The Right-to-Repair Movement's 2025 Surge: Big Tech, Tariffs, and Economic Pressure
The right-to-repair movement experienced a significant boost in 2025, driven by an unlikely combination of big tech concessions, economic pressures, and shifting political landscapes. While three U.S. states passed landmark legislation, manufacturers continue to resist ceding control over repairs through tactics like 'malicious compliance' and software locks. This article explores the movement's recent victories, the ongoing challenges from corporate resistance, and the broader implications for consumer rights, environmental sustainability, and economic competition.
The right-to-repair movement, advocating for consumers' ability to fix their own electronics and equipment without manufacturer gatekeeping, gained unprecedented momentum in 2025. Surprisingly, this push received a boost from big tech companies, economic downturns, and shifting tariff landscapes. However, as legislative victories mount, the companies that control repair ecosystems are not relinquishing their power willingly, leading to a complex battle over ownership, sustainability, and consumer rights.
Legislative Breakthroughs in 2025
This year marked a pivotal shift with three U.S. states passing right-to-repair laws, including in traditionally conservative states like Texas where the measure received unanimous support in both legislative chambers. This broad, bipartisan support reflects the movement's appeal across political divides, garnering backing from technologists, farmers, military leaders, and politicians. The issue resonates with nearly everyone except the manufacturers who profit from keeping parts, tools, and repair instructions proprietary.
The state-level victories are particularly significant given the stalled progress at the federal level. Despite years of advocacy and bipartisan support for national right-to-repair legislation, no comprehensive federal law has passed, making these state wins crucial stepping stones. Repair advocates are now planning to extend this legislative push into 2026 and beyond, applying continued pressure to give consumers more options when their devices malfunction.
The Corporate Resistance Strategy
Even as legislation advances, companies are developing sophisticated methods to maintain control over repair ecosystems. According to Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit, manufacturers are exhibiting "different levels of malicious compliance" with new laws. This includes obfuscating repair manuals, making tools available only in certain states, and creating software barriers that effectively lock out independent repair.
Nathan Proctor, senior director of the right-to-repair campaign at the United States Public Interest Research Group, explains the fundamental economic issue: "When you buy equipment, you have a competitive market. Once you have the equipment, if the manufacturer can make the repair a proprietary process, there's no competition at all." This lack of competition allows manufacturers to control pricing and access long after the initial sale.
The Software Lockdown Problem
A particularly contentious aspect of the repair battle involves Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. While supporters argue it protects intellectual property, right-to-repair advocates call it "parts pairing" and claim companies abuse this protection to embed software restrictions in hardware devices. These restrictions lock out anyone but authorized manufacturers from performing repairs or using third-party components.
Kevin O'Reilly of Fulu highlights how software updates can fundamentally alter purchased devices: "When you buy a device, a manufacturer can just push a firmware update or update the software and then remove a feature, change the way you interact with your device, put ads on a screen in your home, and turn your refrigerator into a billboard. All of those things are not what we agreed to when we brought technology into our homes."
Broader Implications Beyond Consumer Electronics
The right-to-repair struggle extends far beyond smartphones and laptops. Farmers have engaged in a years-long battle with John Deere for the right to repair their tractors and equipment—a conflict that prompted the Federal Trade Commission to sue Deere earlier this year. Meanwhile, U.S. service members often cannot repair their own gear in the field, a problem that repair provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act sought to address before being stripped from the final bill.
For many advocates, right-to-repair is fundamentally an environmental issue. Consumers are less likely to discard malfunctioning equipment if they can fix it, reducing electronic waste in landfills. While some companies have improved packaging sustainability, making products themselves more repairable and recyclable has progressed more slowly.
The Path Forward
Despite facing constant resistance, repair advocates remain optimistic. The movement is pursuing both legislative and cultural change, with some advocates like Louis Rossmann focusing on shifting public perception after legislative routes have shown limitations. "Right to repair is one of those issues that's nice to have, but it doesn't stab you in the abdomen the way all the other issues do," Rossmann notes, explaining his strategy of cultural transformation through platforms like YouTube.
As Proctor observes, we now live in a world where "the most important kind of territory to own is digital. We've got digital land barons now, and they have a different way of looking at how we interact with the world and what we should be allowed to do." The battle for repair rights represents a fundamental struggle over who controls the devices we own and how we maintain our relationship with technology in an increasingly locked-down digital ecosystem.
