Any action taken by industry or policymakers will likely include a requirement that manufacturers make replacement parts available for purchase by consumers or independent repair facilities. But what constitutes a replacement part and to what degree will manufacturers be required to make components of parts available?
This question was touched on briefly in the Workshop by the Repair Association’s Gordon-Byrne, who said that, under the model legislation at least, manufacturers are only required to make available to consumers what they make available to their authorized or affiliated repair providers.[1] In certain instances, this makes sense. For example, if a single component of a computer’s motherboard breaks, and a consumer determines that they want to attempt to replace that single component, the manufacturer would be required to make such a component available to consumers or independent repairers so long as it made the components available to its authorized or affiliated repairers. But what should be required of manufacturers who provide to their affiliated repairers components of parts that could potentially be dangerous when provided to consumers or independent repairers? Should they be required to provide those components to all who determine that they would like to undertake a more detailed repair themselves? As discussed above, while concerns about repairer and public safety must be analyzed before they are accepted as a justification for restricting consumer and independent repair, this is an important issue to consider in crafting any right to repair action.
Self-regulatory or legislative efforts to expand consumer repair choices also may want to consider an appropriate monetary threshold for repair rights and the length of time manufacturers should be required to facilitate independent repairs. The MMWA, the existing Rhode Island, Indiana and California right to repair laws, and the EU’s new regulations regarding home appliance repairs spell out price thresholds and duration requirements for repair rights.[2] Model right to repair legislation takes a different tack, requiring manufacturers to provide individuals or independent repair shops with access to the same information and parts that the manufacturer provides to its authorized repair networks.[3] Each approach presents challenges.
Creating a price threshold that is too low could impose significant burdens on manufacturers of products that are designed for single use or are unlikely to be repaired because of their low cost. As the CTA’s Walter Alcorn noted at the Workshop, some consumer electronic products are so inexpensive that nobody would expect to be able to fix them:
For example, these days you can go into a gas station and buy a cable to basically attach your iPhone to the car. You paid $5 for that. I don’t think anybody is expecting the manufacturer to provide
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