Despite the best efforts of automakers and companies like Apple, states continue to push forward with popular “right to repair” reforms that make it easier and more affordable for consu…
Massachusetts has had decent right to repair for a decade too. And had universal healthcare way back too. They just got legal weed recently, but like the others, cost of living is rough there. Boston, Somerville and Cambridge housing, but you’re stuck in Boston.
Man, I live right next door in Utah, and we don't get any of the cool stuff. No legal weed (we have medical though), no right to repair, our "Idaho stop" law is worse, and no baseball team or football team. But at least we're getting a hockey team, so I guess that's cool.
Good on you Colorado, maybe someday my state will be cool. But instead, we pass stupid anti-porn, anti-social media, and anti-trans laws (but at least the people are rising up against the anti-trans law).
And weird liquor laws as well. Epic Brewing has a beer called Escape to Colorado because they could not make it in Utah. Also love that state it’s so pretty
Cool, I feel like there are probably some loopholes but its a step in the right direction.
My only concern is that having different laws for each state may make it hard for companies to comply and it may even lead to "location locked" devices.
I doubt it, they'll probably just go for the least common denominator, which is generally what happens with California's laws (I see lots of "this may cause cancer in California" warnings on stuff, and I've never lived in Cali). Or the USB-C thing on iPhones due to EU laws and cookie banners due to EU and Cali laws.
That would only be a concern if Colorado is the only market since they're pretty small, but we're seeing traction in other states, so we're more likely to see companies just roll out most things to most states.
They will likely discriminate a bit if you don't live in one of the states (e.g. on warranties), but I doubt they'll have a state filter for parts and whatnot because that probably costs more than just rolling it out to everyone.
My only concern is that having different laws for each state may make it hard for companies to comply and it may even lead to “location locked” devices.
Given how difficult it is to pass consumer protection laws without lots of loopholes, it's possible that the different laws in each region could work to our advantage: A corporation might sensibly decide to observe all the protections globally, rather than exploiting regional exceptions and loopholes, making the patchwork of laws act almost like a whole blanket. That wouldn't be legally enforced, of course, but it would be better than nothing.
In principle, all these state laws could also inform creation of a single, more comprehensive federal law. Here's hoping.