Google has come out in support of the “right to repair,” a major step for the movement supporting a consumer’s ability to repair their own gadgets.
The company released a white paper on Thursday in favor of right to repair, a principle that supports a consumer to have the ability to acquire instructions and parts. The company is also scheduled to testify at a hearing in Oregon on Thursday. The policy change is a significant shift for the gadget manufacturer, which had previously advocated against allowing users to repair their own devices.
“Google believes that users should have more control over repair — including access to the same documentation, parts and tools that original equipment manufacturer (OEM) repair channels have — which is often referred to as ‘Right to Repair,’” Steven Nickel, Google’s director of operations over devices and services, wrote.
The paper specifically argues that regulators should ban “parts pairing,” a design practice used by Apple and John Deere to restrict what parts can be used on a device through software or specific tools.
Nickel is scheduled to testify before Oregon’s legislators late Thursday in favor of the state’s right-to-repair bill.
Google’s advocacy piles atop efforts by Apple to make the right to repair more acceptable. Apple advocated California’s passage of a right-to-repair law in August, a surprising change in priorities for one of the most vocal opponents to the policy in the past. It then announced at a White House event that it would provide the materials needed to self-repair one’s own device. It also spoke out in favor of a national right-to-repair law.
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Both Google and Apple funded organizations such as the Consumer Technology Association, which regularly appeared at these hearings to oppose right-to-repair legislation.
Dozens of states are considering right-to-repair legislation after the successful passage of similar legislation in California, Minnesota, and New York.
