{"id":16672,"date":"2022-02-25T16:00:59","date_gmt":"2022-02-25T16:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/25\/new-right-to-repair-bill-targets-obnoxious-auto-industry-behavior\/"},"modified":"2022-02-25T16:00:59","modified_gmt":"2022-02-25T16:00:59","slug":"new-right-to-repair-bill-targets-obnoxious-auto-industry-behavior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2022\/02\/25\/new-right-to-repair-bill-targets-obnoxious-auto-industry-behavior\/","title":{"rendered":"New Right To Repair Bill Targets Obnoxious Auto Industry Behavior"},"content":{"rendered":"

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from the do-not-pass-go,-do-not-collect-$200<\/i> dept<\/h3>\n

\nIt’s just no fun being a giant company aspiring to monopolize repair to boost revenues. On both the state and federal level, a flood of new bills are targeting companies’ efforts to monopolize repair by implementing obnoxious DRM, making repair tools and manuals hard to find, bullying independent repair shops (like Apple does<\/a>), or forcing tractor owners to drive hundreds of miles just to get their tractor repaired (one of John Deere’s favorite pastimes<\/a>). The Biden administration even just got done signing an executive order asking the FTC to tighten up its restrictions<\/a> on the subject.\n<\/p>\n

\nThis week the list of right to repair legislation jumped by one with the introduction of the “Right to Equitable and Professional Auto Industry Repair” Act (REPAIR Act<\/a>), which would mandate equitable access to repair tools and tech, boost the FTC’s authority to handle consumer complaints, and mandate additional transparency by the auto industry:\n<\/p>\n

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\n“Americans should not be forced to bring their cars to more costly and inconvenient dealerships for repairs when independent auto-repair shops are often cheaper and far more accessible,\u201d said Rep. Rush. \u201cBut as cars become more advanced, manufacturers are getting sole access to important vehicle data while independent repair shops are increasingly locked out. The status quo for auto repair is not tenable, and it is getting worse. If the monopoly on vehicle repair data continues, it would affect nearly 860,000 blue-collar workers and 274,000 service facilities.”\n<\/p>\n

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\nThe auto industry has been particularly obnoxious when it comes to providing independent access to data, tools, and repair manuals for cars with increasingly complicated internal electronics. That’s a particular problem when an estimated 70 percent of U.S. cars are serviced by independent repair shops. The industry has also been obnoxious in their attempts to scuttle legislation attempting to address the problem, including running ads in Massachusetts that claimed an expansion of that state’s right to repair legislation would only be of benefit to stalkers and sexual predators<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\nThe problem for companies looking to monopolize repair is several fold. One, the harder they try to lock their technologies down, the greater the opposition grows. And that opposition tends to be both broad and bipartisan, ranging from the most fervent of urban Apple fanboys, to the most rural of John Deere tractor owners. This isn’t a battle they’re likely to win, and while we haven’t seen federal legislation on this front passed yet, if the industries continue to push their luck in this space it’s only a matter of time.\n<\/p>\n

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Filed Under: auto industry<\/a>, repair act<\/a>, right to repair<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n