FTC votes to fight illegal restrictions on right to repair
The vote follows an executive order from President Joe Biden.
- She has a master's degree in journalism from Syracuse University.
Someone has to fix that.
The Federal Trade Commission voted to increase its fight against restrictions on device repairs, the agency said in a statement on Wednesday.
"The policy statement adopted today is aimed at manufacturers' practices that make it extremely difficult for purchasers to repair their products or shop around for other service providers to do it for them," the FTC said.
This move by the FTC follows an executive order from President Joe Biden in July which called for the agency to make such a rule that would make it harder for companies to restrict how customers can get their devices fixed. The general idea behind this is called right to repair.
"These types of restrictions can significantly raise costs for consumers, stifle innovation, close off business opportunity for independent repair shops, create unnecessary electronic waste, delay timely repairs, and undermine resiliency," said FTC Chair Lina Khan in the statement.