It is true: “they just don’t make ‘em like they used to.” Giving consumers true ownership and control over how to use, modify, and fix their personal property is a crucial step toward unraveling this reality—best accomplished through a right to repair.
Key Points:
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The right to repair presents a tension between the interests of manufacturers and the personal property rights of consumers.
- Manufacturers engineer hurdles to repair that infringe on the personal property rights of the owner of a consumer good. A right to repair framework recalibrates this.
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The prevailing literature demonstrates that the tension between intellectual property and private property is not as hostile as popular commentary suggests and does not preclude state right to repair laws.
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While Congress continues to drag its feet, several states have enacted targeted right to repair laws to give consumers more options and greater control over their personal property.