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Right to repair has been an issue for a very long time. Many vendors have resisted the requests to provide products that can be repaired, or be repaired by non-company personnel. Many try to force log in by using patents or licensing for hardware or locking down software using any number of methods from secure boot to authorization from the internet.
Right to repair legislation has been hard to come by because vendors and vendor support groups have tried to derail such efforts. Massachusetts recently passed a right to repair law primarily targeting transportation platforms such as cars, but it's applicable to things like tractors. The impact of the legislation will take time to evaluate and hopefully it will improve the design of products, which is what we're interested in here.
Right to repair affects everything from walled gardens to security and reliability. Many products have significant costs for maintaining them over their lifetime. The issue isn't simple and there can be additional costs—and even savings—depending on how open a product is for repair and maintainability.
How has the right to repair been addressed in your product development process? Take our poll and see what others are doing in this area. You can also add a comment to provide more feedback on the right to repair issue.