Oregon passes Right to Repair bill outlawing parts pairing

Enshrining the rights of consumers and third-party technicians to repair their own devices is a long slog of a legal process, but Oregon just took a big step forward. The state just signed its new Right to Repair bill into law, notably adding a measure that others were missing: It’ll soon be illegal to pair up hardware parts with software checks that block replacements.

Governor Tina Kotek signed the law in yesterday, and it will take effect starting in 2025 and applying to some hardware as far back as 2015.