>Right now the law will still cover electronics like iPhones, but farming equipment and medical devices have been made exempt thanks to successful lobbying efforts.

So... a quasi-right-to-repair bill.

Honestly. I think the medical devices need some strict repair regulation just bc of what might be at stake.... But, yeah wtf, why can't we repair tractors?

Because it's a racket.

R2R is mostly about farmers getting screwed sideways. All the same things you hear about iPhone repair services and contracts are true for farmers and their tractors, except the dearth of available repair contractors and the costs are magnified immensely.

Was thinking the same thing. Same with aviation.

There are 2 issues (that I know of) with medical devices: 1) Companies stop offering updates and/or parts for their devices, which basically bricks them, forcing hospitals to replace otherwise perfectly fine equipment, and 2) A lot of medical devices use Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) which tends to have shitty, self-created security. But applying a patch that doesn't come from the original manufacturer is illegal.

You're right that "medical devices need some strict repair regulation." But the tech behind them currently doesn't have that regulation, making them needlessly dangerous if they can't be updated.

Here's some more info about the legislation that's tried to remedy the medical device fiasco:

> Restrictions on access to tools, parts, and information needed to service and repair medical devices were highlighted during the pandemic, as some original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) were unable to offer parts or on-site support in a timely manner due to hospital restrictions, state or local guidelines or, in some cases, by the OEMs’ policy.