dan Gillmor on x
You shouldn't need a “right to repair” what you bought, but corporate control-freakery and insane copyright laws have made it so. Major breakthrough with this Biden administration executive order. https://www.vice.com/...
@aeischeid Aaron Eischeid on x
Wow, this is a big deal actually! My dad, a farmer who really loves to work on his own tractors, is going to be pretty excited about this I bet. https://twitter.com/...
@doctorow Cory Doctorow on x
Monopoly isn't purely a matter of Big Tech. Monopolism has conquered nearly every industry. But tech platforms are our best tool for fighting monopolism - and the momentum we build in fighting Big Tech will serve us well when we go after the rest. 20/
@doctorow Cory Doctorow on x
And yet...DOZENS of state #R2R bills were defeated in 2018, thanks to an unholy coalition of Big Ag, Big Tech, and consumer electronics monopolists like @WahlGrooming. That supervillain gang reassembled to fight and kill still more bills in 2020/1. https://pluralistic.net/... 2/
@rover829 Vincent Lee on x
Bloomberg: President Joe Biden will direct the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to draft new rules aimed at stopping manufacturers from limiting consumers' ability to repair products at independent shops or on their own, a person familiar with the plan said.
@ifixit @ifixit on x
Bloomberg | Biden Sets Up Tech Showdown With ‘Right-to-Repair’ Rules for FTC https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@rover829 Vincent Lee on x
Bloomberg: But if the FTC issues broad new “right-to-repair” regulations, it could have a sweeping impact across other parts of the U.S. economy, including Silicon Valley. https://www.bloomberg.com/...

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