U.S. House holding hearing this week around right to repair
A subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives will hold a hearing this week that weighs questions around calls for a right to repair.
The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet held a hearing this week. The hearing examined the current legal landscape of the right to repair and delved into intellectual property issues, as well as potential future avenues for policymaking.
Read also: States with active right to repair legislation
Also on the agenda will be laws and regulations at the federal and state level and the implications for a range of industries from automotive to software to consumer electronics.
Among other things, calls for changes to Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) will be discussed. That law prevents circumvention of software locks and has been used to lock in manufacturers’ control over aftermarket service and repair.
Panelists will include Aaron Perzanowski, the Thomas W. Lacchia Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School and Kyle Wiens, the Co-founder and CEO, iFixit. Also speaking are Devlin Hartline, a Legal Fellow at the Hudson Institute’s Forum for Intellectual Property and Scott Benavidez the Chairman of the Automotive Service Association.
Read also: Construction's right to repair movement intensifies
The hearing comes as the U.S. Congress is considering a number of repair-related bills. They include The REPAIR Act, a proposed law modeled on a state law in Massachusetts that ensures consumers have access to data relating to their motor vehicles’ repair information, and tools, as well as the SMART Act, which would change laws related to the use of design patents.
Source: Fight to Repair
