A new executive order issued by the Biden Administration encourages the Federal Trade Commission to take action on restrictions related to the third-party repair or self-repair of automobiles and other consumer goods, otherwise known as the right to repair.
The executive order, which was first issued on July 9th, 2021, encourages FTC Chair Lina Khan to address the “unfair anticompetitive restrictions,” on third-party or self-repair of items like farm equipment and automobiles. The catch-all executive order also attempts to address various “unfair industry-specific practices that substantially inhibit competition,” in a wide variety of other industries including pharmaceuticals, real estate and internet.
The signing of the executive order comes after the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an auto industry trade group that represents nearly every major automaker active in the U.S., sued to block a “Right to Repair” law that Massachusetts voters passed last year. The OEMs argue the language in the right to repair law means they “would have to abandon existing cybersecurity controls that protect safety- and emissions-critical functions.” The trade group also said previously that the law would “make serious cyberattacks much more likely,” and that “years of manufacturers’ work and billions of dollars in investment to protect and secure vehicle data will effectively be obliterated,” if it were to pass.
The executive order is likely to tilt the battle in favor of consumers and right to repair advocates, making it harder for automakers to fight third-party repair laws on the state level. The FTC is expected to meet this week to vote on whether or not to issue a new policy statement on repair restrictions, at which point the future of right to repair laws in the United States should begin to come into focus.
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Comments
Beijing Biden will save gm!
I am in shock to see him make a good decision! May we have many more such shocking discoveries!
Now the RPM ACT PLEASE!!!
Why would you be shocked? Paul Wellstone, who was an actual liberal in the Senate, was the politician who originally got the OEMs to release their scan codes so independent shops could use scanners. Until then, the OEMs kept their code info to themselves, and denied access to the info by independent shops. Scanners were kind of new at the time, and not widely used by independent shops–because they were essentially useless if you didn’t know what a code meant.
Just before he died, Wellstone sponsored a bill in the U.S. Senate that said that, when a consumer buys a car, he or she buys the whole car–not just the metal, but the engineering behind the metal. Just before the bill came up for a vote, a deal was reached whereby the OEMs voluntarily agreed to share code info in exchange for the bill being withdrawn from consideration. And that’s why, today, you can buy a twenty-dollar scanner, plug it into the port under your dashboard, and know what the alphanumeric codes it gives you mean.
The result? Independent shops were able to stay alive in a dawning digital age. And, a whole new industry in retail automotive scanning tools began.
So, again, why would you be shocked that a liberal would stick up for, to paraphrase Wellstone, the little fellas when they compete against the Rockefellas? It’s kind of our thing….
Wellstone was TOTALLY DIFFERENT than your typical Liberal.
Those guys and gals do not live very long – as long as people in general allow those eventualities to happen.
Let’s leave the politics out of this. People all over the political spectrum drive (or ride in) vehicles.
Excellent competitive move. Much needed. A+ Executive order. Glad to see.
Well if someone screws your ride up, the auto makers ought to be able to charge double to fix it then…
The automakers spend billions developing code and programming for THEIR VEHICLES and now they want to MAKE them give every TOM, DICK and HARRY shop their proprietary information for FREE. That’s BS….. IF they want that info they need to pay for it.
I did. When I bought my car.
I guess Patents and Trademarks mean nothing now for certain industries.
Sid and C6 :
Those are specious arguments:
When I spend a small fortune for a car, I am not intending to use any trademarks for my own use, nor am I trying to manufacture GM-Patented Parts without paying any Royalties..
I want to repair a car I THOUGHT I COMPLETELY OWNED.
GM does this THEMSELVES: Any manufacturing equipment used in GM Factories MUST HAVE TOTAL DOCUMENTATION, and right-to-use, and right-to-repair agreements… If the subcontractor deems this unacceptable, GM goes to another supplier who will give them FULL INFORMATION.
Bill: I don’t necessarily disagree with you, BUT the GOVT has no business mandating through an executive order. The free market economy should take care of it.