An interesting article, read in full vis the link, key excerpts below
Today’s bans on DIY repairs of everything from cell phones to tractors grew out of Hollywood’s fear of videotaping
Oana Godeanu-Kenworthy, Miami University Published: May 22, 2026 8:47am EDT
https://theconversation.com/todays-bans-on-diy-repairs-of-everything-from-cell-phones-to-tractors-grew-out-of-hollywoods-fear-of-videotaping-280990
Excerpts:
"Repairing electronics and household appliances has not been a real option in the United States for decades now, ... .. Absurd situations have proliferated. It can cost about the same to buy a new printer as it does to replace the ink cartridge. The U.S. Department of Defense cannot repair the weapons systems it purchases because the intellectual property rights remain with the manufacturer. John Deere, the farming equipment company, doesn’t allow farmers to access the software needed to repair their own tractors because, while the purchase covers the physical machinery, it does not cover the software. ... in addition to cost and frustration for consumers, is environmental harm. ...
The right-to-repair movement emerged in response, calling for people to be able to repair what they purchase, .... Right to repair seems to be a rare area of bipartisanship in Congress. The Warrior Right to Repair Act – introduced in 2025 by a Democrat – and the Repair Act – introduced by a Republican – are two ongoing legislative initiatives to create a federal legal framework that would make it easy and cheap for American users to repair their devices. Both bills are fiercely opposed by industry groups. .. ... the origins of the legal and technical obstacles to product repairs lie in debates in the 1980s over new media and copyright guardrails. ... The rapid rise and popularity of video cassette recorders, or VCRs, in the late 1970s transformed films and TV shows from transient experiences into tangible consumer goods. ... Hollywood was alarmed ... and tried to stop the technology. Today’s repair bans are part of that story. ...
When the film studios took Sony to court to stop the production and sale of video recorders in 1976, they argued that Sony’s product encouraged copyright infringement. But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1984 that taping TV content for personal use did not violate copyright law, expanding the understanding of fair use. The industry then focused on finding a technological solution to the piracy problem ..... ..Then came digital rights management. .. to control user access to content. ... It increased existing penalties for copyright infringement online and criminalized any technology used to bypass technological locks. .. Since 1998, more and more consumer products, ... use microchips and proprietary software protected by copyright. Because of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, third party repairers cannot alter or bypass the proprietary software. ... When getting a product repaired becomes almost as expensive as buying a new one, many consumers will choose to buy and throw repairable items away. ....."
Well, at least some European countries have made it law that a phone must be able to have the user replace the battery, and batteries can be made by 3rd party manufacturers.