Summary:
- Colorado’s new right-to-repair law allows residents to repair their cell phones, computers, and other devices.
- The law requires manufacturers like Samsung and Apple to provide documentation, software, and tools to device owners and independent repair shops at the same prices as authorized repair providers.
- The law prohibits manufacturers from restricting replacement parts and displaying misleading alerts about parts.
- The law passed on partisan lines, with Democrats in support and Republicans opposed, and will take effect on Jan. 1, 2026.
- Exemptions to the law include video game consoles, medical devices, electric car chargers, and more.
- Opponents of the law argue it could pose security risks and impact device reliability, while supporters believe it promotes consumer choice and reduces electronic waste.
Why are there any exceptions to begin with
I understand exception of medical devices where manufacturers carry huge responsibility if something goes wrong. But consoles???
And car chargers?!? Hell level 2 chargers are glorified extension cords. Why should they get an exception?
I don’t know. Could still be safety concerns? In many districts/counties you can’t even change a light-switch yourself.
I thought the restriction was CHARGING to replace a light switch as an unlicensed electrician, am I wrong? I’ve never heard of DIY being disallowed. The only restrictions I know of are needing to pull a permit for structural stuff and I’m in an area with pretty tight electrical regulations (EMT conduit, no Romex allowed)
You could claim safety concerns in anything and everything. Doesn’t mean that the manufacturer should have the right to intentionally make things that cannot be repaired due to drm.
In those counties that you cannot change a light switch on your own, do you have to call up the manufacturer of your home(and no other) and pay them to fix your light switch, and then have them say it’s better to just buy a whole new house, this one is not worth fixing.
No, it has to be certified (by state?) electrician.
Yes, exactly. State. Not the company that will profit more from you buying another house because their house is the only one allowed to have the cabinets and organization that you like. And have been using all your life.
The law passed on partisan lines, with Democrats in support and Republicans opposed,
BoTh SiDeS tHo
You know that’s not what people are talking about when they say “both sides.”
We can be critical of ghouls like Manchin, and shitty neoliberals who think “gelato freezers” and kneeling when George Floyd was murdered was sufficient response - you know… those who make the Democratic party worse for all of us in a way not all that dissimilar in SOME INSTANCES to the Repubs without everyone assuming we are Trump ball-garglers or Republicans, right?
…Or will we always get the “bOtH sIdEs” mocking which does little except serve to alienate fellow Dems, while providing the worst in the party cover for objectively shitty actions?
I’m commenting on the very real phenomenon which is millions of people think there aren’t differences in the parties even though we see evidence all the time that there are
Cool I guess we should be totally happy with the choices and never criticize any similarities because then we’re saying both sides are the same.
Cool I guess nuance and details should all be erased because it’s hard to consider them all
The Entertainment Software Association had pushed for the exemption for game consoles, arguing that including them would have made it easier to add chips that allow people to play pirated games.
What a load of utter shit. It would allow consumers to fix their things without dealing with crooks. Take a good look at Asus, they’re only the latest example.
Before i reply, know that i am also against parts pairing at this point in time. Fuck apple for making it popular.
Parts pairing does work against piracy to some level. Ps3’s blu ray drive was paired, and had checks to see if it was modded. Changes to the drive would make it not play any content because the pairing verification failed.
Then there is the switch’ game cart slot. Its paired with the switch, and has firmware running on it. It also adds a layer of protection.
They arent lying in that statement. What they arent saying is that it totally fucks with right to repair >>Yeah. There’s zero reason a disk drive with a recognized genuine serial tied to it shouldn’t work in any other system you stick it in that the system could verify online.
At a committee hearing, opponents of the new law argued that it would endanger the security and reliability of devices by opening up the market to independent shops of dubious quality and making documentation and tools more widely available.
“The marketplace already provides a wide range of consumer choices for repair with varying levels of quality, price and convenience without the mandates imposed by this legislation. The marketplace continues to evolve and manufacturers will continue to make changes to address consumer demand while offering consumers safe and reliable repair options,” said Michael Blank, director of state legislative affairs for CTIA, the trade association for the wireless communications industry.
At the hearing, Katz argued the change was necessary because companies were using technology to take more control of the market and block people from making reasonable repairs.
“When you limit choice and you limit freedom to fix the stuff that you own, then that can lead to higher costs. It can also lead to more people deciding it’s just not worth it and buying a whole new thing and … that can have a huge impact on our society from an environmental perspective as well,” he said.
About Samsung (from Techopedia):
Not every manufacturer has wholly embraced the idea. iFixit recently dropped its Samsung partnership over allegations the Galaxy phone maker wasn’t much interested in do-it-yourself repairs. 404 Media learned that Samsung required independent repair shops to not only report customers who fix devices with unofficial parts, but to “disassemble” those devices. While right to repair laws don’t necessarily address that behavior, they along with existing warranty law could mandate policy changes.
About Apple (from The Register):
The fact that a strong parts pairing prohibition was included in the bill indicates that the practice continues to fall out of favor as more and more localities take action to ban it. Even Apple, which has relied heavily on parts pairing to maintain control of its devices while speaking out of the other side of its mouth about support for right to repair, recently caved to the parts-pairing pressure by announcing it would allow used parts to be installed in some devices.
However, as iFixit pointed out, Apple’s declaration of allowing some used parts to be used for repairs doesn’t comply with Colorado’s prohibition on parts pairing, nor the version included in a recently passed right to repair bill in Oregon.
“Apple has made no promises to enable previously blocked functionality for third-party parts, which are also key to independent and DIY repair,” iFixit said. “To be clear, nobody expects Apple to make parts work when they don’t meet the necessary specifications — but currently, Apple blocks functionality of many third-party parts preemptively.”
In other words, Colorado is another win, but it’s hardly the end of the war.
How can a state be so based
“Those materials have to be made available at the same prices the manufacturer charges to authorized repair providers.”
One screen order $189. Three or more screens $120 a piece.
Sounds like ebay will be busy
Facts.
“Imagine if every time your car broke down, the only option you had for repair was the dealer. That’s not a world any of us want to live in,” said Sen. Jeff Bridges, a Democrat who is one of the bill’s sponsors, at an earlier committee hearing.
About that…
The law also excludes motor vehicles, but independent mechanics and car owners already have similar rights under a 2014 memorandum of understanding
Not sure if a “memorandum of understanding” has the same legal force behind it the bill does. Hope so.
