Colorado's Anti-Repair Bill Is Dead (wired.com)
(Wednesday April 29, 2026 @05:00PM (BeauHD)
from the group-effort dept.)
- Reference: 0183054884
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/26/04/29/1621248/colorados-anti-repair-bill-is-dead
- Source link: https://www.wired.com/story/colorado-anti-repair-bill-is-dead/
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Wired:
> A controversial bill in Colorado that would have undone some repair protections in the state has failed. The bill had been the target of right-to-repair advocates, who saw it as a bellwether for how tech companies might try to undo repair legislation more broadly in the US. Colorado's landmark 2024 repair law, the [1]Consumer Right to Repair Digital Electronic Equipment , went into effect in January 2026 and ensured access to tools and documentation people needed to modify and fix digital electronics such as phones, computers, and Wi-Fi routers. The new bill, SB26-090, would have carved out an exception to those repair protections for "critical infrastructure," a loosely defined term that repair advocates worried could be applied to just about any technology.
>
> SB26-090 was introduced during a Colorado Senate hearing on April 2 and was supported by lobbying efforts from companies such as Cisco and IBM. It passed that hearing unanimously. The bill then [2]passed in the Colorado Senate on April 16. On Monday evening, the bill was discussed in a long, delayed hearing in the Colorado House's State, Civic, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee. Dozens of supporters and detractors gave public comments. Finally, the bill was [3]shot down in a 7-to-4 vote and classified as postponed indefinitely .
"While we were making progress at chipping away at the momentum for it, we had still been losing," said Danny Katz, executive director of the local nonprofit consumer advocacy group CoPIRG. "So, we took nothing for granted, and I believe the incredible testimony from the broad range of cybersecurity experts, businesses, repair advocates, recyclers, and people who want the freedom to fix their stuff made a big difference."
[1] https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb24-1121
[2] https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_votes/29193
[3] https://www.wired.com/story/colorado-anti-repair-bill-is-dead/
> A controversial bill in Colorado that would have undone some repair protections in the state has failed. The bill had been the target of right-to-repair advocates, who saw it as a bellwether for how tech companies might try to undo repair legislation more broadly in the US. Colorado's landmark 2024 repair law, the [1]Consumer Right to Repair Digital Electronic Equipment , went into effect in January 2026 and ensured access to tools and documentation people needed to modify and fix digital electronics such as phones, computers, and Wi-Fi routers. The new bill, SB26-090, would have carved out an exception to those repair protections for "critical infrastructure," a loosely defined term that repair advocates worried could be applied to just about any technology.
>
> SB26-090 was introduced during a Colorado Senate hearing on April 2 and was supported by lobbying efforts from companies such as Cisco and IBM. It passed that hearing unanimously. The bill then [2]passed in the Colorado Senate on April 16. On Monday evening, the bill was discussed in a long, delayed hearing in the Colorado House's State, Civic, Military, and Veterans Affairs Committee. Dozens of supporters and detractors gave public comments. Finally, the bill was [3]shot down in a 7-to-4 vote and classified as postponed indefinitely .
"While we were making progress at chipping away at the momentum for it, we had still been losing," said Danny Katz, executive director of the local nonprofit consumer advocacy group CoPIRG. "So, we took nothing for granted, and I believe the incredible testimony from the broad range of cybersecurity experts, businesses, repair advocates, recyclers, and people who want the freedom to fix their stuff made a big difference."
[1] https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb24-1121
[2] https://leg.colorado.gov/bill_votes/29193
[3] https://www.wired.com/story/colorado-anti-repair-bill-is-dead/
But... (Score:2)
by LordHighExecutioner ( 4245243 )
...can it be repaired ?
Next up Federal Preemption (Score:3)
by hwstar ( 35834 )
The companies locking up products to make them non-repairable by the user aren't going to give up. There's too much money in their high margin monopolistic repair services.
They'll introduce a bill in Congress and the Senate "Unifiying" the right to repair to only apply to the manufacturer of the product. The excuse will be to eliminate a patchwork of state laws.
Re: (Score:2)
by VertosCay ( 7266594 )
It is so sad, but you are right.
Critical Infrastructure (Score:2)
by evanh ( 627108 )
is exactly where "right to repair" is needed most. Governments have been screwed over more than anyone else.
So now I suppose ... (Score:3)
... its sponsors will make an attempt to fix it.
as Ron White sips from a supposed glass of gin (Score:5, Informative)
Sure, though due to the prevalence of LLMs in law, the lobbyists' lawyers are rapidly losing their ability to draft legally coherent bad-faith legislation. On the other hand, the legislators are rapidly losing the ability to identify legally incoherent bad-faith legislation, for much the same reason. It's going to end with two sets of LLMs apologizing to each other for screwing things up. It's like a reverse arms race.
Re: (Score:2)
If it gets rid of all the lawyers would it really be such a bad thing? This is honestly the best proposed use for LLMs that I've heard of yet.
Re: (Score:2)
I was going for +Funny, but that will do.