The EU has agreed to a strengthened provisional “right to repair” bill – and it may mean big things for 3D printing.
As part of the bill, consumers must have access to spare parts and tools provided by manufacturers, who would also be prohibited from “using contractual clauses, hardware or software techniques to obstruct repairs” or the availability of “second-hand or 3D issued spare parts by independent repairers”.
That’s where the industry-wide implications come in. Take Printables’ Brands pages, which seem perfectly poised to benefit from these new rules – and could even be seen as a way the 3D printing community has helped foster manufacturer participation in the right-to-repair movement. The policy could also be interesting for print farms, who stand to benefit from increased demand of 3D printed parts, and further encourage repair businesses to adopt 3D printing themselves if they haven’t already.
The EU says it plans to open an online database where consumers can find local repair shops as part of plans to simplify the repair process and make it more affordable. Additionally, member states will introduce “at least one measure to promote repair”, such as vouchers or courses.
The new bill may not only shake up the spare parts market for consumer gadgets in general, but could change the way 3D printer manufacturers do business as practices shift to comply with new laws. Potential benefits could include fewer models with better long-term support or proper open-source practices as manufacturers who historically churn out many models move to lessen the burden of long-term support. One could hope, at least.
And that’s not even getting into just how far these rules could go, depending on interpretation. Could making hardware difficult to root constitute a manufacturer obstructing repairs if proprietary software is no longer supported or obsolete?
Nothing is set in stone, of course – the bill is provisional, after all – and there are undoubtedly many more questions like the above that will need to be answered or otherwise clarified as time goes on. Still, this is almost certainly another step in the right direction, and will undoubtedly result in changes within the 3D printing industry, as well as in other industries that may now be incentivized to make better use of the technology.
For the full details on the current provisional right-to-repair bill, check out European Parliament’s website.
You’ve read that; now read these:
License: The text of "EU Agrees on Strengthened Right to Repair Bill" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.