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Washington State Bill Would Make Hard-to-Repair Electronics Illegal

posted by janrinok on Monday January 29 2018, @02:35AM   
from the and-so-it-begins dept.

Fnord666 writes:

A number of states are considering right to repair bills, legislation which if passed would make it easier for individuals and repair shops to replace or repair electronics parts. Repair.org reports that 17 states have already introduced bills this year and while most aim to make repair parts and manuals accessible, Washington's proposed legislation would straight up ban electronics that prevent easy repair. "Original manufacturers of digital electronic products sold on or after January 1, 2019, in Washington state are prohibited from designing or manufacturing digital electronic products in such a way as to prevent reasonable diagnostic or repair functions by an independent repair provider," says the bill. "Preventing reasonable diagnostic or repair functions includes permanently affixing a battery in a manner that makes it difficult or impossible to remove."

[...] Naturally, tech groups have jumped to make their opposition clear. In a letter to Morris, groups such as the Consumer Technology Association, the Telecommunications Industry Association and the Computer Technology Industry Association said the bill was "unwarranted" and added, "With access to technical information, criminals can more easily circumvent security protections, harming not only the product owner but also everyone who shares their network."

Source: Engadget

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Original Submission

• Re:A socket might cost more than the chip Re:A socket might cost more than the chip (Score: 1, Flamebait) by frojack on Monday January 29 2018, @06:40AM (2 children)

  by frojack (1554) on Monday January 29 2018, @06:40AM (#629728) Journal

  "I preferred my old dumb phone."

  Good for you.

  Now run along an play Sonny, we're not interested in your buggy whip collection.

  --
  No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.

  Parent

  Starting Score:	1		point
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• Re:A socket might cost more than the chip Re:A socket might cost more than the chip (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 29 2018, @09:50AM (1 child)

  by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 29 2018, @09:50AM (#629760)

  You're only interested in proprietary trash that constantly mistreats you. A masochist, I take it?

  Parent

  • Re:A socket might cost more than the chip (Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday January 29 2018, @02:37PM

    by LoRdTAW (3755) on Monday January 29 2018, @02:37PM (#629810) Journal

    Is that what they said? What if they, like I and most likely most other soylentils, desire a smartphone which runs open firmware, open OS, and not loaded with malware? Why cant we have both?

    Parent